Build Advice

[Carys]

This isn't your typical build advice request.  

I'm nearly done with my second full playthrough, just Ukaizo left, and I'm planning out my third.

I want my Watcher to be a Priest of Rymrgand.  The questions I have are:

1.  Single or Dual?  I do like my MC to be up front, and in melee at least sometimes.  Obviously, I do want to be casting, but I don't want to just cast.

2.  If Dual, what second class?  I'm taking Chanter off the list, because as much as I love chanter, I want a MC that feels different from my last two.

3.  Does anyone know any neat tricks around frost and/or corrode spells, since the bonus spells are flavored in that way?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Not So Clever Hound]

Are you looking to play Solo or with a Party? If the latter, how do you envision your party? If you are looking for Solo, that narrows down possibilities.

If party-based, a Helwalker/ Priest of Rymrgand has a strong thematic fit, will satisfy your desire for a melee/caster hybrid, and is a well known strong combo with Turning Wheel, Thunderous Blow synergizing with both melee and casting etc. Then grab all the thematic gear from BoW for style and powah.  

Edited February 26, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[Boeroer]

In order to combine melee with casting nothing beats Helwalker as second class imo. But there's no special freeze/corrode stuff there - only shock and burn. But +15 MIG, +10 INT, +2 INT and +12 ACC from the Monk's side are very, very good.

As second class that can specialize in Decay, freeze and corrode there's the Druid of course. Druids have the fitting spells - and for melee you could use Spiritshift. With Wildstrike Freeze or Corrode I guess. You can also pick Secrets of Rime and Spirit of Decay then (like Wizard below).

Wizard has some nice, fitting spells, too. Like Draining Touch, Corrosive Siphon, Freezing Pillar and whatnot. Melee wouldn't be too exciting though I guess.

Stalker could be another thing. The high ACC (Hunter's Claw etc.) can be great for spells and melee alike and especially Takedown Combo is great with good single target dmg spells like Divine Mark or so. 

But overall I'd say Helwalker still.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Boeroer

[Not So Clever Hound]

Damn, @BoeroerI just responded at the same time   

Edited February 26, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[Boeroer]

 

 

[Carys]

I'll have a party.  Eventually, I'll do a solo run, but I like the companions.  I also still need the 'make a companion hate you' acheivement, so I think I'll bring Xoti and Eder along to let them see end game Eothas, and make every 'religion sucks' comment I can to make Xoti angry, since I don't think the God of Everything Needs to Go Away would care if one of his Priests was saying 'Religion needs to go away.'

So, I'm thinking Xoti as pure priest and let her handle buffs/heals, Eder as Swashbuckler, the Watcher as a hybrid melee/caster, Fassina (because I like her and she can be really effective at higher levels, even without evocation, and Maia (if I go RDC) or Serafen (if I go Pirate), with a ranged focus on whichever I go with.

I might also go: Xoti, Eder, Aloth, Fassina for lots of ranged blasting/heals.

As for the suggestions, and again thanks for them, it could be fun to play a wizard with the touch spells as I typically don't use those.  I hadn't thought of ranger, but a wolf or bear companion would feel wintery thematic.  I've never played a watcher monk, so Helwalker could be interesting too.

[dgray62]

I have never tried this, but I wonder if it might be fun to play a zealot, maybe with trickster to get extra survivability. You could be a stealthy disabler, dishing out damage and CC with your spells and stealthy attacks. The rogue gets a great corrode damage attack, toxic strike. You could also dual wield frostfall and the acolyte's frostbite, dealing cold AOEs on crit with both weapons, while Frostfall will extend the durations of enemy afflictions on kill. Overall, it could be a very thematic and satisfying build, I suspect. For solo play, you could also try an assassin, to get the assassinate bonus when casting from stealth. Wouldn't work as well in a party tho.

[Carys]

That's a really interesting idea.  Wizard doesn't actually add much to the build, as the priest bonus spells and the cool wiz spells for the concept overlap.  I was thinking Helwalker, but I have to give the zealot idea more thought now.  Maybe go with stealth and slight of hand and enable the pick pocket blessing to see if it's any good.  Or stealth/mechanics and try using traps for once instead of just selling them.

[dgray62]

I think it is worth a try. It would be fun, I think, and would have good survivability if you take escape (for a trickster) to get out of tricky situations or smoke cloud (as an assassin) to go invisible and set yourself up with another assassination attack from stealth. I think it would be fun although maybe not the most OP build from a powerplaying perspective. Those, however, tend to make the game too easy, and are less fun IMO once you have good experience with the game. The pick pocket blessing gives you a chance of getting minor magical items in people's pockets. It's definitely worth selecting instead of Eder's pet if you're going solo. Not that you need the extra cash for solo play....

[Exanos]

For a rymgrand priest multi, definitely berseker. Come on, dual summoned axe scream for barbarian . And berseker is just great for an offensive spellcaster. 

[dgray62]

That's a good point, Exanos. You even get an additional cold attack with spirit tornado.

 

[Boeroer]

Iirc Spirit Tornado removes the coolest feature of Spirit Frenzy: that all attack rolls (also spells and chants and everything) will apply Staggered. Or was that fixed at some point? I believe not.

[NotDumbEnough]

Fixed in latest version of community patch

[Boeroer]

Haha, yeah ok. I mean in the vanilla game. Can't know if Carys has CP installed. If that's the case then Spirit Tornado's great.

That being said, Rymrgand's favored dispositions are rational and honest. Imo a Berserker in full rage mode is not really into rational thinking; but on the other hand Ryrmgand's least favored dispositions are diplomatic and benevolent... and I can't imagine anything less diplomatic than a frenzied Berserker - so there you go!

[Carys]

I do have CP :).

I went with Trickster/Priest and so far it's been pretty fun.  Casting more then rogueing, but Touch of Rot is just so good.  Majhe Island was so smooth.  I even took down both halves of Gorecci Street (on Veteran), and just melted the four guys on the porch.  So, I haven't needed to stab yet.  The rogue half feels good, though.

I'm going to run with Xoti as SC Priest, with main role of buff/debuff/heal, Serafen as SC Cipher, and keep him flanked out in case of bad wild surges, Mirke as primary melee, and Fassina to double up on all the juicy corrode spells and their dots.  It'll be a more caster heavy party then I tend to which should be fun.

I do want to try out an offensive Helwalker/Priest though at some point.

I also found out that lying to Clario about having the papers does not give you neg rep with Xoti.  Every other lie on Majhe does, but not that one!