Soloing with a Priest

[Ranndar]

Hello guys, I am new here. And for my first run I’m planning to do a solo run.

My first option is to go with a Priest, its my favorite class. Is it possible to do without need some cheese tactics, or rely in much itens?

Another question, should I go single or multiclass? If multi, what do you suggest?

I dont plan to play in PotD, I will do Veteran Upscaled.

 

Thanks for your attenttion

[Not So Clever Hound]

Welcome!

Multiclass is probably the way to go and if built properly, will obliterate the game Solo. Strongest option being either a Priest of Skaen or Wael MC with a Bloodmage... But:

What Priest subclass/god do you roll/RP?

Do you have particular preferences on play style (spellcasting/melee/ranged weapons)?

I know it's hard to define for a new player but you brought it up  so what do you mean by cheese here?

[Ranndar]

20 minutes ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

Welcome!

Multiclass is probably the way to go and if built properly, will obliterate the game Solo. Strongest option being either a Priest of Skaen or Wael MC with a Bloodmage... But:

What Priest subclass/god do you roll/RP?

Do you have particular preferences on play style (spellcasting/melee/ranged weapons)?

I know it's hard to define for a new player but you brought it up  so what do you mean by cheese here?

For what I see, I liked Berath and Wael. 

What I have in mind is more a melee Priest. I like ranged weapons but I dont think they combine with the char. Spells could be ok too, if they look like “divine powers”

 

by cheese I saw in some other topics people talking about exploit some aspects of the game, or its what I understood

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by Ranndar

[Not So Clever Hound]

If you're looking for a Melee Priest, both Berath and Wael can be great options. Multiclassing with Fighter or Monk would give you strong synergies and stellar Melee power, I would probably go more with Fighter for survivability in Solo (especially if doing Berath as Wael has more defensive spells built in). But a Monk gives very strong active and passive abilities/bonuses that complement spellcasting very well too.

I think from an RP POV, Berath/Fighter can give you a strong Death Knight type of feel. There was a nice thread below about it, and it's been discussed in other threads if you're willing to search the forum. I think the suggestion to use Morning Star as primary weapon + the summoned Berath weapon could work really well. Or stick to 2H swords, there is a nice one that you can forge early and that looks and feels quite Berath-y.

You will keep cheese to a relative minimum that way. There are indeed lots of more or less legitimate ways to break the game in Deadfire . One of the strongest cheese you can use as a priest is Barring Death Door paired with things that prolong effects (Wizard's Wall of Draining, Salvation of Time). This particular thing is not an exploit or a bug, just some nice cheese.

Final thoughts:

For Fighter, you may go no-subclass or maybe Unbroken. Devoted is very good and appealing, but very restrictive for a first playthrough. For Monk I could see Forbidden Fist, Nalpazca, of course Helwalker is super strong but also very squishy (maybe then Helwalker-Wael).

with a Priest/Fighter or Priest/Monk you will Solo Veteran very well, if you aren't very familiar with the game mechanics maybe Upscaled will be a bit too punishing for a first playthrough, especially because Deadfire's difficulty is very front-loaded (i.e. the first island). Being a new player who wants to Solo, I would personally start on Normal and increase the difficulty as I go when I feel confident and too strong for Normal.

You will solo all the critical path and the vast majority of the optional content, but if you want to have the potential tools to do absolutely every optional fight that the game has to throw at you while Soloing, Priest/Bloodmage would be stronger (one of the strongest power playing combo that people use to beat The Ultimate).

Just my 2 cents. Have fun!

Edited May 29, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[Ranndar]

2 hours ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

If you're looking for a Melee Priest, both Berath and Wael can be great options. Multiclassing with Fighter or Monk would give you strong synergies and stellar Melee power, I would probably go more with Fighter for survivability in Solo (especially if doing Berath as Wael has more defensive spells built in). But a Monk gives very strong active and passive abilities/bonuses that complement spellcasting very well too.

I think from an RP POV, Berath/Fighter can give you a strong Death Knight type of feel. There was a nice thread below about it, and it's been discussed in other threads if you're willing to search the forum. I think the suggestion to use Morning Star as primary weapon + the summoned Berath weapon could work really well. Or stick to 2H swords, there is a nice one that you can forge early and that looks and feels quite Berath-y.

You will keep cheese to a relative minimum that way. There are indeed lots of more or less legitimate ways to break the game in Deadfire . One of the strongest cheese you can use as a priest is Barring Death Door paired with things that prolong effects (Wizard's Wall of Draining, Salvation of Time). This particular thing is not an exploit or a bug, just some nice cheese.

Final thoughts:

For Fighter, you may go no-subclass or maybe Unbroken. Devoted is very good and appealing, but very restrictive for a first playthrough. For Monk I could see Forbidden Fist, Nalpazca, of course Helwalker is super strong but also very squishy (maybe then Helwalker-Wael).

with a Priest/Fighter or Priest/Monk you will Solo Veteran very well, if you aren't very familiar with the game mechanics maybe Upscaled will be a bit too punishing for a first playthrough, especially because Deadfire's difficulty is very front-loaded (i.e. the first island). Being a new player who wants to Solo, I would personally start on Normal and increase the difficulty as I go when I feel confident and too strong for Normal.

You will solo all the critical path and the vast majority of the optional content, but if you want to have the potential tools to do absolutely every optional fight that the game has to throw at you while Soloing, Priest/Bloodmage would be stronger (one of the strongest power playing combo that people use to beat The Ultimate).

Just my 2 cents. Have fun!

Thanks

Let me ask you another thing, I saw some posts in reddit about the skaen/BM, but I cant imagine how does it play.

 

[Not So Clever Hound]

Skaen/BM mostly relies upon the combo I described above (infinitely prolonging Cannot Die effect, which makes you invulnerable as long as no enemy can dispel the effect, and allows you to use Blood Sacrifice indefinitely to replenish BM spells). People pair that with a permanent Brilliant effect (with Salvation of time) for even more pawah. Skaen is just a class of choice because its free Priest/Rogue spells are very useful in particular for The Ultimate. Other than that, it plays as a typical Theurge AFIK.

[Raven Darkholme]

If you want an easy to play class just go priest of eothas/tactician.

Sunbeam will be your choce for flank (blind also flanks) most of the time, but it requires some micromanagement, pull melees towards ranged enemies, so you can hit all of them efficiently.

Rush items with immunity to flanked, early on it will be Squid's Grasp, later there is more choices, Gipon Prudensco is quite op but takes a little to obtain (I usually kill mad Morena and everyone down there).

Mule Kick is another op flanking tool, it also helps you with micromanagement, flanking melee enemies but also making you "immune" to their disengage while they're knocked up.

With a brilliant fighter/priest you can Salvation of time extend either your Unbending (heals will stack and eventually heal for thousands) or barring deaths door for avoiding to die to wounds.

[Ranndar]

Thanks for the suggestions. I never considered Tactician before, but looks good. 
 

I don’t know how noob-friendlie will be, but and about I use chanter as second class? For what I saw, would be a good Berath-ish, with the summons and all.

[Raven Darkholme]

2 hours ago, Ranndar said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I never considered Tactician before, but looks good. 
 

I don’t know how noob-friendlie will be, but and about I use chanter as second class? For what I saw, would be a good Berath-ish, with the summons and all.

You can play the priest with absolutely anything (including chanter), idk about noob friendly, but once you get salvation of time you are playing the best class in the game.  

Edited May 29, 2021 by Raven Darkholme

[Griffonheart]

On 5/29/2021 at 12:59 PM, Not So Clever Hound said:

For Fighter, you may go no-subclass or maybe Unbroken. Devoted is very good and appealing, but very restrictive for a first playthrough. For Monk I could see Forbidden Fist, Nalpazca, of course Helwalker is super strong but also very squishy (maybe then Helwalker-Wael).

Question: Since I've only started my Mage/Monk MC (the AoE build), how does Helwalker/Wael feel by comparison? I presume it'd also be a melee character using spell for extra defense.

Edited May 30, 2021 by Griffonheart

[Ranndar]

I know my first idea was a priest, but @Raven Darkholmegave me something to think about, and now I am planning a Tactician/Fury. 
 

Would be the same idea, to use sunbeam to get brilliant inspiration. 

[Raven Darkholme]

55 minutes ago, Ranndar said:

I know my first idea was a priest, but @Raven Darkholmegave me something to think about, and now I am planning a Tactician/Fury. 
 

Would be the same idea, to use sunbeam to get brilliant inspiration. 

Eothas priest also gets sunbeam.

[Not So Clever Hound]

1 hour ago, Ranndar said:

Would be the same idea, to use sunbeam to get brilliant inspiration.

I do think it's a fun idea. For a first Solo playthrough I don't know if I'd choose a Druid multiclass as it needs a bit more levels and/or meta to be very strong at least on PotD but I do love it. I also recently wrote this build below about a Druid/Bloodmage that is quite strong if you're interested.

EDIT: I've had a lot of fun with Tactician shenanigans and as @Raven Darkholme who is an expert of this subclass among others  pointed out it is absolutely OP if managed well. But I would also mention that it takes a bit of practice to master how to trigger/maintain Brilliant. Maybe a bit much on top of learning the ropes in a very first Solo playthrough TBH. Neketaka wasn't built in one day .

 

3 hours ago, Griffonheart said:

Question: Since I've only started my Mage/Monk MC (the AoE build), how does Helwalker/Wael feel by comparison? I presume it'd also be a melee character using spell for extra defense.

They can both be fun and powerful but Bloodmage/Helwalker or whatever you chose as Monk subclass is more powerful because you can replicate the crazy cannot-die effect of the Priest with a potion (Potion of the Final Stand) and extend it with WoD for very hard fights, plus Bloodmage/Helwalker gives you some of the best tools to manage every fight in the end game content. It's just a little squishball in the beginning .

Basically Bloodmage/whatever is always top-tier in the way the game is implemented in vanilla and with the Community Patch. This might be marginally different with the Balance Polishing Mod and other mods, but I can't speak to that (yet).

Edited May 30, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[Ranndar]

I started with the Fury Tactician.

This is my atributes

15/10/15/16/16/6

 

OMG I got a Fire Sword

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ranndar

[Ranndar]

Just finished the digsite with the warden, was able to do most encounters without much trouble. 
Some fights I have more difficult to get the brilliant inspiration, but I am getting the way.

One good thing I am doing, is stormshift and teleport to the ranged enemies, and then cast sunbeam when the melee comes closer.

I don’t know if Lifegiver would be better , but until now the fighters defensive skills are keeping me alive.

Now what’s the best way to go? Right to Neketaka or is there some good/easy places before?

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ranndar

[Raven Darkholme]

8 hours ago, Ranndar said:

Just finished the digsite with the warden, was able to do most encounters without much trouble. 
Some fights I have more difficult to get the brilliant inspiration, but I am getting the way.

One good thing I am doing, is stormshift and teleport to the ranged enemies, and then cast sunbeam when the melee comes closer.

I don’t know if Lifegiver would be better , but until now the fighters defensive skills are keeping me alive.

Now what’s the best way to go? Right to Neketaka or is there some good/easy places before?

You can go to Deadlight and Dunnage first, this will open up more xp in Neketaka and make your later progress faster too.

You could als visit Sandswept RUins before going to Deadlight but that would just be for disarming traps for xp and you'd most likely have to respec into full mechanics before leaving Neketaka.

[Kaylon]

14 hours ago, Ranndar said:

I started with the Fury Tactician.

This is my atributes

15/10/15/16/16/6

 

OMG I got a Fire Sword

 

You should be aware that you won't be able to kill the ooze megaboss with this combo. 

[Raven Darkholme]

2 hours ago, Kaylon said:

You should be aware that you won't be able to kill the ooze megaboss with this combo. 

What do you mean?

Knockup op af vs ooze.

[Kaylon]

2 hours ago, Raven Darkholme said:

What do you mean?

Knockup op af vs ooze.

You can't interrupt both oozes at the same time.

[Raven Darkholme]

7 minutes ago, Kaylon said:

You can't interrupt both oozes at the same time.

You can, with a cone weapon.

You don't really need to with Blade cascade tho, because they are untargetable during knockup, so they can't merge.

[Kaylon]

7 hours ago, Raven Darkholme said:

You can, with a cone weapon.

You don't really need to with Blade cascade tho, because they are untargetable during knockup, so they can't merge.

Nah, doesn't work with WotEP because you have to target one of the oozes and the cone won't reach the other. Also they can still merge even if one of them is untargetable (for example casting Stasis Shell on one of them doesn't prevent it).

 

[Raven Darkholme]

11 minutes ago, Kaylon said:

Nah, doesn't work with WotEP because you have to target one of the oozes and the cone won't reach the other. Also they can still merge even if one of them is untargetable (for example casting Stasis Shell on one of them doesn't prevent it).

 

Hm, interesting.

You can still use ooze summons or avenging Storm scroll I guess.

[Kaylon]

9 hours ago, Raven Darkholme said:

Hm, interesting.

You can still use ooze summons or avenging Storm scroll I guess.

Won't work either because you can't control the summons and they're too squishy anyway. Avenging Storm helps deal more damage, but won't solve the main problem - without Blade Cascade, Conduit and Bleeding Cut there's no way to kill them fast enough.

For solo only ciphers (kill during Disintegrate), blood mages (spam Concelhaut's Crushing Doom), chanters (keep the oozes away with the Animated Weapons) or monks (perma stun with WotW) can deal with Hauani without exploits (ie Blade Cascade & Co). If you don't play one of these classes you're doomed. 

[Raven Darkholme]

27 minutes ago, Kaylon said:

Won't work either because you can't control the summons and they're too squishy anyway. Avenging Storm helps deal more damage, but won't solve the main problem - without Blade Cascade, Conduit and Bleeding Cut there's no way to kill them fast enough.

For solo only ciphers (kill during Disintegrate), blood mages (spam Concelhaut's Crushing Doom), chanters (keep the oozes away with the Animated Weapons) or monks (perma stun with WotW) can deal with Hauani without exploits (ie Blade Cascade & Co). If you don't play one of these classes you're doomed. 

Pretty sure @thelee used Avenging Storm scrolls for the stun component in his Ultimate.

[Not So Clever Hound]

By far the easiest is Assassin/Cipher, with max PER, Acina's Tricorn etc.

Gouging Strike, Smoke Veil, retreat to the South. When it's at Near Death, quaff Ascension, Deftness, Perfect Aim. Go invisible, Borrowed Instinct. Go invisible again, Disintegration. Go invisible again, Marux Amanth in the face. Bye bye Hauani.

Edited June 1, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound