Alan Sylver

How would I stat and skill such a character? I figure: Might: high (need to kill enemies) Constitution: middling to low (hp, but will have very high defenses) Dexterity: middling to low (need to kill enemies, but disengagement und Mob Stance attacks circumvent recovery) Perception: max (need to hit in order to kill) Intelligence: middling (effect duration of Vigorous Defense/Disciplined Barrage and Paladin buffs) Resolve: max (deflection) Skills: I have no friggin' clue. Insight and Athletics, because these are tested most on the main character? I might switch over to Barbarian/Unbroken or Trickster/Unbroken, but I guess a lot of the above stuff remains the same.

Do you use a mod to put this on Eder? Because being able to take neither Unbroken nor Trickster would affect performance in a pretty big way I assume.

On second thought: all the skills required for the build come from Fighter (Mob Stance, Unbroken, Overbearing Guard). I went into this coming from the Paladin angle and so didn't think about alternatives there. But after sifting through the other candidates, I get the impression that Unbroken is better paired with other classes. Barbarian can add some good damage buffs too and Carnage will probably work wonders on enemies glued to this character via engagements. Not sure what happens when you have Blood Thirst and Mob Stance - I doubt I get two recoveries out of this. So I could probably pick up Defender Stance instead, skip recovery with Blood Thirst and get my speed buffs from Bloodlust. Maybe terrify enemies with Spirit Tornado to break engagement, and smash through enemies with Barbaric Smash. Trickster and Streetfighter have been talked about a lot and the damage bonuses probably outweigh all the Paladin side would have to offer. Trickster also beats the Faith and Conviction's Deflection and Reflex bonus and may persuade enemies to break engagement via Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage.

I am diving into PoE 2 (PotD) for the first time and am trying to come up with a build for my MC. Question: Is a Shieldbearer/Unbroken multiclass with a one-hander and a bashing shield an effective enough character for PotD, or am I overlooking some kind of problem? This concept would rely on - getting full attacks from FoD and Mob Stance using both shield and weapon, - the character killing enemies quickly enough for Mob Stance to trigger often and/or - the enemy breaking engagement often enough so that I can punish them with disengagement attacks with Unbroken and Overbearing Guard. Will that work well enough on PotD? Background: My thought was basically: 1. Play a Paladin because I can make use of the Disposition, unlike Pallegina. 2. Since I am a goody two-shoes, Shieldbearer or Kind Wayfarer. If I play a Shieldbearer, I am going to end up with a shield and 3 enemies engaged. So why not multiclass the guy to Shieldbearer/Unbroken and make use of mob stance (and a 4th engagement)? Thing is, both Mob Stance and Flames of Devotion are full attacks, so I am severely hampered by using a shield. Not so if I pick up a bashing shield though. Weapon and Shield Style and Faith and Conviction will also cover up the Reflex loss from Unbroken.

Say, as far as I know, Firebrand uses whatever weapon focus there is. So one could theoretically take anything one wanted as a backup weapon? Would I really want to take Weapon Focus: Soldier under that circumstance? I could theoretically even put something with a shield there and just switch out of Firebrand if the circumstances need it (probably a bad idea, but still... it's possible).

I recently acquired the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer and am trying to decide on which character I'd like to put it. And that also got me thinking about possibly changing my current group. Baseline: PotD difficulty, Priest MC and one merc Chanter tank. Currently level 6. The idea is to have two solid frontliners, and the rest whatever fits. Current group is Pallegina and Chanter in the front, both SnB. MC priest for buff and debuff. Grieving Mother for debuff, also Charm is a wonderful gap filler when one enemy inevitably runs to my backline (kinda like an emergency tank). Sagani for high accuracy hitting and fox suicide tank. Aloth as a Blast wizard. Now I see two options: 1. Respec Pallegina for two-hander, slap Belt on and use Scion of Flame for all the flame-based stuff she then has: Flames of Devotion, Sacred Immolation, Firebrand itself, Wrath of the Five Suns. Also occasional Flame Shield from belt. I am just a bit afraid that this will leave her with not enough Deflection to successfully tank. Also I am not really satisfied with the group support she brings - the Zealous auras can be made mostly redundant with a single spell from my MC it appears. What is a Paladin for in this game, compared to the other classes? If I take this, will it bring enough to the table, compared to whoever else I could slap there? 2. Take the Cauterizer build on Maneha and use her to engage/kill those pesky ranged fighters that always wreck my backline. I would swap out Sagani for this, because the fox always dies in the first couple of seconds. The problem here is that the deflection of this build is pathetic. Far closer to my backline's deflection, my Chanter has almost double of it. So I am afraid if I jump her into the back, she'll get gobbled up. I am aware that Barbarians tank via Endurance a lot, and I got Chanter healing and a Priest MC, but still. Will this really be more effective, especially for stopping pesky ranged attackers and (involuntary) off-tanking, than Sagani and her suicide fox?