Priest/Fighter

[Desmodeus]

So... this multiclass. Is there even a reason for it existing?  Is it suppose to be something like Priest of berath/Devoted? But overall berath spellset doesn't exactly bring itself to selfbuffing style of play and look more like some sort of offensive caster(touch of rot, spreading plague). So how is it suuppose to be played?

[thelee]

not sure i quite understand the confusion about fighter/priest (it is probably one of my more frequently used priest multiclass), but here are just a small set of pointers:

• disciplined barrage/tactical barrage/disiplined strikes all also affects non-weapon attack rolls. +5 accuracy (from perception), plus graze->hit chance helps offensive spellcasting a lot. so does the upgrade, where you either get hit->crit chance, or +5 int and +1 PL.
• adventurer/conqueror stance's accuracy bonuses also applies to spells (won't stack with devotions). casters also get some benefit from the deflection boost.
• in close range, with lots of engagement, mob stance's recovery time bonus also helps with spellcasting. priests also have a spell (champion's boon) that gives you lots of engagement, since normally mob stance fighters don't have a lot of engagement without shields.
• armored grace means casters can be faster while wearing armor, possibly even wearing more armor than they would normally
• priest gets access to fast runner and uncanny luck, which are two "universal" passives that the priest normally does not get access to

IMO, fighter + any caster is one of the more easily synergistic builds you can set up, so i'm a little surprised that one has to ask "why does this even exist?"

off the top of my head, i've done a berath and wael multiclass with fighter. the berath was like a battleship spellcaster, slower and heavy hitting. the wael one was a glass cannon build using monastic unarmed training. i think i also did magran, but i don't remember too much what i did (was pretty early in my deadfire playing history)

Edited January 25, 2021 by thelee

[Desmodeus]

Well my brain refused to work with this one as I constantly tried to see it as a figter main with goodies from priest. I didn't tried to see it as a caster with fighter goodies...

[Boeroer]

2 hours ago, thelee said:

• fighter gets access to fast runner and uncanny luck, which are two "universal" passives that the priest normally does not get access to

fixed it.

[thelee]

2 hours ago, Desmodeus said:

Well my brain refused to work with this one as I constantly tried to see it as a figter main with goodies from priest. I didn't tried to see it as a caster with fighter goodies...

even as a fighter main with goodies from priest works. salvation of time plus unbending will make you temporarily immortal, as will barring death's door. i also underline champion's boon again (maybe people undervalue it): +3 engagement means much faster mob stance (getting -25% recovery time bonus is not out of the question), you get tougher (resolute inspiration for extra deflection, which is already a good defense for a fighter; periodic concentration), and helpful for PotD/Veteran you get Tenacious (+2 PEN) which fighter normally doesn't have access to.

litany for the body is super useful on Veteran/PotD because it is an easy, fast, long-lasting source of +2 AR. of course there's also minor avatar and spiritual weapons.

depending on subclass, you can get even more: my wael build was fighter-primary, because on top of other benefits wael gives you a bunch of fast-cast defensive spells that is arguably more favorable than an actual wizard for this kind of multiclass (Arcane Veil and Mirror Image are on separate spell levels for a wael versus sharing one for a wizard, so you get 2x those casts, and 2x more from self-empowerment; plus you get +1 Arcane Veil spell cast pretty easily from certain rest/bathing/pet bonuses). i think skaen would also make for an interesting fighter-first cleric. woedica to a lesser extent (mostly for having probably the best weapons in the game)

Edited January 25, 2021 by thelee

[Boeroer]

27 minutes ago, thelee said:

woedica to a lesser extent (mostly for having probably the best weapons in the game)

Woedica priests have mortars?

[NotDumbEnough]

IMO Berath and Magran are somewhat better suited for single classing. They arguably have the strongest Symbol spells (Magran's especially is fairly insane, as it rolls against will and blinds), but their lower level innate spells don't offer as much utility. Wael and Skaen have somewhat inferior Symbol spells (Wael's symbol is partly offensive and partly defensive, which makes it kind of bad at both, while Skaen only hobbles which is thoroughly unimpressive), but have great utility spells to multiclass with martial classes. Eothas is probably the weakest of the bunch, unless you really need those first aid spells from the priest, in which case it fulfills that role quite well. Haven't really played Woedica so I can't judge (haha).

[thelee]

1 hour ago, NotDumbEnough said:

Magran are somewhat better suited for single classing. They arguably have the strongest Symbol spells (Magran's especially is fairly insane, as it rolls against will and blinds)

i'm actually not very wild about magran's symbol, because fire damage is oh so prevalent already in the priest's repertoire and fire immunity and absorption is relatively common in deadfire. blinding is also an extremely easy affliction to provide, including within the priest's own spell list.

i actually think magran is best for multiclassing since they get so many free damage spells synergizing it with a martial class that can provide buffs for that (ranger, fighter, monk, even barbarian) seems real good, in particular because the top-end tier 8 or tier 9 spells aren't anythign special compared to other priests.

[Boeroer]

Light of Eothas and Symbol of Eothas are good imo. The +15 to all defenses of the Symbol stacks with individual active defense buffs like Mirrored Image and so on. And the Light has 0.5 casting time. Also the Eothasian Incarnate was quite good because it's 3 dawnstar summons with quite good stats who cast several priest spells, including PL8+ spells (for example Symbol of Eothas). Unfortunately one of the summons is always stuck at casting and never finishes - but it can move and soak damage.  

If Priest of Eothas had a Spiritual Morning Star instead of a flail it would be my no.1 pick.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Boeroer

[Desmodeus]

Lets all agree that Symbol of Rymrgand is awesome

[Boeroer]

Indeed

Speaking of Rymrgand, Berath etc.: It would have been a great Blessing of Berath if you could unlock unique companion subclasses such as Harvester of Gaun, Priest of Rymrgand etc. as playable class. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Boeroer

[NotDumbEnough]

1 hour ago, thelee said:

i'm actually not very wild about magran's symbol, because fire damage is oh so prevalent already in the priest's repertoire and fire immunity and absorption is relatively common in deadfire. blinding is also an extremely easy affliction to provide, including within the priest's own spell list.

i actually think magran is best for multiclassing since they get so many free damage spells synergizing it with a martial class that can provide buffs for that (ranger, fighter, monk, even barbarian) seems real good, in particular because the top-end tier 8 or tier 9 spells aren't anythign special compared to other priests.

Priests do, at least, have Spark the Souls of the Righteous as fallback for damage dealing. The 70-80% of the time where it does work, Symbol of Magran works wonders. It's mainly the lower levels where it's an issue, i.e. trying to fight Fire Naga or Rathun while you're below level 16.

[NotDumbEnough]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

Light of Eothas and Symbol of Eothas are good imo. The +15 to all defenses of the Symbol stacks with individual active defense buffs like Mirrored Image and so on. And the Light has 0.5 casting time. Also the Eothasian Incarnate was quite good because it's 3 dawnstar summons with quite good stats who cast several priest spells, including PL8+ spells (for example Symbol of Eothas). Unfortunately one of the summons is always stuck at casting and never finishes - but it can move and soak damage.  

If Priest of Eothas had a Spiritual Morning Star instead of a flail it would be my no.1 pick.

IMO while Symbol of Eothas is nice, the problem is that you have to balance targeting your own team and the enemies. You can get a lesser but still pretty good all defenses buff from Moonwell, while Circle of Protection has it on a shorter duration.

I don't think Light of Eothas is anything special, it's literally two Minor Intercessions for one cast. The thing about support spells from Priests is that you can cast them all from stealth for next to no recovery time, so the benefits of being able to cast a doubled up Minor Intercession feels minimal. It does visually look cool though.

[thelee]

45 minutes ago, NotDumbEnough said:

IMO while Symbol of Eothas is nice, the problem is that you have to balance targeting your own team and the enemies. You can get a lesser but still pretty good all defenses buff from Moonwell, while Circle of Protection has it on a shorter duration.

in practice, i think this is more of an issue for wael (where you either waste its buff or suboptimally target enemiesjust to get a sort of mediocre buff). the +15 all defenses is good enough that i don't mind giving up a few juicy enemy targets to protect my party a bit.