Trickster: is MC worth it?

[Hariwulf]

I am wondering if MC a melee Trickster with Soul Blade would be worth the cost.

I am looking at Annihilation, Phantom foes, Borrowed Instincts, Echoing shield,  as well as some of the passives... and wondering if they would significantly contribute to the build, as opposed to a single class Trickster Rogue.

[Haplok]

Its a very good combo. Soul Blade is the "melee" type of Cipher and Trickster provides both good defensive buffs to survive in melee AND does very good damage to... well... be effective AND harvest Focus much faster (to spend on spells OR the Annihilation move).

Also there's a very sweet rapier in the DLC (Seeker's Fang) that on crit inflicts enemies with a VERY nasty RAW DOT scaled off your Focus level (and also has an aoe cone 3-hit attack, once per encounter). Good news is that rapiers with modal are also among the best weapons for crits. Its one of my favorite weapons in Deadfire.

Whether it fits your intended playstyle you need to answer for yourself.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Haplok

[Boeroer]

There is one special fun combo (imo) with Trickster/Soulblade which I really like: go max deflection (high RES, Mirrored Images + Borrowed Instincts + Psyvhovampiric Shield sometimes + gear) and use Whispers of the Endless Paths with the enchantment "Offensive Parry". Those parries will generate focus! In addition to that the raw damage of Soul Annihilation will get applied to all enemies in the cone AoE (the amout of damage to each enemy varies, the initial target gets the normal raw dmg, the next only a bit, the next more and so on). 

It's not for man tanking - but you can stand sourrounded by melee enemies for quite a long time and gain focus "passively" be just parrying and then take out the enemies with Soul Annihilation. Riposte stacks with Offensive Parry (meanikng you can "riposte" twice from one single miss)! Riposte itself doesn't generate focus but it's an additional source of damage. Offensive Parry is not an AoE attack (oly hits the enemy who missed) but Riposte does the whole cone attack.

Against tough single enemies you can switch to another weapon with better single target dmg.  

 

[Hariwulf]

I was pondering if Might could be more beneficial than Int, for the purposes of the Mindstalker (Trickster/ Soulblade) build. I mean, I went for 20 Dex, Per, and Int. My crits aren't that jaw-dropping, and while the +50% duration is great and the extra survivability is good, it mostly affects Cipher abilities that I can refresh (Borrowed Instincts, and some shreds such as Ampli-wave, Disintegration...).

On the other hand, Might may boost my damage, Rogue skills effectiveness, and general melee endeavour.

I do realize it may appear as an unorthodox approach, but I'd like to hear some thoughts about my postulations.

[Boeroer]

High MIG is not really needed for a Mindstalker imo. Your melee dmg will be raised by Sneak Attack (scales with Power Level up to 50% with a multiclass Trickster iirc) and later Deathblows (50%) - then your weapons will add some dmg with quality and so on. Even if you went to 20 MIG it would "only" give you a +30% additive dmg bonus. 

If you use a lot of damaging cipher spells one could make better use of MIG. But if your main dmg output comes from weapon attacks I think it's not worth it. 

But that's just my personal approach. You could try it out and see what feels better. 

[Hariwulf]

4 hours ago, Boeroer said:

High MIG is not really needed for a Mindstalker imo. Your melee dmg will be raised by Sneak Attack (scales with Power Level up to 50% with a multiclass Trickster iirc) and later Deathblows (50%) - then your weapons will add some dmg with quality and so on. Even if you went to 20 MIG it would "only" give you a +30% additive dmg bonus. 

If you use a lot of damaging cipher spells one could make better use of MIG. But if your main dmg output comes from weapon attacks I think it's not worth it. 

But that's just my personal approach. You could try it out and see what feels better. 

Yes, dmg comes from shreds, dual wield weapons (daggers, rapiers, and gear that speed up the recovery of such weapons) and later also your very best friends Fire in the hole and Kitchen stove. The idea is to generate lots of resources quickly, and to use Soul Annihilation mainly as a spender for surplus of points, rather than a primary tactic (trying to avoid the one-trick pony).

I want to try the WotEP setting you suggested too, tho until I have the funds for it, I find this fast build very enjoyable.

Let me ask you one last Q:

Do you think it's easier to find MIG or INT gear, for a +10 points? Cos alternatively I could split 15-15.

[Not So Clever Hound]

4 minutes ago, Hariwulf said:

Do you think it's easier to find MIG or INT gear, for a +10 points? Cos alternatively I could split 15-15.

You will tend to find more +INT items (helmet, amulet, rings, also potentially cape...). +MIG items are a bit more limited outside of Gloves, Belt, potentially Ring depending on your class.

Honestly, don't sweat too much on your stat spread... unless you go with very extreme values it won't have that much positive or negative impact.

I personally find that MIG tends to be a worthy investment if you have passive regen (so it helps DMG, Regen and FORT saves - nice). Otherwise usually you get more mileage out of INT since it influences AoE and Duration that not only increase your net total DMG but also your buffs, afflictions etc.

[Boeroer]

Yes, there is a bit more INT gear.

Splitting 15-15 or 14-16 or whatever feels right is also okay.

[Hariwulf]

Very good points. I'll stick to my stats then, and try to gear up for a + 8 might along the way.

[dgray62]

I agree with Boeroer, and recommend prioritizing INT over STR. You'll be dishing out lots of afflictions, and will want them to last as long as possible. Also, if you're using WotEP, it'll make the cone larger, allowing you to potentially hit more enemies with each attack, and thus generate even more focus.