First POTD run, party help (using companions)

[JoshuaNLG]

Hey guys, I'm looking to start my first ever POTD run in a long time, I'm not incredibly good at these sorts of games, but I really do enjoy them and I'm eager to learn.

I've got my party kind of figured out, but there are some gaps I could use some help filling. For the companions i know for a certain that i definitely want the following:

Eder: Swashbuckler
Tekehu: Druid
Maia: Scout

but that's it, I don't know what companion i would like to fill the 4th slot, or what class my watcher could be to best fit the parties needs, does anyone have any suggestions/helpful advice?

Edited November 21, 2020 by JoshuaNLG

[Boeroer]

There are a ton of options. I would say though that bringing a Priest for the buffs is always good (so Xoti in this case).

If Edér is supposed to be a tank then I personally would pick another caster I guess. Something with Bloodmage or Troubadour or Beguiler or Psion. I had a lot of fun with Troubadour/Psion as CC/dmg hybrid lately since it's a non-stop caster (nearly always enough focus or phrases to cast stuff, endless resources). 

But it would help to narrow it down if you tell us what you'd like best. A lot of stuff is viable even on PotD. 

Edited November 21, 2020 by Boeroer

[JoshuaNLG]

Thank you for the reply.

Xoti it is! Will she not overlap with Tekehu much?

I was originally thinking of a Cipher for my watcher, though that'd leave Eder as the only frontline and i wasn't sure if just him would be enough, or if two is the sweet spot I'd want to hit.

I'm basically looking to make POTD as accessible as possible for myself, so that i can have the challenge but not feel like i'm hitting my head against a wall at times, though i know this will inevitably happen at points.

[Boeroer]

1 hour ago, JoshuaNLG said:

Xoti it is! Will she not overlap with Tekehu much?

Tekehu has some awesome foe-only offensive "watery" spells. I mostly don't cast anything else with him. And Great Maelstrom at PL9.
Xoti's offensive arsenal is mostly fire. So she will cover that part. 
Druid's usually do CC and dmg and healing whilke Priests mostly buff and later deal fire dmg and also heal. Since you can't have too much healing capability there's no problem. 

Speaking of Tekehu: once you get to PL8 and can pick Avenging Storm you could try out how he does with Serafen's Hand Mortar + Fire in the Hole. It's pretty devastating...

 

 

1 hour ago, JoshuaNLG said:

I was originally thinking of a Cipher for my watcher, though that'd leave Eder as the only frontline and i wasn't sure if just him would be enough, or if two is the sweet spot I'd want to hit.

You could take the melee/caster hybrid route and do something like Bloodmage/Steel Garotte (although the favorite dispositions of Stell Garotte are not everybody's cup of tea) or any Arcane Knight really. They can be extremely tanky while being able to sling spells. Something sturdy with Skald is also nice - like Devoted/Skald. I'm playing a Helwalker/Skald atm and if I would use a phrase like Ancient Memory I would be rel. sturdy. A Paladin/Troubadour can be very, very sturdy, make the party more sturdy via Exalted Endurance + Ancient Memory and cast invocations (e.g. calling summons), too.   

[JoshuaNLG]

Sounds good!

I was originally planning to have Tekehu as the support of the group, mainly being a healer but I see now that if i were to put him in that role, I'd be losing a lot of the value from his unique subclass.

I plan on having Eder use a dual wield setup, as I found the Engaging Eder build and that looks like a lot of fun to watch play out, would you say a Paladin/troubadour would work well if i were to focus them on 2 handed weapons? I love the theme of a Paladin rocking a two handed weapon, and if that would be possible to utilize that would be great, my only caveat is that I prefer to play as a more 'good aligned' character, so that rules out Bleak walkers and steel garotte.

[Boeroer]

If you like Paladin/something with Great Swords I can recommend Whispers of the Endless Paths (which is a huge, massive blade) with its enchantment "Offensive Parry".
Offensive Parry will give you a free riposte attack (instant, no animation, no recovery) every time an enemy does miss you. Offensive Parry attacks generate focus for ciphers (i like Paladin/Soulblade), wounds for Shattered Pillar Monks (not that high deflection but great dmg output) and can also be used by a Paladin/Skald to gain phrases (if they crit). You "only" need a lot of deflection. Luckily Paladins do have some deflection buffs.

A good synergy of tankyness, melee dmg and some casting would be a Paladin/Trickster. Tricksters get Mirrored Image which stacks with the Paladin's passive deflection buffs, giving you high deflection. Combine with fitting items like Cloak of Greater deflection etc. Also Riposte (from Rogue) stacks with Offensive Parry. So enemy misses can result in two parallel retaliations. The Rogue's strikes all work with the WotEP's cone shaped AoE, for example Blinding Strike. And Tricksters can use some CC spells like Dazzling Lights, Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage and so on. It's a fun combo and a good frontliner. Against single targets you can bring another great sword because while WotEP is nice against mobs who attack you it's not that effective against remaining single targets.
 

[JoshuaNLG]

The Paladin/Trickster combo seems pretty neat, would it be worth going for that even if I'm trying to get Eder to take the majority of the focus? As they would lose a lot of value from offensive parry if they're not getting hit as much. It does sound like a very fun playstyle for me though, so I'd love to try it out if you think it'd be valuable with this party setup i have going, otherwise I think i may just end looking up a Paladin/Cipher.

[Boeroer]

If Edér is engaging a lot of enemies then there will be less of them attacking you in melee, that's right. But you can still flank them and attack them with the cone AoE. Like hitting them all with Arterial Strike and Gouging Strike, later even Toxic Strike. And should they turn around and attack you you'll have those parries.

Paladin/Soulblade with WotEP is also very nice: you generate focus with (Eternal) Flames of Devotion and then dump the focus again with Soul Annihilation (which also works well with the cone AoE).

  

[JoshuaNLG]

Sounds good!

So am i understanding right that with the conal AoE from WotEP, it causes the abilities to hit everything with that ability, essentially turning a single target ability into an AoE? If so, i think I'll end up going for a trickster rogue.

Going to end up having 3 rogues in the party haha!

[Boeroer]

Yes, at least all strike abilities of the Rogue class. Flames of Devotion, too. 

If you don't want three Rogues then you can play rel. similar with a Paladin/Soulblade and have more spell variety but a bit less weapon dmg. 

Paladin/Skald as well. Flames of Devotion + Ring of Focused Flames means +20 Accuracy which leads to a lot of crits, giving the Skald phrases. You can use Killers Froze Stiff for CC and the Lightning invocation is pretty strong, especially if fueled with a lash from Eternal Devotion. 

Even a Paladin/Monk with that setup can be lots of fun.

[JoshuaNLG]

I think i may go for the Paladin/Skald, as that'll be able to provide a bit of utility to some of the group as well, the idea of dishing out big crits appeals to me as well, so to gain a benefit from the crits more than just damage will be great.

I hate to ask, but do you have any recommendations on any must have skills/etc? Flames of devotion is an obvious one, alongside the paladin auras.

I'm thinking the stat spread would probably be something like 18 might/18 int for the chanter phrases, but I'm not sure? I've never played a Skald before.
I have the beraths blessings aswell for the +2 bonuses on each stat, and access to the 50k gold if there's anything worth grabbing early on.

[Boeroer]

You would want high perception and intellect. Might is not that important but you wouldn't want to lower it too much either. 

I'd say the two most important invocations are the Lightning Cone and Killers Froze Stiff. Ben Fidel's Neck is also very good because the defense debuff stacks with almost everything. White Worms is a very powerful invocation, too (if you understand how it works).

One important thing about Chanters: their phrase pool size is determined by the most costly invocation they have. Meaning if your most expensive invocation costs 6 phrases your max phrase count will be 6. No if a Skald only picks offensive invocations (which he gets a discount on) he will have a rel. small phrase pool. You want to pick an expensive (yet useful) invocation at some point to get a bigger pool. As multiclass Skald a great condadate for such an inv. is for example the Animated Weapons which will give you a phrase pool of 7 ( 6 and the Skald's increased cost of +1 because it's a non-offensive invocation). Maybe take another costly summoning invocation on the way to max level to enjoy the benefits of a bigger phrase pool before the end game. At the start of each encounter you'll have a phrase boost and can cast even your most costly invocation right away. Summons are very impactful early in the fight. Or use a buffing cone. Those are also quite good because long-lasting.

[JoshuaNLG]

Great, time to put all the information to use!

Good to know about the phrases as well, thank you very much for all the helpful advice!

Edit:

I have changed my mind haha!
I did some more googling and I've decided I'm going to rock a Paladin/Cipher instead, i was looking at all the buffs they're able to provide themselves, and it looks like a Paladin/Cipher will be capable of dishing out the biggest hits.

Edited November 22, 2020 by JoshuaNLG

[Boeroer]

Keep in mind that several Cipher spells can't be cast on themselves though.

[JoshuaNLG]

I came across this guide and it looks pretty good, it detailed what skills are worth taking on the cipher, would you say this is a good start?

https://fextralife.com/pillars-of-eternity-2-builds-guide-inquisitor/

 

It's from 2018 so I don't know if any patches have made it moot since then.

Would you also say the focus of Int/Perception is still the go-to for stats?

[Boeroer]

It says

Please note that this Build Guide was updated for the 5.0 version of the game, as well as 1.01 on console (as of January 20th, 2020), and works with both Real Time with Pause and Turn-Based.

so I guess you're good.

The subclasses in that build are Bleak Walker/Soulblade - which is nice generally - but you said you want to play a good guy so I suggest to pick anotehr paladin subclass like Kind Wayfarer for example. 

[JoshuaNLG]

Ah i missed that!

Fantastic, thanks again for all the help!