Ophiuchus

Duality of Mortal Presence (+10 INT at max Wounds) is reason enough to multiclass Monk with an Ascendant Cipher. You can stay in Ascended mode for ludicrous amounts of time (especially with Salvation of Time). There's some nice flexibility in not having to worry about the Ascended duration, which frees you to use melee attacks (such as against enemies with spell reflection). For the Monk subclass, I've enjoyed Shattered Pillar the most - using the Community Patch to fix its Wound count limitation. It's fun to raise Wounds and Focus at the same time, and work your way into a rhythm that maximizes the outcome. I went two-handed on this one and focused on reach weapons: Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff for damage and the +Deflection modal while casting, and Lance of the Midwood Stag for an additional +2 to PL. The build started off slow and clunky but snowballed after hitting level 13. My God, the lashes...

I'd be glad to help you shape a Warlock but I'm curious why you went for Enchanter - guessing it's for the Wizard buffs? You'll lose out on critical Illusion spells (important to pad out your low Deflection) as well as Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon (Transmutation), which is one of the best life drain effects in the game. IMO, Enchanter's +2PL bonus is wasted because it's (mostly) just going to extend durations: effectively, a small portion of what PL bonuses could bring to a more varied subclass. MIG: The self-damage from Berserker's Frenzy scales with MIG and PL so consider dropping it a couple points - I usually go for 14. Mind Frenzy will grant you +5. CON: I would raise this by a few points (see self-damage above). Also remember you'll get +5 from Frenzy. DEX: I usually go for around 14 DEX and stack Frenzy with Fleet Feet. DAoM's bonus to Action Speed will not stack with Frenzy's and deals damage over time - could have some niche uses in lowering your health to meet certain thresholds, but a bit gimmicky. PER: Should be alright. As you said, Eldritch Aim is meh so I'd recommend bringing a Priest with Dire Blessing. INT: Consider bumping it a bit if you can. You can always cast Infuse with Vital Essence for +5 in combat (though you'll need a second source of Confused immunity). RES: I would drop this to 10. It's been a while since I've used one of those weapons, but I think Carnage only triggers off the initial target. Still, an AoE weapon works well with both Frenzy branches for bleeds or Staggered. INT increases to Carnage aren't super noticeable but it's not something you want to neglect, either: Carnage rocks at triggering stuff like Combusting Wounds, The Shield Cracks, and Recall Agony. As mentioned above, I'd set base MIG to no more than 14 due to increases in self-damage. The Parasitic Staff is a decent summoned weapon, but it's been toned down since Pillars 1. Since you're playing in a group, you don't need to worry so much about life draining: have a friendly Druid or Priest slap down an AoE regen field and go to town. For added healing, invest points in Athletics and consider Savage Defiance. I think 10 Dex (+5 from Fleet Feet) would work fine. Once you unlock Blood Thirst and Bloodlust, Dex doesn't matter as much. Edit: Oh duh. I'm so used to using BB bonus attributes I think I goofed a bit on that section. Still, that should give an idea on how they work with a Warlock.

I generally only use it in win-more situations as that final push to finish the battle faster. I like it using it on an Ascendant Cipher/Monk with Mind Blades: +8 PL (plus another 2 from Lance of the Midwood Stag) generates a lot of bounces.

IMO, Enduring Dance wouldn't be worth it if your main character is going to be the tank - works great on an off-tank, though, especially if you use Stealth and ambush tactics (you can generate a couple extra Wounds while your tank does his thing, then pop out of Stealth when ready). Enduring Dance works really well with reach weapons (Pikes and Quarterstaves) and Instruments of Pain. Not a lot of talk about Drugs in this thread when they're integral to your build. Due to stacking rules, many of them won't work too well with Monk but here are a few standouts: Mouth Char: 5% damage reduction, +15% damage /w melee weapons. I'm guessing the specific "/w melee weapons" would stack with generic active damage boosts. Deadeye: +5 ACC, 15% chance to score Interrupt on Crit Hit. This one could be useful if you aren't planning on using Enduring Dance or Perception Inspirations (Blessing, Tactical Meld, and such). Svef: +3 PER, -25% hostile effect duration, resistance to Mind afflictions (INT, PER, RES). Obvious synergy with Sacred Immolation here, and the resistances rock. "Why would anyone want to take an addictive substance, Tasha?"

I know I'll never get around to it, but I wanted to design four subclasses. -------------- Rogue - Thief: Gains bonuses to Rogue skills (Mechanics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth) on start and at PL intervals. Disadvantage: Lower Fortitude or Will; receives a small incoming damage increase (5 percent?). Because of Sleight of Hand (needless skill), it's tough to evenly assign abilities that would suit a Rogue. This would help bridge the gap. The biggest bonuses would come at PLs 7 and 9 to encourage single classing it. The disadvantages would be minor and easy for the player to manage. ---------------- Rogue - Bounty Hunter: Gains PL bonuses to Explosives and Mechanics (+3 each seems fair since they're both lousy by default) on start and learns free abilities at PLs. These abilities would focus on ensnaring enemies, disruption, and traps. Stuff like: Lasso: A ranged pull effect; same as Lurkers' vine snare. Bolas: Ranged knockdown that deals Crush damage with an Immobilized follow-up. Fragmentation Grenade: AoE that deals best of Slash/Crush damage, has same effect as Expose Vulnerabilities. (-2 AR, -10 Deflection) Hallucination Grenade: Aoe that inflicts Confusion, Flanked, and Shaken for a modest duration; deals small amount of Raw damage. Black Powder Mine: Seal ability that deals Burn damage, Hobbles and Blinds enemies. Affliction duration and damage are low but the effect pulses. Pitfall Trap: Seal ability that triggers a pulsing knockdown effect similar to Slicken but with added Piercing damage (and a shorter duration and AoE). It would be interesting if the traps and bombs could have additional scaling from Explosives and Mechanics but I'm not sure if this is possible. Disadvantage: Lose access to all Rogue Invisibility abilities; -15% Stride. The Bounty Hunter is always equipped with noisy, cumbersome gadgets and doo-dads. Lay down a trap and a Seal during Stealth, then pull a vulnerable enemy into the stacks; or use group ambush tactics to set up battlefield control. --------------- Wizard - Arcanist: Gains +1 Wizard spell cast per PL. At PLs 7, 8, and 9, respectively gain an additional spell cast for Wizard spell levels 1, 2, and 3. +2 Arcana Disadvantages: Cannot use Grimoires. Pretend Rekvu's gear and Blood Mages don't exist. This is basically the D&D Sorcerer brought to Deadfire: an arcane caster naturally attuned to magic that lacks formal training: a hedge wizard. The PL bonuses would work as auto-passives per PL, so the extra casts would be granted after reaching a new PL (meaning it would get two casts at PL9 single classed, PL7 multi). Sadly, you wouldn't get to use unique spells from Grimoires so the Arcana boost is there to add scrolls into the mix. --------------- Barbarian - Outlier: Shout abilities gain effects used to destroy the essence of magic. Gains "Magebane Strike" at PL2. Upgrades to "Magebane Collapse" or "Magebane Ambush" at PL 5. Disadvantages: Loses access to Carnage and abilities that inflict or modify Carnage (Barbaric Blow, Accurate Carnage). Frenzy loses Fit inspiration. Cannot use scrolls. All shouts gain a brief (4s base, scales with PL) beneficial suspension effect ala Arcane Dampener. The base duration is low, but I thought it ok since shouts are cheap to cast. PL 5 Shout upgrades gain a lesser Concussive Tranquilizer effect (-20 seconds to beneficial duration); PL9 upgrades enhance this to -30 seconds and apply an additional interrupt after three seconds. Magebane Strike: Full melee attack, Interrupt on Hit, Veil Piercing, +25% damage, +10 Accuracy. Costs 2 Rage. Replaces Barbaric Blow. Upgrades to Magebane Collapse: Full melee attack, now interrupts on Graze and removes enemy Concentration. +1 PEN. Replaces Crushing Blow. Or Magebane Ambush: Full attack (melee or ranged), lowers duration of (flanked) enemy beneficial effects by 30. +1 PEN. Replaces Barbaric Smash. The idea was a revamp of the Mage Slayer, which was a meme on launch and remains to this day (Eric Galad's awesome mod makes it better). Instead of strictly slaying mages, the Outlier goes after the essence of magic itself and works as a tear down class: something reserved for Wizards and Rangers in Deadfire. ----------- Other than those, some odds and ends like merging Arcane Archer with Ghost Heart (Checoden's mod did the same with Sharpshooter) or smaller difficulty tweaks that are easy to implement.

Just wanted to point out that a Howler using this armor can cause three AoE afflictions in quick succession: Staggered (Spirit Frenzy), Weakened (The Long Night's Drink...), and Frightened (natch). Now that's some spicy value.

Toss on Recall Agony. Nothing survives.

I don't have much experience with either multiclass but here are some thoughts: Unbroken/Lifegiver could also be a damage-dealer with powerful DoTs (Insect Swarm, Infestation of Maggots, Plague of Insects) bolstered by high ACC: plus hit-to-crit (Disciplined Barrage) or bonus INT and PL (Tactical Barrage). Druids that aren't based on shifting or elemental spells will generally want to use the Spine of Thicket Green (two-handed weapon) for its PL bonuses, which would negate Unbroken's shield bonus: Tactical Barrage would help offset the PL differential. Shifting into the animal form would have the same issue since it uses two weapons. Unbroken/Stalker seems alright on paper. You could use a Bashing shield (Magran's Blessing is easy to get) alongside Two-Weapon and Weapon-and-Shield styles; the shield's damage isn't much (iirc Community Patch fixes it) but it will give you two opportunities for Full Attacks. You'll probably want to use weapons that support a tanky playstyle while also offering on-crit effects. Stalker's Patience and Mohora Tanga (Spear), Last Word (War Hammer), Griffin's Blade and Duskfall (Swords), and so on. That being said, I worry how you would utilize Ranger's Bond abilities. Marked for The Hunt is nice for recovering Bond points but the bounce is erratic, and it could simply end up on a gunner or caster 10ms away; Wounding Shot is best used on a weapon with high base damage and it doesn't work well with dual-wielding; Hunter's Claw and upgrades are alright but they require some meta knowledge to get going. Concussive Tranquilizer could have some nice value against caster bosses - two hits means removing a whole minute of beneficial effects. You would probably want to pick up Evasive Roll for a mobility tool (and with enough INT, a fair Action Speed boost): mobility is important for an Unbroken because of the Stride penalty, and it's good to be able to reposition your tank (when your party is bottle-necked by the environment, for example). Takedown Combo rocks if you can time it properly. Personally, my favorite tank /w some damage and support is Unbroken/Trickster. It's easy and self-contained (no having to keep track of Phrases or Wounds or the pet's positioning), has solid interrupts, DoTs, and utility, and the Trickster's free spells grant ability points to round up damage output.

DeadlyDeadfire has a component file with difficulty adjustments so it's simply copying the Veteran bonuses into the PoTD area. You can tailor these however you'd like. I like setting enemy health and PEN bonuses to PoTD and everything else to Veteran. This mod does the same but you'd want to use the above method if running DeadlyDeadfire. https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/502 I've found this combo to be the most enjoyable way to play Deadfire. You have to contend with increased spawns (including "bosses" like the adra ooze by Oderisi) and enemies that completely scale with you (Risen Wizards in Poko Kohara use Wilting Wind at level 13). Reducing the PoTD bonuses opens more build and party comps (since you're not laser focused on PEN mechanics) while maintaining a good challenge that's more dynamic than vanilla.

Firefox completely ate my edited response, so here's some bullet points: Estocs and Arquebuses exclusively deal Pierce damage, which is the most frequent physical damage immunity. I'd recommend backup weapons like a Morning Star: it deals best of Crush/Pierce and the Body Blows modal (-25 FOR) rocks with Garrote since it targets that defense. The unique Estoc Engoliero do Espirs has some value since it can trigger AoE Ghost Blades, which translates to Hobbled, which will trigger Steel Garrote's health recovery VS afflicted enemies. Speaking of Garrote, you'll want to use it carefully since it costs 2 Zeal and completely whiffs against enemies resistant or immune to DEX afflictions (the Paralyze component has to connect). There's a mod floating around the Deadfire Nexus that reduces the cost to 1, if you are inclined. I wouldn't mix ranged and melee weapons generally. You'll spread your choices thin (there's a hat that works with two-handed melee and one that works with ranged weapons, for example). There is some slight synergy with Two-Handed style since they both count as two-handed weapons, though. For RP, you could consider the soulbound Mace Magistrate's Cudgel (binds with Monk) and the unique Club Shattered Vengeance as they are Woedican weapons. These would free your off-hand for Tulotilo's Palm, which is an awesome small shield that also functions as Fist-type weapon and offers valuable Monk enhancements. Nalpazca is a good choice but the micro-management may not be to your liking. There's a lot of travel in Deadfire so you'll need to reapply Drugs on the regular: this can be frustrating after certain scripted encounters or during boarding battles since you'll need to take a Drug in the thick of it. (Make sure to disable AI when using items since their behaviors will override consumable usage.) Combine Nalpazca with Enduring Dance and you'll be swimming in Wounds. Tread carefully against enemy Wizards since they can cause you to crash prematurely via Arcane Dampener or Arcane Cleanse - Risen Wizards seem to always open with Dampener so consider having your main tank soak it and move on. Abilities to consider: Monk Lightning Strikes/Swift Flurry: I like using the former for two-handed weapons (big damage packets) and the latter when dual-wielding (more opportunities to Crit). Clarity of Agony: A useful counter versus Arcane Dampener (but not Cleanse). Raised Torment: The AoE Stun works well on an off-tank and counts as an Affliction, again triggering Steel Garrote's heal on afflicted enemy passive. It's good to have a Wound spender, too. Enduring Dance: Awesome Wound generation and ACC bonus. Flagellant's Path: You can never go wrong with a teleport. This isn't something you'll want to use all the time but it's useful for repositioning. Thunderous Blows: +5 MIG and +2 PEN. The bonus PEN is mandatory on PoTD. Turning Wheel: +1 INT and +2% Burn Damage lash per Wound. Note the lash won't work on ranged attacks (the Community Patch fixes this). Skyward Kick: Another Wound spender. It's got some nice flair and style. Paladin Sworn Rival: Bonus damage and returns the Zeal cost when the foe dies. The bonus damage applies to (just about?) everything, including Garrote's DoT (new band name). Shared Flames/Eternal Devotion: Can't go wrong with more ACC. Lay on Hands: Solid healing, especially with the bonus INT from Turning Wheel. The upgrades (more like sidegrades) are nice but mind the additional Zeal cost. Exalted Endurance: Probably the best out of the Paladin Auras since Focus doesn't stack (at least without another certain mod) with other active ACC bonuses. Reviving Exhortation: One of those abilities you'll cringe when picking up but will want to have it just in case. On RP, a Steel Garrote's favored dispositions are Cruel and Rational while disfavored are Diplomatic and Benevolent. In my current Steel Garrote/Forbidden Fist run, I'm playing him as a corrupt lawful evil enforcer type: plays sides as long as he can, sticks to rules when they benefit him, and has no qualms breaking contracts to serve Woedica (as is her domain). A Nalpazca could fit this well since they'll interact with Deadfire's underbelly to get Drugs. There's not many unique dialogues for Steel Garrote, but given your experiences in PoE1, I think you'll be pleased with what is available. Agreed that Forbidden Fist is probably the best Monk class for Steel Garrote multis. Sworn Rival -> Forbidden Fist -> Garrote has a satisfying "You are already dead." appeal. I like to breach through the frontliners using Flagellant's Path, then run around and stun-death casters and archers.

Browser is being funky. Sorry for the double post.

Good points. I was disappointed Magistrate's Cudgel wasn't opened to Paladins and Priests when Steel Garrote and Woedica were introduced, considering it is a Woedican weapon, so I figured this would be the best opportunity to implement it.

Thanks for the clarification. I wondered if it would work with Citzal's or WoTEP. As an aside, a Steel Garrote/FF can wield Magistrate's Cudgel for Woedica RP and style: thinking that Sworn Enemy/Brand Enemy/Sworn Rival -> Judgment (+10 ACC versus afflicted opponent; assuming it stacks like Ranger Marks) -> Forbidden Fist -> Garrote would be a spicy combo.

Hope the necro is ok, but had two quick questions for @Boeroerregarding the Community Patch Forbidden Fist ability (now a standard melee attack instead of a quasi-magic demi-melee attack). If FF triggers Swift Strikes/Heartbeat Drumming I'm assuming the extra strikes will come from the weapons and not the temporary Fist effect (go go Rust's Grognards Poignard!). Are there any mainhand weapon effects that will transfer to the Fist? What about offhand? Would something like Scordeo's Trophy apply? (Obviously Tuotilo's Palm works with it.) Asking because I'm wondering if that change makes a difference in functionality.

Just wanted to add that Eric Galad's awesome Deadfire Balance Polishing Mod makes this build even better with improvements to Carnage, Accurate Carnage, Leap (now applies Stun instead of Daze - gives you some solid breathing room to cast Torrent of Flame after landing), and the Barbaric full attacks. Would recommend it over the Deadfire Balancing Tweaks mentioned in the guide. Yes, the guide was written for 5.0 so it works. Obviously you wouldn't be able to use mods on Xbox as far as I know but it won't make or break the build. Never used the helmet on anything but a Berserker/Fury but that is a consideration. I like Evoker for that doublecast chance: gives it an unpredictable flair that gels with Berserker.