Returning player, party composition!

[Vesimas]

Hello, i played Deadfire (finished PoE 1)when it came out, maybe for a couple of hours, then i quitted for something else. Now i want to start it again. I'll play the turn base mode on classic/veteran difficulty and i'am going through what party to do. Atm it come out this setup:

Aloth - Battlemage - MT
Xoti - Monk - OT/DPS
Tekehu - Watershaper - Ranged DPS/Healer
Maia - Scout - Ranged DPS
MC - was thinking another Ranged DPS maybe an Evoker Wizard

What do you think? I read Aloth can be a good tank considering the free actions buffing spells
TY :D

[Griffonheart]

I've been growing rather accustomed to having a Cipher or a Cipher subclass somewhere on the team. XD

[Boeroer]

I hear that Assassin/Wizard can be quite good because Shadowing Beyond is a free action which means you can turn invisible and then start a nuke in the same round (for +15  +25 ACC, +4 PEN and +50% crit dmg).

Edited February 17, 2021 by Boeroer

[Not So Clever Hound]

4 hours ago, Boeroer said:

(for +15 ACC, +4 PEN and +50% crit dmg)

Unless there is a weird balance change between RTwP and TB, Assassinate gives you +25ACC and indeed +4PEN and +50%Crit DMG. It's a huge boon for a Wizard that can always benefit from extra ACC, PEN and DMG to get the job done (and doesn't have a ton of other ways to increase those besides, oh well, all his buffs/debuffs and Combusting Wounds). It is super fun, but not very party friendly in my opinion at least in RTwP and relies upon a somewhat niche playstyle. You might want to go with something a little more standard - not in a bad way.

A SC Wizard is my favorite toon (in RTwP) but if I may, either vanilla Wizard or Bloodmage might be better than Evoker. Bloodmage is outstanding in certain specific situations with his renewable resources (only Xoti in your planned roster has renewable resources). There are just so much outstanding damage spells and combos you're disregarding with an Evoker, to me it's not worth the extra PLs. But again (if it wasn't clear  ) I play RTwP, maybe the balance is different in TB. Still, Wizard is all about versatility - Evoker goes against that idea. And I've played my share of Evokers .

 

[Boeroer]

Sorry, just a typo. It's indeed a bit weird for RTwP mode with a full party, but as I understood players like @Haplokwho played such a character that's not quite the case in TB mode since you have to micro every character seperately one after the other anyway. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Boeroer

[Vesimas]

I made a little change to the Companions since i'll loose one between Maia and Tekehu so i was thinking:

1. Xoti - Monk - OT/DPS (Fextralife build for 5.0)
2. Aloth - Battlemage - Ranged DPS (Fextralife build for 5.0)
3. Tekehu - Watershaper - Ranged DPS/Healer (Fextralife build for 5.0)
4. Eder - Swashbuckler - MT (Fextralife build for 5.0)

For MC i think i'll do another Ranged DPS because another melee is not good, i think. For class/weapon diversity i miss a Ranger maybe multiclass?

 

[dgray62]

You might consider a mindstalker wielding hand mortars for excellent ranged DPS and CC.

[Haplok]

9 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Sorry, just a typo. It's indeed a bit weird for RTwP mode with a full party, but as I understood players like @Haplokwho played such a character that's not quite the case in TB mode since you have to micro every character seperately one after the other anyway. 

Exactly right. In Turn based you micro-manage every character anyway. Shodowing Beyond is a Free Action, so going Stealth doesn't disturb the Turn Order/action economy in any way. Most Wizard buffs are Free Actions too.... 

The latter is the main reason why I prefer a Bloodmage. In Turn 1 I can (nearly) full buff, Blood Sacrifice to recover nearly all spell slots, vanish and proceed to destroy enemies (who cannot even target me on their turn, as I'm in the middle of cast action and still invisible). While enjoying the Human Blooded Accuracy and damage bonuses after Blood Sacrifice...

Another reason why I prefer a Bloodmage is that with another wizard subclass I basically feel obliged to use Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry for extra spell slots AND Rekvu's Casque for interrupt immunity. Meanwhile I can use other grimoires and other spells on a Bloodmage AND another helmet - and on an Assasin/wizard, the Deltro's Cage Helmet can provide up to 135% extra damage after I stealth crit myself with lightning (the nice thing is that after the initial Chain Lightning strike, the bounces that hit enemies already carry this lash damage bonus). Needless to say, this is HUGE.

The Deltro's lash obviously also works with weapon attacks and as an Assassin you add huge sneak attack and Deathblows damage bonuses to weapon attacks. Actually using actions on attacking is wasteful IMO, but carrying a weapon that does an aoe attack after every enemy kill (such as Engoliero de Espirs), is not a bad deal. Even better when it also full heals you with the damage it deals.

Spoiler

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by Haplok

[Not So Clever Hound]

@Vesimas if you're going with Aloth as a Battlemage I would much rather spec him as a melee Hybrid to make use of Citzal Spirit Lance. If you want him as a ranged DPS then Pure Wizard is better, but you need more solidity on your front line then.

From your roster, the ideal front line is really Aloth Battlemage and Xoti Monk, they will swing the fight in your favor quickly almost every time. Here is what I would consider if I were you (I try to keep the item spoilers to a minimum).

• Aloth (equipped with a certain early game Llengrath Grimoire) focus on martial/melee buffs in both trees and Mob Stance. Starts by buffing to oblivion, engages melee pack, casts Spirit lance. Then starts using Clear Out to target as many enemies as possible (Mule Kick also very good) and I will guarantee that your jaw will drop when you see what happens on screen  
• Xoti (equiped with a certain early-game Monk small shield for example and ideally with a certain late game stalking cloak) specs with Swift Flurry, Thunderous Blow, Turning Wheel, Heartbeat Drumming. Starts fight using Whispers of the Wind. Second jaw drop  
• Add-in a quick Combusting Wounds at the beginning of the fight... and melee combat hardly gets any better in Deadfire.

Then Edèr as Swashbuckler has a lot of flexibility to flank and complement your frontline or creep up (or charge) squishies in the backline. You can equip him in many ways, a 2H can be a nice choice if you want to attack from stealth (max opening DMG). Really whatever you want there.

Your ranged MC can be a primary caster (Wizard SC, Wizard Assassin as said, Ascendant... many good choices) or a primary weapon user (Mindstalker with Hand Mortars and a certain Blunderbuss , a SC/MC Ranger...) and focus on the backline squishies (casters first) and the occasional front line help.

Tekehu will do his thing, heal, buff/support and the occasional offensive spell.

This is in my opinion a great way to leverage the roster you're thinking about and leaves you with a lot of flex on your MC and Edèr (less so on Aloth and Xoti).

EDIT: What you planned above is totally fine too and will definitely carry you through Classic or Veteran so you can safely go with that  . My post is more from the perspective of optimizing the different toons for end game party synergy.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[Not So Clever Hound]

@Haplok That screen shot is brutal  I will definitely try this combination. Add Combusting Wounds and Avenging Storm and say goodbye to your GPU  .

[Haplok]

It is a really cool combo in Turn Based.

Combusting Wounds sadly failed to impress in this mode, so I gave up on it. But Avenging Storm... yeah... that would be brutal to mobs.

This was kinda fun, even if I was probably grossly overlevelled at this point. It basically took one spell to trigger the chain reaction and destroy all the Vines (after prepping them for Deathblows with a Chillfog from Fassina).

Spoiler

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by Haplok

[Not So Clever Hound]

Impressive chain reaction! Interesting that Deltro's Lash triggers Deathblows from a Minoletta PPB. I was hoping for the same kind of effect from Blightheart's corrosive lash but sadly it doesn't work.

[Boeroer]

Deltro's Cage Helmet shouldn't trigger Deathblows on spells. It will say so in the log (but with every spell done as a Rogue with Deathblows - with or without the helmet iirc) but if you open the hit roll it will not have added damage. Only Assasinate will work. I believe that pre release Deathblows worked with spells like it did in PoE1 - but that it was removed in the release version. They simply forgot to fix the log entry routine maybe. 

Blade Feast (basically Ghost Blades + healing) from Engolerio on the other hand is a weapon effect and will get the bonus dmg from Deathblows and Sneak Attack, Legendary and so on. 

The combo of Assassin/Wizard with Deltro's Cage Helmet + Blade Feast is superstrong. But again:
 

Edited February 18, 2021 by Boeroer

[Haplok]

Correct about Dethblows on spell lash. It only displays that.

And sure, the build is cheesy as hell in TB mode. Less so in Real Time IMO, where its quite fragile and its action economy is far worse.

 

Although I guess you can still use typical Wizard cheese, such as Potion of Last Stand / BDD + Wall of Draining.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Haplok

[Vesimas]

I think that for MC i came to the conclusion to do an Arcane Archer/Devoted (War Bow Frostseeker)

 

Spoiler

 

1. Marked Prey - Disciplined Barrage
2. Vicious Companion
3. Fast Runner
4. Marksman - Two Handed Style
5. Fighter Stance
6. Protective Companion
7. Marked for the Hunt - Disciplined Strikes
8. Penetrating Strike
9. Evasive Roll
10. Stalker's Link - Weapon Spec
11. Concussive Shot
12. Tumbling
13. Driving Flight - Conquerer Stance
14. Evasive Fire
15. Binding Roots
16. Survival of the Fittest - Improved Critical
17. Concussive Tranquilizer
18. ???
19. Thorny Roots - Weapon Mastery
20. Umbreakable

For stats i suppose Might and Perception