It is possible to run a full party without priest?

[Mazisky]

I wanna go Fighter\Chanter\Rogue\Ranger\Druid\Wizard of first playthrough, hard mode.

 

Do you think that the lack of priest with high heals could be my defeat?

[Baleros]

The chanter with ancient memory can heal, so can the Druid.  It seems do-able to me.

[Greensleeve]

Your Chanter and Druid is going to have to pull heal duty, but might be doable. No experience myself, but wouldn't be surprised if that would work. 

 

Personally, I intend to go for a Monk/Fighter/Chanter/Druid/Cipher part for my first playthrough. 

[gkathellar]

Priest is non-essential as long as you bring enough tank to make up the difference. I've run a Paladin/Monk/Cipher/Druid/Chanter/Rogue group through Hard in the BB, and my druid never had to use any healing spells, nor did I use any healing items. My paladin probably used Lay On Hands once. It probably would have gone worse had I not built my Paladin and Monk specifically for damage absorption, but I didn't have much in the way of trouble.

 

Moral of the story: Ancient Memory is sick.

Edited March 24, 2015 by gkathellar

[Sock]

It's absolutely doable.

 

Just be aware, that if you can't rely on heals to mitigate damage, then you need to find another way to do it.

 

Your party doesn't have a lot of CC, but you do have options for a lot of front liners. You probably want to focus less on "pile up" tactics, and more on "everyone engages someone" and then use the wizard to help your unit with the weakest defense kill their target first, and then just move down the line like that.

 

You could also plan to utilize choke points effectively, and use wizard and druid to AoE nuke the rear.

 

I would recommend making all of your classes except the wizard and rogue as melee units, with the rogue being more flexible and having a melee weapon on the switch, so that you can send it in if needed, but it's primary role is to not get hit and deal damage at range. Druid heals are self-targeted AoEs, and are quite potent, but the short range means if you absolutely need a heal, you need your druid close by to get it off. They're not optimal for melee, but they are a solid mid-range class, so consider a pike or staff primarily, with a shield on the switch.

[Bazy]

Potions and scrolls are more powerful than spells, especially healing spells. 

[Mazisky]

Thank you guys!!!

[PrimeJunta]

IME with the BB, the priest is useful mostly when things go pear-shaped, in which case her heals can buy you enough time to fix your mistake. These situations are usually avoidable though; if you're regularly taking so much damage in combat that you need the priest, you're probably doing something wrong.

 

So yeah it's doable. Suppress Affliction is probably the spell you'd miss the most, I think.

[gkathellar]

IME with the BB, the priest is useful mostly when things go pear-shaped, in which case her heals can buy you enough time to fix your mistake. These situations are usually avoidable though; if you're regularly taking so much damage in combat that you need the priest, you're probably doing something wrong.

 

So yeah it's doable. Suppress Affliction is probably the spell you'd miss the most, I think.

 

Iconic Projection, too. Gotta be my favorite spell.

[mrmonocle]

kind wayfarer paladin can take care of the healing too. Priest is good not only for his healing, his trap aoe's and buffs are unmatched.

[Gromnir]

the priest has heals as well as an extensive collection o' buffs and debuffs.  the flexibility o' the priest is unmatched by any other support character.  now that Gromnir has played the beta for many dozens of hours (we don't believe the 130 steam hours is accurate for our play time based on the way the number is generated) we don't need the priest near as much simply because we know everything in the beta that could possibly occur.  the priest flexibility, which allows us to respond to individual crises in an ad hoc fashion, is unnecessary in the beta... unnecessary now that is. 

 

we won't run w/o a priest in our first exploration o' poe.  as much experience as we have with the beta, we realize that we gots a false sense o' confidence surrounding gameplay.  the first few times we encountered beetles in hm, they hurt us, badly.  there were a fight with an ogre that seemed near impossible following our first encounter.  we got literal more than a dozen spiders attacking us if we didn't stay far enough to the left or right or we didn't attack one mob far enough away from another mob? etc.  is tough to turn back the clock and recognize just how differently Gromnir plays the beta simply 'cause we know everything.  we do not expect poe battles to go anywhere near as smooth as does beta battles.  as such, we is gonna want a priest.  hell, we has considered taking 2 priests for a first run as they is potential excellent in combat (though fragile) as well as having a few near indispensable buffs, debuffs and offensive spells. 

 

you do not need a priest, particularly if you are playing in normal difficulty mode.  however, for a first run o' poe on hard mode or harder, we would highly recommend a priest as a support character.  ask folks who have played the beta over and over and overandoverandoverandoverandovaerandover is likely resulting in advice not as helpful for a player who will be new to poe combat and who gots 0 meta knowledge.

 

that being said, with a druid and a wizard, you should have excellent cc functionality.  you should be able to do poe hm with your party, but we also wouldn't be surprised by frequent reloads. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[gkathellar]

Gromnir speaks true. You don't need a priest, but damned if they're not worth the party slot. The divine casters in this game are both tremendously versatile and effective, and you'll find that both make your life a fair bit easier.

[KingsGambit]

To expand on the question about the priests, could a chanter or druid be built specifically to be a healer and be as effective? Or do priests have other secondary abilities that make them better at the role?

[Doxy]

Beta is one thing, but full game and end game content on hard difficulty+ might require a good priest in your party.

I myself will be running with one in my party on my 1st playthrough.

[Doxy]

To expand on the question about the priests, could a chanter or druid be built specifically to be a healer and be as effective? Or do priests have other secondary abilities that make them better at the role?

Druid got few endurance regen spells he can use. But why would one want to waste them, when he can call down lightning from the skies to smite his enemies instead?

What makes priest really good, is his per encounter ability to regen large chunk of endurance aoe.

Druid or chanter don't have that.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Doxy

[mrmonocle]

chanter doesn't heal, but he applies a constant regen effect to the entire group so if u switch your tanks and use potions, you will probably be okay.

Edited March 26, 2015 by mrmonocle

[Bazy]

All classes can heal:

1. Pots OP

2. Scrolls OP

 

In fact Scrolls and Pots heal massively more than spell based heals. 

Edited March 26, 2015 by Bazy

[Voss]

What, actually use single-use items?  But I might need them later.

 

 

Next you'll tell me to cast per rest spells.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Voss

[Magrusaod]

What, actually use single-use items?  But I might need them later.

 

 

Next you'll tell me to cast per rest spells.

 

Nah, need to sell your potions, gear, and body to stockpile gold. Run through dungeons naked and sell all the loot. Never know when your 40 million savings will be needed. Best run the game and just stockpile as much cash as you can. For the uber item right before the last boss fight. *nod*

[Azmodiuz]

Priests are nice, but you can go without them. You will have to be much more careful with your party though. one thing though, without the priest , you might have another heavy dps'er  and thus, maybe kill things fast enough to not need a priest.

If you play on easy, I'm almost certain you will not need a priest. 

I can not determine what I want to play more, Cipher, or chanter. ..

[Voss]

 

What, actually use single-use items?  But I might need them later.

 

 

Next you'll tell me to cast per rest spells.

 

Nah, need to sell your potions, gear, and body to stockpile gold. Run through dungeons naked and sell all the loot. Never know when your 40 million savings will be needed. Best run the game and just stockpile as much cash as you can. For the uber item right before the last boss fight. *nod*

 

Now that is just ridiculous.  Gold is trash, and as you go along it isn't even worth the effort of picking it up.