thundercleese

------------------------------- The Furry Ravager ------------------------------- Difficulty = PotD v. 2.0 ------------------------------- Solo: Possible, needs more testing ------------------------------- Class: Helwalker / Berserker ------------------------------- Race: Hearth Orlan ------------------------------- Background: Deadfire/The White that Wends ------------------------------- Base stats: Priority goes PER > DEX > MIG MIG: 15 (17) CON: 8 (10) DEX: 18 (20) PER: 20 (22) INT: 8 (10) RES: 8 (10) I took Effigy: Devil of Caroc, but take whatever you like for that. Skills: Whatever you want really. I like to have a moderate Athletics and set my AI to use when near death. Points in alchemy if you wanna use drugs. Passives I like to spread them around, but if you plan to use Giftbearer’s then pump History. Abilities: Lvl 1 – Frenzy/Swift Strikes Lvl 2 – Lesser Wounds Lvl 3 – Blooded Lvl 4 – Thick Skinned/Two Weapon Style Lvl 5 – Barbaric Blow Lvl 6 – Long Stride OR Wilder Hunter Lvl 7 – Blood Lust*/Swift Flurry* Lvl 8 – One Stands Alone* Lvl 9 – Bloody Slaughter* Lvl 10 – Bloody Frenzy*/Duality of Mortal Presence Lvl 11 – Wild Sprint Lvl 12 – Stunning Blow Lvl 13 – Barbaric Smash/Stunning Surge Lvl 14 – Enervating Blows OR Interrupting Blows* Lvl 15 – The Long Pain Lvl 16 – Lion’s Sprint/Turning Wheel Lvl 17 – Brute Force Lvl 18 – Improved Critical Lvl 19 – Blood Thirst/Heartbeat Drumming Lvl 20 – Instruments of Pain **Levels 7-9 can be taken in any order, though this is the order I took them in. **You can take Lightning Strikes then respec to Swift Flurry later, if you feel you aren’t critting enough early on. **Spirit Frenzy can be taken at lvl 10, however stun overrides staggered. Also if you use a rogue tank for persistent distraction, this will remove it so bear that in mind. **I'm undecided on which is better out of Interrupting/Enervating Blows, but need to drop one for The Long Pain. Gear: Head: Fair Favor/Helm of the White Void Armor: Devil of Caroc Breastplate Gloves: Aegor’s Swift Touch, or anything that increases DEX/MIG Amulet: A few choices here; Bone Setter’s Torc, Precognition, and Orishia are my favourites. Amulet of (greater) health is good for early game Rings: Greater Regeneration + Voidward Belt: Undying Burden/Upright Captain (very handy in BoW) Boots: Anything that increases DEX. Early on you can use Boots of the Stone, BiS is Footprints of Ahu Taka. Boots of Speed are also nice Cloak: Still not set on this slot yet; for pure damage you could go Violet Redemption; Nemnok’s will save you in a pinch, but will make you even more squishy; Giftbearer’s or (Greater) Protection for the will; (Greater) Deflection is probably the overall safest choice. Pet: Abraham Trinket: Waidwen's Sundial/Eye of Rymrgand. Both strong defensively, Sundial also has a debuff though this can be applied by a party member. Per rest so if you don't like abusing rest (I don't) then save for big fights/rough situations. Weapons: Scordeo’s Edge: You will want to go to Ashen Maw early. Put it in your main hand and leave it there. Rust’s Poignard: Obtainable early, though the fight can be tough. I was able to do it at lvl10 without much trouble, so I’m sure it can be done earlier. Worthy mentions/situationally good: Grave Calling: BiS OH for skeleton fights. +15 accuracy vs vessels makes this the obvious choice, as a bonus we can summon minions with it too. This will also probably be your main hand until you get Scordeo’s. Modwyr: Solid weapon, however the action speed buff doesn’t apply to your other weapon whereas Rust's does (the lashes do though). A solid option pre Scordeo/Rust, also against Fampyrs. Aldris Blade of Captain Crow: Good synergy with our high crit chance. If you are having trouble with healing then you will like this sabre. Beza's Toothed Blade: Only one reason to use this, and that is Veil Piercing. Veil-Touched (all ghosts have this passive) grants -50% damage taken and 100% incoming crit to hit conversion. Only way to circumvent this is with Veil Piercing, showcased in the Onadere bounty video below. Tarn’s Respite: Very good early-mid game weapon due to +1 PEN and a cold lash. The upgrades are only really good against bosses. Edit: After playing through BoW I have made some adjustments and removed some weapons, because honestly Scordeo/Rust can't be beat (outside of immunities and ghosts). Even the 21 slash/pierce armour snow bears couldn't slow me down. I was even able to prone-lock the final boss at half health thanks to Rust and a good Blade Cascade proc; fight ended about 15 seconds later. For other gear, there aren't many changes. The Helm of the White Void provides us +10 accuracy on Stunning Surge, so is a very strong contender for the head slot. Looks weird if you're not also wearing the Guardian's Plate though. Added trinket recommendations. New ring (Prosperity's Fortune) from the Deck of Many Things DLC is interesting, however you'd have to drop the ring of regen. Also appears to be no in game indication whatsoever of how much hit to crit chance it gives, so can't recommend at this stage. Most of this gear is obtainable early, providing you know where to look and have the cash. Most of the expensive ones can even be stolen with mechanics 14, which is nice. My fight against the Kraken was quite bizarre; hopefully you find it as amusing as I did playing it! I had to equip Eder with the Bounding Boots to get him out after. It is very easy to stack Scordeo against, the results of which I show at the end. And this is why Swift Flurry is so strong; this was before I got Scordeo so my accuracy wasn't even that crazy: Some videos of bounties (almost solo) pre patch 2.0: And some more bounties from 2.0 patch day: So as you can see the build is still very strong after the nerf to SS; basically don't spam it until you have high Scordeo and/or they are sufficiently debuffed. Gameplay: So, how it all fits together. Stunning surge will provide us with 2 mortification if it crits, this used to apply to both attacks meaning it was possible to generate Mortification (patch 2.0 limited it to one refund). It also gives you 2 wounds; though this is likely a bug. This is why we want to maximise our crit chance, and is why Scordeo’s Edge is so good here. Each hit with it grants +2 accuracy, which stacks. Swift Flurry and Heartbeat Drumming have a chance to trigger an additional attack when you crit; the important thing to note is that the additional attack seems to always be with the main hand (which is why Scordeo’s must be in MH slot), and they can proc several times on a single attack (most I’ve seen is 8, sometimes you will literally make a mob explode with a single hit). This means it is very easy for us to stack our accuracy, leading to more crits, more SS spam, and more free attack procs! I've also added in Instruments of Pain, which allows us to hit from a distance - don't use the Long Pain as it will replace your weapons, just wait for the upgrade. Against some bosses you may want to not use it, as you can't flank from range. Next up we have Lion’s Charge, which gives +15 accuracy (note this doesn't stack with Priest's Devotions of the Faithful). The description states it is only for the first hit, however it is currently bugged and will last for the duration of the encounter. This will eventually get fixed, but even then it will still be a solid choice as you want to get those free attacks pumping ASAP. Sprint is also great for rushing the backline at the start of a fight if you want to take out a caster quickly, and repositioning in general. Bloodlust and Blood Thirst to increase our AS when we kill things, which will be alot. Bloody Slaughter and Barbaric Smash for finishing off low health enemies. Rust's Poignard - Shank gives 3% AS per stack against flanked enemies (also works on your MH, though tooltip it doesn't always show on the weapon), so you will want a Rgoue tank and/or Cipher to spam Phantom Foes. Lay Low is also very powerful when it procs (prone and -10 all defenses). It even works on bosses so if you get a Blade Cascade proc you can lock them down for a solid duration (Salvation of Time extends it). For basic fights I have a script handle pretty much everything for me, which I can upload if anyone is interested. Athletics when near death - auto cast frenzy, swift flurry, and instruments of pain - if mortification > 5 then use SS on lowest deflection - if rage > 5 AND enemy is near death then use barbaric smash. Activate sprint at beginning of combat after your auto cast buffs and pick your first target. You will be disgusted at how efficient this is when you get a Blade Cascade proc. Note: This is no longer strictly recommended in 2.0. Take control early then once the momentum has built up let it spam. I think that's everything, if you have any suggestions or critiques I'd love to hear them! Edit: Updated for 2.0, added a bunch of videos, changed some formatting. Edit: Can't believe I'd never tried out The Long Pain/Instruments of Pain before, so much fun! Take them at 15 and 20.

It's 43 base damage, which is increased by PL, might and any other increased damage/damage taken modifiers (I was testing on a Nature Godlike Helwalker Votary with Magran's Favor and Sun and Moon - explains a lot). I suppose since we are talking about an Arcane Knight it won't be nearly as bad.

Yep using Eder as Swashbuckler. I just really dislike having to wait ~6-7 seconds between actions; if he takes some burst damage right after attacking, he's in trouble. Yeah those are pretty much what I've narrowed it down to, though since I'm pumping metaphysics for Cadhu Scalth I'll probably go with Reckless. I tend to try and max out engagement slots so it fits well. The AS bonus is more like 5% + ~2-3% per engaged enemy enemy. Still very good though and nicely offsets the heavy penalty.

What are peoples favourite armour to put on their tanks for party play? I usually end up using Reckless Brigandine, although prior to that I often give them DoC BP if I don't have another char that wants it. In my current run I'm using Patinated Plate but I just really don't like how slow it makes you, even with the AS enchant. It sucks seeing an enemy about to use an ability I want to stop, but I can't as I'm only halfway through a 6 second recovery...

I'm sorry, yeah, I'm at work and a forgot the correct name. Its an Arcane Knight which is real powerful, I got ironskin which was one of my favorite skills from POE1 wizards. I want to get the sacred immolation but seems to be pretty hard to get if you are multiclass; as you're leveling 2 classes at the same time. As a multiclass you can pick up Sacred Immolation at level 19 I believe. I wouldn't take it though, as you will take something like 90 raw damage per second and die almost instantly. Only way to make it work is to abuse and spam BDD and hope everything is dead before it wears off.

I like the Weapon and Shield suggestion, however many full attacks already have interrupt on hit (pretty much all of Rogues, for example). Also there are full attacks that already apply a raw damage dot (Rogues again, Hunter's Wounding Shot). As Boeroer said earlier, some two handers just wouldn't make sense to have an AoE cone. Something like Clear Out would be more suitable imo. Ideally I would like to see something like what they did with Strike the Bell; unique effect based on weapon used. Though it's probably a bit late for such a drastic rework of all the (full attack) skills.

True, if there's no one else attacking then gouging is just as good as it lasts forever so you know it's getting the kill.

Good to know. I imagine hit and run tactics with Arterial Strike would be the most consistent way to proc/test it on non-vessels.

So all my "general abilities" are listed under my highest Barbarian power level. Noticed it earlier in the run; they move up when I reach a new power level. A save: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ozmyo7mwa39pmi2/Blathiel_%25282e7aaa45-bb7b-4b34-8493-733a9942db73%2529_autosave_2.savegame/file

No problem. The same thing happens with Hel Beckoning, it's not in that save file but I used the console to test it. Guessing it uses the same code but with vessel replaced by spirit.

Does your Eder have Deep Wounds? As my initial observation was that it was from DoT damage getting the kill, it was only the barrel clearing exercise that alerted me to the carnage interaction.

Intentional and possibly one of the most annoying abilities in the game lol.

I haven't tried DAoM on my Warlock since it was buffed. Wouldn't Frenzy's bonus action speed override the +15%? IIRC, the Dex bonus would stack but in that case Fleet Feet would be ideal. This is a good question, didnt think about it. Does anyone know if they stack? Combusting Wounds + Sun and Moon + Sungrazer/Magrans/Modwyr + Firewall/Bitter Mooring or Death Ray with Barbs action speed should do quite a dps...Ring of focused flame and the cat pet with +1 fire PL. This is getting interesting, maybe exchange a bit of dps for survival trading the offhand for Narians Ward with weapon+shield passive... Considering Swift Strikes on Monk doesn't stack with it (essentially the same buff), I would assume it doesn't stack.

You can add Rust's Poignard - Shank (attack speed against flanked enemies) applies to both weapons.

Might be time to pick up Konstantenopal...

Just did a quick test, out of combat as I had to find some barrels. I didn't actually see the imp but I did get the summoning animation. Could be a hilarious build! I was going to side with her for Scordeo but I may have to rethink that now... Regarding the DoTs; it has to be the dot tick that gets the kill, but it definitely also causes the proc. May have to try out Barb/Rogue for more consistent DoT procs lol.

So I'm gonna add this to my bug report post, but thought I'd share here as well for a laugh. Grave Calling appears to be broken in that with a Barb you can summon imps from literally anything, including barrels! I had initially thought it was the DoT from Blood Frenzy that caused it (would in theory also work with Deep Wounds etc. if this is the case), however the below images clearly show carnage. This probably made me laugh way harder than it should have.

So looks like Carnage may be the culpript, though the DoTs may also still cause it. Save file from before this fight: http://www.mediafire.com/file/tadpgpwwoe2ugi9/Blathiel_%282e7aaa45-bb7b-4b34-8493-733a9942db73%29_quicksave.savegame/file Edit: Also used the console to test the carnage proc with Hel Beckoning; same results.

Okay, what's not so great about this with Serafen is it appears to be applying staggered to him constantly. Fairly certain Wild Mind is the culpript here, but as I have his AI set to cast frenzy when he has no might inspiration - RIP all my rage.

That would just make two-handers the undesputed champions of weapons, outside of special interactions between weapons.

It's possible it is intended, in that how is a CC spell supposed to make something bleed? Or a fireball for that matter? Whereas staggering can happen from anything with sufficient force (physical or mental). Though seeing as neither of them make specific mention of weapon attacks, yet only one of them works on non-weapon "attacks", it is probably unintended. Will enjoy it while I can though.

So it turns out that Spirit Frenzy will apply staggered on spells, including those that do no damage (ie pure debuffs). Not sure if this is widely known or not but I was pleasantly surprised when Serafen cast Phantom Foes on a room full of mobs and they all received staggered as well as flanked! Thought at first maybe it was a wild surge, but no it is clearly listed on the mobs as being from Spirit Frenzy.

Just had Grave Calling summon some Grave Imps on a ship battle against kith. This also happened in the city encounter with the Oozes as well, thought maybe they were treated as Vessels for some reason until it happened again on the ship. I believe it has to do with the DoT from Blood Frenzy, as killing them with a direct blow didn't trigger the summon, however ones that died inbetween swings did. Presumably this will also work with the other enchant (chill fog), and any other DoT from other classes. Save from the start of the ship fight: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ozmyo7mwa39pmi2/Blathiel_%25282e7aaa45-bb7b-4b34-8493-733a9942db73%2529_autosave_2.savegame/file Also just recorded a video of it spawning multiple imps against a large pack of Xauripts:

Alright! I forgot to put a pet slot in, so that's a good catch. Do you think I ought to dump Resolve for Con then? That 80 extra HP is pretty nice. I'll definitely pick up Wild Sprint and upgrade it to Lion's Sprint. No harm in having extra movement abilities. I had planned to activate Heating Up primarily through being bloodied, simply because I think it's easier to manage than being Flanked, and lets me pick things like Spirit Frenzy and One Stands Alone without worrying about knocking myself out of Flanked. So I'll probably drop Unyielding for something else, then... Plus I kind of need to be Bloodied for Slippery Mind to work. That said, would it be safer to focus on activating it through Flanked? Also, does Abraham also give the Recovery reduction based on armor type that Cutthroat Cosmo does? I looked at the pet listing, and it seems like that's his ability, plus the "Life on kill" one. Your deflection is never going to be great due to low base and the frenzy malus, so yeah con should make you tougher than res. However having high con makes it harder to get down to bloodied. But then it also gives you more room for errors while bloodied. Both methods have their cons. Being flanked generally means being surrounded, and if they all hit you at once you can easily go down. Being bloodied means you're already halfway down, combine that with the fact you can't see your exact health and your low deflection and it can get a bit sketchy. For boss fights your only option is really bloodied, whereas for general fights I'd probably start by getting flanked, then when you notice Heating Up change to On the Edge (or Blooded activates) use an escape skill, have your tank pick them all up, then reengage. You can also put a few points in Athletics and set your AI to use when near death. Need to make sure it's low enough that it doesn't restore you above 50% though. Yes, Abraham is the other armor recovery pet, so generally speaking if you're not a gun heavy party he's the better pick. The downside of course is that his heals could potentially bring you out of bloodied, though a couple ticks of frenzy (or a single hit from an enemy) should get you back down.

Regarding the "Mental Intrusion" style checks; as far as I've seen there's no penalty to them, and in fact you're generally better off not resisting (some of them are interesting and/or funny). With Serafen you get insight into his past, relative to the current conversation; with the Spindle Man the "secret" he steals is that you are the Watcher of Caed Nua, you came from the Dyrwood, you are from <insert culture here> and you are in Deadfire chasing Eothas - you can even ask for a secret in return (tells you about the undercity). As far as I know it's impossible to resist his probing if you tell him that the other traders aren't happy with him; even Serafen can't keep him out. I haven't played a Cipher though so that may work. Are you planning to activate Heating Up by getting flanked or bloodied? If the latter then Unflinching is probably a waste. If you can fit it in, I'd also recommend Wild Sprint; great for repositioning or escaping a dangerous situation, and the Lion's Sprint upgrade currently applies its +15 accuracy bonus until the end of combat - though this will likely be patched at some point. Uncanny Luck is pretty minor, I typically treat it as a "nothing else remotely attractive" pick. Regarding weapons, other than RP and/or if you plan to use a lot of explosives, I don't really think Magran's Favor is the best pick. Spears are quite powerful, especially in the hands of a rogue; sabres are always a good pick as there are good ones throughout the entire game; Modwyr is always a decent pick, will even let you pick up con resist on DoC BP instead of int. Also, if you don't mind pumping Religion (probably goes against your RP), you could consider Xoti's Sickle - stacking damage buff per kill, attack speed buff when near a slain enemy, +3 def. Finally I would recommend you consider the Voidward ring to help reduce your frenzy dot, and Abraham for the life on kill.