Party comp POTD

[Yipikayey]

I played the game a few months back then, but life got me busy and finally i get around to play again. This is the party i want to play, but i have problems filling the last spot.

 

 

Paladin (Tank)

Chanter (Tank summoner)

 

Fighter (Offtank DD oriented)

 

Rogue (ranged, glass cannon, max int)

Cipher (DD focused)

 

I am debating myself between 3 options:

 

- Priest to get heals and buffs. Dunno if they are really required.

- Ranger (full damage, bear pet as a bump)

- Barbarian (aoe damage and i like my 2hander dudes).

 

So which one would you pick or do you have a better choice for the group ? I don't really want to change the core (the fighter is not going to switch for a barbarian, even if it's a better option or whatever xD), just to know what would be your last pick with that group.

 

Cheers and thanks in advance guys!

Edited November 6, 2015 by Yipikayey

[Raven Darkholme]

I'd go for barbarian, since I don't like rangers pet.

But I'd rather go ranger, than priest.

Healing is not needed in this game, since you have 2 hp-pools and characters which lost their EN automatically revive after a fight.

None of the priests specific heals recover health, only EN so you have to rest anyway if you are low on HP.

Also the pally get's a new HLA at Level 13/14 which let's you mass heal.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Raven Darkholme

[Mocker22]

Couple things.... I see you put down max int for rogue? why this seems like a massive waste.

 

Also if your Cipher is focusing on dmg you have no crowd control and will wipe, well always. A Cipher specced for tons of CC or a wiz is essential.

 

As for the last character, I recommend priest. You don't need them for healing very much but their buffs are amazing....like really amazing. Your character's DPS will sky rocket.

[Yipikayey]

Rogue has high int because of borresaine warbow.

 

Cipher right now is going decently enough, if i feel like i need to change it i will follow your advice, that's what respecs are for :D

[Elric Galad]

Priest without a doubt. Healing is indeed not needed but priest buff are crazy and makes a big difference in big fights.

[Heijoushin]

What do you mean "tank summoner"? Ciphers can't summon anything can they? 

[Yipikayey]

What do you mean "tank summoner"? Ciphers can't summon anything can they? 

Typo, she is a chanter :D

 

I played around with the barbarian, it seems fine, this afternoon i will try a little longer and decide. Man there are so many party configurations i want to try out and so little time

[Elric Galad]

Well, this could change a bit my answer then.

 

You have already 2 support characters. They are not in the same league as priest (they are also more tanky) but it makes a difference.

 

With 1 less cipher, you don't have so many DPSer, so barbarian and ranger would be good too.

 

I'd say your 3 choices are valid. My only advices would be :

- for boss battle, be sure to have buff scrolls if you don't pick a priest. Fighter, paladin and chanter are good scroll user since it adds to their versatility and they start with lore point(s)

- if you pick a ranger, be warned that some pets (bears and lions) have lower base attack speed independantly from dexterity. Their dps is about 1.5 time lower than other pets (even more for wolf whose special is higher base damage). My experience is that bear extra DR is not needed to keep pet alive on PotD if you pick endurance aura on the pally. I won't go bear because your party has already very high tankiness.

[aweigh0101]

rogue gets almost no benefit from pumping INT. same situation that happens with any percentage-based relationship between abilities and modifiers in PoE: the shorter the clause (i.e. the rogue ability or whatever that has a duration) then the proportionally less impact each point of INT will have modifying it. The LONGER a duration then the proportionally bigger margin of the modifier.

one simple example, using the Fighter: 

- 18 INT Fighter has a 7 second Knock Down duration.
- 3 INT Fighter has a 3 second Knock Down duration.

i have done extensive playtesting and build-testing in regards to the most optimal way of min-maxing stats in the current version of PoE, which is not the same at all as the day 1 PoE, and realized quite a few surprising things about durations, percentages and other stuff.

A lot of people already "knew" this mathematical caveat in the game systems  since day 1, although almost no one makes the direct correllation that exists with INT as well; sorry, what i mean is since day 1 players broke **** down and figured out the game's percentage modifiers for damage, such as a Rogue's reckless assaullt, or the universal talent savage attack's 20 percent; all those damage modifiers DO NOT LINEARLY AFFECT THE DAMAGE. 20 percent dmg mod on a dagger will yield 17% increase in DPS, whereas the exact same 20 percent damage mod on an Estoc will yield an increase of 33% in its DPS. this imaginary build then has to plan ahead and know that it will not benefit his end-damage the way he wishes if he takes X-talent, because he's already decided he's going to dual wield stilettos. instead he does some research and comes to the conclusion that instead of the 20 percent damage mod talent he should probably go for one that increases his speed, which (once again) benefits more the 20/20 frames of dual-wielding than it would benefit the 60/60 frames of a two-hander.

the entire game is like this. the reason behind this is to enable a balanced swath across the entire map of the game. it is basically impossible to nerf a build, as even a 3 INT paladin still emits an aura big enough to cover 4 people! the 3 int paladin's aura does not magically "disappear", instead it is PROPORTIONALLY REDUCED by a margin of the PERCENTAGE. FYI: i always roll 3 INT melee classes

[Vorad]

Druid could serve well, he's got both cc, debuffs and nukes. However nothing can beat the lategame powerhouse that is the Priest. They got the strongest aoe buffs in game and on top of that in the lategame they got some really nice aoe nukes as well as a decent amount of afflictions. Having a single Priest in the party makes the boss fights so much easier.

[Yipikayey]

Thanks all for the comments, i am changing a bit (as i got to play more and more with the party i posted).and i think about making the party more "ranged focused" one, but i don't know if the lack of melees will be a problem.

 

Paladin (Tank)

Chanter (tank summoner)

 

Priest

Ranger

Rogue (ranged)

Cipher (disabler)

 

I really like the ranged rogue, she deals plenty of damage, same for the cipher. The priest as i am reading, while not obligatory would improve the party a lot, so i am thinking that he would be a stapple.

 

So my doubt in this case is the ranger, she could provide a "bump" with its pet (boar or bear guys?) to mitigate the lack of melees, the other option would be to get a barbarian or fighter as an offtank, but my experience was that if i don't go 18 resolve with them, they are quite squishy even with the zelaous endurance aura from the paladin.

[mosspit]

Antelope if you are looking for a tanky companion. With the buff in the previous patch for resilient companion, Bear's starting DR bonus seems less appealing. You will get more mileage out of Antelope's starting bonus of +7 Def.

 

You shouldn't need to go full 18 Res, especially for a fighter. The squishness that you experience should go away after level 5+. At low levels, I find that Barbs (and also Monks) can't really face-tank much with a shield. So you can temporarily just put shields on weapon swap for situations where they take too much heat, instead of giving them 18 res from the get go.

Edited November 6, 2015 by mosspit

[Elric Galad]

I agree antelope is the best choice for defense, and it deals something like 1,5 bear damages due to attack speed.

[Yipikayey]

The party has been working really well until now, but i am starting to have problems when opponents can swarm me. Even with 3 melees (4 a bit later on as i summon).

 

I think it's time to switch the Priest from ranged to shield + hatchet so have another melee.

 

I am also feeling that my damage is not that good. I do have good alpha strikes and against small waves of enemies i just delete them in few seconds, but when there are a more sizable amount of enemies the combat drags quite a lot. Thinking about switching the ranger for a barbarian now, as he would do aoe damage, but i don't know how to feel about it.

 

Loving the game now that i have the time to play it, atleast on as a tactical rpg.

[Vorad]

If you cc them with cipher and priest they both have aoe cc they won't be able to swarm you especially with 3 melee in the front just when you position your melee make sure you spread them out a little bit so that there are tiny gaps between them. That way you cover more ground while still bodyblocking your enemy.

[Yipikayey]

Yeah i already do that, but against enemies that can break your melee line (either charm or teleport) is quite hard to do so, and i feel like i am lacking in the sustain damage potential.

[Ymarsakar]

For less micro, I would go for the ranger, the pet does good dps if you get the 2 dps talents and it makes managing some battles easier with the extra .5 of a tank or aka melee user.

 

For more micro, the priest would do more, but would sometimes need a lot of micro.

 

The rogue and the cipher is usually a lot of micro right there.

 

Two chanters isn't a bad setup either, once you get Dragon thrashes for aoe dps and the stun aoe shout.

 

The priest can also handle a lot of enemies, if you have enough 2nd level spells to do the repulsing seal. That's not necessarily going to kill everyone immediately, but that's what the rogue is for once people are prone. Sneak attacks.

 

The ranger has really good dps if you can get twinned arrows, driving flight, some pet tank/dps talents, and stunning shot. Stunning shot allows every hit the ranger makes against an enemy aggroed by your pet, into a stun effect. I think it's the actual stun effect, not the fake one from weapons, but cannot recall exactly. But it makes ganging up on an enemy easier. Ciphers can also do the same with mental paralysis, but with the focus nerfs, it's about the only thing they can do if they spend focus on that.

 

The way ranged parties deal with swarms is to put down slow effects (wizards and druids) or use CC to disable certain enemies and party dps focus them down. The cipher usually does that with paralysis cc and later on, amplified aoes. The actual dps of the party goes way up if you can target focus cced enemies, since they have less defenses. That's not generally something a melee heavy party can do easily.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Ymarsakar