Build Help - Spread too thin?

[ItalianSpartacus]

Hey guys!

I'm trying to finally get started in PoE2. Very excited, but I ran into a hard issue with PoE1 where I approached the stats from a D&D perspective. PoE is a different beast. My barbarian felt super under powered and just a wet noodle.

Right now,

I'm stuck between Fighter/Troubadour (War Caller), Barbarian/Skald (War Howler??), or Bleak Walker/Troubadour (Herald). If you can't tell, I really want to use Chanter hahah. Any weigh-in on those would be awesome.

BUT! With all three of these being martial, I'm stuck deciding how to pump stats.

Might is not as important as I had originally thought and it seems like perception/dexterity (for acc) is way more important?

So with the classes in mind, I can't decide how to really spread my points, with Intelligence being such a high priority for all of the Chanter abilities. Should I be focusing primarily on Dex/Per/Int? with Con/Might/Res at 10? THEN, in THAT case, if I went with the Herald, and wanted to make him a little more tanky, then I'm at a COMPLETE loss.

I might be getting analysis paralysis on this, but any help would be awesome guys. I've been kicking out the forums for a week now trying to figure this out

 

[Flucas]

Basic spread = max per and might, dump resolve. Rest as follows:

Want more tanky? Take Con.

Want more use of blooded (barbarian) and human bonus? Take Con.

Caster/buffer? Take Int.

DPS? Take Dex.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Flucas

[Heijoushin]

Assuming you're going for a DPS type character, Dex/Per/Int sounds fine to me. Although for DPS, I'd try to get in a little Might, too.

Keep in mind, he's going to be a little fragile in a toe-to-toe fight, but that just means you need to micromanage him a little.

 

Good luck.

[bigbazoopa]

Your going to run into some very serious problems having a chanter as a frontline character and I mean very serious problems. Because you are front line that means you will be getting hit a lot by multiple enemies at once if you are playing on POTD. This means you will be getting interrupted a lot so don’t expect to be able to get off summons spells when you need them nor other powerful chanter spells.

 

Your chants will work fine but your invocations will be almost useless because of the above problem especially if you are wearing heavy armour.

 

Look for casters that have quick cast times and for multiclass frontlines. Wizards are best because a lot of there defensive buff are almost instant cast.

[Lampros]

Your going to run into some very serious problems having a chanter as a frontline character and I mean very serious problems. Because you are front line that means you will be getting hit a lot by multiple enemies at once if you are playing on POTD. This means you will be getting interrupted a lot so don’t expect to be able to get off summons spells when you need them nor other powerful chanter spells.

 

Your chants will work fine but your invocations will be almost useless because of the above problem especially if you are wearing heavy armour.

 

Look for casters that have quick cast times and for multiclass frontlines. Wizards are best because a lot of there defensive buff are almost instant cast.

 

I was wondering about this: Can chants be interrupted at all?

[bigbazoopa]

No chants cant but invocations can

 

The chants have a huge aura so you can easy reach your frontline guys if you have a chanter as a backline guy. I think the aura is 5m from memory (without INT boost). This is more then enough to reach your entire party.

 

Trust me dont use a chanter as a front-line guy on POTD. You will get interrupted to much. 8-9 second cast and recovery times (with heavy armor) is just not doable and not worth it. If you are engaged by more then one enemy you will have incredible difficulty trying to fire of spells and summons 

 

Also the chant that gives +20% reload time is currently bugged and actually giving +40% boost to guns. Use it if you want but i recommend not to because it is to powerful and makes the game to easy especially when combined with weapons like the red hand 

Edited October 9, 2018 by bigbazoopa

[Lampros]

No chants cant but invocations can

 

The chants have a huge aura so you can easy reach your frontline guys if you have a chanter as a backline guy. I think the aura is 5m from memory (without INT boost). This is more then enough to reach your entire party.

 

Trust me dont use a chanter as a front-line guy on POTD. You will get interrupted to much. 8-9 second cast and recovery times (with heavy armor) is just not doable and not worth it. If you are engaged by more then one enemy you will have incredible difficulty trying to fire of spells and summons 

 

Also the chant that gives +20% reload time is currently bugged and actually giving +40% boost to guns. Use it if you want but i recommend not to because it is to powerful and makes the game to easy especially when combined with weapons like the red hand 

 

What if you don't use Invocations at all then? Just go multi-class with something like Paladin and attack actively - perhaps use something like the burning DPS boost chant plus dual wield burning damage boost weapons like Modwyr and Magran's Favor?

[bigbazoopa]

Yes of course you can do that but why would you?

 

Like i said you If you have a chanter as a backline guy the chant aura will still reach your frontline guys. If you have a chanter as a backline guy you will also be able to use your spells, summons and invocations without being interupted.

[Boeroer]

As a melee caster you can wear Rekvu's Fractured Casque and give yourself a harmless injury (like a Severe Burn or an Acute Rash - can be done outside of combat after resting with some fire spells or Necrotic Lance o something similar). Then you can't get interrupted at all - very convenient.

 

You can also pick Combat Focus and wear the Upright Capain's Belt. That will give you 2 layers of Concentration right at the start of battle - but the Casque is better.

 

As a Skald you need to go melee and you also want to cast Invocations. But conveniently most offensive invocations have a very short cast time (0.5 secs), so interrupts are not even an issue. BUT: calling summons takes forever in most cases - this is prone to interrupts. Also some of the good AoE invocations (Seven Bolts and Eld Nary) take a bit longer to cast. But if you mix them smartly with short-cast CC I think you can get away with Combat Focus just nicely.

 

OR: use a reach weapon. WotEP can be used from behind your front line as well as all pikes and quarterstaffs. A great option for a lot of melee crits is Wizard/Skald with Infuse wVE, Merciless Gaze and Spirit Lance: great phrase generation.

 

Howler is awesome with Grave Calling + Summons (preferably skellies from Beckoner). Kill your own skellies and cast numorous foe-only Chillfogs that also profit friom weapne enchantment and weapon related passives. Until you get "Many Lives pass by" you really have to watch out for interrupts though. The skellies can be summoned rather quickly, but it's a real bummer if you get interrupted while doing so. Also a Howler with skellies can be made in a way that he looks like a Draugr from Skyrim who's followed by skeletons. The Casque fits really nicely.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Boeroer

[Haplok]

In case of Howler, you could go Pale Elf Berserker and keep Confused when killing the first skelly you summon with Grave Calling (later you can switch to Modwyr to clear it or something). This would lead to Chillfogs that are dangerous to you as well - but they butcher your groups of skellies quickly generating many layers of deadly Chillfogs... what Metaturtle called nuclear Chillfogs... make sure you have a strong computer for that.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Haplok

[Boeroer]

Afaik you can even trigger those Chillfogs with Grave Calling in the offhand while shooting at your skellies with a ranged weapon in the main hand? Is that true or am I imagining this?

 

Yeah, you could also grab some gear that makes you resistant to perception afflictions (to avoid the Blind which is really nasty) and pick a Pale Elf as you said.

 

The thing I don't like about the Berseker is that his self damage becomes a really dangerous thing at higher Power Levels. Combined with the Chillfogs that are friendly-fire... I don't know.

[Haplok]

It used to be true, I think you could even kill them with spells. But now I think you need to actually deliver the killing blow with Grave Calling.

 

I think it could make sense to kill the first skelly under Confusion and quickly switch to Modwyr (or eliminate Confusion otherwise), as the rest of your skellies melt in the fog. That way only the first one would be dangerous to you, the remaining ones could be foe only... I think?

Edited October 9, 2018 by Haplok