Ravager: My Build Concept (Feedback Wanted!)

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Hey guys, 

 

So I'm thinking that my 'main' Watcher (The one I finish the campaign/all the DLCs with first, and who'll be the one I import to PoE3 if we're ever so lucky) will be a Ravager centered around high melee AoE damage to assassinate priority targets (Mages, ranged DPS) and using the Berserker and Shattered Pillar subclasses. I want to provide my build here, and I'd appreciate any feedback you all could give on better stat allocations/what actives and passives are absolutely necessary/what gear I should look into getting. This is going to be a pretty extensive breakdown, so be prepared! 

 

Difficulty: Veteran - I have no illusions about my ability to play on PotD as it currently is. I don't like the idea of having to use kiting or mob splitting to progress through the game, so I'm hoping Veteran in its current state will offer a worthy challenge without being too frustrating. 

 

Why Berserker?

 

Because the bonuses to Frenzy are well worth not being able to see my HP and the Raw damage over time. Through experimentation in Patch 1.02 I found that Clarity of Agony was able to cleanse the Confusion, though I'm not sure if this applies to Enlightened Agony or is still the case. If not, I will be pursuing Modwyr because of its immunity to Intellect afflictions. I'll be taking Human as my race because the racial passive when Bloodied gives me a good idea of when my health is too low. 

 

Why Shattered Pillar? 

 

I like the more active style of play offered by Shattered Pillar, compared to vanilla Monk, and it doesn't have nearly as many drawbacks as Helwalker/Nalpazca. It synergizes very well with Rooting Pain to my understanding, adding another factor of AoE damage and a nice CC. With this, I'll be much more encouraged to spend my Wounds on powers rather than hold onto them for Duality of Mortal Presence buffs. 

 

Race/Culture/Background: 

 

Not that this really matters, it's mostly just for RP flavor. I decided to go with a Human born in the Deadfire and either Hunter or Aristocrat as my background. I'd probably go with Aristocrat just because it's a nice bonus to most of my conversational skills, plus opens up some unique dialogue. Also, the idea of playing a fourth or fifth son of a noble house who's a bit of a Tybalt/Cesare Borgia (Of "The Borgias" not of actual history) with his violent tendencies kind of appeals. 

 

Active Skills/Passive Skills: 

 

My primary active skill will be Alchemy because of the buffs it gives to potions and drugs, which I plan to make heavy use of during this playthrough. To my understanding, the stat boosting drugs are still worth taking - as a Barbarian, I will be seeking ones that boost my Constitution and/or Might, to make up for not getting the +10 Might from Helwalker. Sleight of Hand and Stealth both seem rather important as well. Can someone elaborate on this?

 

Stats:

 

Now, here's where things obviously get a little up to interpretation. Because I'm not guaranteed Helwalker Might boosts, I didn't dump Might as low as I might have otherwise. I'm also factoring in historical buffs, which I know don't come until later. 

 

16 Might (14+2)*

10 Con (9+1)**

16 Dexterity (15+1)

18 Perception

10 Intellect

10 Resolve (9+1)

 

*The extra +1 Might comes from the Gift of the Machine bonus.

**The extra point of Constitution comes from feeding Durance to the Blood Pool. Doing this, plus the Gift of the Machine bonus, will give me 10% Max HP as well, an effective 2 points of Constitution in that regard. 

 

I've also considered sacrificing the Devil of Caroc for +1 Dexterity and +1 Penetration. If I were to do that, I would bump up Con to 10 and Dex down to 14. That said, Barbarian seems fine as far as Penetration is concerned. 

 

Abilities: 

 

I'm honestly not sure which abilities would be priority to take, mainly because I'm bad at math and don't know how many points I'd be allotted to take abilities from either skill tree/at which levels I unlock the next Power Level's worth of abilities. I'd like to hear more from experienced Barbarians or, better yet, people who have played the game with this subclass, regarding staple abilities that are must-haves when they become available.

 

Gear:

 

Some items that I've considered for this build. Please let me know if any of these have been seriously affected by the patch. I may be using a mod to reverse the changes made to items in 1.1 since I feel like most of them weren't warranted.

 

Garari Cuirass: Even before the nerfs, I was never fully comfortable with using the Devil of Caroc Breastplate. Post nerf, the decision was made much easier. This is, I think, a fine and perfectly balanced alternative - 20% Recovery Time really isn't that bad, and the armor rating seems really solid for the weight class. 

 

Horns of the Bleak Mother or Death's Maw: Both seem like solid choices - Horns of the Bleak Mother gives more Perception, resistance to Resolve afflictions, plus a damage bonus against Dragons, while Death's Maw gives me more armor for being near corpses. Granted, Horns of the Bleak Mother seems to have more practical effects. 

 

Gatecrashers: +2 Might and 50% chance on crit to cause knockdown. 

 

Boots of the Stone: +1 Dex/+1 Resolve. If I do mod the game, this will be the primary reason - I don't feel like the boots deserved to lose that extra point to Resolve. 

 

Modwyr: All of the enchantments on it seem really good, plus it provides a nice immunity to Intellect afflictions - which I think is frankly quite fair. Plus it's a Soulbound weapon, and you can talk to it. 

 

Whispers of Yenwood: This I'm not too crazy about, because of the penalty to Will, but it offers some other nice bonuses as well. Again, I know this has been changed as of 1.1 but I am highly considering reverting the item changes back to how they were for the most part.

 

As I have not made it very far in any playthrough due to A: Indecisiveness and B: Incoming patches, I'm not familiar with many of the items in the game. Some suggestions as to other gear/better gear to consider for these slots and the belt/neck/rings/etc. would be appreciated.

 

Also, while I am a huge fan of Modwyr, I'm not 100% married to the concept of swords. A good suggestion for an offhand weapon, perhaps a dagger/stiletto or club or battle-axe (Yes, I know there's only one choice) would be fine. 

 

Some Concerns: 

 

These are my biggest concerns with this character going in. 

 

- Poor Defenses: Monk and Barbarian both have defensive tools that can make up for taking the occasional hard hit in melee, but neither really offer the kind of solid boosts to defenses that Fighters or Paladins give. I get that I'm a primary Crowd Controller/Striker, and that's fine - I can have other companions tank for me. I'm just concerned about catching a stray Fireball or Necrotic Lance or something. I know I'm not intended to be a MT and have no intention to play the tanking role, but will I be able to take a few hits if needed? Do I have enough free action points to take, say, Bear's Fortitude or Snake's Reflexes to shore up those weaknesses? 

 

- Poor Intellect: While there seem to be ways to remove the Confused status from my character (And thus the -5 Intellect penalty), there aren't a lot of options for raising my Intellect that I've been able to see. My issue with this is that, frankly, I don't know how big Carnage's AoE is, and how much Intellect is needed to achieve best results with it. I know I can shore up Intellect through resting bonuses as well as certain food though. 

 

I've also been worried about Intellect in regards to dialogue checks, but it seems Might and Perception are both used more often.

 

Other than that, I'm all set to Rip and Tear through some enemy squishies, and I feel like this character has the potential to be a heck of a lot of fun to use. From what people have said, Monk is still a very strong multiclass option in 1.1, and Barbarian seems like an excellent complement to it. 

 

Again, comments and feedback are appreciated! See something I missed? Think something could be handled a little better? Please let me know. 

[gkathellar]

I have no constructive criticism to speak of but I just want to commiserate for a second.

 

frankly, I don't know how big Carnage's AoE is

 

*cries*

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

I have no constructive criticism to speak of but I just want to commiserate for a second.

 

frankly, I don't know how big Carnage's AoE is

 

*cries*

 

Okay, so not worth worrying about pumping Int then? Got it. 

[Nemesis7884]

Keep in mind that aoe damage vs priority target might often clash with one another as mage tend to stay often a bit separate and further away than the melees.... what might help is leap - skill or the boots that give it - to get there fast....tough a ravager is usually good at flanking but not so good at being flanked

[Nemesis7884]

 

I have no constructive criticism to speak of but I just want to commiserate for a second.

 

frankly, I don't know how big Carnage's AoE is

*cries*

Okay, so not worth worrying about pumping Int then? Got it.

Helps also with durations so def useful....but as ravager u also need const, might and especially perception...dont think dex is as important as you get a lot of speed buffs

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

 

 

I have no constructive criticism to speak of but I just want to commiserate for a second.

frankly, I don't know how big Carnage's AoE is

*cries*

Okay, so not worth worrying about pumping Int then? Got it.

Helps also with durations so def useful....but as ravager u also need const, might and especially perception...dont think dex is as important as you get a lot of speed buffs

 

 

Hmm, alright. So maybe something like...

 

16 Might (4+2)

14 Con (4)

12 Dex (1+1)

18 Perception (8 )

10 Int

10 Resolve (9+1)

 

Also, keep in mind that I'll be getting 5 Intellect from the Smart inspiration when I upgrade to Enlightened Agony, so that's 15 Int. 50% AoE radius, 25% effect duration. Or at least, that's how it works in my head. 

Edited June 4, 2018 by Cyrus_Blackfeather

[Haplok]

I upped the Con to reduce the squishiness issue. With 18 Con (+5 Frenzy), Thick Skin and Frenzy AR bonus, my Ravager is decently durable. Granted I use Helwalker, so I needed more ability to soak damage. I also use the Woodskin Belt. +5 AR vs Pierce makes it difficult for ranged attackers to harm you. Also the amulet which activates at 25% Health and makes you almost unkillable for a while is handy.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Haplok

[gkathellar]

 

I have no constructive criticism to speak of but I just want to commiserate for a second.

 

frankly, I don't know how big Carnage's AoE is

 

*cries*

 

Okay, so not worth worrying about pumping Int then? Got it. 

 

Mm, I don't really know? I was more complaining about the lack of an AoE circle on Carnage, which I find extremely frustrating.

[KDubya]

For weapons you could use Modwyr in your off hand to deal with the Intellect affliction and use fist in the other. Unless it changed in the patch, fists hit harder than any one handed weapon and hit as fast as the fast weapons like daggers.

[ErlKing]

For weapons you could use Modwyr in your off hand to deal with the Intellect affliction and use fist in the other. Unless it changed in the patch, fists hit harder than any one handed weapon and hit as fast as the fast weapons like daggers.

Now I'm getting flashbacks from For Honor with Centurion bullying other heroes.

 

From my experience Carnage isn't strong damage wise, but it applies Staggered status from Spirit Frenzy. I don't know if it applies bleed from Blood Frenzy, but this stagger is pretty great if you have rogues in your part or just in general, as it cannot be resisted and decreases enemies might by 5. I haven't seen it applying anything else, so Staggered status might be unique effect for Carnage.

 

With my Marauder I was hitting 40-70 with my hits/crits and Carnage from that was around 8-15 I think.

Edited June 4, 2018 by ErlKing

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

 

For weapons you could use Modwyr in your off hand to deal with the Intellect affliction and use fist in the other. Unless it changed in the patch, fists hit harder than any one handed weapon and hit as fast as the fast weapons like daggers.

Now I'm getting flashbacks from For Honor with Centurion bullying other heroes.

 

From my experience Carnage isn't strong damage wise, but it applies Staggered status from Spirit Frenzy. I don't know if it applies bleed from Blood Frenzy, but this stagger is pretty great if you have rogues in your part or just in general, as it cannot be resisted and decreases enemies might by 5. I haven't seen it applying anything else, so Staggered status might be unique effect for Carnage.

 

With my Marauder I was hitting 40-70 with my hits/crits and Carnage from that was around 8-15 I think.

 

 

It's not strong, but it does soften up nearby enemies - especially if one takes Rooting Pain into account. Shattered Pillar is the best fit with that trait theoretically because you can control it a lot more. Plus, with the "nerf" to Shattered Pillar (Can't infinitely chain abilities anymore) it's a lot more reasonable. 

 

I wouldn't mind using fists so much if there were decent fist weapons in the game. My kingdom for some brass knuckles or handwraps with decent enchantments. Maybe someone could mod that in, but finding someone to mod an entirely new weapon type is going to be a lot harder than finding someone who could add weapons to existing categories.

 

Plus you kind of want any new unique items to have their own lore-compliant descriptions, otherwise it just takes you out of the whole experience, y'know? 

 

Edit: I probably will end up going with the "Spirit" line of Frenzy upgrades because of the debuffs they offer. Not only do hits Stagger enemies with Spirit Frenzy, Spirit Tornado does cold damage and applies either Frightened or Terrified. That honestly seems a lot better than Blood Frenzy (Raw damage on crit) and Blood Storm (Kills increase Frenzy duration). Can someone confirm/deny this? 

Edited June 4, 2018 by Cyrus_Blackfeather

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

So, another question I had - is Shattered Pillar still considered a good Monk subclass option after 1.1 or would I be better off sticking with a no subclass Monk? It seems like the only major nerf they got was not being able to gain wounds off of abilities, but it seems like the only reason that was included was to prevent infinite chaining of Torment's Reach or Skyward Kick. 

[KDubya]

I don't have the beta patch but you probably can generate two or three wounds per auto attack so you'll just have to alternate abilities and auto attacks with a Shattered Pillar. They still look like the best monk to me, just not 'Chuck Norris' level of godliness anymore.

[Haplok]

Arguably the other monk flavors are now less attractive then the Shattered Pillar. 50% Fire damage lash was HUGE. It's much easier to pass on 10-20%.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

So, I've gotten a lot of good insight into this topic so far but I just wanted to address the Intellect situation again. 

 

Since I won't be taking a wound hoarding Monk, I won't benefit from Duality of Mortal Presence's +10 Intellect bonus (Fire lash notwithstanding). So I won't be able to run around with 20 INT in combat anymore, without relying on my party. So I had a few questions. 

 

1. If I had Modwyr, would the immunity to Intellect afflictions just prevent the Confusion from ever happening in the first place? So I could Frenzy, then use Swift Strikes, and have base duration on both? 

 

2. Are there any ways to get the T2 Intellect inspiration from Priests or Chanters or any other source? 

 

3. For the early game, is duration calculated the moment you use an ability taking your current INT into account, or do fluctuations to your INT adjust the duration while the ability is in progress?

[Haplok]

1. Yes.

2. Not sure. I think T2 is possible somehow. Fighter has Tactical Barrage, but that doesn't really help.

3. Activation Int value. If you use Swift Strikes before going Frenzy, the duration will not be reduced by the Confusion effect (but it will still expire before Frenzy, which has a longer duration).