TLDR on stats, and building SC Furyshaper.

[mjo2138]

Hello Everyone

 

I am currently suffering from restartitis! I rerolled my SC Furyshaper, and I cannot decide on which stats. This is my best understand of each stat. I would really welcome your feedback as to if I have a good understanding. This is will be from the context of stats in general, but also for a Barbarian 

 

Might: This can be 10. Might +dmg is very small, because weapon damage comes from so many other sources (weapon quality, critical attack, flanked, certain skills, overpen).In fact, MIG could even be lowered. 

*is the 2h Arma battle axe worth it? I am not sure I wanna pump the might up to 20

Constitution: CON is good for tanks, but you do not need to max it. Deflection (Resolve) is better. However, Barbarians have -5 deflection to begin with, and frenzy is another -10. Therefore, we should max this. (Streetfighters or humans enjoy having a larger 'bloodied' health range, so they benefit from this as well' 

Dexterity:  +3 action speed is good, but this is pretty small. Action speed can be boosted from spells and equipment/pets, (such as wards, DOC breastplate, miscreant's leather, nalvi), so DEX is only worth it if you max it to really feel the returns. Stacking -action speed is ???.  I need to study up on inversions. 

Barbarians already have some skills that negate recovery , so I dont think I need very high dex alone 

Perception; +accuracy is ALWAYS good.  I always try to have high perception.  I know this can come from other buffs, but it is so strong having high accuracy on POTD upscaled.  

Intellect: I really like having buffs that last longer, and larger AOEs; this is always good. But for an SC furyshaper, not sure I need higher than 10.

Resolve: Resolve is only worth it if you max it out for the Deflection. If Deflection is not your main defense, such as for tank or frontliner, it can be dumped. Besides SC furyshaper has horrible will and deflection anyways, so there is not a real need to 'balance' it would.

 

2. What race would you choose for an SC furyshaper?

 

I really like pale elf, because +4 AR for cold/fire is ALWAYS good. This will really increase survivability. 

Humans have a nice bonus for being bloodied, but in order to stay bloodied, I need party members to buff me and provide certain heals. I also need equipment that triggers at bloodied ,or near death. (most of this is per-rest, and I prefer no-rest runs nowadays!). Besides, most of these buffs for being bloodied are not enough to stop you from dying. (I think the AR buffs only last 10-15 seconds)

Godlike would have some nice skills here, but I don't know if I want to give up the head item slot...Death Godlike or Fire godlike could be good,  but again it is hard to stay at that health range. Nature godlike is always good. 

Costal Aumana looks good, but I can't recall how often might afflictions hurt me. DEX afflictions are the real pain for a front liner, for sure. 

 

3. Lastly, what weapon(s) do you recommend for an SC furyshaper? 

1. LDV - always good, with +engagements and terrify, I can wreck mobs when the disengagement triggers)

2. Pike (I like pikes modal, but it is better for a boss or stronger mob alone)

3. Arma - does its 'carnage' also stack with Barbarian carnage? I should try this at least once

4. Willbreaker: Always good but Serafen might use this one as it really goes well with this ability pool.

 

Many thanks in advance! 

 

 

 

 

 

[dgray62]

I'd say for barbs PER and INT should be maxed, and the remaining stats can be left flat (or even dumped, in the case of RES) as you note. The only caveat is if you want to use Amra you'll need high STR, at least 20 (with equipment) before casting frenzy. Yes, the Amra 'carnage' does stack with barb carnage, which makes it a particularly good weapon for barbs. If you're not going to use Willbreaker, it probably is one of the best weapons for barbs, although it suffers from only one damage type. If you are going to keep STR flat, you'd be better off with LDV. Keep in mind that it can't be improved to legendary, at least in an unmoved game. I agree, Pale Elf is great for a front liner, given how much fire and cold are thrown at you in this game.

[mjo2138]

24 minutes ago, dgray62 said:

I'd say for barbs PER and INT should be maxed, and the remaining stats can be left flat (or even dumped, in the case of RES) as you note. The only caveat is if you want to use Amra you'll need high STR, at least 20 (with equipment) before casting frenzy. Yes, the Amra 'carnage' does stack with barb carnage, which makes it a particularly good weapon for barbs. If you're not going to use Willbreaker, it probably is one of the best weapons for barbs, although it suffers from only one damage type. If you are going to keep STR flat, you'd be better off with LDV. Keep in mind that it can't be improved to legendary, at least in an unmoved game. I agree, Pale Elf is great for a front liner, given how much fire and cold are thrown at you in this game.

Thanks. Yes. It feels like those stats are always good! Good to know that Amra works well with barbarians.... It have never used it , so it is high time I think. 

Willbreaker is so good, but Xoti (contemplative) could use it to ensure she lands her Harvest spell by debuffing fortitude.  That synergy has always worked well. She could use fists alone, but then you miss out on this one. Otherwise Serafen (Witch) can do the trick

I was thinking about Mountain Dwarf, but I could metagame around any constitution afflictions by using a chanter nearby. (not mention frenzy has that first line of defense with Fit Inspiration). +fire +frost AR can be gained through a druid, but that comes later. There is something so nice about having it right off the bat. (lot of fire mobs in tutorial island, nagas elsewhere, xaruip, drakes, etc. etc.) elsewhere. 

LDV you are right it is not legendary. However, the shock DMG type is really strong , so most of the time you can still get away with using it. That being said, a fighter with penetrating strikes benefits more I think, because that +3 pen really pays off to achieve overpen. 

 

 

[thelee]

2 hours ago, mjo2138 said:

I was thinking about Mountain Dwarf, but I could metagame around any constitution afflictions by using a chanter nearby.

IIRC even characters with affliction resistance benefit from the chanter chants. when the chant is active, it's redundant, but when the chant is first applied/re-applied, it automatically resists down existing afflictions. So, e.g. a mountain dwarf will rapidly lose even an enfeebled condition (though that is very rare).

also having constitution resistance might be pretty good on a barbarian because their only main source of self-healing despite being pretty beat up is a Robust inspiration and it really sucks for some tier-1 enemy ability random sickened affliction to cancel it out.

 

personally i do not think intellect is necessarily a king stat for barbarian. early on, having short frenzy durations suck, but later on PL scaling helps take care of that. Unlike PoE1, the aoe for carnage is smaller and scales less generously with intellect, and also carnage is also just less of a damage monster. I would personally recommend perception and dex.

i also lightly suggest that Amra isn't worth optimizing for as a barbarian, though I don't have a lot of experience metagaming with this. Barbarians get exponential returns from perception investment (because carnage only triggers on a hit, instead of being something that gets checked every time) whereas might will only give them linear returns; i'm not sure some occasional extra carnage hits from Amra will make up the deficit. Willbreaker (or another morningstar weapon) is a pretty S-tier pick for a barbarian because of their ability to target fortitude defenses, coupled with interrupting enemies on crit, and I think that'll give you much better outcomes than some extra carnage hits.

Edited May 27, 2022 by thelee

[dgray62]

Yes, if you give Willbreaker to Serafin you could always use Saru-Sichr, which is nice due to the fact that poison stacks. Ultimately you might want to go for the Effort greatsword, which is fantastic in the hands of a Howler, although Mageslayer would be ideal, since wielding Effort your chants will apply the Mageslayer debuff as well.

[mjo2138]

1 hour ago, thelee said:

IIRC even characters with affliction resistance benefit from the chanter chants. when the chant is active, it's redundant, but when the chant is first applied/re-applied, it automatically resists down existing afflictions. So, e.g. a mountain dwarf will rapidly lose even an enfeebled condition (though that is very rare).

also having constitution resistance might be pretty good on a barbarian because their only main source of self-healing despite being pretty beat up is a Robust inspiration and it really sucks for some tier-1 enemy ability random sickened affliction to cancel it out.

 

personally i do not think intellect is necessarily a king stat for barbarian. early on, having short frenzy durations suck, but later on PL scaling helps take care of that. Unlike PoE1, the aoe for carnage is smaller and scales less generously with intellect, and also carnage is also just less of a damage monster. I would personally recommend perception and dex.

i also lightly suggest that Amra isn't worth optimizing for as a barbarian, though I don't have a lot of experience metagaming with this. Barbarians get exponential returns from perception investment (because carnage only triggers on a hit, instead of being something that gets checked every time) whereas might will only give them linear returns; i'm not sure some occasional extra carnage hits from Amra will make up the deficit. Willbreaker (or another morningstar weapon) is a pretty S-tier pick for a barbarian because of their ability to target fortitude defenses, coupled with interrupting enemies on crit, and I think that'll give you much better outcomes than some extra carnage hits.

Thank you for your insights. So, that means that a mountain dwarf, who also has a constitution affliction chant, will have in reduced as follows? ->enfeebled -> weakened-sickened? It would indeed really suck to lose robust, and suffer from -5 con. Deflection is already so low, so CON is real 'defense' stat. 

I also really on the fence about pumping towards max might; losing out on DEX and PER is a tough trade off. In fact, being able to actually kill mobs, and more quickly ,is a better defense LOL!   Amra looks cool, but you are right that the fortitude debuff is just so good, not only for barbarian skills, but for the whole party. 

4 minutes ago, dgray62 said:

Yes, if you give Willbreaker to Serafin you could always use Saru-Sichr, which is nice due to the fact that poison stacks. Ultimately you might want to go for the Effort greatsword, which is fantastic in the hands of a Howler, although Mageslayer would be ideal, since wielding Effort your chants will apply the Mageslayer debuff as well.

That is a good point. I have never played Mageslayer, but I will. Deadfire is so fun, because there are so many class combinations. It is endless! 

[thelee]

33 minutes ago, mjo2138 said:

Thank you for your insights. So, that means that a mountain dwarf, who also has a constitution affliction chant, will have in reduced as follows? ->enfeebled -> weakened-sickened? It would indeed really suck to lose robust, and suffer from -5 con. Deflection is already so low, so CON is real 'defense' stat. 

sorry i was a bit unclear. if the mountain dwarf already has a constitution affliction chant, then it's no different than any other character with a constitution affliction chant.

what i was trying to say is that the "redundancy" doesn't matter when the chant refreshes - despite the fact that the mountain dwarf innately has constitution affliction resistance, when the chant re-applies it will downgrade the constitution affliction, as it would normally do so for other characters. this is contrast to how we would expect redundant effects to work, e.g. no impact.

the case i was talking about (enfeebled rapidly disappears) i was imagining a specific situation where you get by enfeebled (or weakened, which is more common) but don't have a constitution affliction chant running yet. the mountain dwarf would resist it down to weakened (or sickened), and then you'd flip on the constitution affliction chant, which would let the dwarf resist it further down (sickened (or nothing at all)) and then completely gone after one refresh, whereas everyone else would have wait one more cycle for the song to repeat.

[mjo2138]

27 minutes ago, thelee said:

sorry i was a bit unclear. if the mountain dwarf already has a constitution affliction chant, then it's no different than any other character with a constitution affliction chant.

what i was trying to say is that the "redundancy" doesn't matter when the chant refreshes - despite the fact that the mountain dwarf innately has constitution affliction resistance, when the chant re-applies it will downgrade the constitution affliction, as it would normally do so for other characters. this is contrast to how we would expect redundant effects to work, e.g. no impact.

the case i was talking about (enfeebled rapidly disappears) i was imagining a specific situation where you get by enfeebled (or weakened, which is more common) but don't have a constitution affliction chant running yet. the mountain dwarf would resist it down to weakened (or sickened), and then you'd flip on the constitution affliction chant, which would let the dwarf resist it further down (sickened (or nothing at all)) and then completely gone after one refresh, whereas everyone else would have wait one more cycle for the song to repeat.

Ah I get you! Yes that is what I understood as well. That is really useful to know. I finally decided on Mountain Dwarf haha. Now I am in tutorial island