Priest of Wael

[Darkpockets]

Howdy, all. From Avowed to Deadfire, I now find myself working backwards to a replay of PoE and a character I always wanted to take through the first game: a Priest of Wael.

In Deadfire, Wael has its obvious niche as a high-defense caster (and debuffer, esp. with the Priest Rebalance Mod), but it seems to me that its identity isn't quite so clear in the first game. As far as I can tell, the only things that distinguish a Waelite from other Priest subclasses are:

1. A seemingly decent AoE debuff in Lesser Ark's Dazzling Lights... but only 1/rest.

2. Bonus accuracy with rods & quarterstaves.

So... what can we do with this, in terms of builds, in terms of either flavor/theme or general efficacy? The Dazzling Lights suggest a debuffer, which, fair enough--but since we aren't choosing spells, that's not something I know how to build around, really. Investing in beefing up Interdiction, perhaps, and just becoming a really nasty crowd controller? How much PER would be recommended for making sure those spells are landing? I've got a lot more Deadfire familiarity than PoE1 at this point, so I'm used to PER being basically required for CC; with PoE1's inherent accuracy bonuses to spells, I'm not sure how much that changes the build math. I'm thinking something like 14/10/16/13/17/8 for stats, but I'm open to feedback.

Would the above stats also lead to being halfway decent with rods? Might as well lean into those, since I don't think the front lines would suit the character.

Other than that, I'm very curious to hear other mechanical suggestions for a Wael Priest, as well as recs for any gear that feels like it fits the role/theme.

[Darkpockets]

I should say, I'm aware that consensus points to Priests being perhaps the most powerful class in PoE, so I'm honestly not at all concerned I'll end up underpowered. Much more interested in folks' thoughts on how to capture a Wael-ish vibe in how my Priest plays.

[Boeroer]

I personally would do a quarterstaff user since implements like rods are only really good for Wizards imo (in PoE). Priest in PoE cannot have Blast - they can use Dangerous Implement, but that self damage is not too cool to have on your party's priest.

The priest talent that raises quarterstaff and rod acc by 10 lifts Priests' accuracy to that of Fighters. And there are two nice and early quarterstaffs in the game: one with Speed (Llawran's Stick) which is the best DPS enchantment besides Wounding, and one with dual damage (Durance's Staff) which does crush/burn dmg - so it's the perfect backup against enemies who are immune or very resistant to crush damage.

Having a quarterstaff also allows you to attack from the second row which is nice for a priest. 

Besides those weapon talents there isn't much distinction between the priest subclasses I'm afraid.

With the +10 acc talent you can also use all soulbound and summoned weapons since they are universal, meaning they accept all weapon focuses and priests' weapon talents (except the soulbounds from the deadfire pack which are not). Stuff like Firebrand, Grey Sleeper and so on. So you are not limited to quarterstaff or rod. 

Edited Sunday at 05:42 PM by Boeroer

[Darkpockets]

Thanks, Boeroer. Helpful to be redirected towards quarterstaff (I'd forgotten that rods/wands/scepters weren't great outside of Wizards in PoE). Also good to have my impression about priest subclasses' general sameness confirmed, even if it's a bit disappointing compared to Deadfire.

What do you think of a 14/10/16/10/16/12 stat spread for a midline staff-whacking Priest?

[Boeroer]

4 hours ago, Darkpockets said:

What do you think of a 14/10/16/10/16/12 stat spread for a midline staff-whacking Priest?

Yeah, nice.

[Chaospread]

I agree 100% with Boeroer. In PoE1 the real difference among priests is weapon bonus and for Wael the best choice is quarterstaff.
After that it all a matter of spells choice and style of play. You can make the difference RPG-wise performing a Wael's priest with decisions, actions and speaking... but Wael is somenthing about kwnoledge and mystery, so you can be almost a chaotic character...
With quarterstaff behinf the first line you can be a supporter/healer/buffer/debuffer, you can use your ACC bonus with weapon to deal damage and some afflictions, with mid PER/ACC you can achieve to be a good buffer/healer. Late level with Minor Avatar and so on you can begin to be a great melee charcater
Anyway:

14 hours ago, Boeroer said:

14/10/16/10/16/12

works, anything works particularly in a party, but it seems to me that those 2 points over 10 in RES is a little waste, better put them in MIG for more healing and damage or in INT for buff/debuff duration.