Frontline question

[Stonebridge809]

For characters to hold the frontline and keep mobs away from the ranged, they obviously need to survive and keep mobs engaged. It seems low con and resolve help keep agro but also lower survivability.

 

I'm confused as what stats to aim for per party member

 

Thanks, low con high resolve. Or high con low res? Surely I require at least one of these high. But not sure if enemies will still ignore me

 

Or build all party members similar, but then they'll still ignore the heavy armor front liners.

Any advice on how to build a party stat wise would be great

 

Party comp I'm looking at is..... Priest, druid, wizard, Cipher (all ranged/ caster). Chanter tank and other tank I can't decide. Thanks

[Boeroer]

Different enemies use different criteria for deciding whom they attack. For example enemy Barbs go for lowest deflection, enemy wizards often cast Necrotic Lance on the party member with the lowest endurance, some others go after low DR. So there's no general recipe how to keep enemies engaged.

 

One thing that works quite well to prevent rushing: don't make your backline pure squishies. It makes a difference if they are wearing leather armor or robes for example.

 

Also CC is a more reliable way to prevent rushing than "keeping aggro". If you charm one enemy you do a lot more for your backline than trying to hold off the mobs with your front line. For example: Charmed enemies get debuffed pretty hard and thus often turn into punching bags for their former buddies.

It also helps if your backline has high move speed. Enemies realize very quickly if they can't catch you because they move too slowly and will turn around soon.

 

It helps of your engaging tank does serious damage with his weapon - that way disengagement attacks pose a real threat. If you have a hatchet with 0 dmg bonus and a shield enemies will just leave and break engagement - because you can't harm them.

 

These problems are most obvious on PotD difficulty because there are more enemies. At lower difficulties it's not that bad.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Boeroer

[Stonebridge809]

Boereor

 

My party setup is as follows

 

Paladin (counsellor ploi) tank

Barbarian (golden dragon)

Priest healer/buffer

Wizard (glass cannon)

Ranged Cipher cc/debuff

 

I'm wondering if a fighter or druid would b best option for my 6th. Or any other suggestions. I'm guessing some kind of off tank would be best for the front line. Looking at lady in pain fighter spec or bats**t druid disable build. Chanter is also an option as dragon thrasher. Would love your input on this, then I can concentrate on the game instead of forums hehe

[Boeroer]

All three would work well. Druid is the most powerful of the three - but only after some levels where he can accumulate some more spell uses. But Spiritshift is always strong. If you take high CON, MIG and INT, Veteran's Recovery, survival healing bonus and Boar form you can totally offtank with such a druid and wreck stuff in melee as well.

 

Fighter starts best - his great starting values and Constant Recovery make him really good at low levels. Later on he lacks a bit of impact though. THen later comes Charge and he's great again.

 

Chanter is the most effective one when it comes to micromanagement. He can tank well while dealing tremendous passive AoE damage from level 9 on and also heal passively. Before lvl 9 he will feel a bit lame if you don't know the tricks. After lvl 9 he feels like "Oh my Goodness!"

 

Since you have no dedicated single target killer yet I would probably take something like the Lady of Pain. I personally would use the variant with Tidefall. Or a boar druid with focus on Spiritshift and shock spells/Wildstrike Shock - since such a guy can also kock out single enemies pretty fast.

Edited August 4, 2018 by Boeroer

[Stonebridge809]

If I went 2h fighter, do you think the barb could duel wield? Or even just duel wield on boss fights since I'm guessing paladin would be main tank?

[Boeroer]

The Golden Dragon is specifically made for weapon & (bashing) shield use.

 

For a dual wielding barb I'd prefer lots of CON, MIG and INT, Shod-in-Faith Boots, Savage Defiance, Veteran's Recovery and healing bonuses. At first he will be squishy but after some levels and with equipment he will have awesome self healing powers and plenty of health and endurance and staying power while being able to wreck mobs. But he will never be a real tank then.

 

My last solo barb (Ultimate) was such a guy and wielded dual war hammers - was lots of fun.

 

You can try the Golden Dragon approach with dual weapons as well, but then the low CON is not great.

 

If you want a very powerful and fun barb (who focuses more on offense) then pick up the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer and Forgemaster Gloves so you can summon Firebrand six times per rest. Take Frenzy, Bloodlust and Blood Thirst as well as every damage bonus you can get. It surely is the variant I always have most fun with.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Boeroer

[Stonebridge809]

Would you have to dump res and dex to get int, mig and con high? Both seem good. with chanter tank and fighter lady in pain off tank, which option would you pick?

[Stonebridge809]

The Golden Dragon is specifically made for weapon & (bashing) shield use.

 

For a dual wielding barb I'd prefer lots of CON, MIG and INT, Shod-in-Faith Boots, Savage Defiance, Veteran's Recovery and healing bonuses. At first he will be squishy but after some levels and with equipment he will have awesome self healing powers and plenty of health and endurance and staying power while being able to wreck mobs. But he will never be a real tank then.

 

My last solo barb (Ultimate) was such a guy and wielded dual war hammers - was lots of fun.

 

You can try the Golden Dragon approach with dual weapons as well, but then the low CON is not great.

 

If you want a very powerful and fun barb (who focuses more on offense) then pick up the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer and Forgemaster Gloves so you can summon Firebrand six times per rest. Take Frenzy, Bloodlust and Blood Thirst as well as every damage bonus you can get. It surely is the variant I always have most fun with.

That sounds fun, would you dual wield, put points into might, con, int and per? Mayb dump res and base dex?

[Stonebridge809]

Although as per your suggestion before. Golden dragon tank with chanter, and lady in pain fighter with a 2h sounds better. Forgot u said about my party lacking in single target.

[Stonebridge809]

At lvl 9 does the dragon thrashed chanter become main tank material? My dps seems low between golden dragon barb and chanter. Considering changing barb to a more dps build whilst still sturdy (or even switching him to boar druid. For extra dps.

 

Having 2nd thoughts tho as barb is always last one alive at the minute. Just not sure if having dragon thrashed chanter and golden dragon barb is gimping my overall dps

 

Lvl 6 atm

Edited August 9, 2018 by Stonebridge809

[Boeroer]

Then wait until lvl 9 and then judge again. Golden Dragon takes off with Heart of Fury (lvl 11). Before that he's doing good tanking and ok AoE damage via Carnage. Barbs are quite dependent on gear - so if you haven't the items listed yet that might be another reason for underperformance.

 

You can totally replace any of those with a boar druid though, why not.

[Stonebridge809]

I don't want to, love the builds just wanted to confirm that they should be underparts at lvl 6.and not something I'm doing wrong