See topic. Giftbearer's Cloth is amazing, especially for frontliners, tank or otherwise, which raises the question - what builds are (a) likely to come under heavy fire and (b) distinctly don't want the huge defensive bonuses offered by maxing History?

Monks who distinctly plans to get damaged to gain Wounds. In those case, sustaintability offered by ...say... Three Trolls Stitched might be more desirable.

The frontliner who is standing next to the one wearing giftbearer cloth.

Shifters now get bonuses from cloaks, right? In that case, a Shifter may still want History.

Having Eder take anything that isn't Insight or Survival feels contrary to his characterization. 

I mean... I don't know that the difference between a history pumped character wearing this cloak and one just using a greater cloak of protection is huge.

I mean... I don't know that the difference between a history pumped character wearing this cloak and one just using a greater cloak of protection is huge.

 

By mid-to-late game it's +5 to +15 to defenses over a cloak of greater protection. That's fairly significant.

 

Obviously you don't need the Giftbearer's Cloth to function, but from a pure optimization perspective, I'm curious about strong cases for not wearing it.

Nah, I can't make a case against speccing someone for it unless you're soloing perhaps. But I think your numbers are way off. As far as I can tell it gives +0.5 defenses per point in history. To have a 15 point advantage over the CoGP you'd need 40 history :D

Nah, I can't make a case against speccing someone for it unless you're soloing perhaps. But I think your numbers are way off. As far as I can tell it gives +0.5 defenses per point in history. To have a 15 point advantage over the CoGP you'd need 40 history :D

 

No exactly. The cape is +5 +(History/2). For +15 you need 20 in History but for have 20 you need sent near all level in history; useful if that character is your support for that pasive. But you can life with other capes too.

Edited July 6, 20187 yr by Aranduin

A 15 point advantage over the CoGP requires 40 points in history. 15 points of defenses requires 20 history, but that's only 5 over the CoGP. ^^

Easy - the ones who want to max Metaphysics (+Athletics) to fully utilize the sweet, sweet Engwithan shield Cadhu Scalth.

 

I know it's wierd to think of a tank with Metaphysics but +Deflection and -Spell Damage is a seriously sweet combo.

 

 

EDIT: Upon further thought, why not split between History and Metaphysics. From a RP perspective may take some tinkering, but the cape and the shield are providing serious defense. Paladin maybe?

Edited July 6, 20187 yr by Verde

A 15 point advantage over the CoGP requires 40 points in history. 15 points of defenses requires 20 history, but that's only 5 over the CoGP. ^^

 

Yep my fault reading

EDIT: Upon further thought, why not split between History and Metaphysics. From a RP perspective may take some tinkering, but the cape and the shield are providing serious defense. Paladin maybe?

Bad idea. You'll barely get higher than a Cloak of Greater Protection if you split. Although the bonus slots might come in handy.

See topic. Giftbearer's Cloth is amazing, especially for frontliners, tank or otherwise, which raises the question - what builds are (a) likely to come under heavy fire and (b) distinctly don't want the huge defensive bonuses offered by maxing History?

 

There are certainly reasons to ignore History as a front-liner.  There are other good cloaks that requires no stats and you could max a different secondary stat instead, such as intimidate.  Instead of Gift-bearer, which provides 15 defenses with 20 history, you could simply wear a cloak of greater protection for only 5 less defense.  Or you could go greater deflection cloak for +7 deflection, and then invest those skill points into a different skill that scales equipment.  Since 90%+ of attacks target deflection, having extremely high deflection provides larger benefits most of the time.  

 

Before gift-bearer was nerfed to provide half the benefits in patch 1.1, it was the obvious choice, but now I think it is just one of multiple options.

Edited July 6, 20187 yr by Braven

Item scales with skills is just stupid...

Item scales with skills is just stupid...

 

Oh? Why so?

Probably because role playing attributes should ideally be decoupled from combat purposes. At least that's my understanding.

I thought it was actually a very nice touch. Makes itemization more varied and interesting.

 

Personally I don’t really feel the urge to build around one of those items. Granted, they may have nice effects but if my character is no historian, I don’t want to give up a different skill I like better just to boost a cloak. I’d sooner just use a different cloak.

Any build that wants to pump Intimidation instead to max the Deflection bonus from Casita Samelia's Legacy.

For the record, I think Cadhu Scalth is one ugly shield, regardless of the benefits of wielding it. That shield would look great if I was an Adra Beetle... then again a lot of gear in POE2 is pretty hideous in my opinion. Makes a slim list of items, even slimmer.

No other defense besides Deflection matters, doesn't seem that important

Any build that wants to pump Intimidation instead to max the Deflection bonus from Casita Samelia's Legacy.

This is also true. And Intimidation is a great skill.