Can't decide on a Tank and Maia

[Gunnaku]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm starting a new playthrough and I'm trying to decide on a tank and what to do with Maia. This is going to be a RDC campaign on POTD. The party is as follows:

 

PC: SC Ascendant Cipher

Melee: Marauder (zerker/streetfighter)

Support: Herald (KW/Troub)

Maia Companion: Can't decide class

Tank: I'm thinking Swashbuckler (unbroken/trickster maybe), Battlemage (Unbroken/no sub) or Arcane Knight (Shieldbearer or GPK/ no sub)

 

I am leaning towards a wizard tank for the utility spells and self buffs, and if so probably Maia as SC Ranger (if its any good now) or a Scout. If a Swashbuckler tank maybe make Maia a geomancer but ihdk if geomancer is a good call for Maia.

 

Any suggestions would be helpful or links to some builds if you know of any. Any information or help is much appreciated.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Gunnaku

[Lampros]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm starting a new playthrough and I'm trying to decide on a tank and what to do with Maia. This is going to be a RDC campaign on POTD. The party is as follows:

 

PC: SC Ascendant Cipher

Melee: Marauder (zerker/streetfighter)

Support: Herald (KW/Troub)

Maia Companion: Can't decide class

Tank: I'm thinking Swashbuckler (unbroken/trickster maybe), Battlemage (Unbroken/no sub) or Arcane Knight (Shieldbearer or GPK/ no sub)

 

I am leaning towards a wizard tank for the utility spells and self buffs, and if so probably Maia as SC Ranger (if its any good now) or a Scout. If a Swashbuckler tank maybe make Maia a geomancer but ihdk if geomancer is a good call for Maia.

 

Any suggestions would be helpful or links to some builds if you know of any. Any information or help is much appreciated.

 

What's "RDC campaign"? Sorry if this a common term. I am a relative newb.

 

As I said, I am a relative newb, so take with a grain of salt:

 

*I am not in favor of Wizard tanks. A lot of your defenses are buffs that can degrade with time - or with Arcane Dampner/Tranquilizing Shot, etc.

 

**Maia has a tremendous potential as a pure gunner DPS. So I would go with a Scout.

 

***Is CIpher a melee or ranged?

[Gunnaku]

What's "RDC campaign"? Sorry if this a common term. I am a relative newb.

 

As I said, I am a relative newb, so take with a grain of salt:

 

*I am not in favor of Wizard tanks. A lot of your defenses are buffs that can degrade with time - or with Arcane Dampner/Tranquilizing Shot, etc.

 

**Maia has a tremendous potential as a pure gunner DPS. So I would go with a Scout.

 

***Is CIpher a melee or ranged?

RDC for Royal Deadfire Company. Just for RP purposes which is why Maia is the companion of choice here. The wizard would have selfbuffs and offer utility and maybe a debuff or offensive spell here and there when (if) needed along with having its natural tankiness from being a paladin or fighter.

 

SC Ascendant cipher is going to be Ranged character.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Gunnaku

[Prince of Lies]

I'm partial to Swashbuckler. Swashbucklers are tanky out of the gate with some decent damage dealing potential- but If you do Unbroken/Trickster, you'll get to some pretty high levels of deflection with those illusion buffs.

 

Holy Slayers are also really fun. You could go Shieldbearer or Goldpack/Trickster.

 

Any variation (multi or single class) of Fighter or Paladin is great for tanking. 

 

I've also done fighter/barbarian and enemies seem to stick to you like glue if you're doing a lot of damage. 

 

 

_{You could also do [Fighter/Paladin]/Streetfighter for some Blunderbuss powder burns cheese}

Edited October 17, 2018 by Prince of Lies

[Lampros]

 

What's "RDC campaign"? Sorry if this a common term. I am a relative newb.

 

As I said, I am a relative newb, so take with a grain of salt:

 

*I am not in favor of Wizard tanks. A lot of your defenses are buffs that can degrade with time - or with Arcane Dampner/Tranquilizing Shot, etc.

 

**Maia has a tremendous potential as a pure gunner DPS. So I would go with a Scout.

 

***Is CIpher a melee or ranged?

RDC for Royal Deadfire Company. Just for RP purposes which is why Maia is the companion of choice here. The wizard would have selfbuffs and offer utility and maybe a debuff or offensive spell here and there when (if) needed along with having its natural tankiness from being a paladin or fighter.

 

SC Ascendant cipher is going to be Ranged character.

 

 

On RDC, got it!

 

On the Wizard multi-class tanks: Oops; I read a bit too quickly. I didn't realize that the other part of the Wizard multi-class tanks were either Paladin or Fighter. In that case the concern about being too fragile is overblown. But utility? Not sure; I guess you have Wizard debuffs, but there is also the problem with getting interrupted as a front-liner.

 

I just think that, unless you are solo, tanks are better served by multi-classing Paladin or Fighter with anything but a Wizard or other primary caster.

 

 

I'm partial to Swashbuckler. Swashbucklers are tanky out of the gate with some decent damage dealing potential- but If you do Unbroken/Trickster, you'll get to some pretty high levels of deflection with those illusion buffs.

 

Holy Slayers are also really fun. You could go Shieldbearer or Goldpack/Trickster.

 

Any variation (multi or single class) of Fighter or Paladin is great for tanking. 

 

I've also done fighter/barbarian and enemies seem to stick to you like glue if you're doing a lot of damage. 

 

 

_{You could also do [Fighter/Paladin]/Streetfighter for some Blunderbuss powder burns cheese}

 

I love Holy Slayers - my favorite front-liner, though better as off-tank/DPS than main tank.

 

And yes, I'd advise any tanks to be multi-class of either Fighter or Paladin.

[Prince of Lies]

I love Holy Slayers - my favorite front-liner, though better as off-tank/DPS than main tank.

 

And yes, I'd advise any tanks to be multi-class of either Fighter or Paladin.

If the paladin is built as a tank, they're probably about the same as fighter.

 

Paladins get Faith & Conviction/Deep Faith, Inspired Defences, and Stoic Steel, plus a bunch of other stuff that is comparable/the same as fighter. That's not taking into account Zealous Auras or other active abilities. 

[Gunnaku]

If the paladin is built as a tank, they're probably about the same as fighter.

 

Paladins get Faith & Conviction/Deep Faith, Inspired Defences, and Stoic Steel, plus a bunch of other stuff that is comparable/the same as fighter. That's not taking into account Zealous Auras or other active abilities.

So comparing paladin and fighter, if I was going to tank and add in a wizard, which would you say was better? Battlemage or Arcane Knight? What about Swashbuckler compared to holy slayer?

[Lampros]

 

I love Holy Slayers - my favorite front-liner, though better as off-tank/DPS than main tank.

 

And yes, I'd advise any tanks to be multi-class of either Fighter or Paladin.

If the paladin is built as a tank, they're probably about the same as fighter.

 

Paladins get Faith & Conviction/Deep Faith, Inspired Defences, and Stoic Steel, plus a bunch of other stuff that is comparable/the same as fighter. That's not taking into account Zealous Auras or other active abilities. 

 

 

Oh, I meant I prefer the Holy Slayer as off-tank only because I am now using a full-fledged Riposte Swashbuckler build as main tank

 

On the relative merits of Fighters v. Paladins as tanks, I think it's comparable, too. Paladins probably have a bit more survivability (higher constant defenses and many self-heals), but Fighters can "aggro" better - so to speak.

[Lampros]

 

If the paladin is built as a tank, they're probably about the same as fighter.

 

Paladins get Faith & Conviction/Deep Faith, Inspired Defences, and Stoic Steel, plus a bunch of other stuff that is comparable/the same as fighter. That's not taking into account Zealous Auras or other active abilities.

So comparing paladin and fighter, if I was going to tank and add in a wizard, which would you say was better? Battlemage or Arcane Knight? What about Swashbuckler compared to holy slayer?

 

 

I value the ability to "hold aggro" above all in a tank - more than survivability. So I prefer Swashbuckler Riposte build the most. It can fairly reliably lock down 6 or more enemies easily, because enemy AI won't want to dis-engage and eat the massive dis-engagement attack that will also knock you down. It's probably the only build that can actually "tank" in the traditional RPG sense of holding aggro so the more fragile party members can be protected. Its DPS is also surprisingly high, too; because the Riposte fires off nonstop v. multiple engaged enemies.

 

But with a caveat: I am only at level 10 with this build, and I re-starting, because I do not like my ranged build.

[Lampros]

Here's the popular Swashbuckler Riposte build:

 

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/104050-character-build-the-iron-hammer-swashbuckler-unbrokentrickster/

[Prince of Lies]

Yeah, but you can get enemies to stick to you with better micromanagement and burst damage with paladin (BDD -> Sacred Immolation or Sworn Enemy -> Flames of Devotion). Not saying it's better, just saying you can achieve the same thing.

 

So comparing paladin and fighter, if I was going to tank and add in a wizard, which would you say was better? Battlemage or Arcane Knight? What about Swashbuckler compared to holy slayer?

Comes down to preferences. Paladin also has a lot in the way of support utility while Fighter has more in the way of melee weapon attack abilities.

[Flucas]

 

If the paladin is built as a tank, they're probably about the same as fighter.

 

Paladins get Faith & Conviction/Deep Faith, Inspired Defences, and Stoic Steel, plus a bunch of other stuff that is comparable/the same as fighter. That's not taking into account Zealous Auras or other active abilities.

So comparing paladin and fighter, if I was going to tank and add in a wizard, which would you say was better? Battlemage or Arcane Knight? What about Swashbuckler compared to holy slayer?

 

 

For MC with wiz or trickster, paladin > fighter. Paladin's passive defenses stack with wiz/trickster's defensive buffs.