Various mechanic questions - party compisition

[NotBad]

Hi folks

I am trying to make sense of the party I am creating in relation to the game mechanics. I don't think I am trying to do anything fancy, so hopefully this ends up straight forward.

My party would be:

Barbarian - Cauterizer, per Boeroer

Eder - Dual Wielding Fighter

Aloth - CC Wizard

Pallegina - Roughly based off the "Fire General" build, Sword and Board

Durance - Buff bot

Sagani or Hiravias - Stormcaller / Not sure

 

My main gripe is Durance and his low DEX, and this is where my head gets turned inside out mechanics wise.

Of note - all of the above characters have fairly low dex scores, except Aloth.

9 (Barb), 11 (Eder), 15 (Aloth), 11 (Pallegina), 9 (Durance), 11 (Sagani) respectively.

My immediate thought was to almost exclusively use the +3 DEX  resting bonus via Caed Nua, but I am wondering if this is the correct option or not.

In terms of roles, Durance wants every boost he can get (I can get him to 16-18 with gear + talents + rest, not including minor avatar), and it brings my Aloth (with gear) to a easy 20 dex as well. The benefit of DEX on casting speed is immediately clear to me.

What isn't as obvious is the impact of DEX on my martial classes.

E.g. I am planning for Eder to dual wield two Rimecutters + Vulnerable Attack asap. Early game, so long as he is wearing Padded Armor and has Outlander's Frenzy or Hastening Exhortation, it seems he can reach 0 recovery with ease. I can also wear Blaidh Golan for a minor recovery hit, but more survivability.

Then, as I am able to Durganize his Armor + Weapons, it seems the sweet spot I can reach is Scale (Golden Scales or Pike's Pride), and drop the Armored Grace talent. Or keep the talent and I can wear any armor I want, including Plate.

All of the above without the Gauntlets of Swift Action, who I can then use for Sagani.

This is the sticking point I have with DEX now though. Is the added 3 DEX from rest valuable at all to Eder? I can see the effect of increasing DEX on the calculator, but I can't grok if the change/impact is worth it.

My Barb would rest at 15 DEX buffed, which is 15% more action speed, but does the Cauterizer build benefit from this?

Second question, what is the benefit of 0 recovery on caster classes?

E.g. Aloth with the durganized Engwithan Scepter wearing Leather + Pilferer's Grip (trying to save on Durgan) and DoAM can reach 0 recovery fairly easy. The immediate and obvious benefits seems mostly in relation to the character completing attacks quickly, and therefore will feel more responsive when you want them to cast spells. Does recovery affect spells however? This is where it gets blurry for me. Ideally I'd like Aloth using something like Golden Gaze or Gyrd Haewanes Stenes when not casting, but the drop in recovery is immediately noticeable when switching from the Engwithan Scepter.

I have the same question about Durance. Is it better to be casting with Unforgiven/Last Blade of the White Forge + Shield and 0 recovery, or does it matter?

My last question is the most complicated question by far... Is there a way to make Angio's Gambeson less ugly/weird looking on Durance? I hate using this item on looks alone, but the power gamer in me can't resist it on Durance either..... I could chug DoAM potions instead, but those eat into early buffing time.

Thanks for any help!

 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by NotBad

[NotBad]

Double posting might be frowned upon, but I ended up answering some of my questions on my own, but it lead me down a few other rabbit holes and I just want to check my conclusions anyway.

So from what I understand, it does seem that 0 recovery is largely better then trying to boost DEX for martial classes, but DEX does help a bit. As such, taking the +3 PER bonus from Caed Nua early is probably overall better then the +3 DEX. Might, Int or Dex could be better later when accuracy becomes a bit saturated.

For Casters, casting time doesn't benefit from durganized weapons + speed enchants. It solely benefits from light armor + things like DoAM, Frenzy, and a few others etc. I think I got my head around this.

The conclusion I am coming to is early game, while you could put your casters in clothes, the benefit is probably not that worth it compared to some more survivability when you don't have a tonne of spells to sling anyway... It's better mid and late game, and then late (if you want) you could upgrade to robes/padded armor when you can start durgan reinforcing armor. I'll start putting Sagani in clothes right away however.

Durance just feels unsalvageable for the min/max side of my brain, even though I know I completed PotD already (with him as well...) with a fraction of the knowledge I have now (right down to not knowing how buffs and things stack/surpress at all...), and I got through AOK anyway. I'm just going to have to accept that he is slow as molasses and just have him drink DoAM potions constantly. Or role my own Priest, but I've got some seperate issues with that too (is there a good two-handed build for Pallegina kicking around? I like my current balance of Two-Hander, Archer, Two Weapon, Sword & Board, and no other companion strikes me as a  good two-handed user if I went Priest instead of Barb).

[draego]

I think this was the whole point of the attribute system setup. They didnt want what happens in dnd where you had to lean into certain attributes for certain class which pretty much took away all choice in how you wanted to build your character so yes lower dex makes casting slower (and as you have seen isnt to big a deal for martial classes) it doesnt gimp your character and the points used in other attributes help in other areas. they were not completely successful since some attributes are easier to compensate for than others but overall it works to allow you to RP your character and not have to worry about min max stuff because the bonuses are not that huge per point an there are no forced class specific bonuses 

[Boeroer]

Pallegina can be build into a decent marker with Blade of the Endless Paths. Take Coordinated Attacks and use Zealous Endurance. This will give the party member who's attacking the same target as Pallegina and is nearest to her a +20 accuracy passively. Zealous Focus stacks with those to a total of +25. Because Coordinated Attack and Marking stack with everything.  

This is a great help against any high-defense enemies like bosses and such. If you also have a Priest with Devotions + Inspiring Radiance (+30 ACC) it's very hard to miss anything.

Before getting the Blade you can use the Spectacular Spetum (Salty Mast CRPG shop). It's a pollaxe and thus uses the same weapon focus as an estoc and also has the marking enchantment. It's also a good backup weapon for later if your Blade otEP meets pierce-immune enemies. 

That early in the game a stackable marking weapon can be very impactful.

Marking from different chars doesn't stack. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Boeroer