[CLASS BUILD] The Bloody Parry - a fine cоcktail of tanking, casting and leeching health

[Boeroer]

This build was created for a collaboration with @Aestus who runs the Youtube channel Aestus_RPG. Here's the video where we talk about this and other builds. This is build 5 of 5 from that collaboration.
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This build is mainly meant for inspiration. You don't need to follow it in detail to have fun. If you understand the key features - the basic idea what makes this build special - you can usually deviate from my non-core attribute-, skill-, gear- and ability selection and form the build to your own likings and ideas. 
I do not try to produce the most powerful uberbuilds (often those are the most boring to play in he long run) but to focus on having fun while playing. Usually that means the build is powerful - but it's not the main focus. If you like to read about my personal requirements for "fun to play" builds, you can jump to a list below this post
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Stefran Johæn Ængelyn Gærmanoða was born into a minor noble family in the Aedyr Empire, a nation steeped in tradition and the grip of authority. From a young age, he was fascinated by power - both the arcane that flowed through his veins and the rigid laws that governed his homeland. His path was clear when he was taken in by the Steel Garrote, an order of Paladins who serve Woedica, the deity of law, justice, oaths, promises, cold retribution... and molten faces.
The Steel Garrotes instilled in Stefran the belief that cruelty, when applied with reason, was a necessary tool for maintaining order. He learned to bind his emotions, becoming an enforcer of the goddess's will. His magic, sustained by the rites of Blood Magic, allowed him to fuel his power through sacrifice but also drawing strength from the pain of others. His arcane prowess grew alongside his martial skill, making him both a deadly warrior and a fearsome wizard.
In time, Stefran rose through the ranks, his reputation as a relentless but pragmatic enforcer of Woedica’s law spreading across Aedyr. However, whispers of dissent grew in his branch of the order, and Stefran found himself at the center of a brewing rebellion between faction inside the order. It was then that his faith was tested. Rather than defending his reactionary marshal who also smelled of mouldy floorcloth, he chose to enact Woedica’s justice in his own way and asked for a secondment.
Now, a self-styled judge and executioner, Stefran roams the Deadfire Archipelago, seeking to restore justice through the lens of his unyielding law - but also with fairness. His path is paved with broken oaths, and the echo of Woedica's will is still guiding his hand and blade.

"I won't cry for you
I will just deflect the things you do
then I'll drain you too
See, when you're gone, I'll still be Bloody Parry"
- Stefran while parrying very offensively -
edit: dang! Should've used a song of Katy Parry instead... rolled a miss there 



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The Bloody Parry
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Difficulty: PotD
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Solo: untested
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Class: Arcane Knight - Steel Garrote/Blood Mage
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Race: Human (or any)
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Background: Aedyr (or any) -  Aristocrat (or any)
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Stats (w/o Berath's Blessings, ★=recommendation)
MIG: 12 (11 +1 Human) 
CON: 10 
DEX: 10
PER: 14 
INT: 15 ★
RES: 17 ★★ (15 + 1 Human +1 Aedyr) 
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the unique icons for all passive abilities are part of the Community Patch mod

Abilities | Skills | Proficiencies  - (!=important, r=recommended)

00. Garrote (a) + Faith and Conviction (a) + Blood Sacrifice (a)
01. Lay on Hands (r) + Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff (r) | Great Sword + Quarterstaff
02. Flames of Devotion (r) | +1 Athletics (->2), +1 Religion (->2)
03. Deep Faith (r)| +1 Athletics (->3), +1 Metaphysics (->2)
04. Zealous Aura + Infuse with Vital Essence | +1 Athletics (->4), +1 Religion (->3) | Medium Shield
05. Divine Purpose | +1 Athletics (->5), +1 Metaphysics (->3)
06. Sworn Enemy (r) | +1 Arcana (->3), +1 Intimidate (->3)
07. Sworn Rival + Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon (r) | +1 Arcana (->4), +1 Religion (->4)
08. Eternal Devotion (r) | +1 Athletics (->6), +1 Metaphysics (->4) | Club
09. Glorious Beacon | +1 Arcana (->5 ), +1 Intimidate (->4)
10. Exalted Edurance (r) + Essential Phantom | +1 Arcana (->6), +1 Survival (->1)
11. Clear Head | +1 Arcana (->7), +1 Religion (->5)
12. Spell Shaping | +1 Arcana (->8), +1 Survival (->2) | Sword
13. Inspired Beacon + Two-Handed Style | +1 Arcana (->9), +1 Metaphysics (->5)
14. Rapid Casting | +1 Arcana (->10), +1 Intimidate (->5)
15. Iron Gut | +1 Arcana (->11), +1 Survival (->3)
16. Virtuous Triumph (r) + Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst | +1 Arcana (->12), +1 Religion (->6) | Large Shield
17. Mental Fortress | +1 Arcana (->13), +1 Metaphysics (->6)
18. Hands of Light | +1 Arcana (->14), +1 Intimidate (->6)
19. Sacred Immilation (r) + Wall of Draining (!) | +1 Arcana (->15), +1 Survival (->4)
20. Bear's Fortitude | +1 Arcana (->16), +1 Religion (->7) | Pike
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Items (!=important, r=recommended)

Weapon Set 1: Whispers of the Endless Paths (! - +Offensive Parry!, +Run Through, +Legendary)
Weapon Set 2: Shattered Vengeance (+Superb, +Blessed Defiance - Woedica theme) or Gladiator Sword (+Sharpened Blade, +Superb) & Nerian's Ward (+Legendary, +Father's Masterwork - it's cool and it's from Aedyr...)

Head: Cowl of the Piercing Gaze (r - Woedica theme), later Mask of the Weyc (r - +50 deflection+Wall of Draining)
Back: Cloak of Greater Deflection (!), later The Magnificient Escape Cape (r - +50 deflection+Wall of Draining)
Neck: Token of Faith
Grimoires: Weathered Grimoire (auto), Zandethu's Dragon-Scaled Grimoire (r) - and whatever fits your desired spell selection 
Armor: Gipon Prudensco (r - +No Fool I, +Paranoid) or Nomad's Brigandine (+Tactical Withdrawal, +Head of the Column, +Leg.) or Casita Samelia's Legacy (+high Intimidate skill, +Ardent, +Leg.)
Waist: Sash of Judgment (r - Woedica theme) or Physiker's Belt
Hands:  Woedica's Strangling Grasp (r - I mean... of course), later Bracers of Greater Deflection 
Rings: Entonia Signet (r), Ring of Focused Flame (r)
Boots: Boots of the Stone
Pet: Eviee or Misty

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What is this build about:

• you combine healing (e.g. from Lay on Hands and Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon) and the life-draining weapon hits of a Steel Garrote with the Blood Sacrifice of the Blood Mage. Using Blood Sacrifice to gain spell uses will hurt you, but hitting enemies with a weapon will heal you at the same time. Usually you would have to actively attack with a weapon in order to drain health - which doesn’t let you cast during that time obviously. So your action economy would suck. But when you do it the follwowing way your action economy will rock.
• before getting the signature weapon and key piece of this build, the great sword Whisers of the Endless Paths (which can be optained early), you can use Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff in the very early game. Its health draining feature stacks with the Steel Garrote's passive 15%, giving you plenty of health back from every decent attack. Also the quarterstaff's modal gives you +20 melee defelction which is big in the early game, making you already more durable.
• by using Offensive Parry - an enchantment of Whispers of the Endless Paths - you will attack enemies who miss you in melee (100% of misses get parried and lead to a counterattack). That attack is instant (no animation, no recovery, just damage numbers pop up) and will daze(!) enemies - which unlocks the Steel Garrote’s life drain immediately. So basically you parry enemies which gives you health WHILE you cast your wizard spells. If you need more spells you use Blood Sacrifice which damages you. But your parries will heal you back up.
• you need lots of (melee) deflection for this so it’s natural you will be great at tanking - even though you are not meant to be the main tank (you can be later in the game with a few items though. Your defense, obtained via self buffs and passives and items, will be the staple of your build.
• at some point you want to have lots of bonus deflection items: Bracers and Cloak of Greater Deflection, Entonia Signet Ring, an armor with deflection bonus (I prefer Gipon Prudensco, but Casita Samelia’s Legacy and Nomad’s Brigandine work, too)
• you welcome melee enemies attacking you instead of fearing them - and you will shower them with whatever spells you like best and which your party needs
• later you use Wall of Draining to prolong not only your self buffs but also some special items’ effects: Escape Cape’s Escape (+50 deflection) or Mask of the Weyc’s Arcane-Veil-like deflection bonus (+50 deflection) which stack with each other and some of your wizard buffs, giving you insanely high deflection values for a very long time. It can also prolog your Lay on Hands, giving you endless healing. Other benefical effects that can be extended with the Wall of Draining are for example Courageous (Hands of Light), Aware (Eldritch Aim) and also stuff like Avenging Storm from scrolls(!). Avenging Storm + Offensive Parry + Combuting Wounds is an awesome combination. You can also extend the effects of potions of course.
• at the same time you can be a good healer for allies, too - as any Paladin can be
• use Inspired Beacon, Sworn Rival and Eternal Devotion to boost your spell and parry damage (for example M’s Piercing Sigil is great with +40% and +20% dmg bonuses as well as a +10% burning lash). If you use Sworn Rival multiple times and then kill the enemies you get all the Zeal for Sworn Enemy back and with a little luck some Zeal on top because of Virtuous Triumph (50% +1 Zeal on kill)
• Sacred Immolation, paired with "passive" health draining and prolonged healing effects is a nice non-spell-fueled and suddenly risk-free source of damage later in the game, too
• basically a tank who can heal and deal (AoE) damage, debuff, CC potentially unlimited times
• you can pick up your own Grimoire collection. There are so many grimoires in the game, so you don't need to pick many wizard spells at level-up. I made do with the starting grimoire, some others in between and the unique Zandethu's Draconic Fury because I liked the unique PL7-spell for this build - but you can def. pick something different and be successful, too.
   

Issues:

• your reliance on self buffs makes you vulnerable against effects that strip you of those buffs. Arcane Dampeners can screw you up. So a high Will defense is good to have.
• Whispers of the Endless Paths + Offensive Parry etc. is great against mobs - but not against ranged units and casters. It also doesn’t help much against bosses or single tough foes. In those cases it’s often better to switch to a weapon & shield,  just tank for your party and use some cool spells. You are still a full Arcane Knight.
• Steel Garrote Paladins are cruel and rational - so you need to be a bit of an a*hole at times in order to gain the max benefit from your Faith and Devotion passive. 
   

Why is it fun?

• Arcane Knights are really good right out of the box already - because of their defensive synergies. This draining+sacrifice combo on top improves the action economy and lets you cast more often, unbothered by attackers
• Blood Mage lets you have unlimited spell uses as long as you pay with health. It’s just very convenient to regain spells and health without having to do much: almost no "downtime".
• parrying enemies while casting them to pieces is just badass, especially with that giant sword
• sometimes it can be fun to play a somewhat cruel or even evil guy - although you don’t have to be THAT evil as a Steel Garrote.
• There are several items in the game that are connected to Woedica which you can use (see item seletion) and that's really nice touch and cool imo

 

Hope you enjoy!
Cheers!

Edited September 27 by Boeroer
added video link

[Boeroer]

What makes builds fun for me?

• they are powerful/impactful (enough) - there's no fun if your character feels like a millstone around the party’s neck
• they don’t need late game gear to function - although getting late game gear to improve them can be a motivation. But having to wait forever in order to make your character click for the last hour of the game can be frustrating
• you don’t have to wait for late game abilities for them to be fun to play ad impactful (same as above) - although having the goal of reaching a great high lvl ability can add to the fun and motivation. Even at lvl 20 (if you have DLCs installed) there's still a good amount of game left to enjoy the highest lvl abilities
• they don’t need a lot of repetitive setups in every fight - that's not as much of a problem if that’s easy to script though (although I personally don't like to use the AI with my MC) but for example: if you need to manually switch several grimoires at the beginnig of the fight the fun will not last and you will stop doing that quickly. If your character's performance relies on that switching you most likely won't feel okay with this character
• No overpowered 1-trick ponies (at least not too early in the game). It’s okay if that happens in the late game, but it ruins the playthrough if you can win every fight with the same trick and the same character - while the rest of the party is only there to watch (looking at you, Grave-Calling Berserker/Beckoner)
• Good reactivity - it gets frustrating if the character plays like a slowpoke but would profit a lot from being more reactive. This can also mean using a reloading weapon is better than using a recovery weapon (reloading can be stopped for other actions, recovery cannot)
• fits the party - best if it fits a lot of party compositions and doesn't need a party build around it. But sometimes that can be fun, too. Anyway: it's no fun to use a build which mechanics don't blend into the others'
• not too much micromanagement - but also not too little. For companions low micro can be great - for my MC I like to (reasonably) micromanage and use active abilites manually.
• this leads to plenty (or even unlimited) resources. I personally like it if resources can be refilled somehow or costs can get refunded. Can also mean the resources are fixed but there are great abilities that aren't too expensive
• general versatility - being good at/useful for more than one single thing
• craftiness/creativity of the build (something to be proud of when a build idea does indeed work)
• out-of the ordinary/original (there's not much exitement when taking a well-trodden path)
• good character story (at least in my head) so it’s not a blank slate. An emotional connection does help a lot. And no - the silly stuff I write at the top of my build posts are not the stories I use.  
• thematically coherent and somewhat believable
• stylish/cool/badass
• good/entertaining sound effects (surprisingly important!)
• good vfx (without crashing the game or destroying the performance)   

Edited September 13 by Boeroer

[Chaospread]

I always like build with high RES, and in this case it feels very suitable. Steel Garrote and Blood Mage fit well each other and the background is so fascinating.

I think late game a Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff with high Metaphysics, the modal and increased reach can be good versus single enemy instead of WotEP Maybe also the usual

Citzal's Spirit Lance for groups and/or Lance of the Midwood Stag can be helpful. I think you should to pay attention versus disabling enemies and about fortitude and refelx defense, so some food can be in help (Captain's Banquet which also increased spells effectiveness Shark Soup and so on...).

Gipon Prudesco means you has make Principi get angry, maybe for a Steel Garrote you need to find some good RPG reasons about that, but it can be done.
Oh, and the look is great with all those gears, especially with Mask of the Weyc; he seems a badass German medieval warrior with two handed great sword, very nice!

Edited September 16 by Chaospread

[Boeroer]

3 hours ago, Chaospread said:

Gipon Prudesco means you has make Principi get angry, maybe for a Steel Garrote you need to find some good RPG reasons about that, but it can be done.

Yes, imo it's the best armor overall for him (deflection and relfex buff in combination with the Flanking immunity) - but if it clashes with one's approach towards the Principi something like Casita Samelia's Legacy (with maxed Intimidate - that skill also fits thematically) works well, too. Nomad's Briandine would be best if you want both high deflection and high AR. I would then take the AR passives as well - which I skipped with Gipon Prudensco.

[Boeroer]

Hello, updated the post with a video link. You can also find it here: