Thormind

I tested Shieldbarer/Troubadour last night and like you said it's really good. My only problem is i found the summon really long to cast. My current stats are: 10might, 14con, 10dex, 14percep, 14int and 16 resolve. Im thinking about restarting with 14 dex instead of perception. Would that have a noticeable impact on the summons casting time? With 10 perception am i limiting myself to a support role where i cant use anything that needs to hit (CC/dmg/debuffs)? If i go for 14dex and perception and keep might and con at 10, will i still be able to tank well with the low fortitude?

Just tested a Paladin(shield barer)/troubadour yesterday and imo its a better sub than Beckoner. The # 1 problem i've found with summons is the time it takes to use the incantation. I'd much rathe have less summon out but at full power than having to recast summons many times per fight because they die/expire quickly. For a tank i've found it's easy to get the summons out in the beginning of a fight. What i do is use brisk to get a summon (meat shield) out quickly and then turn it off to get the effects of 2 chants at once for me, my pets and my melee companions. So far it works really well. My stats are 16res, 14con, 14int, 14perception. Im think more and more about restarting to switch from perception to dex. I would also lower con by 2 to get an extra point of int and dex. Not sure yet.

It seems like a good combo for tanking: Shieldbearer have +1 engagement. add +1 from shield and +1 from spear. Pet is +1 engagement by itself and +1 from ranger talent. Pet HP + Paladin HP + healing from paladin + healing from ranger + buff from paladin. That seems like a lot of meat shield. On paper it looks really good. Anyone with some play experience can comment? tks!

Agreed. Over beta, Troubadour became my favorite Chanter Sub. It's just so versatile. It can combine with just about any other subclass and not be hampered. It can tank, heal, and do damage. Want to focus on phrases and try to keep 2 phrases up all the time? Well, it can. Want to switch on Brisk Recitation, and be a frontline nuker? Well, it can. Want to be a buff/debuff/CC focused tank? It's got you covered. It doesnt rely on crits like Skald either. Nor are you penalized for any of the Invocation types. It can use any of them. Want to be a front line healer/tank? I'd pick Kind Wayfarer/Troubadour for my Herald. You can basically be constantly healing between FoD and Ancient Memory. Have LoH for clutch heals in melee, Invocations for big AoE heals, and so on. Also, you can use the pally defensive stance. Wearing heavier armor doesnt hurt phrases, but does slow down Invocation recovery. However, it is a lot of fun. You can adapt on the fly with a good list of Chants, Invocations, and your other classes abilities. It has a tool for every situation. I'm playing a Rogue/Troubadour with explosives using ranged weapons. It is so fun. Using grenades, appropriate invocations, and rogue abilities for debuffs in order to get Sneak Attack. Saving Guile for escape to reposition, switching Chants depending on your current battlefield location, excape plus Killers Froze means you can maximize your paralyze really easily. Constantly doing paralyze, armor debuff, and an occasional nuke. I highly recommend Troubadour. I dont really understand the benefit of a troubadour and how its actually play. From what i understand: - By default you get better buff from chants because they stack. For a tank that can means having the chant that adds +1 engagement and the one that gives a dmg shield at the same time. Problem is it will take more time before you star using invocations. - With the modal you would never have 2 phrases at the same time. Now this is the part i dont understand. You use your phrases faster but it takes more phrases to cast an invocation. Doesnt the 2 balance out each other? If yes then doesnt that means you end up with the penalty of loosing lingering phrases for no bonus? From what i understand Beckoner makes chanter better at summoning without affecting any other aspect of the class. Am i correct? For a tank you would have more pet to act as meat shields and would all get the +1 engagement from the chant. Each pet would be able to engage 2 target. That sounds like a really good thing if your intention is to get the opponents attention as much as possible, no? How about Paladin/stalker, anyone played that combo? ive narrowed my choice between those 2 now. Tks for your help!

Fighters seems to have a much higher # of potential target engaged. If i choose to make a multiclass tank with no fighter class, how good can i expect to tank? Im thinking about a paladin/chanter or a paladin/stalker.

I want to make a multiclass tank without the fighter class. Played a fighter in POE1 and i want to try something else. Here are some of the options i considered: Paladin/Beckoner: Beefy paladin using summons as meat shield more than dps Paladin/Stalker: Bear pet. Two tank for the price of one? Paladin/shifter: Can the shift form be used for tanking even if you loose your gear bonus? Does it scale well for endgame? Paladin/Priest: Is it a decent tank? If i use the druid companion with this, can i skip the priest companion completely? Stalker/Beckoner: you get your pet and your summon as meat shields. Only question is can you be tanky enough without a paladin or fighter class? Stalker/shifter: Can you tank well enough wile shifted?