Request advice from PoE1 - PoE2. Multi-classing Kind Wayfarer.

[Esrac]

Hey.

So, I just finished up my run through PoE1 with my Kind Wayfarer.  Using Greatswords.

I'd like to continue into PoE2 with a similar build, but I also want to try the multi-class system.  So, I'm wondering what another class would work well to complement a Kind Wayfarer.  I was considering Fighter, Barbarian, Priest, or Cipher, but I'm undecided. 

I'm inclined toward mainly using a Greatsword, I was considering Whispers of the Endless Paths for the nostalgia my Watcher would have for Caed Nua.  However, I'm not specifically married to that choice.

If it helps, I do plan to use Aloth, Eder, and Pallegina in my party, to get the band back together.

I'm not really asking for a specific, step-by-step build, but some pointed advice, suggestions, warnings, etc. regarding classes, abilities, gear, and stats are most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Esrac

[Boeroer]

Hi!

A class that complements a Kind Wayfarer very well is a Chanter, more specifically a Troubadour. 

Of the classes you were considering (and with Whispers of the Endless Paths in mind) I'd pick Fighter. Crusaders are very tough and are a good pick for first-time Deadfire players. If you want to stick to Great Sword at all times I would use the Devoted Subclass. 

Note that White Flames (the Flames of Devotion from Kind Wayfarers that heals allies) triggers twice when you are dual-wielding weapons. So Kind Wayfarers with two weapons (or weapon + bashing shield) will do twice the healing compared to a Great Sword (or any other two-hander or a single one hander).

Edited September 4, 2020 by Boeroer

[Esrac]

I was wondering.

How well are stats weighted in PoE2?  In PoE1, I went with:

Mig: 15

Con: 08

Dex: 14

Per: 16

Int: 14

Res: 10

Being a Kind Wayfarer, the role I was wanting him to fill is a sort of damage/healer hybrid, with some defensive support.  Would a Kind Wayfarer/Fighter hybrid support that, or just make me tankier?

I was planning to take Pallegina along too and I figured she would already cover the Paladin/Chanter role.

Is the healing from White Flames substantial enough that dual wielding is markedly superior to a Great Sword?  Perhaps I should reconsider? I suppose I could take a look at Swords, Axes or War Hammers.  After looking around online, I've seen posts on reddit, etc. suggesting that Whispers of the Endless Paths was substantially nerfed at some point?  Some suggest to the point of being useless.

[Boeroer]

Stats are fine.

A Kind Wayfarer/Fighter can def. be a damage dealer/support hybrid and be very tough at the same time. Fighter has some nice passives and active abilities that can substitute that playstyle. Look at Armored Grace, Cleaving Stance, Disciplined Strikes or Tactical Barrage and so on. 

The healing of White Flames scales with Power Level. So it always stays viable. You must decide if 2* healing via Flames of Devotion is enough for you to give up two handers or if it's ok to only heal once per FoD use. Paladins have other sources of healing as well: Exalted Endurance, Lay on Hands and so on. 

If you decide on dual wielding and pick Devoted as fighter subclass: choose a weapon that has good uniques and has two damage types. For example swords (pierce/slash damage). If you take Monastic Unarmed Training then you will always have fists a crushing backup. Devoted have one weapon proficiency and also they always have fist proficiency - so you can cause three types of damage (what fits best at any given time) without running into the "Devoted-gets huge malus" problem. 

If you plan to use a lot of different weapons (which is more effective but a lot of players don't like to switch weapons according to the enemies' weaknesses) then I would pick Black Jacket as Subclass. 

 

Another good multiclass for damage/support with a Wayfarer is Kind Wayfarer/Trickster by the way. Can be very tanky (due to Mirrored Images etc.) and can heal as well as deal good damage and even dish out CC.

Whispers of the Endless Paths is an awesome weapon still. But you have to know how to use it properly. For example it has the enchantment Offensive Parry which is extremely good if you have very high deflection. It's also very good if you have high INT and can dish out afflictions (for example Crippling Strike) since special attack effects apply to all enemies in the cone. It's not the best weapon in 1:1 fights though. 

Edited September 5, 2020 by Boeroer

[Esrac]

Do two-handers, like Great Swords, have any solid advantages over dual wielding?  Or is dual wielding objectively superior due to full attacks applying twice, like White Flames?  I'm not exactly sure what I would be giving up in exchange for the double heal effect.

In PoE1, I had my Watcher mainly use Hours of St. Rumbalt at first, then switched to using Tidefall for the Drain to overcome the damage from Sacred Immolation.  I had Pallegina dualwielding Shatterstar and Godansthunyr. 

I did notice that, while WotEP deals cone AoE damage, it also deals lower damage than other Great Swords, so I figured I'd use a different one in my other equipment slot for single-targets.  I did notice the Offensive Parry ability and I did think that might scale well with Faith and Conviction.  Does it trigger a single-target counter or an AoE counter?  I also saw the Blade Form reduces recovery time per hit, is that worthwhile on a weapon that can hit multiple targets per swing?  Does the cone effect AoE apply to all active abilities?  Will a Flames of Devotion, Wounding Shot, Knockdown, etc. strike hit all the targets?

One of the reasons I was considering Paladin/Barbarian was because of how well Carnage synergized with weapons like Tall Grass and Hours in PoE1. 

 

 

[MountainTiger]

Dual wielding full attacks get a damage penalty that keep them reasonably in line with two-handers.

Offensive Parry hits the whole AOE and inflicts Dazed (-5 Might, -4 Pen), which is a big survivability boost against attacks that do hit.

Both Carnage and CC weapons got hit hard with nerfs. Nothing procs CC on all crits the way Stunning and Overbearing weapons did in POE1, and Carnage is now just AOE raw damage instead of an actual weapon attack, so it doesn't have particular synergy with weapons that proc on hit/crit.

[Esrac]

16 minutes ago, MountainTiger said:

Dual wielding full attacks get a damage penalty that keep them reasonably in line with two-handers.

Offensive Parry hits the whole AOE and inflicts Dazed (-5 Might, -4 Pen), which is a big survivability boost against attacks that do hit.

Both Carnage and CC weapons got hit hard with nerfs. Nothing procs CC on all crits the way Stunning and Overbearing weapons did in POE1, and Carnage is now just AOE raw damage instead of an actual weapon attack, so it doesn't have particular synergy with weapons that proc on hit/crit.

 

Yeah, I read that.  But do two-handers generally get some kind of advantage over dual-wielding to make up for effects going off twice on full attacks? 

That does sound like it would be, beneficial when fighting a group if you have high deflection.  I assume, since WotEP is primarily viable when fighting a group, the Spinning Assault would be better than Run Through?  Is the Increased Reach enough to fight from behind a tanky fighter, like Pikes?  Or just enough to hit someone behind your primary target?

I think I've narrowed it down to Crusader or Inquisitor.  Inquisitor mostly for RP reasons.  Becoming again the Inquisitor we used to be, etc.  But I don't know how well Cipher meshes with Kind Wayfarer.

On 9/4/2020 at 6:57 PM, Boeroer said:

Hi!

A class that complements a Kind Wayfarer very well is a Chanter, more specifically a Troubadour. 

Of the classes you were considering (and with Whispers of the Endless Paths in mind) I'd pick Fighter. Crusaders are very tough and are a good pick for first-time Deadfire players. If you want to stick to Great Sword at all times I would use the Devoted Subclass. 

Note that White Flames (the Flames of Devotion from Kind Wayfarers that heals allies) triggers twice when you are dual-wielding weapons. So Kind Wayfarers with two weapons (or weapon + bashing shield) will do twice the healing compared to a Great Sword (or any other two-hander or a single one hander).

 

I meant to ask, what is it about Troubadour that really complements Kind Wayfarer.  At a glance, it seems like they just chant faster and it lingers longer?  Is it to just contribute more passive group support?

[MountainTiger]

I don't think there is any particular advantage for two-handers over dual wielding with full attacks, and for Kind Wayfarers specifically the double heal pushes the other way. But either a Crusader or an Inquisitor with WotEP should get a lot of free damage out of Offensive Parry, which might be a reason to go for the two hander.

There is an older Inquisitor build with WotEP on here; while some aspects were nerfed, Offensive Parry building focus for being missed still seems good and Borrowed Instinct is still one of the best all defenses buffs in the game.

[Esrac]

1 hour ago, MountainTiger said:

I don't think there is any particular advantage for two-handers over dual wielding with full attacks, and for Kind Wayfarers specifically the double heal pushes the other way. But either a Crusader or an Inquisitor with WotEP should get a lot of free damage out of Offensive Parry, which might be a reason to go for the two hander.

There is an older Inquisitor build with WotEP on here; while some aspects were nerfed, Offensive Parry building focus for being missed still seems good and Borrowed Instinct is still one of the best all defenses buffs in the game.

 

Another question:

Is Sacred Immolation a viable ability at this point?  I've read some older topics talking about how the Raw self-damage is so high as to make it almost unusable without a lot of effort to mitigate the damage.

 

[MountainTiger]

I've never felt comfortable with Sacred Immolation without Barring Death's Door as a backstop. The ticks are pretty big, so even if you have a good amount of healing setup a burst of damage plus a tick can put you in dangerous territory.

[Esrac]

Thinking about White Flames proccing twice when DWing is making it haarder to justify using WotEP on my Kind Wayfarer.  Can't help thinking a way to balance that would be if they'd applied some scaling when using a two hander.  Oh well.

I still like the concept of the weapon, but I wonder if it would be better off going to Pallegina.

[Boeroer]

13 hours ago, MountainTiger said:

Offensive Parry hits the whole AOE and inflicts Dazed (-5 Might, -4 Pen), which is a big survivability boost against attacks that do hit.

Tht is not correct. Offensive Parry only executes a single target attack. Nevertheless, the dazing and the fact that it triggers 100& on enemy melee misses makes it quite awesome...

...IF you can raise your deflection high enough. I wouldn't try to build around that with only 10 RES though. Deflection (like all defense stats) has increasing returns: the higher the value the mor impact every additional point has. If you want to reach really good deflection you should max out RES. +10 deflection (20 RES instead of 10) is a bid deal if your deflection is already high (e.g. from Paladin passives + Vigorous Defense and items).

 

13 hours ago, MountainTiger said:

Both Carnage and CC weapons got hit hard with nerfs. Nothing procs CC on all crits the way Stunning and Overbearing weapons did in POE1, and Carnage is now just AOE raw damage instead of an actual weapon attack, so it doesn't have particular synergy with weapons that proc on hit/crit.

Wouldn't say nothing. Clear Out (Fighter ability) still procs all weapon effects in an AoE and is accesible for multiclass characters. All other abilites that do that (Heart of Fury/Barb, Whispers of the Wind/Monk, Whiring Strikes/Ranger) are PL8 or 9 and requite a single class character. 

Clear Out + Whispers of the Endless Paths is a pretty killer combo because all AoE attack rolls of Clear Out do proc an AoE cone of WotEP which results in a ton of hits once enemiey stand close together (e.g. when you are in a doorway and enemies trying to reach you). WotEP also has reach (1.2 meters) which means you can attack an execute Clear Out from behind a tank or so.

 

13 hours ago, Esrac said:

But do two-handers generally get some kind of advantage over dual-wielding to make up for effects going off twice on full attacks? 

Yes, besides them having higher base damage (unlike PoE where heavy one handers had the same base damage as all tow handers) they also have +1 PEN compared to their one handed counterparts (compare Sword to Great Sword, one handed Battle Axe to two handed Battle Axe and so on).

PEN is one of the most important offensive stats in the game. Underpenetrating means a big loss of damage.

The Full Attack dmg malus of dual wielding is pretty substancial, too. Note that dmg maluses are not additive like in PoE but work a bit differently (they pass through something called double inversion which is pretty severy if you have any dmg bonuses - and most chars have). If you are underpenetrating and at the same time get the Full Attack malus then your damage will be pretty crappy. 

This was done to take away the huge advantage of dual wielding over two handers when it comes to Full Attacks - and it works quite well an achieved that. 

11 hours ago, Esrac said:

Is Sacred Immolation a viable ability at this point?  I've read some older topics talking about how the Raw self-damage is so high as to make it almost unusable without a lot of effort to mitigate the damage.

If you use some items with damage reduction (see Voidward and food like Rice etc.) and use Lay on Hands on yourself you can manage. If you add some regeneration items (Greater Ring of Regeneration etc.) and Exalted Endurance then even more so. Also Constant Recovery and Unbending will help immensely. If I'm not mistaken then high RES also shortens the duration of tha harmful self damage part, but I'm not 100% sure about that. Sacred Immolation has quite high PEN and thus is often very useful againt everything that's not immune to fire damage. It def. boosts your dps potential if you can manage to stay alive (which is not that hard but needs some care as you can see).

13 hours ago, Esrac said:

I meant to ask, what is it about Troubadour that really complements Kind Wayfarer.  At a glance, it seems like they just chant faster and it lingers longer?  Is it to just contribute more passive group support?

Troubadour can stack two phrases in parallel very easily without enormous INT and thus can stack Ancient Memory (great passoive healing for everybody which stacks with Exalted Endurance) and another phrase like Mith Fyr (nice multiplicative dps boost for everybody, stacks with Flames of Devotion and Shared Flames of Paladin) or Her Courage (damage shield for everybody) or whatever. Which turns the Kind Wayfarer/Troubadour into an awesome passive healer/support. And from time to time you can dish out an Invocation, too. If you use Sasha's Singing Scimitar (awesome for Chanters) you can even empower an invocation 1/encounter "for free" (no need to rest). 

13 hours ago, Esrac said:

I think I've narrowed it down to Crusader or Inquisitor.  Inquisitor mostly for RP reasons.  Becoming again the Inquisitor we used to be, etc.  But I don't know how well Cipher meshes with Kind Wayfarer.

Paladin/Cipher work well together. Here it's especially nice to use Whispers of the Endless Paths because the Offensive Parry will generate focus while you are doing something else. You just have to provoke misses from enemies. You can do that by stacking paladin defenses, high RES and Psychovampiric Shield as well as Borrowed Instincts - and also by debuffing enemies' ACC. Also Pain Block is an awesome support spell for party members. Ancestor's Memory is super-impactful if you have casters in your ranks. In general Ciphers have some good support abilities. WotEP is especially good with Soul Blades because Soul Annihilation (works with Eternal Devotion by the way) applies raw damage to ALL enemies int the AoE cone of WotEP which is pretty great. All other attacks beside Soul Annihilation will also generate focus with the AoE cone.

Crusader is an uncomplicated combo. It's very straightforward and "solid": hard to bring down, sustained good damage (not breathtaking damage but not shabby either and very reliable) until Sacred Immolation arrives (which makes things more complicated but surely raises your dmg output). The highih-level stuff of Fighter can bring more damage to the table (Clear Out for example). Also Fighters can get several "passive" speed boosts that cost no resources which translates directly to more dps: Armored Grace (great if combined with Devil of Caroc Breastplate, Helm of the Falcon - great visual combo, too - and a pet that reduces armor recovery penalty like Abraham or Cutthrout Cosmo) & Mob Stance. 

---

PS: One additional thing with WotEP: It's the only reason why I would pick Glorious Beacon-->Inspired Beacon. Because the blind leads to less ACC on the enemy which leads to more misses which leads to your Offensive Parry getting +40% dmg output which is nice. 

A nice Great Sword alternative that is obtainable rel. early (if you don't mind making a beelin to a certain island and come back later for quests) is Krabörü. It's very cool with Clear Out (Fighter) als well as focus generation of ciphers (the AoE on crit generates focus). The Twin Eels - which you can get later in the game - may be a great weapon for a Kind Wayfarer who also has offensive abitions. Another good one is Effort (Maiming is strong). 


 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Boeroer

[Esrac]

2 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Tht is not correct. Offensive Parry only executes a single target attack. Nevertheless, the dazing and the fact that it triggers 100& on enemy melee misses makes it quite awesome...

...IF you can raise your deflection high enough. I wouldn't try to build around that with only 10 RES though. Deflection (like all defense stats) has increasing returns: the higher the value the mor impact every additional point has. If you want to reach really good deflection you should max out RES. +10 deflection (20 RES instead of 10) is a bid deal if your deflection is already high (e.g. from Paladin passives + Vigorous Defense and items).

 

Wouldn't say nothing. Clear Out (Fighter ability) still procs all weapon effects in an AoE and is accesible for multiclass characters. All other abilites that do that (Heart of Fury/Barb, Whispers of the Wind/Monk, Whiring Strikes/Ranger) are PL8 or 9 and requite a single class character. 

Clear Out + Whispers of the Endless Paths is a pretty killer combo because all AoE attack rolls of Clear Out do proc an AoE cone of WotEP which results in a ton of hits once enemiey stand close together (e.g. when you are in a doorway and enemies trying to reach you). WotEP also has reach (1.2 meters) which means you can attack an execute Clear Out from behind a tank or so.

 

Yes, besides them having higher base damage (unlike PoE where heavy one handers had the same base damage as all tow handers) they also have +1 PEN compared to their one handed counterparts (compare Sword to Great Sword, one handed Battle Axe to two handed Battle Axe and so on).

PEN is one of the most important offensive stats in the game. Underpenetrating means a big loss of damage.

The Full Attack dmg malus of dual wielding is pretty substancial, too. Note that dmg maluses are not additive like in PoE but work a bit differently (they pass through something called double inversion which is pretty severy if you have any dmg bonuses - and most chars have). If you are underpenetrating and at the same time get the Full Attack malus then your damage will be pretty crappy. 

This was done to take away the huge advantage of dual wielding over two handers when it comes to Full Attacks - and it works quite well an achieved that. 

If you use some items with damage reduction (see Voidward and food like Rice etc.) and use Lay on Hands on yourself you can manage. If you add some regeneration items (Greater Ring of Regeneration etc.) and Exalted Endurance then even more so. Also Constant Recovery and Unbending will help immensely. If I'm not mistaken then high RES also shortens the duration of tha harmful self damage part, but I'm not 100% sure about that. Sacred Immolation has quite high PEN and thus is often very useful againt everything that's not immune to fire damage. It def. boosts your dps potential if you can manage to stay alive (which is not that hard but needs some care as you can see).

Troubadour can stack two phrases in parallel very easily without enormous INT and thus can stack Ancient Memory (great passoive healing for everybody which stacks with Exalted Endurance) and another phrase like Mith Fyr (nice multiplicative dps boost for everybody, stacks with Flames of Devotion and Shared Flames of Paladin) or Her Courage (damage shield for everybody) or whatever. Which turns the Kind Wayfarer/Troubadour into an awesome passive healer/support. And from time to time you can dish out an Invocation, too. If you use Sasha's Singing Scimitar (awesome for Chanters) you can even empower an invocation 1/encounter "for free" (no need to rest). 

Paladin/Cipher work well together. Here it's especially nice to use Whispers of the Endless Paths because the Offensive Parry will generate focus while you are doing something else. You just have to provoke misses from enemies. You can do that by stacking paladin defenses, high RES and Psychovampiric Shield as well as Borrowed Instincts - and also by debuffing enemies' ACC. Also Pain Block is an awesome support spell for party members. Ancestor's Memory is super-impactful if you have casters in your ranks. In general Ciphers have some good support abilities. WotEP is especially good with Soul Blades because Soul Annihilation (works with Eternal Devotion by the way) applies raw damage to ALL enemies int the AoE cone of WotEP which is pretty great. All other attacks beside Soul Annihilation will also generate focus with the AoE cone.

Crusader is an uncomplicated combo. It's very straightforward and "solid": hard to bring down, sustained good damage (not breathtaking damage but not shabby either and very reliable) until Sacred Immolation arrives (which makes things more complicated but surely raises your dmg output). The highih-level stuff of Fighter can bring more damage to the table (Clear Out for example). Also Fighters can get several "passive" speed boosts that cost no resources which translates directly to more dps: Armored Grace (great if combined with Devil of Caroc Breastplate, Helm of the Falcon - great visual combo, too - and a pet that reduces armor recovery penalty like Abraham or Cutthrout Cosmo) & Mob Stance. 

---

PS: One additional thing with WotEP: It's the only reason why I would pick Glorious Beacon-->Inspired Beacon. Because the blind leads to less ACC on the enemy which leads to more misses which leads to your Offensive Parry getting +40% dmg output which is nice. 

A nice Great Sword alternative that is obtainable rel. early (if you don't mind making a beelin to a certain island and come back later for quests) is Krabörü. It's very cool with Clear Out (Fighter) als well as focus generation of ciphers (the AoE on crit generates focus). The Twin Eels - which you can get later in the game - may be a great weapon for a Kind Wayfarer who also has offensive abitions. Another good one is Effort (Maiming is strong). 


 

First, thank you so much for the extensive response.  Your insight is appreciated.

If I were to proceed with WotEP on my Watcher, would you then suggest I alter my stats to accommodate Offensive Parry or pick up Blade Form instead with my current stats?  I figured on WotEP in the first place, because I figured Offensive Parry would work well with Faith and Conviction and the AoE would work well with Flames of Devotion.  Would you recommend Run Through or Spinning Assault?  I'll probably keep a second weapon on hand for focusing a single target.  I don't mind shifting my  stats around a bit, but I'm not sure where I could pull 5+ stat points from, if Mig, Dex, Per, and Int are as useful in PoE2 as they were in PoE1.  I'm not inclined for a total min/max build, so 08 is about as low as I'm willing to go on any one stat. 

If it helps, I'm currently looking at the following for my primary party members:  Watcher Kind Wayfarer, Eder, Aloth, Pallegina, Xoti, and a rotating slot depending on what I need.  That does leave me without a dedicated Cipher, so perhaps Inquisitor is the way to go.   I figure Pallegina can fulfill the Paladin/Chanter role; with RP reasoning bonus, since she is an Avian Godlike and Hylea is the goddess of songs.

But the idea of WotEP + Clear Out/Knockdown and Armored Grace is really appealing too. 

So many choices on character building.

[Boeroer]

I strongly favor Offensive Parry over Blade Form - but it's very dependent on the build (mainly deflection). If you don't want to put a lot of emphasis on deflection (like letting RES sit at 10 for example) and rather whack around as fast as possible then take Blade Form (and all the other speedups you can get like Devil of Caroc Breastplate + Helm of the Falcon and the right pet etc).

If you want to switch weapons as seldomly as possible I would pick Run Through. It does quite a lot of damage (profits from all dmg bonuses normal attacks would also get and has very high base dmg) and can finish a single foe quickly. So instead of switching to a normal great sword in order to deal with a remaining annoying single foe you can just use Run Through instead. 

If you like to stand in the midst of it all and deliver a round swing then take Spinning Assault. Spinning Assault is also better for Ciphers since it generates a lot of focus when executed against a lot of attackers. 

By the way: WotEP has lower base damage than normal Great Swords; players often think this makes it terrible against single targets - but it also has a build-in crushing lash (which is a multiplicative dmg bonus) and +1 PEN compared to other Great Swords. This can mean that it actually does more dmg than a normal great sword against single enemies who have pretty thick pierce and slash AR. Nevertheless - make sure to bring a backup weapon (e.g. Effort or so) for tough single targets because usually WotEP is indeed better suited for mobs and not for singular foes. 

Pallegina is good as Herald. Aloth could play a Battlemage and use WotEP for Clear-Out-Magic. Wizard buffs (Mirrored Images etc.) and Vigorous Defense do stack their deflection. Also Infuse with Vital Essence does boost INT which is nice for the cone size. So Aloth could do Offensive Parries while casting some spells - and then also do AoE-Mule Kicks etc. There is a unique grimoire that has an awesome melee spell called Zandthu's Draconic Fury. I think it unlocks at PL 7. Also as Spellblade that's a nice combo because he can apply stuff like Arterial Strike within the whole cone. Also Riposte does stack with Offensive Parry. Also Riposte does a cone attack unlike Offensive Parry iirc.
That would allow you to play an Inquisitor and still do all that WotEP stuff.

For a two-handed Inquisitor I personally do recommend a Morning Star, more specifically the Willbreaker. Every party shouls have a Moring Star because of the very good modal it has. It makes landing Disintegrate and several other spells so much easier. Also the Willbreaker lowers Will which is good for any Cipher. It also as some special enchantments that work when enemies ave certan mind afflictions - and ciphers have an easy time applying these...
 

[nouser]

14 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Sorry for asking this here. I have already done a post in the forum concerning that. But i would like this to be answered in a fast way.  Ydwin vanished from my party, probably died during fight with pirates. Is there a way to revive her , maybe through the console or through a mod ?  if you dont want to answer here , please answer in my post.

 

 

[Esrac]

7 hours ago, Boeroer said:

I strongly favor Offensive Parry over Blade Form - but it's very dependent on the build (mainly deflection). If you don't want to put a lot of emphasis on deflection (like letting RES sit at 10 for example) and rather whack around as fast as possible then take Blade Form (and all the other speedups you can get like Devil of Caroc Breastplate + Helm of the Falcon and the right pet etc).

If you want to switch weapons as seldomly as possible I would pick Run Through. It does quite a lot of damage (profits from all dmg bonuses normal attacks would also get and has very high base dmg) and can finish a single foe quickly. So instead of switching to a normal great sword in order to deal with a remaining annoying single foe you can just use Run Through instead. 

If you like to stand in the midst of it all and deliver a round swing then take Spinning Assault. Spinning Assault is also better for Ciphers since it generates a lot of focus when executed against a lot of attackers. 

By the way: WotEP has lower base damage than normal Great Swords; players often think this makes it terrible against single targets - but it also has a build-in crushing lash (which is a multiplicative dmg bonus) and +1 PEN compared to other Great Swords. This can mean that it actually does more dmg than a normal great sword against single enemies who have pretty thick pierce and slash AR. Nevertheless - make sure to bring a backup weapon (e.g. Effort or so) for tough single targets because usually WotEP is indeed better suited for mobs and not for singular foes. 

Pallegina is good as Herald. Aloth could play a Battlemage and use WotEP for Clear-Out-Magic. Wizard buffs (Mirrored Images etc.) and Vigorous Defense do stack their deflection. Also Infuse with Vital Essence does boost INT which is nice for the cone size. So Aloth could do Offensive Parries while casting some spells - and then also do AoE-Mule Kicks etc. There is a unique grimoire that has an awesome melee spell called Zandthu's Draconic Fury. I think it unlocks at PL 7. Also as Spellblade that's a nice combo because he can apply stuff like Arterial Strike within the whole cone. Also Riposte does stack with Offensive Parry. Also Riposte does a cone attack unlike Offensive Parry iirc.
That would allow you to play an Inquisitor and still do all that WotEP stuff.

For a two-handed Inquisitor I personally do recommend a Morning Star, more specifically the Willbreaker. Every party shouls have a Moring Star because of the very good modal it has. It makes landing Disintegrate and several other spells so much easier. Also the Willbreaker lowers Will which is good for any Cipher. It also as some special enchantments that work when enemies ave certan mind afflictions - and ciphers have an easy time applying these...
 

So, how would you recommend I adjust my stats for Offensive Parry?  Dex, Int, Mig, and Per all seem very valuable for a Paladin, so I'm not sure where I could really pull the points from. 

So, WotEP has an additional +1 PEN on top of the higher PEN that twohanded weapons have?  Am I getting that right?

Unfortunately, I won't have access to the Devil of Caroc Breastplate, due to how I did her sidequest in PoE1.  I hadn't looked up anything about what carries over to PoE2 until after I had already done it.

I don't mind switching weapons as needed.  I could probably use WotEP in one set and Willbreaker in the other, if having a Morning Star is so handy.

Going Inquisitor is starting to make a lot of sense, from an RP perspective.  Like a natural evolution of a Watcher's soul-manipulating powers.  And, as you mentioned, it has several abilities that would make Offensive Parry proc more often.  Unless Crusader can do that as well or better?

[Haplok]

Personally I think a Crusader is pretty boring. And the damage output.. well... it will outlast the enemies, but its not exactly exciting.

 

Inquisitor would be more interesting indeed.

Or a Trickster Holy Slayer.

[Boeroer]

12 hours ago, Esrac said:

And, as you mentioned, it has several abilities that would make Offensive Parry proc more often.  Unless Crusader can do that as well or better?

Crusader and Inquisitor are on par when it comes to deflection. Both have access to a +20 buff that stacke with the paladin's passive defense buffs. 

Inquisitor can apply afflictions that lower enemies' accuracy (like Eyestrike) on top of that.  

[zendingo]

A really nice multi-class with kind wayfarer is helwalker monk because wounds not only increase the damage he does but also the healing from white flames. I've done several variations of the build outlined in the post below and it is fun and very effective. Tank, healer, and dps all in one with great action economy.