HELP returning player looking for help with build idea.

[rebelio]

Hey all, 
Been going in and out of the game for a while now due to not enjoying to the full extent any of my characters but one wich at lvl12 had become much weaker than all others.
My idea was to make a Single Weapon Pistol (recently been consindering blunderbuss), i've taken Devoted for bonuses with pistol modal and my second class was Blood Mage for buffs, since i had alot of action speed, i decided to make the best of it.
Toke human, focused stats was Perception/Intelect for accuracy and bonuses to buff duration/AoE Spells. It was trully versatile during early game and did went like an beast, but recently has been trully bad one, any advices on how to build? I really love the idea of single weapon a pistol with that amazing speed.

[thelee]

what difficulty are you playing on? can you elaborate what feels "bad"? like... not enough damage, not enough to do, etc.?

[rebelio]

Yes, sorry about the lack of information, i am playing on POTD, using beraths blessing, no trial of iron or expert mode, upscaling only upwards for the crucial path only, about the character the thing that after after lvl8 his damage its feeling cluncky, my first idea was to make him able to use buffs soo he can get his damage near or at least close to a focused pure damage dealer, like my Maia and be able to provide with some assistance for the team with control spells/buffs,  i've tested without the use of any uniques of upgraded weapons and in general with the pistols or the casting, since im Single weapon fighting i dont have any off hands with increase power level, i dont really mind about being squishy. 
I'd really apretiate any insight of information about how i should build a single pistol character.
My ideal party comp would be:
Eder (swashblucker)off-tank/melee damage dealer (with magram favor, or something around shields that counts as dual wield)
Aloth (pure wizard) tank.
Xoti (Pure cleric) healer/damage dealer with endgame spells.
Teheku (chanter/druid) support, crowd control.
and then it would be ME (ranged damage dealer), still unsure about wich class to pick or races, any advice would be welcome, i really wanna build a Single Pistol Main character, but i got no idea where to start, been considering, devoted to compensate for pistol modal + chanter/ranger/cypher for more reload speed/damage or wizard/druid/priest for more utility)

Edited March 25, 2021 by rebelio

[Boeroer]

For a single pistol build you want high ACC and action/reload speed. If pistol damage alone is your concern then Ranger is nearly a must imo - because of the accuracy bonuses and the Gunner ability + Driving Flight. 

As second class I'd recommend Beguiler (Borrowed Instincts is great and you can combine weapon damage and Deceptions for focus gain) or Troubadour (running Aefyllath + Sure-Handed Ila) since they both will improve your shooting but also provide a lot of other utility for the party. Which is more important than a smidge more pistol dps imo. They also don't have full attacks so a single pistol doesn't induce the "but I'd rather use those full attacks with two weapons" thought.

Devoted also works - but you need to get Eccea's Arcane Blaster asap because there will be enough pierce resistant/immune enemies later on and you don't want to switch to a non-pistol since it will give you -10 ACC which hurts in combination with the pistol modal. 

I'd recommend getting the blaster anyway - but with Devoted it's even more important.

A Wizard will not improve your shooting much. But a Wizard should provide a lot of other options for a party. If you still want to buff up your shooting damage with a Wizard you should look at the Essential/Substancial Phantom. It will get all your gear, including your weapon. It will not have One-Handed Style and will not use the modal or any of your abilites - but it will get the +12 ACC from single handed usage and will use all passive gear enchantmens. Then it's two guys firing their pistols, not only one. If you use Scordeo's Trophy with the ranged enchantments  then phantom can get to really nice shooting speed after a while. If you meet very high DR foes then two Eccea's Arcane Blasters are better than one obviously.

I played a Debonaire/Beguiler with single pistol. No extra speed buffs but the combination of charm + crit conversion made the lower ACC a lot less impactful right from the start. Since a Beguiler doesn't need to deal damage to gain focus it wasn't a big deal that shooting charmed enemies with almost guaranteed crits won't give you focus - but deal good damage. Scordeo's Edge has an enchantment that lets crits do extra damage. Mind Control is always good. And if you can finish off a charmed enemy with a Devastating Blow + crit that's cool. Or a charm-crit with Disintegration. It's not about the shooting dmg in the first place but since Debonaire is a Rogue the shots still have oomph.

There's lots of options. But get Eccea's.

Edited March 25, 2021 by Boeroer

[rebelio]

First of all thank you very much for the time u took to answer me, the beguiler/debonaire its more of a controller right? (Never playied any of Thoses subclass), i think that my playstyle would fit something Around that, the ranger u algo recommended we are talking about arcane archer? Wizard i think i got um ideal, not Gonna lie, got me tempted as well...

I'll look for the pen weapon pistol as u said, troublador + ranger seems fun as well, With that party composition i've listed above wich class combo u would make in your main character?

Aloth wizard tank

Eder swashblucker browser

Xoti priest healer/nuker

Teheku crowd controller/summoner.

 

 

Thanks again Boeroer!!

 

[Boeroer]

I think I'd use Sharpshooter/Troubadour. The slower recovery will be countered by modal, Gunner and Sure Handed Ila (there is a bottom cap for reload speed anyway). The +1 PEN or crit conversion is nice. You can use CC/debuffs and also let your animal companion do some damage while preventing it from getting knocked out with summons. 

 

 

 

[rebelio]

I'll give it a shot thanks again Boeroer!

[dgray62]

2 hours ago, rebelio said:

I'll give it a shot thanks again Boeroer!

That's funny! Happy shooting.

[Jayd]

@rebelio I thought I'd make sure you knew about how to get Scordeo's Trophy early. Make sure you pump a character's mechanics as high as possible from early and buy the Burglar's Gloves from the clothing store in Periki's Overlook in Neketaka. Before long you should be able to pick the lock on the chest behind the desk in the gun shop in the Brass Citadel. You don't have to be stealthed to pick a lock - NPCs will only attack if you take an item. Scordeo's Trophy is in that chest.  Use one party member to draw the shopkeeper away with Sparkcrackers or the spell Arkemyr's Dazzling Lights and have another character slip in behind to steal the gun. Now you've got arguably the best pistol in the game from very early. (Don't feel bad about stealing from the RDC, they are imperialists.)

On the gun, the upgrade that gives more crit damage is the safe choice. Critical hits get 1.5x bonus penetration so you won't need extra pen on a crit to penetrate. However it will give you +30% bonus damage if you overpenetrate (i.e. get a penetration score at least double the pierce armour of your enemy). So the question is whether you always want a bit more crit damage or a lot more when enemy armour is kinda low. Thinking about your build, you may actually want to take penetration upgrade because you're a sharpshooter (extra pen) and you can use The Shield Cracks from your Chanter side to lower enemy armour. With lots of crits from Ranger accuracy, this could be a good strat to guarantee overpenetration on almost every enemy in the game when you crit them, which would be a solid damage increase. (Nothing wrong with picking the no-nonsense more crit damage option though.)

You'll also want the Ring of the Marksman and Acina's Tricorn as priorities.

Sorry if you knew all this already, just thought I'd explain it all since you say you're new-ish.

Edited March 25, 2021 by Jayd

[Boeroer]

Dazzling Lights only works on enemies. Neutral NPCs usually only get lured away by Sparkcrackers. But besides that: yeah!

[rebelio]

BTW i forgot to mention English its not my native language, soo if i type something weird or out of context please do let me know i'll fix right away!

Oh thanks for the headsup @Jayd and @Boeroer, i've been rolling with the build and its feeling great, i really like the Single Weapon mechanic, as for my pet i've taken the boar (just because i enjoy it), soo far the game been great, i'll start pumping Eder mechanics right away or i'll just re-roll havent finished Port Maje yet, soo i'll loose about 1 hour of gameplay, but i'll surelly go for the scordeos trophy and im also considering making Eder or Seraphen a SwF with a single melee weapon, not sure yet, but i'll figure out soon i guess, Thanks again everyone for the tips and hints, also if u guys have any ideas on how to build my SwF companion or sidekick as a melee SwF please do let me know, thanks again!

Edit Note: Im really a newb at this game, i've only done Fort Dyinglight (i hope this is the name, i just enjoying killing Benwet as soon as possible), im unaware of itens and such hints, but i've just searched at the wiki for the ring and tricorn u recommended i'll make sure to keep thoses in my mind) Again any hints are really welcome and i'm really gratefull for all the hints and tips on how to build my character, trully helping alot! Im usually a normal/hard player, never actually tried POTD outside Pillars of Eternity series, i managed to finish the first one barely but it toke me 100+ hours to finish and alot of tries).  Thanks again !

Edit: @dgray62 that joke was not intended but it surelly looks funny now hahaha

Edited March 25, 2021 by rebelio

[Boeroer]

First: tell me what "SwF" means.

Outside of pistols single weapon usage is good in the early game but falls behind later (compared to dual wielding and two handers). There are exceptions though. Usually that involves weapons which have some special effect on hit, on crit or on kill (see Sungrazer, Skullcrusher, Scordeo's Edge, Stalker's Link, Grave Calling, Magistrate's Cudgel etc.). 

For example Edér can be made into a decent single spear user. Grab Stalker's Patience and enchant it with "Mercy Strike". Then try to stack as much accuracy and crit conversions as possible (One Handed Style, Disciplined Strikes, Dirty Fighting, your Ranger/Troubadour can cast "Killer Froze Stiff" and so on). Have some backup weapon for pierce immune foes. Like a mace (e.g. Magistrate's Cudgel) or so.   

[rebelio]

@BoeroerSWF is single weapon fightning (from another game i play the feat has a different name)

I see thats a nice idea on my Edéri i might actually do that, since he will be an off-tank/bruiser, i dont think he really needs a shield, i'll try it as soon as i can put my hands in one of thoses weapons with thoses on hit, on crit or on kill status.
Thanks!