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Cyrus_Blackfeather
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Posts posted by Cyrus_Blackfeather
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Streetfighter, because it provides insane bonuses and synergies and anything else, in my opinion, just waters down the monster Marauder is for questionable benefits. Devoted is less impressive than flexibility to inflict the appropriate type of damage, Bleak Walker provides FoD but Barbaric Smash is better to click and same goes for Shattered Pillar resource refound.
As we talked about this before, it depends on what you want to do with the character. Massive AoE damage of all types, strong CC and even DoTs, mobility, utility and tactical options via invisibility and blink, high risk and reward play, this is Streetfighter/Berserker.
My issue with that is having to remain bloodied and/or flanked to proc the Streetfighter's bonuses. And I really don't like relying on Blunderbusses to achieve that, if at all possible.
How is that an issue? I do not use the Blunderbuss mechanic myself. Lord Darryn's Voulge is AoE weapon. Melee AoE implies being surrounded by or being engaged by multiple enemies. The other halberd is also AoE with transfer effect ability. Unless you heavily RP Marauder can use any other weapon occasionally without the need to invest in weapon specialization. For tanking there is Eder for everything else melee related there is Marauder. If you want a good fighter with good survivability you pick Rouge/Fighter or Paladin. If you want a tornado you pick Berserker. The malus to recovery from Streetfighter is negated by Frenzy alone. Add speed bonuses on kills, and there will be many bloody slaugthers, and even without the Streefighter recovery and crit bonus, fast sneak attacks on debuffed enemies will do good damage. And when it gets Bloodied, gg for mooks.
That's fair. And I suppose I can afford to be flanked - and drop Might a tad (It's at 17 base now) to maybe boost Constitution a bit for extra HP/longer Bloodied states.
Honestly, a big part of the reason why I swapped to Barbarian/X over Swashbuckler or Holy Slayer was because of the synergy between Carnage and Static Thunder from Lord Darryn's Voulge, so I'd like to keep that. It's nice to have synergies between the class you're playing and the weapons you like to use.
If it helps, this is the kind of mood I'm trying to evoke.
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Streetfighter, because it provides insane bonuses and synergies and anything else, in my opinion, just waters down the monster Marauder is for questionable benefits. Devoted is less impressive than flexibility to inflict the appropriate type of damage, Bleak Walker provides FoD but Barbaric Smash is better to click and same goes for Shattered Pillar resource refound.
As we talked about this before, it depends on what you want to do with the character. Massive AoE damage of all types, strong CC and even DoTs, mobility, utility and tactical options via invisibility and blink, high risk and reward play, this is Streetfighter/Berserker.
My issue with that is having to remain bloodied and/or flanked to proc the Streetfighter's bonuses. And I really don't like relying on Blunderbusses to achieve that, if at all possible.
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Hey guys,
So... Here I am again. I really ought to create an alt-itis support group or something, but it's kind of mitigated somewhat by the fact that I Still. Haven't. Started. My BoW playthrough yet. Granted, part of it is waiting for 2.1 to hopefully iron out some of the major bugs I've been hearing about, but another part is coming up with a bunch of good ideas and then discovering flaws in them. But now, I think I have a somewhat clear idea of what I want, so I can more freely talk about it with you guys.
1. Why a Barbarian?
Simply put, I like the idea of building around Lord Darryn's Voulge, because I think it's a really unique/cool weapon with a nice effect. Barbarian synergizes really well with it, because Carnage procs the Static Thunder effect on every enemy hit by it. Berserker is the go-to subclass. Plus I like the idea of running a build that doesn't just default to sabers.
2. What am I looking for?
A front-line fighter that deals good damage (I'd like to see triple digits on a regular-ish basis and at least have most attacks be in the upper 80s and 90s) while having reasonable survivability. An offensive tank, basically - someone who could clear adds while Eder keeps the big boss occupied, or swap in to take pressure off of him and not immediately keel over.
3. What have I considered?
- Brute (Tested): (Berserker/Devoted) Fighter for Armored Grace, Unbending, Vigorous Defenses, and Mob Stance. Offers lots of action speed boosts as well as a very good hit-to-crit skill in addition to Frenzy.
- Fanatic: (Berserker/Bleak Walker) FoD for an extra melee attack skill, Inspired Beacon for an AoE 40% damage taken debuff and Blind. Extra defenses through Deep Faith
- Ravager: (Berserker/Shattered Pillar) - Wound spender, uses lots of primary attacks (So I don't lose anything by using a two-handed weapon. Has Stunning Surge as another refundable attack skill. Essentially three different types of resources to use (Rage, Mortification, Wounds). Blade Turning for redirecting melee attacks at other enemies. Anti-synergy with Swift Flurry and Lord Darryn's Voulge though, because I'm not sure if Swift Flurry and Lightning Strikes would stack or if one would overwrite the other.
- Pure Barbarian: Access to upgrades to Barbaric Shout, as well as Heart of Fury and Rage on being crit.
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Nah not really, dex is better until u hit that spot where more speed gives very little in return. I'm playing a Solo archer right now Assassin/Wizard with 31 in combat dex built for kiting and I love how responsive these kind of characters get. Watching the recovery bar in snail speed is horrible for me
Is the 30% damage drop not that bad? I'd be going from 30 while frenzied to 20.I would have done the same, tho I hate low dex characters so I would have boosted that
ESPECIALLY if I was going for two handed weapons ;DBarbarian and fighter get a lot of speed bonuses on their own tho but maybe just a few more dex points? ;P
Hmm, okay. Will give it a look later. Right now, I'm trying to decide whether this whole tanking thing is worth it or if I should just let Eder do it.
Certainly worked for the first game.
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I would have done the same, tho I hate low dex characters so I would have boosted that
ESPECIALLY if I was going for two handed weapons ;DIs the 30% damage drop not that bad? I'd be going from 30 while frenzied to 20.
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Hey guys.
So, I really like the synergy between Old's Voulge and Carnage. But I also want to play a tanky MC with lots of engagements and damage potential. I thought that Brute would be a good compromise.
1. Can I be a good tank just using seven and armor to mitigate damage?
2. How does Brute rate in terms of damage compared to other tank multiclasses?
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Edit: Dumped Resolve by 10, bumped Might by 10 for Carnage/Lord Darryn's Voulge damage. What do you guys think?
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In my experience, if you create a character who's "evil" without it being for the sake of being evil, it can be very rewarding. You just have to make it fit with the background of the character you're playing.
From the few "bad" interactions I've seen, the game handles them relatively well. It's not like Tyranny where you can actually be evil, but you can be quite an uncaring, opportunistic bastard if you want to.
That's definitely the idea. My character is all about self-advancement, but not to the point of following evil as a concept.
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Okay. I'll drop it down to 7. That nearly maxes out Might.
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I feel your pain. For me, I've been looking at which classes have best synergy with different weapons. For instance...
Berserker/Fighter has great synergy with Lord Darryn's Voulge. Carnage spreads Static Thunder around, which can make for some pretty good blasts. Plus Devoted gives great penetration.
Modwyr, or other weapons with fire lashes, work great with Paladin. Magran's Favor especially.
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Yeah, after a certain point all incoming weapon attacks will crit anyways if your deflection is low enough. So might as well just tank it further.
If you are using pure barb, you can get Barbaric Retaliation which will increase your dps by quite a bit due to the incoming crits.
I'm planning on running a Brute. I wanted to use armor rating to tank hits if possible. Is that a good build or should I just go pure Barbarian?
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Hmm, alright.
I'm considering whether to drop my Resolve down and bump my Might up - 25 without Frenzy and with gear, 30 while Frenzied, or if losing that 10 Deflection is too risky for a tankier Barbarian. But that'd be 60% bonus damage compared to 30%.
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Quick question before work,
I was wondering what modifiers affected the Static Thunder damage on Lord Darryn's Voulge, outside of the number of charges on an enemy when it detonated? The ability says it's 10 Shock damage per charge, but in some of my testing (Pre nerf) I was hitting for around 30-50 or so with minimal stacking. Is it still capable of reaching those sorts of numbers?
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Hey guys,
So, I'm trying to decide on a faction to play for my next Watcher - and I've only completed a Huana game before now. I'm curious about which Faction offers the most robust experience between the VTC, RDC, and Principi. Specifically...
1. Who would you say has the most interesting/engaging quests? There seems to be a lot of overlap between VTC and RDC quests, so I'm thinking the Principi might win in this regard.
2. Who has the most interesting cast of characters to interact with? Leaders, vendors, other folks. Anyone whose dialogue changes significantly once you gain reputation points with their respective faction?
3. Who's got the nicest digs? Without Caed Nua, and aside from my ship, I'm going to need a nice place to stay. Again, Principi seems to win out here. They've got Fort Deadlight and Dunnage.
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Hey guys,
So... I did a few good guy playthroughs, and while I had fun with them, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing out on quite a bit by not being a little meaner to some of the various characters I encountered throughout the game. Heck, there's a dialogue option to lift someone up by their neck and demand information from them, for Pete's sake. And of course, you can keep the tablet from Arkemyr's Manor for yourself, rather than share it with either the Huana or Rauatai, the same thing with Oderisi's notes.
So I was wondering... How rewarding is it to play the game this way? Would you say there's an equal amount of content available for taking the 'bad guy' route, compared to being a goody two-shoes?
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"I am the storm, brother... The first storm and the last."
"When men see my sail, they pray."
Mood Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RirEqehfsg&t=0s&index=4&list=FL09VAUpnF20CEQz2ofbeKlA
Who is he?
A pro-Principi Watcher with a vicious streak underlying a twisted sense of humor. This character is very much intended to be a 'bad guy' or, at least, someone who's only out for his own self-interest. While he ultimately went along with solving the Hollowborn Crisis because it presented the only cure to his Awakened state, he's now seized his chance to regain the prestige he left behind as a raider in the Deadfire.
Favored Dispositions: Aggressive, Clever, Shady, Cruel (In that order)
Race: Human (Oceanfolk) - For the Vallian looks, and the bonus to Accuracy and damage while Bloodied.
Blessings: Attributes, Skills, 5000 starting gold, Unique item merchant
Mods: Deadly Deadfire
Class: Brute (Devoted - Pollaxes/Berserker)
Culture/Background: Deadfire/Raider
Faction: Principi
Skill Focus: Mechanics and Stealth (Active)/Insight and Intimidate with a splash of Streetwise or Metaphysics (Passive)
Attributes:
25 Might (17 Base + 1 Human +2 Woedica's Strangling Grasp + 1 Chameleon's Touch + 1 Gift of the Machine +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Permanent Stat Boost)
11 Con (7 Base +1 Effigy's Resentment (Durance) +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Chameleon's Touch)
12 Dexterity (9 Base+1 Deadfire +2 Berath's Blessing)
20 Perception (18 Base +2 Berath's Blessing)
20 Intellect (17 Base +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Strand of Favor)
10 Resolve (7 Base +1 Human +2 Berath's Blessing)
Abilities:
Level 1: Disciplined Barrage/Frenzy
Level 2: Barbaric Yell
Level 3: Blooded
Level 4: Fighter Stances/Barbaric Blow
Level 5: Two-Handed Style
Level 6: Confident Aim
Level 7: Disciplined Strikes/Bloodlust
Level 8: Thick-Skinned
Level 9: One Stands Alone
Level 10: Hold the Line/Spirit Frenzy
Level 11: Vigorous Defense
Level 12: Charge
Level 13: Unbending/Barbaric Smash
Level 14: Mob Stance
Level 15: Interrupting Blows
Level 16: Armored Grace/Brute Force
Level 17: Overbearing Guard
Level 18: Refreshing Defense
Level 19: Blood Thirst/Unbending Trunk
Level 20: Spirit Tornado
Note: Not 100% set on abilities or attributes - some feedback on those would be appreciated.
Gear:
Weapons - Lord Darryn's Voulge. Why? Because thematically it's a really cool weapon, with some neat pirate-y lore behind it, and it procs its Static Thunder effect on Carnage hit. Since Carnage can't crit, it helps to mark up lots of enemies for attacks. Plus it's a dual damage type weapon, with very few enemies having resistance or immunity to Shock damage.
Pets: Abraham (Reduced Recovery Time, Heal on Kill) or Nalvi (+1 Resolve, Reduced Recovery Time for the party)
Armor - Devil of Caroc Breastplate for resistance to Intellect afflictions, which clears the Berserker's Confusion on Frenzy. It also gives -10% Recovery Speed and +2 Discipline/Rage. With Armored Grace and either Abraham or Nalvi, the Recovery penalty for DoC Breastplate is ~9%.
Boots: Boots of the Stone, then upgrade to Rakhan Field Boots when they become available.
Neck: Strand of Favor
Cloak: Cloak of Greater Protection (+10 to all non-Deflection defenses). Otherwise, consider Nemnok's Cloak when available for Bloodied/Near Death bonuses.
Rings: Voidward (Reduces Raw Damage from Frenzy) and Chameleon's Touch.
Belt: Upright Captain's Belt for Concentration and immunity to push/pull effects.
Helm: Horns of the Bleak Mother, then upgrade to Blackened Plate Helm (+1 Intellect/Perception +1 Engagement.
Conclusion:
This is intended to be a fun tanking build with good penetration and AoE capability, and ready access to shock damage. I like the image it evokes - a pirate captain that seemingly has power over the very storms themselves.
Concerns:
-Less damage compared to the Swashbuckler. In terms of raw numbers anyway. I've done a bit of testing and they both seem to do pretty well. Brute outperforms Swashbuckler in crowds, though I can see Brute struggling against single big enemies.
Possible Changes:
Adding Wild Sprint/Lion's Sprint for the +15 Accuracy bonus for the duration, but at the same time that's obviously a bug.
Upgrading Barbaric Yell to Barbaric Shout (+3 engagements for 30 seconds base). Not sure what I'd get rid of for that, though.
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Doesn't Static Charge work with Carnage?
Does it? I'm not sure.
Edit: Holy crap it does...
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What about with clear out from fighter? Primary attack on multiple enemies.
That could work. Only issue is that it attacks in a cone and it disengages - but if I'm positioning right, that other bit shouldn't matter much.
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Hey guys,
So, I really like Lord Darryn's Voulge for a couple of different reasons.
1. I think the enchantment on it is pretty neat, even if they did nerf it a fair bit so it doesn't cause a localized nuclear strike on every enemy on the screen (Seriously, that thing wound up killing ME when I was playing a Marauder). Plus it has a small chance to proc Lightning Strikes.
2. It's one of the few weapons that has an elemental damage type associated with it - Slash/Shock, and part of me just thinks that's really cool.
3. Aesthetically, it has some nice particle effects associated with its effect - it can electrocute enemies into piles of dust.
4. I like the lore associated with it.
But people have said that it, like other weapons that have similar effects, is only good when used with Heart of Fury from the Barbarian; and since I want to play a Swashbuckler or a Brute, I wouldn't have access to that (Unless I used a mod to make it available at PL7 or something, but that's cheating).
My question is this - is it truly only able to be used to its full potential with that skill?
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Hey guys,
So, I'm trying to decide between Oathbreaker's End and Lord Darryn's Voulge for my battleaxe using tank Watcher. I know neither of them are particularly min-max, what with two-handed weapons being (somewhat) weaker than one-handed weapons because of how Full Attacks work, but I feel like dual-wielding in this game, especially if you're playing as a Fighter/Rogue or Fighter/Barbarian, is a bit overrated.
That said, I don't really think there are many weapons in this game that /aren't/ viable, so my decision here largely comes down to the following.
1. Ease of access
2. How fun the weapon is to use
3. Which weapon looks the best when used
I don't think Lord Darryn's Volgue will be good without Heart of Fury and you can get that only with a pure barbarian (the only good choice is berserker tho). And there is Grave Calling just better with the perma paralyze you get.
Hmm... Is that so? That's a shame. I really like it from a VFX standpoint.
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Hey guys,
So, I'm trying to decide between Oathbreaker's End and Lord Darryn's Voulge for my battleaxe using tank Watcher. I know neither of them are particularly min-max, what with two-handed weapons being (somewhat) weaker than one-handed weapons because of how Full Attacks work, but I feel like dual-wielding in this game, especially if you're playing as a Fighter/Rogue or Fighter/Barbarian, is a bit overrated.
That said, I don't really think there are many weapons in this game that /aren't/ viable, so my decision here largely comes down to the following.
1. Ease of access
2. How fun the weapon is to use
3. Which weapon looks the best when used
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Here's the kind of weapon I'm wanting to use - Doesn't have to be an EXACT fit, obviously.
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IIRC there were only two weapons that could reach Mythic in the original game, and most if not all of the other soul bounds maxed out at superb. Not getting legendary isn't that big a deal really, especially on a elemental dual damage type weapon.
Don't really think it needs to be changed tbh, if you're set on using it and really want a legendary weapon then maybe just change the final upgrade to also upgrade to legendary.
I'm pretty set on using it just because I think it looks really cool, and fits the kind of aesthetic I'm going for. It's either that or Battleaxes and then having to wait a long while to get Oathbreaker's End.
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Okay, so... I love this weapon. I love the lore behind it, I love the fact that you essentially ABSORB A STORM into it to unlock one of its power levels, and I love the fact that it's one of the few pieces of gear in the game that has an elemental damage type as opposed to just a lash (So it uses best of shock/slash rather than slash/crush with a +15% or whatever shock lash).
What I DON'T love is the fact that it can ONLY be upgraded to Superb, especially when Soulbound gear in the first game could be upgraded to Mythic (Which doesn't even EXIST in Deadfire, or so it seems).
Also, while the stacking shock damage that can explode in an area on crit is good, and Ball Lightning is a great spell when aimed properly, I'm wondering if there aren't other additions that could be made to make the weapon even better, and fitting with the sheer audacity of the lore behind it.
Some things I'm considering adding:
1. Swap the third and the fourth unlock requirements (30 critical hits and sailing into a storm) and have the third upgrade the weapon to Superb and the fourth to Legendary. I'm not sure if the first change can be implemented without screwing up the order in which the lore entries are unlocked, but I just think it's more thematically appropriate for the utterly insane act of sailing into a storm and then climbing into the rigging to unlock the final upgrade of the item, after all of the hard stuff is complete. If it screws up the in-game description, don't bother.
2. Add Avenging Storm to the final unlock as a per-rest ability (Minor Spellbind: Avenging Storm). I'm not sure if this would be TOTALLY broken, since it's a PL8 spell, but the description fits - you essentially become a living conduit for a raging storm, which lines up nicely with the flavor text of the storm event. The energy of the storm passes through the voulge and into your Watcher.
So, what do you guys think? Anything else you'd add? I just... really like this weapon, and I want to find ways to improve it. I might also consider adding the PoE2 Deadfire Tweaks mod as well, for the bonuses to two-handed weapons included.
ESPECIALLY if I was going for two handed weapons ;D
Barbarian Help?
in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)
Posted
I know, I know. I'm terribly indecisive. My issue is that I keep testing these, and they all seem to work fine, it's just a matter of finding which one is the most fun.