Pure Shattered Pillar Monk Post 1.1 or Shattered Pillar/Berserker for a PotD Party Comp

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Hey guys!

 

So, with some of the changes to Fighter post 1.1 I've considered whether or not I should switch from my Monk/Fighter build concept to either a pure Shattered Pillar monk or a Shattered Pillar/Berserker. Both fit the character concept of a Galawain-adherent Watcher who values survival of the fittest quite well. Also, there seem to be a few ways to deal with the negative side effect of Berserk, so there's that. 

 

(I've also considered going with a no-subclass Monk, since as either a pure Monk or a Barbarian I'd be less tanky than a Fighter/Paladin multiclass, so I'd be able to accrue wounds in combat more easily).

 

My build would be something like...

 

16

10 (+10% Health from PoE1 Decisions)

16

18 

10

10

 

10% Max Health and one of those Might points comes from Gift of the Machine and sacrificing Durance to the Blood Pool. I might also consider sacrificing Devil of Caroc (Since she dies either way) for +1 PEN, but my Dexterity would still be the same. 

 

I've experimented with a Ravager early on, and noticed these pros and cons. 

 

Pros:

 

- Decent AoE damage when Carnage hits, helps to soften up nearby targets for later

- Synergizes well with Eder as a Swashbuckler or a pure Fighter 

- Barbaric Blow is one of the best Full Attacks in the game, and seems to have remained un-nerfed, probably because of its 2 Rage cost. 

- Shattered Pillar synergizes very well with Rooting Pain. 

 

Cons:

 

- Constant raw damage over time while using Berserk. Could counteract this with potions/regen items?

- Wouldn't be able to see my own health while using Berserk, but could gauge it through Human racial skill. 

- Confused affliction until I get a way to clear it (Enlightened Agony seems to work, not sure if Modwyr does)

- Not as defensive as a Fighter/Paladin subclass. 

- Not nearly as accurate as a Fighter subclass (Would have to rely on Priest buffs, flanking, and so on). Haven't gotten much mid to late game gear in my testing, so I'm not sure how much Disciplined Strikes matters later on. 

- Loses out on a lot of good Fighter passives like Armored Grace, Weapon Specialization/Weapon Mastery, etc. 

- I feel like Barbarians as a whole have less Penetration (Har har) than Fighters do, through the Devoted subclass or through Penetrating Strike

 

Are there any upsides to playing a Ravager, or just a pure Shattered Pillar, that I missed? For those who have played the beta branch extensively, what are your experiences with those two options, or the Fighter post changes? 

 

Also, I was thinking of using Modwyr and Whispers of Yenwood as my main weapons for whichever character I played. Are those still solid choices? 

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

For a bit of a TL;DR since I know I tend to ramble, I'm going to condense my decision making into three major questions for you guys.

 

1. Are Barbarian's accuracy problems on PotD helped somewhat with better gear later on? I'd intended to dual-wield to make best use of Barbaric Blow, but that skill seems to miss more often than not at low levels/with poor quality gear. I'm okay using things like drugs/potions/other party members' skills to help solve this. 

 

2. Would it be possible to have a Barbarian/Monk with decent defenses? I'm not talking Paladin level, but I don't want to be steamrolled by every single attack. I get that I'm not a primary Defender, but collapsing if an enemy so much as coughs on me isn't fun. 

 

3. How much will I miss Fighter passives like Armored Grace? Also, are Barbarian/Monk capable of decent Penetration on their own, or are Devoted/Penetrating Strike necessary for PotD in its current state? 

[Lokithecat]

1.  With Weapons (the + accuracy from quality) or fists (at higher levels the +Accuracy etc. from Suffering is comparable to Legendary gear) the mid and late game is quite easy.  If you get some solid weapons in the early game, shouldn't have any issues.  Also, many debuffs (Chill fog) will have effects that help you hit them (-Deflection or Resolve).

 

2.  Ran a Helwalker Berserker, and needed armor to not just get splatted, in early game.  By mid, and later, damage was kind of meaningless, and there are some great light armors that will be more than sufficient.  Eder was my main tank, the MC Hel/Ber was dps, and jumped into the back ranks solo to squash mages and range.

 

3.  Barbarian is more about soaking (Armor) damage, they get a talent for +1, and the Berserker (If you go that way) Frenzy gets you some in addition to the bonus HP.  Berserker has +2 Penetration to everything, which is more than any other class you should be able to smash through everything that isn't a boss without an issue.

 

From my experience, this character is very solid, and you should have less problems if you are looking at Shattered instead of Helwalker (+50% Damage can really suck).  Blade Turn is a great damage avoidance, and if you really wanted to be a primary tank (you shouldn't) then you can always take the +Con +Armor side of Duality, instead of +Int +Fire Damage.  End game you'll be smashing things so quickly most enemies will get at most one attack (non boss) before they are smashed out.  Just keep an eye on whats happening, focus your DPS (Leap) on their dps (Mage / Range) and knock them out quickly, the ones that run in to melee your actual tank can be dealt with after that.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

1.  With Weapons (the + accuracy from quality) or fists (at higher levels the +Accuracy etc. from Suffering is comparable to Legendary gear) the mid and late game is quite easy.  If you get some solid weapons in the early game, shouldn't have any issues.  Also, many debuffs (Chill fog) will have effects that help you hit them (-Deflection or Resolve).

 

2.  Ran a Helwalker Berserker, and needed armor to not just get splatted, in early game.  By mid, and later, damage was kind of meaningless, and there are some great light armors that will be more than sufficient.  Eder was my main tank, the MC Hel/Ber was dps, and jumped into the back ranks solo to squash mages and range.

 

3.  Barbarian is more about soaking (Armor) damage, they get a talent for +1, and the Berserker (If you go that way) Frenzy gets you some in addition to the bonus HP.  Berserker has +2 Penetration to everything, which is more than any other class you should be able to smash through everything that isn't a boss without an issue.

 

From my experience, this character is very solid, and you should have less problems if you are looking at Shattered instead of Helwalker (+50% Damage can really suck).  Blade Turn is a great damage avoidance, and if you really wanted to be a primary tank (you shouldn't) then you can always take the +Con +Armor side of Duality, instead of +Int +Fire Damage.  End game you'll be smashing things so quickly most enemies will get at most one attack (non boss) before they are smashed out.  Just keep an eye on whats happening, focus your DPS (Leap) on their dps (Mage / Range) and knock them out quickly, the ones that run in to melee your actual tank can be dealt with after that.

 

Alright! It's important to note that (apparently) PotD has been adjusted to actually be pretty hard! So we'll have to see how squishy this sort of build is with those changes. 

 

As a Shattered Pillar, I actually don't get a lot of mileage out of Turning Wheel unfortunately, at least not as much as I would as a Helwalker or as a no subclass Monk. Only +5 Intellect and a 10% lash with the new changes, since I only get 5 wounds. That's one of the reasons I've considered No Subclass, as well as tweaking it so that it's back to its pre-patch form. 

 

Alright, so I can use this guy as a dedicated mage killer - honestly that sounds like a pretty good deal.