hansvedic

Now that you've given non-mix-maxed stats, I'm curious how you would min-max this build, Boeroer.

Did you mean the Kind Wayfarers & Bleak Walkers on-kill procs? I don't think the Goldpact Knights have an on-kill proc (in PoE 1 at least).

My first thought is to use a wizard, as they have several spells which drain endurance from the target to heal themselves. In addition, they get a first level spell that summons a parasitic staff. My second thought is a Bleak Walker paladin using Tidefall, a greatsword that does wounding and drains endurance from enemies to heal you. Bleak Walkers appear to fit the theme you're going for, except that they don't really have debuffs aside from scroll usage (scrolls can be great).

While I appreciate your desire to showcase your build as successful, I don't think anyone here is actually saying that a barbarian archer can't be effective. Instead, what the people here are saying is that a barbarian archer is not as effective as a well-built melee barbarian. There are several incredibly effective builds for a melee barbarian, from the unbelievably tanky Untank that relies on the barb's HUGE health pool to tank to the Golden Dragon tank build which makes a low con, high defense tank to the Interrupt and status effect barbs that spread status effects with Carnage, to dual annihilation sabres barbs (using Purgatory, for example) that just crit great damage all over the place. In addition, people are saying that a Ranger (or heck, a Cipher) is a more effective ranged combatant than a Barbarian, and they are giving solid reasons, based on their extensive experience with the game (and for some their own tests and investigations of the game mechanics), as to why this is the case. Again, they are not saying that a barbarian ranger can't be effective. Rather, they are saying that he is neither as effective as other ranged classes nor as effective as a melee barbarian. I really do appreciate that you have found that a barbarian archer works well given what you want from a class. All I am asking is that you demonstrate that you understand where those of us who disagree with your claim, that a barbarian ranger is more effective than other options, are coming from. EDIT: I realize, after some thought, that the communication issues that seem to be happening here may be due in part to English not being your first language. Please know that I think it is great that you have learned English well enough to communicate fairly effectively with us. I just worry that, perhaps, this fact is contributing to this situation in which I feel that what I am saying is not being heard clearly by you. Regardless, I hope that you enjoy your playthrough and continue to enjoy Pillars of Eternity. I look forward to seeing your videos.

Thanks, Boeroer. I thought that was the case based on my reading, but I wasn't sure. Do you know if the Company Captain's Cap's Confuse proc can happen multiple times? Also, if an enemy is confused, but not turned into an ally, if it disengages from who it's attacking will it eat a disengagement attack?

For the purposes of gathering into a single place the items and abilities which say they only occur once per encounter, but actually can happen multiple times, I have created this thread. I figure it may be of use to those who come here to create builds based on available items and abilities. Any help on this would be appreciated. If you would like, think of this as me asking what items and abilities actually can proc multiple times even though they say they only occur once per encounter. I would also like to know about the spellchance items on the wiki that currently have no documentation for their spellchance proc, such as rhe Dragon's Maw Shield's Taste of the Hunt proc. __________________ Abilities that say 1 per encounter but happen multiple times: Psychic (and Brutal) Backlash Item Effects that say 1 per encounter but happen multiple times: Abilities & Items to Test: Psychic (and Brutal) Backlash -- Cipher ability Company Captain's Cap -- Confuse proc -- All soulbound Gyrd Haewanes Stenes -- Restore Spiritshift proc -- Druid soulbound Greenstone Staff -- Nature's Mark proc -- Monk, Druid, Wizard soulbound The Grey Sleeper -- Paralyze proc -- All soulbound Vent Pick -- Flames of Devotion proc -- All unique etc. Credit for Answers: Boeroer -- Backlash talents

I suppose you have a point. Unless you've got a Reaping Knives barbarian, and are thus overflowing in focus, Wild Leech doesn't make much sense. Even then, there are other, better powers to use.

Doesn't Wild Leech (MIG) stack with Champion's Boon?

OT for a moment... Barbaric Blow on the wiki says it does not affect Carnage. Is it true that Barbaric Blow affects Carnage as well? If so, I'm going to have to make a dual annihilation sabre (probably make Purgatory legendary and copy it with Helwax Mold) barbarian build...

Thanks, Boeroer! I appreciate your testing and insight. As I plan out this Novice's Suffering Cipher, I am trying to decide on stats. I notice that MaxQuest puts at least 2 point into PER for his DPS ciphers, and yet I am wondering how big of a difference +2 or +3 accuracy really makes in the long run; I am certain it makes a difference in the beginning, but in the long run, I wonder if those points would be better served in DEX or INT, especially with the fast speed of the fists. On another note, I notice that resolve for a DPS cipher is 8 at lowest in MaxQuest's suggestions. Is lower than that not recommended due to interrupts? Feel free to chime in, MaxQuest. I appreciate your insight into ciphers as well. Finally, for a little background on my planned party... I am planning on using the official companions, with Aloth and/or Grieving Mother (and probably Hiravias, too) on CC duty. My cipher main character may also do some CC, but I would prefer that, especially after the early game, that my cipher focuses on doing lots and lots of damage, with a bit of CC used as needed. Basically, what's a good attribute spread with max might (either human, aumaua, or dwarf, though I am leaning towards human)?

Boeroer, it's simple. First of all, i made her learn a certain barbarian skill ( i play in italian, so i don't know the exact words )... and now she can do hits in which you roll accuracy against not only deflection but also endurance. And let me tell you, a " ranger " that can target also endurance is better than a simple ranger. My barbarian now can score clear hits or critical hits more easily than a ranger because she can roll against both endurance and deflection. A ranger ? His arrows rolls only against deflection. Plus, high accuracy + items that add accuracy + a belt that add 20% time of paroxysm --> my barbarian has + 6 CON + 6 STR + 33% attack speed for 18,6 seconds for each fight. ------------------------------------- Plus, at level 5 my barbarian has 84 life points and 61 accuracy with a simple, normal hunting bow. Nonetheless, i'm not saying its an awesome build. But in my opinion i would do a barbarian archer class , not a ranger class. I find the advantages of a barbarian class more useful than the ones given by a ranger class Fortitude (the "endurance" defense) is usually higher than deflection, especially on tough enemies. Thus, the skill you mention ("Brute Force" in english) isn't as valuable as one might think. In addition, a ranger, before talents and other accuracy bonuses, has 42 accuracy base at level 5. Add in Stalker's Link (the skill for extra accuracy when attacking same enemy as pet/ranger animal companion) and you get 52 accuracy. Add in Distant Advantage from Wood Elf, and you get 47 / 57 accuracy without even factoring in Weapon Focus talents that add accuracy or Perception. Thus, while I am glad that you are doing well with your build, I think your statement about the barbarian being able to score more hits/critical hits is, quite frankly, untrue. Add into this the damage from the pet/ranger animal companion, and it is clear to me that a ranger does better DPS than a barbarian at range. That being said, the barbarian does have more health and endurance than the ranger would.

Interesting concept. Still, I am not sure that it can compete with a Ranger for ranged dps and utility. That being said, the Barbarian does have some useful abilities, though, for a ranged character. Blooded can be used to do more damage, Wild Sprint can be used for running away, and Frenzy, Bloodlust, and Blood Thirst can be used to make shooting faster. Maybe go for Borresaine war bow with this character? If It were me, and I didn't want to go Ranger, I would go with a ranged cipher; the added accuracy from Tactical Meld & Borrowed Instinct, the extra damage from Soul Whip, the crowd control abilities such as Mental Binding, and eventually the speed from Time Parasite... all these things make the cipher a better ranger than the barbarian in terms of ranged dps and utility. All in all, if you're enjoying the character, and you feel that it is providing the survivability and damage you want from a ranged character, then, by all means, enjoy your creation. It is certainly a fairly interesting idea, regardless of how it compares to other classes.

Awesome. So, the human's accuracy bonus and Swift Aim's detriment would affect Stunning Shots, if I understand correctly. Also, I've been thinking about doing a "Tarzan" build for awhile now. Hide Armor, fists only (except for crush immune enemies), and stunning everyone in sight. EDIT: After some calculations and considerations, I have come to decide on sabres (end-game use of Purgatory (leg. and Helwax Molded)) as the optimal dual-wield weapon for a melee ranger. While fists are faster, and thus are better at stunning, sabres, especially with annihilation, do a good deal of damage, especially on a crit, and a melee ranger with high perception WILL crit a good deal, even on PotD. With a priest using Devotions of the Faithful (and Dire Blessing for tough fights), we will hit often, and a good portion of those hits will be converted crits in addition to when crits are scored regularly. I'm also thinking about not getting Swift Aim; instead, I plan to aim for Gwisk Glas as the endgame armor. With Gauntlets of Swift Action, Two-Weapon Style, and durgan-refined armor (Gwisk Glas) and weapons (Purgatory made legendary, durgan-refined and duplicated), I can reach 0 recovery without Swift Aim and still have decent damage reduction (9). Add on the Executioner's Hood, and I can frighten enemies and get even more accuracy when an enemy misses me (won't necessarily happen often, but still...). Get Kana to use the DR reduction invocation and Aloth to use Expose Vulnerabilities, and go to town on even relatively high slash DR enemies. In addition, Weapon Focus: Ruffian allows for more flexibility in terms of weapons than Novice's Suffering. Stilettos in particular can serve as backup weapons, especially with Flick of the Wrist. Finally, Flick of the Wrist also allows for the competent use of Drawn in Spring for high-slash-dr fights. Now to decide between Hearth Orlan for even more hit-to-crit conversion (but less might), and Human (for more might on average, in addition to the temporary bonus to accuracy and damage from Fighting Spirit). I'm leaning towards the Human right now, as hit-to-crit conversion will already be high, and 20 perception, 17 might is probably not as great as 20 might, 17 perception. Also need to decide between the extra accuracy of Mob Justice from siding with the Dozens and the extra crit damage of the Doemenel's talent. EDIT 2: Add in Pallegina or another paladin with a Marking weapon and Coordinated Attacks... so much accuracy... EDIT 3: Nvm... fists appear to be best for damage due to the fact that the base weapon damage of sabers is now 11-16 with a 20% damage boost instead of 13-19 base damage, right? Back to the Tarzan build, it seems.

Okay, quick question. Does Stunning Shots count as an ability for the purposes of the accuracy boost for abilities like Knock Down? EDIT: Also, does Stunning Shots still not benefit from weapon accuracy bonuses and talents such as a dagger's +5 accuracy, a superb weapon's +12 accuracy, and talents like Weapon Focus? EDIT 2: I guess my basic question is the following -- what accuracy boosts does Stunning Shots benefit from (e.g. talents, marking/coordinating, etc.)?

Hey Boeroer! What do you think about a variant of the Last Unicorn variant that uses fists and Novice's Suffering? A sort of drunken, singing brawler? I'm thinking of lowering the dex from 14 to 10, increasing might from 18 to 21, and increasing resolve to 9.

Love the concept and I love the stats, as I love a good conversationalist. That being said, I think you really missed a great storytelling angle here with this build, Boeroer, by not making it a Wild Orlan, perhaps with a personality somewhat resembling a cross between Berserker Axinhed from 8-bit Theatre and the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket. One minute, you see a diminutive Orlan, the next he's (or she's) yelling in your face worse than your drill sergeant ever did... Perhaps I just have a weird sense of humor. Still, I like the backstory you wrote for this character... just not as much as the crazy Orlan in my head. EDIT: Now that I think about it, you already did make a similar character in terms of your druid. No point doing the same character twice, I suppose. My bad. Anyways, I continue to greatly enjoy your builds.

Really nice stuff here. One question, though. You say you would replace the barbarian with a cipher for this party. How would you build such a cipher in terms of starting stats, items, etc.?

No, I don't like the idea of fighting with my fists for my main character. I like the progression of getting a new weapon and so on. Also, I want to use a shield in order to tank better. I also don't like the summoner archetype as my main character because I want him to do the killing and the tanking and the supporting, not to summon creatures to do it for him. I'd go for a summoner for one of my buddies, but not in this playthrough, I'll probably use it on my POTD playthrough. Has something changed since Pillars 1? I thought that monk abilities worked with weapons, as well. My only point was to say that, in addition to doing damage the normal way (and potentially with retaliation), you could make a tank that also turns attacks back against their foes, melee with Blade Turning and ranged with Soul Mirror (and hopefully another item like Aila Braccia). Fair point about not wanting the summoner archetype, though. EDIT 2: I suppose that if the Blade Turning ability only works with fists, then that would be a major disappointment and a fair reason to avoid the monk class. EDIT: In case you haven't read about Blade Turning, here is a link to a partial discussion on it: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/94209-multiclassing-a-paladin-tank-and-party-composition-in-general/page-2

Have you considered a Monk for Blade Turning and Soul Mirror? Apparently, with those two abilities, you can reflect melee and ranged attacks, if I have heard correctly. EDIT: In addition, what about the Beckoner subclass? Being able to summon a good few monsters regularly should help keep the enemy away from the backline, right?

Thanks, Boeroer. On another note, why does the wiki say that Novice's Suffering bonus damage does not scale with Might? From the Wiki: "It grants +5 (+2 per 3 levels after 1) unarmed damage – for a total of +15 damage at level 16 – and +0 (+4 per 3 levels after 1) unarmed accuracy. The bonus damage is not subject to increase by stats such as Might, unlike the monk variant." https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Novice%27s_Suffering

Sorry again for the double-post. I just wanted to know... Is Novice's Suffering Cipher still any good? I know that the soul whip bonus doesn't work well with the wimpy base damage of fists, but I'm still interested. If so, how would you go about building it? Presumably it would be a DPS cipher, of course.

You can use weapons and heavy armor with a monk; the monk's talents still work with weapons. The only thing that monks have that doesn't work with weapons is the bonus damage and accuracy inherent for their fists (see Transcendent Suffering on the wiki). Of course, you could wield a weapon in your shield hand and nothing in your main hand to use both fist and weapon. Given what you are looking for, I would recommend either a build like "The Anvil" if going monk (best retaliation damage to anything not immune to fire and still some retaliation if you use the "Blood Testament" gloves), or a Barbarian with Barbaric Retaliation, One Stands Alone, and Blooded (not as great retaliation, but you get carnage, as well as some cool soulbounds such as the Dragon's Maw). I would recommend looking into the Untank build if you are going barbarian.

Weapon & Shield Style is good if you're going for a tanky wizard, like the Coldhearth or Bilestomper builds in the builds list. Also, yes, medium & bigger shields do reduce spell accuracy. Finally, yes, on-hit effects on a weapon only apply to strikes using that weapon, so if you're dual wielding an on-hit effect weapon and another weapon, only strikes with the on-hit effect weapon will have a chance to activate its on-hit effect. Wielding 2 on-hit weapons will not allow one weapon to activate the on-hit effect of the other weapon. EDIT: Good job, Boeroer! Helpful as always, and you beat me to the punch. Heh.

A Fire Godlike Monk could work with a spread like that, except I'd dump dex down all the way to 4, get Perception up to at least 10, and spend those other two points on constitution or whatever you like. EDIT: The key with a Fire Godlike Monk is Turning Wheel and the Blood Testament gloves, which add fire damage lash and raw damage lash respectively per wound. This allows for powerful retaliations. EDIT 2: Check out "The Anvil" and the "Monksterlasher" builds on the build list thread for more insight into these characters. While they stat them a bit different (15 PER, 7 RES), I am sure your stat spread could work with their ideas.

I don't want to sound like the smartypants, but recurrent chances in such a setup don't simply add up but get multiplied. You can calculate it like so: Chance not to trigger = 0.9 Number of attacks=4 Chance not to trigger after 4 attacks is 0.9 * 0.9 * 0.9 * 0.9 * 0.9 = ~0.66 Cance to trigger = ~0.34 or 34% Still good though. The chanter has an invocation called "Hel Hyraf..." that lowers enemies' universal DR by -5. But it's not that useful compared to Killers Froze Stiff for example which is on the same tier. For dps Gauntlets of Swift Action are best of course, but they are rare and random loot, yes. Another alternative would be Mourning Gloves (not in the wiki list), then Gauntlets of Accuracy or Ryona's Vambraces (although those I always reserve for Pallegina if she's in the party). Most of the time I end up using Gauntlets of Accuracy. According to the wiki (and my gameplay) "And Hel Hyraf Crashed Upon the Shield" is a level 1 invocation, whereas "... Killers Froze Stiff" is a level 2 invocation. Other than that, great advice as usual, Boeroer.