Lampros

What do you think of Malina's Boots to off-set the speed debuff from the armor in this build? Azzuro sold me 3 (!), and the huge Defense while Prone or Stunned is not bad either (albeit not as good as Defense against those attacks).

Who are the toughest end-game bosses, and at about what level should I tackle them? I only know of the various dragons - the one in the Endless Paths, the one in Durgan's, and the Bog Dragons (I don't know where they are). Just need an advanced warning.

For my DPS Paladin, I am roughly following this build. The main difference is that I went Kind Wayfarers, because I am a newb who is obsessed about survival. But now that I have most of the gear and talents from this build ready at level 13, the build is really beginning to shine. So thanks!

I have Bittercut and Resolution. I might go get Purgatory, but I want to finish getting Durgan steel first. But can't a dual wielder with 2 top-end weapons do the same - or at least in a similar time frame usually? Ok, I stand corrected. Ancient Death Guards take forever to kill. But I already sold the Redeemer, and I think leveling it up will be too tiresome for me to buy it back though.

Oh, I misread it then. In that case, it's an amazing deal!

This is true for auto-attacks and when your shield only has bash and nothing else. But when you do the typical rogue strikes (Crippling Strike and so on) you will have Full Attacks. That means your offhand strikes first (in this case bash) and applies the affliction - and the main hand follows and can already deliver a Sneak Attack and maybe even Deathblow. Same advantage as with dual wielding + strikes. And then Badgradr's Barricade has an unlimited amount of procs of Thrust of Tattered Veils on crit. With this feature the bash becomes quite potent - also because that spell works with Deathblows. Imagine you have a stunnung main weapon and Badgradr's Barricade and do a Blinding Strike: bash does apply blind (maybe even crits and procs a normal Thrust of Tattered Veils), stunning weapon gets Sneak Attack bonus and will most likely crit as well because blinding is a strong debuff, so the target is blinded and stunned. Then again the bash follows and will most likely crit, triggering Thrust of Tatteres Veils on Deathblows. Usually this one is also a crit. Thrust of Tattered Veils with +150% damage (or even +100% if you have Merciless Hand and stuff). This will kill most enemies at once. It's a great way to build a sturdy, even tanky rogue who still deals great damage and has not so much issues with health or endurance loss because his deflection is high (at least for a rogue). A dual wielding rogue might deal more dps on paper, but he has to wait until the tanks engage, he has to be babysitted and so on (except if he has regenration and/or draining - but then you have to watch health). The rogue with Badgr. Barricade can just engage as a ordinary fighter or whatnot, hacking right away and start dealing damage while the usual rogue still waits for the best flanking position to open up. So in the end I guess the overall damage done is not that much different. Of course Badgradr's Barricade is not an early game item. Sadly... but for starters any bashing shield will do fine if combined with strike abilites. Got it. So Bashing is okay for special attacks. By the way, I don't like activations that occur only on critical hits - unless that activation has to do with survival aid!

Good point. Even I micro like hell at the start for tough fights...

Ah, ok. I will consider it. But I also like at least 2 guys chanting Dragon Thrashed for easy DPS! Speaking of Invocations, my Chillfog just hit a Cragholdt mercenary for 175 with Seven Winter. Jesus. Is there anything from players that will hit enemies that hard? He did like 600 damage with that one cast alone - not one fight, one cast! Finally, speaking of Cragholdt, is Sentinel's Girdle better than Blunting Belt for melees? I held onto the Blunting Belts on every melee, because I was getting hit so hard early game, but now I am wondering if I can do without those +5 Slash/Pierce resists. And frankly, Sentinel Girdle seems like an awesome end-game item. (Cragholdt incidentally seems like a good place to hit for cash and items ASAP.)

Gunpowder weapons take a long time to reload, but this doesn't matter if you don't intend to reload them. This build has two arquebuses: shoot someone with a Flames of Devotion shot, switch to the second arquebus and repeat and you're going to do a lot of damage. Sure, after that you're not shooting but that's precisely when you go and tank. I see. But guys, that kind of constant switching also seem like too much micro-management and not worth it for me. I know I am lazy, but there is a reason I never played caster classes in various MMORPG or RPGs as mains! So no gunpowder for guys who will just stay stationary and auto-attack?

Thanks, bro!

First of all: as you can see, this build is not a 100% defensive one. I don't like them because they are boring - and it's pointless when you as a tank are the only one alive but all others are dead and you can't damage anything. Secondly this build has nearly maximum amount of alpha strike (or burst) damage via FoD (FoD + Intense Flames + Burning Lash + Scion of Flame = +120% burn damage of overall damage, not base damage). With two shots of his arquebuses he can potentially take out two dangerous squishies like casters - or at least deliver the killing shot. I need this for triggering the on-kill effect of Inspiring Triumph for example. But I also value the tactical advantage to be able to take out casters very quickly at the beginning of the fight and then switch to tank(ish) mode. Paladins are perfect for this. Another class that does this very well is ranger (even better alpha strike, doesn't tank es well but has a pet that helps a lot). Wait, a gunpowder weapon can do enough damage to kill or seriously hurt an enemy with just one shot?! I have not tried one yet, because people keep saying re-loading weapons suck. But if this is indeed the case then I should try them out! Yet, then why so much criticism of those weapons?

Is the Stormcaller all that useful on a non-Ranger? I don't mind Invocations. They don't even trigger in many fights and at most it's like two a fight - whereas a genuine spellcasting class requires once every one or two combat seconds (which is a big chore!). Also in regard to Sure Handed: Is it worth casting when there are only 2 ranged DPS in my set-up (I assume it'd be the ranged Chanter, a Wizard)?

Ah, I didn't think about it! Multiple Chanters and Paladins have extraordinary synergies indeed! Hmm. That's strange... Dragon Trashed (base): 10 burn + 10 slash damage vs reflex, every 3s vs 1/4 of respective DR | base duration 8s + 4s linger Sacred Immolation (base): 20-30 burn damage vs reflex, every 3s vs full burn DR | base duration: 30s Brisk Recitation reduces base duration by: 4 - 10% 7 - 20% 10 - 30% 13 - 40% 16 - 50% So at level 13 it would be 4.8s base duration + 4s linger (at 10 INT) or 4.8s base duration + 6s linger (at 20 INT) At 20 MIG and 20 INT it would be: - Dragon Trashed: 13 burn + 13 slash every 3s; but since it stacks with itself, just consider that each 4.8s there is applied a DoT that has 10.8s duration and ticks for: 2 * (13 - DR/4) (on 0s, 3s, 6s, 9s) and 2 * (7.8 - DR/4) (on 10.8s mark). - Sacred Immolation: 26-39 damage vs full DR, every 3s for 45s So, during 45s, vs 0 DR targets (assuming there are no grazes/crits, just hits): - Sacred Immolation will deal: (26+39)/2 * (45/3+1) = 520 burn damage to each enemy - Sacred Immolation (with Scion of Flame) will deal: (30+45)/2 * (45/3 + 1) = 600 burn damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed during 45s will get applied 9 times: 7 times (it will have time to tick fully for 10.8s) and 2 times it will be still in effect (and will manage to tick for 6.6s and 1.8s respectively). Even if we omit choped ticks and count only full ones, it will steal deal: (7 * 4 + 2) * 2 * 13 = 390 burn + 390 slash damage to each enemy During 45s, vs 10 DR targets, on average that would be: - Sacred Immolation: [(26+39)/2 - 10] * (45/3 + 1) = 360 burn damage to each enemy - Sacred Immolation (with Scion of Flame): [(30+45)/2 - 10] * (45/3 + 1) = 440 burn damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed: 30 full ticks * 2 * (13 - 10/4) = 315 burn + 315 slash damage to each enemy During 45s, vs 20 DR targets, on average that would be: - Sacred Immolation: [(26+39)/2 - 20] * (45/3 + 1) = 200 burn damage to each enemy - Sacred Immolation (with Scion of Flame): [(30+45)/2 - 20] * (45/3 + 1) = 280 burn damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed: 30 full ticks * 2 * (13 - 20/4) = 240 burn + 240 slash damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed (with Scion of Flame and UPMod): 30 full ticks * (15 - 20/4 + 13 - 20/4) = 300 burn + 240 slash damage to each enemy It's a bit raw estimation, because we: - do not consider grazes and crits - assume that slash DR is same as burn DR TL.DR. Generally Dragon Trashed chant should deal more damage than Sacred Immolation in fights that last for 20s+, simply because it stacks with itself. It's admittedly a small sample. About 5-6 fights? Still, that's not nothing. But I've decided to take damage snapshots at level 9, level 13, and end of the game to get a complete picture. I will post my findings when I am done. We will then get a fuller sense. Edit: Also keep in mind that the Paladin has superior weapon damage set-up in my case: dual wielding 2 high damage weapon - whereas one Chanter is a pikeman, and the other is 1H/shield.

That's a lot of defensive talents and items. Is it possible to still do decent DPS with all that? Would a shield/1H Rogue still pull enough DPS to merit inclusion in a team? It's not like he brings other tools to contribute. Yes, the separation of traditional "health" into Health and Endurance was one of the more clever innovation of the game. It better explains - in real-life terms - the "knockout mechanic," and it is far better for game balance, too. As I said, I recall that you can be effectively immortal with good healing - sometimes even solo via "vampiric" enchantments. I thought Bashing was bad for DPS and a badly implemented design? I recall reading that somewhere. It certainly does not do much for my Chillfog tank. Yes, the point about Barbarian is very useful for future playthrough. I guess every on-hit effect is magnified in the hands of a Barbarian. I think every melee should have a weapon AoE! Yup. That's my main concern if you make the Rogue too survival-oriented.

Some folks online claim that a Rogue's survivability issue will be resolved if you use dual Endurance Drain weapons. Is this the case even at the hardest difficulty? From my brief experience with Endurance Drain weapons, they are not all that effective - unlike, say, in Neverwinter Nights when dual wielding vampiric weapons would enable you to be essentially immortal. (Health is finite in this ase, unlike those games, to begin with.) Anyways, I'd like to hear the more experienced folks talk about how viable this is. I am obviously not looking to solo - but trying to create a sturdy melee DPS.

Sacred Immolation is ridiculous. The Paladin is out-DPS-ing the Chanters from level 13 onward. But probably now too far back to catch up.

Just a question. If you both of your melees were tanks, then where was the melee DPS coming from? Or was ranged DPS enough? Interested in the rest of your crew. I cannot imagine running 2 tanks, unless one of them is a Chanter and providing both tanking and DPS.

Also, what do you guys think of having 1 Chanter just do They Shielded Their Eyes 'Gainst the Fampyr's Gaze against Charm or Confuse mobs?

Hey, Raven: I am considering running 3 Chanters next playthrough with the 3rd being ranged. In this context, do you have a build - or at least weapons - to suggest for the ranged one? Also, I read that Aefyllath Myth Fyr is another OP aspect of the Chanter. But how - or when - do you use it when you are normally spamming Dragon Thrashed all the time? If I am running 3 Chanters, then perhaps have 2 run Dragon Thrashed and 1 run Aefyllath Myth Fyr?

Did Azzuro appearance frequency change recently? I've had him appear about 10 times in one game, and he's sold me two of the boots, Rimecutters, and he's also offered the shield twice (I declined the 2nd time). And I am not gaming anything, except just resting a lot.

I love both of these classes, because they are so light on micro-management and yet still powerful. So anyway, for the next playthrough: If you want a ranged guy, who would you prefer? A ranged Chanter or a ranged Paladin? I cannot have more melees, as I already have 3 of them - 2 Chanters and 1 Paladin. And what weapon would you guys suggest?

That's the beauty of tanking Chanters though: You don't need to equip for DPS and yet you still do more DPS than the DPS-ers themselves! In terms of skills, so what skill distributions would you suggest today? Most of your builds seem from 2015 or early 2016 - and not sure if they are pre- or post-change.

I have Bittercut and Resolution. I might go get Purgatory, but I want to finish getting Durgan steel first. But can't a dual wielder with 2 top-end weapons do the same - or at least in a similar time frame usually?

Ah, ok. So without a Barbarian, not even worth leveling it up then? Golden Gaze is amazing. Even though I do not enjoy casters relative to melees, I may actually use a Superb or even Legendary ingredient on it!

Ah, ok. But you are talking about Mr. "Less Micromanagement is Better" here!