Building a representation of myself in PoE on PoTD difficulty!

[Torm51]

So for my PoTD Ironman run I am going to try to build ME.  Like what my actual stats would be.  I think I would make a decent tank let me know what you think.  In no way is this optimized.

 

Class: Paladin (Darcozzi Paladini) I can be very sarcastic and get passionate about things I like to do.

 

Race: Meadow Human (I am a human and I am white dude with European decent)

 

Background : Ixamitl Plains (very native American the Plains are and well my descendants came to the USA lol)

 

Stats: Anything average here is a 10 below average is below 10 obviously.

 

Might 14 (As a former military dude I can 20 pull ups easily  and apparently the average 28 year old make in the US can do 8  .

 

Con   12 (My 3 mile run is a 22 on average, I would say that's above average but not great)

 

Dex   10 (I am not super flexible I am not a tin can either I can do toe touches dammit!)

 

Per    15 ( My experiences in the military have definitely made me more perceptive and ya I can be paranoid)

 

Int      10 ( I am not smart really but I am not below average either )

 

Res    17 (One thing I am very good at is not quitting!)

 

This turns my Paladin into a tank...what do you guys think?

[HoopleDoople]

It's actually not that bad of a build IMO considering it wasn't designed to be optimized. There's really just two flaws that will hold you back somewhat. One problem is that Humans aren't a particularly good race and don't match well with a tank. However, you will get a damage/accuracy boost whenever things get rough for your Paladin, which can be helpful for a tank that hasn't dumped dexterity and/or might.

 

The other, bigger issue is your low intelligence. Intelligence is hugely important for a Darcozzi Paladin to increase aura AoE and ability duration, particularly for Liberating Exhortation/Inspiring Liberation. 10 intelligence won't necessarily be insurmountable though. You can get a helm or amulet with a 2 INT bonus in Copperlane and The Charred Barrel inn in Brackenbury can get you a whopping 4 intelligence rest bonus. When you make a trip to Dyrford you can add Boots of Zealous Command to increase aura AoE. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do to help your intelligence/aura radius in act 1 which is precisely when you need it the most. The accuracy bonus from Zealous Focus is incredibly helpful when all your characters have pathetic accuracy early on.

 

The good news is your downsides can be easily overcome if you have a Priest in the party (not that it's ever a bad idea to have a Priest in your party, and that goes double for trial of iron). Blessing can provide the accuracy bonus you desperately need for the entire party early on. Priest healing will allow you to put your Fighting Spirit bonus to use without having to waste time healing yourself. And if you ever get your Paladin into a bad spot Withdraw will save you.

[Torm51]

It's actually not that bad of a build IMO considering it wasn't designed to be optimized. There's really just two flaws that will hold you back somewhat. One problem is that Humans aren't a particularly good race and don't match well with a tank. However, you will get a damage/accuracy boost whenever things get rough for your Paladin, which can be helpful for a tank that hasn't dumped dexterity and/or might.

 

The other, bigger issue is your low intelligence. Intelligence is hugely important for a Darcozzi Paladin to increase aura AoE and ability duration, particularly for Liberating Exhortation/Inspiring Liberation. 10 intelligence won't necessarily be insurmountable though. You can get a helm or amulet with a 2 INT bonus in Copperlane and The Charred Barrel inn in Brackenbury can get you a whopping 4 intelligence rest bonus. When you make a trip to Dyrford you can add Boots of Zealous Command to increase aura AoE. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do to help your intelligence/aura radius in act 1 which is precisely when you need it the most. The accuracy bonus from Zealous Focus is incredibly helpful when all your characters have pathetic accuracy early on.

 

The good news is your downsides can be easily overcome if you have a Priest in the party (not that it's ever a bad idea to have a Priest in your party, and that goes double for trial of iron). Blessing can provide the accuracy bonus you desperately need for the entire party early on. Priest healing will allow you to put your Fighting Spirit bonus to use without having to waste time healing yourself. And if you ever get your Paladin into a bad spot Withdraw will save you.

 

As a tank I actually took Zealous Endurance.  Bad call?  I took it on my hard run and liked the DR.  Granted I am struggling (although not dyeing) in act I for precisely that reason Accuracy is super hard to come by.  Understood on the Int points but with my last Paladin who had 10 int I had Liberating and it still lasted a while.  Granted obviously not as long as if I had 18 int.

 

What would be a better order with that build? Shield Bearers? I didn't go that route cause I did it last time.  Kind Wayfarers just don't cut for tanks imo.  You don't kill enough stuff for Strange Mercy to do much and Sword and the Shepherd AOE heals for a 5m radius and I am usually trying to heal my BACK LINE as my front liners are very tough and I only really need heals when I messed up and my back line is taking a hurting.  That leaves Goldpact Knights who have a nice dps DoT and a very nice resistance to mind control again to be totally effective you would need highish Int and Bleak Walkers who have another on kill debuff and a corrode damage buff to Flames of Devotion..very meh for a tank who is not going to get that many kills.

 

PS I do have Durance in my party for the Accuracy which is why I went Zealous Endurance.  Granted that's not BETTER until he gets per encounter level 1 spells.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Torm51

[Nobear]

Darkozzi is fine for tank if that fits you well. I'm playing Shieldbearer, and I can tell you I was disappointed to find out that the +10 Deflection on FoD doesn't affect the paladin himself, just all the other nearby allies. If you read the lore blurb in character creation, it kinda makes sense because the original shield bearers weren't defending themselves, but a diplomat. I still like it for my other tank (and back row if things get messy, like with shades), but Darkozzi I'd say is just as solid for a tank.

 

Durance can still get the other accuracy boost from the Inspiring Radiance talent, and you just cast it at the beginning of a fight instead of using it to heal. At low levels I am choosing other talents first (Interdiction, Painful Interdiction) since a per-encounter heal is nice, before your level 1 spells become per-encounter. That Inspiring Radiance, BTW, is a special snowflake, in that it will stack with other accuracy effects like the priest's other spell.

 

Edit: My paladin tank has Zealous Focus, but she also has a natural 20 Int. I had to dump both Dex and Con for that, which is not as bad as it sounds. I have started over many times trying to get the build just right, and I can tell you that, even at 19 Int, her aura doesn't quite reach one of my allies. This is with a custom formation where the allies furthest back are one row up from the furthest back possible. It literally takes that 20th point to get that coverage, so I wouldn't sweat your choices. They are very different from mine, but should work just fine.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Nobear

[HoopleDoople]

With a Priest as backup you should be perfectly fine with either Zealous Focus or Zealous Endurance.

 

Zealous Endurance might be nice for trial of iron due to the hit to graze conversion, which will slow down incoming damage and mitigate CC duration. I will also note that if your aura is missing your ranged DPS characters the effectiveness of Zealous Focus is greatly reduced. With your low intelligence this may very well be the case.

 

It is my personal preference to take Zealous Focus for a few reasons:

• Reliable accuracy boost early on when the Priest can't spam level 1 spells
• Innate graze to hit bonus and eventual hit to crit bonus (with Critical Focus talent) further boost DPS
• Zealous Focus is a huge asset for your initial attack whereas Zealous Endurance only matters once the enemy responds. If your Priest sits out the initial attack you can usually have Armor of Faith up before anyone gets hit.

But I haven't done trial of iron yet so if a battle ever goes horribly wrong I can just reload. It would be interesting to get the perspective of those who are more experienced with this mode.

Edited June 16, 2015 by HoopleDoople

[Torm51]

I appreciate the opinion guys.  I will definitely let you know the results.  Thank you for helping me out!