Best melee caster's slayer - need some advice.

[Konst]

Hello.

I'm composing party, and wondering your advice about best "caster's slayer" (or at least good enough and flexible).

Requirements looks like:
 - difficulty - "veteran" for comfortable game, or "path of the dammed" with hard manual control.
 - roles: kill (suppress) enemy casters; In the late game secondary role - boss striker.

So, I'm wondering:
1. Is the hard-melee character best way for killing enemy casters, or there is a better way to kill enemy casters?
2. What possible builds you suggest?

3. Is monk-barbarian (or monk-fighter on second place) good choice or it has some unseen critical disadvantages?
I suppose, that rogue-like builds are too demanded for manual-handling (I was defeated in my attempts to write AI-script, to my rogue be enough viable and damage-dealing).
And I'm afraid that fighter-monk have too little discipline for use both charge and discipline barrage. Is it correct?

[Elric Galad]

I would include Ranger in the mix because Tranquilizing Shot.

-30s to foe buff is really good to deal with Wizards and other melee classes don't get something comparable. Using a Multi-Hit weapon (Sun&Moon) cause multiple -30s de-buffs.

Piling Acc modifier vs single target with Ranger is good anyway.

 

I would go Rogue because damages AND all Rogue's Strikes interrupt on Hit (or sometimes Graze). Interrupting is neat to deal with casters. I don't feel Rogue very complicated to control ^^

Edited March 17, 2022 by Elric Galad

[Boeroer]

If I want a character that can shut down casters reliably (and kill them rel. quickly) and also be useful against bosses (and maybe shut them down, too) I build an arbalest or a crossbow shooter. The modal of both will interrupt reliably (on hit) which cancels the caster's ability and takes away the spell use.

Since enemies' concentration prevents interrupts I like to use a build that contains a Troubadour. The Troubadour can run "Thick Grew Their Tongues" and "Sure-Handed Ila" simulateously which is important. The first one removes all Concentration from enemies and the second speeds up reloading weapons twice: once the recovery bonus of 20% gets applied and then also the reloading bonus of the chant will get applied. So as an arbalest user you get 20% speedup two times. This is needed because the modal of arbalests prolings the already long reloading phase. Sure-Handed Ila counters this nicely.

As second class I like to use the Arcane Archer. First of all it's a Ranger - so it has a lot going for it when it comes to ranged weapons and high accurcy through passives and active abilities. It also got Gunner which stacks with Sure-Handed Ila and speeds your reloading up further. However, the Arcane Archer has two more amazing tools in his belt for messing enemies' actions up: Imbue:Web and Imbue:Eora. Both proc an instance of the spell with every projectile + jump. They also get bonus accuracy with Arcana - nice synergy with Spearcaster which already gets such a bonus - they stack. So every imbue shot with Spearcaster+Driving Flight will produce two high accuracy instances of the spell (here Binding Web or/and Pull or Eora). Pull of Eora alone is devastating for enemy casters because it cancels their actions and whirls them around periodically every 3 secs. Binding Web also pulses every 3 secs but it "only" stucks enemies. Well, that changes as soon as you get access to the invocation "Their Champion" which turns every crit roll (including those from Binding Web or Pull or Eora) into an interrupt. Remember that you remove concentration with Thick Grew Their Tongues so every crit from you, no matter the source, will interrupt. This will not only shut down one single caster but everyone in the AoE who gets crit every few seconds. The attack rolls of "Thick Grew Their Tongues" count, too.

Then you will have access to summons - later game the Animated Weapons will be very good at shutting down casters, too. One of the weapons does kockdown attacks which work like interrupts - so you'll have a summon that can interrupt casters by themselves. The other two weapons will help to kill off that caster. And you also have access to invocations that can shut down casters on their own, for example the stunning wave or Ben Fidel (frighten prevents offensive spellcasting).

Imo this build has it all besides healing: sufficient survivability (just pick a Bear companion to guard you), unlimited access to interrupts, crowd control, single target and AoE damage and fantastic accuracy. 

It also works well with crossbows. Scourge of Bezello is an excellent weapon for interrupting casters because it has three bolts which will each interrupt - but it somes superlate while Spearcaster cames very early. So for me it's Spearcaster. 

--- 

There are other altenatives of course - for example a Mage Slayer Barbarian with fast weapons. Or anything that can reliably hard-CC enemy casters (stun, paralyze, charm/dominate, terrify). I perfer the ranged approach though because you don't have to move a lot which spares time and doesn't put you in harm's way.  

[Konst]

48 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

If I want a character that can shut down casters reliably (and kill them rel. quickly) and also be useful against bosses (and maybe shut them down, too) I build an arbalest or a crossbow shooter. The modal of both will interrupt reliably (on hit) which cancels the caster's ability and takes away the spell use.

Since enemies' concentration prevents interrupts I like to use a build that contains a Troubadour. The Troubadour can run "Thick Grew Their Tongues" and "Sure-Handed Ila" simulateously which is important. The first one removes all Concentration from enemies and the second speeds up reloading weapons twice: once the recovery bonus of 20% gets applied and then also the reloading bonus of the chant will get applied. So as an arbalest user you get 20% speedup two times. This is needed because the modal of arbalests prolings the already long reloading phase. Sure-Handed Ila counters this nicely.

As second class I like to use the Arcane Archer. First of all it's a Ranger - so it has a lot going for it when it comes to ranged weapons and high accurcy through passives and active abilities. It also got Gunner which stacks with Sure-Handed Ila and speeds your reloading up further. However, the Arcane Archer has two more amazing tools in his belt for messing enemies' actions up: Imbue:Web and Imbue:Eora. Both proc an instance of the spell with every projectile + jump. They also get bonus accuracy with Arcana - nice synergy with Spearcaster which already gets such a bonus - they stack. So every imbue shot with Spearcaster+Driving Flight will produce two high accuracy instances of the spell (here Binding Web or/and Pull or Eora). Pull of Eora alone is devastating for enemy casters because it cancels their actions and whirls them around periodically every 3 secs. Binding Web also pulses every 3 secs but it "only" stucks enemies. Well, that changes as soon as you get access to the invocation "Their Champion" which turns every crit roll (including those from Binding Web or Pull or Eora) into an interrupt. Remember that you remove concentration with Thick Grew Their Tongues so every crit from you, no matter the source, will interrupt. This will not only shut down one single caster but everyone in the AoE who gets crit every few seconds. The attack rolls of "Thick Grew Their Tongues" count, too.

Then you will have access to summons - later game the Animated Weapons will be very good at shutting down casters, too. One of the weapons does kockdown attacks which work like interrupts - so you'll have a summon that can interrupt casters by themselves. The other two weapons will help to kill off that caster. And you also have access to invocations that can shut down casters on their own, for example the stunning wave or Ben Fidel (frighten prevents offensive spellcasting).

Imo this build has it all besides healing: sufficient survivability (just pick a Bear companion to guard you), unlimited access to interrupts, crowd control, single target and AoE damage and fantastic accuracy. 

It also works well with crossbows. Scourge of Bezello is an excellent weapon for interrupting casters because it has three bolts which will each interrupt - but it somes superlate while Spearcaster cames very early. So for me it's Spearcaster. 

--- 

There are other altenatives of course - for example a Mage Slayer Barbarian with fast weapons. Or anything that can reliably hard-CC enemy casters (stun, paralyze, charm/dominate, terrify). I perfer the ranged approach though because you don't have to move a lot which spares time and doesn't put you in harm's way.  

Thank you, it's a very tempting build.

And I have a couple of questions:
1. Does "Imbue: __" work on every blunderbusses bullet? If it is - look's like imba.
2. There is some vague description of Arcane archer penalty.
I suppose every AA regular shot has reduced accuracy? What could be done with it?

Edited March 17, 2022 by Konst

[Elric Galad]

6 minutes ago, Konst said:

Thank you, it's a very tempting build.

And I have a couple of questions:
1. Does "Imbue: __" work on every blunderbusses bullet? If it is - look's like imba.

Nope

6 minutes ago, Konst said:

2. There is some vague description of Arcane archer penalty.
I suppose every AA regular shot has reduced accuracy? What could be done with it?

Usually yes, but there are some weapons with attacks that are tagged Fire, Frost, etc... If you pick one of them, no penalty.

[dgray62]

Or you could use a Mage Slayer/Troubador howler wielding Effort, as @Constentin Lévine suggested out in this post. With this set up, your rapid chanting would also interrupt but also apply Spell Interrupt stacks. When they have four, they can't cast spells, and are sitting ducks.

[Konst]

Thank you. Mach more clear now.

Nonetheless I have one another general question.
Question is not about suggested builds, question is about game-undarstanding at all (maybe I don't understand something important in general, not in details).

Forget about Arcane Archer build at a moment.
So you both imply situation, in which we suppress one caster, and interrupting second one - and this is enough.
But in my experience - this is enough in "easy battles", but not even close for at least medium-difficalty battle.

As far as I understand, most game time you have a battles like this: at start you surrounded by several casters(4 or often 6+) or 2-3-4 groups of casters or 1-2 caster-champions with their minions. And simultaneously you have to pay attention enemies front line.
So be able to suppress 2 casters - is not a solution of "enemies casters problem".

To pass such battle you have to kill "6+ ordinary casters" of "2+ groups of casters", and suppress 2 is not enough. So in my opinion the best way - is send some mobile and hard melee damager, who harder then missile damager. So we have rogue- or barbarian- like builds.

Am I wrong? Where?

Edited March 17, 2022 by Konst

[Boeroer]

1 hour ago, Konst said:

1. Does "Imbue: __" work on every blunderbusses bullet? If it is - look's like imba.

Only the first. regular blunderbusses are crap with Imbue shots. The best weapons for Imbue shots are Fire in the Hole and Waterhaper's Focus becvause they have a build-in jump that stacks with Driving Flight. Thus both would proc three imbue spells per shot because hit+jump+jump. But Fire in the Hole has a short reach and Watershaper's Focus has low base damage. But when it's about triggering the imbue spells like Pull of Eora as much as possible (3 parallel Pulls with one shot  are very impactful) those are great. 

1 hour ago, Konst said:

I suppose every AA regular shot has reduced accuracy? What could be done with it?

Every regular shot that is not done with an elemental keyword. But in my case that doesn't matter much. The penatly is only -5. But if you use Spearcaster you will get +1 ACC for every point of Arcana. So at 5 Arcana all your regular shots with Spearcaster won't have any acc penatly compared to other weapons - and moving forward with Arcana you will only gain accuracy. Also, as I said: Imbue shots gain ACC via Arcana as well - so with Spearcaster doing an imbue shot you will have an ACC bonus of 2*Arcana skill.   

[Boeroer]

30 minutes ago, Konst said:

Thank you. Mach more clear now.

Nonetheless I have one another general question.
Question is not about suggested builds, question is about game-undarstanding at all (maybe I don't understand something important in general, not in details).

Forget about Arcane Archer build at a moment.
So you both imply situation, in which we suppress one caster, and interrupting second one - and this is enough.
But in my experience - this is enough in "easy battles", but not even close for at least medium-difficalty battle.

As far as I understand, most game time you have a battles like this: at start you surrounded by several casters(4 or often 6+) or 2-3-4 groups of casters or 1-2 caster-champions with their minions. And simultaneously you have to pay attention enemies front line.
So be able to suppress 2 casters - is not a solution of "enemies casters problem".

To pass such battle you have to kill "6+ ordinary casters" of "2+ groups of casters", and suppress 2 is not enough. So in my opinion the best way - is send some mobile and hard melee damager, who harder then missile damager. So we have rogue- or barbarian- like builds.

Am I wrong? Where?

I don't quite follow. A fast enough ranged character will always have it easier to address multiple threats - just because there's no movement involved. If you can interrupt with a simple shot of a ranged weapon without using any limited resourced you will be useful during the whole fight. And you can just wait and see what the casters are doing. If you see one preparing a nasty spell: boom - interrupt. Then the nest caster is about to release something nasty? Boom - interrupt. You cannot do that with a melee character without wasting tons of resources on mobility actions like Escape (Rogue), Evasive Roll (Ranger), Flagellant's Path (Monk) or Leap (Barb) etc. Those characters can be great for disrupting the backline an kill one caster quickly - but they will not be good at controlling a bunch of them. Also their mobility abilities are sometimes coming rather late (see Barb).

 

If you use Effort+Hemorrhaging with a Mage Slayer you will have to rely on crits by the way. It's cool but doesn't work as well against tough foes with high defenses. 

 

[Konst]

6 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

If you can interrupt with a simple shot of a ranged weapon without using any limited resourced you will be useful during the whole fight. And you can just wait and see what the casters are doing. If you see one preparing a nasty spell: boom - interrupt.

 

Thank you.
I understand. I have never done this before.

PS
And... such level of namual-handling is appropriate for me only in boss-fights. Not in mid-difficalty fights.

[Kaylon]

IMO the best mage slayer is a ranger/monk using Frostseeker. You can spam Stunning Surge and later you can upgrade Thunderous Blows to Energized and interrupt with every crit. The fact that you hit 3-6 times chews easily through any concentration if the enemies are resistant/immune to might afflictions.

[Boeroer]

30 minutes ago, Konst said:

And... such level of namual-handling is appropriate for me only in boss-fights. Not in mid-difficalty fights.

You need more manual-handling with melee characters, that's for sure. In mid-difficulty fights you just shoot stuff dead. Pretty simple...  

If you are set on melee then I would employ a Rogue/something. Escape is cheap, it comes at lvl 1 so you can use the same tactics right from the start of the game and some of the Rogue Strikes will interrupt on graze. If you pair with a Ghost Heart you could have two sources of cheap mobility and you will have Concussive Tranquilizer at some point. Or pair with Monk and use Force of Anguish to play squash with the casters or use Stunning Surge to stun them for a long time. If you use Sun & Moon flail you can not only enhance the crit chances per swing but also get a very high chance of triggering Swift Flurry's additional attacks. Nice mix of disruption and dps and high mobility, too. 

What you can also do in order to take out two casters right at the start of battle for a long time: Use a Berserker/Priest and cast Withdraw on those casters while frenzied. THe confusion of hte Berserker allows you to cast Withdraw on enemies. It has not hit roll so it will always hit - 100%. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Boeroer

[dgray62]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

f you use Effort+Hemorrhaging with a Mage Slayer you will have to rely on crits by the way. It's cool but doesn't work as well against tough foes with high defenses. 

Very true, but fortunately a Howler has many ways to debuff foes. You could soften them up with Willbreaker with the modal on first, and then switch to effort. Should work on all except perhaps the toughest mega bosses.

[Lonlon]

22 hours ago, Boeroer said:

If I want a character that can shut down casters reliably (and kill them rel. quickly) and also be useful against bosses (and maybe shut them down, too) I build an arbalest or a crossbow shooter. The modal of both will interrupt reliably (on hit) which cancels the caster's ability and takes away the spell use.

Since enemies' concentration prevents interrupts I like to use a build that contains a Troubadour. The Troubadour can run "Thick Grew Their Tongues" and "Sure-Handed Ila" simulateously which is important. The first one removes all Concentration from enemies and the second speeds up reloading weapons twice: once the recovery bonus of 20% gets applied and then also the reloading bonus of the chant will get applied. So as an arbalest user you get 20% speedup two times. This is needed because the modal of arbalests prolings the already long reloading phase. Sure-Handed Ila counters this nicely.

As second class I like to use the Arcane Archer. First of all it's a Ranger - so it has a lot going for it when it comes to ranged weapons and high accurcy through passives and active abilities. It also got Gunner which stacks with Sure-Handed Ila and speeds your reloading up further. However, the Arcane Archer has two more amazing tools in his belt for messing enemies' actions up: Imbue:Web and Imbue:Eora. Both proc an instance of the spell with every projectile + jump. They also get bonus accuracy with Arcana - nice synergy with Spearcaster which already gets such a bonus - they stack. So every imbue shot with Spearcaster+Driving Flight will produce two high accuracy instances of the spell (here Binding Web or/and Pull or Eora). Pull of Eora alone is devastating for enemy casters because it cancels their actions and whirls them around periodically every 3 secs. Binding Web also pulses every 3 secs but it "only" stucks enemies. Well, that changes as soon as you get access to the invocation "Their Champion" which turns every crit roll (including those from Binding Web or Pull or Eora) into an interrupt. Remember that you remove concentration with Thick Grew Their Tongues so every crit from you, no matter the source, will interrupt. This will not only shut down one single caster but everyone in the AoE who gets crit every few seconds. The attack rolls of "Thick Grew Their Tongues" count, too.

Then you will have access to summons - later game the Animated Weapons will be very good at shutting down casters, too. One of the weapons does kockdown attacks which work like interrupts - so you'll have a summon that can interrupt casters by themselves. The other two weapons will help to kill off that caster. And you also have access to invocations that can shut down casters on their own, for example the stunning wave or Ben Fidel (frighten prevents offensive spellcasting).

Imo this build has it all besides healing: sufficient survivability (just pick a Bear companion to guard you), unlimited access to interrupts, crowd control, single target and AoE damage and fantastic accuracy. 

It also works well with crossbows. Scourge of Bezello is an excellent weapon for interrupting casters because it has three bolts which will each interrupt - but it somes superlate while Spearcaster cames very early. So for me it's Spearcaster. 

--- 

There are other altenatives of course - for example a Mage Slayer Barbarian with fast weapons. Or anything that can reliably hard-CC enemy casters (stun, paralyze, charm/dominate, terrify). I perfer the ranged approach though because you don't have to move a lot which spares time and doesn't put you in harm's way.  

@Boeroer I like this a lot ! do you have some kind of guide to learn further about this archetype ? Or some basic advices regarding stats/race for char creation ?

Edited March 18, 2022 by Lonlon

[Konst]

21 hours ago, Boeroer said:

You need more manual-handling with melee characters, that's for sure. In mid-difficulty fights you just shoot stuff dead. Pretty simple...

Valuable advice, thank you. I think I have to change focus of my attention in battles.

And back again to caster's-slayer melee character.

I wish to assemble something like that (but have a bit of troubles):
Fighter/monk:
 - wahai poraga / whispers of the endless pass - in case of killing groups of enemy casters
 - Mohora Tanga / sun and moon - in case of striking boss.

The only problem - Fighter (no subclass) is much  weaker, than Fighter (devotions).
Have you any ideas: what is the best way to be effective in both situations?

P.S.
In myself I didn't find neither 1-handed-AOE (properly interfering with monk crits), nor way to significantly increase crit-rate => damage dealt for 2-weapon wielders against bosses.
And simultaneously didn't find any valuable fighter subclass, except devoted.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Konst

[Boeroer]

15 hours ago, Lonlon said:

@Boeroer I like this a lot ! do you have some kind of guide to learn further about this archetype ? Or some basic advices regarding stats/race for char creation ?

I do not have anything on paper (so to speak) - but it's not difficult. I would use high DEX, PER and INT. RES can be dumped. CON can be low, too. Rest into MIG.

Max Arcana. You can also get the Firethrower's Gloves early. Later maybe even train Arcana at some teacher (don't recall which one does it). Every point of Arcana = +1 ACC with Spearcaster and +2 with an Imbue Shot with Spearcaster. And of course you get access to all the great scrolls.  

Pick Arcane Archer/Troubadour. Phrases which are good: Thick Grew Their Tongues, Sure Handed Ila, Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr and later Many Lives Pass By. For invocations I would pick mainly summons and Their Champion. The best summons are the animated weapons, but early on the wyrms are very good, too, especially if you sing Sure Handed Ila. They don't scale well so you might want to retrain out of them at higher levels and pick something else. White Worms scales very well for example...

Pick everything from the Ranger tree that gives accuracy and is suited for ranged weapons, Driving Flight, Concussive Tranquilizer and of course Gunner. The Anmal Companion is sidelined for this build because it's of not much use in the field when you are shooting imbues all around. It would only get stuck or pulled around. You can use it as your bodyguard though. I would pick a bear, give it Resilient Companion and keep it close. In theory it couls also interrupt with Takedown - but I found it's too tedious to try and keep it out of your own AoE shots.  

Weapon Proficiency Arbalest of course, a backup weapon for pierce-immune foes is not bad. Essence Interrupter + modal is perfect for this. But anthing that doesn't do pierce-only damage is fine (also see Eccea's Arcane Blaster or so). 

Maia's Sharpshooter's Garb is nice for this, especially if you pair it with a pet that reduces recovery penalties of armors - like Abraham or Cutthrouat Cosmo. A good alternative would be Miscrean't Leathers or High Harbinger's Robe.

For the head it's either Acinas Tricorn or Helm of the White Void (if use this when I wear the High Harbinger's Robe because it just looks better and the helm is very nice, too). Don't forget the Ring of the Marksman. Some Boots of Speed or Bounding Boots and it's cool.

You main tank (for example Edér) should get an items that makes them immune to push & pull effects (there's the rel. early Upright Captain's Belt) and also an item or passive that makes them resistant to DEX afflictions. That way Imbue:Web and Imbue:Eora will have zero effect on your tank while enemies will get screwed up every few secs. 

After imbue shots just wait and see what casters are doing. If any of them starts to cast something you don't want them to: shoot them once with the modal active. If the enemies don't have concentration you can switch away from Thick Grew THeir Tongues and use something like Mith Fyr for more damage or Many Lives Pass By for pouring out some skeletons. But always keep Sure Handed Ila going. 

 

[Lonlon]

@Boeroer Thanks a lot for your time, just what I needed to dive into a new campain. Any thoughts about a prefered race (if it has any impact at all) ?

[Boeroer]

10 minutes ago, Lonlon said:

@Boeroer Thanks a lot for your time, just what I needed to dive into a new campain. Any thoughts about a prefered race (if it has any impact at all) ?

You are welcome.  Race: anything that can wear a helmet would be fine imo. Since Acina's Tricorn is a... well, Tricorn  I like to use Ocean Folk from Vailia. If I wanted to use the Helm of the White Void + High Harbinger's Robe I would pick a Boreal Dwarf I guess. 

[Not So Clever Hound]

@Konst Have you considered going single class? A SC Monk or SC Assassin could be really effective in this role, really fun to play and can do a ton of other things for your party than just shut down backline casters. Monk is more explosive and has abilities that do it all (mobility + CC + damage). Assassin is a bit more specialized and requires more micro but can surgically decimate the backline.

It might sound less funky than a multi with all the possibilities, but the advantage is that you will get access to effective and fit-for-purpose high-tier abilities faster and you will have unique access to amazing Tier 8 & 9 abilities - very useful for what you're looking for.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Not So Clever Hound

[Constentin Lévine]

15 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Race: anything that can wear a helmet would be fine imo

I suggest Wild Orlan for a race : the resolve resistance is always useful and most of the other resistances are easily obtainable by the euipement (there is only one necklace for Resolve, late in game)

[NotDumbEnough]

There's a pet that gives you resolve resistance and is quite good. I've never seen the point of having a Wild Orlan watcher.

[Kaylon]

2 hours ago, NotDumbEnough said:

There's a pet that gives you resolve resistance and is quite good. I've never seen the point of having a Wild Orlan watcher.

Agree, there's also a helmet (without counting the Cap of the Laughing Stock), a chant, foods, potion. Also resolve afflictions are a problem mostly vs some bosses with auras.

[Boeroer]

That's Eviee. 

Following that logic you also shouldn't have ever seen a point of having a Coastal Aumaua, Wood Elf or Mountain Dwarf Watcher. 

Sometimes it just fits.

Besides that - players usually don't like to swap pets or items around a lot and there are way better pets for a ranged character than Eviee. If covering resistances is one of the goals I mean. For a backline character I don't focus on that to be honest. With this character in particular it's pretty unlikely that you get hit by terrify often. And frighten or shaken isn't much of a problem since modal effects + autoattacks still work just fine when frightened. 

Also a Troubadour could easily remove all afflictions just by running the appropriate resistance chant with Brisk Recitation. 

So maybe Wild Orlan wouldn't be my first pick in this case. For a melee guy it would be higher up my list though. 

I'd prefer mountain dwarf or ocean folk for this arbalest char I think. Just because of the vibes. Racial abilities don't matter much here.  

Edited March 20, 2022 by Boeroer

[NotDumbEnough]

10 hours ago, Boeroer said:

That's Eviee. 

Following that logic you also shouldn't have ever seen a point of having a Coastal Aumaua, Wood Elf or Mountain Dwarf Watcher. 

Sometimes it just fits.

Besides that - players usually don't like to swap pets or items around a lot and there are way better pets for a ranged character than Eviee. If covering resistances is one of the goals I mean. For a backline character I don't focus on that to be honest. With this character in particular it's pretty unlikely that you get hit by terrify often. And frighten or shaken isn't much of a problem since modal effects + autoattacks still work just fine when frightened. 

Also a Troubadour could easily remove all afflictions just by running the appropriate resistance chant with Brisk Recitation. 

So maybe Wild Orlan wouldn't be my first pick in this case. For a melee guy it would be higher up my list though. 

I'd prefer mountain dwarf or ocean folk for this arbalest char I think. Just because of the vibes. Racial abilities don't matter much here.  

A big part of the reason why Wild Orlan racial ability is redundant is that there simply aren't that many resolve afflictions in the game. Namely, dragon types, other large beasts, miniboss undead enemies like Death Guards and Liches, ciphers (mostly aboard Vailian ships, very rare elsewhere) and specific boss fights. It is much, much better to swap in Eviee for these fights rather than having a racial ability that's mostly redundant for the rest of the game. And besides, Eviee provides larger bonuses than most other pets.

 

The value to the other resistance based racial abilities is that you can't actually find pets that cover it, and might/con/dex afflictions are far more common (and can mitigate accidental friendly fire). There's a pet that provides Dex Affliction resistance in FS which is very late in the game. For most of the game you can save on an inventory slot otherwise used for Cipher's Shackles, the Engwithan gloves, or the belt you can buy at the Dark Cupboard as a wood elf.

Edited March 20, 2022 by NotDumbEnough

[Constentin Lévine]

1 hour ago, NotDumbEnough said:

For most of the game you can save on an inventory slot otherwise used for Cipher's Shackles, the Engwithan gloves, or the belt you can buy at the Dark Cupboard as a wood elf.

there is also some other items, a pair of BoW boots for resistance, 2 items that give a dex immunity, and some spells that also prevent the afflictions. "End game" food prevent that too. I personally never used pet for a resistance.

Shaken and Frightened are very common debuff from enemies, most of my casters are Wild Orlans for this reason. But like you said, when you are enought late in game, and you have got a lot of equipment and access to preventive spells (and food), some other races will become more interesting (dependant of the classe I mean). But however, a resistance can be always useful, from the beginning to the end of the game.