Need help with my melee pc

[juppsen]

Hi!

I played Deadfire as it came out as a pure tank (crusader) and will start a new playthrough with all addons in potd.

 

I plan to take Tekehu (Druid) as healer/aoe dd and Aloth (Mage) as debuffer/dd. I'm not sure about the other two companions, maybe Serafen (barbarian) as melee dd and Maia as ranged dd (what would be better ranger or Ranger/rogue?).

 

So my PC should be tanky and able to do some damage. I tried a couple of multiclasses between Fighter and Rogue (e.g. Swashbuckler with two weapons), but felt they were too squishy. I guess the crusader won't do enough damage.

 

Another idea was to take Eder (Swashbuckler) or Pallegina (Crusader) as a tank and take a PC who can Deal some serious aoe damage and healing to replace Tekehu or Aloth. I like the Fury Druid, but he can't heal, I read the ancient Druid wont't do enough damage in the mid/late game and I don't like summons.

 

Any suggestions?

[grasida]

My first play through was with a helwalker/life giver multi class and I thought it was really nice. You have to be very cautious with the PC at the start of fights, because helwalkers can be burst down very quickly by multiple enemies, but once you get all your heal over time powers active, your whole party heals so quickly it’s pretty hard for most enemies to damage you meaningfully at all.

 

The character is very versatile, with strong healing, strong melee and spell damage and strong control. You just have to make sure to protect them and never let them get surrounded, though with heals all active, they can handle moderate pressure.

Edited February 17, 2019 by grasida

[Boeroer]

Which difficulty?

[juppsen]

Like I wrote, I'll play on potd

[abstrack]

Which difficulty?

" and will start a new playthrough with all addons in potd. "

[Boeroer]

Oops. 

 

PotD increases all AR by 2 which means that some weapons/classes have more issues avoiding underpenetration.

 

Thus, everything that has access to PEN raise (or effective AR debuffs) is a bit easier when it comes to dealing damage.

 

Crusader can still be build into a decent damage dealer while being pretty sturdy. Pick Devoted and Bleak Walker I'd say. 

 

You can make Swashbucklers and Holy Slayers rel. tanky when picking Trickster as Rogue subclass. Especially Holy Slayers can do good damage with the combo of Rogue's additive dmg bonuses and the Paladins's FoD lash.

 

Something that can do serious AoE dmg is for example a Berserker/Nalpasca. But you need to make sure that the confusion gets removed (Devil of Caroc Breastplate for example). The Frenzy of Berserker causes self damage which will fuel wounds with every tick, Nalpasca drugs will generate 1 wound per 6 secs and Dance of Death (doesn't break with self damage) will add anotther wound per 3 sec tick. Usually that means that you can spam stuff like Raised Torment all the time. But you have to make sure that this char get regeneration and/or healing (until he gets to pick Savage Defiance that can somewhat counter the self damage) because he can go down rather quickly if you don't watch out. But on the other hand he can do great spammable dmg + CC (Raised Torment stuns in a cone). If you pick a reach weapon like Quarterstaff you can attack from rel. safety. Aim for Chromoprismatic Staff and Lance of the Midwood Stag. With Instruments of Pain you will be able to attack from 10 meter range (IoP raises melee range by +500%) while retaining all the benefits of melee abilites (Swift Flurry/Lightning Strikes, Raised Torment etc.). You can either make this guy a lot sturdier with Iron Wheel or deal more damage with Turning Wheel. With highish RES and Voidward you can keep the self damage a bay a bit if it gets too crazy (due to level scaling). Also good that Monks as well as Berserkers have access to Tenacious (+2 PEN and more) which helps them to overcome AR better. Thunderous Blows and Berserker's Frenzy do not stack when it comes to PEN, but you can still use Thunderous Blows even if your Rage (for Frenzy) is depleted.

 

For example...  

Edited February 17, 2019 by Boeroer

[juppsen]

Thanks for the tipps! The barbarian/monk seems pretty good, but I guess you need to take care alot, like you said. I guess, I try the crusader and if I'm back into the game I'll try the barbarian/monk.

[Purudaya]

It's also possible to gain survivability through offense. I played a high perception/dexterity streetfighter/helwalker for my first PotD playthrough and had a blast surrounding myself with enemies and methodically stun-locking each of them with virtually unlimited stunning surges. The character only had 6 resolve and was quite squishy, but with the incredible multiclass speed and accuracy synergies he disabled most enemies before they could land more than a couple of hits. It also helps to choose the right support characters — even an unarmed assassin could serve as an adequate blocker in a pinch if you have a priest spamming Barring Death's Door and Salvation of Time on her.

[heldred]

Fun options...

 

Cipher(SB)/Pal or Cipher(SB)/Fighter are both strong and pump-out damage in melee.  Strong from level 6+

 

Wiz/Rogue, Wiz/Fighter, and Wiz/Pal are rough and buff(ing) warriors.  Strong from level 8+.

 

Chanter(Troub)/Pali or Chanter(Troub)/Fighter are fun, dependable, and offer a lot of build options.  Strong from level 6+

 

Monk/Rogue(Trickster) is interesting, since the Trickster buffs give you added survivability and it hits like a truck.  Strong from level 10+ (late bloomer)