Advice for 2h dps fighter (unanswered questions)

[Maverick87]

Greetings fellow watchers. So im planning a 2h dps fighter on hard. Im thinking of maxing might, per, res, then dump int3, leave con and dex at 10. Now considering other related posts i have a few questiions.

1. Is knockdown or disciplned barage better at lvl1 and why? (Knockdown seems like a dps ability in disguise since it lowers def)
2. Which talents/abilities should i take and why? (i have settled on most but the descriptions are so vague sometimes, i am not sure)
3. For 2handed ive read you should leave dex at 10. Why? isnt attack speed always good for dps?
4. Estoc or greatsword? Estoc seems so good even considering the great sword dual dmg type.
5. Armor? (thinking of heavy)

How much more durable is he considering barb and rogue? Any other advice is appreciated

 

Note: I have settled on the 2handed dps fighter thingy so no need for "rogue, barbarian are better at dps, or go dual wield" posts. I will also much appreciate corroborated answers from players that have tested stuff. Thanks in advance

[KDubya]

More dex will get you more damage.

 

The damage modifiers are all additive and all apply to your base weapon damage. So +30% from a 20 might, +25% from weapon spec and focus, +15% two handed style, +30% exceptional weapon, and savage attack modal +20% will get you +120% damage

 

If your weapon has a base damage of 20 you'll do 20x(1+1.2) = 44 points of damage per swing. An 18 dex will swing this 24% faster than a 10 dex. Even in full plate an 18 dex will swing 24% faster than a 10 dex.

 

With a 3 intellect durations are pretty short so avoid them where possible. Disciplined barrage does increase accuracy which gets you more hits and more damage. A knockdown makes them prone which gets you more hits and stops any incoming damage but takes more micro as the disciplined barrage is a one click and done ability which means you'll use it every combat while a lot of times you might forget to use knockdowns.

 

Estocs are really good, numbers wise the -5 DR is hard to pass up. The weapon group also has flails for using with a shield or single hand for accuracy and a warbow for ranged damage.

 

Great swords will hit for less damage but there are some nice magical ones throughout the game. They are bundled with pikes which also have some nice magical ones in game plus they have reach which is advantageous in many applications. Warhammers are a solid one hander, and the ranged arbalest and arquebus are two of the best big damage initial shot weapons in the game. Start with a ranged volley then switch to your sword.

 

The difference in damage between estoc and greatsword, while present, is not so great as to make either a bad choice. Estoc's bigger damage compared to opening volley of arquebus/arbalest followed by great sword or pike which also lets you stand behind the frontline.

 

My main is a dwarf two hander spec'd for damage and I really like the class. On hard at level 10 now went with the estoc/warbow. Wearing exceptional leather enchanted for pierce proof and +2 dex along with the blunting belt. He hits hard and fast with enough endurance, DR and deflection to stand in the front and beat people down. Leads party damage by like 2.5x the next closest companion.

 

The being able to stand in the middle of the battle is what sets a damage spec'd fighter apart from a melee rogue or a barbarian, which are both fairly fragile and require more micro and attention from a healer. In my opinion it is easier to spec a fighter to put out DPS than to make a durable rogue or tanky barbarian.

[Dashel84]

Disciplined Barrage is a waste of a talent. It's not a passive, it's an active/modal so it's suppressed by any other accuracy spell. If you have a priest, or a paladin in your party, chances are you will never see a benefit from it beyond the first few levels of the game.

 

Definitely grab knockdown, it's the only viable choice. (unless you have noone in your team that buffs accuracy, then by all means grab it).

[Maverick87]

Disciplined Barrage is a waste of a talent. It's not a passive, it's an active/modal so it's suppressed by any other accuracy spell. If you have a priest, or a paladin in your party, chances are you will never see a benefit from it beyond the first few levels of the game.

 

Definitely grab knockdown, it's the only viable choice. (unless you have noone in your team that buffs accuracy, then by all means grab it).

Thanks dude, i couldnt hope for a more clarifying answer about this one

[Greensleeve]

I would not max Perception and Resolve. Unless you intend to tank (which it doesn't look like from the rest of your build) I would keep them at 10. A Dexterity of 18 is also recommended, as you gain comparatively more from it as a two-hander than any other build. And Intellect of 14 is useful on a fighter, giving you 1 extra second on your Knockdowns. Speaking of which, grab Knockdown, way better than Disciplined Barrage. 

[Fessels]

More dex will get you more damage.

 

First I would like to apologies up front to Maverick87 for jumping in on his thread, especially as my first post here on these forums. But I would rather ask now and start over now then at a higher level.

 

But now to KDubya ... do you mean more damage because you can attack faster? Or does it influence the damage with every hit? I have my Barbarians attribute set like this ...

 

 

Would higher dex have been more beneficial?

[Maverick87]

I would not max Perception and Resolve. Unless you intend to tank (which it doesn't look like from the rest of your build) I would keep them at 10. A Dexterity of 18 is also recommended, as you gain comparatively more from it as a two-hander than any other build. And Intellect of 14 is useful on a fighter, giving you 1 extra second on your Knockdowns. Speaking of which, grab Knockdown, way better than Disciplined Barrage. 

the reasoning for maxing per, res is because i want to be a bit tanky while i dish dmg and also not get interupted a lot. I still believe dumping int is a good idea as it as u said confers some benefit only in knockdown nothing much more. I pressume the 10dex is a mistake from false(?) info i read stating its not worth it for 2handed heavy armor. So i guess i can lower per/res to 14 to max dex, or max one of them (per or res) and leave the other at 10, though i dont know if concetration or interupt is more worth it. Probably conc so that i dont get interupted.

[Maverick87]

 

More dex will get you more damage.

 

First I would like to apologies up front to Maverick87 for jumping in on his thread, especially as my first post here on these forums. But I would rather ask now and start over now then at a higher level.

 

But now to KDubya ... do you mean more damage because you can attack faster? Or does it influence the damage with every hit? I have my Barbarians attribute set like this ...

 

 

Would higher dex have been more beneficial?

 

 

My first char was a barb. I didnt finish the game cause i found normal mode too easy and wanted to reroll a tanky dps fighter. BUT from my research and what i can tell is that: Your stats are solid enough though i would swap con with dex. Barb gets enough endurance anyway as a class. You ll have a lot anyway. And no dex doesnt influence the damage itself but as you said you attack faster. Also i would consider leaving per res at 10 as barb has allready too low of deflection, especialy when frenzied. I had them at 10 and it still felt a bit squishy. No need for apologizes hope i helped.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Maverick87

[Exoduss]

For a fighter who wants to do dps i would defo go Human + Max Might+Max Dex spread rest trough percept/resolve/int as you like keep CoN at 10 or 8 or w/e lower than 10 ofc, i ran 2 PoTD playtroughs with 10 CoN Chanter/Pala maintanks and never had a problem with that so looking that this is hard and your guy isnt even a main tank 8-10 con is max you should put , especialy when you can put up to +5 con trough various items / food / enchants if you feel the need to meanwhile leveling up , also secret about hardmode with 6 man party is :  its a faceroll most of the fights you will Auto Attack mobs while lighting your spliff

Edited April 14, 2015 by Exoduss

[Maverick87]

For a fighter who wants to do dps i would defo go Human + Max Might+Max Dex spread rest trough percept/resolve/int as you like keep CoN at 10 or 8 or w/e lower than 10 ofc, i ran 2 PoTD playtroughs with 10 CoN Chanter/Pala maintanks and never had a problem with that so looking that this is hard and your guy isnt even a main tank 8-10 con is max you should put 

 

Thanks dude. Why int? just for a sec more on knockdown? is it realy worth it? wouldnt you dump it? I dont intend to 6man but i do intend to 420 the way through

Edited April 14, 2015 by Maverick87

[Fessels]

 

 

More dex will get you more damage.

 

First I would like to apologies up front to Maverick87 for jumping in on his thread, especially as my first post here on these forums. But I would rather ask now and start over now then at a higher level.

 

But now to KDubya ... do you mean more damage because you can attack faster? Or does it influence the damage with every hit? I have my Barbarians attribute set like this ...

 

 

Would higher dex have been more beneficial?

 

 

My first char was a barb. I didnt finish the game cause i found normal mode too easy and wanted to reroll a tanky dps fighter. BUT from my research and what i can tell is that: Your stats are solid enough though i would swap con with dex. Barb gets enough endurance anyway as a class. You ll have a lot anyway. And no dex doesnt influence the damage itself but as you said you attack faster. Also i would consider leaving per res at 10 as barb has allready too low of deflection, especialy when frenzied. I had them at 10 and it still felt a bit squishy. No need for apologizes hope i helped.

 

 

Thank you, it will help I think. I was trying to get the build to make better use of the Fire damage from Fire-Godlike, and switching CON with Dex might help a bit in that area.

[Exoduss]

 

For a fighter who wants to do dps i would defo go Human + Max Might+Max Dex spread rest trough percept/resolve/int as you like keep CoN at 10 or 8 or w/e lower than 10 ofc, i ran 2 PoTD playtroughs with 10 CoN Chanter/Pala maintanks and never had a problem with that so looking that this is hard and your guy isnt even a main tank 8-10 con is max you should put 

 

Thanks dude. Why int? just for a sec more on knockdown? is it realy worth it? wouldnt you dump it? I dont intend to 6man but i do intend to 420 the way through

 

After Might and Dex it doesnt really matter , it depends on what you want more :

Int : AoE+Duration+Will on some skills ( this is minor for fighter except Will is good stat for a frontliner vs charm )

or some Perception for Interrupt Mainly and some minor defenses ,

it would be viable to choose one of those and max it keeping the other one low 

You should keep some resolve any way for a front liner . What i like in PoE that after maxing 2 main stats for your class you still got some room to adjust your character in one way or another to make it the way you would enjoy it the most

[KDubya]

 

 

 

More dex will get you more damage.

 

First I would like to apologies up front to Maverick87 for jumping in on his thread, especially as my first post here on these forums. But I would rather ask now and start over now then at a higher level.

 

But now to KDubya ... do you mean more damage because you can attack faster? Or does it influence the damage with every hit? I have my Barbarians attribute set like this ...

 

 

Would higher dex have been more beneficial?

 

 

My first char was a barb. I didnt finish the game cause i found normal mode too easy and wanted to reroll a tanky dps fighter. BUT from my research and what i can tell is that: Your stats are solid enough though i would swap con with dex. Barb gets enough endurance anyway as a class. You ll have a lot anyway. And no dex doesnt influence the damage itself but as you said you attack faster. Also i would consider leaving per res at 10 as barb has allready too low of deflection, especialy when frenzied. I had them at 10 and it still felt a bit squishy. No need for apologizes hope i helped.

 

 

Thank you, it will help I think. I was trying to get the build to make better use of the Fire damage from Fire-Godlike, and switching CON with Dex might help a bit in that area.

 

 

As maverick said the dex  lets you swing faster thus doing more damage. The dex does not improve your damage per swing.

 

With regards to the intellect to give a fighter I think it is way more beneficial to dump it to 3. The points are better placed in max might and dex for damage per second, 8-10 in con, rest between per and res. I like to favor resolve over perception for the concentration and the dialogue options. With the addition of the wary defender modal you will gain +15 defl +10 saves which will let you tank well enough when needed while blasting out solid damage. You can always add a shield if really needed.

 

The key aspect of the build is that you are not a wet noodle swinging punching bag, you're a sturdy damage dealer that will stand in the fray.

[Fessels]

 

 

As maverick said the dex  lets you swing faster thus doing more damage. The dex does not improve your damage per swing.

 

With regards to the intellect to give a fighter I think it is way more beneficial to dump it to 3. The points are better placed in max might and dex for damage per second, 8-10 in con, rest between per and res. I like to favor resolve over perception for the concentration and the dialogue options. With the addition of the wary defender modal you will gain +15 defl +10 saves which will let you tank well enough when needed while blasting out solid damage. You can always add a shield if really needed.

 

The key aspect of the build is that you are not a wet noodle swinging punching bag, you're a sturdy damage dealer that will stand in the fray.

 

 

Thank you KDubya.

[Maverick87]

 

As maverick said the dex  lets you swing faster thus doing more damage. The dex does not improve your damage per swing.

 

With regards to the intellect to give a fighter I think it is way more beneficial to dump it to 3. The points are better placed in max might and dex for damage per second, 8-10 in con, rest between per and res. I like to favor resolve over perception for the concentration and the dialogue options. With the addition of the wary defender modal you will gain +15 defl +10 saves which will let you tank well enough when needed while blasting out solid damage. You can always add a shield if really needed.

 

The key aspect of the build is that you are not a wet noodle swinging punching bag, you're a sturdy damage dealer that will stand in the fray.

 

 

Thats exactly my line of thought so far on stats. Regarding the defender/wary defender ability/talent, wouldnt that mean i ll be abandoning a couple of dps ones? And if so which ones? Thanks again for the usefull info much appreciated

Edited April 14, 2015 by Maverick87

[CriticalFailure]

@Fessels: With that character, I would (eventually) get some retaliation gear and do something along these lines: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74074-my-fire-barbarian-tankish-build/

[Fessels]

@Fessels: With that character, I would (eventually) get some retaliation gear and do something along these lines: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74074-my-fire-barbarian-tankish-build/

 

LoL That is actually what I wanted to do, and the reason why I have the attributes the way they are. I read in there some where that this particular build does not really requires DEX some how. And thank you very much ... darn it now you are making me doubt about making the changes mentioned in this thread. :D

[Ichthyic]

 

Int : AoE+Duration+Will on some skills ( this is minor for fighter except Will is good stat for a frontliner vs charm )

also, people forget that all characters can use scrolls in this game.  putting a few points in lore will allow your dps fighter to buff himself with some rather excellent spells, and you want those spells to have decent duration.

 

by and large though, i think the reason a lot of people forgo scrolls is because overall combat is not that difficult.  at the moment, anyway.  future patches or mods might change that.

 

 

[Dashel84]

I always wonder if the min-max crowd are playing on easy mode. IMHO if your building a Dps fighter for PoTD, then giving him resolve/perception is a good idea - and typically means you cant afford max dex. The fighter is probably the only class in the game that can build deflection, while still outputting respectable damage.

[Infares]

Would higher dex have been more beneficial?

 

 

Dex makes you attack faster, so you get higher dps that way. So let's say you're doing around 30 per hit, attacking about every 2.5 seconds. That's 12 dps. If you have 18 dex instead of 10, you'll attack 24% faster or 1.9 seconds between swings, giving you a dps of 15.8. 

Edited April 14, 2015 by Infares

[constantine]

My protagonist is a 2H dps fighter.

 

I maxed MIG, INT (have both at 19, human+ old valia background), left rest at 10.

 

I stronly believe the Estoc is THE No1 dps choice b/c of DR bypass.

 

Firstly, I chose to max MIG so I could have the highest possible per hit dmg. Talent selection also helps with that (two-handed weapon style, fighter specialization). DEX didn't seem as the better choice, but I believe the build can work with max DEX, or even with a distribution of points between MIG/DEX. But I am very satisfied with my choice, as my dps fighter is first in dmg dealt and kills total in the party (protagonist- Eder- Sagani- Aloth- Grieving Mother- Durance).

 

 

Next to the bread and butter of the build: max INT. As the OP states, knock-down is not only a disable skill but also a dps one and my 19 INT increases the duration to 7.3secs ! To add to that, the 1 per encounter skill 'Disciplined Barrage' has a duration of 22secs, which is enough for the whole encounter. Disc Barr is very important to the dps fighter, as higher ACC is always higher dmg.

 

Skill-Talent selection:

Pretty much self-explanatory. Passive talents that increase per-hit dmg, Disciplined Barr and weapon focus for the ACC increase. Bonus Knock-down is also a must- another 7+secs of disabling a foe.

 

 

Equipment:

Estoc is maybe the best choice for dps. You may keep a seperate 2H weapon (Greatsword or Poleaxe) for situations where pierce dmg type is the bad choice- just remember that even then, Estoc's DR bypass may render it the better choice.

 

As for armor, know that this build is squishy, but that does not necessisate you wear bulky armor. As long as you have a tank absorb aggro, you may as well walk in regular (or enchanted) clothing, thus attacking considerably faster. But if things get messy and enemies target you, it will be a short trip to your downfall. Actually, I dress mine in heavy armor and I don't have to worry so much about survivabity, but it's your preference on that.

 

 

A bonus of the build is that with 19 MIG and INT you will have excellent Fortitude and Will defences, and your equipment selection can either focus on your weaknesses or strengthen your strong points even more, making you untouchable in thoses defenses.

 

 

Hope that helps

[Exoduss]

 

 

Int : AoE+Duration+Will on some skills ( this is minor for fighter except Will is good stat for a frontliner vs charm )

also, people forget that all characters can use scrolls in this game.  putting a few points in lore will allow your dps fighter to buff himself with some rather excellent spells, and you want those spells to have decent duration.

 

by and large though, i think the reason a lot of people forgo scrolls is because overall combat is not that difficult.  at the moment, anyway.  future patches or mods might change that.

 

 

 

fan of flames scroll on 3 frontliners when engaging is triplewin on POTD almost as good as 3 figurines popped for like 10 summons 

Edited April 15, 2015 by Exoduss

[Maximvs]

I suggest another class than warrior if you plan on going full dps. Might as well get a barbarian or something.

[Sir Davion]

Just my thoughts on this topic since i have wondered about stats myself since im playing a 2-hand bleak walker. I'm playing on PotD.

 

Stat importance:

1. Might: 2-Handed weapon have high base damage and benefit more from a damage increase than fast weapons. Fast weapons attack faster of course but they get dimishing returns per hit becasue of DR.

2. Resolve: I wondered a while if dexterity or resolve is more important. But i think resolve is more beneficial for most melee dpss. It gives deflection, will and conc and can thus also be seen as an increase in DPS/Attack Speed. Since you have higher defense and concentration you get hit less often and if you do get hit you get interrupted less often and attack more often than a char with lower res. Since my Paladin is often tanking hits when hes flanking the enemies my fighter is engaging i prefer it to dexterity

3. Dexterity: Also nice to have. Imo dexterity is superior if you can make sure your DPS doesn't get hit. Only than you eliminate the disadvantage of lower def/will and have really higher dps.

 

I guess you could make calculations with what would be a close to optimal combination of dex/resolve for your melee dps if you assume some sensible average attacks with average accuracy with average interrupt value per fight on your character if you can't max both.

 

Since i'm lazy and it's my first playthrough i went for the more defensive/safer choice and kept dex at 10 and maxed might and res since i considered all the other stats (Per:def, Int: dur, ae, Con: you got good hp gain as paladin) not worth dropping under 10 with paladin. For warrior i imagine you can drop int since you don't have much buffs or abilities whose duration gets influenced by int and raise dex instead.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Sir Davion

[Fessels]

 

Would higher dex have been more beneficial?

 

 

Dex makes you attack faster, so you get higher dps that way. So let's say you're doing around 30 per hit, attacking about every 2.5 seconds. That's 12 dps. If you have 18 dex instead of 10, you'll attack 24% faster or 1.9 seconds between swings, giving you a dps of 15.8. 

 

 

 

Yeah I thought about it a bit more and having a faster attack and as such more damage because of high DEX is preferable over higher CON. ( Which a Barbarian gets more then enough of, as mentioned. )

 

Thanks Infares.