Priest mob?

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

 

So I'm looking to play through for the 5th time now. I've done the gun line, I've done the martial party, I've done the all wizard party, etc. Still playing around with more approaches. This time, I'm thinking of a martial party with a duo of priests, or even three priests. The idea is to have an uptime of their buffs pretty much through a whole fight, empowering 2 or 3 martial characters to be pretty crazy.

 

So I'm thinking of supporting 2 or 3 martial characters that focus on a high deflection, but don't wear heavy armor, so they're not slowed down. Funny how deflection works and how armor just grants damage reduction... Anyhow, was thinking of fast attacking, higher crit chance martial characters with higher deflections, all being essentially off-tanks supported by priests with constant buffs up. Thinking Paladin, Rogue, Barbarian, Fighter, Chanter. Can't decide yet where exactly I want to go with that. Was thinking of 3 Paladins, for the self-heals and revives, but I probably won't need it with 2~3 priests. So then I thought some Rogues for the crits. But then I thought, maybe some Fighters and a Barbarian with a reach weapon. Then there's also a duo of Chanters with a Barbarian with a reach weapon, supported by three priests.

 

So I'm thinking:

 

Chanter (off tank; but no heavy armor; keep enemy frightened and increase move speed; summons or paralyze)

Chanter (off tank; but no heavy armor; keep enemy frightened and increase move speed; summons or paralyze)

Barbarian with reach weapon (all DPS)

Priest (talents supporting interdiction, and defenses against charm/etc)

Priest (talents supporting interdiction, and defenses against charm/etc)

Priest (talents supporting interdiction, and defenses against charm/etc)

 

Alt would be to use Druids, Paladins or Fighters, just to get that high Deflection built up, and have good offense built in. I played through with fighter tanks that still took focuses on accuracy to be decent in melee and they were much more enjoyable than pure tanks that do zero damage but stand still forever.

 

Most of the martial characters will likely use a one hand weapon, use weapon & shield style, and take weapon focuses to get accuracy up, with max Perc & Res and Dex. No one will have max Might probably, as I would rather focus on speed and crit chances perhaps. They will wear enchanted clothing for DR. The Barbarian if I stick with one, will just focus on pure might, dex and int and use a reach weapon, but I may swap him for a Rogue for sneak attack and mechanics options instead.

 

The goal will be to use the long very powerful buffs the priests provide, so two of them can constantly maintain two really good buffs (or debuffs) and a third for the spot heals and potential wards and prayers and stuff as needed. I'll probably have them using sceptors/rods/wands for the crush damage at range and just keep them back and safe. Their talents will be to have high defenses against will attacks, to prevent charms, etc, and take a high resolve.

 

Level 1:

 

Keeping Blessing up at all times for the accuracy & damage (lasts up to 30 seconds basically)

Keeping Armor of Faith up at all times for the DR (lasts 44 seconds basically)

Third is for heals and for buffs/debuffs (Divine Terror, Prayer against Fear)

All three spam Interdiction the whole battle to keep everyone Dazed for upwards of 30 seconds with 3 casts (plus the 3 minor heals & fire damage)

 

Level 2:

 

New option to have Holy Power for up to 44 seconds (+7 Res).

Prayer Against Infirmity, and more heals, and Suppress Affliction

 

Level 3:

 

Keeping Dire Blessing up at all times for the crits for 44 seconds.

Watchful pressence and Pillar for support.

 

Level 4:

 

Keeping Devotions for the Faithful up, for 44 seconds at a time. Mass buff & debuff.

Keeping Dire Blessing up at all times too, still.

Shining Beacon can be used to spike an enemy for a ton of burn after debuffs are up.

 

Level 5:

 

Keeping up Shields for the Faithful for 44 seconds.

Gain Revive. Gain Champion's Boon for the tough baddies.

 

Level 6:

Cleansing Flame for new spike damage with good range this time.

Keeping Crowns for the Faithful up at all times (massive buff) for 44 seconds.

Prayer against Treachery gained.

 

Still thinking it out.

 

Very best,

[gkathellar]

Why not 6 priests? Each one with a different god.

[MalVeauX]

Why not 6 priests? Each one with a different god.

 

Hrm,

 

Thought about it, could work, but I do like a wee bit of variety.

 

I'm looking hard back to the Fighter for the three options with the three priests.

 

Fighters with three different focuses (to allow for 3 different unique weapons to use):

 

Fighter 1 (of 3)

Rapid Recovery

OneHanded Style

Weapon Focus: (based on intended unique, like Ravenwing is a mace, so Noble?)

Weapon Mastery: (Same as above; Noble?)

Weapon Specialization: (Same as above, Nobile?)

Weapon & Shield Style

Superior Deflection

Armored Grace

Confident Aim

Critical Defense

Knock Down

Unbroken

 

And make three different ones, one with Noble, one with Knight, one with Adventurer basically, to cover most of the decent uniques you get early to mid-game as to not have to wait forever.

 

Couple three of those with Priest buffs, and they should be wrecking balls with stupid high Deflection and some passable DR.

 

Alternatively, was thinking of just making three crit-focused Rogues. But I think some fast Fighters would be cool instead.

 

Very best,

Edited July 24, 2015 by MalVeauX

[MalVeauX]

So I spec'd a Fighter & a Paladin to see just how different they would be, to try and find a good balance between off-tank and melee DPS capable, so that they're not ultra specialized to tanks and do nothing but hold mobs and do zero damage (other than have a high Lore and cast some scrolls).

 

Overall, I can't decide. I like both.

 

Fighters: More damage synergies with weapon mastery, focus & specialization along with Unbroken for a passive revive basically.

 

Paladin: Zeals for more DR or higher Accuracy & crits, able to be better per the situation, higher defenses, self heal, revive other, mark for per-target-dps.

 

The Paladin seems to be the better off-tank, simply because the Paladin can have higher base damage reduction with comparable deflection scores, without wearing heavy armor. Again, assume using enchanted clothing so the recovery is 0%. Worse cast scenario, I might wear Padded or something in the 20% or less area, like a Robe. Exceptionally enchanted will generate good DR. Paladin zeal endurance with Ale/Mead/Beer and exceptional enchanted clothing or padded armor, will have good DR without the enormous -50% recovery. Max dex and you have some speed. Will not max Might. Instead, focus on high Dex, Per, and Resolve. After that, the mix is either Might and Int, with Con being the least of anyone's worries (with priests around at least).

 

The Fighter seems to be the better armored DPS though, with higher specializations that allow for higher average base damage, and can get away with wearing slightly heavier armor with armored grace, along with max dex to maintain speed. The 20% minimum damage bump increases the average. No self heal, but has a passive revive. No passive DR other than consumables and armor. Less overall defenses. But more base damage output. Fighter has higher base accuracy too.

 

So far, leaning towards the Paladin. The two zeals make it possible to swap between off-tank and dps needs, and sworn enemy allows high DPS potential against a foe that is actually important and not just trash mobs (so he can fight "bosses" so to speak when needed). Plus the paladin's zeal endurance DR with the priest's spells with DR equate to a very decent DR without wearing heavy armor.

 

Very best,

[Blades of Vanatar]

What about adding Barbarian to the mix?

[wanderon]

Priests and druids might make a fun mix as well!

[Nobear]

I took Unbroken on Eder, then I found the adra plate armor with second chance, and I'm half wishing I had chosen a different ability lol! Oh well, now I know for next play through.

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

 

Yea, I've toyed with a Barbarian, played one as the main character once through already. Good DPS character, not much else though, no utility other than side-speccing to mechanics for trap duty, but otherwise, just fast and heavy hitting with a reach weapon from behind the front lines. I thought about a Barbarian for this particular setup, having two front line characters with shields. But then again, could also do a reach Rogue, or a Fighter with all specs towards reach weapons of choice too, or even a Chanter to bring some more utility. A Fighter would bring more average damage to a single target, a Rogue would bring more critical chances and sneak attack options, a Chanter would bring useful phrases. I've played Chanters to death though, so I'm looking to try other things for variety. I also thought about doing a Ranger for anti-priest/caster duty from behind the two front liners, with a pet, to help single out casters and make their life miserable and short.

 

Druids are definitely an option, good Deflection, though not so accurate, but their spells are enormously useful (especially the lighting spells, I love those). I played a Druid through my first play through and it was nice, but I always felt my Wizard was better as a caster, and other characters better as tanks.

 

I really wish Druids could focus more on shapeshifting and melee stuff. Unfortunately it's too short even with high Int to shapeshift as a focus. Maybe in the expansion... seems like an untapped option that is just there for show, but not really useful at all.

 

I toyed with Monks. But I guess I just never really got into Monks. I'd rather use a Paladin or Fighter frankly than a Monk. Just not for me.

 

Perhaps:

 

Paladin (zeal focus); off tank build for melee capability

Paladin (zeal endurance); off-tank build for melee capability

Rogue (max mechanics); ranged focus with warbow and reach weapon, will stack speed items, will focus on casters and traps and unlocking stuff.

Priest 1

Priest 2

Priest 3 (each upkeeping essentially one powerful buff, the third priest for utility heals and debuffs and for maintaining if one falls)

 

Very best,

[Boeroer]

Barbarian: build for max DPS, Shod-in-Faith boots, Sanguine Plate and Tidefall plus Vengeful defeat and a second chance ring = maximum fun. Goes down sometimes, but dishes out so much AOE damage and is still a good offtank.