ntbittle

This build will work on any Swashbuckler but works perfectly with Eder. This build is pretty self sufficient and makes good use of the AI. The core of this build is gaining as many Engagements as possible, keep them all Flanked with Persistent Distraction, and then stack as much bonus Flanking and Engagement bonuses as possible. You can decide between Mob Stance and Guardian Stance and probably have enough points for both. Most of your extra skill points will go to Fighter skills and you will mostly be using the Rogue Passives. While you can use a Shield, where the build can get really fun is dual wielding Stalker's Patience (Bonus Damage against Flanked based on Stealth) and Kapana Taga (Bonus Damage per Engaged Target). These two weapons both can give +4 Engagement when using the Spear Modal. Add Persistent Distraction to that are you are already at +5. Guardian Stance gets you to +8. At some point you will max out the number of enemies that are on the screen at any one time. For armor you have a number of good choices like Reckless Brigandine which improves action speed for each target engaged. Combat is pretty simple, Charge at the biggest group of Mobs and they get knocked down if they try to run away. If you want to get even more powerful set Mob Stance before Charging and then switch to Guardian after the first kill. It would be nice if you could have the AI swap between stances based on Numbers engaged. Anyone have any thoughts on fun additional items? Having a Wizard drop a Pull of Eora is always good fun.

I made a Swashbuckler build for Eder but it would work even better for a main character. Devoted / Spears would make it even better. This build is pretty self sufficient and makes good use of the AI. The core of this build is gaining as many Engagements as possible, keep them all Flanked with Persistent Distraction, and then stack as much bonus Flanking and Engagement bonuses as possible. You can decide between Mob Stance and Guardian Stance and probably have enough points for both. Most of your extra skill points will go to Fighter skills and you will mostly be using the Rogue Passives. While you can use a Shield, where the build can get really fun is dual wielding Stalker's Patience (Bonus Damage against Flanked based on Stealth) and Kapana Taga (Bonus Damage per Engaged Target). These two weapons both can give +4 Engagement when using the Spear Modal. Add Persistent Distraction to that are you are already at +5. Guardian Stance gets you to +8. At some point you will max out the number of enemies that are on the screen at any one time. For armor you have a number of good choices like Reckless Brigandine which improves action speed for each target engaged. Combat is pretty simple, Charge at the biggest group of Mobs and they get knocked down if they try to run away. If you want to get even more powerful set Mob Stance before Charging and then switch to Guardian after the first kill. It would be nice if you could have the AI swap between stances based on Numbers engaged. Anyone have any thoughts on fun additional items? Having a Wizard drop a Pull of Eora is always good fun.

I was thinking about having multiple chanters in my party with Tekehu and Pallegina and maybe a MC as well. I was curious about the best Phrases for each and which will stack and which won't? With the intel of the Companions is it better to have them always sing the same phrase or swap between two?

This looks great. I ran a single class druid Tekēhu but regretted it after the 8 and 9th level spells weren't that interesting. Can't wait to give this a try.

Thanks for posting. This looks great and will be used on my next playthrough.

Exactly this. Getting faster access to each level spells AND access to the highest level spells is a HUGE difference.

This build will work on any Swashbuckler but works perfectly with Eder. This build is pretty self sufficient and makes good use of the AI. The core of this build is gaining as many Engagements as possible, keep them all Flanked with Persistent Distraction, and then stack as much bonus Flanking and Engagement bonuses as possible. You can decide between Mob Stance and Guardian Stance and probably have enough points for both. Most of your extra skill points will go to Fighter skills and you will mostly be using the Rogue Passives. While you can use a Shield, where the build can get really fun is dual wielding Stalker's Patience (Bonus Damage against Flanked based on Stealth) and Kapana Taga (Bonus Damage per Engaged Target). These two weapons both can give +4 Engagement when using the Spear Modal. Add Persistent Distraction to that are you are already at +5. Guardian Stance gets you to +8. At some point you will max out the number of enemies that are on the screen at any one time. For armor you have a number of good choices like Reckless Brigandine which improves action speed for each target engaged. Combat is pretty simple, Charge at the biggest group of Mobs and they get knocked down if they try to run away. If you want to get even more powerful set Mob Stance before Charging and then switch to Guardian after the first kill. It would be nice if you could have the AI swap between stances based on Numbers engaged. Anyone have any thoughts on fun additional items? Having a Wizard drop a Pull of Eora is always good fun.

Buy one of the larger ships for no other reason than to have more crew you can get trained up at a time.

Don't rely on resistances. Use Svef, or the gaze shield, or Modwyr .

So what you are saying is that you spend weeks looking into one of the most powerful and broken builds and are now disappointed when it is no longer? And without even trying it out and see if it is actually so underpowered against the rest of the game, you are giving up on it? Monks were so overpowered at launch they mad the entire game easy mode. They needed a nerf.

I found Hand of Berath to be super powerful when fighting the last two dragons and some of the higher level "bosses." -5 Power level is pretty nasty.

No kidding. A bunch of the armor styles just look horrible.

This build will work on any Swashbuckler but works perfectly with Eder. This build is pretty self sufficient and makes good use of the AI. The core of this build is gaining as many Engagements as possible, keep them all Flanked with Persistent Distraction, and then stack as much bonus Flanking and Engagement bonuses as possible. You can decide between Mob Stance and Guardian Stance and probably have enough points for both. Most of your extra skill points will go to Fighter skills and you will mostly be using the Rogue Passives. While you can use a Shield, where the build can get really fun is dual wielding Stalker's Patience (Bonus Damage against Flanked based on Stealth) and Kapana Taga (Bonus Damage per Engaged Target). These two weapons both can give +4 Engagement when using the Spear Modal. Add Persistent Distraction to that are you are already at +5. Guardian Stance gets you to +8. At some point you will max out the number of enemies that are on the screen at any one time. For armor you have a number of good choices like Reckless Brigandine which improves action speed for each target engaged. Combat is pretty simple, Charge at the biggest group of Mobs and they get knocked down if they try to run away. If you want to get even more powerful set Mob Stance before Charging and then switch to Guardian after the first kill. It would be nice if you could have the AI swap between stances based on Numbers engaged. Anyone have any thoughts on fun additional items? Having a Wizard drop a Pull of Eora is always good fun.

An easier option would be to have all party members 2 Mechanics. That should be an automatic 10 to anyone making a check. Then it's pretty simple to raise it.

Stalker's Patience is a spear with a +10% Damage via Flanked that increases with stealth. That could be the core of a very fun Streetfighter (Eder) build focused on Guardian Stance and Persistent Distraction. Everyone engaged is Flaked by Distraction and anyone trying to get away is Prone.

Insight and Diplomacy are used often. Because of the diminishing returns on Party Assist, it is best to give all Companions in every skill. There are a few exceptions like Xoti.

I switched to this build with Eder at Lvl 10 and he's now a monster. Charge + 5 Engagement + Everyone Distracted means just groups of death.

Give all Companions 2 in every skill for max party assist possible. You could skip Alchemy, Explosives and Stealth if you don't plan on using any of those. By about level 8 you should be getting +8 to all party assist checks. Then focus 1 character on Mechanics to over traps. If you REALLY want to know the answer, all of the dialogue checks have been datamined. The results are at the link above. This will let you know the Classes, Abilities and Skills checks with the most frequency. Spoilers:

Would it make sense to have a separate section at the bottom for Companion Builds or would that fall into the individual class sections. Some of the special companion subclasses may need their own build options.

If you are willing to Multi the Melee Wiz, Shattered Pillar Monk seems pretty interesting. Use all of the Quick Self Buffs and the use the Monk skills for your attacks. The Mirror Images would combo well with Dance of Death. Would Deleterious Alacrity of Motion generate wounds for a non Shattered Pillar?

Are there any non-monk abilities that can be used by a Multi-Class Monk or by other party members to generate wounds for a Helwalker?

One thing I liked doing in POE1 was overlapping as many group buffs as possible. I was curious what the best combo of using only Companion Characters and the player character to stack as many overlapping group buffs as possible. No custom made side kicks. At minimum, I'm assuming that this should include a Chanter, Paladin and Priest. I'd be willing to sacrifice individual damage from my character in order to fill any gaps left by the companions.

I know that most of the threads in this section are based on maximizing combat or creating unique class combos but I found the most enjoyment playing through normal mode and getting the most out of the dialogue / skill system and the story. In PE1, most of the key checks for the PC seems to be Resolve and Intelligence. Any there any goods builds or Race/Class/Attribute suggestions for getting the most out of the story? If certain states are used more often,what classes get the best use of those stats? How many checks can only be done by the PC and how many can your party contribute to?