mjo2138

Thank you! Yes it seems that Ghost heart ascendant is the preferred meta in some other posts. I am a stats nerd, so I like the idea of 192 accuracy . I haven't delved into Ancestor's Memory / SOT much, and I usually do not run with a cipher, so I would like to have one in my party. It seems that multiclassing cipher is better ,since SC cipher spells are not very good on PL 8 and 9. Great ideas! Psion/Troubadour looks fun to play a debuff / CC role. I just did a FF monk, so I feel I want to play a different role besides flanker/off tank/ striker. In particular, I like your chanter multiclass builds. Chanter is such a versatile class. I like troubadour a lot, though I like having vanilla chanter to having no penalties. I admit I still cant decide whether or not use brisk recitation . It seems like chants (skele summon PL 7) are really good, but for buffs it is better to have the extended linger. SC Arcane archer sounds like something very different and fun! I might go in the cipher direction to utilize charm- I usually do not use it, and it is a real game changer (albeit not as strong as it was in PoE 1) Nice! these all sound very fun. I might try steel garrote / rogue for a new experience. I love Modwyr. Trobadour/priest would be fun too. It would be fun to have a support role MC! Great! The conjurer fury + 4 PL sounds great! that is a huge boost. nice builds!

Hello Everyone, I really enjoy the forums. I lurk mostly, but i post sometimes too. Just finished a FF monk run (POTD , 5 man party). I learned a lot about how to play FF from the forums. Now, I want to try a different build. I might do solo bloodmage, but I really like multiclassing. I want to focus on unique builds which are NOT available to companions or sidekicks some ideas: 1) Firebrand warrior: druid/fighter - what subclasses? vanilla/devoted? 2) Bloodmage (maybe try a solo run) 3) Ranger/cipher (Ghost heart for sure, i have pets dying usually, causing bonded grief 4) Chanter+???? Thanks!

Thanks @thelee @Boeroer, @Kaylon . really like elemental themed builds, since a lot of enemies tend to have high pierce AR or sometime slash/crush, but elements are a weak spot in enemies AR. Nothing is more satisfying that melting mobs. I could even see a druid/Paladin themed character using a firebrand and other fire spells, but that might be overkill. I agree that fighter/druid is a good pick. It is strange that the sword counts as pierce/burn, but having a source of burn dmg alone should suffice.

So Firebrand does scale to legendary? I am excited to try this, because I have wanted to build a firebrand MC character (maybe a fighter/druid?) so this will be by next build!

I remember this fight! In addition to what thelee mentioned, you can use potions of arcane reflection on your characters to reflect the lightening back at the sigil. This will destroy it in 1 or 2 reveals. For the rest of the sigils, take a loot at the combat log to look at the penetration and attack values (hold shift), and adjust your equipment and skills to ensure you have high enough defenses to not get wiped by them. Make sure you kill the goons right away, because once they starting buffing, they are hard to kill. By the way, you can use arcane dampener (wizard skill) to negate the buffs on the goons. Also, arcane dampener can disable the sigils, so test it out.

I agree that you need a priest or druid in the party, as mentioned above. Tekehu has some great spells, but he cannot cast fire spells, so make sure you have someone who can do that. I generally dont have more than 2-3 melee classes; otherwise, you end up getting in each other's way in the front lines. You could use this approach for class roles: 1. tank (take the brunt of mob's attacks, herald is nice here for the versatility of tank/CC/healing/summons, but any tank is good) 2. 2nd tank (someone to flank the tanks targets, off tank to protect back line casters/dps) 3. flanker/disruptor) (most fights will have casters and ranged in the back, so you really want to focus on dealing with these; otherwise, the tank mobs get super buffed and healed) rogue, monk, etc. are great here. Personally I like to use Eder Swashbuckler to do this). Or, you can use Maia here for ranged AOE dps (mortars, or frostseeker) 4. Druid: Healer/CC/DPS. I really like Tekehu here. I have trouble deciding on these last two slows usually. 5. Cipher multiclass /ranged DPS / priest - your choice here. If you have a herald and a druid, you will be fine for heals. Priest has some amazing buffs (devotions of the faithful) is a great accuracy buff). Cipher (mindstalker) is good here too. I agree that you need a priest or druid in the party, as mentioned above. Tekehu has some great spells, but he cannot cast fire spells, so make sure you have someone who can do that.

almost all skills can receive the same effect via equipment , food, or buffs. that being said, I think having concentration at the start of a fight is very beneficial as mentioned above. I usually take this skill

Do you think Ydwin as a mindstalker is good for bow builds, or are the advantages or ranger(GH; AA subclass) +cipher (ascendant) much better?

For Tekehu (or any char with shock keyword skills) If you use both Deltros Cage and Lord Darryon's Volgue, you get +5 Power level to storm. I forget the exact math, but +5 PL comes down to about +2 PEN for lightening spells, which is very useful. Furthermore, many enemies in Deadfire have low Shock armor rating, meaning you will be doing Overpenetraion on lightening attacks. That makes AOE lightenign spells (Relenteless storm, greater maelstrom) absolutely killer. The downside of using Lord Darryons Volgue as a stat stick means a melee character won't have access to shock dmg melee weapon(which again is great for bypassing enemies with low AR to shock) . Thankfully, you can come across other weapons that do elemental damage (Animancer's blade, lategame aquistion), essence interrupter (sold early game at Port town) . Another option is using Firebrand (druid spell) for a mulitclass character; otherwise u can use scrolls (but that is not cost efficent)

What do you guys think about Wizard vs. Druid early and mid game (POTD upscaled all)? It feels like Aloth does not dish out too much damage with only his 1-5 powerlevels spells; I cast a few fireballs and that is the only stat I can attack from enemy mobs. Teheku, on the other hand, is very versatile, especially if you bump him with +shock PL using the Deltro's cage and Lord Darroy's 2her. I just love wizards, but I wonder if it is worth having him throughout hte game.

Yes! it is not easy. The more you practice it, is will get easier. I think the stealing that armor piece is the hardest spot to do it, due to the guard who is there.

Try to have one guy in full stealth mode, and ready to move in. Use another party member to throw the sparkcracker. IF you time it right, you can move in and steal the item while the others are away. Try to do this at night, for example, since NPCs may be sleeping, in different locations, or there are less of them. Also, if the NPCs' backs are turned, their stealth detection ability is much lower.

Thanks! I really like the unique grimoires and their spells. I will have to try it out! That is interesting how AOE spells carry the strike effects, something not explicitly stated in the descriptions for vanilla game. Thanks again for the advice.

Thanks! Yes I could she that as a good supporting caster role. I might try that for variety. Thanks! I bet a battlemage with all those buffs would be quite strong, especially late game using wall of draining and other buffs. I haven't tried a spellblade, so I will check out minor blights. I honestly have not used that spell much, nor the snakeskin grimore. More experimentation to come!

Hello Everyone, How do you usually build Aloth and Eder? First of all, I always choose Aloth as a pure wizard. I just love the wizard spells, especially AOE, which feels like a game changer throughout the Game. Fassina is no good. I have always loved magic users, so maybe I am biased. As for Eder, I choose swashbuckler. I don't see any real advantages to pure fighter; in fact, I think the rogue passives, escape ability, and damage skills make him a better tank because he can kill mobs faster. For variety, I might try Aloth as a battlemage, and eder as a pure rogue or DPS swashbuckler, but I have some questions: 1. Is a swashbuckler / ranged DPS rogue viable for eder? 2. How does a battlemage tank perform throughout the game? I would choose a cipher for brillance to maintain active buffs for Wizard. 3. My MC is a FF monk. Should I choose a different monk that focused on DPS and backline disruption? I am not sure I want to play a FF monk for my first monk. I feel like a vanilla monk or a subclass would be more enjoyable for a more traditional monk experience. Thanks in advance!

That is great to know about the BLOB megaboss. First time I fought it i used 1 herald and a howler to win it. Long fight! I am rolling a monk now so I think I will change from FF to a diff class to ensure I can stack WotW. thanks for the info

I installed the community patch. I followed the instructions on the website, but I cannot tell if it is working yet. As for monks, I am trying out FF, but I might go for something more generic on my first monk playthrough. I think a good party could buff a Helwalker to mitigate the +dmg penalty. otherwise, Nalzpaca is looking good. So many choices! I could also just go vanilla monk..

Great advice. Honestly, however, I tend to burn out by the time I finish the mega bosses and 1 of the DLCs. Maybe that is because ive played this game so many times. I think I am in the minority with this feeling. I feel like base game is long enough with great variety and challenging encounters. Maybe I will try to power through the DLCs again with a monk!

What do you guys suggest for race? It seems that Nature godlike means I always have +1 PL with inspirations, which means huge gains for acc, dmg, and Pen. Wood elf seems to be a popular choice for the dex resistnace, but I figure i can easily get that from equipment. Aumuna seems fun for the +2 might and the might resistance (getting stunned sucks), but it falls into the same category as wood elf

Great to know. Yeah I wish the AI would let you take potions or drugs without having to turn off AI and micro so much.... that makes Nalzpaca seem very unappealing. Lost Sinner (Sin tee), a guy who posts great builds, like the subclass, but I personally dont want to micro that much. Ive read that the community patch for deadfire changes the Shattered Pillars's penalty of max wounds from 5 to 10. If anyone has a link to the thread with the community patch, I'd greatly appreciate it! I think the challenge with FF subclass will be finding a quick, efficient way to generate wounds by applying debuffs. Hyena's talon seem's designed to help FF class. I have also read that you can apply tanglefoot or other simple debuffs to provide wounds. I love enfeeble, and I was sad to see that few classes have that skill! I was happy to find out that FF has enfeeble. It would be a great debuff for a lot of the boss fights in the game.

Great tips! Yeah I think I overanalyze too much before I start character builds. Recently, I had a goldpact/wizard and I just couldnt decide how to play it. Was it a tanky caster? Was a it a paladin? The Helwalker sounds better suited for mortar/range or a multiclass. Battles can be punishing on POTD, so I am not sure I want to be more of a class cannon. It sounds like all the monk choices are solid. For Nalzpaca, I wonder if you can set up an AI command to auto take drugs; if not, I would grow weary of the constant microing.

Thank you! Yeah I like the concept behind FF, and I appreciate the examples on how to generate wounds and overcome the penalty. Now I have to decide between a FF or a Helwalker! What do you think of the other subclasses?

Hi, I've been searching to find some good monk builds, and I would appreciate if you can tell me what you think is good for a single class monk build. I play with a party in POTD upscaled. I feel like I spend so much time thinking about what stats to choose, which subclass, and it would be great to bounce ideas around! I wanna use Whispers of the Wind , so I don't wanna multiclass. Thanks in advance. So far, I am thinking wood elf, hellwaker I would focus on dex, resolve heavily, to mitigate damage. I would keep priestbot Xoti buffing me in party if I go this route I like the skill for Forbidden Fist, but I am worried wound generation would be a problem later on, especially for megaboss fights.

Thanks for your response. You bring up a lot of good points. I must admit that I skip through often speed through dialogue more than I should. I will give it a fresh start tomorrow!

Hello everyone, I was wondering how many of you (I imagine the majority) play all the DLCs for each play through. I feel like the DLCs are an entirely different game, and don't have real synergy well into the main content of the game. I feel like Deadfire is already large enough for each play through, offering a wide variety of unique encounters, roleplaying opportunities, and so it. It is like each island is a different sampler plate for a tapas bar, each short, sweet, and offering a unique reward. DLC just feels like a grind. It is awkward to try to 'choose' a time to do them, as they mostly favor late game. I know BoW can be done earlier, but I am usually already so busy finishing up quests that I put it off till later. I enjoy the challenges (I play on POTD upscaled) of the DLCs, but the sheer visual spam of SSS battles is a bit much. I have a good system, but I think Unity is the larger issue here (besides, this is entirely other issue) . FS is fun, but it is quite a bit for back to back playthroughs. As you might have guessed, I am not a big fan of DLCs in other games such as Skyrim or PoE 1... it just feels like superfluous content added after the original vision of the game was imagined and implemented. For instance, in PoE 1, I really liked the endless paths quest; completing each floor was rewarding and fun. In many ways , it was like a DLC which was well integrated into the base game. It all led up to the epic Adra dragon battle. having one big 'mega dungeon' was fun for each play through, but I never really looked forward to the White March DLCs. Yes there are dragons, items, companions, and so forth, but it just feels like quantity of quality. In Deadfire, there are no real make it or break it items (dealbreakers, lol) which make the DLC mandatory in terms of powergaming. I am something of a completionist so I hate to miss out on items, but I think i will only keep BoW for the Helm of the Atronachs, (sp) and Vatnir, and delete the rest. On the other hand, I really like the Megabosses. I cannot recall and specific items being needed to beat them from the DLCs aside from the convenience of the Helm of the Atronachs for Dorudugan's pull effect. Anyways, do any of you feel the same way? Would you make the radical decision of uninstalling the DLC for playthroughs despite having purchased them? How do you keep yourself 'motivated' for the base game + DLCs.? I am finishing my Arcane Knight play through, but I never really got into this character as much as my Marauder.