[COMPANION BUILD] Tāwhirimātea, the God of Storms

[Ascaloth]

Source

 

In Māori mythology, Tāwhirimātea (or Tāwhiri) is the god of weather, including thunder and lightning, wind, clouds and storms. He is a son of Papatūānuku (earth mother) and Ranginui (sky father). In his anger at his brothers for separating their parents, Tāwhirimātea destroyed the forests of Tāne (god of forests), drove Tangaroa (god of the sea) and his progeny into the sea, pursued Rongo and Haumia-tiketike till they had to take refuge in the bosom of their mother Papa, and only found in Tūmatauenga a worthy opponent and eternal enemy. - Wikipedia

 

 

===================================
Tāwhirimātea, the God of Storms
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Difficulty: PotD v2.0.0.0030
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Class: Theurge (Watershaper + Stormspeaker)
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Race: Marine Godlike
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Background: Deadfire Archipelago (Artist)
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Stats (char creation, no Berath's Blessings):
MIG: 12
CON: 13
DEX: 11
PER: 14
INT: 13
RES: 15
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Important Skills: none
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Abilities (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important)

 

PL1

Druid

Ondra's Whip (a)

Tanglefoot (a)

Nature's Mark

Chanter

The Skies Opened And Vengeance Rained Down (a)

Blessed was Wengridh, Quickest of His Tribe (a)

Not Felled by the Axe, Nor Broken by the Storm (a)

The Thunder Rolled Like Waves on Black Seas

 

PL2

Druid

Blizzard (a)

The Moon's Light (!)

Woodskin

Chanter

The Cave Provided Shelter Through the Storm (a)

At the Sound of his Voice, the Killers Froze Stiff ®

Common

Two Handed Style ®

 

PL3

Druid

Chill Fog (a) (!)

Returning Storm (!)

Chanter

Great Amira Let Her Wrath Be Shown (a) (!)

The Fox from the Farmer Did Run and Leap

Ancient Memory (!)

Rejoice, my Comrades! Two Fingers of Daylight (!)

 

PL4

Druid

Boiling Spray (a)

Moonwell (!)

Secrets of Rime (!)

Heart of the Storm (!)

Chanter

Ngati's Power Struck the Shore Again (a)

Rise Again, Rise Again, Scions of Adon! (!)

 

PL5

Druid

Ocean Burst (a)

Relentless Storm (!)

Practiced Healer (!)

Chanter

A Cool Wind Washed Over The Tribe (a)

...And Evil Turned Away from the Sun (!)

Seven Nights She Waited While The White Winds Wept (!)

 

PL6

Druid

Watery Double (a)

Garden of Life

Chanter

Not One Foe Was Spared Amira's Wrath (a) (!)

...And Face Your Foes ®

They Shielded Their Eyes 'Gainst the Fampyr's Gaze ®

So Singt Biting Winds o'Eld Nary (!)

 

PL7

Druid

Blast of Frost (a)

Nature's Bounty

Chanter

Within Ngati's Embrace None Could Touch Her (a)

Mercy and Kindness Followed Where'er She Walked (!)

Her Tears Fell Like Rain (!)

 

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Items (*=additional enchantments; !=important, r=recommended):

Weapon set 1: Lord Darryn's Voulge  (!)
Weapon set 2: Watershaper's Focus (Ondra's Wrath*!) (!)

Chest: Deltro's Cage (Conductive Storm*!) (!)

Helmet: n/a

Amulet: Necklace of the Harvest Moon ®

Trinket: Kaihoa

Cloak: Mantle of the Seven Bolts (!)

Gloves: Woedica's Strangling Grasp ®

Ring: Kuaru's Prize ®

Ring: Ring of Boundless Stars ®

Belt: Ngati's Girdle

Boots: Boots of the White

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Tekēhu is very clearly the apple of the Obsidian developers' eyes, for much effort must have been put into making him capable of many things his fellow Companions (or even any custom hirelings, for that matter) cannot match. As a Watershaper, Tekēhu gains access to Foe-only AoE Frost spells; as a Stormspeaker, he gets automatically-learned Invocations unique to his subclass, of which two are powerful Shock-based spells. Taking a fair bit of inspiration from my Fate Testarossa Ascetic build, I took the staple of that build - Lord Darryn's Voulge, Deltro's Cage and Mantle of the Seven Bolts - and complemented it with the Watershaper's Focus to capitalize fully on the synergies he enjoys as a Theurge like no other in the Deadfire.

 

The end result: Tekēhu, with the Tāwhirimātea build, is capable of handling the entire party's spellcasting requirements single-handedly.

 

Offensive Spellcasting

 

Tāwhirimātea then sent forth a variety of clouds, including Aonui (dense clouds), Aopōuri (dark clouds), Aowhētuma (fiery clouds), Aowhēkere (clouds which precede hurricanes), Aokanapanapa (clouds reflecting glowing red light), Aopakakina (clouds wildly drifting from all quarters and wildly bursting), Aopakarea (clouds of thunderstorms), and Aotakawe (clouds hurriedly flying). - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

 

 

 

 

Much like the Fate Testarossa, Tekehu can make use of the +5 Shock PL from Lord Darryn's Voulge and Deltro's Cage to power his Shock spells like Returning Storm and Relentless Storm, along with the Ball Lightning spell he gets from the fully-upgraded Voulge. That said, since he isn't really able to reach the 35 Might cap, Tekehu can't quite put out the same damage numbers that Fate is capable of. Still useful to be sure, but the gap can be noticeable.

 

That said, Tekehu has a couple of advantages over the Fate build;

 

 

 

 

Firstly, the true extent of the Shock synergy between Tekehu's two subclasses comes in the unique Invocations Great Amira Let Her Wrath be Shown and Not One Foe Was Spared Amira's Wrath; these behave like the Wizard spells Crackling Bolt and Chain Lightning respectively. Not only do both Invocations also benefit from the Shock PL bonus, and not only are both ideal choices for opening fights - especially in the latter case - as Invocations, they can be casted again late in the fight, once Tekehu has built up enough Phrases. So while Tekehu can't bring down the thunder to quite the same extent that Fate can, he makes up for it by being able to do so practically indefinitely.

 

Secondly, should Tekehu face something that's immune to Shock, he still has Freeze synergy to fall back on;

 

 

 

 

As a Watershaper, Tekehu automatically learns Foe-only AoE Frost spells such as Chill Fog, Blizzard and Blast of Frost. He can even complement that with the Invocation So Singt Biting Winds o'Eld Nary, which behaves much like a Frost version of Chain Lightning. And this is where the Watershaper's Focus comes in; the Ondra's Wrath enchantment makes it offer +2 PL to all Frost spells, including his Chanter Invocations, for which the aforementioned Eld Nary isn't the only Frost Invocation that Tekehu has by far. But we'll get into that later.

 

To be sure, the +2 Frost PL offered by Watershaper's Focus isn't quite as much as the +5 Shock PL possible with the Voulge + Cage combo. But it's still better than anything else currently available in the game, even with the new items introduced by the Beast of Winter DLC.

 

Healing

 

Sometimes Tāwhirimātea is content to listen to advice from his parents and forgive his siblings. On those days the weather is fine, clear and calm. - New Zealand Ministry of Education

 

 

 

 

Ondra's Wrath on the Watershaper's Focus also offers +2 Water PL, which is most useful on the Water-keyworded healing spells The Moon's Light and Moonwell. Thus, Tekehu can also double as the party's primary healer, even while he's dishing out the arcane hurt at the same time.

 

To bolster his healing credentials, Tekehu can take the Ancient Memory Chant for additional passive healing, and become an even more powerful healer in the late game with Mercy and Kindness Followed Where'er She Walked. He also make use of Rejoice, my Comrades! Two Fingers of Daylight!, using Phrases for a spot of much-needed burst healing. With the ...And Evil Turned Away From The Sun upgrade, he can even deal Burn damage to Vessels much like Priests do with Holy Radiance. To top it off, Tekehu can even take a rezz option with Rise Again, Rise Again, Scions of Adon!, letting him get fallen party members back on their feet.

 

Nuking

 

To take revenge on his brothers, Tāwhirimātea first attacked Tāne Mahuta – the god of the forest, who had separated Rangi and Papa. The mighty trees of Tāne’s domain were snapped in the middle and fell to the ground. Then Tāwhirimātea attacked Tangaroa, the god of the sea, causing the waves to grow as tall as mountains. After this he turned on Rongomātāne, whose domain was cultivated food and the kūmara (sweet potato), and Haumia-tikitiki, god of fern root and uncultivated food. To escape, they hid within their mother Papatūānuku - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

 

 

 

 

Last but not least, Tekehu can indeed pull out all the stops and nuke his enemies with Storm of Seven Bolts - although, once again, it's not quite to the same level as Fate can manage. To be fair, it can still add up to a fair bit of damage, but since he cannot summon the same level of raw power that Fate can, there can be occasions where the Shock nuke fizzles out as a bit of a squib;

 

 

Not terribly impressive, is it?

 

 

That said, this is where Tekehu's edge in flexibility pays off once again; he has an alternative Frost-based nuke, in the form of Seven Nights She Waited While the White Winds Wept;

 

 

Oh yeah, now we're talking!

 

 

With the Watershaper's Focus backing him up, Tekehu can land some huge Frost damage numbers on enemies who would otherwise shrug off his Shock attacks. Even in his most powerful attacks, Tekehu can make up in flexibility wherever he might lack in raw power, with all of the tools at his disposal.

 

 

The sweet, sweet tears of an impotent dragon fell like rain indeed

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

 

Zombie dragon is immune to Freeze? Guess I'll just zap her then.

 

Pros:

• Takes advantage of +5 Shock PL with both Storm spells, Storm of Seven Bolts, Ball Lightning, and Stormspeaker-exclusive Shock Invocations
• Takes advantage of +2 Frost PL with Watershaper-exclusive Foe-only AoE Frost spells and Frost Invocations
• Takes advantage of +2 Water PL with The Moon's Light and Moonwell, and complements it with Chanter's healing Phrases and Invocations
• A well-rounded spellcaster, able to dole out damage to enemies and heal allies.
• As the only playable Watershaper, and the only playable Stormspeaker in the entire game, the edge that Tekehu enjoys with the Tāwhirimātea build cannot be matched by any Companions, hirelings, or even the Watcher him/herself.

Cons:

• With only 12 Might, Tekehu can't quite put as much raw power to either blasting or healing as a Might-maxed Watcher or hireling can.
• Because it uses most of the same equipment, Tāwhirimātea cannot be used in the same party as a Fate Testarossa, for better or worse.
• High Recovery time due to the use of heavy armor, with no real means of mitigating the effect.
• For some reason, Tekehu has a dad bod when in heavy armor. I guess that's what comes of easy living as a Mataru of the Kahanga. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by Ascaloth

[AndreaColombo]

You should add to the cons that Tekehu looks positively hideous (and way overweight) in plate armor

 

Great work as always!

 

Doesn't plate armor make him a tad slow on the recovery side? Granted, you can use Nalvi to ameliorate this to an extent, but with no Armored Grace or other mitigating factors, I'd expect recovery to be a pain for his spellcasting.

Edited August 5, 2018 by AndreaColombo

[jtbehnke]

Not to mention if you want to get that armor you have to do something nasty that will really tick Pallegina off...

[AndreaColombo]

Not to mention if you want to get that armor you have to do something nasty that will really tick Pallegina off...

 

Well, she doesn't have to know...

[jtbehnke]

My Watcher's strongest Disposition is Honest, she's not gonna lie to her friend!

[ntbittle]

This looks great.  I ran a single class druid Tekēhu but regretted it after the 8 and 9th level spells weren't that interesting.  Can't wait to give this a try.

[Theosupus]

Yup,

I used Sin Tee's "King of the Sea" build and it went awesome (until the DLC).
This build adds a great flexibility to Tekehu and will be used by me from now on (when wachter isn't using lightning ofc).

Nicely Done!

[Ascaloth]

You should add to the cons that Tekehu looks positively hideous (and way overweight) in plate armor

 

That is, unfortunately, true. I will add it to the list of cons. 

 

Great work as always!

 

Doesn't plate armor make him a tad slow on the recovery side? Granted, you can use Nalvi to ameliorate this to an extent, but with no Armored Grace or other mitigating factors, I'd expect recovery to be a pain for his spellcasting.

 

Thanks. 

 

It is true that Tekehu suffers from a long recovery time because of the heavy armor, and thus it can take him a while to ramp up in a fight. Much the same could be said of Fate, but at least she had Swift Strikes to mitigate the worst of it. For Tekehu, the best I could do was to set him up with Lord Darryn's Voulge or Watershaper's Focus, command the next spell to be cast, and then leave him alone to focus on the rest of the party while he's getting around to the task. 

 

Not to mention if you want to get that armor you have to do something nasty that will really tick Pallegina off...

 

What I usually do is, I get the Bardatto-Valera quest line done and over with before I make my way to Kahanga Palace for the first time. It's not like Pallegina (or anyone else, for that matter) ever seems to ask about their well-being. 

 

This looks great.  I ran a single class druid Tekēhu but regretted it after the 8 and 9th level spells weren't that interesting.  Can't wait to give this a try.

 

 

Yup,

 

I used Sin Tee's "King of the Sea" build and it went awesome (until the DLC).

This build adds a great flexibility to Tekehu and will be used by me from now on (when wachter isn't using lightning ofc).

 

Nicely Done!

 

Thanks! Have fun with the God of Storms! 

[Frog Man]

Take a bow! This is sensational. I hope other forum goers and follow suit with companion builds from time to time. Kind of cool to theorycraft around the preset strengths and weaknesses to come up with a original take on a companion - you’ve done that here brilliantly!

 

I JUST kicked him out of my team for the DLC...time to fix that mistake!

[gkathellar]

Okay this is pretty sweet.

 

IIRC, you can actually get Deltro's Cage without angering Pallegina by getting the two parties to meet and negotiate a settlement, and then failing to bring them to terms. They'll all fight to the death and you can loot the bodies. :D

[Vitalis]

Okay this is pretty sweet.

 

IIRC, you can actually get Deltro's Cage without angering Pallegina by getting the two parties to meet and negotiate a settlement, and then failing to bring them to terms. They'll all fight to the death and you can loot the bodies. :D

The last time I did that I did not receive the armor from Ezalli.

[Porcelyn]

Yup,

 

I used Sin Tee's "King of the Sea" build and it went awesome (until the DLC).

This build adds a great flexibility to Tekehu and will be used by me from now on (when wachter isn't using lightning ofc).

 

Nicely Done!

 

Oh rats! I really like her builds because she provides AI guide.

[Theosupus]

 

Yup,

 

I used Sin Tee's "King of the Sea" build and it went awesome (until the DLC).

This build adds a great flexibility to Tekehu and will be used by me from now on (when wachter isn't using lightning ofc).

 

Nicely Done!

 

Oh rats! I really like her builds because she provides AI guide.

 

It's still great build; just a huge chunk of it is useless in the winter wonderland of frost immune baddies. The one here adds lightning to the water/frost so you can still use him in the DLC.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Theosupus

[Ascaloth]

Take a bow! This is sensational. I hope other forum goers and follow suit with companion builds from time to time. Kind of cool to theorycraft around the preset strengths and weaknesses to come up with a original take on a companion - you’ve done that here brilliantly!

 

I JUST kicked him out of my team for the DLC...time to fix that mistake!

 

 

Okay this is pretty sweet.

 

IIRC, you can actually get Deltro's Cage without angering Pallegina by getting the two parties to meet and negotiate a settlement, and then failing to bring them to terms. They'll all fight to the death and you can loot the bodies. :D

 

Thanks. 

 

The last time I did that I did not receive the armor from Ezalli.

 

Yeah, I noticed the conversation about that in the Fate thread. I obtained Deltro's Cage through this method for both Fate and Tawhirimatea prior to the v2.0 update, so I never encountered this one. Probably a bug of some sort, perhaps it's worth making a topic about it in the Technical section?

 

 

 

Yup,

 

I used Sin Tee's "King of the Sea" build and it went awesome (until the DLC).

This build adds a great flexibility to Tekehu and will be used by me from now on (when wachter isn't using lightning ofc).

 

Nicely Done!

 

Oh rats! I really like her builds because she provides AI guide.

 

It's still great build; just a huge chunk of it is useless in the winter wonderland of frost immune baddies. The one here adds lightning to the water/frost so you can still use him in the DLC.

 

 

On top of that, many of the enemies in the Beast of Winter DLC have weaknesses to Burn. Tekehu is actually able to capitalize on that with Boiling Spray, which has the Water keyword (and thus boostable with Watershaper's Focus), but does Burn damage instead of Frost like most of his other automatically-learned spells. IIRC, ...And Evil Turned Away From The Sun also does a bit of Burn damage as well.

 

That said, it's not really a lot to go on. It may be worth pumping Arcana on Tekehu, and expanding his repertoire with Burn damage scrolls.

[Greensleeve]

I'm really confused how you're getting +5 PL with Lightning. Deltro's Cage provides +2, but you keep mentioning the Voulge, and as far as I can see it has no such effect. Its enchants provide 10% Lightning Strikes on Hit, Ball Lightning 1/day, its static shock thingy, Slash/Shock damage, and Superb. No Lightning PLs anywhere. 

 

Maybe it used to provide the PLs but they patched that out? 

[arkane83]

I'm really confused how you're getting +5 PL with Lightning. Deltro's Cage provides +2, but you keep mentioning the Voulge, and as far as I can see it has no such effect. Its enchants provide 10% Lightning Strikes on Hit, Ball Lightning 1/day, its static shock thingy, Slash/Shock damage, and Superb. No Lightning PLs anywhere.

 

Maybe it used to provide the PLs but they patched that out?

Upgraded on a druid it gives +3 storm

 

I have given tekehu this set of gear for awhile now. Actually, what makes him over the top insane is the foe only chillfog. The lighting with power level boost is great, but aoe blind over time with no risk to your party is a rogues best friend

Edited August 6, 2018 by arkane83

[Siven80]

Nice build, was looking for something for Tekehu and found this.

 

I got the chest by completing the Family Pride quest by getting them to agree a deal. Swapped Pallegina out the party, then just went back in to kill everyone :D

[Verde]

That armor...my eyes

[Boeroer]

Why does only Tekehu look a bit like Chubby Checker and the Fat Boys when wearing this armor?

[TheWeaver]

Ekera, he chafes at keeping all his godly goodness in a tin can .  The build is great BTW.

[malboro_urchin]

Where did you get those base stats from? I'm playing on v4.1.0.0023, and seeing a different set of states for Tekehu:

 

MIG: 12
CON: 10
DEX: 14
PER: 11
INT: 17

RES: 15

 

Thanks!

[aqeelus]

I wanted Tekehu's Stormspeaker abilities so I can make my own Talos Stormcrown but unfortunately the most annoying companion gets the coolest abilities.

[Boeroer]

Unity console mod lets you give any subclass (including Stormspeaker) to your main char, companion or hireling without losing achievements.

[Verde]

Where did you get those base stats from? I'm playing on v4.1.0.0023, and seeing a different set of states for Tekehu:

 

MIG: 12

CON: 10

DEX: 14

PER: 11

INT: 17

RES: 15

 

Thanks!

I think they were changed in a patch.

[Alewalek]

What will be ideal stats for that build if I want to use unity console to adjust them? Thanks