Paladin Stats/Build?

[katie]

Hi everyone,

 

I have tonight until Monday night to play the game. I was thinking of starting over, and someone had said that a Paladin character is a great character to make as your main because it aligns well with the story and dialogue options - and that actually is kind of important to me.

 

What is a good build for such a character?

Thanks!

Katie

[Nobear]

Hey Katie,

 

Glad you could find some more time to play. Now, I know you're generally a busy gal and don't want to read through the forums, but in this case the thread right below yours is very apropos: here are my thoughts on paladin orders (which aren't the most important aspect to a paladin overall, granted). Sorry, I just had to tease you a bit there! Now, moving on...

 

Here are my thoughts on stats for a support/tank. There are other kinds of builds for paladins, of course, including healing, melee DPS off-tanks, and even ranged. It depends what appeals to you. Basically anything that gets up close and personal (i.e. not ranged) is going to maximize that combat benefit of high Res, which it sounds like you want for dialogue options anyway.

 

There are some other players, like Torm, who can give you good paladin advice, and have really put their ideas to the test post-2.0. I played extensively before 2.0, and I've kept up with the changes and with this forum, so I can tell you what I think would work well and what's popular with other players these days, but you might be helped even more by searching for posts on this (build) forum written by, say, Torm, or hoping that he comes around and links some of his best ones.

 

That's about all the time I have myself right now. Sorry if this post is not as helpful as it could have been because of that, but I hope that gets you started making your dream team! Also remember that you can always respec at any inn, so IMHO you might as well just jump in and start with something, knowing that you won't have to restart again, because you will have already picked the class you want for your main, and you can change just about all the important stuff as you go. Oh, and for race, Moon Godlike is generally considered the most OP. Some players avoid it because it's too strong.

 

Have fun!

[katie]

Have fun!

 

That's actually super helpful! It gives me things to search on for sure! I will read both of those threads and then search up stuff written by our resident Pally expert )

 

Thanks so much Nobear!

[katie]

I have read some posts from people, and there's a lot of information that seems disjointed in a lot of places. Moreover, there seems to be more than 1 way to build a paladin, and without having much context or knowledge about the minute differences between them, I am a bit lost actually. I guess the way you distribute stat points matters a great deal depending on what "end game" you're going for, but I just don't have that kind of long-term vision, or knowledge of what would work best for me right now.

 

Let's say I want to make a tank - because I get a sense that other party members can be spec'd more for damage anyway. And this seems to be alignment with dialog options. I think going with the Shieldbearer Order makes a good deal of sense - it would fit nicely with the Role-Playing dialogue options I would likely find myself picking.

From there, there are some choices - Lay on Hands or Flames of Devotion? They seem like such competing abilities, that I am not sure if you will have points to get both, or if this is the first major decision point. Flames of Devotion seems like a good offensive skill - not so much for the burn (I have no idea if that effect is marginal or relevant for most encounters), but the +20 accuracy seems huge. I have no idea if 56 Endurance is good for Lay on Hands, and I'm not sure how this skill looks throughout the game.

For stats, I have no idea. I was toying around with

Might: 14

Con: 14

Dex: 10

Perception: 10

Int: 13

Resolve: 16

That distribution is for a Pale Elf - the racial ability seemed like it could be okay for a Tank, but I have no idea what is best. I guess Going with Old Vaila to get the Int to 14 as well would have been my next pick. I have no idea how Culture affects things.

 

For background, mercenary seems okay - Athletics seems like a good skill for a Paladin and Lore can help with dialogue options

 

But really, I have no idea what I'm doing, and no clue how to even go from here.

[KDubya]

Those stats look OK to me, everything is reasonable and balanced.

 

Pale Elves are a nice choice, was better when they could have beards but what can you do

 

The culture would matter for role playing reasons only. If you were going for some sort of racial maximum in a stat then the choice would make a difference.

 

For me if all else is equal I like to pick the culture that starts with the heavy brigandine Armor, think that is Valia. 10 DR at the start is huge and it looks nice as well.

 

Lay on Hands is an awesome ability that scales with Might, Intellect and your level and is usable twice per encounter on anyone.. Flames of Devotion only helps with two attacks. It is nice, I usually get it at level five after I pick an aura at level three, but it is not near as useful as LoH.

[mosspit]

 

That distribution is for a Pale Elf - the racial ability seemed like it could be okay for a Tank, but I have no idea what is best. I guess Going with Old Vaila to get the Int to 14 as well would have been my next pick. I have no idea how Culture affects things.

 

For background, mercenary seems okay - Athletics seems like a good skill for a Paladin and Lore can help with dialogue options

 

But really, I have no idea what I'm doing, and no clue how to even go from here.

 

If your pally is going for maxed lore (lvl 10) Go for either Artist or Autocracy instead. The +2 lore they give saves you more points in the long run. Choose your region and background, and go back to edit your stats. As long as you are not going to for base stats that break 18, background will not matter much.

[katie]

Those stats look OK to me, everything is reasonable and balanced.

 

Pale Elves are a nice choice, was better when they could have beards but what can you do

 

The culture would matter for role playing reasons only. If you were going for some sort of racial maximum in a stat then the choice would make a difference.

 

For me if all else is equal I like to pick the culture that starts with the heavy brigandine Armor, think that is Valia. 10 DR at the start is huge and it looks nice as well.

 

Lay on Hands is an awesome ability that scales with Might, Intellect and your level and is usable twice per encounter on anyone.. Flames of Devotion only helps with two attacks. It is nice, I usually get it at level five after I pick an aura at level three, but it is not near as useful as LoH.

 

Is there a stat distribution that would be better than the one I listed above? I am definitely not claiming any kind of authority with these numbers - it was just what I was messing around with

 

And actually, even if I had the option to have a beard, I'm pretty sure I would not select it - haha. Especially on my female character!

 

I will definitely pick that culture for the bigger armor - thanks for the tip!

 

And I will get Lay on Hands if it's good. I like healing anyway, and I'm glad that it's a reasonably powerful ability. I remember it was not so hot in Baldur's Gate.

[katie]

 

 

That distribution is for a Pale Elf - the racial ability seemed like it could be okay for a Tank, but I have no idea what is best. I guess Going with Old Vaila to get the Int to 14 as well would have been my next pick. I have no idea how Culture affects things.

 

For background, mercenary seems okay - Athletics seems like a good skill for a Paladin and Lore can help with dialogue options

 

But really, I have no idea what I'm doing, and no clue how to even go from here.

 

If your pally is going for maxed lore (lvl 10) Go for either Artist or Autocracy instead. The +2 lore they give saves you more points in the long run. Choose your region and background, and go back to edit your stats. As long as you are not going to for base stats that break 18, background will not matter much.

 

 

I don't even know if I was going for max lore. I'm not "going for" anything, as I have no idea what the values actually impact. I mean, if you only needed 6 lore to get all of the relevant dialogue options, then going for max lore would be nonsensical to do, but if you needed max lore to experience a lot of cool differences in the game that give some unique benefits, then maybe it is worth doing. The thing is, I have no idea. I actually want people to sort of tell me.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that I really have no concept of the consequences of my decisions. And unfortunately, I am very busy these days - I'm older and work a lot - so I don't have a lot of time to experiment and learn slowly what other people already know. I really need to rely on other people's experience for information.

Edited October 9, 2015 by katie

[KDubya]

For skills you want someone on the team to have max mechanics, they'll be the one that finds the traps, secret areas and opens the locks.

 

You want everyone to have 3 Athletics, maybe go for 4 for everyone if you want to rest less. Maybe choose one on the team to run athletics up to 6 or so.

 

Survival doesn't make much of a difference, a few points to buy the cheap skill levels is fine.

 

Put the rest in lore for scroll use. 10 lore lets you use the highest level scrolls there are. No reason to go past ten. I think they most useful scrolls stop at level four and only require 8 lore. Stopping at 8 lore when the next level costs a bunch is a good idea with some of your team.

 

The way the skill cost goes up with each level means that you want to get as many free skill levels at the start via culture and class. Paladins start with +2 lore, if you pick an origin that starts with +1 lore you'll have 3 lore at start. Your first lore skill costs one point, since you start with +2+1 = 3 you get to level 4 for only one point. The next point costs two and so on. The free skill levels at the start save you the real expensive levels later.

 

Example getting to level 10 when you start with only one skill level is 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9 = 45 skill points to get to lore ten. Starting at level four (Paladin + Aristocrat or scholar) = 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21 skill points to get to lore ten. Big savings in skill points when you only get six per level.

[mosspit]

 

 

 

That distribution is for a Pale Elf - the racial ability seemed like it could be okay for a Tank, but I have no idea what is best. I guess Going with Old Vaila to get the Int to 14 as well would have been my next pick. I have no idea how Culture affects things.

 

For background, mercenary seems okay - Athletics seems like a good skill for a Paladin and Lore can help with dialogue options

 

But really, I have no idea what I'm doing, and no clue how to even go from here.

 

If your pally is going for maxed lore (lvl 10) Go for either Artist or Autocracy instead. The +2 lore they give saves you more points in the long run. Choose your region and background, and go back to edit your stats. As long as you are not going to for base stats that break 18, background will not matter much.

 

 

I don't even know if I was going for max lore. I'm not "going for" anything, as I have no idea what the values actually impact. I mean, if you only needed 6 lore to get all of the relevant dialogue options, then going for max lore would be nonsensical to do, but if you needed max lore to experience a lot of cool differences in the game that give some unique benefits, then maybe it is worth doing. The thing is, I have no idea. I actually want people to sort of tell me.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that I really have no concept of the consequences of my decisions. And unfortunately, I am very busy these days - I'm older and work a lot - so I don't have a lot of time to experiment and learn slowly what other people already know. I really need to rely on other people's experience for information.

 

 

For this point in time, max lore (or rather lvl 10 lore) enables you to cast the highest level scrolls. Thats one reason to "max" it.

[katie]

 

 

 

 

That distribution is for a Pale Elf - the racial ability seemed like it could be okay for a Tank, but I have no idea what is best. I guess Going with Old Vaila to get the Int to 14 as well would have been my next pick. I have no idea how Culture affects things.

 

For background, mercenary seems okay - Athletics seems like a good skill for a Paladin and Lore can help with dialogue options

 

But really, I have no idea what I'm doing, and no clue how to even go from here.

 

If your pally is going for maxed lore (lvl 10) Go for either Artist or Autocracy instead. The +2 lore they give saves you more points in the long run. Choose your region and background, and go back to edit your stats. As long as you are not going to for base stats that break 18, background will not matter much.

 

 

I don't even know if I was going for max lore. I'm not "going for" anything, as I have no idea what the values actually impact. I mean, if you only needed 6 lore to get all of the relevant dialogue options, then going for max lore would be nonsensical to do, but if you needed max lore to experience a lot of cool differences in the game that give some unique benefits, then maybe it is worth doing. The thing is, I have no idea. I actually want people to sort of tell me.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that I really have no concept of the consequences of my decisions. And unfortunately, I am very busy these days - I'm older and work a lot - so I don't have a lot of time to experiment and learn slowly what other people already know. I really need to rely on other people's experience for information.

 

 

For this point in time, max lore (or rather lvl 10 lore) enables you to cast the highest level scrolls. Thats one reason to "max" it.

 

 

Okay... but I don't even know if those higher level scrolls are worth using. You see what I'm getting at?

 

I mean, I can tell you choosing the figamagig will enable you to get 1 million dark crystals by the end of the game - but if there are no good uses for the dark crystals, then it's a waste of time to pick the figamagig. Does that make sense? I have no idea what the consequences are.

[Torm51]

I have read some posts from people, and there's a lot of information that seems disjointed in a lot of places. Moreover, there seems to be more than 1 way to build a paladin, and without having much context or knowledge about the minute differences between them, I am a bit lost actually. I guess the way you distribute stat points matters a great deal depending on what "end game" you're going for, but I just don't have that kind of long-term vision, or knowledge of what would work best for me right now.

 

Let's say I want to make a tank - because I get a sense that other party members can be spec'd more for damage anyway. And this seems to be alignment with dialog options. I think going with the Shieldbearer Order makes a good deal of sense - it would fit nicely with the Role-Playing dialogue options I would likely find myself picking.

 

From there, there are some choices - Lay on Hands or Flames of Devotion? They seem like such competing abilities, that I am not sure if you will have points to get both, or if this is the first major decision point. Flames of Devotion seems like a good offensive skill - not so much for the burn (I have no idea if that effect is marginal or relevant for most encounters), but the +20 accuracy seems huge. I have no idea if 56 Endurance is good for Lay on Hands, and I'm not sure how this skill looks throughout the game.

 

For stats, I have no idea. I was toying around with

 

Might: 14

Con: 14

Dex: 10

Perception: 10

Int: 13

Resolve: 16

 

That distribution is for a Pale Elf - the racial ability seemed like it could be okay for a Tank, but I have no idea what is best. I guess Going with Old Vaila to get the Int to 14 as well would have been my next pick. I have no idea how Culture affects things.

 

For background, mercenary seems okay - Athletics seems like a good skill for a Paladin and Lore can help with dialogue options

 

But really, I have no idea what I'm doing, and no clue how to even go from here.

Hey!  I have just started a Triple Crown Play through and have a similar stat build.  I now ALWAYS get Lay on Hands (Aura at level 3) and Flames of Devotion at level 5.  After 2.0 having some offensive presence is worth it as there are certain enemies like Spirits AND regular kith enemies who will go around your party and hit your soft back line.  Its a bad feeling in this situation when you have no way to at least throw some burst damage with high accuracy at an enemy and be able to contribute to that offenders elimination.  You are also not taking any extra PER (I don't either as its really hard to fit it in as a Paladin) and the class itself has average accuracy at best.  Considering you will be wearing Heavy Armor as a frontliner missing can REALLY suck as you will swing slowly (no room to bump Dex either I know). 

 

you have a high enough might where you can get a 3 Might bonus from an item and have 17 Might around the middle of the game.  That is really good.  I am trying this new thing out with Paladins specifically and getting a HARD hitting one hander as my second weapon with no shield.  It really helps with your average accuracy against high Deflection foes that will ignore you like Spirits as you got a +12 to accuracy with just a one hander.  Grab Vulnerable attack and you are cutting through 5 DR with a good amount of might and fire Damage from FoD and its more then enough of an offensive presence.  Against normal enemies who don't teleport and have average Deflection you can just keep your shield on and do your job by getting in the way and letting the real hard hitters wipe them out.

 

As far as skills go I just go to 6 lore and athletic.  The paralysis scroll is all I really need to get myself out of a bad spot.  I always play trial of iron/PoTD so my builds are bit quirky as I will take some abilities and scrolls to ensure that I can get out a tight spot scroll of Paralysis is what you need for that.  I also take Zealous Charge instead of focus/DR..it helps me and my party reposition or run away should things go really bad.  That being said I run double Paladin usually so other pics up focus and I live without the extra DR and hit to graze.

 

PS Listen to Nobear he is smarter than me this is just my 2 cents.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Torm51

[mosspit]

 

 

Okay... but I don't even know if those higher level scrolls are worth using. You see what I'm getting at?

 

I mean, I can tell you choosing the figamagig will enable you to get 1 million dark crystals by the end of the game - but if there are no good uses for the dark crystals, then it's a waste of time to pick the figamagig. Does that make sense? I have no idea what the consequences are.

 

 

The point is not about not knowing about what scrolls there are. If you have lvl 10 lore, you can cast all scrolls available to you. This is to future proof your decisions in terms of scroll casting, giving you the flexibility in terms of scroll casting. And you can preview what scrolls are available by checking out the craft menu under lvl1 - lvl5 scrolls. 

 

In any case as others has mentioned, the point allocation in skills is quite flexible. 3 pts in Althetics, have 1 char pump mechanics, and the rest do as you see fit. I don't intend to advocate min-maxing in any ways, but you can at least start from somewhere.

[katie]

 

The point is not about not knowing about what scrolls there are. If you have lvl 10 lore, you can cast all scrolls available to you. This is to future proof your decisions in terms of scroll casting, giving you the flexibility in terms of scroll casting. And you can preview what scrolls are available by checking out the craft menu under lvl1 - lvl5 scrolls. 

 

In any case as others has mentioned, the point allocation in skills is quite flexible. 3 pts in Althetics, have 1 char pump mechanics, and the rest do as you see fit. I don't intend to advocate min-maxing in any ways, but you can at least start from somewhere.

 

My point was that I don't even know what the scrolls do, or if they are even worth using or not. I have no idea.

 

Not everything built into a game is balanced or useful. It is very common - especially in a complex game like this - that certain things are valued higher than others. In my Dark Crystal example, let's say some skills give you 10 DC's or 50 DC's and that fiagamagig gives 1000. But what if everything you could make with the DC's are totally irrelevant to the game? Yes, you are making the "maximum crystals" - that is a fact about those choices - but that doesn't mean you're winning at the game or that it was a good decision to get them. There was no judgement.

 

Another example: You have a potion that can restore all of your health. It's the best potion in the game. Other potions in our hypothetical game only restore 10% or 25% tops. But in this game, you can increase your defence so high that you never take damage - making all of the potions worthless.

 

You see, everything is related. And to someone who doesn't know what the consequences are to those relationships, it is very difficult to know just how good or bad something is by maxing it - especially with such limited skill points.

 

I do understand the points about lore and what-not. And I thank you for that. But my point was that without an actual judgement call and just stating something that the game gives you, it pretty much means nothing to a new player who does not know what the consequences of these decisions actually are within the game. "Picking the white faeries gives you the most glitter." But what does that mean? Is glitter useful? So it's important to get the most glitter? What if it wasn't useful, but you spent a lot of resources getting it anyway at the cost of other useful things, like sparkles? This is what I mean.

Edited October 9, 2015 by katie

[Torm51]

 

 

The point is not about not knowing about what scrolls there are. If you have lvl 10 lore, you can cast all scrolls available to you. This is to future proof your decisions in terms of scroll casting, giving you the flexibility in terms of scroll casting. And you can preview what scrolls are available by checking out the craft menu under lvl1 - lvl5 scrolls. 

 

In any case as others has mentioned, the point allocation in skills is quite flexible. 3 pts in Althetics, have 1 char pump mechanics, and the rest do as you see fit. I don't intend to advocate min-maxing in any ways, but you can at least start from somewhere.

 

My point was that I don't even know what the scrolls do, or if they are even worth using or not. I have no idea.

 

Not everything built into a game is balanced or useful. It is very common - especially in a complex game like this - that certain things are valued higher than others. In my Dark Crystal example, let's say some skills give you 10 DC's or 50 DC's and that fiagamagig gives 1000. But what if everything you could make with the DC's are totally irrelevant to the game? Yes, you are making the "maximum crystals" - that is a fact about those choices - but that doesn't mean you're winning at the game or that it was a good decision to get them. There was no judgement.

 

Another example: You have a potion that can restore all of your health. It's the best potion in the game. Other potions in our hypothetical game only restore 10% or 25% tops. But in this game, you can increase your defence so high that you never take damage - making all of the potions worthless.

 

You see, everything is related. And to someone who doesn't know what the consequences are to those relationships, it is very difficult to know just how good or bad something is by maxing it - especially with such limited skill points.

 

I do understand the points about lore and what-not. And I thank you for that. But my point was that without an actual judgement call and just stating something that the game gives you, it pretty much means nothing to a new player who does not know what the consequences of these decisions actually are within the game. "Picking the white faeries gives you the most glitter." But what does that mean? Is glitter useful? So it's important to get the most glitter? What if it wasn't useful, but you spent a lot of resources getting it anyway at the cost of other useful things, like sparkles? This is what I mean.

 

You will not regret having a Scroll of Paralysis and Scroll of Confusion.  Those are the 2 most clutch holy crap this is going bad scrolls in the game as they both massively CC the enemy.  Especially when you are out numbered.  They require a Lore of 6.  You can leave lore at 4 if you want as their are items (I will not spoil it) that can give you a +2 lore.  Anything higher then that is useful BUT not like those other 2 scrolls imo.

 

There are a few dialogue checks that require an 8 Lore and I can think of one that requires a 9.  So unless you care about those options or want to RP a history person (Iike me! lol I love history) then you are good at 4 or 6 depending on gear.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Torm51

[mosspit]

 

 

The point is not about not knowing about what scrolls there are. If you have lvl 10 lore, you can cast all scrolls available to you. This is to future proof your decisions in terms of scroll casting, giving you the flexibility in terms of scroll casting. And you can preview what scrolls are available by checking out the craft menu under lvl1 - lvl5 scrolls. 

 

In any case as others has mentioned, the point allocation in skills is quite flexible. 3 pts in Althetics, have 1 char pump mechanics, and the rest do as you see fit. I don't intend to advocate min-maxing in any ways, but you can at least start from somewhere.

 

My point was that I don't even know what the scrolls do, or if they are even worth using or not. I have no idea.

 

Not everything built into a game is balanced or useful. It is very common - especially in a complex game like this - that certain things are valued higher than others. In my Dark Crystal example, let's say some skills give you 10 DC's or 50 DC's and that fiagamagig gives 1000. But what if everything you could make with the DC's are totally irrelevant to the game? Yes, you are making the "maximum crystals" - that is a fact about those choices - but that doesn't mean you're winning at the game or that it was a good decision to get them. There was no judgement.

 

Another example: You have a potion that can restore all of your health. It's the best potion in the game. Other potions in our hypothetical game only restore 10% or 25% tops. But in this game, you can increase your defence so high that you never take damage - making all of the potions worthless.

 

You see, everything is related. And to someone who doesn't know what the consequences are to those relationships, it is very difficult to know just how good or bad something is by maxing it - especially with such limited skill points.

 

I do understand the points about lore and what-not. And I thank you for that. But my point was that without an actual judgement call and just stating something that the game gives you, it pretty much means nothing to a new player who does not know what the consequences of these decisions actually are within the game. "Picking the white faeries gives you the most glitter." But what does that mean? Is glitter useful? So it's important to get the most glitter? What if it wasn't useful, but you spent a lot of resources getting it anyway at the cost of other useful things, like sparkles? This is what I mean.

 

 

When you view the scrolls in the crafting section, you can specifically see what they do. And torm51 also gave good scrolls to use. If I may add, include Scroll of Moonwell and Scroll of Revival. I'm sorry I really don't see the consequences that you are referring to, nor do you need to explain further. You won't get stonewalled because you put in points into the "wrong" skills. The respec option enables you re-allocate points anyways.

Edited October 9, 2015 by mosspit

[Nobear]

My point was that I don't even know what the scrolls do, or if they are even worth using or not. I have no idea.

 

I get your examples and find some of them amusing . Here I would say that there is not a significant opportunity cost to getting 10 Lore on all characters (except your mechanic, who wants at least 10 Mechanics if not more). What I'd compare it against is the value of other skills.

 

Survival: It's just 5% extended duration per point on your consumables. Regardless of what game we're talking about, I don't know about you, but that seems pretty weak to me. I mean, if this were some MMO where that might make the difference in beating the enrage timer on a boss because there was some artificial limit on consumable use per fight, maybe, but in PoE I don't see where it would make a truly significant difference for any reasonable allocation of points.

 

Athletics: As others have mentioned, you only really "need" 3 points for all of your characters (to minimize in-combat fatigue gain) except maybe one with 6, who you can select to pass certain checks in a few scripted events.

 

Stealth: This is the one skill I'd like to mention as potentially useful that hasn't been mentioned yet. Pre-2.0, I would give most of my party members 3 Athletics and 8-10 Lore (except for the 10+ Mechanics member), but I'd level up Stealth alongside Lore or Mechanics to about half its value. 2.0 introduced individual stealth. Previously, when one member was detected, your whole party would be detected. Now, you could have only some characters be stealthy, and they wouldn't be "brought down" by the unstealthy oafs in your group. This allows, for instance, a backstabbing rogue to be a bit more viable than before, since he can remain stealthed and deliver his opening blow after the tank has been seen.

 

All this said, I still think there is some value to having at least a few points in Stealth for everyone. If nothing else, it can help with pre-combat positioning. Opening a fight on your terms, versus having to waste valuable time sending some party members running around and possibly taking disengagement attacks, can make a significant difference in the outcome of the fight.

 

Mechanics: Lastly, the reason I say your Mechanic should have at least 10 points in the skill is because, even before the expansion, there were a few traps (e.g. in the lower levels of Od Nua) that you couldn't disarm even with 10. I think those required 11, but I'm not sure, and I'm also not sure what the highest mechanic checks in the expansion are. +Mechanics gear was also harder to come by than +Lore gear, unless you used an exploit to "unrandomize" "random" items. I consider this too cheesy for myself, but to each his/her own. I also don't know whether the expansion has brought any new +Mechanics gear, or added any other ways to acquire it (e.g. vendor).

 

FWIW though, most of those traps that couldn't be disarmed with 10 Mechanics in the base game were CC traps that you could just trigger out of combat and wait out. A few might have been super deadly traps, but in that case I remember sending my paladin tank way ahead to take the hit. With the 2.0 Deflection nerfs and Accuracy buffs, I don't know whether a paladin tank is still reliably able to trigger these most-deadly of traps and survive. In any case, I'd rather have an extra point of Mechanics on my mechanic .

Edited October 10, 2015 by Nobear

[klinwen]

Got frustrated with trying to create a paladin because they can do so many things but not everything at once. So I took the gordian knot approach and now I'm happily swinging away with both my paladin and Pallegina.

 

My front line consists of my paladin, Pallegina, Kana and a fourth tank, who can be either Sagani's Itumaak, Zahua or Devil of Caroc. Aloth handles the damage from behind them in the form of beating with a big magical stick. The final slot changes around, anyone works really.

 

With zealous focus and zealous endurance combined with Kana's chants, Durance can actually do something other than spam Blessing and Armor. Actually I don't nearly always take him along at all, and haven't noticed any troubles with survivability.

 

I've had great success with these stats: Island Aumaua (was a purely RP choice, but the extra weapon slot turned out to be real handy)

Darcozzi Paladini

Might: 10

Constitution: 13

Dexterity: 10

Perception: 15

Intelligence: 15

Resolve: 15

 

This seems to work pretty well for many situations. The fairly high mental stats mean that, with a little boost from items and/or resting, I can handle most conversations the way I like. But they actually seem to work pretty fine in combat too. Having a high perception means I can actually land a hit quite often, even if the low dexterity means slightly lower damage output in very long fights.

 

Might isn't actually super important. If you're not doing a lot of damage to start with, a few points in Might don't make a difference. And with some nice gear, you can do enough damage that doing a bit more with higher Might isn't as important as being able to hit reliably and take punishment.

 

In combat, I mostly use a shield, but I also have a two-hander equipped, and I use Forgemaster's Gloves if extra damage is needed. I'm not tied to one weapon, I don't always use one that falls into my chosen weapon focus, but I change it around based on the situation. One of my slots has Hearth Harvest (hatchet with burn damage and deflection) with a shield in case I need super high deflection.

 

For my paladin, I picked Flames of Devotion, Zealous Focus, Liberating Exhortation and Sworn Enemy. Pallegina has BOTH Flames of Devotion AND Lay on Hands, Zealous Endurance, and Hastening Exhortation, and most of the time wears the Outworn Buckler.

 

I have a few points in Athletics and Survival, but mostly in Mechanics. Whilst some say it's not a good idea to pick on your main, I don't agree. I change my party around a lot based on quests, so if I had just one NPC with Mechanics, I might find myself in a situation where he's chilling at the keep. Also, since the character detecting traps is actually in the front, the detection happens before anyone walks into a fireball.

 

Edited to add back line breaks that the forum wanted to eat for some reason.

Edited October 10, 2015 by klinwen

[klinwen]

Oh and playing Darcozzi with Clever and Passionate dispositions? Total hoot. Quick wit, big mouth and gung-ho attitude, total disregard for subtlety or consequences. The Doemenels are a bit annoyed at me.

[katie]

Mechanics: Lastly, the reason I say your Mechanic should have at least 10 points in the skill is because, even before the expansion, there were a few traps (e.g. in the lower levels of Od Nua) that you couldn't disarm even with 10. I think those required 11, but I'm not sure, and I'm also not sure what the highest mechanic checks in the expansion are. +Mechanics gear was also harder to come by than +Lore gear, unless you used an exploit to "unrandomize" "random" items. I consider this too cheesy for myself, but to each his/her own. I also don't know whether the expansion has brought any new +Mechanics gear, or added any other ways to acquire it (e.g. vendor).

 

In your opinion, what NPC is a good candidate to max mechanics?

[Anaeme]

I put high mechanics on my main character because you never know where you are going to find a trap or unlockable chest. If you find one of these when your mechanics companion is not in the party, you will have to travel back to the stronghold to include them in the party. this can be a pain.

 

I always put high mechanics on my main character. Or a permanent party member 

[katie]

I put high mechanics on my main character because you never know where you are going to find a trap or unlockable chest. If you find one of these when your mechanics companion is not in the party, you will have to travel back to the stronghold to include them in the party. this can be a pain.

 

I always put high mechanics on my main character. Or a permanent party member 

Well, I think if I put mechanics on an NPC, then I would probably always take them along

 

I think the Paladin may be a bit point starved for the first few levels. So I'd have to decide amongst the first few member that join your team.

Edited October 10, 2015 by katie

[klinwen]

I prefer mechanics on my PC too. But if I had to choose an NPC, I'd probably pick Kana or Aloth.

 

Kana starts with a point in it, and he's a frontliner, and he's naturally along in the place where the most traps are. On the other hand, as a chanter, he's not doing much during combat, so having a high Lore lets him throw scrolls around, and you don't have enough points for both. There's not always room for him in a party either.

 

Being a wizard, Aloth doesn't have much use for Lore, because he's going to be casting his own spells. So you can spend all those points on Mechanics. He's also very versatile and likely to be in your party the whole time. But he doesn't have a point to start with, so he's a little slower with it.

 

Devil of Caroc would be a good choice too. She's near the front line, starts with a point, and is a rogue. You won't get her until much later though. Until then you could hire an adventurer to fill the role of mechanic. You can do that in any inn, including in the first town. It lets you add a custom character to your party. Or just give mechanics to anyone you like, then respec them later. It's only money.

 

Or you could give mechanics to two NPCs to ensure you always have one along.

Edited October 10, 2015 by klinwen

[Nobear]

Well, I think if I put mechanics on an NPC, then I would probably always take them along

I think the Paladin may be a bit point starved for the first few levels. So I'd have to decide amongst the first few member that join your team.

 

So either Lore or Mechanics would be a good choice for the highest skill of focus for your main. Lore would give more dialogue options. Mechanics could be good because you'd have it on a very durable frontline character who could not only detect traps before anyone trips them, but would be able to absorb the damage of most traps if you happened to accidentally set one off anyway.

 

My vote would be for your main to take Lore for the dialogue options, and because paladins start with a bonus point in Lore but not Mechanics. As for good candidates for mechanics in your party, the rogue is the only class that starts with +2 Mechanics, so you could hire a temp rogue Adventurer at an inn and then replace it with the companion rogue when you unlock her in the expansion. This could be a melee rogue who is not too far behind your tank(s) as you are stealthing through dungeons in formation, and would probably detect most traps in time so no party member accidentally sets them off.

 

If a melee rogue is not your style, there are three classes that start with +1 Mechanics: chanter, cipher, and wizard. There are companions of each of these classes in the base game, which means you could unlock them by early Act 2 in non-expansion areas. Again, you could hire a temp adventurer to hold the place of any besides Aloth, who you come across in the first town. As versatile as PoE is, each of these classes is interestingly more than viable as a melee character in the front or second row (second row meaning a reach weapon). 

 

And... klinewen beat me to it, with almost the same advice, so hopefully you have some good ideas to go off now! LMK if you're curious about build ideas for making any of the classes I mentioned into effective melee characters. You could pick one to be melee and your Mechanic, and still have the rest ranged if you prefer.

 

Edit: I'd like to add that, even if you pick someone other than your main to be your Mechanic, you could still send your main ahead if you ever felt the need to purposefully set off traps that you didn't yet have the skill to disarm, and a paladin tank will still probably survive most. Save your game first just in case .

Edited October 10, 2015 by Nobear

[klinwen]

Yeah I got the numbers a bit wrong with who starts with how many points. Listen to Nobear, he's got it right.