My next melee char should be a ... ?

[Faraleth]

Looking for some interesting idea for these builds, synergies with each other and weapons/gear, any tips?

• Skald+Barbarian (dunno about subclass yet, either pure or berserker)
• Skald+Shattered Pillar (10 wounds mod)
• Shattered Pillar+Barbarian

And its gonna be a dwarf of course.

[dgray62]

You might try a skald/mageslayer wielding Effort and wearing the Heaven's Cacophany helm. Your invocations and chants (those that roll against enemy defenses) will afflict enemies, proc Avenging Storm, and give them stacks of Spell Disruption. It's a fun and powerful combo IMO.

[Dalzar]

Berserker/skald is also good. Good penetration, hit to crits and healing. I usually play it with morningstar, but you could also use fast two handed weapons, like clubs and flails ( or ranged with blighthearth). I also like nalpazca/berserker, because of the extra wounds + drugs lets you kick every one on the face all the time + anguish pushes enemies to carnage, so it's like raw lash then.  

If you haven't tried single class barbarian before I would also recommend playing sc furyshaper. There is no turning back after blood ward/barb retaliation/driving roar and battle Axe(s). 

[Boeroer]

Troubadour/Berserker with Amra: min RES, max INT and 25 MIG, add AoE size gear and a pet that adds 20 health per kill. You will kill Ancient Brittle Bones and Many Lives Pass By skeletons "accidentially" via Carnage and Amra's Riven Gore which gives 20 health, Bloodlust, Blood Thirst and so on. Do not remove Confusion! Once you get Blood Thirst never turn off Battle Axe modal and just melt everything. 

Streetfighter/Berserker with Amiina's Legacy (great if you are a Dwarf): Unse Hunting Bow modal to fire at high speed. Use Berserker Frenzy to get to Blooded quickly which triggers Streetfighter's "Heating Up". Now shoot with awesome speed and pile up Blood Frenzy DoT, Deep Wounds, Arterial Strike and whatnot. Finish with Barbaric Smash. Use all the shooting gear.
Pro: insane attack speed, great dmg modifiers (high Sneak Attack + Deathblows + Blooded) + good PEN (Tenacious + Crippling Strike). Con: accuracy could be better. But great at taking out high prio targets such as enemy casters. Makes the early game pretty easy because all the main components for insane speed are there from lvl 1.

Berserker/Skald with Blightheart. Summon Ancient Brittle Bones and later Many Lives Pass By and then use Berserker Frenzy for confusion and cast Her Revenge onto enemies while skeletons get in the way. Every kill (skeletons included) will give you 1 phrase (see Blightheart's Hymn of Decay). Since Skald's Her Revenge only costs 2 phrases you will be able to cast it in very quick succession. 

Skald or Troubadour/Furyshaper with Willbreaker. Kind of self explanatory. Use Willbreaker + modal + Spirit Frenzy (NOT Spirit Tornado) + Ben Fidel's Neck + The Long Night's Drink to lower enemies' Will and Fortitude into the ground. Use Brute Force to gain significant virtual ACC by attacking the superlow Fortitude instead of deflection. Great for the rest of the party while crushing bones.  Also works very well with Ngati's Tusk instead of Willbreaker, but you need maxed Survival + the enchantment "Lord of the Hunt".

Berserker/Monk (better not Shattered Pillar or Forbidden Fist): use Saru Sichr + Swift Flurry. It does multiple attack rolls because its DoT does a hit roll which seems to trigger Swift Flurry (and Heartbeat Drumming). Use modal and Enervating Blows + Spirit Frenzy + Stunning Surge + Brute Force and attack enemies with low starting fortitude. The chance to crit will be very high and the multiple hit rolls of Saru Sichr will lead to a lot of crit chains (both target fortitude). Also the DoT works like Bleeding Cuts: they stack and pile up. PRO: Saru Sichr is early stuff. CON: doesn't work as well against poison-immune foes. 

[Boeroer]

Oops - forgot the "melee" part of the question.

[Faraleth]

meh, tried all (melee) options, but not felt the connection, left all somewhere between 6-12 thinking about either of these:

• swashbuckler (sabre devoted/streetfighter)
• harbringer (trickster/skald)

first one is more tanky, second is cc. both would be either human or wood elf, fast, blade dual wielder. Sintee did a very nice video for swashy, but I cannot find such a detailed guide for harbringer.

[Okkes]

I suggest you to try Soulblade at least one of your run. Soul annihilation + Disentigration destroys tough enemies. You can try Helwalker multiclass for +15 might and +10 int boost, but you need serious healing from a companion, you can go with paladin-chanter Pallegina.  

Edited July 27, 2022 by Okkes
Edit

[yorname]

harbinger's problem is ACC imo, especially trickster/skald, both subclass require a high ACC to be good but barely provide any on their own. Cipher/skald will have enough ACC to proc phrases and will make great use of Helm of the White Void, both sides have lots of afflictions. But that would be more like a front line caster rather than actual weapon wielder.

And Forbidden Fist + anything doesn't need INT is a monster. Although it might be too boring to play after properly set up.

[dgray62]

9 minutes ago, yorname said:

And Forbidden Fist + anything doesn't need INT is a monster. Although it might be too boring to play after properly set up.

Yes, a forbidden fist/soul blade systematically destroys foes, one by one. It is very powerful and can handle upscaled PotD solo. However, it can get a bit boring simply because you become so powerful once you gain a few levels and the right equipment.