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=================================== Armorbreaker =================================== Difficulty: PotD v. 2.01 -------------------------------------------------------------- Solo: untested -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Devoted(Estoc)/Streetfighter -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Human, Hearth Orlan (party play) or whatever, preferably not Godlike, as there are 2 good helm picks for this -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: Old Vailia - Dissident -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 14 (you'll have plenty of other additive damage bonuses; still moderately important, it modifies aoe "spell-like" effects of some weapons and healing done) CON: 10 (don't really need more, don't really want to risk less) DEX: 14 (to be reasonably fast even without Streetfighter special active) PER: 18 (to hit & crit stuff, duh) INT: 17 (to keep that sweet Unbending + Disciplined Strikes + Refreshing Defence active as long, as possible; you only have so many resources) RES: 03 (with Unbending you'll survive anyway and kill any threats fast) -------------------------------------------------------------- Abilities | Proficiencies 01. Disciplined Barrage + Crippling Strike | Estoc! 02. Knockdown 03. Escape 04. Fighter Stances (usually use Cleaving) + Dirty Fighting 05. Two-Handed Style 06. Confident Aim 07. Disciplined Strikes + Finishing Blow 08. Rapid Recovery 09. Mule Kick (optional: Penetrating Strike which targets Deflection rather then Fortitude and provides even more Penetration) 10. Vigorous Defense + Persistent Distraction 11. Charge 12. Determination 13. Unbending + Deep Wounds 14. Devastating Blow 15. Armored Grace 16. Clear Out + Adept Evasion 17. Refreshing Defense 18. Slippery Mind (note it can disable some Streetfighter special trigger methods!) 19. Unbending Shield (optional Trunk) + Deathblows 20. Weapon Specialization (optional: Fearless or another defensive ability) or the recently buffed (but still expensive) Power Strike --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (!=important, r=recommended) Weapon Set 1: Estoc: BotEP -> Eager Blade (!) ->Engoliero de Espirs (!) Weapon Set 2: Some blunt(s) for skellies Alternative: Devoted to Battleaxes with Amra Axe. The playstyle is similar, it's an "in your face" aggressive melee that melts enemies around. It's a really good weapon. You'll face Penetration issues much more often though (2 lower Pen, no bonus Pen modal), so no longer an "Armorbreaker". Or you can go with generic Fighter and switch between estocs and axes, depending on enemy, but you'll loose Devoted 2 Pen (you'll have trouble penetrating some high armor enemies, but probably can manage with foods), 25% Crit bonus (Swashbuckler crits often) and frequent 30% Overpenetration on estoc crits. Head: Helm of the Falcon (speed) ® / later Heaven's Cacophony - for Avenging Storm 1/rest, which has good synergy with Clear Out ® Back: Giftbearer's Cloak with high History skill or Nemnok's Cloak for "On the Edge" playstyle or simply Greater Cloak of Protection Neck: Precognition or Claim and Refusal Armor: Devil of Caroc Breastplate (class resources! + good protection and speed) ® Waist: Gwyn’s Bridal Garter, optionally Undying Burden for more survivability or Upright Captain's Belt if you like to use Pull of Eora (the more interesting picks, like Nature's Embrace and Ngati's Girdle have sadly been nerfed to the ground) Hands: Gauntlets of Discipline ®, alternatively Woedica's Strangling Grasp or Boltcatchers, Rings: Entonia's Signet Ring ® + Ring of Greater Regeneration or Chameleon's Touch Boots: Boots of Stone, alternatively Rakhan Field for another active aoe ability Pet: Abraham (speed and heal) ® It'd be good to play with a history where Devil of Caroc from PoE1 spares Harmke/dies. Her Breastplate then becomes available in Marihi's Shop in Neketaka and offers good protection, speed and additional class resources for ability spam (very valuable). --------------------------------------------------------------- The build was created as a part of my journey to design a melee build that will: 1. Deal respectable aoe damage, 2. Deal high melee damage, 3. Use two-handers (my preferred weapon type since, well, always), 4. Work well throughout the game, not just at cap, 5. Be survivable and efficient even without much party support. It's probably solo-capable, but I don't test it for this criteria. I've tested various adventurer builds, mainly with berserker, at my own criteria: level 13 against tough Xaurip encounter on the Nekataka island with party present, but acting mainly as distraction, control over that char only, almost no AI scripts. Wasn't too happy with the results. Finally a Swashbuckler - Estoc Devoted with Eager Blade / Streetfighter aced the test. Why Estoc Devoted? An Estoc in the hands of a Devoted has high Penetration (10 base, goes up to 14 at Legendary quality), you get +2 Devoted Pen bonus and with a Fighter multiclass you can freely use the modal, which gives additional +2 Pen at the cost of some Deflection. With a Fighter you can soon outheal most damage (just not at the start), so tanking Resolve and Deflection is a non-issue. You end up overpenetrating a lot of the time for +30% damage (particularly that your bread & butter rogue move - Crippling Strike, also provides +2 Pen and crits multiply Pen by x1,5). And generally there are very few enemies who you have trouble penetrating. Advanced/elite skeletons are one such group, as they are immune to piercing damage. Well, eat that 10 Accuracy penalty and switch to another weapon for them. You'll still do more then respectable damage. Also there are very cool Estocs in this game, with some of the best available very early - and Eager Blade and Engoliero de Espirs effects greatly support the aoe damage playstyle I was aiming for. -> Blade of the Endless Paths depends on imported/set history from PoE1 and can be reforged as soon as you reach the main city for cheap. BotEP is Exceptional has nice speed, Accuracy and Critical damage bonuses. Might be best for single targets. -> Eager Blade can be bought from pirates in Dunnage - which can happen even before visiting the main city, if you know your way around. And it's even better. It's Superb, provides a random bonus at start of combat (+8 Deflection, +1 Armor or +10% damage) and stacking Accuracy and Speed bonuses on Crit. More importantly it's upgrade has 10% chance to negate recovery on hit (so basically double-attack) and, last but not least, attacking Near Death targets causes an attack aoe in frontal cone (which is not very small, with good Int I've seen it affect 3rd enemy row). Together with Cleaving Stance, this can lead to a cascade of kills and obviously works well with the likes of Avenging Storm. -> Then there's the Legendary Engoliero de Espirs. Not sure it's significantly better then the earlier pair. The Accuracy and Recovery bonuses on them are pretty sweet, but the quests and lore behind Engoliero are top notch and badass factor is trough the roof. Plus after you down an enemy, you get +2/+3 Might, Con & Dex (rather then -2/-3 before first kill, so not too good vs single opponents) and the Dex part kinda partially compensates for lack of other speed bonuses. The Ghost Blade procs (modified by the various damage variables) are very sweet vs large mobs due to the fairly large cone (but will nicely soften up even moderetely tough enemies). The raw lash is also very nice and makes Engoliero pull ahead in terms of damage done. Streetfighter likes to live dangerously. He's a fair bit slower then other rogues in his idle state, but when flanked by enemies or Blooded (below 50% Health), he becomes a meatgrinder. Blazing speed and additional +50% sneak attack damage vs vulnerable targets (on top of regular 30-60% of other Rogues and potential +50% from Deathblows). When both of the above criteria are met and when his Accuracy allows him to achieve a decent crit rate, things just explode (additional +100% crit damage on top of all the earlier bonuses). Of course this means he likes to engage multiple enemies, get hit and possibly stay damaged and Fighter abilities are just the perfect fit for that. In my opinion, Streetfighter with Heating Up or On the Edge abilities active is the best class to use two-handers and not feel slow and/or inferior to dual weapons. Some playstyle for tips for early party play: Recovery (+ later Rapid upgrade) you get from the get go is a nice healing stream, but often not enough to keep you alive, particularly on the first island, particularly when surrounded by enemies. If you have a Priest (you can recruit one in the first town you reach), at Power Level III he/she learns Consecrated Ground, which will temporarily help when you stay in the effect circle. Once he/she reaches Power Level IV, can cast "Triumph of the Crusaders", which heals for a LOT when you down an enemy - that should make you much more survivable already. New Power Levels are reached much earlier by pure classes btw. - level 7 for PL IV). Otherwise if you have a Druid, he can provide plenty of healing also. You still have to be careful for some time, but can afford a more daring playstyle. At your Power Level V (so multiclass character level 13) comes the bomb: Unbending, which makes you nearly unkillable for its duration. Just watch out for enemies casting Arcane Dampeners. Your signature Rogue moves are the trusty Crippling Strike, Finishing Blow for Blooded targets (up to +200% damage, eventually upgraded to Devastating for up to +300%), Escape for battlefield mobility, Persistent Distraction to make everyone you engage Sneak attack vulnerable. Dirty Fighting for extra crit rate. Later you'll pick Deep Wounds and finally Deathblows. Adept Evasion for defence. On the Fighter side you'll use Knockdown to interrupt nasty enemy skills, later upgraded to Mule Kick. Later Charge for cool mobility multihit and finally Clear Out to make mobs your bitches. The last 2 would work very well with Heaven's Cacophony Avenging Storm. Fighter Stances -> Cleaving Stance for extra attacks on kill. Disciplined Barrage-> Strikes should be always active. On the defensive side you'll want Rapid Recovery, Vigorous Defence (+Refreshing upgrade), Determination and, most importantly, Unbending. Also Armored Grace will be nice. With Fighter's Refreshing Defense (bonus to all defenses) and Determination (bonus to Intellect, Perception and Constitution affliction defense), Rogue Adept Evasion (negate Reflex Grazes - and we have high Reflex) and Slippery Mind (immune to Perception, Intellect and Resolve afflictions when Blooded - as a Streetfighter we like to be Blooded), as well as equipment: Gwyn's Bridal Garter (Dex affliction Resistance) and Boots of Stone (Might affliction Resistance), you will be well protected against most debilitating effects. Fighter's Disciplined Strikes, Vigorous Defense and later on Unbending Shield provide Concentration to ensure that nothing can stop you from demolishing your targets. Any comments are appreciated. Edit: Updated 02.09.18 to re-arrange some abilities and add info about Engoliero de Espirs.

I would like to make a full 5 man custom party where all of them have Devoted as the Fighter subclass. But I don't want to just to use one build for all five. I want to roleplay a bit with them. I already searched youtube and found some Fextralife builds but I was wondering if someone has an idea for a party that would fit well together. Cheers in advance my fellow gamers!

A howling immortal one-man-army that smashes everything in its path with high Hit-to-Crit conversion. "Sir! The third cohort has been repeled, they suffered heavy casualties! Should we send the cavalry?" "Send the cavalry, the fourth, the fifth, the bloody reserves too! The enemy has us clearly outnumbered!" "...Sir, it's just one man." "what." "With a Morningstar, Sir." https://imgur.com/a/bi7qvIL Until now, Barbarian has been a luckluster class to me, lacking the other martial classes high accuracy, and with not enough sustain to fulfill its role like it did in PoE1. Not to mention lack of any obvious CC. However, the Morningstar modal completely changed my mind: in combination with Brute Force and Might afflictions, one can effectively increase their Accuracy by +35, by lowering the enemies Fortitude of that much. Note that the modal, while having a -25% damage penalty, can be turned off after scoring the first hit, as it persists for ~12s, and then on again. Morningstars are underrepresented - the only two unique ones are Saru-Sichr and The Willbreaker. While the fomer is quite unimpressive, The Willbreaker has the following perks: - 10% attack speed - 10% Hit to Crit - High raw damage over time on Resolve affliction ridden enemies (in this build, we will reach about 90 raw damage over 20s, by just hitting things. RIP deep wounds) - 10% Chance to Shaken on Hit Combine the former with the 30% Hit-to-Crit from Berserker, and another 25% from Intuitive, and we get to a nice ~53% Hit-to-Crit. And that's why we turn at the Devoted subclass, which adds more penetration on top of Tenacious, and additional Crit damage, all the same without losing in versatility, as Morningstars have good damage combination (Pierce/Crush). The issue of self inflicted damage during Frenzy is addressed through spamming of Unbending Shield, Ring of Greater Regeneration, and last but not least, Devil's Due upgrade from The Devil of Caroc's Breastplate (incidentally coming with the Intellect Affliction Resistance we need), which provides healing on scoring Crits. Top this with a Voidward (-25% Raw damage, necessary because at high level and Might Frenzy ends up dealing about 30raw/3s), and you obtain a self-sustaining unstoppable killer. I've tested this character in successfully clearing the Drowned Barrows, Nemnok included. I strongly believe this build is suitable for solo'ing PotD, even though it will suffer A LOT before getting its core ability, i.e. Brute Force, i.e. lvl 16. But again, in this game one can reach that level without much fighting. Here's the build. Race Class Culture and Background Attributes Skills Abilities Equipment

The Devoted subclass is currently giving -10 to accuracy instead of the bonus accuracy when choosing a two-handed weapon as the chosen weapon. Ranged weapons were not tested.

Devoted bonus is bugged is choosing a 2-handed weapon. It gives a -10 accuracy instead of boosting it. Did not test with ranged weapons.

I've been enjoying my first play-through through PoE II but I've just realized (after a number of hours) that my main character is slightly bugged. I decided to choose a Devoted Fighter but didn't comprehend the fact that I'd only be able to choose one weapon proficiency for the rest of the game. I ended up choosing a shield as my proficiency, hoping to go back at a later level and choose a weapon that I could use, but have only recently realized that I won't be getting that chance. My main character is now essentially playing with all of the disadvantages of the Devoted subclass, but none of the advantages since the Shield obviously doesn't get the weapon advantages from the class. I could start using unarmed attacks (since they count towards the Devoted proficiency bonus) but that's not really my play style and I'd prefer to use an actual weapon. I understand wanting to make class picks to be permanent but I wish there was a way for me to re-pick my devoted proficiency or possibly even choose a new sub-class through an ingame retraining system. I don't really want to restart now (after putting many hours in) just to change my character's proficiency so, unless I'm missing something, I'm basically stuck with my nerfed character. Any ideas on how to circumvent this?

At first I started a Trickster/Soulblade main character, but I don't really like the trickster so now I'm thinking of starting a Devoted/Soulblade or an Assassin/Soulblade. Which one would make more sense to partner up with a swashbuckler (fighter/rogue) Edér if I'll focus on one handed style with swords and medium armor? Assassin/Soulblade and Fighter/Rogue has multiple ways to Flank enemies with smokes, blinding attacks and cipher debuffs, but a Devoted/Soulblade generally looks more viable with Disciplined B., Confident Aim and Cleaving Stance. Basically my planned attributes for both would be Might15, Con10, Dex16, Per15, Int10, Res12