[Party Advice] 2nd playthrough

[DeeKayNL]

Hi all,

 

First I hope this isnt a double post. I made one a day ago but it still isnt showing so I think something went wrong.

English isn't my native language so if you need clarification on something please let me know.

 

I was thinking of a new run of Pillars of Eternity with the possibility of taking this one to Pillars of Eternity 2.

After reading this section of the board, I found some interesting builds. My previous run consisted of builds by Nerdcommando's youtube vidz.

I wanted to try something different this time around.

 

So here is what is was thinking:

 

MC Barbarian -> The Golden Dragon

Kana -> The Drake Ambassador

The Grieving Mother -> A build suited for her. Bow, Blunderbuss?

 

I got 3 open slots. Usually you would take Aloth and Durance. I had trouble building Aloth and Durance. I'm trying to find a good build for Aloth. Durance really didnt do it for me, but I am concerned that not taking a priest is gonna hold my party back.

 

I also would like to try Pallegina but I dont know if that would be my 3rd tank or you can use her otherwise.

 

NPC i just recently played and dont want in my party is Maneha, Eder. I already have my own barbarian, I played Eder as a Tank and my MC was Paladin.

They were sturdy but did no damage at all. Well very little. This time around I want Tanks whop can also deal damage. Because my backline was targetted continiously last playthrough.

 

PLEASE HELP.

 

Thanks all.

[DeeKayNL]

I started a new game and made the barbarian. Took Aloth and Eder (Eder is temporary)

For Aloth i took the The Witted Wizard build. Hope thats good.

For now I made a custom priest based on the Fire Priest of Eothas.

[MaxQuest]

I would opt for:

- 3 damage dealers

- 3-4 frontliners

- 2-3 debilitators

- and 1-2 healers/sup

 

Your barb and Kana (as Drake Ambassador starting from lvl 9) gonna dish a nice amount of damage.

The third damage-dealer could be a fire priest or a dps-cipher.

Priest could also occasionally heal (via consecrated grounds) and cipher could occasionally cc.

 

For crowd-control, I'd recommend using a control-freak wizard and cc-cipher (for example Grieving Mother). GM can either melee (in plate, with BotEP/Firebrand) or attack from range (with Persistence, Boressaine, Rain, Sabra Marie; note: you can also open the fight from Lead Spitter before switching to bow).

And lastly I'd recommend taking a 1h+shield paladin, focused on healing, tanking and buffing.

 

Perhaps something like that will be optimal:

- frontline: cc-wizard, dd-barb, mt-paladin, dt-chanter

- midline: fire-priest

- backline: cc-cipher

 

 

P.S. Personally I have used the following parties in my completed runs:

 

 

run1:

- frontline: Eder, Kana

- midline: Pallegina, Sagani

- backline: GM, MC Cipher

 

run2:

- frontline: dd_barb, mt_paladin, mc_dps_cipher

- midline: fire_priest

- backline: wizard, cc_cipher

 

run3:

- frontline: dt_chanter, dd_barb, cc_cipher

- midline: fire_priest

- backline: wizard, mc_dps_cipher

 

All were good, but third party was just annihilating everything. The amount of damage from 4.5 damage dealers was impressive. Although I was missing Lay on Hands, and had to be extra careful.

 

And for 4th run I planned:

- frontline: dt_chanter, mt_paladin, cc_wizard

- midline: fire_priest

- backline: cc_cipher, mc_dps_cipher

 

 

Edited December 11, 2018 by MaxQuest

[DeeKayNL]

I would opt for:

- 3 damage dealers

- 3-4 frontliners

- 2-3 debilitators

- and 1-2 healers/sup

 

Your barb and Kana (as Drake Ambassador starting from lvl 9) gonna dish a nice amount of damage.

The third damage-dealer could be a fire priest or a dps-cipher.

Priest could also occasionally heal (via consecrated grounds) and cipher could occasionally cc.

 

For crowd-control, I'd recommend using a control-freak wizard and cc-cipher (for example Grieving Mother). GM can either melee (in plate, with BotEP/Firebrand) or attack from range (with Persistence, Boressaine, Rain, Sabra Marie; note: you can also open the fight from Lead Spitter before switching to bow).

And lastly I'd recommend taking a 1h+shield paladin, focused on healing, tanking and buffing.

 

Perhaps something like that will be optimal:

- frontline: cc-wizard, dd-barb, mt-paladin, dt-chanter

- midline: fire-priest

- backline: cc-cipher

 

 

P.S. Personally I have used the following parties in my completed runs:

 

 

run1:

- frontline: Eder, Kana

- midline: Pallegina, Sagani

- backline: GM, MC Cipher

 

run2:

- frontline: dd_barb, mt_paladin, mc_dps_cipher

- midline: fire_priest

- backline: wizard, cc_cipher

 

run3:

- frontline: dt_chanter, dd_barb, cc_cipher

- midline: fire_priest

- backline: wizard, mc_dps_cipher

 

All were good, but third party was just annihilating everything. The amount of damage from 4.5 damage dealers was impressive. Although I was missing Lay on Hands, and had to be extra careful.

 

And for 4th run I planned:

- frontline: dt_chanter, mt_paladin, cc_wizard

- midline: fire_priest

- backline: cc_cipher, mc_dps_cipher

 

 

 

The suggested party sounds fun, but i have a few questions (relatively new at this game).

 

1. Is there a build for de frontline cc wizard?? Like the Fighter/Mage from Baldurs Gate?

2. MT paladin is main tank? Can she still do damage? I read a Five suns build?

3. GM as ranged CC Cypher sounds good. Also is there a build guide?

 

Thanks for your response!!

[DeeKayNL]

I can't seem to edit my own post. Maybe because I am a new user.

 

I just wanted to add the question if this party wil have some problems with gear. No builds need the same gear?

 

Thank you.

[MaxQuest]

1. Is there a build for de frontline cc wizard?? Like the Fighter/Mage from Baldurs Gate?

2. MT paladin is main tank? Can she still do damage? I read a Five suns build?

3. GM as ranged CC Cypher sounds good. Also is there a build guide?

4. I just wanted to add the question if this party wil have some problems with gear. No builds need the same gear?

1. It is close to NerdCommando's control freak. Just go for 2/15/15/20/18/8 wild orlan or 3/15/15/19/18/8 pale elf with plate armor, small shield and fast 1h weapon (like hatchet, cudgel, starcaller, spelltongue).

2. Yeap, MT as main tank. Technically he can do some damage, but compared to dedicated damage dealers it's nothing. It's better to dump PER completely and focus on tankiness. healing and buffing. Your barb will need his support, especially Lay on Hands. Btw, at level 13 there is Sacred Immolation and it targets reflex. Let your wizard and cipher paralyze the enemies, and paladin will Immolate the trash without any problem. Chanter's Dragon Trashed also targets reflex, so you will be paralyzing a lot either way.

3. Not that I am aware of, but it is pretty straight-forward. If you want more info on ciphers, you can start with these two posts: one, two

4. No, these builds don't clash in terms of equipment. Except for Gauntlets of Swift Action which are great on barb, cipher, priest and wizard.

 

Generally you would want:

- barb: Shod-in-Faith(!)(it's better on barb than on Drake Ambassador), Swadling Sheet(!)(or give it to priest and take Hiro's Mantle instead), Plate armor

- paladin: Outworn Buckler(!) and [hatchet or shame or marking cladhaliath], Plate armor

- chanter: Little Saviour (!) or Redfield; weapon: either mentioned in the build, or something with marking enchant, Plate armor

- wizard: Aila Bracia or Little Saviour; for weapons see p1.; Plate armor

- priest: hide armor and good arquebus in the early game; Raiment of Wael's Eyes + Gyrd Háewanes Sténes + Abydon's Hammer later. Go for moon godlike; Silver Tide will be handy in such party, in midline.

 

Also is worth mentioning Cape of the Master Mystic. Give it to the character that gets low faster than the others (except for chanter and paladin, because you don't want enemies disengaging from them). Bonus deflection also plays nicely with Aila Bracia for increased chance to get grazed and reflect.

 

P.S. Also take into consideration who's your mech guy: cipher or wizard. Usually it's better to be cipher because he never runs out of things to do, and let the other one skill lore. But on the other hand your wizard gonna be on frontline, so he could be spotting traps earlier, plus you won't need to bring a backliner upfront for disarming every time.

Edited December 12, 2018 by MaxQuest

[DeeKayNL]

 

1. Is there a build for de frontline cc wizard?? Like the Fighter/Mage from Baldurs Gate?

2. MT paladin is main tank? Can she still do damage? I read a Five suns build?

3. GM as ranged CC Cypher sounds good. Also is there a build guide?

4. I just wanted to add the question if this party wil have some problems with gear. No builds need the same gear?

1. It is close to NerdCommando's control freak. Just go for 2/15/15/20/18/8 wild orlan or 3/15/15/19/18/8 pale elf with plate armor, small shield and fast 1h weapon (like hatchet, cudgel, starcaller, spelltongue).

2. Yeap, MT as main tank. Technically he can do some damage, but compared to dedicated damage dealers it's nothing. It's better to dump PER completely and focus on tankiness. healing and buffing. Your barb will need his support, especially Lay on Hands. Btw, at level 13 there is Sacred Immolation and it targets reflex. Let your wizard and cipher paralyze the enemies, and paladin will Immolate the trash without any problem. Chanter's Dragon Trashed also targets reflex, so you will be paralyzing a lot either way.

3. Not that I am aware of, but it is pretty straight-forward. If you want more info on ciphers, you can start with these two posts: one, two

4. No, these builds don't clash in terms of equipment. Except for Gauntlets of Swift Action which are great on barb, cipher, priest and wizard.

 

Generally you would want:

- barb: Shod-in-Faith(!)(it's better on barb than on Drake Ambassador), Swadling Sheet(!)(or give it to priest and take Hiro's Mantle instead), Plate armor

- paladin: Outworn Buckler(!) and [hatchet or shame or marking cladhaliath], Plate armor

- chanter: Little Saviour (!) or Redfield; weapon: either mentioned in the build, or something with marking enchant, Plate armor

- wizard: Aila Bracia or Little Saviour; for weapons see p1.; Plate armor

- priest: hide armor and good arquebus in the early game; Raiment of Wael's Eyes + Gyrd Háewanes Sténes + Abydon's Hammer later. Go for moon godlike; Silver Tide will be handy in such party, in midline.

 

Also is worth mentioning Cape of the Master Mystic. Give it to the character that gets low faster than the others (except for chanter and paladin, because you don't want enemies disengaging from them). Bonus deflection also plays nicely with Aila Bracia for increased chance to get grazed and reflect.

 

P.S. Also take into consideration who's your mech guy: cipher or wizard. Usually it's better to be cipher because he never runs out of things to do, and let the other one skill lore. But on the other hand your wizard gonna be on frontline, so he could be spotting traps earlier, plus you won't need to bring a backliner upfront for disarming every time.

 

 

Ok if im understanding how does this sound?:

 

MC Golden Dragon Barb

Kana The Drake Ambassador

Palagina Counseler Ploi build? Would that work?

Custom Priest. Your moonfire build

GM CC Cypher (still trying to find a good bow. Now with pistol

Aloth a Frontline Wizard build (found the battlemage build from Nerd Commando)

 

Any thoughts?

Edited December 12, 2018 by DeeKayNL

[MaxQuest]

With hirelings there could be a little room for optimization with stats and races.

 

But for a party with mostly story companions it is as good as it gets

[DeeKayNL]

With hirelings there could be a little room for optimization with stats and races.

 

But for a party with mostly story companions it is as good as it gets

 

Thank you, I respeced Aloth into a Battlemage.

My party is now complete. The only thing to do is find out where al the gear is

 

Im not familiar enough with the game yet. I know some stuff is in WM.

Yet i havent found any real good stuff in Defiance Bay or Gilden Vale yet.

[MaxQuest]

Im not familiar enough with the game yet. I know some stuff is in WM.

Yet i havent found any real good stuff in Defiance Bay or Gilden Vale yet.

Check the wiki

- armor

- weapons

- shields

- accessories

[DeeKayNL]

Thanks! Just did some quests in Defiance Bay. Wow is Aloth fun to play now!!!

 

PS im playing on normal.

[MaxQuest]

Glad to hear that)

 

Now wait till he gets Shadowflame and mastered Slicken

[DeeKayNL]

Glad to hear that)

 

Now wait till he gets Shadowflame and mastered Slicken

 

Maybe I run the wrong build. I didnt even get slicken.

My level 1 is:

 

Parasitic staff

Wizard Double

Fan of fire?

Dazzling Lights.

 

Level 2

 

Bulwark against elements

Infuse with vital essence

Merciless Gaze

 

Level 3

 

Alacraty of Motion

Displaced Image

 

Ps still 2 more questions.

 

1 Why is al the armor only medium? Not Heavy? Will the reload take to long?

2 Why are spiders such a big poblem for me?? I changed from easy to normal. Now spiders are insane.

 

 

I do al the Fighting with the Parasitic Staff.

[MaxQuest]

Maybe I run the wrong build. I didnt even get slicken.

Yes, that looks to be a different build.

I was referring to control freak - a 1h&shield wizard that doesn't deal damage but mainly uses crowd-control and debuffing stuff. And occasionally self-buffs if it's needed for his survival.

 

Specifically:

rank1: Slicken (!), Ghost Blades

rank2: Bewildering Spectacle (!), Curse of Blackened Sight ®, Miasma of Dull-Mindedness ®, Infuse With Vital Essence ®(good for early game)

rank3: DAoM (!), Llengrath's Displaced Image ®, Arcane Dampener ®, Expose Vulnerabilities ®, Vissage

rank4: Shadowflame(!!), Confusion (!)

rank5: Call to Slumber (!), Enervating Terror, Wondrous Torment

rank6: Gaze of the Adragan (!!)

rank7: Crushing Doom (!!), Siphoning Image

rank8: Wall of Many Colors, Bullwark, Spell Steal / Grimoire Imprint

as for wizard specific talents: Arcane Veil (+Hardened), Bonus 4th level spell.

 

The idea is to disable enemies such that they won't hit your party members; and to lower their defenses such that your party can easier land their stuff. E.g: lower reflex for Dragon Trashed and Immolation, lower fortitude for Disintegration, Amplified Wave, Brute Force; lower will for charms, dominates and Shinning Beacon; lower deflection for auto-attacks and focus generation.

 

The thing is you have enough damage dealers in your party.

But hey, if you are having fun with Citzal-inclined battlemage, you can keep it that way.

 

1 Why is al the armor only medium? Not Heavy? Will the reload take to long?

2 Why are spiders such a big poblem for me?? I changed from easy to normal. Now spiders are insane.

1. Don't quite understand the question

That party wants:

- hide armor on mid/backliners (in the early-mid game); and durganized robes (in the late game).

- plate armor on all frontliners

 

All plate pierce-proofed. Because in it you can almost ignore majority of low-hitting enemies that also happen to be quite numerous (xaurips, wolves, spiders).

Btw, if you don't find an unique plate, just equip non-unique ones.

 

As for mid/backliners:

- I would apply freeze-proof to GM's armor - in order to make her less attractive for shades.

- and pierce-proof to fire-priest's armor - in order to take less damage from archers... and act as a bait magnet for shades. They teleport to priest... trigger her Silver Tide, Swaddling Sheet, preservation items, and are in great position to get covered by an AoE disable from cipher or wizard.

 

2. Majority of spiders deal pierce damage. Go for pierce-proofed plate armor as I already advised. This will help tremendously vs majority of them, except for Crystal Eaters who have high damage values. Just chain Charm/Dominate/Prone/Stun/Paralyze those.

Edited December 13, 2018 by MaxQuest

[DeeKayNL]

Ok I think i had a brainfart.... my bad.

 

First regarding Aloth. I'm gonna respec him. All that cc seems powerfull!! Any tips on talents? probably sword and shield style...

I'm sorry but I really am new to this and still need builds to tell me what to select at level ups

 

Second regarding the armor. Really a brainfart on my side.

I saw the term plate armor. All plates i found so far were medium armor, maybe all breastplates?. The only Heavy armor I found were Brigandines.

Too early in the game perhaps for heavy platemail armors? Or I just didnt look carefully enough.

 

Thanks for the tips!!!

[MaxQuest]

It happens)

 

Regarding Aloth talents:

- wizard: Arcane and Hardened Veil; bonus 4th level spell

- general: 1h&shield, Superior Deflection, Aspirant's Mark, Veteran's Recovery (optional), Wound Binding, Bear's Fortitude, Bull's Will, Mental Fortress, WeaponFocus (if you have weapon with onCrit effect), Deep Pockets (if you go for high lore)

 

Regarding plate armor:

- you can take a look here for existing armor types

- and yes, in the early game there is underwhelming amount of plate armor. There are some NPCs you can kill for it; or do some bounties or endless paths and wait for it to drop.

[DeeKayNL]

Thank you! Already respecced Aloth. Had 3 normal heavy armors in my stash. Now im on my way to Gilden Vale for a small shield and then Caed Nua for the first 5 levels.

[DeeKayNL]

Lev 3 was quite challenging. Well only the fight with the leader ogre and helpers. Fight took quite long. Had to reload. 2nd time I had them cc locked in with my cypher. Whispers of treason and paralyze non stop helped me a lot. But it took long to take out the leader and the druid. The normal ogres go down quite fast.

 

I got a large shield (the door) on my barb. Too much? Maybe I should go back to a normal medium shield? Give the big shield to Kana?

[MaxQuest]

Yes Endless Path lvl 3 - is quite challenging for a level 3 party.

 

Iirc I was doing the following:

- killing a backer NPC in Gilded Vale for the plate armor (and pierce proof it)

- get Blunting Belt

- go to Endless Paths (with a level 3-4 party)

- clear levels 1 and 2; jump into the hole on level 3 (the hole leads to level 5)

- there are a lot of xaurips. And plate armor + pathway blocking was helping a lot vs them.

- backtrack to EP level 4. Grab Persistance and Resolution. You can give the bow to GM and the sabre to barbarian.

- go back to EP lvl 5 and leave the dungeon

- now go to Raedric Hall. Clear everything, and loot a lot of plate armors.

- after that was going to Defiance Bay. And getting Shod-in-Faith boots and Firebrand gloves asap.

 

I got a large shield (the door) on my barb. Too much? Maybe I should go back to a normal medium shield? Give the big shield to Kana?

That larder door is very good up to level 5, after that you can unequip and forget about it.

 

Until you get Dragon Maw shield, your barb better be dual-wielding ([sabre + Resolution] -> [sword of Daenysis + Resolution] -> [Purgatory + Bitercut]) with Vulnerable Attack on.

Your chanter can wield large shield up to level 9. After that he will be chanting Dragon Trashed, and it's better to switch to a small shield, because of no accuracy malus.

Edited December 14, 2018 by MaxQuest

[DeeKayNL]

Thank you for all your tips. You are very knowledgeable! Most have played the game a lot.

I did levels 1 to 4. On level 5 I went back up. Now I'm back in defiance bay. I already did the most dyrwood village quests except the dragon egg one. On the first playthrough I had real problems there.

Now I'm almost level six. I already bought the the sword of daenysis. Now I think I'm gonna check out the tower in heritage hill.

 

PS I just leveled Aloth  but i cant select Shadowflame. Its not on the list? Never mind I just read I have to get it from a grimoire. So ill have to wait till WM

Edited December 14, 2018 by DeeKayNL

[DeeKayNL]

Well I did all quests in Defiance Bay. The I went for levels 5 till 9 , i thought. At the end of level 7 I just get demolished. Tried the fight several times.

Maybe I should do WM first.

[MaxQuest]

If you can't storm the place it's better to look for other areas.

 

Once your party is lvl 9 you can clear endless paths to lvl 11-13 in one go. Or you can go to WM, and after it clear EP completely.

 

Generally you go to EP for xp and specific loot, like Argwes Adra on lvl 8, Ring of Thorns on lvl 11, Drawn-in-Spring on lvl 12 and so on.

Edited December 16, 2018 by MaxQuest

[Boeroer]

The Golden Dragon can also be played perfectly fine with Badgradr's Barricade by the way. If you dropped CON I wouldn't advise to drop the shield as well. Because he will be dead quickly. The Golden Dragon is all about raising his defenses while lowering enemies' accuracy - so your whole party becomes more sturdy. He's kind of a support char who can tank (after some levels) and also does good damage compared to other tanks.

 

I used Larder Door until I found some exceptional shield (the Solace one from the Drake in the Endless Paths).

 

It is totally cool to have a dual sabre setup in one weapon slot and a sabre + shield combo in the other though. So you can switch between speed and defense. No need to take Two Weapon Style.

[DeeKayNL]

Thank you both for you answers. I am running dual wield bittercut and reasoning?? With a plate armor.

 

I was wondering.. The golden scales are medium armor. Is this pure for astetics or also functionality??

 

Ps I just got to level 9 with my chanter. I got the dragon trash. But how do I set up the chants? Dragon trash as 3rd? My setup now is 1st cc debuf, 2nd the duration of frightened a d 3rd the dragon trash. That OK?

[DeeKayNL]

Ow man.... I just found out I can't get the sword for the chanter. I choose the wrong option with The old watcher.

 

Dang it. Any tips for a replacement?