New to Poe 2 suggestions?

[myfur1958]

played the first pillars of eternity many many moons ago, as a stormcaller ranger and loved it. So I went and bought pillars 2 this week but really not seeing something close to the storm caller build. going turn based on this play through. and suggestions? Like the archer aspect and rogue type abilities. sneaky ranger type.. using a pet. being able to disarm traps and such.

[AeonsLegend]

Scout (rogue/ranger multiclass) is really strong for a ranged build. I myself don't have a whole lot of experience with Ranger myself. Although at higher difficulties the pets become less useful so you may want to pick ghost heart ranger so you can summon them whenever necessary. For sneaky ranger then you can go with Assassin. Deals extra damage from stealth and such. Great for ranged builds as well.

Others may have more advice on this. I'm not familiar with Stormcaller build for POE1.

[Boeroer]

Of you want to play something similar to a Stormcaller Ranger then I would take a look at the Frostseeker war bow. Use a Single class Ranger (aim for Twinned Shots) or a Ranger/something multiclass - preferably one that lets you crit more often and does increase your damage (Devoted Fighter, Rogue, Cipher,  Helwalker Monk, Furyshaper Barbarian and so on). Judging by your post a Scout (Ranger/Rogue) might be your thing.

The bow shoots three projectiles and every one of them can crit which causes an AoE blast of frost. With Driving Flight (and Twinned Shot) you can crit 6 (12) times per attack in theory, causing massive AoE dmg. If you invest in Arcana you can then also use Avenging Storm which will trigger with each projectile and also on the AoE blast.

It's not a Stormcaller but a Frostseeker - but the basic idea and vibe are similar. 

A bow that does shock damage and is focused on single target dmg (and summoning creatures on kill) is Essence Interrupter. It's also quite powerful. 

Actually there are some really nice bows in the game. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

Like Boeroer said, the answer is the Frostseeker build. If you like to always have a pet then I recommend ascendant/arcane archer with bear companion because the cipher has great buffs for the pet.  If you want the feel of the PoE1 archer with stunning shots, then you should try helwalker/ghost heart (the pet is harder to keep alive and it's better to not bother about Bonded Grief) can spam later Stunning Surge. 

The rogue/ranger works great with other weapons (Red Hand, mortars), but doesn't have good synergy with Frostseeker. The devoted/ranger is pretty good too if you want to trade versatility for survivability.

[Boeroer]

I would also use Helwalker because the +10 INT is great for the AoE of Garland's Rake and the +10 MIG anyway. Stunning Surge is nice, especially with the 3/6 projectiles (3 chances to crit - or 6 with Driving Flight).

But afaik Garland's Rake profits from Sneak Attack, Deathblows and such - so why isn't that a good synergy? E.G. with a Trickster who can first lure enemies to a spot with Dazzling Lights, then later rack the hit-to-crit rate up with Gaze of the Adragan.

[Kaylon]

7 hours ago, Boeroer said:

But afaik Garland's Rake profits from Sneak Attack, Deathblows and such - so why isn't that a good synergy? E.G. with a Trickster who can first lure enemies to a spot with Dazzling Lights, then later rack the hit-to-crit rate up with Gaze of the Adragan.

If the rogue can't maintain the enemies afflicted reliably he will do poor damage. And if you have to cast CCs often, your dps will go down also (the Gaze of Adragan is good on paper, but it comes very late, has very short duration and targets the highest defense of the enemies). A good solution is to use the Ring of Clenched Muscle to afflict enemies, however it comes late too. But if you have a cipher or a blood mage you want to micro manage to maintain the enemies afflicted all the time, then it will work.

[Boeroer]

But that's the case for every Rogue. 

It's not that the Ranger/Rogue is without a party. No need to keep enemies afflicted all by himself. Most of times clustered enemies (and that's where Frostseeker is best) will be afflicted all the the time - at least the way I play. Doesn't mean that's how everybody's supposed to do it, but long-lasting or constantly reapplying afflictions come with so many spells that are also damaging or being beneficial in general (Fear Ward, Wicked Briars, Chillfog, Venombloom, Barbaric Shout and many, many more) that clustered enemy mobs are afflicted 99% of times in multiple ways. 

I also use a Swashbuckler "tank" (often Edér) from time to time to unlock Persistent Distraction on all attackers around him. That's very convenient when having somebody like a Ranger/Rogue with Frostseeker in the back row. It's unlimited dual affliction time on all who are engaged by the swashbuckler. 

If you use Hand Mortar with another character you might apply Blinding Smoke all the time.

And so on.

So I don't agree that there's no synergy with a Rogue in a Frostseeker build. 

It wouldn't be my pick either though. Also because Guile is very limited and Garland's Rake doesn't transport Rogue's strike effects. A mortar or rod would be better to put stuff like Arterial Strike, Toxic Strike, Finishing Blow onto all enemies in an AoE. A Scout (with Streetfighter) is indeed better with mortars and not Frostseeker.

A Helwalker has near unlimited Stunning Shots  in theory. And stuff like Tenacious Blows is very nice as well. When you mostly want to shoot the bow and not use other active abilities much (like spells) it's great I think. It's a combo which ensures long-lasting use of active attack abilites with minimal micromanagement. So I think a Ranger/Helwalker is a great substitute for a PoE Stormcaller Ranger.

[mjo2138]

As mentioned before, Essence Interrupter is one of the best bows in the game. Make sure to buy it ASAP in the first town. It has shock/pierce dmg type, which allows you to bypass high armor ratings for many enemies across Deadfire. The only downside is you will need to remove to enemy summon effect as soon as possible.  

[myfur1958]

so if I got ahold of the Essense Interupter, should I then upgrade it to Electrical Conduit. and is it worth putting any skill points into  Metaphysics to increase the shock dmg? by the way love this game so far.. what astory line. keeps me on my toes. you never know whats around the next corner. I did get the frostseeker but I just don't know maybe when Its upgraded it will be stronger...

[Boeroer]

With Frostseeker it's important to critically hit. Without crits it's not that great.

If you are using Essence Interrupter then generally speaking it is worth it to raise Metaphysics. Lashes (like the one from Electrical Conduit) are multiplicative damage bonuses and every additional percentage point is good. IIrc every 4 points of Metaphysics you get one additional percentage point of shocking lash (so at 20 Metaphysics it will be a 10% lash instead of a 5% one). You'd be the judge if that's worth maximizing Metaphysics though. It's easier on a party member because their skills are not checked in scripted interactions as much. Maximizing one single skill as MC can mean that you will not pass a lot of other skillchecks. Although Metaphysics unlocks some pretty important checks.
 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Boeroer

[myfur1958]

So many questions. So little time:) So made a ranger class then went arcane ranger. will adding points into arcana help as an arcane ranger? and if using the frostseeker bow, will the missle skill use the 3 shots you get from the bow?

[Boeroer]

Putting points into Arcana will raise the ACC of the imbue shots and spells. So it helps a lot if you use those a lot. With high Arcana you might want to check out the Arbalest "Spearcaster". It also gets bonus ACC from Arcana and that stacks.

The imbue effects (Missiles, Fireball, Web and so on) will NOT proc thrice with Frostseeker (or four times with blunderbuss). As I said earlier multiprojectile weapons count as one in this case (I believe only the first projectile gets evaluated). The only thing that causes those effects to proc more than once are projectile jumps (see Driving Flight, Fire in the Hole, Wild Shot from Kitchen Stove and Waterhaper's Focus).

 

[peolone]

@Boeroer Somewhat off-topic: Was Essence Interrupter finally fixed ? Last time I checked it still suffered from the loot bug. 

[Boeroer]

I also thought so. But when I lately tested it a lot I couldn't reproduce the bug. So either it occurs very seldomly or it's truly fixed now.

[peolone]

That's great news

[dgray62]

I think Essence Interrupter is fixed. I've used it extensively lately and haven't noticed any loot disappearing. I was looking out for this bug, but haven't encountered it, fortunately.

[myfur1958]

the frostseeker bow. should I upgrade it at all then? once I am able to get it? and the essense bow? what specific upgrades improve that weapon these days since the game is now 5.0? later in the day.... well gave the game about a week. time to move on to other things.. turn based is so buggy and real time I just cannot seem to grasp it. more aggrivating then fun here. thanks all for the input and advice. safe travels!

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by myfur1958

[Venatoris78]

Hi @Boeroer.

Da ich mitbekommen habe, das du aus Deutschland kommst, würde ich dir gerne eine Frage stellen. Oder 2.^^

Stellt sich in der Muttersprache viel einfacher.

Und zwar geht es darum, das eine Bekannte von mir sich PoE 2 geholt hat, aber quasi Neueinsteiger ist. PoE, Baldurs Gate etc. waren noch nie auf ihrer Liste. Außer Tyranny also keine Vorerfahrung. Was würdest du denn so als eine gute (nicht OP) Partyzusammenstellung halten für den ersten Durchlauf. Ich denke, sie würde da natürlich gerne die NPC´s nehmen und keine eigenen erstellen. Und die 2. Frage: da ich bei ihrer Geschichte nicht weiß, ob es auch eine 2. geben wird, was wäre denn ein guter Main Char, der möglichst viel an Story mitbekommt. Also gibts da Hintergrund / Rassen / Klassen, die da mehr profitieren?

Ich bin bei Pillars schon länger raus und nun wirklich kein Profi wie du und andere im Forum. Was ich immer sehr gerne lese.

Und eine Frage von mir: was ist dieser Brilliant Priester Build, von dem ich immer wieder lese? Der so OP sein soll. Der ist wohl ganz an mir vorbei gegangen.

 

Hui, viel Text. Aber vielleicht hast du ja ein paar Tips.

Gruß vom Bayern aus Rostock

[Boeroer]

Hi @Venatoris78, let me answer in English so that everybody can chime in. 

So basically you're asking for advice on party composition (whith official companions) and which kind of MC (dialogue options, skillcheck options) would be nice for a (female) player. She didn't play PoE or other CRPGs yet besides Tyranny. 

I personally would pick Edér, Aloth, Xoti (mainly because they are the first three you meet and their classes harmonize well in a party). I like to make Edér a tanky Swsashbuckler, Aloth can be whatever he's able to be and Xoti is nearly always  Priest for me. And then for the fifth one it depends if you would like to support the Prinicipi (pirates - pick Serafen), Huana (natives, pick Tekehu), Rauatai (like a mix of Japanese and Prussians, pick Maia) or the Vailians (like the East India Trading Company but with Italian/Spanish "Medici" vibes, pick Pallegina).

I personally prefer Tekehu because of his class choices mostly (both are fine).

I don't remember which class, skill- and stat-choices provide the most dialogue options or the most options for scripted interactions. I simply play what I like. Other players may have more details.

Since the first four party members above already cover most stuff you can play anything, but I personally found it nice to play the party Rogue and "Talker" for the first time. I think if there would have been the Debonaire subclass at release I would have played Debonaire/Beguiler with "passive" skills in Diplomacy, Bluff, Insight and so on. And "active" skills in mainly mechanics (as the party's lockpicker and trap finder/disarmer).

High INT, PER, DEX mostly. 

Debonaire/Beguiler is not only a thematically cool concept but can also be very effective at crowd control and single target damage. You can charm enemies and get 100% crit conversion if you attack them. That also means you can charm an enemy and then cast Disintegrate on them which will always convert to a crit (if you don't miss or graze). Disintegrate on a charmed enemy will not flip it back (as other damage would do). Also works with Soul Ignition. So it's not only a cool roleplaying concept but can also be very useful in combat. 

Beguilers don't have to damage opponents to gain focus (casting a Deception spell on enemies is often enough to refill focus - if you manage to hit enough of them) but they still can - and here the Sneak Attack and other damage bonuses of the Debonaire will help. I would go with a ranged weapon. Maybe single pistol (+modal) since it somehow fits a Debonaire for me. 

Other players may have other ideas for an interesting MC for a nice first run.

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Boeroer

[2MuchWatching]

In my parties i usually take Eder as Fighter and Xoti as priest. The ramaining slots i tend to rotate Aloth, Serafen and Tekehu. These are my favourite NPCs and those I think give the best banter. I agree that Rogue is a great choice for the first playthrough. The game is practically begging you to pick rogue and you get some funny lines from bluff and shady conversation options.

[Boeroer]

I like some of the "clever" dialogue options the most and I think that a Rogue (and especially a Debonaire - and also Beguiler) seems like a great fit for that. 

[2MuchWatching]

Yep. Definitely

[Venatoris78]

@Boeroer: Wow! Thanks. This are particularly useful tips. Will try to pass it on like this.