How hard is it to play Bleak Walker main?

[Lampros]

In my quest to find the best DPS melee that is also very tanky, I want to finally try Bleak Walker/Trickster Holy Slayer who will dual wield Modwyr and Hel Beckoning. But I have been cautioned by several posts (I forgot where) that said Bleak Walker is hard to play, because you will anger everyone, and it's surprisingly hard to max Deep Faith.

 

So how bad is it then? Am I going to be stuck in like 11 or 12 Deep Faith bonus rather than the usual 15 Deep Faith as Kind Wayfarer? Will I lose quests because various factions won't even want to talk to me?

[baldurs_gate_2]

In my quest to find the best DPS melee that is also very tanky, I want to finally try Bleak Walker/Trickster Holy Slayer who will dual wield Modwyr and Hel Beckoning. But I have been cautioned by several posts (I forgot where) that said Bleak Walker is hard to play, because you will anger everyone, and it's surprisingly hard to max Deep Faith.

 

So how bad is it then? Am I going to be stuck in like 11 or 12 Deep Faith bonus rather than the usual 15 Deep Faith as Kind Wayfarer? Will I lose quests because various factions won't even want to talk to me?

Some options, will lead to a fight, but you definitly don't play on trial of iron, so you should just save beforehand. I only know, that shady is not that easy to get to max (i have 3/4 with my wael priest). There are a lot options for cruel / aggressive.

[whimper]

In my quest to find the best DPS melee that is also very tanky, I want to finally try Bleak Walker/Trickster Holy Slayer who will dual wield Modwyr and Hel Beckoning. But I have been cautioned by several posts (I forgot where) that said Bleak Walker is hard to play, because you will anger everyone, and it's surprisingly hard to max Deep Faith.

 

So how bad is it then? Am I going to be stuck in like 11 or 12 Deep Faith bonus rather than the usual 15 Deep Faith as Kind Wayfarer? Will I lose quests because various factions won't even want to talk to me?

As baldurs_gate_2 says, it's definitely doable. There are lots of Aggressive check opportunities, and enough (though fewer) Cruel opportunities. But if you prioritize Cruel responses over Aggressive ones, and generally choose one or the other of those options when available, you should be fine.

 

Two warnings:

 

1. First, some Aggressive options will throw you into fights you don't want to get into. It's generally OK to skip those options; there will be enough Aggressive conversation opportunities to max you out without them.

 

2. Second, you have to be careful to not get things like bits of benevolent dispositions -- one benevolent choice is enough to give you a bar of it if you're a Bleak Walker, permanently lowering your Deep Faith bonus. And (more frustratingly) some quest choices/conversation options will leave you with a benevolent disposition even though the dialog checks themselves don't warn you of this. (For example, if when talking to the Prince in Neketaka you suggest that he leave the black market working, you'll end up with a benevolent disposition, even though none of the dialog checks indicate this beforehand.) So you'll want to save before dialogs, and before accepting quests, to ensure this doesn't happen.

Edited October 22, 2018 by whimper

[Lampros]

 

In my quest to find the best DPS melee that is also very tanky, I want to finally try Bleak Walker/Trickster Holy Slayer who will dual wield Modwyr and Hel Beckoning. But I have been cautioned by several posts (I forgot where) that said Bleak Walker is hard to play, because you will anger everyone, and it's surprisingly hard to max Deep Faith.

 

So how bad is it then? Am I going to be stuck in like 11 or 12 Deep Faith bonus rather than the usual 15 Deep Faith as Kind Wayfarer? Will I lose quests because various factions won't even want to talk to me?

As baldurs_gate_2 says, it's definitely doable. There are lots of Aggressive check opportunities, and enough (though fewer) Cruel opportunities. But if you prioritize Cruel responses over Aggressive ones, and generally choose one or the other of those options when available, you should be fine.

 

Two warnings:

 

1. First, some Aggressive options will throw you into fights you don't want to get into. It's generally OK to skip those options; there will be enough Aggressive conversation opportunities to max you out without them.

 

2. Second, you have to be careful to not get things like bits of benevolent dispositions -- one benevolent choice is enough to give you a bar of it if you're a Bleak Walker, permanently lowering your Deep Faith bonus. And (more frustratingly) some quest choices/conversation options will leave you with a benevolent disposition even though the dialog checks themselves don't warn you of this. (For example, if when talking to the Prince in Neketaka you suggest that he leave the black market working, you'll end up with a benevolent disposition, even though none of the dialog checks indicate this beforehand.) So you'll want to save before dialogs, and before accepting quests, to ensure this doesn't happen.

 

 

Hmm, just one wrong click can mess you up?

 

What if you simply don't take Deep Faith? Then you will be stuck with +10 defense bonus, but that won't be lowered regardless of what you do - and you have a free skill point to work with, no?

[AramJese]

bleak walker is not hard at all... I always play bleak walker subclass or pure paladin... the only problem is that you should always select dooming answers and you must have a LOT of intimidate skill and A LOT of athletics and arcana if you'll play alone and planing to survive.

[whimper]

 

 

In my quest to find the best DPS melee that is also very tanky, I want to finally try Bleak Walker/Trickster Holy Slayer who will dual wield Modwyr and Hel Beckoning. But I have been cautioned by several posts (I forgot where) that said Bleak Walker is hard to play, because you will anger everyone, and it's surprisingly hard to max Deep Faith.

 

So how bad is it then? Am I going to be stuck in like 11 or 12 Deep Faith bonus rather than the usual 15 Deep Faith as Kind Wayfarer? Will I lose quests because various factions won't even want to talk to me?

As baldurs_gate_2 says, it's definitely doable. There are lots of Aggressive check opportunities, and enough (though fewer) Cruel opportunities. But if you prioritize Cruel responses over Aggressive ones, and generally choose one or the other of those options when available, you should be fine.

 

Two warnings:

 

1. First, some Aggressive options will throw you into fights you don't want to get into. It's generally OK to skip those options; there will be enough Aggressive conversation opportunities to max you out without them.

 

2. Second, you have to be careful to not get things like bits of benevolent dispositions -- one benevolent choice is enough to give you a bar of it if you're a Bleak Walker, permanently lowering your Deep Faith bonus. And (more frustratingly) some quest choices/conversation options will leave you with a benevolent disposition even though the dialog checks themselves don't warn you of this. (For example, if when talking to the Prince in Neketaka you suggest that he leave the black market working, you'll end up with a benevolent disposition, even though none of the dialog checks indicate this beforehand.) So you'll want to save before dialogs, and before accepting quests, to ensure this doesn't happen.

Hmm, just one wrong click can mess you up?

 

What if you simply don't take Deep Faith? Then you will be stuck with +10 defense bonus, but that won't be lowered regardless of what you do - and you have a free skill point to work with, no?

That’s true. But Deep Faith is so good, it’s hard to imagine not taking it... :/

 

(Compare it to the Fighter’s Superior Deflection talent, which isn’t available until PL 5).

Edited October 22, 2018 by whimper