Party Advice 5.0 POTD (upscaled) with story companions

[fellofrog]

So long story short, this will be my first run in awhile (since around 1.0 days) and i've heard a lot has changed.

I'd like to focus on some dlc characters. Heres my vague plan so far~

My Party:

1. Pallegina - Herald

2. Ydwin - Mindstalker

3. Fassina - ???

4. Fill - Whatever is needed

5. MC - Whatever is needed

Now i know companions are subpar, specially Ydwin and Fass but i'd really like to make them work if possible.

For 4 and 5, i have no preferences. Whatever rounds out the party the best

Thanks!

[thelee]

Fassina is fine with whatever you put her. As a sorcerer she could carry your party with heals and buffs, and when her spells run out summon citzal's pike and wreck. This time I'm running her as loremaster and it's working out pretty well (infuse with vital essence helps her chants and invocations last even longer), so long as you're aware of the anti-synergy between summon familiar and chanter summons. (i deal with it by summoning a familiar and only using a chanter summon once i no longer really need the bonus PL for spellcasting). I know lots of people are sour on wizard subclasses, but I actually value conjurer subclass pretty decently (maybe just under evocation) since they get many of the spells I care about, and their familiar is guaranteed to give you a passive +1 PL bonus (on top of other stats) that gives you a slight casting edge even with your non-focus school, at the cost of a bit of action economy (having to summon a familiar and recovery penalty). Unfortunately conjurer tier 8/9 spells aren't as great as other subclasses that have access to evocation (meteor swarm and missile salvo are incredible and losing them isn't really made up for by getting some bonus PL on blackbow/enchanted armor that don't benefit much from PL ) hence why I tend to multiclass her.

 

You definitely could do with an additional tank of some sort. Rekke is a real beefy boi as a brute or a brawler. I like him in particular b.c. he has higher dex and higher int compared to pretty much every other front-lining companion. He doesn't get as much DLC reactivity though. Failing that, Konstanten is more of a DLC sidekick, but I typically am underwhelmed by his stats (I don't value high con very much), though if you're patient he can make for a great SC barbarian. I mentioned in another thread that once I got to tier 8/9, my konstanten build skyrocketed as a major damage dealer thanks to heart of fury, the dazing shout upgrade, and the retribution-from-crits passive (equip a 2h axe and enable the bleeding modal). Because he takes a lot of damage in this setup, having a high con actually pays off a bit.

 

If you want to be a tank, then I suggest instead filling up that fourth companion slot with Vatnir. I suspect he gets underplayed by the playerbase since he comes so late, but he's very good. It's funny - just by the nature of what bonus spells he gets from his priest subclass really changes how he plays compared to most other priests (even compared to Magran, who is also predisposed to being a nuker). If you don't want to make fassina a lroemaster, Vatnir makes a compelling celebrant, though honestly Vatnir's tier 8/9 spells are great (on top of how already great tier 8/9 spells are for priests).

Edited April 28, 2022 by thelee

[fellofrog]

Wow thanks for the guidance!

I think having the MC as a Priest (or some form of buffer) will give me the most flexibility. That way i can fill the last role as you suggested, a tank. Rekke, Konstanten, Mirke or even a base game companion like Eder.

Failing that i do like the sound of Vatnir (Xoti early). Having the MC as a tank allows for a really strong setup, something like Herald.

Thinking about it. Having a companion fill the tank role means i can make the MC into whatever i want. If Fassina is a sorcerer, would i still need a preist?

 

Thanks for the help. I had a bit of paralysis by analysis but now i got a idea of how i should go about it.

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by fellofrog

[thelee]

5 hours ago, fellofrog said:

If Fassina is a sorcerer, would i still need a preist?

nah, IMO between Pallegina the herald and Fassina the (part)druid, you'll have tons of defensive power. at that point a priest would be valuable for misc buff/debuff, but between ywdin the (part)cipher and fassina the (part)wizard and whatever aura/exhortations you have on pallegina, you already sort of have that covered so the value-add won't be as vital.

 

edit: as a strategic point, in case it's not something you've thought about, what makes fassina multiclassing (or any wizard multiclassing) work really well is to rely heavily on grimoires. i rarely pick up any wizard spells directly (pretty much only Deleterious Alacrity of Motion, so I always have it available), so that leaves tons of ability points to invest in the other class. it requires a bit more micromanagement to keep track of what spells are in which grimoire (though you get the hang of it), but the payoff is that you get tons of value by being able to heavily invest in your non-wizard half while your wizard half performs almost as well with just like a couple total skill points invested.

Edited April 29, 2022 by thelee

[fellofrog]

Sweet, i have a pretty good idea of what to do now.

Thanks for the help!