Priest build to take on Thaos 1 on 1

[Blades of Vanatar]

Starting a New game on Hard setting. PC is a Priest of Eothas who will melee/DPS. Dual wielding flails. Looking for build recommendations for taking Thaos 1 on 1 while my party fends of his "friends".

 

My plan....

 

Meadow Folk

 

Mig 13

Con 11

Dex 13

Per 12

Int 16

Res 12

 

Opening talent +10 Accuracy to mace/flails. Two weapon fighting. WF: Adventurer for flail bonus. Light to medium Armour for speed, no heavy armours in case of spell casting needs arise. Lots of stat bonus equipment. To increase melee durability. Buffs will center on PC to help his Acc, Dam, Crit chances, DR, Deflection, etc...

 

Supporting cast of...

 

Meadow Folk Barbarian dual wielding battle axe/sword for more weapon choices

Savannah Folk Druid Bear Shifter with shock wild strike specializing in lightning magic

2 Wood Elf Rangers with beefed up DR Bears

Island Folk Wizard for CC

 

For most encounters Bears and Werebear Druid will draw Aggro while Wizard disables, both Rangers single target destroy spellcasters and PC and Barb cut into the foe as the second and decisive wave.

 

Issues will arise in big enemy fights like Adra Dragon, Ogre bounty, etc.... But I think with some good equipment/spell combos I can overcome them. But a strategy for Thaos is looking bleak. Any suggestions for slaying him with my priest?

[gkathellar]

TWF on a priest is kinda pointless, IMO, since priests really live and die by their spellcasting. Once you hit level 9, using spells all the time is pretty much optimal, and the main reason not to is laziness. Bear in mind that the +10 accuracy talents don't actually make them exceptional, since priests start with 10 less accuracy than fighters/rogues/rangers/monks - I think the only ones worth grabbing are Magran's (for the arquebus) and maybe Skaen's (for the sneak attack).

 

Honestly, folk don't make for very good spellcasters unless you intend for them to be on the front line.

 

Wild strike really isn't worth it - shifting declines rapidly in usefulness after early levels. Also, I encourage you to take the lightning, fire, and ice-boosting talents on any and all druids: they have access to big-name damaging spells of all those types, and there honestly aren't a lot of other talents for a druid that are worth taking.

 

As to Thaos in particular, if you want to fight him 1v1, the big challenge is going to be outlasting his ridiculously long Shields of the Faithful. Plan to survive for 100 seconds without using many spells. Aside from that, he's honestly pretty straightforward.

Edited July 29, 2015 by gkathellar

[Blades of Vanatar]

Already completed Hard setting with Druid as PC shifter. He did just fine in that role with support casting when needed, ex. Boss fights. He only struggled in a few battles. Plus i enjoy the various shifting looks. Stag was badass!

[gkathellar]

Fair enough.

 

Again, I'd point you away from Folk, and advise flail/shield over double flails - flails are particularly good for characters with low accuracy, just as axes are good for those with very high accuracy. You'll need durability for the Thaos fight, mostly so that you can outlast his opening defensive buff before casting your own.

[Blades of Vanatar]

That makes sense. I was thinking dual wield to cause more damage and status effects but it will weaken me defensively. W&S may be the way to go.

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

 

Priests have poor accuracy, so you'll want to stack accuracy in your favor. More average damage if you simply hit more often (ie, all the time), and more accuracy means more potential to land a crit, which further increases average damage.

 

Here's what I would think:

 

Priest of Berath (bonus accuracy to maces*)

Athletics 3

Lore or Survival for the rest?

Only use a single handed weapon (no 2 hander, no dual wield; this grants a huge accuracy bonus when you wield a single handed weapon)

Holy Radiance (potential to add aggrandizing radiance for the bonuses, but this is probably not optimal)

Weapon Focus: Noble (bonus to accuracy with maces*)

One Handed Style (grazes to hits 30%)

Lots of talents left open (quick item slots, longer potion duration, more spells, etc, your call)

 

Get the Ravenwing mace early on in Defiance Bay Sanitarium. End game weapon frankly. Max enchant it as high as you can for accuracy and whatever element damage. The Ravenwing has really high damage that goes up as your enemy is flanked, basically. Way higher than what a typical two handed gets bonuses for even. So when it crits, it crits hard.

 

From there, you'll need to either strip Thaos (and all enemies really) of their beneficial effects, so you want suppression (there's a ring that grants this, might be worth using?). Or you'll need to simply out-heal his damage, and wait for his spells to end their duration (his spells are crazy level 6 priest spells, so massive deflection, and he lowers your accuracy and crit chances; you'll want to do the same to him with the same spells). Everyone drinks bulwark of elemental protection potions. Drink War paint too. Having lots of quick item slots helps with this to have all your potions and consumables at hand (and scrolls).

 

Trying to pre-buff yourself with 2~3 spells while he hits you is going to have you reaching for heals before you even get your buffs off since you'll not be overly durable if you're building to deal maximum damage. If you go for a balanced route, you'll just do less melee damage and still cast just as slow.

 

Very best,

[tnb234]

Heya,

 

Priests have poor accuracy, so you'll want to stack accuracy in your favor. More average damage if you simply hit more often (ie, all the time), and more accuracy means more potential to land a crit, which further increases average damage.

 

Here's what I would think:

 

Priest of Berath (bonus accuracy to maces*)

Athletics 3

Lore or Survival for the rest?

Only use a single handed weapon (no 2 hander, no dual wield; this grants a huge accuracy bonus when you wield a single handed weapon)

Holy Radiance (potential to add aggrandizing radiance for the bonuses, but this is probably not optimal)

Weapon Focus: Noble (bonus to accuracy with maces*)

One Handed Style (grazes to hits 30%)

Lots of talents left open (quick item slots, longer potion duration, more spells, etc, your call)

 

Get the Ravenwing mace early on in Defiance Bay Sanitarium. End game weapon frankly. Max enchant it as high as you can for accuracy and whatever element damage. The Ravenwing has really high damage that goes up as your enemy is flanked, basically. Way higher than what a typical two handed gets bonuses for even. So when it crits, it crits hard.

From there, you'll need to either strip Thaos (and all enemies really) of their beneficial effects, so you want suppression (there's a ring that grants this, might be worth using?). Or you'll need to simply out-heal his damage, and wait for his spells to end their duration (his spells are crazy level 6 priest spells, so massive deflection, and he lowers your accuracy and crit chances; you'll want to do the same to him with the same spells). Everyone drinks bulwark of elemental protection potions. Drink War paint too. Having lots of quick item slots helps with this to have all your potions and consumables at hand (and scrolls).

 

Trying to pre-buff yourself with 2~3 spells while he hits you is going to have you reaching for heals before you even get your buffs off since you'll not be overly durable if you're building to deal maximum damage. If you go for a balanced route, you'll just do less melee damage and still cast just as slow.

 

Very best,

I wholeheartedly agree with the Ravenwing mace it's damage output toward the end game is fantastic. Killer weapon!

[Blades of Vanatar]

So if I am using a 1-hander should I use the shield as well? Does using a shield eliminate the 1-hand style acc bonus? Shields already decrease your acc and since I was trying to use lighter armor, will mo shield make melee to tough to survive for a Priest?

[gkathellar]

You get to keep the graze-to-hit bonus from 1h-style while using a shield, yeah.

 

Sticking to small shields to avoid the accuracy penalty is probably best, though. The best shield, endgame, is of course Little Savior, so that works out well.