Blind playthrough, builds not dependent on items

[Rozwad]

Hi,

 

It is going to be my first playthrough, I would rather not check where are important items for my builds and make my priority to gather them and rush to thier locations.

 

For my first playthrough I want to immerse myself in the story and do what I feel my character would do in the various situations he encounters.

 

However, I would like to play with preferably only one character. I have heard that unlike in games like Baldur's Gate, in Pillars the game becomes significantly harder with only one character , so, in this case, I have been thinking about maybe 3?

 

I have seen various builds on this site, but most of them also lists all the equipment necessary to make them work.

 

I am however looking for builds that won't suffer if I get a certain item much later or even if I miss on some of these items entirely.

 

What build should I pick for my main character?

 

What builds would be good for these, perhaps 2, companions?

Also, which companions would add the most to a playthrough with their story, interactions and so on?

 

Thanks for any usefull tips!

 

 

Also, even though I am intending for a "blind" playthrough, I am asking for builds, because I am worried that with only 3 characters and missing several items I could have some hard times in the later parts of the game.

 

Ps. will I be able to import my character to Pillars 2, or will I have to create a new one?

If I can import him, would that change anything about my build?

 

 

[InsaneCommander]

You can import your character but some mechanics changed and the builds might not remain the same.

 

If you are playing for the story and going blind, I actually suggest you don't use any builds. And disable the disposition indicators in the dialogue, so that you roleplay your character and later check to see what is their reputation.

 

So, choose the classes you want and don't worry too much, because you can improvise with some of the nice items. If you don't want to manage more than one character, have a tank and a long range character with the AI on.

 

Otherwise, I suggest you have a tank and at least one of these: druid, priest, wizard, cipher. Two if you like spellcasters. Druids and priests are good for healing. Chanters are very interesting in PoE, so if you like to create your own songs with different phrases, bring one with you.

 

As for the difficulty, just go on normal if you don't have much experience with these games or hard if you do. The worst case scenario is that you will have to temporarily add more people to the party for the most difficult combats.

 

Minor spoiler:

 

 

Priest of Eothas doesn't have satisfactory reactivity.

 

 

 

Edit: imo the best companions for the story and reactivity are Aloth (wizard), Eder (fighter) and Durance (priest), not necessarily in this order. I'd bring the three of them if I were you. You'd have a tank, a healer, a caster and your character could be anything you want. Plenty of interesting interactions with these three.

Edited November 22, 2018 by InsaneCommander

[Boeroer]

If you want a build that's independent from items you should focus either on casters (Priest/Wizard/Cipher/Druid) or on monk. Monks can use their fists which are excellent weapons. Check out the Anvil build. It also works without special items and it suitable for solo. Another nice "no items" build is the Witch Doctor which can be adapted to solo play quite easily.

 

Wizard is good because you can use his summoned weapons which are all great. Once you get Citzal's Spirit Lance you'll be especially happy. On top of those "efficient" ways of spell uses you'll have tons of self buffs, CC and nuking power.

 

Solo Priest is hard at the beginning but particulary rewarding after some levels. He combines the power of very powerful (self) buffs, healing and nuking (after the first few levels). My favorite is a Priest of Berath with focus on max MIG and INT, using damage over time spells.

 

Druid also works well because with Spiritshift you can deal tremendous single target melee damage without the need for weapons while you can always cast other stuff like the powerful Insect Plagues or Relentless Storm etc. My personal favorite is a high CON and MIG Boar Druid with focus on self heals.

 

Cipher works well with all sorts of weapons, so no need to specialize in one particular weapon and such. Mind Control is a very powerful effect and ciphers are the masters of that.

 

You can even play a Barbarian with Novice's Suffering (talent, like poor man's fist ). Those have quite the special mechanic that works very well with the Barb's Carnage - if you focus on high MIG and DEX. In this case you can even get away with low Perception.

 

Lots of possibilities...