Advice/Critique on PotD Paladin Build.

[Esrac]

Good Evening. 

Occasional lurker, first time poster.

I was coming back to PoE1 + WM1 & WM2 for the first time in a couple years and I was planning do a PotD, Path of Iron, Expert Mode run.  With default story companions; I'm thinking Eder, Aloth, Durance, Kana, and Grieving Mother. 

Forgive me if I don't have a full build entirely set down, but I'll type in what I have in mind so far.

Human - Meadowfolk

Paladin - Kind Wayfarer

Stats:

• Mig: 16
• Con: 8
• Dex: 10
• Per: 16
• Int: 14
• Res: 14

Considering dropping the Res to 10 to increase Mig, Per, and/or Int.

 

Abilities:

• Flames of Devotion
• Lay on Hands/Healing Chain
• Zealous Focus
• Sworn Enemy
• Reviving Exhortation
• Hastening Exhortation/Reinforcing Exhortation
• Coordinated Attacks/Righteous Soul/Inspiring Triumph
• Sacred Immolation
• Aegis of Loyalty

Talents:

• Strange Mercy
• Weapon Focus: Soldier
• Two Handed Style
• Critical Focus
• Scion of Flame
• Apprentice's Sneak Attack
• Bloody Slaughter/Deep Faith/Unstoppable

In the above, where abilities are seperated by a "/", it is to indicate that I have not yet decided on which to take.

Thinking, as far as weapons go, he'll mainly use Hours of St. Rumbalt or Tall Grass.  Maybe Tidefall.  St. Ydwen's Redeemer when fighting Vessels.  Shatterstar and Outworn Buckler on the occasion I really need more defense.  The best Arquebus I can for initial FoD shots before switching to melee.

Not sure what armor and accessories to use yet.  Sanguine Plate looks appealing.  Probably stuff to increase accuracy, Per, Mig, Int, crit damage, or flanking damage.

Input?  Thank you so much.

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by Esrac

[Boeroer]

If you take Scion of Flame I would also take Intense Flames to upgrade Flames of Devotion and enchant the main weapon with a burning lash. Scion of Flame will increase each of the lashes by 20%.

A good weapon for Paladins' FoD strikes is Firebrand. You can get it with Forgemaster Gloves and/or the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer. 

Tidefall is the two hander with the highest dps potential (if you pick it you want high MIG because the wounding scales with it).

Rumbalt is also nice.

Bloody Slaughter is really bad. What is pretty good for a two hander user is Runner's Wounding Shot which gives your Paladin an additional special attack per encounter.

Generally a good ability for Paladins is Coordinated Attacks. Especially if you also pick a marking weapon (like Blade of the Endless Paths for example which is a great Paladin weapon - there's also a marking arquebus which is a perfect fit to this). You will give the next nearest buddy who attacks the same target as you +20 all-stackable accuracy (passively) - which can help a lot against tough foes.  

DEX is the most impactful stat for dps after the early game (there it's PER) - epecially for a Paladin who has no own speedup ability. Don't neglect MIG and INT because they influence your healing power and Sacred Immolation. 

I personally would aim for the Wayfarer's Hide. It's a great armor. Maybe not everyone's visual preference for a Paladin though. 

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by Boeroer

[stbingen]

Personally I think a paladin is much better built with 1 hander and shield, maximizing defenses and dumping dex (can also dump  int early on if planning on any respeccing), especially with a cipher for mindweb. Paired with a chanter trashmobs will melt from level 9 on, and even more so with sacred immolation, so you won't even notice the loss of dps from not having a twohander.

But on the other side that party should easily be able to steamroll everything anyways, so if you want to use a twohander feel free. But if you really want to have fun with Tall grass use a barbarian.

[Boeroer]

That's a different role then. Not sure if the OP wanted to build a full-on defensive tank.

Looking at the initial ability and talent choice it was my assumption that he wanted to play a somewhat offensively oriented Paladin. 

[stbingen]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

That's a different role then. Not sure if the OP wanted to build a full-on defensive tank.

Looking at the initial ability and talent choice it was my assumption that he wanted to play a somewhat offensively oriented Paladin. 

For sure, and you already helped him with that, I just wanted to give him a powergaming alternative.

[Esrac]

The intention for my build is a bit of a Offense - Support/Healing Hybrid, more so than a tanky Paladin.

After the input, I'm amending the build a bit:

Human - Meadowfolk

Paladin - Kind Wayfarer

Stats:

• Mig: 16
• Con: 8
• Dex: 14
• Per: 16
• Int: 14
• Res: 10

Dropped the Res to 10 to increase Dex to 14.  I suppose I could drop Mig and Per to 15 to bump Con up to 10, but I'm not immediately inclined to.

 

Abilities:

• Flames of Devotion
• Lay on Hands/Healing Chain
• Zealous Focus
• Sworn Enemy
• Reviving Exhortation
• Hastening Exhortation/Reinforcing Exhortation
• Coordinated Attacks
• Sacred Immolation
• Aegis of Loyalty/Righteous Soul/Inspiring Triumph

I am having difficulty deciding between Aegis of Loyalty, Righteous Soul, and Inspiring Triump.  Inspiring Triumph seems like it would have good synergy with Strange Mercy and, later, Sacred Immolation.  But Aegis of Loyalty also seems like it would have good synergy with Sacred Immolation.; the idea being an ally get's charmed, takes minor damage from Sacred Immolation, and is quickly uncharmed.  But Righteous Soul also seems appeals, to keep the Paladin safe from some nasty status ailments. 

Currently leaning toward Reinforcing Exhortation over Hastening, due to the Per Encounter uses.  Reviving Exhortation seems like it would be highly valuable in a party on PotD difficulty.

Talents:

• Strange Mercy
• Weapon Focus: Soldier
• Two Handed Style
• Critical Focus
• Scion of Flame
• Apprentice's Sneak Attack
• Runner's Wounding Shot

Dropped Bloody Slaughter entirely for RWS.  I hadn't considered it before, because I erroneously assumed it would be restricted to ranged attacks.  Having an additional offensive option other than FoD does sound nice.  I don't think I realized Bloody Slaughter only activates on enemies who are under 10% health.  I had it in my head that it would be 20 - 30%.  I can't see the last 10% being a worthwhile threshold, unless the target has a massive endurance stat. 

 

I have a hard time finding a spot for the suggested Intense Flames.  +25% to just FoD's fire damage doesn't seem to have the broad appeal as the damage increase from Scion of Flame, Two Handed Style, Appentice's Sneak Attack, or Weapon Focus working on nearly all my attacks.  A note regarding ASA, that seems like free 15% damage, when I'm going to be inflicting a lot of Prone, Blind, Paralyze, and Flanked status on enemies anyway between GM and Aloth.  Eder will get some Prone's in.

 

Can't think of anything worth dropping to take Unstoppable or Deep Faith either.

Is my thinking on this sound or flawed?

Edited July 21, 2020 by Esrac