Help with party build exercise

[peddroelm]

Haven't played this game at all yet. (generally dislike getting involved with un-stabilized games - games still subject to major systems rework / patching .. this game doesn't appear quite out of the woods yet but I'll willing to give it a shot)

 

Done quite a lot of reading on these forums yet there are a lot of unknowns.  

 

I would like to try a non multi-classed full melee custom party. 

 

Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Monk, Rogue . 

 

Could you help suggest builds, weapon styles , armor class and even specific items that would fit such a party ? General Quest order ? 

[AndreaColombo]

Subbing thread.

[Archaven]

Haven't played this game at all yet. (generally dislike getting involved with un-stabilized games - games still subject to major systems rework / patching .. this game doesn't appear quite out of the woods yet but I'll willing to give it a shot)

 

Done quite a lot of reading on these forums yet there are a lot of unknowns.  

 

I would like to try a non multi-classed full melee custom party. 

 

Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Monk, Rogue . 

 

Could you help suggest builds, weapon styles , armor class and even specific items that would fit such a party ? General Quest order ? 

 

well you are out of luck. let me tell you what's happening with deadfire. the more you wait, the worst it become. of course this is my opinion. they went overboard with overnerfs making everything a borefest. 200dmg+50slash? i'm really interested to find out if there's such a build even exists in deadfire. IF there is.. very quickly you will see it being nerfs to ground in no time.

[msyoung]

I, personally, have not had that problem but this is only my fifth time playing the game. Every time my party is different, this time my Watcher is a Herald. The only thing that is fairly constant is that Xoti is a monk and gets the Chromatic quarterstaff when it becomes available (that is an awesome mythic weapon), but that is my choice because I see her as a monk. Everyone else gets changed every game.

[guildwriter]

I would like to try a non multi-classed full melee custom party. 

 

Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Monk, Rogue . 

 

Could you help suggest builds, weapon styles , armor class and even specific items that would fit such a party ? General Quest order ? 

 

This is way too open of a question.  Way too many possible permutations of setups.  Get more specific about what you are looking for.

[peddroelm]

...This is way too open of a question.  Way too many possible permutations of setups...

..And that's where I got stuck and needed to ask for help .. I did not expect this to have a single solution .. Was hopping for a few examples/suggestions to get me started in my first run .. and then eventually after ~billion restarts later (assuming the game has draw) .. get to a setup I'd be comfortable with .

Edited November 20, 2018 by peddroelm

[guildwriter]

I'd preface everything here by saying read this guide.  Has a lot of good info all in one place, specifically talking about how some abilities function in detail.  Helps avoid surprises.  I would also say that NOT multiclassing with a pure melee team is asking for a lot of frustration.  My recommendation is to build a generalist team and go from there.  Or just mess around on Veteran with a popular build from the forums and companions and just see what you like.  

 

It helps to know what kind of difficulty you're looking to play on.  There's a lot of things that work in lowers that I would never recommend for PoTD upscaled.  Also your tolerance for micro helps narrow things down.  Some people just don't enjoy constantly readjusting things and want fights to play themselves for them.  Nothing wrong with that, but it is good to know as it again narrows things down.

 

A pure melee team without any caster support can get itself into a lot of trouble easily so I would recommend building survivability into characters so they don't get picked off one by one.  Especially important for endurance fights.  You're also going to need substantial melee AoE to help deal with large packs. 

 

The thinking for this squad would be to use one to two characters as "anchors" in the fight.  In other words, use engagement to force the AI to stay near them so you can mass them up for aoe strikes.  This won't work for bosses though unfortunately as they seem to prioritize people outputting the most damage.  Again, without a healer or buffer this means your strikers are going to catch a lot of heat.  

 

Fighter - Unbroken (Tank) - Use something like Bronlar's or Claduh Scalith for a shield.  Akola's is probably BiS   Plate for high armor to not get overpenned. Platinated or Blackened.  You could go something like Reckless or Nomads Brigandine but watch the pierce hole.  Any one hander works here.

 

Barbarian - Berseker (Melee AoE striker) - Get Modwyr and upgrade to prevent Carnage splashes on your team and dual wield with something like Grave Calling.  Amra is a good AoE two hand that can be bought early if you can position them right during the frenzy.  Oathbreaker's from BoW is especially nice.  This guy is going to take a lot of punishment so be warned.  Probably will need a lot of babysitting.

 

Paladin - Goldpact (AoE striker/offtank/healer stopgap) - Get whispers of the endless paths to use the aoe cone to apply the FoD hit to multiple enemies.  High int increases the cone size and Lay on Hands time which will be used as a stopgap heal for people who go low.  Lots of armor through gilded emnity.  Plate, or DoC Breastplate for extra zeal is ideal.  If you don't like cone positioning, just get him a solid two hander like eager blade which can be bought early and penetrate.  

 

Monk - Nalzpaca (Survivable DPS) - Do lots of drugs. High level single class Monk is broken.  Can get away with just using your fists as monastic unarmed training scales with PL.  Watch out for cleanses and kill enemy mages fast.

 

Rogue - Trickster (Survivable DPS and Debuffer) - Free illusion spells each PL that cost 1-2 guile each means that this guy can survive, dps, and debuff all in one nice package.  -10% sneak damage is a small price.  Can be highly mobile and zip around and take out priority targets.  High int combos well with a DoT based approach, so stalkers and rust's poignard can work really well.  Toxic strike scales really well with int as well.  Something low recovery rate like Miscreants is nice or Garari's Cuirass if you want extra survival.  DoC Breastplate as well.

 

This team will require a lot of positioning.  Especially to avoid damage from large wind up attacks that you will not be able to heal through.  Keep at least one ranged weapon to deal with sigils as there won't be enough wardstones for everyone.  The curses stack and can result in massive penalties that swing fights. 

 

Make sure to keep at least one weapon of a different damage type on everyone.  Some enemies are pierce immune, some are slash immune, etc.  Veil touched foes will be irritating.  Hot razor skewers for food will be a good general buff as it will give might, PL, and +2 peneration.

[peddroelm]

already read that guide (told you I did A LOT of reading) . Thank you for your suggestions.

[hansvedic]

I'd consider using the Shining Bulwark shield on one guy for the Armor bonus to other team members.

 

Maybe add Lethandria's Devotion on one of them for more healing.

Edited November 22, 2018 by hansvedic

[Flucas]

Haven't played this game at all yet. (generally dislike getting involved with un-stabilized games - games still subject to major systems rework / patching .. this game doesn't appear quite out of the woods yet but I'll willing to give it a shot)

 

Done quite a lot of reading on these forums yet there are a lot of unknowns.  

 

I would like to try a non multi-classed full melee custom party. 

 

Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Monk, Rogue . 

 

Could you help suggest builds, weapon styles , armor class and even specific items that would fit such a party ? General Quest order ? 

 

Biggest difficulty in this team will be healing. Imo switch one of the classes (not pala) for a Skald (specced for healing - but still melee!), and go all full heavy armour, defensive passives and aim for self-heal items (regen belts, rings, and heal-on-crit weapons). The alternativee will be to lower difficulty, which will turn boring very fast.

Edited November 22, 2018 by Flucas

[Kampel]

Maybe if the paladin is a KindWayfarer with Hand Mortars as secondary weapon set built with high Might and Int for big heals and AoE and giving at least 2 other characters the healing bombs and scrolls he might have enought support/healing to pull it off.

 

Have in mind that in most dungeons or close spaces you might not be able to reach the enemy with all five characters at melee range so you will be using a lot of expendable items (scrolls, potions, bombs) and secondary weapons and if thats the case a KindWayfarer is a good choice to be the one in the back

Edited November 23, 2018 by Kampel

[guildwriter]

I'd say 3/5 of the characters I've mentioned are solo PotD upscaled viable.  Healing support isn't necessary to make such a party work.  It's mostly control at that point.

 

Don't think I've seen a dungeon or setup where I couldn't backpedal into another area where you can bring all five melee to bear.  If this were BG I would agree, but Deadfire area design is pretty open.

[peddroelm]

I remember from my POE 6 melee party runs that the most of chosen engagement locations were contrary to the hold choke with tank and nuke them from behind wisdom . For this kinds of parties is pull/draw them in the open so we can flank at will most of the time ..