Haplok

Frankly, I personally dislike Fighter/Paladin combinations. Sure, they can tank for days, but... well, being an incarnation of a wall, an immovable object is just not exciting for me. Damage output will be pathetic compared to what one of those classes could bring to the table, when multiclassed with a rogue or a monk - while still being more then durable enough to survive anything the game throws at you. Or the utility and versatility of a chanter multiclass. Or a Battlemage. Heck, even a Brute (Fighter/Barbarian) is more interesting and synergistic.

I'm sure its possible. Particularly with the Free Action buffs in Turn Based mode. However I prefer my tanks a little bit more... substantial and less reliant on buffs. Lots of buffing and once you get hit by that Arcane Damper, your fragile as a kitten and can no longer tank. Also the action economy on non-Free Action buffs isn't great (like Llengrath's Safeguard or Spirit Lance). You waste a full round to buff defenses or summon a weapon... if you do that, 2 rounds into the fight, the fight is often already decided. WotEP is simply weak vs single targets. Paladin / Rogue certainly works, but due to limited Engagement slots, is a bit worse in the actual tanking role IMO. Worse accuracy and less Crit conversion on normal/riposte attacks. Less Interrupt potential (Mule Kick, Clear Out). Less disengagement attacks too.

True. Even better, Escape is +50 Deflection... I had Eder built like this in Turn Based mode and he was a real beast - multiple Riposte attacks per round - some of them reaching almost 200 damage (plus DOTs) with Magran's Favor and Tuotilo's procs. A PC with these subclasses and more optimized stats will actually be way better!

Maybe I'll provide some examples. I don't consider Wall of Draining a potion of Final Stand (or other effects for that matter) a cheat. Cheesy AF, but, well, gotta win somehow. And that's within the game rules. Same with using Gouging Strike / Paladin mark and vanishing to hide in a corner. Or forcing an elemental spawn and using a wall to trigger Brilliant off it. Food/rest bonuses stacking... yeah... that's... kinda borderline already. But continuously equipping and unequipping items to stack ridiculous duration extensions on usually very short lived buffs? That's exploiting a very clear game bug to me - cheating.

Didn't really see a question asking how to cheat.

Guess a battlemage could work. But in Turn Based mode I was never really satisfied with the impact of a single/dual blow... even a good one. So I'd suggest a retaliation tank, who will counter opponents who try to attack him - and that way can attack multiple times off-round. Perhaps a Swashbuckler - Trickster / Fighter. Maybe Unbroken. Get Overbearing Guard for extra punishing Disengagement attacks. Aim for Gipon Prudensco armor. Before that Nomad's Brigandine and Casita Samelia Breastplates are good. Use Magran's Favor Axe (with Bleeding Cuts modal!) with Tuotilo's Palm Shield (with the retaliation enchant AND the modal that gives +15 Accuracy after enemy miss). You'll both be highly durable and do excellent damage as far as tanks in Turn Based go.

Not sure why one would waste time on the game, if the way to win was to find cheats.

Hm... so kinda like in Pathfinder: Kingmaker... prior to last patch.

I see no mention in the OP that the TC wants to play solo or rush till final levels. I tend to go after bounties soon after arrival in Neketaka too. In a full party completing them brings me nowhere near the final power levels (Shared Nightmare is PL IX). Maybe around level 12-13? The bulk of the game happens below top levels. Well, I guess the max PL is relevant for DLCs. So going solo and optimizing xp gains to race till max level is hardly relevant IMO.

Shared Nightmare comes late. A monk multiclass will boast supreme aoe sizes AND effect durations much sooner. Even for a dedicated caster, something like the already mentioned chanter / cipher would be more versatile and interesting IMO.

Definately multiclass material IMO. SC can work, but are both less interesting and less effective trough most of the game. Like Boeroer wrote, monks are fantastic with ciphers. Forbidden Fist is kinda my favorite, with a strong attack/debuff ability from level 1 (and 0 cost, as long as you don't spam it too aggressively), that synergizes well with cipher debuffs and DOTs (+50% duration on Disintegrate with enemy healing disabled is pretty major... makes landing it easier as well). Note Community Patch is needed for Forbidden Fist ability to generate Focus. Not critical, but would be nice to have.

That was my idea, sort of. But in practice the disengagement attacks didn't trigger that often (even when I changed my equipment to have more engagement slots). Thing is, my experience has been that the enemies usually "cower" and only run away sometimes. This rarely triggers bonus attack. Repulsive Visage is a very good defensive tool, but not a great counterattack one, I thought. I had more ripostes due to misses. I even tried to build for disengagement bonus Deflection, to maybe intentionally trigger those misses, but that also didn't work great. Moving around, trying to provoke was wasting time that could be spent rapidly butchering enemies outright. Just as well, as I enjoyed a more mobile and aggressive playstyle more. Escape and eventually Flagellant's Path traverse the battlefield blazing fast and you end up simply melting the enemies. Early on I did use Tuotilo's Palm a little, but soon I've gave up on it. Enemies could rarely do serious harm trough the defensive buffs and Repulsive Visage and damage was much better with a 2nd weapon.

I greatly enjoyed a Forbidden Fist / Trickster Shadowdancer. Way more tanky then a Hellwalker, doesn't need to be hit to gain wounds. Has a very potent 0-cost attack/debuff move since level 1. A bit slower in Wound generation initially... but you mostly end up spamming Stunning Surge (Mortification resource, often refunded), Forbidden Fist (max Resolve and eat Hostile Effect time reducing food to allow for maximum spammage) and rogue active abilities (mainly Confounding Blind to make hits/crits even easier and Toxic Strike on tougher enemies - very potent combined with FF Enfeeble). And once you have Parting Sorrow, you also generate wounds when you kill an enemy (very often!).

Yep, passively scaring enemies trough a clone firing at them with the summoned scary bow with bouncing arrows, while you're raining death on cowering fools sounds pretty good

Disclaimer: My experience mainly comes from Turn Based mode, my Bloodmage advice not be true for real time. That said, I wouldn't recommend dumping Con as a Bloodmage. Unless you're not planning on using Blood Sacrifice much. But then maybe another wizard subclass is better? Bligtheart is good. Magran's Favor + Sun & Moon less so, personally I've used less and less Fire based spells as I progressed trough the game. Generally Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst (Piercing) outclasses them. Other key spell was Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar (Cold). For Turn Based also Ninagauth's Death Ray (Raw), but that's less useful in real time, I guess. Engoliero the Espirs was a fun weapon to use in Turn Based. Not sure if it would work quite as well in real time. As for 500-800 damage crits, I think those are only possible with a Ranger companion Takedow Combo or Paladin Inspiring Beacon? These are strong, but hardly game-breaking, I've thought. Many enemies are such terrible bullet sponges... In fact nuking in Turn Based would feel kinda weak without those.

Ascendant is the strongest user of the Seeker's Fang. Admittedly late game, but something to look forward to. A well placed Spider's Flurry is usually enough to Ascend.

Most fights should start under cover of Stealth. On your conditions, as you wrote. And with tankier characters in front/revealing faster. Or with an Assassinate Shadowflame from stealth, that will Paralyze enemies. Well, there is one surprise encounter when traveling in Neketaka that can be pretty rough, but it can be won and I think it's also avoidable. In general getting Shadowing Beyond is the great game-changer, as then you can restealth on demand.

Of course, I would also pick sabers Existance of Scordeo's Edge really makes it a no-brainer choice, particularly on a monk with Swift Flurry/ Heartbeat Drumming. Grave Calling can get pretty stupid also. Although on a non-Devoted a rapier could be a nice offhand

Bloodmage wants higher Con. To be able to use Blood Sacrifice more, but also to have a bigger health buffer once you finish your round 1 Blood Sacrifices and are Blooded with human bonus of +7 Accuracy and +15% damage. And once Blooded and with human bonus enabled, to survive those 130 damage Chain Lightning self-crits that will trigger Deltro's Cage helmet up to 130% shock lash on your spells. I don't recommend changing the Assassin subclass. The entire point of the build is to cast multiple spells with Assassinate bonus only Assassins get from stealth: +25 Accuracy (great Accuracy also enables frequent crits), +4 PEN (also leads to frequent Overpenetration and another +30% damage), +50% Critical damage. In Turn Based mode survivability is not a big issue. Since you are mostly stealthed and untargettable during enemy turns. In fact, it is an extremly safe playstyle - in Turn Based mode (just don't use items that can replicate spells cast - as your own Chain Lightnings will kill you). Real Time is another story. Other Spellblade multiclasses can work also, but their playstyle would be vastly different.

The only thing I disagree with are the faster sabre attacks. Might be mistaken, but I think rapiers with modal are still faster then sabres without. Might be wrong, but even then the speed difference (with rapier modal on!) is a wash. Without modal, rapiers are significantly faster.

Hm, can't say I struggled much to land Forbidden Fist, even on bosses. As Boeroer wrote, even a Graze will work decently.

Wound generation ceases to be an issue once you have Parting Sorrow (triggered also on kills). Not much to spend Wounds on anyway. First Forbidden Fist is free (and you generally don't want additional stacks of the Curse). You want full attacks - Stunning Surge - and that uses Mortification (but should be refunded on rapiers all the time). Later Flagellant's Path is Mortification also (and awesome). Plus you can use Cipher Powers also. That mostly leaves Thuderous Blows buff. So I'd hoard most Wounds rather then spend them. Also you're comparing a fast, basically spammable attack, which is a part of your normal combat routine, that also provides a hefty debuff, with a specific targeted debuff that will deal no damage to the enemy, use up your cast time and Recovery. I'd only use Psychovampiric Shield on particularly dangerous enemies. Meanwhile, Forbidden Fist is spammed all the time (once the previous Curse expires). Doesn't hurt that their effects should stack.

I think I'd go with cipher/monk then. Trickster will be fine and more of a tank, but cipher synergy with Seeker's Fang is great and monk Int synergizes well with cipher abilities. Damage wise Flurry/Heartbeat chains will be just as effective (or more) then all the rogue boosts (although maybe not quite AS reliable - but still extremely frequent - and killing enemies in a single flurry is both fun and very helpful - as a dead enemy is the best form of CC). Flagellant's Path will be great later on. Weaker enemies will be killed outright on the charge, without triggering Recovery. On Forbidden Fist: low Int not necessary, but max Resolve very advised. Plus food that Reduces the duration of hostile effects (Mohora Wraps). And MAYBE items that do the same. Note the default "Forbidden Fist" is not treated as a weapon attack (more like a spell ability), so it doesn't provide Focus. Community Patch changes this. Forbidden Fist is neat, as it uses your fist damage even when you're holding a weapon. So you can use rapiers, shields and other weapons and still deliver devastating punches when you want to (mainly when you want to debuff the enemy).

I think I'd go with Forbidden Fist monk to pair with Ascendant. Greatly prolonging the hostile effects on enemies - as as the Raw DoT from rapier but also Disintegrate and various debuffs. Its my favorite monk subclass nowadays (although I play with the Community Patch). Also the Raw DoT may not stack with itself, but if I'm not mistaken, each new crit will trigger it anew - with an instant primary tick, which will be almost as high as the weapon damage itself. So its still like damage x2 on a crit.

The rapier modal is very strong (+20 Accuracy!) and rapiers are fast enough that the penalty isn't so bad when dual-wielding. Then Rapiers have innate +5 Accuracy. Rannig's Wrath even reinforces that Accuracy focus by providing another +4 Accuracy on top. So they are Accuracy beasts and, consequently, crit machines. Therefore I feel a monk with Flurry and Heartbeat Drumming is kinda obligatory to capitalize on that. Dual rapiers lead to massive crit chains all the time. The second class I would choose between Cipher (probably Ascendant) to eventually use the awesome Seeker's Fang or Rogue - probably Trickster - for solid damage output and strong defensive buffs.