Wildrhymer Build Idea (not for solo)

[hansvedic]

I am thinking about creating a ranged Wildrhymer that uses good Dexterity, high Perception, the Sure-Handed Ila chant (faster reload), the Gunner talent, and a pet that lowers armor penalty (as well as other resources like potions of relentless striking and Acina's Tricorn), combined with the arbalest and/or crossbow modals to frequently interrupt enemies, especially spellcasters.

 

Right now, I am trying to decide whether to go Ghost Heart or Stalker (Bear) for the ranger subclass. I've already decided on Troubadour for the Chanter subclass, mainly for quicker invocations.

 

Ghost Heart Pros:

No Bonded Grief

No need to take pet talents, meaning more room for Chanter abilities

 

Ghost Heart Cons:

Given that I will be summoning Chanter minions, I won't use the pet at all, except perhaps in emergencies when I don't have summons out to protect me.

 

Stalker Pros:

Additional off-tank on the field (won't be speccing pet for damage, most likely) means less damage on main tank(s), like Eder

Can heal/revive pet with Chanter abilities (Ancient Memory & the revive invocation)

Can buff pet with the Armor Invocation for even more armor 

+1 armor & +5 deflection for both pet & my character

 

Stalker Cons:

Ability investment for pet (Resilient & Protective Companion, Stalker's Link) means less Chanter abilities

Can get Bonded Grief debuff, even though I can then revive my pet once I reach level 10

Need to stay closer to action to be close to pet

Stalker's Link may not be helpful when ranged targets, like mages, are of higher priority than what my pet is engaging

 

Right now, I'm kind of leaning towards the Stalker, even with the potential downside of Bonded Grief. I may end up using my pet as just a bodyguard for what gets past my main tank(s) in tough fights, or as an additional off-tank when possible to keep Eder alive.

 

Still, I am not sure what to decide in this regard. Any thoughts?

 

EDIT: I am particularly interested in feedback from people with experience with Ranger multiclasses through the mid-game and end-game.

Edited June 24, 2018 by hansvedic

[Marigoldran]

Time spent summoning is going to be a problem.  Your char won't be doing a lot of attacks since half the time you'll be summoning.  

 

Ranger poinks away with auto-attacks.  Chanters summon.  The two don't mix well.  

 

Since you're not soloing, a better idea is to have a dedicated summoner (e.g. Pallegina as Chanter/Paladin) and have MC as Ranger/Devoted with Warbows or guns.  

 

The other strong (and more fun) option is Ranger/Ascended Cipher.  Poink away until you ascend, then disintegrate the enemies.  

Edited June 24, 2018 by Marigoldran

[hansvedic]

Time spent summoning is going to be a problem.  Your char won't be doing a lot of attacks since half the time you'll be summoning.  

 

Ranger poinks away with auto-attacks.  Chanters summon.  The two don't mix well.  

 

Since you're not soloing, a better idea is to have a dedicated summoner (e.g. Pallegina as Chanter/Paladin) and have MC as Ranger/Devoted with Warbows or guns.  

 

Fair point. I plan to stick to 25-second base summons, which should alleviate that a bit.

 

EDIT: Part of the reason for going chanter is for the Sure-Handed Ila chant; that way, I can buff my attack speed myself. With all the attack speed & reload speed buffs, I can get an attack off once every 4 seconds, if not quicker.

Edited June 24, 2018 by hansvedic

[Marigoldran]

You don't have to have that chant.  Have some other team member in the back lines carry it.  

 

Give Pallegina a pistol and a shield and have her be your bodyguard and summoner.  

Edited June 24, 2018 by Marigoldran

[hansvedic]

You don't have to have that chant.  Have some other team member in the back lines carry it.  

 

Give Pallegina a pistol and a shield and have her be your bodyguard and summoner.  

 

Let's say that I want to play a Wildrhymer. Do you have any advice relevant to the original post, in that case?

[Marigoldran]

Have someone else play a chanter and summon and focus on Chanter Passives yourself.  

 

Just summon at the start of the fight, then poink away.  Pick up the buffs and the "Energizer Bunny" Invocation. Win? 

Edited June 24, 2018 by Marigoldran

[Marigoldran]

Take a look at the buffs chanters get at levels 5,6, and 7.  

Edited June 24, 2018 by Marigoldran

[hansvedic]

Take a look at the buffs chanters get at levels 5,6, and 7.  

 

I am well aware of the buffs available to a multiclass chanter.

 

I also happen to like being able to summon extra bodies onto the field with any chanter character in my team, especially if I am going to oppose the Vailian Trading Company in the main quest.

[Marigoldran]

Then summon all you want.  In which case I recommend 5 Chanter party and you can multiclass with anything and steamroll POTD wtihout any challenge.  

 

Have you tried 1 Wild Rhymmer and 4 Heralds in heavy armor (Paladin/Chanters)? 

 

Even better: make everyone a Beckoner.  

Edited June 24, 2018 by Marigoldran

[Marigoldran]

Actually, Wild Rhymer is fine.  Just send in the pet to suicide first to initiate combat and the chanters in the back can summon.  Then run your party in and slaughter.  

 

Don't play Ghost heart because you can't summon it until combat starts.  

Edited June 24, 2018 by Marigoldran

[arkane83]

Actually, Wild Rhymer is fine. Just send in the pet to suicide first to initiate combat and the chanters in the back can summon. Then run your party in and slaughter.

 

Don't play Ghost heart because you can't summon it until combat starts.

One of my hired adventurers is a ghost heart troubadour.

 

Might med

Con low

DeX med

Per high

Int high

Res dump

 

She is a great summoner and ranged dps. You get a lot of synergy out of using firearms. I keep her as a mid range combatant so she can summon her skeletons to flank the enemy. Her piggie gets summoned right in front setting up enemies for flanked even without the rest of the party. My main is a ranged melee hybrid holy slayer (goldpact streetfighter), self inflicts distracted and goes to town with high speed melee attacks on enemies already flanked by pets.

 

 

Chanter Simmons are once every 12 seconds of combat after the first summon. Plenty of time to shoot the enemies with your firearms

[hansvedic]

You know, when I made my post, I thought I made it perfectly clear what kind of feedback I was looking for. I guess I didn't communicate as well as I thought I did.

 

Marigoldran, while I can appreciate some of your feedback, I would have much preferred it if you would have address the central question I asked, namely the comparison between Ghost Heart & Stalker. I was primarily concerned with pet's survivability, but I guess I didn't make that clear enough.

 

Given the current state of this thread, however, I have half a mind to ask a moderator to delete it.

 

EDIT: I suppose I assumed that people who have played rangers would quickly recognize, based on my list of pros and cons, that one of the things weighing heavily on my mind was how well the pet could survive, especially in the later stages of the game. I guess I could've made my question more explicit in this regard by specifically asking about how easily the pet can survive in a party, preferably with story companions. Still considering deleting this thread, though.

Edited June 24, 2018 by hansvedic

[mant2si]

If you look some multi-class ranger experience check my build https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/102168-build-glanfathan-soul-hunter
I recorded > 10 videos with ghost heart/cipher

Check latest post in the topic, I recorded video with arquebuse, in summary don't pick any other class than Ghost Heart, if don't like too much micromanagement :D, pets die very often

I don't suggest you to pick chanter, there exist much simpler way to speedup attack speed, pick Berserker + Ghost Heart, you still can summon you companion, you will have very high attack speed, when you kill at least one enemy you will restore immediately, you can stay blooded and has +25% damage, and +2 to penetration, sometime game breaker

Edited June 24, 2018 by mant2si

[hansvedic]

If you look some multi-class ranger experience check my build https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/102168-build-glanfathan-soul-hunter

I recorded > 10 videos with ghost heart/cipher

 

Check latest post in the topic, I recorded video with arquebuse, in summary don't pick any other class than Ghost Heart, if don't like too much micromanagement :D, pets die very often

 

I don't suggest you to pick chanter, there exist much simpler way to speedup attack speed, pick Berserker + Ghost Heart, you still can summon you companion, you will have very high attack speed, when you kill at least one enemy you will restore immediately, you can stay blooded and has +25% damage, and +2 to penetration, sometime game breaker

 

Fair points. So, even with Stalker & Resilient Companion and using the Bear (maybe the boar if healing is that big of a deal), the pet just doesn't survive well enough.

 

I've read that pets can't survive much, but I wanted to know if the revive and heal abilities of the Chanter might offset that weakness or make it manageable.

[mant2si]

 

If you look some multi-class ranger experience check my build https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/102168-build-glanfathan-soul-hunter

I recorded > 10 videos with ghost heart/cipher

 

Check latest post in the topic, I recorded video with arquebuse, in summary don't pick any other class than Ghost Heart, if don't like too much micromanagement :D, pets die very often

 

I don't suggest you to pick chanter, there exist much simpler way to speedup attack speed, pick Berserker + Ghost Heart, you still can summon you companion, you will have very high attack speed, when you kill at least one enemy you will restore immediately, you can stay blooded and has +25% damage, and +2 to penetration, sometime game breaker

 

Fair points. So, even with Stalker & Resilient Companion and using the Bear (maybe the boar if healing is that big of a deal), the pet just doesn't survive well enough.

 

I've read that pets can't survive much, but I wanted to know if the revive and heal abilities of the Chanter might offset that weakness or make it manageable.

 

Nope, you will  end with resurrecting your pet 100% of time, and also take in mind this classes combination is very boring, because it lack of recovery speed and damage boost

[Dorftek]

I am thinking about creating a ranged Wildrhymer that uses good Dexterity, high Perception, the Sure-Handed Ila chant (faster reload), the Gunner talent, and a pet that lowers armor penalty (as well as other resources like potions of relentless striking and Acina's Tricorn), combined with the arbalest and/or crossbow modals to frequently interrupt enemies, especially spellcasters.

 

Right now, I am trying to decide whether to go Ghost Heart or Stalker (Bear) for the ranger subclass. I've already decided on Troubadour for the Chanter subclass, mainly for quicker invocations.

 

Ghost Heart Pros:

No Bonded Grief

No need to take pet talents, meaning more room for Chanter abilities

 

Ghost Heart Cons:

Given that I will be summoning Chanter minions, I won't use the pet at all, except perhaps in emergencies when I don't have summons out to protect me.

 

Stalker Pros:

Additional off-tank on the field (won't be speccing pet for damage, most likely) means less damage on main tank(s), like Eder

Can heal/revive pet with Chanter abilities (Ancient Memory & the revive invocation)

Can buff pet with the Armor Invocation for even more armor 

+1 armor & +5 deflection for both pet & my character

 

Stalker Cons:

Ability investment for pet (Resilient & Protective Companion, Stalker's Link) means less Chanter abilities

Can get Bonded Grief debuff, even though I can then revive my pet once I reach level 10

Need to stay closer to action to be close to pet

Stalker's Link may not be helpful when ranged targets, like mages, are of higher priority than what my pet is engaging

 

Right now, I'm kind of leaning towards the Stalker, even with the potential downside of Bonded Grief. I may end up using my pet as just a bodyguard for what gets past my main tank(s) in tough fights, or as an additional off-tank when possible to keep Eder alive.

 

Still, I am not sure what to decide in this regard. Any thoughts?

 

EDIT: I am particularly interested in feedback from people with experience with Ranger multiclasses through the mid-game and end-game.

 

Whenever i play a ranger i pick Ghostheart. They cant get the bonded grief, their pet summon is pretty much instant and has zero recovery and cost only one bond. So instead of wasting ability points on revive pet and pet healing u just resummon him for one bond.

[Marigoldran]

Yes, but what's the point of posting questions if you already know the answer?

 

The fastest way to see if something works in Deadfire is to test it.  

 

First, you play a GhostHeart for 30 minutes.  Then you play a Stalker for 30 minutes.  Then you see which one works better.  It takes about as long to test it as it is to debate with someone about it.  

 

QED.  

 

My point is that the reason your WildRhymmer works well is because of the "Rhymmer/Chanter" part,  and not the "Wild/Ranger" part.  ANYTHING will work, as long as you multi- it with a chanter.

Edited June 25, 2018 by Marigoldran

[hansvedic]

First off, I was aware that the pet generally wasn’t that great, but I was asking if the chanter abilities might make it survivable enough. Thus, I was asking something I did not know the answer to.

 

Second, you never addressed my central query, Marigoldran, and your attitude comes off as quite rude and condescending. Next time you have nothing to add to the topic of my posts, I would ask that you keep your thoughts to yourself. I have tried to remain respectful, but I am nearing the end of my patience with you. With all due respect, perhaps we should avoid each other.

Edited June 25, 2018 by hansvedic