Viability of a solo PotD Priest?

[losandro]

Hey gentles,

 

I'm starting a few solo PotD runs to build up to Triple Crown attempts. I've got a monk and paladin going respectively in Act 1, but I was just wondering what the vets here thought of a solo priest?

 

1. I was thinking perhaps this as the stack breakdown:

 

16 10 10 10 16 16

 

2. And I was unsure as to the optimal deity - Skaen has solid melee bonuses with stilettos and clubs, and also allows

for the Cruel response to the Heritage Hill machine

although since it would be solo you'd miss out on

the bonus in the Skaen temple from sacrificing a companion

 . . .  thoughts?

 

3. For talents, Prey on the Weak + Apprentice Sneak Attack would seem to pair well with many of the ailments provided by priest spells (especially the prone-ing seal), and Misery's End (stiletto) and Dial Ewn Dibita (club) - both easily achievable in Act 2 - both have damage bonuses that work with that as well.

4. Or is leaning on melee at all silly with the high deflection scores in PotD and I should just concentrate on buffing spell damage? I welcome your thoughts 

[Boeroer]

There were several people here who said that it's absolutely viable. Some of them even tanked and killed the Adra Dragon. Your thoughts and ideas seem to be solid.

[aweigh0101]

priests can buff their stats to high heavens, and the moment they're in trouble they can withdraw themselves, or later on start a fight right with watchful presence and and as a safety measure barring death's door. might be tricky getting out one of those 3 life-saver spells solo while getting focused, but it's definitely stuff other classes can't do. closest to it is rogue's shadowing beyond.

high dex high int priest can Fast Cast repulsing seal and hit/crit mobs for 10-13 sec prones, then take that moment to cast priest buffs on himself like holy power that raises all his stats by 7, it is Fast Cast as well my friend; he can also +4 DR at any moment for any reason with armor of faith the lvl. 1 spell.

the other hidden treasure in lvl. 1 priest spells is halt. you can use halt right up until end game. you can "HALT" freaking one of the dragons for 10 seconds if it crits. it's a reflex save after all, with built-in ACC bonus. all priest spells have crazy ACC bonuses, second only to ciphers'.

but of course priest comes into his own for real when you get shining beacon. that is the single best spell in the entire game. take scion of flame to make it even deadlier. a good sequence might be:

1. start with fast cast watchful presence
2. fast cast either holy power, crowns of the faithful or minor avatar depending on if you're mid or high level. yes they're all fast

3. and/or skip step two and just repuling seal them, either as they rush you cast it on your feet (LOL!) or set it as a pre-placed trap (can be cast before combat)
4. shining beacone two times will finish off even TWM enemies. it's a DoT that does massive damage per tick, AND lowers their stats, AND for some ungodly reason it STACKS WITH ITSELF. not infinitely though, only twice. it's one of those under the rader things.
5. if things are turning sour you can immediately break engagements on you by casting withdraw on yourself, casting repulsing seal on your feet, casting HALT on the enemy (i keep bringing it up, and it's for good reason. even on potd that spell will hit a lot, and 8-10 sec "stuck" is gold, oh, and of course it is FAST CAST)


the priest's biggest weaknesses are his abysmal base deflection, so take cautious attack + sup. deflection, and no, caut. atk. DOES NOT AFFECT CASTING TIMES, only your shooting pew-pew stuff or the melee. which is basically the things you will never be doing once you're mid-level. and remember you can just uber-buff your stats with one of the 3 main priest buffs that are only for him, they are easily found in the list because they're the only priest buffs that aren't for allies.

btw, priest's revive is an AoE "trap" if you time it right you can cast it on your feet just before reaching 0 endurance and reviving yourself but that's not something i recommend relying on lol

[aweigh0101]

i checked the wiki and:

Halt: 12m range, fast cast, +10 ACC vs WILL, not reflex, i apologize. that's even better, btw. no wonder it hits so much. duration: 10 secs.

repulsing seal: 5m range, 1.25 radius (you can fit 3 ogres if you're good) +15 ACC, foe-only. average-casting time.

barring death's door: fast cast, duration 10 seconds, during which you can't reach 0 endurance. i'e never tried it but i assume you can then immediately withdraw yourself to guarantee safety.

shining beacon: average-cast time, foe-only AoE DoT + debuff, +15 ACC, range up to TEN METERS 10m, vs. Will, inflicts burn dmg per tick and -10 deflection on first tick.

champion's boon: average-cast, duration of 15 secs, gives +10 might, +10 per, +5 dr

shields of the faithful: average-cast, duration of 30 secs, gives +25 deflection

etc, etc. note that these spells can be cast while wearing a large shield without a care in the world as they are self-buffs. so... yeah. priest's are p. good. btw, in case you were wondering a full duration of withdraw with 18 INT and 18 MIGHT restores 380 endurance.


 

Edited November 10, 2015 by aweigh0101

[losandro]

Thank you, @Boeroer, for the affirmation, and thank you very much, @aweigh0101, for the breakdown - that's so helpful!

 

@aweigh0101, what would you recommend as a stat breakdown? Since I'll be solo access to some of the high-Resolve dialogue options is preferable, so I wanted to keep that reasonably high. 

Edited November 10, 2015 by losandro