[Final Draft] Sage - "Thought and Memory" (Long Range Fire/Frost Pale Elf for Party-Based PotD). Feedback appreciated.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Hey guys, 

 

So, I've been making a lot of little tweaks and adjustments to my Sage build based on the feedback I've gotten from these forums, and I think I've come up with something that I'm really proud of. Hence why this is a "Final Draft" and not a "WIP" anymore. Of course, the Final Draft still has room for revision, so I'd appreciate any suggestions that could be offered. I've done my best to make it a little less opaque, and to trim down the fat, so to speak. This will just be stats, race, background, and abilities. 

 

The intent of this build is to use the Monk subclass to create a ranged caster that benefits from high Might (from the Helwalker) as well as high Intellect to rain down massive destruction on his enemies. Pale Elf was picked for the thematic flair as well as extra armor against elemental attacks. 

 

The Difficulty... PotD with Deadly Deadfire Installed and Story Companions

 

The Race... Pale Elf

 

The Faction... VTC

 

The Class... Helwalker/No-subclass Wizard*

 

The Background... White that Wends/Aristocrat

 

The Skill Focus... Stealth (Active)/Diplomacy and Metaphysics (Passive)

 

The Stats... With all bonuses from PoE1 imports, as well as the Chameleon's Touch ring, racial and culture bonuses, permanent +1 attribute potion, and Berath's Blessings factored in. 

 

Might: 17 (13 Base + 1 Gift of the Machine +2 Berath's Blessing + 1 Permanent Stat Bonus)

Constitution: 10 (8 Base + 2 Berath's Blessing)

Dexterity: 18 (14 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessings +1 Chameleon's Touch)

Perception: 20 (16 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessing +1 White that Wends) 

Intellect: 20 (16 Base +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Chameleon's Touch +1 Effigy's Resentment)

Resolve: 10 (8 Base +2 Berath's Blessing)

 

The Abilities per level...

 

Abilities (Per Level)

Primary Offensive Grimoire - Ninagauth's Teachings
Secondary Grimoire - Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry

Level 1 - Swift Strikes/Chill Fog
Level 2 - Lesser Wounds
Level 3 - Thrust of Tattered Veils
Level 4 - Two Handed Fighting*/Bulwark Against the Elements**
Level 5 - Mortification of the Soul
Level 6 - Merciless Gaze
Level 7 - Llengrath's Displaced Image/Swift Flurry
Level 8 - Combat Focus
Level 9 - Arcane Dampener OR Expose Vulnerabilities*
Level 10 - Pull of Eora/Duality of Mortal Presence
Level 11 - Secrets of Rime
Level 12 - Scion of Flame
Level 13 - Rapid Casting/Tough
Level 14 - Blast of Frost
Level 15 - The Long Pain
Level 16 - Citzal's Spirit Lance/Turning Wheel
Level 17 - Martial Caster?
Level 18 - Arcane Reflection
Level 19 - Heartbeat Drumming/Tayn's Chaotic Orb
Level 20 -  Instruments of Pain

 

*I've considered running Evoker with this build, but that would make my spell selection at certain Power Levels very 'meh.' That said, this build is designed to be more of an Arcane Artillery, so specializing in Evocation might be worth it. The chosen Grimoire gives me Curse of Blackened Sight as a second level spell to give Blind without Chill Fog. The only issue is, some Evocation spells require running into melee range and detonating. Right now, I'm about 90% for no-subclass, 10% for evoker. Can someone give me the over-under on why +2 Power Level is worth shutting myself out of two schools of magic? 

 

**Bulwark Against the Elements is taken because Infuse With Vital Essence is obsoleted by Duality of Mortal Presence later on, and until they fix respec, I'd rather not rely on it. Can anyone confirm whether this stacks with Ironskin, or does Ironskin's flat +5 armor rating override it? 

 

The Long Pain and Instruments of Pain are selected so that I can wield a wider variety of weapons at range, even if it's only available at Level 20. This character is designed to mesh with the DLCs pretty well, especially the Archmage-centric one, so I'm hoping I'll still have a lot to do even after hitting max level. 

 

I'm also still taking buffing spells because it seems prudent to do so. Even with Eder and Pallegina both tanking for me, enemies are probably still going to swarm us. 

 

The Problems...

 

The biggest problem with this build is going to be friendly fire. Fights at melee in this game tend to turn into disorganized messes pretty quickly, and even with the safe zones of AoE spells there's no guarantee I won't accidentally nuke Eder and Pallegina to death because an enemy pushed them/they moved into the danger zone of a Fireball/Shadowflame. And I can't really hold them in reserve because then the enemy will just charge right up to us, and they won't be properly able to grab engagement on lots of enemies. So I'm left in a situation where I can't use some of my best spells for fear of hitting my companions. Compared to Cipher in particular, there's very few AoE spells that are "Foe only" and most of those don't do that much damage. 

 

Last bits of feedback... 

 

Pretty much everything is set in stone right now, but there's still some aspects of the build that are subject to change. I'd like some last thoughts regarding the ability selection. Is there anything glaring that I missed? Anything that's worth taking earlier, compared to something else? For a multiclass character, I've definitely noticed that it's half what you take, half when you take it. 

 

How stifled am I going to be by the whole "Accidentally nuking your party members" thing? For a few fights, I can use chokepoints and that helps a lot, especially with Eder and a Paladin/Chanter Pallegina serving as a frontline for enemies to bash themselves to death against. But then there's others that are much less controlled. 

 

Final thoughts... 

 

Those minor concerns aside, I'm honestly really pleased with what I've been able to come up with here. I know X/Monk multiclasses aren't anything new , and I also know that Monk/Wizard probably doesn't have t he greatest class synergy as far as ranged Monks go, but to be honest, most of the "optimal" builds are kind of boring, so I wanted to try something else for a change with a little more potential for character building, rather than just "Unga bunga damage" or "Haha, your attacks mean nothing to me you puny mortals, now watch as my army of minions slaughters you." 

 

That said, there's a difference between picking something that's not 'meta' and picking something that has absolutely no synergy at all like, say... a Priest/Druid or a Priest/Monk. If Sage falls into the category of "Absolutely no synergy at all" I'd like to know. The little bit of testing I've done so far has shown promise, though I'll admit I do miss my Marauder's skill at the whole "Killing people thing" sometimes. 

 

Edits...

 

Swapped out Chain Lightning for Citzal's Spirit Lance and Gaze of the Adragon for Martial Caster

 

Added Swift Flurry as my Level 7 Monk pick, have to pick between Arcane Dampener or Expose Vulnerabilities. Leaning towards Arcane Dampener, because shutting down some of the more potent buffs on enemies seems like it has more utility. 

 

Swapped out The Dichotomous Soul for Heartbeat Drumming and Two Weapon Style for Two-Handed Style for more synergy with Citzal's Spirit Lance/Chronoprismatic Quarterstaff/etc. 

Edited July 6, 2018 by Cyrus_Blackfeather

[Aranduin]

If you have Bulwark and Ironskin sam time Bulwark suppresed Ironskin at least in Fire and Ice with a Pale Elf.

The big advantages of Bulwark are duration and dont lose a 4th tier slot. The bad part only work with elemental attacks. I suppose is better for some specific combats.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

If you have Bulwark and Ironskin sam time Bulwark suppresed Ironskin at least in Fire and Ice with a Pale Elf.

The big advantages of Bulwark are duration and dont lose a 4th tier slot. The bad part only work with elemental attacks. I suppose is better for some specific combats.

 

Thanks! I swapped out Ironskin for Pull of Eora. 

[Boeroer]

Did you try Citzal's Spirit Lance with Instruments of Pain? Especially when at +10 INT? It's quite awesome.

 

Instruments of Pain works extremely well with reach weapons. The melee weapon will get +500% range (=10.8 meters). Reach weapons already have 1.8 meters - so you end up with a long range, big AoE nuke with good speed and damage and only need to spend 1 spell use. And it also transports proc effects.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Boeroer

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Did you try Citzal's Spirit Lance with Instruments of Pain? Especially when at +10 INT? It's quite awesome.

 

Instruments of Pain works extremely well with reach weapons. The melee weapon will get +500% range (=10.8 meters). Reach weapons already have 1.8 meters - so you end up with a long range, big AoE nuke with good speed and damage and only need to spend 1 spell use. And it also transports proc effects.

 

I have not! More of a reason not to go Evoker, then! 

 

I'll go ahead and swap out Gaze of the Adragon for that.

 

And by proc effects, do you mean things like Swift Flurry and Heartbeat Drumming? Should I swap out The Dichotomous Soul for Heartbeat Drumming and something else for Swift Flurry, or just leave things as they are otherwise? 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Cyrus_Blackfeather

[Dorftek]

Did you try Citzal's Spirit Lance with Instruments of Pain? Especially when at +10 INT? It's quite awesome.

 

Instruments of Pain works extremely well with reach weapons. The melee weapon will get +500% range (=10.8 meters). Reach weapons already have 1.8 meters - so you end up with a long range, big AoE nuke with good speed and damage and only need to spend 1 spell use. And it also transports proc effects.

Now that is interesting! I'd have thought instruments of pain would have replaced the summoned weapon and used your "equipped" weapon. Good find!

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

 

Did you try Citzal's Spirit Lance with Instruments of Pain? Especially when at +10 INT? It's quite awesome.

 

Instruments of Pain works extremely well with reach weapons. The melee weapon will get +500% range (=10.8 meters). Reach weapons already have 1.8 meters - so you end up with a long range, big AoE nuke with good speed and damage and only need to spend 1 spell use. And it also transports proc effects.

Now that is interesting! I'd have thought instruments of pain would have replaced the summoned weapon and used your "equipped" weapon. Good find!

 

 

Yeah, I'm really excited to give it a try. 

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Made some more edits to the abilities by the way. Swift Flurry at level 7, then Combat Focus at Level 8 and Arcane Dampener OR Expose Vulnerabilities at level 9. Also, I swapped The Dichotomous Soul for Heartbeat Drumming to synergize better with Citzal's Spirit Lance, especially since The Dichotomous Soul is a four wound cost skill in a wound hoarding build. 

 

I'm leaning toward Arcane Dampener over Expose Vulnerabilities. 

Edited July 5, 2018 by Cyrus_Blackfeather

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Also, I sacrificed Grieving Mother to the Blood Pool for an extra point in Intellect, which brings me up to an even 30 with Duality of Mortal Presence.