VeritasWaits

Some ideas for multiclass pairings with Devoted based on your criteria of high single target dps: Cipher (Soulblade): Soul annihilation is still very strong, soul whip adds weapon damage, and the Cipher has several good self-buffs. You can use a pike or quarterstaff to fight behind your tank, or go for dual wielding or 2 handed weapons. Chanter (Skald): This is less single target focused, but so much fun. Skald synergizes very well with Disciplined Strikes for extra crit chance, and most of the offensive invocations hit hard and want you to be next to the enemy, while the chants can help keep you alive. Gives a great battlemage feel. Ranger (Stalker): Lots of accuracy boosts and if you work with your pet to target the same enemy you can take it down fast. Paladin (Bleak Walker): Flames of Devotion doesn't hit like it used to but is still good, and Sworn Enemy boosts your damage versus one target. Probably the most durable option on this list. Monk (Helwalker): Monk has a lot of strong abilities for boosting damage if you can handle the whole wound mechanic. I've never liked it, but it's still one of the strongest multiclass options so you can't go wrong here. Other people have already mentioned Barbarian and Rogue which are also really solid. Honestly, the devs have balanced the classes well enough by now that unless you're setting out for a very specific type of build or function you really can make pretty much anything work. In your case I would stick to one of the more martial classes just based on what you're looking to do with your character. If Fighter/Rogue really appeals to you but you're avoiding it because of Eder already being that then maybe check out the Deadfire Tweaks mod on the Nexus. It has several options for giving Eder different classes, so you could play a Swashbuckler yourself without feeling like he's stealing your spotlight.

I'm kicking off my "truly final ultimate" run now that the final DLC is out, which means dusting off my Chanter Bladesinger main character from PoE 1. I'm excited about some of the multiclass options for realizing the character concepts even more effectively. I was inspired by the D&D Bladesinger class (an old favorite), and built an invocation focused chanter/swordmaster that worked out pretty well, but I always felt like I was fighting the class design the whole way. So now I'm planning on a Fighter/Skald that takes advantage of cheaper offensive invocations to bust out frequent "spells". I'm going to be using the Unity console to "choose" some of Teheku's shock style inspirations (still paying a talent point for them), but otherwise it's Skald business as usual. Except that I plan on doing more than just "paralyze shout, swipe, swipe, swipe, paralyze shout" even though I know that's an effective approach with crits and all. I'm less confident about the best Fighter subclass to use though. At first I was all excited about Tactitian, because generating extra phrases would be great. But then it hit me that I believe the -1 Pen, -5 Acc would apply to pretty much all of my invocations since they will usually hit at least some targets that aren't being directly threatened in melee by a party member. Can anyone confirm if that's how it works? Assuming that IS how it works, how big of a price do you think that is to pay, and is it worth it? I guess this could be the "quantity over quality" approach, perhaps? The second option is Devoted. It doesn't really do anything to help the Chanter side directly, but extra Pen and crit damage on weapon attacks is a good bonus given that I already know I'll be using Sabers most of the time anyway (Singing Saber, and there are several other great ones). It's not a terribly exciting choice, but it's solid. The third option is Unbroken for a more tanky/defensive approach with a shield. I'd been thinking of the character as more of a mobile striker/dps that uses the best spell for the situation, but this could work too. So, my main questions for discussion are: 1. What are your thoughts on the best fighter subclass option for this build? 2. Any Skald playstyle/build advice you can share? Hidden synergies, gear uses, etc I might want to consider? 3. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladened swallow?

When I read it I assumed it was intended to enable multiclassing cipher with spellcasters, which is usually considered a poor choice given that spells don't generate focus. I'm thinking of something like a Priest of Wael Psion or control focused wizard who alternates between cipher spells and per encounter spells. I still don't think it's "high tier" (if that's really a thing) but it's a perfectly viable way to play one of those types of characters if you've been wanting to. Definitely worlds better than Wizard/Ascendant, for example.

I'm in the beta branch currently but I've mostly been just testing various subclasses and such. I'd like to start a new game with one of them, but am wondering if my save game would just update and function normally once the public release hits? Or should I wait until the 13th to be safe?

It's bad even for psion. Use 70 focus and some time on cast and recovery, in order to get 20-30 focus back... One thing to keep in mind though is that gaining Brilliant through a Tactitian multiclass is essentially free as long as you can reliably maintain the requirements. So instead of a poor resource trade for casting Ancestor's Memory it's more like a "gain +10 focus every 6 seconds" passive in the best case scenario. Would Ciphers take that passive if it was in their tree? I think they would, yeah. It's probably the least impactful use of Brilliant among all the classes (I'd rather see it restore a percentage of your total focus pool per tick), but it's still good if you basically get it for free. An Ascendant psyblade would reach Super Saiyan mode much faster, especially in the first half of the game where +10 focus is a bigger chunk of your total pool and dealing damage isn't quite as easy. Soulblades just gain more focus to SA dump. It would be useful for a Psion, but Psion seems to want caster multiclassing rather than martial since they lose soul whip so I don't think it's a good mix. And Beguilers can...uh...hmmm... For Chanter I actually think that a Crit focused Devoted/Skald War Caller will generate new phrases much faster anyway if that's what you're aiming for, so I don't much see the point of Tactitian there.

After some further testing of Tactitian I'm running into a lot of issues getting the passive to proc at all. Multiple combats in a row now I've flanked all enemies with no allies flanked with no results. I'm doing it the old fashioned way: basic character model positioning rather than spells, flanked immunity, etc just to make sure. Anyone have any insights on something I'm doing wrong before I flag it as a bug report?

Just did some quick testing and confirmed that Chanters gain +1 phrase from each tick of Brilliant. Ciphers gain +10 focus per tick, which doesn't seem to be affected by the total size of their focus pool (tested it once with a pool of 60 and once with a pool of 110). Full caster multiclasses seem like a pretty busted combo with Tactitian, especially since you can use their various spells to help meet the conditions for maintaining the buff. I'm personally interested in a War Caller build that spams offensive invocations to bring back that Bladesinger/Duskblade vibe, especially combined with the All Classes mod to take the Stormspeaker subclass.

I have some questions about Tactitian. The ability seems straightforward at first glance, but Brilliant is so rare in the current version (I started playing after it was patched out of Chanter and such) that I'm not terribly familiar with its nuances. I get how it works with resource pool classes (rogue, barbarian, etc), but what about the caster classes? Do you regen a single spell level every six seconds? If so, is it the lowest level, highest, random, or what? Or is it one of every spell level you have available? That seems crazy, but the first version feels underwhelming. And what about the resource pool classes? I'm assuming monks would regen mortification but not wounds, but do Ciphers regen focus, and if so how much? What about Chanter phrases? I'm really interested in a Tactitian War Caller or Psyblade, but if Brilliant only affects half the multiclass then that's a wash. Swashbuckler seems strong, especially if you go Trickster for the defense and CC spells to use all that regenerating guile on. Fun times!

I can't wait to see some new builds with the 4.0 subclasses once they release publicly. Good times.

I just started Deadfire for the first time, and made it through most of Port Maje before realizing that my Mindstalker isn't working as intended. My weapon hits don't show bonus damage from soul whip in the combat log, and don't generate any additional focus. I have the focus I start the fight with, and once it's gone it's gone until the end of combat. I've tried resting, re-loading, unequipping gear, and traveling to a new area but nothing works. Feeling bummed as I'm really enjoying the game but a Cipher with no focus gain isn't playable. I do have the Unity Console installed, although I don't think that should matter. I read somewhere that someone else had this problem with Serafen which they fixed by removing him from the party and adding him again, but since this is my PC that won't work. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Yes that's the other combo I've been looking at. Would you build Arcane Knight as a summoned weapon user, or ignore them for real weapons? If so, do you lean towards dual wield or tank? If I went Arcane Knight I'd want to mix in regular spell casting instead of only buffs, but I'm not sure if that's optimal? Grrr, so many choices and I think part of the issue is that lots of classes and combos are good (yay balance) so I'm torn on which would be more my style. Guess I'll just need to take my best guess and be ready to restart a few times once I've played enough to figure out what suits me.

Oh that makes sense, I hadn't really thought about the limitation of only casting two spells per level compared to martial classes working from a single resource pool. I can see how adding in a multiclass would give those casting classes more to do before and after casting their core spells. I still think I'll go with Aloth as a pure wizard for maximum spell nuke potential and just because that's how I think of him from my PoE 1 playthroughs, but I'll play around with the rest.

Interesting. I was under the impression that single classing would work best for caster classes as you gain spell access faster and cast at an overall higher PL. Multiclassing with a martial class for a battlemage type build I get, but I'd been assuming that if I plan to have the character hang back and cast rather than use weapons or class abilities then single classing would be optimal. I'd love to be wrong about that though as I generally prefer multiclassing and find it more interesting.

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I've narrowed down to either Inquisitor or Mindstalker. Both are strong so it's really more of a flavor/rp choice. That said, I still have a few decisions to make about subclasses. On the Cipher side, I'm leaning towards Ascendant. Both Rogue and Paladin would help with maxing focus faster (especially rogue), and I like the idea of unleashing hell every so often. One question I have is how big of a difference the -1 power level would actually make if I decided to cast some opening spells. From what I understand Power Level primarily affects damage, penetration, and duration which seems to mean that it has a bigger impact on damage spells. If I opened with a Charm, Borrowed Instict, etc before reaching max focus would it be noticeably weaker? If not then I'll definitely go with a high DEX Ascendant. I really want Beguiler to be cool since I love the concept, but the benefits seem pretty minor overall as I'll be melee focused. If the class actually made your deception abilities stronger I'd be all over it, but just gaining a bit of focus back when you cast them seems pretty weak when Ascendant already gets a natively better Focus gain from Soul Whip. I know Soulblade is the more optimal melee choice, but I hate the idea of having less focus overall and dumping most of it into a kind of bland melee strike. At that point it seems like I might as well just choose a different class altogether... On the Rogue side, I'm torn between Trickster and Assassin. Assassinate feels like it benefits ranged a bit more, and would lead me to using most of my guile every fight for invisibility to re-trigger it. Tricksters defensive and CC options seem fun, and it sounds like they received some buffs/attention in the 1.2 patch that made them a bit stronger. Anyone have any insights on how Tricksters perform? For Paladin Bleak Walker is out cause I just can't manage to be enough of a bastard to make it work . That leaves Kind Wayfarer for more of a healing/party support focus or Goldpact for more personal survivability. Either seems fine. In terms of a party comp I'm leaning towards Eder (Riposte Tank), Aloth (pure Wizard), Teheku (Theurge support and lightining/frost spells), and either Xoti as a priest or Serafen if I use Unity console to rework him as a Gunhawk. Priest seems like a stronger class but I can already tell that Xoti is likely to annoy the hell out of me...

Nice. I read that build before but kind of skipped over it because of the nerfs to both WotP and Soul Annihilation. Inquisitor in general though is what I'm leaning towards, but probably either dual wield sabers or rapier + small shield for the accuracy modal to boost spellcasting (the +acc from that applies to spells, yes?). Spellblade is the other option that I find interesting. Great suggestions all around!

Great questions! I think the easiest way to say it is that prefer proactive gameplay to reactive or passive. I like having abilities that I need to use well to be effective, but that have a big impact when used well. I'm fine with damage coming from weapon use, but I want to actually cast spells as part of the build -- even if it's more CC or tactical spells vs damage, although nuking is fine too -- not just use them for buffs. I'm realizing that my question really boils down to "which caster class should I go with?" since that really sets the tone and playstyle most. Cipher and Wizard are my top picks. To be honest I love the flavor of Cipher, and the class was great in PoE1 but it looks like they've really taken a hit in Deadfire which has me worried. Wizards have always been super strong. Mindstalker sounds fun but I'm worried that I would get tired of constantly needing to use stealth skills in combat to do my thing without being shattered into tiny Cipher pieces at the first sign of trouble. Inquisitor seems interesting and possibly more sturdy, but I worry that it would end up trying to do a little bit of everything well (damage, control spells, off tank, etc) and not really end up being very good at them. Transcendent (cipher/helwalker or shattered pillar) seems like an interesting option but I haven't looked at it too closely. Arcane Knight seems really fun and strong, especially now that you can bust out your initial buffs quickly. My main hesitation here is that I like Aloth and hate overlapping with a companion, but I suppose I could take the more martial combat route and build him for spell blasting? The spellblade option you recommended also looks good.

Hi, my name is Veritas, and I am an alt-o-holic. I played the hell out of PoE1, but it's taken me until now to grab Deadfire. Now I'm ready to dive in, but the introduction of multiclassing has totally paralyzed me. I've spent at least 20 hours reading and thinking about character builds (which I find fun), but haven't actually started the game yet. So, I could obviously use some help in narrowing down a class so I can start this damn thing. I like active, tactical gameplay more than raw power, although I also want my character to be the best at their role on the team. For that reason I prefer to leave tanking and pure support to the lackeys...ahem, I mean valued companions. I tend to lean towards fighter/mage style hybrids, and I never play a ranged build for my MC (just can't enjoy it even when it's strong). In PoE1 my favorites were dual-wielding cipher, summoned weapon wizard, and a greatsword/firebrand chanter. At the moment I'm considering: Mindstalker Inquisitor/Psyblade Arcane Knight Seer War Caller/Herald Can those of you with some actual in-game experience give me your take on which of those options you prefer and think might suit? I'm mostly concerned that one or more of them sound fun in theory but don't work out as well in practice due to little things like long ability cast times, patch nerfs, or other factors adding up to make the combo not work as well as others. Thoughts? Opinions? Trollish shaming of my obsessive tendencies? The floor is yours...

I'm wondering if anyone knows of a way to use console commands to add Priest or Wizard spellcasting ability to a class that normally can't cast spells, like Paladin or Fighter. I've used the console to add individual spells (i.e. Bless, Fan of Flame, etc), but it doesn't enable the spellcasting radial options on the character bar so I have no way of casting them. I've successfully added Cipher abilities by adding "focustrait" and "soulwhip", so I'm wondering if there is some command similar to "focustrait" that grants spellcasting ability. When I add spells to a Cipher his existing spellcasting radial does grant access to them, but doesn't track uses/rest so they are essentially infinite free casts. I'm asking all of this because I'd enjoy trying to play a "battlemage" style multiclass in PoE1 for more continuity leading into PoE2. Ideally I'd take a Fighter or Paladin and only add a few select buff spells. If anyone has any insight to offer it'd be much appreciated. Thanks!