[Class build] Lady of Pain - the b!tch is back

[AndreaColombo]

I’m glad you’re enjoying the build.

After the initial blanket nerfs that needlessly over-corrected the power creep that was in place on release, I felt the build lost lots of its punch. Rather than adapt it and roll with the punches, I decided to publish a mod that did away with the nerfs I thought were unwarranted and kept those I thought were warranted. That mod is Deadfire Unnerfed, linked in my signature.

At that point I could play the build again, experimenting with different equipment, but I couldn’t publish any of that—no point in publishing a build I’ve only tested with a mod not everybody’s gonna be using.

That being said, I believe a Ghost Heart / Ascendant (which I’m playing now) is strictly better than a Brawler for DPS. Next playthrough I’ll be trying a Devoted / Ascendant. I won’t publish any of that because my game is heavily modded, but I reckon these builds would fare well in the unmodded game too.

Edited December 16, 2020 by AndreaColombo

[dgray62]

15 hours ago, AndreaColombo said:

That being said, I believe a Ghost Heart / Ascendant (which I’m playing now) is strictly better than a Brawler for DPS. Next playthrough I’ll be trying a Devoted / Ascendant. I won’t publish any of that because my game in heavily modded, but I reckon these builds would fare well in the unmodded game too.

Are you doing a ranged or a melee build for your ghost heart/ascendant? I know that the former is what people typically do. If you are doing a melee oriented build, I'd love to learn how you're doing it. I ask because I generally prefer melee builds.

[Boeroer]

Ranger/Ascendant usually is a class combo for using Frostseeker.

[AndreaColombo]

8 hours ago, dgray62 said:

Are you doing a ranged or a melee build for your ghost heart/ascendant?

Melee, as I too prefer it to ranged.

I'll give you the foundations of my build but, as I said, my game is heavily modded (and I'm using all Berath's Blessings along with two god challenges) so I cannot attest to the power or viability of the build in the base game.

For attributes, I maxed PER and focused the rest on DEX and MIG in that order—but I'm notoriously an inveterate speed b!tch, so you may prioritize MIG over DEX if that's your preference.

For equipment, I picked items that either increase PER or increase DEX/decrease recovery: Helm of the Falcon, DoC breastplate, Blade of the Endless Paths (not Whispers, mind you), Torc of the Flacon's Eyes (it exists in the game but it is placed nowhere, so you need a mod to get it), Chameleon Touch, Boots of the Stone, Cutthroat Cosmo. Rest of the items come either from mods or from exporting characters that have them and hiring them (specifically, Violet Redemption which would otherwise not be available until you literally have no fights left in the game.)

For abilities, I made sure to take Borrowed Instinct, Tactical Meld, Recall Agony, and Hammering Thoughts from the Cipher; Marked for the Hunt, Stalker's Link, and Accurate Wounding Shot from the Ranger. I picked the Hunter's Claw/Fang thing too, but ended up never using it. I picked almost all animal companion buffs.

The build has very high accuracy, high damage and penetration, and very good speed.

Note that the idea comes from posts in this thread—credit where credit is due.

Edited December 1, 2020 by AndreaColombo

[dgray62]

Thanks, AndreaColumbo. I also read the accuracy stacking thread and contemplated a build of this sort, but haven't tried it yet. I too prioritize PER and DEX and am now finally playing a modded game as well. I never thought about a two handed build for a seer; that's an interesting idea. I think I might try it; Blade of the Endless Paths is a great weapon, given the reduced recovery time and accuracy bonus. Do you upgrade it with Marking to get the further boost to accuracy via the deflection penalty?

[Boeroer]

What about Effort (the great sword)? I mean it has no action speed/recovery speed buff - but wouldn't it work nicely with Predator's Sense? Also the 15% raw DoT lash itself is nasty.

Besides that Blade of the Endless Paths is really a great weapon and I always shed a tear or two when I have to decide between it and WotEP (especially when having a Monk with Swift Flurry/HBD in the party). Time to export a character with one of them I guess...

Edited December 1, 2020 by Boeroer

[AndreaColombo]

I chose estoc for added Pen as I wanted to max that out too. A Devoted/Ascendant with a Mythic estoc can get up to a whopping (and ridiculously overkill) 20 while under the effects of a MIG inspiration—or to a completely bonkers 26 when under the effects of the Cipher PL9 power that gives +8 Pen (though you'd need a second Cipher in the party for that.)

I did upgrade the BotEP with Marking for even more bonkers Accuracy (indirectly via Deflection reduction, as mentioned), though the extra crit damage was pretty attractive considering I already critted a lot in the first place.

That said, I tried this build with Firebrand and the extra lash damage was pretty rad. It can't upgrade to Mythic but can scale up to Legendary which would be awesome squared. Just of course it's got lower Pen (then again, it can deal Burn damage so against enemies with lower Burn AR it could equate to an estoc.)

[AndreaColombo]

Here's what my fully buffed Ghost Heart / Ascendant looks like at level 20:

Damage doesn't show the raw lash from Engoliero do Espirs; Accuracy doesn't show the +10 bonus from Stalker's Link. With Fighting Spirit and the Blinky pet you can get to a whopping 192 (!!)

Recovery is down to, if memory serves, 1.2 seconds 1.4 seconds (but that's with Faster Deadfire and Deadfire Unnerfed; it would be significantly slower otherwise; using pet Abraham would probably get me to 1.3, which could be 1.2 with the BotEP—but really, at this point 0.1/0.2 seconds matter nothing.)

In the unmodded game numbers may be (in fact, probably will be) lower.

Edited December 16, 2020 by AndreaColombo

[Father Jyrgunkarrd]

...May I ask why Whispers of the Endless Path is considered to be so powerful? 

I'm just looking at the on-paper options for my Greatsword wielder and the Internet insists that this is one of the best options, if not THE best option... but the stats look fairly bad? 

What hidden quality am I not seeing? 

[Haplok]

It attacks in a cone, so with good Int it can hit multiple targets at once. Also can distribute some Soulblade Soul Annihilation damage between multiple targets. 

The other thing is its Offensive Parry enchantment, which gives a 100% riposte on enemy miss. This allows, for example, passively gain Focus for Ciphers, leech life for Steel Garrote Paladins. Can also Daze enemies with another enchantment, possibly passively with OP (making them much less dangerous). Would be excellent on a Steel Garrote/Bloodmage, for example.

It has a PEN boost.

Also its 1/encounter ability, Run-Trough boasts one of the highest base damages - good for one Assasination Backstab.

 

But all this requires specific builds to be effective/shine. As a general-use greatsword, it is indeed not very good, deals too little single-target damage.

[Father Jyrgunkarrd]

Thanks!

[Boeroer]

It also has a crushing lash (lashes are multiplicative dmg bonuses) which a lot of players miss for some reason.

In my opinion the higher PEN and the crushing lash already make it good enough gainst single target foes in some cases - compared to a "normal" great sword. But yes: often it's best to use it as long as enemies are plenty and switch to a backup weapon once only a few enemies are left (and/or don't stand near each other). 

3 hours ago, Haplok said:

It attacks in a cone, so with good Int it can hit multiple targets at once. Also can distribute some Soulblade Soul Annihilation damage between multiple targets. 

 Also the combined raw damage of Soul Annihilation to all targets in the cone AoE is higher than if you would have hit a single target (and dumped all the focus there). There's some weird calculations happening under the hood, but it seems as if the AOE hits are generting new focus which immediately gets dumped as raw dmg onto the next target in the AoE.

 

 

3 hours ago, Haplok said:

The other thing is its Offensive Parry enchantment, which gives a 100% riposte on enemy miss. [...] Can also Daze enemies with another enchantment, possibly passively with OP (making them much less dangerous). 

Yes, it's a great enchantment. I as you said it includes the riposte + dazing the enemy and on top giving +4 deflection against all melee attacks. I just love it. But you really have to build around that enchantment to make it fun to play and that might take some time and planning imo.  

[peolone]

@AndreaColombo Hi! Could you please explain to me how did you manage to get those attribute numbers? Impressive btw!

[AndreaColombo]

6 minutes ago, peolone said:

@AndreaColombo Hi! Could you please explain to me how did you manage to get those attribute numbers? Impressive btw!

I'm afraid it's not possible without using mods (my character's using items ported over from the first game):

	Base	Berath	Item	Insp	Other	Talent	Alchemic  Total
MIG	 17	 2	 6	 5	 3	 1	 2	   35
CON	 8	 2			 3		 2	   15
DEX	 18	 2	 4	 5	 5	 1	 2	   35
PER	 19	 2	 4	 5	 2	 2	 2	   35
INT	 8	 2	 2				 2	   14
RES	 8	 2	 2	 5	 2		 2	   21

 

[peolone]

1 hour ago, AndreaColombo said:

I'm afraid it's not possible without using mods (my character's using items ported over from the first game):

	Base	Berath	Item	Insp	Other	Talent	Alchemic  Total
MIG	 17	 2	 6	 5	 3	 1	 2	   35
CON	 8	 2			 3		 2	   15
DEX	 18	 2	 4	 5	 5	 1	 2	   35
PER	 19	 2	 4	 5	 2	 2	 2	   35
INT	 8	 2	 2				 2	   14
RES	 8	 2	 2	 5	 2		 2	   21

 

I should have guessed that . I've just seen your "Poe Items for Deadfire" mod... I use already MaxQuest's "Spoils of Caed Nua", I might as well add your mod to my list! But what about the buffs classified in the "other" column? 

Edited December 17, 2020 by peolone

[AndreaColombo]

13 minutes ago, peolone said:

I've just seen your "Poe Items for Deadfire" mod... I use already MaxQuest's "Spoils of Caed Nua", I might as well add you mod to my list!

Indeed, those are two item mods I'm using as well

Under other there's Sated Ravenous Hunger from Engoliero do Espirs, Amira's Blessing, Nature's Resolve, and Aenalys' Boon.