What do you guys think I should take at level 9..bit of a read

[Torm51]

So my 2 main damage dealers are a ranger with Vicous Aim and a Warbow, and Eder specced for damage with Estocs and Pollaxe's..both of them hit hard but don't have fast attack speed because of their modals and heavy armor respectively (although the -15% recovery in heavy armor talent helps Eder a lot).  Aloth is my CC/Debuff guy..he does have a damage gromiore but that's his main job.  Then I have Durance for buffs, My self and Paleginna as sturdy frontliners with ok DPS and great survivability.  Could probably sub Pallegina for a better damage dealer like a Barbarian but I like the 2 auras and 2 LoH.

 

Anyway this party doesn't seem like it would really benefit Hastening Exhort to the Max because of the Heavy Armor and Vicous Aim modal.  Aloth also has the speed buff spell so it wont stack  What do you think?  at 11 I am taking Righteous Soul so I am trying to see what to get at 9 that benefits my party.  I have LoH, FoD, Zealous Charge (I know unorthodox but I really like the flexibility it gives my frontline with movement and disengagement at will. Pallegina covers ZF.  I also kite mobs that have poison hate the raw damage they do this helps me limit it), Reviving Exhortation, level 9?? , Righteous Soul and at 13 I am not sure either Immolation or the Healing chain.

 

I was thinking of grabbing Sworn Enemy at 9.  Helps my average accuracy Frontline Paladin and bumps his damage quite a bit.  Can really help the party by burning an enemy that needs to go down fast. or once big bosses are CCed helping kill them off.  I could also take Reinforcing Exhortation to help Pallegina have extra Deflection..Although she has cautious attack.  prior to 2.0 an ally with cautious attack that had reinforcing exhortation only netted +15 Def not +25.  If you didn't have the modal on it gave you the full +25.  Still +15 for your other tank against bosses is significant.  Lastly, I could take Liberating Exhortation but Pallegina has it and I have Durance for when we really need to stop those really bad dots like Plague of Insects and Blind/Paralyze/Deep Wounds (its not working 100% on prone/petrify as it takes a few seconds to kick in confirmed bug and they acknowledged it on the support forums).  I am also not a Darcozzi so I cant spec it for +10 ACC...

 

Sorry for the spam bud but I like your ideas so I wanted to collaborate! hah

 

[Ymarsakar]

I'd probably swap out Eder for a chanter, due to the various party buffs and summons a chanter has. 25% fire lash to all attacks is pretty good. And dragon thrash is also good with 18 might. And the second level range speed reload buff is also good for rangers.

 

I would probably take hastening exhortation at level 9 if I wasn't worried about my party getting downed and not getting a revival. But I would cast it on the ranger, not on aloth. He doesn't need it with alacrity as you noted it.

 

Sworn enemy is pretty good, although you have to use it on the special types as it is limited by 3 per rest. It won't help the party out as much as it helps out the paladin's offenses be magnified and multiplied against that one enemy for the entire combat. Whereas hastening improves the overall dps out of your heavy hitting dps class, the ranger, who can increase their overall rate of fire by just wearing no armor or robes.

 

For the ranger, that itumaak pet does some huge damage with combo hits. Very nice synergy there. Way different from the Broken Ranger in 1.0

Edited September 15, 2015 by Ymarsakar

[Tennisgolfboll]

I enjoyed the read. I normally play gold pact paladins so:

 

(Stoic)Sworn enemy

 

 

I type alittle less than you : )

 

 

I really enjoy having the premade npcs, adventurers feel empty, i wouldnt change a fun party

[Torm51]

Funny Goldpact Knight is my usual order as well.  But I am doing my first Kind Wayfarer.  Second most used order are the Shieldbearers.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Torm51

[Ymarsakar]

The Kind Wayfarer is so kind that when he sweeps his weapon across the field, the heads of his enemies fall in one stroke, a merciful act which inspires and encourages his fellows, raising their endurance.

 

When an enemy non human is suffering, give it the Merciful Final blow and end its torment.

[KDubya]

I'd re-spec Pellagrina and drop Cautious Attack for Superior Deflection. You lose 3 deflection and gain 20% attack speed.

 

Then at level nine you can grab reinforcing exhortation for the two per encounter long duration +25 deflection buffs. Grab on both Paladins and you have four to spread around enough for both Paladins, Eder and Itumaaak.

 

If I were to drop anyone for the Chanter it'd be Durance. Give Kana a reach weapon, weapon & shield and something ranged and he is versatile and can cover many roles. Set up the fire weapon and the fear chant and they'll overlap so that the fire enchant stays on.

[Elric Galad]

By the way, hastening exhortation seems meh now that druid can cast a party-wide 20% speed buff at lvl 13 (nature's bounty). But you don't have a druid in your party, so...

 

I am actually torn between righteous soul and healing chain for my lvl 11 fire godlike pally.

 

I feel righteous soul to be a bit circonstancial because it requires charm to target your paladin to be useful. And for hard battle with a lot of mind spells like Raedric return and Vithraak bounty, priest will cast protection spell anyway.

 

Healing chain seems like a per encounter lvl 5 priest spell, which is ok but a bit redundant. I'm not sure how bounce actually works : it seems to be able to bounce several times on the same target. Can someone explain me ?

 

It's a recurring problem with paladin abilities : They are good but priests can do better, they can do it party-wide AND don't stack with Paladin's abilities.

Of course there are exceptions like LoH...

Edited September 16, 2015 by Elric Galad

[Torm51]

^{By the way, hastening exhortation seems meh now that druid can cast a party-wide 20% speed buff at lvl 13 (nature's bounty). But you don't have a druid in your party, so...}

 

I am actually torn between righteous soul and healing chain for my lvl 11 fire godlike pally.

 

I feel righteous soul to be a bit circonstancial because it requires charm to target your paladin to be useful. And for hard battle with a lot of mind spells like Raedric return and Vithraak bounty, priest will cast protection spell anyway.

 

Healing chain seems like a per encounter lvl 5 priest spell, which is ok but a bit redundant. I'm not sure how bounce actually works : it seems to be able to bounce several times on the same target. Can someone explain me ?

 

It's a recurring problem with paladin abilities : They are good but priests can do better, they can do it party-wide AND don't stack with Paladin's abilities.

Of course there are exceptions like LoH...

 

^{As for Righteous Soul that's like saying having a nuclear arsenal isn't useful because no one targets you with nukes.  Having that defense in itself is useful even if the deterrent is the effect.  My Paladin is a front liner and I need him to be engaged.  Not getting targeted by a Will spell because of my high defense to those attacks is useful.  I can also lead the attack with him and force mind control mobs to use it on him.  Also Terror Auras from Dragons REALLY SUCK having those graze me or miss me outright is very useful.  Lastly, poison can be annoying and it helps a lot against it. Damn spiders.  I swear by Righteous Soul lol}

 

^{I have heard the priest argument A LOT and I see what you are saying but cant totally agree.  It sounds good on paper what you are saying but when playing its a different story.  The priest has to actually cast those spells.  Not a huge problem but he has other game changing buffs (Circle of Protection, Crowns of the Faithful , Devotions of the Faithful) he could be casting while the Paladin starts with those buffs as a Modal and the intial attacks (which can be huge) have the buff like Zealous Focus and Zealous Endurance...the first attack against the hardest bosses in the game can be huge if its a CC etc.  Lastly, the Paladin auras hav the secondary effect of turning some grazes into hits (useful) and some enemy hits into grazes (useful).}

 

^{Lastly, what do you guys think of Deprive the Unworthy.  Its limited I know and ya turns Thaos into a Xaurip (no will save against it...bug? they know about it so it might be intended) and now that mobs use a lot more abilities...I see its a bit more useful.}

 

^{I hear you on the haste but like you said I don't have a druid that being said I might use one so maybe haste is out.  Narrowed down to what Dubya said maybe mor Deflection for tanks, Liberating Ehort (might be overkill as Pallegina and has  it and Durance is in the group)..or I might just take Sworn Enemy I have good Alphas strikes with FoD and a high damage weapon could be the difference in burning down a Dragon boss while she is in that 8 second CC.}

Edited September 16, 2015 by Torm51

[Elric Galad]

I think I will follow your advice about Righteous soul, because my shatter-starred paladin is meant to hold the line and Dr Strangelove is indeed a good movie ^^

 

And a guy called Torm probably knows what he is talking about when it comes to Pallyhoodness.

 

I like zealous endurance because it is a time saver for priest while being actually better that its priest equivalent.

 

But I think some abilities like reinforcing exhortation or hastening exhortation would be more appealing if they had a distinct "unique snowflake" advantage.

 

Take the example of LoH : this ability might not be as good as ultimate healing BUT it is by far better for single target healing. For me LoH is THE perfectly designed paladin ability.

 

A way to do this could be to make exhortations low duration crazy buff. Like 6s +100% speed or 5s +100 deflection or 8s total status immunity.

 

Side effects would be less stacking issues and more interesting micro. I would also feel it fluff-wise more inspired : sounds more like a command and less like a blessing IMHO.

 

Deprive the unworthy seems to be the equivalent of "the ultimate weapons meant to breach antagonist defense and save the world" in PoE world. It's Thaos kryptonite and nothing more. It is indeed very powerful, 100% reliable and reminds me the Inquisitor dispell. But it is far less useful than its BG2 counterpart due to the absence of spell sequencers and similar abilities that made wizard so annoying to kill in BG.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Elric Galad

[Torm51]

I think I will follow your advice about Righteous soul, because my shatter-starred paladin is meant to hold the line and Dr Strangelove is indeed a good movie ^^

 

And a guy called Torm probably knows what he is talking about when it comes to Pallyhoodness.

 

I like zealous endurance because it is a time saver for priest while being actually better that its priest equivalent.

 

But I think some abilities like reinforcing exhortation or hastening exhortation would be more appealing if they had a distinct "unique snowflake" advantage.

 

Take the example of LoH : this ability might not be as good as ultimate healing BUT it is by far better for single target healing. For me LoH is THE perfectly designed paladin ability.

 

A way to do this could be to make exhortations low duration crazy buff. Like 6s +100% speed or 5s +100 deflection or 8s total status immunity.

 

Side effects would be less stacking issues and more interesting micro. I would also feel it fluff-wise more inspired : sounds more like a command and less like a blessing IMHO.

 

Deprive the unworthy seems to be the equivalent of "the ultimate weapons meant to breach antagonist defense and save the world" in PoE world. It's Thaos kryptonite and nothing more. It is indeed very powerful, 100% reliable and reminds me the Inquisitor dispell. But it is far less useful than its BG2 counterpart due to the absence of spell sequencers and similar abilities that made wizard so annoying to kill in BG.

Dude I literally laughed out loud and really really like your ideas for the Exhortations although I doubt they will implement them.  Being a high Int Paladin with short duration no suppress 100% debuffs would  be ridiculously good and would make Int a "Highly Recommended" at character creation lol.

 

I would always grab ZF or ZE depending on the build but this time around I went with Zealous Charge.  I know its not useful in every scenario but since I am running double Paladin and have ZF I think charge gives me flexibility as I can disengage and run with my party should things go south.  I have also dodged large one hit abilities with it as I go out of range...my defense is high so I laugh of disengagement from even the biggest bad guys.  Also clear rooms with a Cipher using "Mind Lazors" zealous charge helps with that.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Torm51