PotD Party Build: Ravager (Berserker/Helwalker) Primary Damage Dealer

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Hey guys, 

 

I recently started a Ravager playthrough and I'm loving it - Monks' ability to remove the biggest negative associated with Berserker's Frenzy is an amazing synergy, and it's very nice to play a more straightforward sort of character than my Cipher from PoE1 and his million different ways to mess with people mentally (Oooh, alliteration!). Now, I've hit a little snag in buildcrafting for this guy. I have race and background down, but I'm at a loss as to what to give him in terms of starting attributes. I want to show you the two builds I've come up with, give my opinions on the one I've played through the tutorial, and hear your thoughts on both. 

 

The first build: Pure Striker

 

Race: Human/Deadfire

 

Might: 19 (29 with max Wounds)

Constitution: 15

Dexterity: 14

Perception: 10

Intellect: 10 

Resolve: 10 (9+1)

 

Skill Focus: Athletics

Civic Skill Focus: Intimidate/Insight or Streetwise

 

I've played through all of Port Maje/the Engwithan Digsite with this build, and I have to say I really like it. As long as I set up flanks/used only one weapon or my fists when the Accuracy bonus raised, I hit most of the time and wound up doing very respectable damage - especially at 10 wounds. Perception received a slight bump from Gosha, the cat pet acquired fairly early on, and once I got the Monk Modal ability as well as some others, my Intellect and some gear would more than bolster my Will against things that could Charm or otherwise disable me. 

 

The only issue here is Perception which, while it didn't have too much of a negative impact in combat, still left me hurting in terms of certain quest interactions. Now, I know that Obsidian changed the way a lot of this works, so that your attributes are less important than your skills/background in conversations, but I did miss out on certain options regarding quests in Port Maje and I'm worried that I may miss out on resolving quests in a desireable manner in the future. Plus, I'm not sure when opponents' Deflection reaches a point on PotD that necessitates super high Perception, even with proper buffs/debuffs. So, we come to the next build... 

 

The Scout

 

Might: 11 (21 with max wounds)

Constitution: 15

Dexterity: 15

Perception: 17

Intellect: 10

Resolve: 9

 

This build is designed so that I 

 

A: Have enough Perception to pass most stat checks throughout the game

B: Have a comfortable boost to Accuracy and can reliably find most traps/hidden items 

 

The immediate downside to this as far as I can tell is significantly less Might, but from everything I've seen on this board that doesn't really matter all that much for Barbarians or Monks. It makes sense - if you're attacking quickly and you're critting a lot, you'll output a lot of damage. I'm worried about flat might skill checks though - I see a lot of those pop up in scripted events where it'll be your Might plus your Athletics or Survival or something. Some of those are Watcher only, and can't be done with a tool in the Stash. Is the Athletics investment there more important than the Might investment? Also, where does the damage bonus from Might start to fall off? 

 

TL;DR:

 

1. Give your opinions on the two builds I've provided for a Berserker/Helwalker

2. Which two Civic skills would you recommend focusing on to cover the most conversation options? (I'm thinking Insight/Intimidate or Streetwise)

3. What's the fall-off point for Might? Assuming I can balance the high damage I'd take as a Helwalker, where do all of those extra +1s start to not really matter as much as Monk/Barbarian passive and active buffs? 

4. Is Athletics checked before Might in checks requiring physical exertion, or is it added on to it? 

5. How many quests can be resolved in a SIGNIFICANTLY different way through use of Perception? I don't want names or an exact number, just "Only a few" or "Maybe half." I can just pick up a companion/buff my Watcher in combat if I need to find traps or need Perception to hit things. 

[Lokithecat]

I started my Ber/Hel as 18 Mig, 15 Con, 15 Dex, 10 Per, 10 Int, 10 Res.  End game, with Gear, unbuffed, I'm running 22 Mig, 18 Con, 17 Dex, 10 Per, 10 Int, 14 Resolve.  There is a hard cap of 35 Strength, and with Frenzy + Max Wounds my Str is higher than needed.  

 

1.  Given what I know now, I'd probably use the second build, hitting consistently is better than hitting hard, unbuffed, and you gain an insane amount of Str naturally.  Plus drugs can really make up for any shortcomings if something is important.

2.  Intimidate seems like a general version of Streetwise, similar flavor, and more widely used.  Insight feels like it gives you more... background?...  while not necessarily resolving events.

3.  Hard cap of 35, each Might is 3% Damage / Power.  Always handy, but definitely not your biggest individual increases to damage.  The attack again tricks (Swift Flurry, Heartbeat Drumming), and the Lashes (Lightning Flurry, Turning Wheel).

4.  For side activities, it is very much one or the other.  If its looking for do you have x atheletics, your stats don't matter.  There are very few (2 or 3) checks which use both Perception and Survival at once, but very much the exceptions.

5.  Few?  I didn't find that I was feeling like I was missing very much, Maia (the only high perception companion) beomces almost necessary, as traps will often Injure you instead of just 'x damage'.  Admittedly, in most cases, if you're careful you can just eat a trap, rest, repeat to get through an area, unless its in the middle of a fight.

 

The only difficult bits feel like early in the game, before your character develops.  I found I needed armor early on, Leather mid game is more than enough, end game its more for the effects it provides, than the actual Armor Value.  Weapons are an option if you want to play with a specific gimmick (Frostbow) but unnecessary.  With the on crit effects from both classes + the ability to target Fortitude instead of Deflection, you become a crit machine, capable of leaping into the back ranks, and killing everything while your tank holds their front line.  You'll over penetrate (yay more damage) with base fist attacks, and have really high attack speed (no idea what actual #s are, can't get a tooltip of fists delay).

 

Tutolio's Palm (Small Shield) is handy, ups your base Fist damage, and you can attack with it in the off hand (lower than fist damage).  Provides a decent amount of deflection, handy but not needed.  Metalsmith in Nekata sells.

Edited May 23, 2018 by Lokithecat

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

I started my Ber/Hel as 18 Mig, 15 Con, 15 Dex, 10 Per, 10 Int, 10 Res.  End game, with Gear, unbuffed, I'm running 22 Mig, 18 Con, 17 Dex, 10 Per, 10 Int, 14 Resolve.  There is a hard cap of 35 Strength, and with Frenzy + Max Wounds my Str is higher than needed.  

 

1.  Given what I know now, I'd probably use the second build, hitting consistently is better than hitting hard, unbuffed, and you gain an insane amount of Str naturally.  Plus drugs can really make up for any shortcomings if something is important.

2.  Intimidate seems like a general version of Streetwise, similar flavor, and more widely used.  Insight feels like it gives you more... background?...  while not necessarily resolving events.

3.  Hard cap of 35, each Might is 3% Damage / Power.  Always handy, but definitely not your biggest individual increases to damage.  The attack again tricks (Swift Flurry, Heartbeat Drumming), and the Lashes (Lightning Flurry, Turning Wheel).

4.  For side activities, it is very much one or the other.  If its looking for do you have x atheletics, your stats don't matter.  There are very few (2 or 3) checks which use both Perception and Survival at once, but very much the exceptions.

5.  Few?  I didn't find that I was feeling like I was missing very much, Maia (the only high perception companion) beomces almost necessary, as traps will often Injure you instead of just 'x damage'.  Admittedly, in most cases, if you're careful you can just eat a trap, rest, repeat to get through an area, unless its in the middle of a fight.

 

The only difficult bits feel like early in the game, before your character develops.  I found I needed armor early on, Leather mid game is more than enough, end game its more for the effects it provides, than the actual Armor Value.  Weapons are an option if you want to play with a specific gimmick (Frostbow) but unnecessary.  With the on crit effects from both classes + the ability to target Fortitude instead of Deflection, you become a crit machine, capable of leaping into the back ranks, and killing everything while your tank holds their front line.  You'll over penetrate (yay more damage) with base fist attacks, and have really high attack speed (no idea what actual #s are, can't get a tooltip of fists delay).

 

Tutolio's Palm (Small Shield) is handy, ups your base Fist damage, and you can attack with it in the off hand (lower than fist damage).  Provides a decent amount of deflection, handy but not needed.  Metalsmith in Nekata sells.

 

Alright. And it kind of fits the Berserker theme, honestly. They weren't hulking musclemen ALL the time, in fact out of combat they were pretty unassuming. It's when they actually started exerting themselves and unleashing the blood frenzy that they became monsters. 

[Boeroer]

If you would like to get one or both of this build ideas into the pinned build list: could you PM me a name and a short description? Since there are so many new builds popping up atm I start to lose track. PM makes it easier for me.