I thought that it might be a fun topic for people to brainstorm and share faction specific party; a (mostly) player created party that tries to fit closely to the tenents of their faction in terms of class, arms and armour etc.

 

There are the main factions of the Deadfire (Huana, VTC, RDC, Principi) but we could also extend it to smaller factions (Dawnstars, Paladin orders) or large cultures (e.g. Old Vailian) if you can think of a good combo.

 

You should try to strike a balance in your party between a good range of abilities (tanks, support, dps etc.) and a thematic mix of classes.

 

For example (and I'd love to go into more detail here but on my phone), you could have:

 

Huana Mataru Warriors

 

5 Island Huana with Aristocratic background.

 

MC: Ascendant. Rare within the tribes of Huana, the Ranga of this party follows the Kahanga tradition of choosing shrewd intellectuals and tacticians as leaders.

 

Tank: Unbroken/Trickster with Apex Ward, Reckless Brigandine and Mohara Tanga. Just looks right.

 

Melee DPS: Shaman (Priest(skaen? /Barbarian). Wahai Poraga wielding mad man of the tribe. Out for revenge (hence Skaen) against the invaders.

 

Ranged DPS: Hunter (Devoted/Ranger). Deducted to using St. Omakus mercy, this devoted followers of Gallawain is able to to pierce even the toughest armour, while his pet boar gouges goes.

 

Support: Tekehu (Theurge). Because every self respecting Mataru warband needs a Stormspeaker.

 

 

What faction parties do you think would be a fun, RP heavy way to play the game?

The problem with custom companions is that they don't talk, I find that quite difficult to RP.

The problem with custom companions is that they don't talk, I find that quite difficult to RP.

True, this will require a bit more imagination than most replays, but the idea is to form a thematic party rather than pure RP.

You want your Priest to use Wahai Poraga and lead the charge? Well, more power to you, I guess.

 

Regarding the ranged DPS, I'm not convinced by either the choice of classes (works, but is not optimal for DD) or of weapon (hunting bows are much stronger, but may have penetration issues; Frostseeker is probably a better Warbow choice in most scenarios for such a character with high crit potential).

The problem with custom companions is that they don't talk, I find that quite difficult to RP.

 

RP won't be as important after playing the game two or three times. Then it could be the time to try something different and focus on builds and tactics.

You want your Priest to use Wahai Poraga and lead the charge? Well, more power to you, I guess.

 

Regarding the ranged DPS, I'm not convinced by either the choice of classes (works, but is not optimal for DD) or of weapon (hunting bows are much stronger, but may have penetration issues; Frostseeker is probably a better Warbow choice in most scenarios for such a character with high crit potential).

Okay, I admit that the Shaman build was pretty last minute. I just wanted to include a Shaman because of the class name and thought Wahai Poraga looked cool. I'm very open to swapping out Shaman with something else, as long as it still fits thematically.

 

I take your point on hunting bows vs warbows. I was thinking that the class combo overpens a bunch, and with light armour the action speed penalties won't be too bad. Plus, with a high religion st. Omakus provides some sustain to the back line

I like this idea!

5 elven hooded cipher mystics...

 

The problem with custom companions is that they don't talk, I find that quite difficult to RP.

True, this will require a bit more imagination than most replays, but the idea is to form a thematic party rather than pure RP.

 

 

Frankly, for me custom companions actually promote role-play, because I can name them after characters and universes with which I am intimately familiar. That's why I named all my custom characters after Lord of the Rings characters in PoE 1 - and I will name all my custom characters after Warhammer Fantasy characters in PoE 2.

You want your Priest to use Wahai Poraga and lead the charge? Well, more power to you, I guess.

 

Regarding the ranged DPS, I'm not convinced by either the choice of classes (works, but is not optimal for DD) or of weapon (hunting bows are much stronger, but may have penetration issues; Frostseeker is probably a better Warbow choice in most scenarios for such a character with high crit potential).

 

How does Frostseeker compare to dual blunderbusses in terms of AoE damage/CC potential?

AoE-CC is strictly worse because the AoE splash on crit doesn't transport CC effects like hand mortars, blast or Lance/Minor Blights do. Single target CC is better because you have 3 chances to apply the afflictons. Like normal blunderbuss basically but with higher range and higher ACC.

 

If you crit a lot and also use Combusting Wounds a lot the AoE dmg is very decent. If you're just plinking around it's rather unimpressive. Other bows are better then.

 

When I'm doing Heart of Fury with dual mortars or Frostseeker the damage output on dummies is almost the same (because dummies have very low defenses and that leads to a lot of crits which helps Frostseeker).

AoE-CC is strictly worse because the AoE splash on crit doesn't transport CC effects like hand mortars, blast or Lance/Minor Blights do. Single target CC is better because you have 3 chances to apply the afflictons. Like normal blunderbuss basically but with higher range and higher ACC.

 

If you crit a lot and also use Combusting Wounds a lot the AoE dmg is very decent. If you're just plinking around it's rather unimpressive. Other bows are better then.

 

When I'm doing Heart of Fury with dual mortars or Frostseeker the damage output on dummies is almost the same (because dummies have very low defenses and that leads to a lot of crits which helps Frostseeker).

 

Thanks for the very cogent explanation. I think I understand the difference much better now.

 

So in terms of ranged weapon that do both AoE damage and CC, blunderbusses and Frostseekers are the primary options - especially given the nerf to Blast? Anything else?

 

Edit: Which dummies do you mean? For easy testing, I try either on my own tanks or the Vampyre Crypt island top left.

Edited October 13, 20187 yr by Lampros