PotD builds and strategies

[AAAWiz4rd]

Picked up Pillars 1 & 2 to familiarize myself with Eora in preparation for Avowed. Ripped through hard mode with what I now know to be a crap build (pike bleak walker). Running PotD, and can't get anything to work.

Nerd Commando posted a pretty good guide on PotD, but it seems all builds are made for lower difficulty. For exampl: I keep seeing builds with 10 or less resolve, and medium to no armor, even though he said to put more points into resolve and use plate on everyone.

I don't want to solo, and I don't want to kite. If anyone can give any advice on moving builds over to PotD, or tell me why I can't defeat a few wolves, that'd be great.

I just tried running a coastal aumaua shield bearer from Rauatai, and almost didn't make it past Sparfel's killers. I used both of my lay on hands just to survive. 14 con and 16 res w/18 intellect and 10 on the rest. Is this not a good tank setup? Or am I being impatient?

I'm pretty new to the game, but after all the research I've done, these dead ends are getting frustrating.

HALP!

Edited December 5, 2020 by AAAWiz4rd
Didn't proof read, and some words were changed with auto-correct that changed the entire meanings of a few sentences.

[Boeroer]

Nerd Commando is covering a bigger amount of games which naturally leads to a somewhat superficial understanding of the mechanics of each game (one only has so much time at hand to deep dive into every game). So just forget what he was recommending. You can totally dump RES and go with no armor on PotD if you know what you are doing. High RES is very good if you are going for max deflection or if you expect to get hit frquently and fear the interrupts. Besides that it's of not much use.  

High DR is good in the early game but not really important later on. The DR values of armor doesn't climb nerly as fast as the damage enemies dish out and your own health pool - so the more you advance the less important it becomes.

And yes, you are being impatient.

Key to an easy early game is accuracy on PotD. Enemies' defenses are higher and since your starting ACC is low in comparison to the later game every point has high impact. the right class (Fighter, Monk, Rogue, Ranger who all start with 30), good starting PER but also one-handed weapon usage (+12 ACC), accurate weapon like spear (+5), Priest's Inspiring Radiance (+10), Blessing or Zealous Focus (+5), Weapon Proficiency (+6) etc. are very good in the early game, especially in combination they make a big difference. Combine that with good debuffs that make it even easier to hit the enemies, for example Chillfog (lowers deflection)! That one of the best early spells - I'd say the best. Also always use flanking (-10 deflection). Meaning attack from opposite sides. Makes a big difference at first. 

Then it's not hard anymore. 

Pike Bleak Walker is not a crap build by the way. It's nothing superspecial but not crap either.  

Edited December 5, 2020 by Boeroer

[AAAWiz4rd]

2 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Nerd Commando is covering a bigger amount of games which naturally leads to a somewhat superficial understanding of the mechanics of each game (one only has so much time at hand to deep dive into every game). So just forget what he was recommending. You can totally dump RES and go with no armor on PotD if you know what you are doing. High RES is very good if you are going for max deflection or if you expect to get hit frquently and fear the interrupts. Besides that it's of not much use.  

High DR is good in the early game but not really important later on. The DR values of armor doesn't climb nerly as fast as the damage enemies dish out and your own health pool - so the more you advance the less important it becomes.

And yes, you are being impatient.

Key to an easy early game is accuracy on PotD. Enemies' defenses are higher and since your starting ACC is low in comparison to the later game every point has high impact. the right class (Fighter, Monk, Rogue, Ranger who all start with 30), good starting PER but also one-handed weapon usage (+12 ACC), accurate weapon like spear (+5), Priest's Inspiring Radiance (+10), Blessing or Zealous Focus (+5), Weapon Proficiency (+6) etc. are very good in the early game, especially in combination they make a big difference. Combine that with good debuffs that make it even easier to hit the enemies, for example Chillfog (lowers deflection)! That one of the best early spells - I'd say the best. Also always use flanking (-10 deflection). Meaning attack from opposite sides. Makes a big difference at first. 

Then it's not hard anymore. 

Pike Bleak Walker is not a crap build by the way. It's nothing superspecial but not crap either.  

1. I'm glad you jumped on this topic, because I've seen you give some pretty good information during my research.

2. Are there any good PotD let's plays? Because it seems like everyone knows someone I don't. Everyone says this 'no bad build' thing is real, but I'm getting ANNIHILATED.

[Desmodeus]

Also I think his PotD guide was done prior to dlc and stats were rebalanced after that. At least his Potd guide is not in his white march 2 playlist

If you are going full party, dumping res is totally viable, especially if you are going with pike or quarterstuff or ranged weapon and thus can keep yourself somewhat away

What is more important on PotD is control. There are much more enemies so ability to disable part of them makes surviving much easier. Be sure to use stuff like stun and prone. Or, you know, kite and seperate them but this is less fun

Personally I find more shooting oriented parties better on PotD then melee one(two tanks and 4 guys with ranged weapons. Kana chanting Ila). Easier to focus on actually dangerous monsters as fight generally consist of 1-2 highly dangerous monster coupled with bunch of bodies who make it harder to get to actual target but it is in no way ideal combination

[Boeroer]

13 hours ago, AAAWiz4rd said:

2. Are there any good PotD let's plays? Because it seems like everyone knows someone I don't. Everyone says this 'no bad build' thing is real, but I'm getting ANNIHILATED.

It's mostly about experience of the player and meta-knowledge. No bad build is not 100% real, you can make pretty lame chars - but it's rel. hard. But there are some builds that - especially in a good partY combination - are def. way better than others. Most likely you just need a bit more practice. It's called "Path of the Damned" for a reason.

And be assured: the difficulty drops a lot once you completed Act I. Funnily enough Act I is the hardest part of the game for most. 

[NotDumbEnough]

For PotD in the first game you really only need to understand that every fight looks like:

1. Buff your own party's accuracy (with a priest)

2. CC the enemy

3. Kill them

You also need to understand what status effects do since some of them can kill you really fast (such as Petrified). Since Priests also provide immunity to all sorts of status effects, and because they are great at buffing accuracy, they're the closest to being a mandatory class in the first game. Just open every fight with Devotions for the Faithful and upgrade your Radiance to buff accuracy. If you're really finding the game hard just reroll a priest with high dexterity and intellect (Durance has low dexterity so he isn't particularly reliable).

[AAAWiz4rd]

Thanks, you guys. I've been doing pretty well with the current build. Just finished Act 1. I'm running a moon godlike kind wayfarer with dual sabers. Focusing on dealing tons of fire damage and on kill healing. Might even post the build. At level 6, things are pretty easy. I was surprised how squishy Raedric and them were (I think I was at level 5 with 5 party members, for that fight). Planning on running purgatory and the endless paths saber. Trying for a completionist run, so I can move on to Deadfire.

[Desmodeus]

You might also consider Bittercut saber from WM1. Corrosive damage is very very good in this game

[Boeroer]

Bittercut is great because it not only has an alternative damage type (corrode/slash) but also works with Spirit of Decay which gives it +20% dmg in all cases (no matter whether corrode or slash dmg gets applied).

[Desmodeus]

Not sure kind wayfarer will be able to get Spirit of Decay in. Bleak worker would have had easier time

[Boeroer]

Why that? Both thave the same amount of talents available.

[Desmodeus]

I somehow messed up Kind Wayfarer and Goldpact knight in my head. Thought Kind wayfarer one with additional burn DoT on Flames so he will pretty much 100% go with Scion. Nevermind