Advice on a new game start

[Mattyy007]

Hi all ,

First of all love this game and returning player here .  Made it before to level 20 with a Witch class ( barb ciper ) + followers . So no single run games for me 

Havent played in long time and thinkig of starting a new game . 

I play for RP and fun and I would like some advice.

I want to do a run with a char build around Endless Wisper 2h sword only 

-need to be barb single or barb + pala or barb+ fighter . ( mostly for the charge and/or leap + shouting )

For RP i dont like monks , thiefs chiper, druids  and i'm so-so with clerics

 

1- Whats a good stats build for barb, barb+fighter or barb+pala

2- How does the sword scales and does it work up to late levels ? 

3 - what gear is good - DoC plate? 

4 - how to maximise damage/aoe and what enchants are good on the sword 

 

Ps : party comp will be

PC + Pelegina fighter/pala , Aloth mage , chiper/ranger frostseeker and ranger solo archebus that shoot twice

Game - POTD+ Scale upward

Edited June 20, 2022 by Mattyy007

[Faraleth]

2 hours ago, Mattyy007 said:

I want to do a run with a char build around Endless Wisper 2h sword only 

-need to be barb single or barb + pala or barb+ fighter

in this case I would create a Devoted fighter+either pure barb or Berserker barb. (berserker is higher risk, higher reward, and it needs you to use the Devil of Caroc breastplate for the intellect affliction resistance)

[Helz]

6 hours ago, Faraleth said:

in this case I would create a Devoted fighter+either pure barb or Berserker barb. (berserker is higher risk, higher reward, and it needs you to use the Devil of Caroc breastplate for the intellect affliction resistance)

Devil of Caroc is nice but not required for a brute. You can use Disciplined or Tactical Barrage to cancel out confusion.

Whispers of Endless Paths is a really good AoE weapon, but its not so great for single target damage. You might want something else for bosses.

If it helps, here's my brute build. I didn't min-max it, but with blessings I'm sure he could hold his own in PoD.

 

[Theosupus]

WoTEP is AWSOME with high resolve. Offensive parry will out dps your auto attacks if your deflection is high enough.

I love the bezerker+bleakwalker combo myself, but the Brute will have higher sword dps, and you don't have to RP an a-hole for bleakwalker traits.

IDR if carnage applies on offensive parries.  If it does, the combo is even better.

[Boeroer]

Steel Garrote is an excellent choice when you want to use Whispers of the Endless Paths with Offensive Parry. 

The reason is that the Steel Garrote Paladin has a passive that lets you drain health from enemies if they are afflicted with something. 

Offensive Parry not only hits enemies who miss you in melee, it also applies the Dazed affliction if you do so, automatically unlocking the health drain. 

You need high melee deflection though. So that means high Resolve, Cloak of Greater Deflection (very early item with Berath's Blessing: Merchant in Port Maje), later Bracers of Greater Deflection, Deep Faith etc. and also an armor that gives you deflection bonuses. I would recommend Nomad's Brigandine. It gives up to +10 deflection against melee attackers and it also makes you immune to disengagement attacks - meaning they will miss 100% of times. So you can basically disengage, the disengagement attack will miss you and you will instantly do an Offensive Parry in return.

This also means you can roam the battlefield freely while doing damage passively and draining health in the process. The Brigandine is also a heavy armor which is good for a melee character who will most likely get hit a lot but can compensate with high AR and AR passives (see Barb+Paladin passive around armor). Enemies' underpenetrarion is every frontliner's underappreciated friend...

This is also one of the few builds where I consider casting the Paladin's +40% dmg Beacon is worthwhile. Because your offensive parries will also get +40% dmg and this will also drain more of the enemies' health for you. 

Blood Thirst also triggers from Offensive Parry (if it kills). 

Barbarians suffer -10 deflection when frenzied. That's not so cool in this case but it's manageable.

Berserker is nice because not only does he crit more frequently and gains +2 PEN - but also because he gains +2 AR via Frenzy. The self damage is substantial bit can be countered with the health drain, a pet that heals on kill (see Abraham) and Lay in Hands + Exalted Endurance.

But I think I personally would go with the Furyshaper because the Fear Ward is very strong, it will afflict enemies (more health drain) and it will make you more sturdy because terrified enemies don't attack. It also fits the Steel Garrote vibes imo. 

For a single class Barb I would def. recommend Furyshaper because the Blood Ward is just awesome for you and the whole party. Especially in combination with Barbaric Retaliation and Dazing Shout. It's more difficult to use offensive Parry as an SC Barb because you will lack the deflection bonuses of the Paladin, but you can combine disengagement-parries and Babaric Retaliation (it attacks with the sword's cone AoE).  

With WotEP, Carnage and Dazing Shout you want highest INT and also items that raise INT further as well as items that raise AoE size directly (Ring of Overseeing for example). A pet like Loki also helps with that, but maybe something like Abraham is better for a Berserker after all. 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Boeroer

[Mattyy007]

Sweet replies  thank you and my next runs i will do a pala dual . 

As a start i went with berseker barb single class . Dude is doing well , hiting mostly my team .  He can hold is ground and crits are sweet.  I keep the  WoTEP and dual 2 swords as a back up in case . 

Good game all around  going pelegina war/pala , maia geo , aloth mage and another char ranger single with frostseeker . But i got a big woop ass from the 3rd quest of island maping at the metal/golems/undead mobs - them dudes die slow and if theres 2 more i get wiped  ( level 13 curently) 

 

I did a seer to replace my sc archer and it blows ... she cant get asccendent to save her life.    I'm sure i dont do things right but single class archer ( arcane) is much fun . The fireballs are lit . 

 

 - Btw what shops are best to buy enchant materials ? I mean i have like 4/5 adra gems and thats good for 1 weapon after so many quests ? I cant even find brains for DoC plate. 

Gold is not an issue as i just board and wipe vessels and shop all items.

 

[thelee]

9 hours ago, Mattyy007 said:

 - Btw what shops are best to buy enchant materials ? I mean i have like 4/5 adra gems and thats good for 1 weapon after so many quests ? I cant even find brains for DoC plate. 

you mean adra ban? unless you have a mod, adra ban is finite, so you should save them exclusively for upgrading to legendary for your final gear selections, IMO. And even then you will need to rely on being smart with certain materials (e.g. the drop from the fire dragon) which you can also use to upgrade to legendary so that you're not blowing 4 adra ban on a single 2h weapon upgrade. it's the biggest surprising crafting trap in the game, since you could easily blow all your adra ban crafting a few scrolls if you aren't careful.

 

i rely on the exotic herbs shop and una for most of my mats, though i feel like one of the precious gemstones doesn't spawn at una and i had to go to the treasure shop in dunnage (maybe i was just unlucky). some monster mats are "rare" and you need to wait a long time to get one (vithrack brains is one of them), though you can also just try to hunt out the monster (though again, vithrack are rare until FS).

Edited June 22, 2022 by thelee

[dgray62]

On 6/22/2022 at 9:30 AM, thelee said:

you mean adra ban? unless you have a mod, adra ban is finite

Not necessarily. If you pick the Loaded Pockets among Berath's Blessings, you'll have a chance of getting better loot every time you pick pockets, including gems. Once you reach about lvl 10 you'll also start getting the rare gems, including Adra Ban and Sapphires, which are otherwise very rare in unmodded games. I've often been able to get several adra ban gems on a single map. It's random, yet I often find the same loot repeated 2 or more times on the same map for some reason.

[thelee]

24 minutes ago, dgray62 said:

Not necessarily. If you pick the Loaded Pockets among Berath's Blessings, you'll have a chance of getting better loot every time you pick pockets, including gems. Once you reach about lvl 10 you'll also start getting the rare gems, including Adra Ban and Sapphires, which are otherwise very rare in unmodded games. I've often been able to get several adra ban gems on a single map. It's random, yet I often find the same loot repeated 2 or more times on the same map for some reason.

you'd have to be lucky! i don't think i've ever gotten an adra ban despite looting every pocket in all the cities with Loaded Pockets on. so you could easily go a game without finding one this way.

[dgray62]

Really? It seems I always get at least a few this way. But I usually have a rogue with max stealth in most parties, to make the most of this blessing. For some reason I've had the best luck getting Adra Ban in the poorest part of Neketaka and the Delver's Row areas below it, as well as in Dunnage. Maybe it's totally random, but I seem to find gems most often in pirates' pockets.