Cleric of Berath

[Ophiuchus]

Having immensely enjoyed Boeroer's melee Priest of Berath build in PoE1, I was excited to continue that character in Deadfire as a Cleric (Greatsword Devoted/Berath) but so far (at level 10) the experience has been a complete slog. Unfortunately, many of the tools needed to make the old build shine (Aggrandizing Radiance, accuracy bonus to Greatswords) were lost in the interim, and I'm struggling to replicate it. Priest spells generally have brutal recovery speeds, and when combined with heavy armor (to fit the aesthetic), I often find the battle half finished by the time my Cleric gets into the fray. Touch of Rot and Spreading Plague are nice out of the box but vs Fortitude significantly reduces their effectiveness later on.

Overall, this multiclass makes me feel like I'm patching up penalties instead of building something effective. Has anyone been able to successfully make a decent Cleric of Berath (or melee Berath) - say for Veteran with upscaling? Battlemage is leagues beyond it as a hybrid but I can't help but think there might be a hidden gem or two.

Edited July 31, 2018 by Ophiuchus

[Sobric]

I have a (paused) playthrough with a Cleric of Berath on Veteran which I was enjoying immensely - but I went for Morning Star's over Greatswords. You can use the Morning Star modal to reduce fort defenses, but I find that not having to summon a weapon means I can get into the fray quicker. 

 

Having said that, similar problems with the speed - in easier fights the battles are almost over before the Cleric can have an impact, which sucks. 

[Manveru123]

No, but he does work well as a caster.

[mant2si]

Did you try to stack enough dexterity and action speed ?

18 Base
+1 Elf
+2 Boots (Footprints of Ahu Taka)
+2 Gloves (Firethrower's Gloves)
+5 Minor Avatar

= 31 will give you +35% Recovery Speed/Attack Speed

 

+10 Action speed from Fast Casting
+20% Recovery speed from Mohorā Wraps
With Reckless Brigandine you will get additional 10% - 20% AS
With Mob Stance you will get additional 10% - 20% AS
(Possible) +15 from Potion of Swift (not sure if you can set AI fro that action)

Pet + Armor Grace reduce your Heavy AR to +20% - which in summary give you pretty high recovery speed or you can take Casità Samelia's Legacy for more defection and +7% Recovery speed (which little bit better than bonus from Brigandine) or The Bloody Links if you like live on edge with BDD spell

For attributes I offer to max - Dexterity / Int / Perception

Edited July 31, 2018 by mant2si

[grasida]

I was considering a zealot of berath. Trickster/priest with maxed resolve, high int, might and perception. The idea is you escape into a group of enemies at the start of a fight and focus on casting. Riposte allows you to passively deal damage to enemies around you while you focus on casting spells. When you do attack, you focus on DoT powers like ring the bell, gouging strike, toxic strike, touch of rot, etc. At very high level, you can supercharge your DoTs with cleansing flame to deal heavy damage against a single enemy. Using DoTs and riposte to deal damage lets you spend more time casting spells.

 

For weapons, I think I’d take Marux Amanth paired with Griffon’s Blade, though Rannig’s Wrath might be an interesting choice. Chance to recover when missed could be a really good power for a deflection tank that wants to get out a whole lot of actions. I don’t think the spiritual greatsword would be the best choice here, unfortunately.

[Ophiuchus]

Shelved the poor soul due to lack of good synergy. I restarted as a Bleak Walker/Greatsword Devoted for that lumbering Death Knight fix and the results have been pretty spicy so far.