Lampros

Ok, so Boerer, I have gotten to level 13 with this guy, and I have a few questions and comments. First of all, I continue to love this guy. I think he will be my permanent tank on every playthrough. Almost indestructible and still does high DPS - and all those things with near zero-micromanagement. A lazy man's dream. (Now only if I can find a girl who does not demand to "reciprocate"!) Having said all that, here are the questions: 1. Why Bear's Fortitude? I followed your stat and talent distributions to the letter, but I am not sure about Bear's Fortitude. Is there a fight upcoming that requires this? So far I have had zero problem with survivability. He's the only who has yet to be knocked out, and he's never come close to being knocked out. And I send him first and hold everyone back at first even. At the moment, I have done up to Act 2, 7 levels of Endless Paths, about a third of WM 1, and all of non-WM bounties. Will the Dragon fights require more Fortitude? I have 86 at level 13. 2. Equipment: Here are a lot of differences indeed. Let me go through one at a time. To begin with, I do not like activation items as a general rule, because that's more micro-management. But in particular, I find Scath Gwannek to be more of a headache than it's worth, because it is not foe-only AoE. Other than thematic reasons, is there a game-play rationale? The "Bash" skill also seems to actually lower my DPS and does not add much other utility - unless there is a mechanics benefit I am overlooking. Also, why stack healing items rather than avoidance items? It seems to me that if anything is going to trouble a Chanter tank, it's probably a streak of big hits spike, given the low relative Endurance of Chanters. So isn't it better to stack Deflection and Defense rather than heals? Finally, once again I know that you said the armor choice was partly thematic. But is not -1 Movement on a tank quite crippling? I have worn it since I got it, but I am thinking of getting rid of it soon. 3. Just a minor question on Skills: It seems like your Skill distribution is kind of all-over for a lot of your builds. For instance, here you have no Stealth, whereas in the Drake tank Chanter build, you have a whopping (for a tank) 5! Any particular reasons? As a general matter, I am kind of clueless on how to distribute Skills - other than the need to have a Mechanic monkey. I suppose Athletics 5 and Survival 7 most is bare minimum for most - but anything beyond that? Perhaps Lore 4 so you can at least use some non-offensive scrolls? Thanks in advance!

Yup. I just went back and got it. Somehow I missed it when I ran the 2nd level. Googling is definitely my friend. Do you think it's worth using a Superb or even Legendary enchant on it? How does it hold up at end-game? At Exceptional I feel I still don't have enough armor DR. Of course, perhaps this question may become a moot point, since I am getting Sacred Flame very very soon.

Honestly, guys, I think using all the spells and activation skills that come embedded with the various classes is too much micro-management for me. This is why I love Chanters and Paladins - as well as no micro caster builds like Boerer's Blaster build. So no thanks to adding item-based spells on top of all those for me! Of course, unless there is a truly OP activation item. Is there?

Ah okay, then that's not a problem, though assuming you've not played with story companions before I'd say you're missing out. I am sure a stave based caster could be designed that would work fine. Pillars is surprisingly flexible with what classes you can build. That said, it's more that Durance's story dialogue makes repeated references to his staff, so it would be a bit disconcerting to me if I had sold it (I never sell unique items anyway, since money is not hard to come by in Pillars). Ah, ok. I thought there was an OP staff build that I am not aware of. I am a newb who picked up the game a week or so ago, after all!

Thanks! I want to do it the normal way, of course. But I was just curious.

That's way too many talent points to deal with this problem though. I already have Aegis of Loyalty, will get Sacred Immolation, and then Righteous Soul on top of that? I want him to do some DPS, too! All I have done since this game came out is MC a Paladin (I get to play as the entire party anyway and its my fav class lol) and I am telling you that a Paladin is not very good "DPS" Until he/she gets Sacred Immolation. Before that what they can do is Alpha Strike (and tank of course) and you only need TWO abilities for that. Flames of Devotion and Sworn Enemy. Righteous Soul is not only a defensive talent against mind control effects it also increases your defense against FEAR AND TERROR which are one of the most debilitating effects for the offense of every character. A consistently feared or terrorized character will not hit a damn thing. Especially on PoTD against bosses who have sky high defense. So not only is Righteous Soul great against charms it is also significantly helps your offense by making fear and terror effects either miss or effect you for a very short duration. As a Paladin you will at MOST get hit by a fear never crit and if you do get hit it will turn into a graze thanks to Righteous Soul or a graze will basically be a miss. Its not just a defensive talent. That being said if you get a certain soul bound late game sword it makes you immune to fear and terror but its a 1hander if you want to alpha you will have to switch to a bigger hitting weapon and you will be susceptible to fear and terror. PS I realize you can use a priest spell or scrolls to be immune. I have logged too many hours in this game and I am telling you that redundancy in defenses isn't a bad thing. Your priest will not ALWAYS be able to cast what you need because he could be in a bad spot and CCed or you rather have him casting offensive ACC spells and practically being immune to fear and terror is great. Lastly its an AEO in a dragon fight where the priest is VERY far away from your tanks because you do not want him next to a dragon he will out of range. I know that Paladins cannot match the true melee powerhouses in terms of DPS. But that is not my intention. Most of my DPS is provided by the double Chanter set-up spamming Dragon Thrashed and Seven Nights. Instead, the purpose of the "DPS" Paladin is two-fold for me: First, he kills enough to activate on-kill heals. Second, he provides part of the necessary DPS in the early and mid-levels, before the double Chanter locomotive gets going. So I guess my terminology was not clear.

You'll enjoy it, it's a brilliant ability. Almost there! My Paladin has both - started out on 18 on both stats. That's way too many talent points to deal with this problem though. I already have Aegis of Loyalty, will get Sacred Immolation, and then Righteous Soul on top of that? I want him to do some DPS, too! I don't know what abilities your paladin has, but Righteous Soul is one of the best he has... So far at level 12: Strange Mercy, Two Weapon Style, Critical Focus, Weapon Focus (Ruffian), Apprentice's Sneak Attack, Scion of Flame. Edit: Also Aegis of Loyalty, Lay on Hands, Liberation Exhortation. Flames of Devotion, Sworn Enemy. I think that's all.

Durance's story is going to seem a little odd then It makes sense for Durance's staff to be powerful, all things considered. I know it'll never happen, but I'd love to see a soulbound version tied to his story progression. I didn't use any story companions. In the next game, I don't think I will recruit them - except the one I am going to sacrifice. All they do is just fill up my quest log. Now I figure I don't even want their gear, because I have gotten my hand on Act II, WM stuff, and they are just far inferior. As for using staves on a caster: Is it really a good idea anyways? Casters are so fragile that it seems that you want to use a shield/1H approach if you want to go melee hybrid, no?

After finally getting my hands on both Bittercut - as well as trying out a few Soulbound weapons - I have to agree with you. And on the Soulbounds: I think you said people get them for their effects, not DPS. But even there I am not sure if it's worth it. I just tried Golden Gaze on my Blaster Wizard, and even with Exceptional (rather than Superior or Legendary) enchant, it seems to be doing a lot more than the Soulbound rod you get in Act II. And I think you also mentioned that the Redeemer is another worthwhile Soulbound. But is it really? It's only 25 percent chance of killing vessel in 1 shot, and on average wouldn't Durganized double Bittercuts kill as quickly over a long run - absent a long anomalous streak? It's also a bitch to level, as I actually have to kill myself 5 times. (What the heck? Run my Paladin in there naked first?) I have a few other Soulbounds, and they are just terrible. The only thing from the list I think truly worth getting may be Stormcaller, but I don't have the class that can best optimized it. Ugh.

I love 2 Chanter group I am running now. Powerful - and yet low-maintenance. Just like it. But 2 Dragon Thrashed is sufficient, if considering the DPS (and other stuff) that other members of the team are bringing to the table. Also, too many of the same class is boring. I may consider running 3 Chanters, but I think that's the most I will stomach.

Update: I just got Raiement of Wael's eyes from the first shop in WM. I may upgrade and use this. I hope I find more gear like this... Edit: I guess gear with Loyal or Defiance. According to Wiki, only 4 such items - but 1 is very late-game (WM 2) and the other is Ranger only. I might test Ranger next playthrough. Goddamn, I wish I could mod out the pet.

I must've vendored this. I am going to look in various shops.

A Paladin with Sacred Immolation will do plenty of damage, don't worry about that. Ah, ok. We shall see - only level 11 now. 2 more levels to go!

That's way too many talent points to deal with this problem though. I already have Aegis of Loyalty, will get Sacred Immolation, and then Righteous Soul on top of that? I want him to do some DPS, too!

What is this "exploit"? I use Dragon Thrashed plus Dull the Edge on one Chanter, and Dragon Thrashed plus At the Sight on the other.

Ouch, I kept re-loading to see if I missed something, and gave up, ROFL. Edit: I guess the Loyalty talent will do till then...

No. Blast, Penetrating Blast and Kalakoth's Minor Blights (for harder fights) are the main auto-attack damage contributors. Sure you could take a priest, give him an arquebus (for levels 2-6) and an implement (from level onward), but his damage contribution mainly comes from DoT spells. Thus from level 7 you just take a weapon solely for it's procs, marking and defensive stats. Hmmm, Priests don't have access to Blast and related talents? Bummer

https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Aloth%27s_Leather_Armor Aloth's armor apparently had Overseeing. Wow. Maybe I will go back and look for it...

I think I sold Durance's and Aloth's stuff already - and I don't remember where But I will definitely look out for Maneha's gear. Don't remember Sagani's gear either. I guess only Eder's and the female Paladin's gear interested me at first.

I am really loving this guy so far. Unlike most casters, he doesn't need a lot of baby-sitting, and a lazy guy like me can use him to auto-attack. One question: Would a Priest-variation of this pure auto-attack build work the same way? Of course, I will need to at least buff and heal with her - but for easier fights, I'd just let the Priest fling away from distance with her auto-attacks, too.

I just Googled its location. I guess I have to detour into WM then.

I don't see Sacred Immolation anywhere Is it a very high level ability? I am level 10.

Yeap, I am going to re-spec.

I never use summons, because they seem to get in the way of my melees. In this fight, I'd be even more worried about them turning against me too

I haven't found one yet. And I'd need a club for the other hand anyways, no?