Haplok

Okay, my mistake. Still, as others wrote, other classes can do more on a semi-permanent basis.

Paladin / Chanter is great for support. But also consider: Paladin / Rogue is great (either Trickster for max tankyness or Streetfighter for max carnage) Paladin / Soulblade Cipher Paladin / Wizard Paladin combines really well with most classes.

I like Helwalker/Ascendant. A bit slow early on, once he gets Duality and Stunning Blows he really starts rocking. Works great with some ranged weapons, particularly Kitchen Stove with its Thunderous Report, the dual hand mortars (great with Stunning Blows). Also sweet with Grave Calling sabre and a chanter, where you use the saber to kill your own skeletons that you summoned between you and the enemy, which generates foe-only deadly, paralyzing chillfogs, which provide focus for you.

Agree, particularly considering the meager duration.

Nice info about the bounties, thank you both Gromnir and Enoch. As for food... I find Water and Hardtack perfectly adequate (and cheap :D). So the morale goes down? No big deal as long as I sink some ship and solve some story book encounters once in a while. It's easy to keep the morale maxed all the time. A little clarification: the Voulge can be retrieved with little risk directly after Port Maje, prior to doing any bounty quests. At worst I maybe lost a crew member in the storms. Generally not a big deal. Though now that I think of it, I MIGHT have had the experienced captain blessing.

He did mention Will Barrage, which is mutually exclusive with Thunderous Report AFAIR. Wild Barrage is pretty great, but for rapid Focus generation purposes has nothing on Thunderous Report IMO (per encounter too!).

Lots of good suggestions. But I can hardly believe that Kitchen Stove special, Thunderous Report, has not been mentioned yet. Its per encounter, deals huge damage in a large cone AND dazes enemies. On my Helwalker Transcendant it usually fills the focus in 1 shot (at least when there are a few enemies - and there usually are). With a monk multiclass the cone is really huge, like takes most of the screen and the daze has long duration (its a nasty debuff, which makes penetrating armor very difficult for enemies - but doesn't land on all enemies). I almost always open with that on my Transcendant, once the enemies start their rush towards my group. And consequently start the combat Ascended.

If you want tanky AND decent damage, you'd be better of with a Paladin OR Fighter combo with Trickster. Rogue adds a lot of damage and the Trickster abilities increase your defenses a lot as well. With Permanent Distraction you get free sneak-attacks all day long. Fighter/Paladin is durability focused overkill IMO.

You can do that, but the Fonferus can't be upgraded and will have slow travel/attack speed. Meh, it still has the cannon and crew capacity of a galleon, as well as hull durability of an (un-upgraded) one. Was a huge upgrade over my sloop overall and more then enough to beat the enemy ships. Bonus points for the nice fog effect that it creates. And its FREE!

Does the game inform you that completing this quest is the path of no return and you will be married to a faction as a result? Well, I don't complete it, as I don't "turn it in".

Personally I buy some cheap upgrades, like Warship hull (plus get Valera sails). Get some good guns (I think they sell decent ones in Sayuka) and the initial sloop lasts me well till after mid-game. Then I tend to rush the Principi questline and get the Engoliero de Espirs estoc, as well as Fonferrus Ghost Galleon for free. If you don't report back with the ship to the pirates, you're still free to join other factions and ally with whomever you wish.

Oh, it doesn't work for ranged? My bad.

Why not Berserker? Don't you like Crits and Penetration? On a single-target ranged build Confused isn't even a big issue (at least prior to Driving Flight and Roots). In any case, it's fairly simple to mitigate.

For Inquisitors or Mindstalkers you may reconsider the Cipher flavor. Soulblade could work better in a strictly melee role, as he gains Concentration on kills. Trickster/Soulblade is good and decently tanky. Alternatively Streetfighter/Ascendant - but preferably with blunderbusses. The latter actually allows rapid casts of fast spells, which is nice. The former doesn't really support the casting side in any other way then faster Focus gain.

Never had a problem having both Xoti and Pallegina in my party. Sure got a few minuses in relations with Pallegina, but who cares? She's a great support and offtank as Herald. Eder: definitely Fighter/Rogue: still more then durable enough and actually capable of dealing damage. Aloth: I also prefer battlemage. Not so much to melee (although you can!), but more for easy cruise mode. Having a wizard, who'd durable, capable and I don't have to babysit all the time is actually great! If you like Ciphers, Ascendants are a blast! Soulblades are a bit one-trick ponies. Personally I recommend Transcendet, as a Helwalker monk simply supercharges all Cipher powers - durations, aoes, damage (and ability to generate Focus also!). Best synergy IMO.

I recommend Helwalker/Ascendant Transcendent. Once you try Ascendant, you won't want to play another Cipher flavor. Freely spamming your best powers is just great! And Helwalker simply supercharges all Cipher abilities (greatly extending duration, aoe sizes and, in case of Helwalker, also damage). The build generally wants to be ranged, however with careful positioning and perhaps some heavy armor when you're feeling squishy, you can also survive melee. Particularly that you want to lock your enemies helpless: paralyze (Mental Binding) or stun (Stunning Surge) them. It can act as what I like to call "middle range" - cause blunderbuss range of 4-5 m really isn't much (and aoe mortar blunderbuss stunning whole groups in a large aoe is just great)... or you can have your chanter friend summon skellies between you and the enemy and use your Grave Calling scimitar to kill these skellies - generating deadly, blinding & paralyzing Chillfogs in the process - and restoring your Focus. Tons of options, lots of fun.

You can create custom mercenaries in the taverns, you know.

Nope. Unless the spell comes from a weapon (say Amira's Wing Wilting Wind or Engoliero do Espirs Ghost Blades). There are also some OP spell-like effects, like Kitchen Stove Thunderous Report.

Well, you can. Not really with 2 characters though.

Typical melee is... tricky. But you can be "mid range". Mortar blunderbusses have like only 4-5m range anyway. Have your chanter buddy summon skellies between you and the enemies. Then proceed to chop said skeletons to pieces using Grave Calling sabre to create deadly foe-only paralyzing chillfogs, which generate Focus for you... Also you have Mental Binding. Use it when the going gets hot! You could even get the (very cool) Blade Turning. But you should rarely be in melee heat anyway. Late game you can even use Long Pain -> Instruments of Pain for a lot of range. Plus if you're feeling squishy, you can actually use a heavy armor. It will greatly improve your survivability. Generally not a bad idea for a Helwalker.

Frankly Serafen is a terrible Cipher IMO. Too bad, as he's one of the coolest companions. If you want a decent Cipher sidekick, your choice is limited to Ydwin. But frankly you won't know Cipher power until you play an Ascendant variant yourself.

Dance of Death isn't great for a melee monk, who is often targeted. Much more useful for a ranged monk.

Well, you can use other abilities to group enemies in one area and then shoot them with the Lance. Say Pull of Eora. Or maybe Stunning Surge...

Yeah, I've had the same idea some time ago. In the end I found that Streetfighter damage is so good, that it competes with cipher powers for action economy. Overall I liked Helwalker monk more. It provides a strong boost to action speed also (less, but not limited to recovery), but also supercharges the cipher powers with up to +15 Might, +10 Int and +2 Pen. Powers last very long, have huge radiuses and hit hard. Also I can aoe stun whole groups for 11 seconds with dual mortar Stunning Surge fire.

If you like spamming offensive powers, Ascendant is MUCH better, no contest. Scream isn't great. But Mind Lance is very nice and spammy (fast cast, interrupt to perma-stun, will save!). Just have to be aware of the positioning, as it does friendly damage. And be sure to use Ectopsychic Echo. That's one of the best Cipher offensive powers.