How do i Durance?

[Alantan]

Can someone throw me some tips what to do with Durance? I find him quite useless, when he is not throwing buffs/heals.

 

I was thinking throwing on him Inspired flame and giving him Arquebus, or maybe throw heavy armor on him with shield/sword and make him Edar helper, as im having hard times with just one mele char (im ranged Ciph, Kana, Aloth, and Ranger gurl).

 

Can someone recommend me an talent build on him?

[complexmath]

He starts with a reach weapon and can stand directly behind your tank to attack.

[Alantan]

Yeah well the problem is he can stick his wand deep into a hole for me, it does no dmg at all. I rather watch him standing with burning stick that at least looks decent.

You didn't help me too much with this answer, but thx anyways.

[bobthe]

I have a similar problem. Most of the priest spells seem fairly useless. The heals are obviously useful. There's a couple handy buffs and one handy debuff and then a bunch of what appears to be mostly useless. Maybe I'm not evaluating the other spells usefulness well? Or misinterpretting how they work? One good example is the large area protection spell that is listed as "Hazard AOE". I have NO idea what that means so I have avoided using that spell.

[jones092201@gmail.com]

He gets a +10 bonus to swords and arquebuses I think. Consider letting him fire in your opening volley, then follow the tank into battle.

 

He generally needs to be close enough to tank and flanking characters that his level 2 heal over time spell gets most of your characters.

 

I'm pretty sure he has high deflection from perception, so he can take a few hits if you put him in chain/scale and a shield.

 

He's been reasonably useful for me

[Tigranes]

Yeah well the problem is he can stick his wand deep into a hole for me, it does no dmg at all. I rather watch him standing with burning stick that at least looks decent.

You didn't help me too much with this answer, but thx anyways.

 

You didn't understand his answer. Durance's quarterstaff, like other similar weapons, has a long reach (read the item description), which lets him stand, say, just behind Eder and still hit enemies without being as exposed. 

 

 

I have a similar problem. Most of the priest spells seem fairly useless. The heals are obviously useful. There's a couple handy buffs and one handy debuff and then a bunch of what appears to be mostly useless. Maybe I'm not evaluating the other spells usefulness well? Or misinterpretting how they work? One good example is the large area protection spell that is listed as "Hazard AOE". I have NO idea what that means so I have avoided using that spell.

 

I've been using several spells to decent effect. There's a second level seal spell that has a chance of knocking all enemies in that area down prone, which can sometimes bail out Eder or whoever else getting hit a lot. There's also the third level spell that damages one and knocks down nearby enemies; the fourth level 'burn people' spell that does a fair amount of damage. But direct damage spells aren't necessarily the most efficient way to use Durance. I've used Durance mostly as a buffer and healer in the tougher fights, since he has so many different buffs and debuffs spread out over different spell levels, but I've also decked him out with a unique mace and shield and he does a decent amount of damage as well. I haven't yet got him to particularly excel in any one thing, but he does pull his weight.

[Purudaya]

Durance is actually invaluable to my party - just spam his AoE knockdowns around your tank and use firearms in between. I forget the name, but the 2nd level spell is a "seal" that acts like a trap - just drop it right on enemies and it'll act like any other AoE spell. I'm playing a rogue and the DPS from all the free sneak attacks is insane. Even without a rogue, though, the enemy-only knockdown spells alone make him great for crowd control.

[PermTrouble]

When the mob crowd control and aoe starts stacking up hard, you're gonna be real glad Durance is around to spam

[complexmath]

The first level spell that removes an ally from combat and applies a heal over time effect is really handy as well, say when a Shadow jumps from your tank to your mage.  Hit the mage with it and the Shadow will look for a new target, plus your mage won't die.  Overall, I find Durance's abilities to be very useful in the more difficult battles.  Plenty of beneficial auras, some crowd control, and a few "oh sh*t" spells.  And with a reach weapon, he's a decent asset in damage dealing as well.  I'm sure some people go for "the best defense is a good offense" approach, but having some solid support characters makes for a less polarized combat experience.

[Rosveen]

In what areas is he particularly useful? Low level, high level? I dropped him and Sagani for Hiravias and Grieving Mother when I found them, I don't really miss Durance at all (well, his spells. I do miss his personality). Maybe it's because I play on normal, so his buffs or debuffs aren't so important.

[Voss]

When the mob crowd control and aoe starts stacking up hard, you're gonna be real glad Durance is around to spam

Slicken does it better.  Or do you mean enemy CC?  Eh.  Just ignore it, fades soon enough on its own, usually before being able to break his current action, recovery and then cast minor inconvenience recovery time decreaser.

 

Personally, I also found the priest very useless.  Another monkey toting an arbalest, who occasionally dropped interdiction for a really minor free debuff.  A couple spells aren't horrible, but I'd rather have a wizard, druid or cipher.

 

As a person, he's a horrid, small-minded little monster that needs a bullet in his brain.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Voss

[Rosveen]

 

 

When the mob crowd control and aoe starts stacking up hard, you're gonna be real glad Durance is around to spam

As a person, he's a horrid, small-minded little monster that needs a bullet in his brain.

But he is such a wonderful source of lore. I love talking to him and soaking information like a sponge.

[Voss]

If you can trust his point of view, which given rather a lot, I would not.

[Oneiromancer]

In what areas is he particularly useful? Low level, high level? I dropped him and Sagani for Hiravias and Grieving Mother when I found them, I don't really miss Durance at all (well, his spells. I do miss his personality). Maybe it's because I play on normal, so his buffs or debuffs aren't so important.

 

I found them to be kind of middle of the pack, though playing on normal definitely lowers the value of support classes like chanter and priest. Withdraw is extremely useful on Path of the Damned to protect engaged squishies and it's just a level 1 spell, but on normal I doubt it's even half as useful. 

 

Also I don't know if it's a bug but Holy Radiance does absurd damage to vessels. Durance would basically one-shot ALL those zombie kids in one click, it was pretty hilarious. His stats were normal btw, so it wasn't the stats stacking bug.

[PIP-Clownboy]

He's excellent for traps.. considering he starts with 3 mechanic at lvl 2 and he can set warding seals right next to his traps while stealth. 

Edited April 1, 2015 by PIP-Clownboy

[Patavian]

I've outfitted him with an arquebus and the class ability that gives him a bonus with same.  He is a back rank buffer/healer with (literally) a cannon!  He also has a second level spell, can't remember the name of it, that fires in a line with a rather decent area of effect.  It heals anyone on your team in the area and damages enemies.  That's been very usefull.  Granted, i'm only level 4 so i haven't delved into his midgame or lategame usefulness yet but he's not useless!

[Shadenuat]

I just "roleplayed" him. Made him wear some cool armor and red hood, gave him sword, shield & gun cause he has a perk for +10 accuracy with those. Opened with gun, heal-boted and off-tanked. Made him look like a priest from Warhammer basically since he is one in some ways. Or many.

Got him a perk that does damage with his per-encounter ability and generally improved those per-encounter skills, and gave him 1.2 quicker reload speed for guns and Magran class skill for those weapons.

 

Oh he also was Mechanic of the party, all points hoarded for that.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Shadenuat

[Odd Hermit]

Arbalest w/Soldier talent > Arquebus with Inspired Flame, IMO.

 

I use him to buff and heal mostly though. I put +Might and +Int items or enchants on him to make him better.

[Heijoushin]

He's excellent for traps.. considering he starts with 3 mechanic at lvl 2 and he can set warding seals right next to his traps while stealth. 

 

This! His trap spells are really fun. Shoot the enemy to open, run behind a trap, watch them fall and then stab them!

[Shadenuat]

Arbalest w/Soldier talent > Arquebus with Inspired Flame, IMO.

 

I use him to buff and heal mostly though. I put +Might and +Int items or enchants on him to make him better.

It's not like opener is that important the further you are in the game, where monsters generally walk arond in packs of 8 or more. And at higher levels he can cast spells per-encounter and then it's probably a better idea to switch armor for a robe or run crazy fanatic naked. Or do it from the start.

 

I mostly carried him around because he had better writing than other characters, tbh.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Shadenuat

[Mungri]

The level 2 knock down spell is amazing and the equivalent of greater command in DnD. Two of the level 1 buffs, bless and the damage reduction are also great. I just unlocked level 3 priest spells but havnt gotten to use them yet.

 

However ... That wasted feat on bears endurance sucks. On my custom priest I take +5 accuracy to holy radiance, interdiction (aoe CC once per battle) then +10 weapon accuracy bonuses (I picked Wael for a rod spamming priest who can also use quarterstaffs with reach).

[mazeltov]

He also has a second level spell, can't remember the name of it, that fires in a line with a rather decent area of effect.  It heals anyone on your team in the area and damages enemies.

 

Iconic Projection. That's a nice one, for sure.

 

He seems just fine for a story-based Hard playthrough. Boost his Intellect with gear and temporary bonuses, equip a rifle, and go to town.

[Fimconte]

 

Arbalest w/Soldier talent > Arquebus with Inspired Flame, IMO.

 

I use him to buff and heal mostly though. I put +Might and +Int items or enchants on him to make him better.

 

Arquebus > Arbalest if you have a Chanter with Ila's.  
I wouldn't pick up Soldier talent tho, Inspiring Radiance (not Flame) is far better because
you can pre-cast Holy Radiance a few times (it stacks on itself, although timers are tracked separately, but with 20 sec + duration, you can start any big fights with 25+ accuracy) and then re-cast it once during combat.  

Even if you opt not to take advantage of the stacking, +5 party accuracy > +10/+6 accuracy on a priest.  
 

Edited April 1, 2015 by Fimconte

[PrimeJunta]

Durance is is seriously good. You can skew him two ways: dedicated pure support, or gunner with massive support abilities. 

 

Gunner: pick Inspired Flame and Weapon Focus: Soldier, then give him Kana's arquebus. Now he has the ACC of a fighter of the same level. Then build on that with Penetrating Shot and Fast Reload. Have the loon wear no armor and hang back. Use Inspiring Radiance every time, spells strategically -- the priest buffs are seriously good.

 

Pure support: pick Interdiction and the talents that boost it and Holy Radiance. Only when out of those, Inspired Flame and the gunner abilities.

 

The other weapon from Inspired Flame -- the sword -- isn't that interesting as a basis to build on because he has terrible DEFL and health. A single one-handed weapon isn't great for a damager without the rogue's damage-boosting abilities, and the terrible defenses mean he won't be any good as a tank.

 

The real beef is in the spells though. Read through the descriptions and experiment with them. They are very, very good: if you're in a fight you feel you can't win, the odds are Durance has something that'll solve it. 

[Mungri]

Seriously good? WITH BEARS FORTITUDE???