cloud9rc

Thank you for such a wonderfully detailed reply @FleetFeet! I've been thinking still about my party composition and your comments, haven't started the run yet. At this point, I'm strongly considering throwing Fighter (Black Jacket) into the mix too for the weapon dmg type switch up versatility. AFAIK Whispers of the Endless Path should still proc on each hit from the Fighter's Clear Out skill, unless that interaction has been nerfed/taken out. I was also hoping that Soul Annihilation would be able to do big damage via WotEP's AoE. Barbarian's carnage doesn't work with WotEP afaik, but the raw buffs + Spirit Tornado are still interesting to me. It's been hard trying to finalize my frontline. I think for sure I want a Paladin (Healing, Aura, tanky w/ decent DPS) and a Chanter (CC, lots of general utility) in the mix. I definitely am interested in one frontline dual-wielding something like Sun and Moon + Magran's Favor or Sungrazer/Watcher's Blade/Modwyr/Aldris Blade/Sasha's Singing Scimitar?/etc., while the other is a 2Hander using Whispers of the Endless Path and some other 2Hs as backup weapons (if single target or dmg type switch is needed). The other frontline classes I'm juggling right now is Barbarian (Berserker for Frenzy/Spirit Tornado, Carnage, and general self buffs), Fighter (Black Jacket for 2H free weapon switches, Clear Out+WotEP interactions, seems generally tanky), and Cipher (Soul Blade for AoE Soul Annihilation via WotEP) For the dual-wield, I think I most likely want a Paladin since in turn based Flames of Devotion should proc twice on each hit. I remember using a dual wield pistol Kind Wayfarer in Turn Based a year ago and it worked as such, giving a double heal with each FoD trigger. Either I'll use a Kind Wayfarer again for the double FoD heal proc, or maybe a Bleak Walker for a big dmg burst. I could subclass it with Barbarian to have the Paladin's Mental Fortress block Berserker's confused ailment from Frenzy, and have the most value out of Carnage (since it won't proc w/ WotEP). I was also thinking of Chanter or Cipher as the other multi here as well. For the 2Hander, I was thinking mainly of using Fighter for the reasons listed above (Clear Out+WotEP, Black Jacket free switch). I could multi it with a Soul Blade Cipher for WotEP and Soul Annihilation. Chanter seems like it could be a good fit too. Barbarian seems less so due to the redundancy of WotEP and Carnage. Hard to decide.. would love to hear any input if anyone has some experience with any of these classes in turn based and melee. For the backline I feel more or less set on what I want to do. Druid, Ranger/Rogue multi, and Wizard (Blood Mage). For Druid I was planning on running it with the advice I was given regarding the Avenging Storm and Hand Mortar (w/ Blinding Smoke) + Fire in the Hole interaction. For subclass I was thinking Lifegiver so I have another source of healing, plus still have access to the offensive lightning spells. I heard that over time healing wasn't as effective in TB, but I still like having secondary healing (ie. no Fury subclass). For Ranger/Rogue, I simply wanted to have an archer because I like them thematically and aesthetically (probably will be using Frostseeker, unless there are some other notable suggestions). For the Wizard, it'll be the same old spamming AoE spells via Blood Mage. I considered multiclassing it with a Paladin (Shieldbearer of St Elga) for some self healing/tankiness, but I feel like it'd be more fun not having the loss in power level and Lv8/9 spells. I'd love to hear any final suggestions or recommendations! I feel pretty happy so far with my plans, just trying to finalize the frontliners of my party for TB. I'd love to hear from @Boeroer too if he has the time, since I've always found his comments very insightful in this forum. Thanks for all the help!

So it's been a little more than year since I last played Deadfire. Beat the game originally on RTwP/PotD, but I only tinkered with TB mode for a few hours before being burntout. I'm looking for some advice towards builds or party compositions that would help speed up combat. I remembered TB mode dragging a bit with trivial fights and large mobs of weaker foes, so I'm looking to add some AoE that'll hopefully clear them faster. For my two frontline, I was thinking of two multiclassed characters having some mix of Barbarian (Carnage AoE), Chanter (CC, AoE dmg/heal, utility), Cipher (Soul Blade for fun/roleplay), and Paladin (Bleakwalker for roleplay, also for Aura buffs, heal, dmg). Was thinking Berserker/Troubadour, or is this not as good in TB? For my backline I haven't quite figured it out fully yet. I was thinking of a single class Wizard (AoE dmg/cc, either no sub or blood mage), a Druid (Healing, AoE dmg, Lifegiver), and then maybe a bow (Frostseeker) using Ranger/Rogue multi. I wasn't a big fan of Ascendant Ciphers in TB mode when I tried it, was I wrong in my assessment or is there an effective way to play ranged/caster Ciphers in turn based mode? Anything notably good or bad about these choices and their available skills for TB? I'm open to any other build/composition suggestions or advice. Looking to min/max a little bit because while I enjoyed TB and having the combat be a bit slower due to TB, I didn't quite enjoy the trivial fights and fights with many weak mobs take so much longer. Thanks for any help!