[Theorycraft: optimal 6 person party for non-boss fights?]

1. Knockdown is a Full Attacks which adds quite some damage compared to a hunting bow, especially when executed with dual heavy one handers (sabres?). In the early game hunting bow is pretty weak due to DR issues. A Full Attack complety negates the recovery between two strikes which leads to a much higer dps than with auto-attacks.

 

If you hover over the White Worms roll it shoud tell you how many damage it did. Or you have to search a bit further up or down because sometimes the numbers for hitting and damage are seperated if mutiple enemies got hit.

 

And offtank shouldn't need a (large) shield anyways. In this case a spear is a good pick (+5 ACC makes up a bit for the -8 ACC from the large shield).

 

In my opinion every class is better than a rogue except in the early game where a rogue can be really useful. 2 ciphers are certainly more useful over the course of the whole game than 1 cipher and 1 rogue. Usefulness is not only about dealing damage...

 

My offtank is wielding a shield/flail plus a pike. Doesn't a full attack add damage only a character is wielding two weapons, one in each hand? 

[Theorycraft: optimal 6 person party for non-boss fights?]

Questions:

 

1. My lvl 3 Rogue with hunting bow and wearing no armor has almost the exact same career damage (within 100 points) as my offtank fighter. This is with the 50% damage boost of Sneak Attack plus Knock Down prone/Eyestrike blind. Something seems off, shouldn't my naked Rogue be doing way more damage than an armored fighter? I think the problem is the low base damage hunting bow.

2. How much damage does White Worms invocation do? It seems to do a LOT of damage for a lvl 2 spell which is crazy, but when I check the combat log it just tells me how many enemies are hit, not the amt of damage done.

 

3. When tanking and wearing a large shield, what is the best weapon for my offtank? I'm using Gaun's Share flail ATM, but I wonder is a spear better?

 

4. Is 2 back row ciphers even better than a 1 cipher and 1 rogue? There's more micro managing but the Whispers of Treason power every battle is super useful in certain scenarios. I'm still undecided.

[Theorycraft: optimal 6 person party for non-boss fights?]

After beating the game once on Hard, I've started my first PotD run. I tried to create the "optimal" 6 character party for everyday (non-boss) encounters that doesn't rely heavily on per rest abilities (eg Wizard). There's no right or wrong answers, and it's just for fun. This is what I've come up with so far:

Front row: 2 Coastal Aumaua fighters for high ACC/high deflection striking. Deftank wears plate mail, large shield, and has 20/14/5/18/3/18 stats. Offtank wears leather armor and switches between large shield/weapon and a pike, stats 16/12/18/19/3/10.

Middle row: 2 Moon godlike chanters with rods/wands/scepters, Dangerous Implements, and padded armor. Max Might and healing auras, use implements + summons, boost front and back line with auras while providing lots of offensive capability.

Back row: 2 single target Wood Elf DPS cannons. 1 cipher, 1 rogue. Their abilities compliment each other and the Cipher provides vital control. They wear no armor, stand far back, and use 12m ranged bows or crossbows.

So far I've had no issues with survivability with this party. I'm using custom grouping with 1 space in between each row. With Constant Recovery, Ancient Memories, and Silver Tide, there is plenty of healing. The fighters are durable and I max Deflection with large Shields and accessories. The only time my fighters get knocked out is by accidentally disengaging and incurring the disengagement penalty.

[Need some advice for my first playthrough (POTD)]

I found 1st, 2nd and 3rd line are very hypothetical roles. Many enemies swarm you on PotD so everyone needs to be able to take a beating.

This is true to a certain extent. In interior maps like Od Nua, there are chokepoints where you can position one or two members to block off access so they can't run through. On open maps like wilderness areas they can swarm you. I like sending my tanks well ahead to engage while keeping my ranged characters back. This mostly works well except against Primordials and Spores who can use mental afflictions on your front line (Charmed/Dominated/Confused).

[Need some advice for my first playthrough (POTD)]

Other people will have different ideas but personally I like the idea of a 2nd row Cipher because they require less micro management. They can do good damage with pikes/arbalests (Soldier) and Soul Whip, and their Powers give them lots of flexibility. Fighting in the open and an enemy engages you in Melee? Use Psychovampiric shield to gain +25 deflection. Fighting in hallways behind your tank? Use CC like Mind blades. Eyestrike and Phantom Foes are awesome for buffing a back row Rogue with Backstab (+50% DMG).

 

I'm about to start a PotD playthrough with a middle row Hearth Orlan Cipher. Personally, I'd put Eder and Pallegina on the front row. You can put Cipher in the front but it requires lots of micro, and keep in mind you get interrupted more frequently.

 

For the dialogue you're not missing much. Dialogue checks are mostly to avoid fighting and offer a bit of flavor. It's not really that important.

[Great 6-Person Party: final run analysis and thoughts]

Great guide. I have some questions though. What's the reason for the Bleakwalker Paladin? Is it really better than a Shieldbearer Paladin for tanking, or is it just for style? Why a flail on a character with 16 PER? And is a great sword on back line Priest really good?

[Need Help for a 1H Barbarian Build!]

I think the Might build is better. If you are playing one handed no shield, you will get a +12 ACC bonus. So you don't need high PER. Might also affects healing, which is very important for melee Barbs. Plus the 18 INT means longer duration for all your abilities. I would choose the first build.

[Stat Prioritization for Gearing Sabre/Stiletto Rogue]

For a Rogue I would max PER and DEX. Perception is the most important stat, because it determines Accuracy, and that determines your chances to hit or crit a target. Without PER you do no damage.

 

DEX increases action speed and Reflex, but it is extremely good on Rogues due to Adept Evasion. Adept Evasion checks Reflex instead of Deflection when dodging. Since 1 point of DEX gives +2 Reflex, that means you get twice as much evasion with DEX than RES (at level 7).

 

Might increases the damage of auto attacks, but if your character has high enough ACC to crit 60% of the time, you don't necessarily need to max it since you will be doing good damage anyway.

 

INT increases the duration of your abilities, so if you like blinding, crippling, and poisoning foes get more INT to increase the time those Debuffs last.

 

 

The least important for Rogue is CON and RES, but I wouldn't dump either one. RES is important for Concentration (how hard it is for enemy to interrupt you) and Will (defense vs mental attacks like Charmed, Confused, Dominated). CON determines your Endurance and resistance to body attacks.

 

My Rogue would be something like this:

 

MIG 12

CON 8

DEX 18

PER 19

INT 12

RES 8

 

You can min max by dumping CON and RES on Rogues, but keep in mind this makes you more fragile and less resistant to special body and mental attacks.

[[CLASS BUILD] The Storm Trooper (Fighter, PotD, v3.02)]

This guide is a work in progress - currently testing it out now. Input is welcome!

 

 

 

The Storm Trooper, aka "Pepe le Bleu"

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PotD v. 3.02 base game (no DLCs)

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Class: Fighter

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Race: Moon Godlike/Wild Orlan

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Background: Old Vailia - Colonist

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I. Stats and Abilities

 

Stats:

MIG: 18

CON: 8

DEX: 4

PER: 10

INT: 20

RES: 18

 

Abilities: Disciplined Barrage, Knockdown, Into the Fray, Vigorous Defense, Armored Grace

 

Talents: Weapon Focus: Peasant, Fast Runner, One-Handed Style

 

I take Knockdown, Barrage, Peasant, Fast Runner, Into the Fray, Vigorous Defense, Bonus Knock Down, Armored Grace, then One-Handed Style. These are required IMO, the rest is a personal preference between additional DPS (eg Confident Aim) or survivability (eg Superior Deflection). Clear Out is an excellent ability but because it's per rest, it's usefulness is greatly reduced.

 

Skills: 4 Athletics, rest in Survival (higher the better)

 

===============================================================================================================

 

II. Equipment

 

- Weapon Set I (primary): Cladhalíath (Exceptional, Vicious, Damaging 2, Burning Lash, Slaying: Primordial), empty hand

 

- Weapon Set II (backup): Hearth Harvest, Byrngar's Solace

 

You can't always make a clean escape, so when you get mobbed switch to set II to immediately gain a whopping +25 deflection and +50 def when stunned or prone.

 

- Weapon Set III (optional): Reghar Konnek, empty hand 

 

Useful for killing kith spellcasters when completing bounties in the late game.

 

- Head: N/A

 

- Armor: Blaidh Golan/Heldrik's Coat

 

Because our storm trooper has low CON and thus Fortitude, Break Out is extremely useful when you get stunned or knocked over in close quarters.  Heldrik's Coat can be worn with Armored Grace and has higher DR but lacks Break Out.

 

- Neck: Cape of Withdrawal/Cloak of Tireless Defender/Cloak of Eothisian Priest

 

Eothisian offers even more def against Confused, Charm, and Dominate attacks. Tireless for more healing. 

 

- Belt: Blunting Belt/Belt of Bountiful Healing 

 

Bountiful Healing is really good if you can find it. I also like the DR of Blunting Belt.

 

- Rings: Ring of Protection, Ring of Thorns

 

Ring of Thorns gives you a whopping +50 def when stunned or prone. The +3 Dex is also amazing on a DPS character, making this one of the best items in the game.

 

- Hands: Bracers of Deflection

 

Because you can never have enough deflection.

 

- Boots: Boots of Stability

 

Again, our build has high deflection but low fortitude, so these offer even more protection against getting knocked down, which is bad. 

 

=========================================================================================

 

III. Description

 

The storm trooper (ST) is a vicious and deadly fighter adept at moving behind enemy lines and disabling/killing high priority soft targets (Primordials and kith spellcasters). Storm troopers can knock down and critically hit soft targets with their extremely high accuracy. Their high deflection is useful for making enemies miss attacks, and Vigorous Defense helps them stay alive in difficult situations.

 

Tactics: Use Bonus Movement and Fast Runner to circle enemy mobs and find any soft/slow targets. The ST has very high Willpower and should resist most Charmed/Confused/Dominate attacks. If not you can boost it higher with items. When a target is found, make a beeline towards it while trying not to draw too many enemy defenders. If the mob is bunched together, you can use Into the Fray and pull them towards you. When the target is in range, use Accurate Barrage followed by Knock Down to disable them. Now you can either move to the next target or attempt to kill the current one with crits. Keep circling and attacking until your Endurance runs low or if your main party needs help, you can return to them. If you ever get surrounded or caught in a difficult situation, switch to your secondary shield & hatchet set and/or activate Vigorous Defender which lasts for 22 seconds. The length of Disciplined Barrage, Vigorous Defender, and Knock Down can all be increased by stacking INT on you character if you wish.

 

Fun fact: A typical Primordial delemgan has 43 deflection. At level 3, a storm trooper with a plain Fine spear and Paladin aura has 87 acc (30 base + 20 Barrage + 12 empty hand + 6 Peasant wep + 6 level + 6 Zealous + 5 spear + 4 fine), a 95% chance to hit, and a 45% chance to crit (60% with One Handed style).  A spear with Primordial Slaying and Burning Lash would crit for 30-43 damage (24-35 crit + 6-8 burn) before DR. A knock down rolls 87 acc vs 37 Fortitude and would last 7.5 seconds (5 base + 50% Int duration).

 

Party: The storm trooper can be a main character due to their high INT and RES, but I prefer other classes for roleplaying. Storm troopers are better than average front liners but aren't min-maxed for tanking due to their low CON. Having a dedicated front line tank is highly recommended. A Darcozzi Paladin support with Inspiring Liberation is also recommended.

 

 

That's it for now! Thanks for reading!