masterty66

Is there an ideal way to do this? I noticed on my last playthrough where I tried it that keeping them up to date in terms of xp was difficult. There is some sort of formula I think for party members getting xp when they are not in the party but I'm not sure how it works. Whatever they were gaining, they'd still typically be behind a few levels, especially if I hadn't used them in a little while. I'd like to try to rotate people through rather than sticking with the same group. Keeps things fresh, and also lets me use everyone. But is there an ideal way to do this where I won't screw myself, or will I always experience xp issues if I'm rotating people in and out?

Shifter gets tremendous free spells as well. Imo it should still serve primarily as a caster too, as Jayd mentions in his guide. A Shifter (SC or MC) can throw out all the usual powerful Druid spells and then when it's finished shift in and start contributing in melee. Or it can shift to Bear at will to be tankier if pressed. Being unable to cast while shifted is the only major disadvantage but you can just shift back out after you're safe and I really like the free spells it gets. Worth consideration anyways. I think most people hear the kit name and think of it is a melee type Druid but that's not the case and imo like all Druids it should still function as a caster first and foremost, and it excels at that with its awesome free spells.

I think the nice thing about this spell is the massive radius on it. You can just fire it and forget it and it will contribute bonus damage while you chip away the enemy with other dots/abilities.

Wael is a lot of fun for multiclassing. @thelee's Zealot build should still be good even with BPM. Maybe better because even if you installed the nerf package that makes BDD a 12 second 300 pt damage shield which imo would really let you stay heated up for a while without worrying about dying. A 300 pt shield should hold pretty well even if mobbed by a lot of enemies. Sure that's not as good as a flat death resistance, but it does last quite a bit longer and is still quite protective. Actually planning a run right now with it to see how it does with the bpm/cp installed. I will let you know. It's too bad Rymrgand isn't a player kit because Vatnir's kit is so strong since he can take fire spells to go along with his frost spells, giving him a very diverse damage kit. But I suppose you can just bring him along too. I like him well enough, though he's sometimes glass cannony if you just keep him in his robes (but hard not to wear those because of the +dmg effects! )

The obvious thoughts that jump to mind for me are: Fighter/Rogue: Tank. Unbroken/Trickster is fun and has some cool synergies. Terrify enemies and then knock them down with Overbearing Guard. Chanter/Paladin: Obviously. Heralds are very good. Subclasses can be whatever. It should be strong regardless. Druid: Any. I recently did a Shifter/Paladin which was actually a lot of fun. I would cast a few heals/buffs, then cast my aoe dots, and then shift and do lots of single target dps. Flames of Devotion is nice with a Shifter. Can use Ring of Focused Flame and be very accurate. Being able to shift also gives you access to excellent tankiness. Since you can't cast while shifted it's best to think of this character as having a casting phase and a dps/tanking phase. Don't go all in on either, but embrace the versatility and do both. Don't be afraid to shift out when needed to cast, or shift to get tankier etc. Ranger: Any. There are some cool things you can do with Whirling Strikes but Ranger also multiclasses well since any class likes to get more accuracy

Frostseeker is good for AA especially with CP/BPM which iirc fix some of the scaling issues for Arcane Archers. Red Hand (especially for Maia) is always good. Constantine found some nice synergies recently with Whirling strikes. Might not be exactly what you are looking for because it's more used for but he listed out a bunch of weapons in his thread "Ranger & Driving Flight Weapons" which features a bunch of weapons with powerful aoe effects when used with either Swift Flurry (Monk) or Whirling Strikes (Ranger). St Omaku's Mercy is fairly solid and can be gotten pretty early. I've always wondered if that one might be nice for a Geomancer (Blood Mage). It has an upgrade which increases allied attack speed that scales off health lost. Maybe would be good for a char that likes to use Blood Sacrifice to stay bloodied. Not sure how well that particular ability scales - need to test it some time.

Interesting. Never thought to do that. I'll keep that in mind if it ever whoops my butt again lol. This past run I didn't have too awfully hard a time with it. Was still tough and I think I had to rez a party member or two mid fight but I managed.

I guess it's not a single enemy but I always find Maerwald (if you consumed his soul) to be one of the tougher fights. The soul mirrors are annoying, and some of the Maerwald copies are tanky or do nasty abilities. It was many playthroughs ago but I remember the toughest fight I ever had was vs Sissak. I had Galawain's challenge on and iirc his spiders all rolled the ability that gives them regeneration. That was an extremely nasty fight that took everything I had. I am much better at the game now though than I was then so maybe I just played it poorly. Was a while ago so dont remember.

I honestly didn't use Brilliant (at least intentionally) even once on my most recent run. I didn't do mega boss fights though, but for everything else, I didn't use it and I didn't miss it either. For me there's more than enough resources to win fights in the standard game. On long drawn out fights in SSS and so on I would just empower to get resources back. Mega bosses are of course different though. I know those can be so long and so grindy that Brilliant can make a difference. I don't typically do them though. Have beaten a few before but usually aren't in the mood for them.

Agreed. That said I think Ascendant can be really cool with certain builds. I really want to try @Constentin Lévine's high dispersed tide build. That is one of the ones on my list to do. Right now I'm doing assassin/bloodmage though.

I typically use my Ciphers for debuff more than damage. I've found that charms plus secret horrors tends to be my bread and butter. Charms are always powerful for obvious reasons, and secret horrors really helps enable other party members. I feel like I spend most of the early part of a fight with a Cipher getting up Borrowed Instinct, casting secret horrors or charm spells, and then if I have time build up some focus to do offensive powers. Not sure if it's the ideal way to play, but it works ok for me. Haven't done SC Paladin. Pallegina is typically a Herald for me and she's exceptionally impactful with that setup. I know @Boeroerisn't the biggest fan of Heralds but imo the combination of heals and summons is quite impactful. The Ogres are quite useful early, and late game Animated Weapons are fantastic. My only complaint is her lack of engagement but as an off tank it's not so big a deal to me as long as I have Eder or someone who soaks up the majority of engagements. Beacon is of course nice as well especially if you time powerful abilities to go off after using it. I use Aloth similarly to how you use him. I find myself focusing on loading up enemies with afflictions moreso than outright damage. I feel like enemies are so tanky that long lasting afflictions matter more to me than outright damage typically. There are some exceptions. Being able to quickly kill weaker enemies with missile salvo and such is huge on fights like Nemnok where there's tons of enemies and you need to thin the herd quickly. But otherwise I find afflictions more impactful to enable other party members.

So how does Whirling Strikes work with ranged weapons? It requires a melee weapon to do, right? So is it just that you can dual wield a gun plus a melee weapon and Whirling Strikes will hit with both even though one is a ranged weapon? That's pretty cool if so. I guess based on the gifs you guys posted it must be :).

Yeah that's been my typical play with her. Have her summon Caedebald's, then Essential Phantom, and just snipe away. Then again that's often my standard tactic for a lot of my Wizards, lol. I need to get a bit more creative, but that combo is just so good.

Yeah after playing my current party I really do like having two rezzers. Pallegina is my Herald and my character is a Shifter/Paladin so both chars are very sturdy but even so occasionally one of them has died and that would cause me a wipe if not for having that backup rez. I really like the idea of having two party members that can do that, as well as a main tank to soak up engagements and just take a beating on the front line. Imo if you have those three things, you can almost do whatever you want with the other two primary dps slots. I am sure it is possible to play without a main tank or without two rezzers but for me it just gives me so much more breathing room and helps me to keep enemies where I want them for aoe effects and so on. I would also add to this that if your tank is a Fighter multi of some kind they can grab Unbreakable which is maybe not normally a talent someone would take but on a Trial of Iron run I'd think Unbreakable would be a real lifersaver when you need it

Interesting. I only use CP for now so did not know that. I need to try your mod soon Even so, 30% plus Druid heals is still quite good imo. Especially backed by summons.

If you're doing a melee heavy per you might want to consider pairing a Druid of some kind with your Herald. I suppose then it might not be melee heavy any more but Druid + Herald is so much healing that you will be able to out last almost everything. The +50% healing chant combined with Druids HOT is massive for survivability. I am running such a party now (not on TOI) and it's hard for me to wipe. Two sources of rez would also be nice in case one of your rezzers dies.

I respecced Xoti to try Mohora Tanga out. She's doing pretty crazy amounts of damage with that in Forgotten Sanctum.

Would need to have community patch extra for that to count as a weapon attack. But would probably be pretty good.

Why not both? I have Konstanten using Roar and Retaliation right now and he puts out a good amount of damage that way. Didn't think about that combination of Spirit Frenzy instead of Tornado. What I like about Tornado is I like to have Konstanten jump into enemies with leap and then frenzy to terrify a bunch of enemies and then immediately start shout spamming. Once enemies get unterrified and start hitting him he just retaliates a bunch while continuing to shout. Seems to work well though I sometimes get him killed by being so aggressive with him.

I was thinking its kit bonus gave +int as well as +might but it's just +might. Forgot that turning wheel is what gives the int bonus. I guess any Monk kit except FF would do then. Would depend how glass cannon you wanna be.

What Monk kit would you use? Helwalker for longer durations on Swift Flurry even though it makes you squishier?

I like how Deadfire supports a one handed weapon playstyle. I don't think it was ever really a good idea in Poe1, but Monks can get good mileage out of it here thanks to their talents. And using one pistol + modal is fairly effective too.

Do these procs still work with community patch? I noticed avenging storm was changed with it to only proc on weapon hits. Does that mean weapon effect procs like hemorrhage and such can't proc avenging storm?

I've probably completed oh I dunno four or five plays. I've had many more where I've gotten halfway through and abandoned the run to make a new character or take a break from the game. I've gotten better at not abandoning playthroughs over the years but it's still hard sometimes. There's always some new fun idea I wanna try.

I've had her using Tuotilo's Palm but maybe it would be better to use her Lantern even though that would lower her dps slightly on Wotw. Didn't realize RT didn't give her wounds back though. That's unfortunate. But still when I was using this with her it felt like she could get enough wounds to do another Wotw pretty frequently. I guess based on what you said that's probably because Wotw is generating a few killing blows for her even before I use Resonant Touch. Either way I was pleasantly surprised by her effectiveness as a SC Monk. I knew Monks were strong of course but I'd only ever tried her as a Priest since she's so useful as that. But this time around I wanted to mix it up. I don't see why you would ever go Monk/Priest with her though. Her PL 8/9 abilities as SC Priest or SC Monk are so strong, I don't feel like the advantages of multiclassing are worth it for her.