Zoda

I definitely want Soulblade. It is amongst my favourite subclasses, and I never played it with an AOE weapon, and I never played a WOTEP watcher either. I considered ranger also because of Beast's Claw (and stalker). It could certainly get away with the great sword modal more easily than most combinations (which works on SA damage, if I'm not mistaking). Stalker/Soul Blade sounds pretty fun considering this, and the watcher could actually deal damage with offensive parries while buffing up the animal companion so it can take a bit more punishment. I could get even more focus from the stealthed opening shots of The Red Hand with Driving Flight too. Typing this out, I might just have found my build. Probably still a lot weaker than mindstalker, but thematically I absolutely love it Goes really well with an offensively built herald too (kind wayfarer + troubadour), the bear would get a lot of extra armor and easy heals from white flames. Then Edér for the extra pet slot + Heart Defender Scales, a celebrant and a ranged striker (hard for me to not pick seer or wildrhymer, but maybe I'll try geomancer Maia or a Frostseeker savage).

I know the SA scaling with rogue is great, I just wanted to do something different this time. Might just do it like that I guess. I've read your build guide, and I agree its a great build I really shy away from most classic casters in crpgs, I just enjoy strikers more. I love chanter/cipher in PoE a lot luckily. I haven't had a single wizard/cleric/druid in my 5-6 POTD runs so far Even if I do go for a caster eventually, I don't want to use Salvation of Time or Wall of Draining. It just feels super cheesy to me.

Hi All, So I'm nearing 100% on my current Devoted/Tricster + Willbreaker run (Dorudungan, Auranic and Ukaizo left), and it was a pretty fun build, and I enjoyed it a lot, but I was stuck with a single weapon for the entire playthrough. Obviously comming back to Deadfire again I want more I'm planning to play WoTeP for the first time on my watcher (did some trickster/garrote run up to like lvl 10 or so, but was unimpressed with it). My idea is to not rely solely on WoTeP. I'm plannig to: - start the fights I can from stealth with a double FoD from The Red Hand (hopefully triggering inspiring triumph too) - then switch to WoteP without reloading, already with some focus to Soul Anihilate - for big solo bosses I'm planning to use The Willbreaker + modal and desintegrate Stat allocation is pretty rough for this build: needs near max RES, INT with high PER and at least some might and dex, but I guess that'll be managable. Probably gonna have a buddy chanter (or two). Not 100% sold on Steel Garrote yet, late game a Trickster multiclass would probably be stronger, but I just played trickster. I honestly have very little experience with WoTeP, but considering how stretched on stats this build is going to be, a 2nd tanky character is probably in order. I usually have Edér, but it is kinda boring to have him on literally the same build every playthrough, so this time I might go for a different companion cast from my trusty Edér + Seer + Wildrhymer + Herald (full healbot). Was thinking about covering heals with a Kind Wayferer + Troubadour built offensively and spamming buffed FoDs (although might compete with the Watcher for ring of inner fire, but I guess I can live with that). Add a tactician/priest for buffs and emergency heals and also some damage output. The kind wayfarer could use Grave Calling to kill of some skeletons to spawn chill fog for easy Brilliant Tactician trigger too (or just have the watcher cast Phantom Foes). As for the rest of the party, I'm not set on yet. Maybe a Troubadour/Psion, as I never played Psion and some high range autoattacker to interrupt casters. I usually use Spearcaster on a Wildrhymer for that, but since I want to change it up... maybe a Frostseeker using savage (arcane archer/mage slyer). Aim is the same, POTD with all megabosses. Could this work? I'm normally worried about WoTeP builds vs the big endgame boss fights, but maybe this build would still be flexible enough to do well in the toughest encounters.

I noticed I have Reckless Brigandine's "Into the Breach" and "Go not Quitly" bugged on Edér (he is not wearing it). Is it a display bug, or is it stuck to him? Is there a way to remove it? I don't like abusing bugs

I played up to lvl 16, and the build is working out nicely. Can tank a lot with Unbending and Mob Stance + disengagement hits keeps the watcher firmly in front of the party's damage scores (with a scout Maia with her dedicated support chanter). This is the point where I usually start to get bored of builds especially that Devoted + Willbreaker pretty much limits what I can do. So I want to try a new one obviously. Anyone has experience with a Streetfighter/Steel Garrote life drain tank? Can Steel Garrote actually stay ahead of Kind Wayfarer in selfheal? I used souldblade/kind wayfarer with Magran's Favor + Sun and Moon as the go to combo and it worked out very nicely, but if I can make it a bit better I will I also considered Sun and Moon + Magran's Blessing combo on a Soulblade + [something] who could benefit from a shield + two weapon style while only spamming Soul Anihilation hits of Sun and Moon (2nd hit of the flail always generates focus). Not super proficient in setting up the AI of my characters, can I just set it so it spams Soul Anihilation instead of auto attack?

I'll probably drop DOCB, it's just super convenient early on a multiclass with the +2 power pool. I kinda would like to use Reckless Brigandine to engage a lot of enemies in cleaving stance (with Hold the Line and Persistent distraction) then terrify them, but not sure if I'd like the recovery penalty yet. Maybe later on with armored grace and mob stance. Probably gonna make a trip soon to pick up Nalvi and Heart Defender Scales for Edér, will see when I get some more time to play

I'm a dwarf guy Will see how the mask goes with various equipment, and how it performs in combat. I picked up Helm of the Falcon on my way to steal the Willbreaker, guess I'm heading to The Gullet soon enough for the mask. Also gave myself Thaos' Headdress with the console, so that'll be a pretty good choice too.

After cycling through a million different builds, I finally came to stick with Devoted + Trickster with The Willbreaker. Planning to play it something like this: stealth for the initial backstab strike (Clear Out eventually), debuff will, cast Ryngrym's, hopefully get some disengagement hits if the enemy attempts to flee. I wanted to have more damage without disengagement than an Unbroken and The Willbreaker synergizes nicely with a trickster. Probably not an OP build or anything of sorts, but I don't enjoy playing the truly OP stuff so much, so going with this for now Already snuck into Crookspur for the stick, so probably gonna play this build a while, before rerolling to another one Now, I haven't played Deadfire in a couple of years, so I can't really remember all the best gear. What would you recommend I pick up for this build? Apparently I messed up with my custom history, so I don't have Thaos's Headdress, but I kinda sorta prefer the Helm of the Falcon anyway. Still sucks not having the headdress, it is one of the nicer helms, especially that I have Edér also as a fighter/rogue. What armor goes best with such character? Devil of Caroc? Reckless Brigandine? I picked up Cloak of Greater Protection, seems to be a pretty nice cloak for now. Iirc there was a cloak that gave extra damage from stealth, but honestly I might be mixing up gear pieces in my head with PoE1 items Not sure which was in which game anymore Also a question on The Willbreaker's upgrades: is it worth spending the 4 Adra Bans on making it legendary? Iirc you couldn't get unlimited Adra Bans, and there are some special upgrade items to certain tiers (after the dragon fight I think there is one).

I might make an exception for my no monk rule so long that it doesn't use fists. I did Steel Garrote/Tricster already, although admittedly not with Voidwheel. It was an offensive parry WOTEP build, so probably very different.

So... I started a Shepherd (Stalker + Kind Wayferer). Not dead set on it, honestly I never played a ranger that wasn't a Ghost Heart, neither one that was melee focused so I kinda want to try one. I hope the White Flames and the bonus armor can keep the animal companion alive. Gonna have Edér with Heart Defender scales + Shieldberer/Troubadour healer keeping up the bear with LoH if required. The other two party members are going to be a Seer with Essence Interruptor + a Wildrhymer with spearcaster (at least that's the plan for now). As I said, I never tried a non-ghost heart ranger, is it possible to keep the bear alive, and get good value out of it, or will it become a nuisance later on?

This is actually a build I considered I'd probably play it is a regular berserker/troubadour early with int affliction resistence from Devil of Caroc Breastplate, and let the confused kills loose when I can chant Many lives. I wonder if there is a way to reach 20 int wile confsed without sacrificing too much in return (I would like double chants). I played a very similar character with Gladiator's Sword + Tuotilo's palm as an Unbroken/Trickster. I tried to abuse the unbroken disengagement attacks with Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage. Can't say I remember clearly, but iirc the combo wasn't super reliable. I think I haven't finished that run (but did play the build later on a hired adventurer on a run that I did finish). Your more straight forward take might actually work better, and I could actually use a shield that looks cool (big plus!) Now I'm thinking about doing the Unbroken/Trickster again with The Willbreaker as main setup, and a 2nd setup with an actual shield vs bosses. I would very much love an unbroken build that could reliably trigger supercharged disengagement hits, but not sure if there is a way to do that. This sounds pretty strong, not sure where I would put it flavourwise, but sounds like an egaging build to play on your main character

Hello everyone, Comming back to do another (maybe another few) playthroughs of the game, and I'd like a new build to do it Completed many POTD runs in many different ways (solo, duo, full party), and a variety of builds, and looking for something new (maybe). I have a few self imposed rules: no monk (maybe shattered pillar), no wizard, no potions, no scrolls. On the fence about priest too, but I guess it can slide, but only if it does mostly melee I like martial/half caster builds, and non to very little cheesy stuff. That kinda limits what I would play for POTD My most recent playthroughs (about 3 years ago) were with a dual wielding kind wayfarer + souldblade, a ghost heart + ascendant with firearms (mostly), a herald (solo), and a tactician + soulblade. At least these are what I remember, but did a bunch of other playthroughs and played many builds up to lvl 10-12. So what I'm looking for my watcher's build is a frontliner that's fairly tanky (read: can tank most encounters, even if not solo tank bosses), but still does good damge. I really like high sustain builds, like the kind wayfarer + soulblade with Sun and Moon was one of my favourite builds to play. Looking for suggestions on what build I should play next. Was thinking along the lines of mixture of fighter/barbarian/paladin/rogue/chanter/cipher. Big plus if the build uses a shield (Tutilo's Palm doesn't count) and still manages to dish out good damage. Like if there is a realiable way to force disengagement on an Unbroken. I remember trying to terrifiy enemies, but I think I did not find it super reliable. For ranged builds I like firearms (Eccea's Arcane Blaster with one handed style being my favourite flavourwise). I'll probably have a Kind Wayfarer with dual pistols somewhere in the party, maybe even the watcher with a multiclass to... probably ranger (I don't like giving up driving flight). Also considering a whildrhymer with Spearcaster, but that can pretty much go on a hireling. For items to build around, I'd love a build around: Amra, dual pistols, Lord Darryn's Voulge (maybe), The Willbreaker, Last Word (with Guardian Stance + Reckless Brigandine. Pairing it with Kind Wayfarer would be cool, but then I need to dual wield pretty much). I aim to also kill the megabosses (I actually never tried the Sigilmaster). I browsed through the forums a bunch of times, and watched many youtube videos, so I'm familiar with most well known builds, so what I'm looking is suggestions along the above lines. Pretty familiar with most game mechanics, but might not have perfect memeory about all the cool build around items or abilities anymore I started a sabre Devoted/Skald Warcaller, but not sure if it is for me. Thanks to anyone who managed to read all my rambling, if anyone can give me some cool flavourful build ideas I'd very much appreciate it

Essence Interruptor usully does the job there fairly easily if you have a decent tank. Sometimes I hire a devoted/ghost heart for the early game to just autoattack through the first few levels with Essence Interruptor. Lord Darryn's Voulge also comes in handy there.

I never really considered The Best Defense. Honestly I haven't even read it properly it seems, just dismissed it as yet another bashing shield that's not Tuotilo's (I think I only ever did the Seeker path on one playthrough). Never noticed that it has damage scaling instead of deflection. Also Terrifying to Face seems super convenient for such a build, I think you might have just sold me on this one, and then Unbroken it is. The occasional riposts being being better is just icing on the cake. Shame that it comes fairly late.

I played an unbroken/trickster as a hired adventurer, but that build focused on pumping deflection and procing Riposte and since Riposte is a full attack, I used Tuotilo's Palm. I actually regret not going Devoted on that build in hindsight. Now obviously focusing on both terrifying enemies and deflection/riposte at the same time is a pretty big nonbo, so lower deflection would sufice. As for the subclass, Unbroken's +10 pen is surely huge, however I can't terrify everything, and I would already have a lot of engagement slots + persistent distraction. At that point Tactician starts to become appealing, as it would allow to spam abilities. On the other hand, Unbroken could turtle up very effectively when terrifying is not an option. I think both have their merits. The Tactician/Trickster is more universal though, and could completely change layout without respeccing, if terrifying is not an option. As you said, high damage per hit weapons would be most beneficial, and I remember reading your post about acquiring Citzal's great sword. Now normally I don't like to exploit the game engine, but this time, I might make an exception, as it feels like the ideal weapon here. Overbearing Guard + One Dozen Stood + great sword modal would resul in huge (and accurate!) disengagement attacks. Now that I mention it, a greatsword devoted/trickster focusing on riposte could be fun, and could also use WOTEP to change it up Voidwheel + Refreshing Defense should also be a fine combo.

Some more questions came to mind... 1. Instruments of Pain + Wotep: does it increase the cone by +500% to a giant cone? That'd be kinda nice with Soul Anihilation. Do the secondary AOE hits proc Hearthbeat Drumming? 2. If I create a Fighter (not set on subclass yet)/Trickster that's focusigin on terrifying enemies to proc disengagment, how reliable would it be, would they actually have to move out of engagement range? I sort of know how the mechanics work on paper, but would like to hear about it from someone who has seen it in practice. 3. This is once again a question of how something works in practice. The build would be Steel Garrote/Streetfighter, with a chanter also chanting for additional 12% drain. I'd go human and aim for Voidwheel to get bloodied as soon as possible. Eventually only use Voidwheel until I get bloodied, then switch to Chromoprismatic. With all the recovery reduction, it could activate qstaff modal for +20 deflection (Nalvi on Edér + Abraham + probably Contender's armor and Helm of the Falcon). Reasonably high CON so being bloodied is still not horribly low hp. Could a build like this function as a main tank with proper setup?

I'm in the middle of a Stalker/Soulblade playthrough, and I have to say I really prefer Ghost Hearth for the later parts of the game at this point. Initially the bear was truly beastly, but as encounters get harder and harder, it gets very tedious to keep it alive, and I try to do everything to passively boost its defences: troubadour chanting, endurance aura, Shining Beacon, Hearth Defender's Scales (I massacred Junvik Vilage). The engagement immunity in particular is what I really miss (I always rolled ghost hearts before - or Maia obviously). Not sure if Stalker bonuses are better than having Ghost Hearth at this point, even if I do focus on the AC and go melee with it. I really think the passive bonus should scale a bit. Spending bond to resummon is no different than spending it on healing, and not having to deal with grief/dilemma is also a big upside. Meanwhile Maia is running on AI, Ishiza stays stealthed and ever since she got Driving Flight, she is taking over my watcher in overall damage done. Will see what happens when I get to Takedown Combo + Desintegration. Maybe I'm just mad, because I couldn't do Memories of a Mad Man trial with a lvl 15/14 party in 2 tries

This sounds amazing actually, never noticed that Divine Retribution says ally and not party member (this kinda makes me wanna roll SC paladin). I have a followup question. Do effects that specify party member count animal companions? Specifically thinking about abusing Ghost Heart with it of course (with Neriscyrlas' Hope and Burden and whatever other effect I find if I start researching it). A quick note on the build I outlined: it feels amazing on easy to moderately hard encounters, but in the really hard ones I'm crying for my usual turtle Herald with the Shieldberer LOHs.

I like herald because in most cases it spares me the trouble of having to deal with healing in most fights altogether. Just stands around with endurance aura, ancient memory, mercy and kindness and maybe throws in an occasional emergency LoH (Shieldberer LoH is kinda OP too, especially on a Herald, pretty much a full heal, and insanely fast cast), if someone eats a big crit. I don't like having to bother with actual healing spells, that's why I chose herald. This Kind Wayfarer version is fun though, punching stuff for AOE heals is way more entertaining than actually healing. I ditched the bashing shield momentarily in my ongoing playthrough. Herald not having access to Monastic Training takes away a lot from their (and I mean Tuotilo's) effectiveness. So it's Sasha's and Sun and Moon for now.

So I always ran a shieldberer/troubadour when I wanted to have a strong healer in the party, max res/mig/enough int to reach 20 (16 base usually) for the double linger, evened out dex/con. It is a great build, and I'm sure many of us used it, but it is kinda boring, does nothing but heals, occasinoaly can cheese a fight with Brand Enemy and that's about it (then you reload anyway, because real men don't cheese fights). Upside is that it can function as an afk tank in emergencies. Then last playthrough my watcher was a kind wayfarer (never played that subclass before), and my idea of a healbot started to shift a bit. I still think the AFK version is great, but there are merits to using a kind wayferer troubadour that actually hits stuff. White Flames AOE would be pretty reasonable with 20 INT + Ring of Overseeing (although a case can be made for Chameleon's Touch, Focused Flames is kind of mandatory), then buff its output with Physicker's belt and Footprints of Ahu Taka (and Mercy and Kindness in the lategame). Obviously we would need it to do the full attack with dual wield, so a bashing shield is in order (any works really, maybe have multiple setupts, in case if medium shield modal is needed). Dual wielding actual weapons is an option too obviously, but I like my healers as sturdy as possible. The focus is not on the damage so any of them work. Ring of Focused flames, and Gauntlets of Greater Reliability to make sure the attacks have good hit chance. Then the weapon of choice. Obvious one is Sun and Moon, but I actually think with the combination of Devil of Caroc breastplate, and the action speed aura upgrade, Sasha's Singing Scimitar is an amazing here. Sasha's also allows lower dex (+2 dex from the boots too). Self mending is a nice touch on top of its base stats. Then upgrade Flames of Devotion to Shared Flames. This together is big boost to the party's dps output, and the shorter the fight, the less healing is needed, so even better. The focus should not be on doing damage (not directly at least), so if needed a club/flail/hatchet can be used for the modal. All the key pieces are there from Nekataka too. I've been stalking these boards for a while and never really bumped into a herald build like this, so I figured I share my idea (admittedly, I never reasearched healer builds, so it might be out there).

I started Tactician/Druid, made it to Nekataka, before having an urge to roll up a stalker. My planned earlygame combo of WoTeP + Taste for the hun will have to wait a bit. Will switch back to it eventually, doing parallel playthroughs is fun. Will still take Tekehu for the watershaper chill fog, so it's a full druid experiment The stalker is a bit squishier than expected, but still fun. Ectopsychic echo was better on Ghost Heart where I could just let the pet rush in without engagement or fear of bonded grief, but it's still a fun combo. Maybe I should just use it on Ishi, since I do take Maia, but that would lessen the roleplay. Rushed to Sayuka for Stalker's patience to have constant dot applied for the bonus pet damage, using Thaos' Headdreass and microing the pet to always flank, pretty fun, does way more damage than expected. I'm just a sucker for Seer, even if this is the first time I play it as melee.

I've been literally sitting on character creation screen for days, so I figured I'd ask some opinions for my watcher's build on my next playthrough. I'm planning to use Edér (swashbuckler), Tekehu (druid) and Maia (scout) with some sort of a ranged cipher MC (ranger or chanter). So my ideas are: Berserker/Druid - I NEVER used druid in deadfire, and this intrigues me. I'd use Lord Darryn's Voulge most probably and Deltro's cage with the extra pen and might from frenzy. Int affliction removal either with Modwyr switching or with drink/food/svef. Not sure how tedious it would be to track my health, I only played with berserker multiclassed with devoted, and unbending + voidward was enough to be on full life pretty much every time my frenzy ran out. Sounds like a high risk - high reward build. Tactician/Druid - applying Taste of the Hunt with WOTEP sounds fun (am I correct that it applies it in AOE?) early on and with this party setup Brilliant comes easy. Tekehu's chill fog + Edér's persistent distraction + the cipher can easily set it up. Should be very sturdy and adaptible build. Druid: I already plan to play Tekehu as a druid and his sublcass sounds superior, I guess he would become a Stormspeaker or multi if I do pure druid. Does druid get a lot of benefits from the watcher's bonuses compared to Tekehu/hired adventurer? Berserker/Steel Garrote: I want to play with Lord Darryn's Voulge a bit, but I already played devoted/berserker, and the lack of other good polexas would lock me into that single weapon, which I might get bored of. This build would have the flexibility of other weapons, and I'm hoping that the passive drain coupled with Spirit Frenzy (and/or party debuffs) would be enough to counter Berserker's self damage. Also would become very tanky in the endgame with stoic steel + hardy + thick skinned + heart defender's scale aura from Edér (and I have a fetish for AR stacking). Unbroken/Trickster - this is a build I already played on a hired adventurer for a few levels, but could get a bit extra out of it on the watcher, plus on the hired dude, I usually just let it play on AI after initial agro grabbing. Tutotilo's Palm setup. Devoted/Rogue - would aim for Voidwheel. Strightforward greatsword striker build. Stalker/Soulblade - takedown combo + soul anihilation. Cipher has good synergies with the pet. Seer is my most played class though, I just never played it in melee. It would free up the hired adventurer slot for a herald healbot.

If you go stalker, then deffinitely take Edér. +2 armor for both you and your bear is nuts, and Nalvi for recovery bonus for the rest of the group (honestly Edér's party bonuses are crazy, and I like the guy). Tekehu with specific builds can also perform extremely well, thanks to his unique subclasses. Like he is amazing at setting up Tacticians with the foe only Chill Fog he gets from Watershaper and there are some insane combos you can do with his Stormspeaker subclass and the Effort great sword if you go single class. I often take Maia for the gunhawk subclass, as a scout. She is very good at picking off casters with her increased range and built in interrupts. Scout gets all the acc/damage from the class, the suboptimal stat spread is nothing compared to the benefits gunhawk offers. The other companions I'm not so keen on from a powergamer standpoint. I can second Boeroer on fighter + something. Devoted/Unbroken/Tactician are all amazing multiclasses. I'm planning a Tactician/Druid right now that applies Taste of the Hunt with WoTeP in an AOE, then switches weapons until the DOT needs to be reapplied. Probably gonna take Edér and Tekehu with him with a Seer and not sure on the last party member. Tactician/soulblade was my 2nd plythrough, very sturdy build as well that sets up Brilliant tactician for himself, while also dishes out damage. Tactician gets better the more you put into your party. You can just stack a tonn of armor and use unbending with high might and int in the lategame. Like I made a Devoted/Berserker after I killed Memnok on my last playthrough to make use of the Chromoprismatic staff, and despite the berserker selfdot, unbending and high armor kept him up without anything but the passive heal of my herald even in harder encounters. Warcaller can also be a nice tank, it is not just sitting around with the agro. I used mine as unbending/trubadour. He has a +10 deflection/+1 engagement chant, and with 20 int you can linger 2 chants (or go for brisk recitation and invocations). Unbroken can be changed to Tactician, if you are using a tactician party, brilliant + brisk recitation returns phrases super fast to use on invocations. Unbroken/trickster is another fun tank build. I used it with Tuotilo's Palm and monastic training. It does very good damage for a tank with the riposts and autoattacks. Throw in the 15% drain chant from a chanter and it probably doesn't need much looking after. I guess it would work well as a Steel Garrote paladin too instead of Unbroken.

Even for a full power gaming party I like Edér. Heart Defender's Scale and 2nd pet (for me it's usually Nalvi), makes up for no subclass and unpotimized stats spread imo. I like taking a Seer. It was my first watcher build on my initial playthrough (potd), and I find it hard to let go. Steady good damage output with all the cipher goodness. If I hire a second adventerure, that's my herald usually haha. As for your watcher's build, take one that has an engaging, interactive playstyle. I think most of us focus on the watcher the most, and a build that can be set on an AI and let go can get boring real quick. The Spearcaster build can definitely work on a companion, and doesn't feel like it would need much micromanagement. The druid/barb combo on the other had sounds like something you want to pay a close attention to.

Maybe I just never took Amra far enough, always stopped my builds around level 8-10. It just feels like there are real standout one handers and ranged weapons, and the mods on unique two handers don't really compare. Like Magran's Favor and Slayer's Claw are both super amazing to begin with, compared to those, Amra feels (at least to me) subpar, as I said.