Nice item-ability combinations - what works and what doesn't

[Boeroer]

Yeah that's sad. I also just discovered that you can't cast Amplified Wave on a charmed or confused foe.

 

Spelltongue's effect that I described above is only working when the enemies are buffed in some way. So it works great against all kinds of enemies that use any type of benefical effect that shows up in the list when you hover your mouse over them. Said barb would not only stealing time for his buffs, but also takes it away from the enemy. When they run out of buffs you also will not "timesteal" any more. But most of the time their buddies just refresh the buffs - so funny. So this spelltongue-barb would be best against mobs that get buffed (bounty quests, xaurips, lagufarts, ogres with chanters and so on). And if he meets other folk, he just sticks to tradition and crushes them with his dual maces. ;-)

[AndreaColombo]

LOAL ROTFL damn autocorrect :D

 

Dude, a party with Fulmineo, Backlash, Juggernaut, LoP, a Priest and a min/maxed Wizard would be so obscenely OP that trash mobs would refuse to fight outright

[Boeroer]

Yeah - the Wizard may actually use the Bagradr's Barricade build that I'm still working on (but also works great with rogue and melee ranger) - parallel to my skean priest/rogue "flick-of-the-wrist" dual stiletto build.

 

LoP I'm using right now and she's really a hard hitter without going down. I tried to use Defender for more diseng. attacks but man that's totally crap - you can't even use it together with Savage Attack. So now she's traditional as intended.

 

Still: a properly skilled ranger with Stormcaller is one of the most powerful builds - without being too creative. Too bad that there are only 6 slots in the roster.
 

 

 

Xaurip Warchief: "Man... Cal the Silent boss sir - do us a favour and live up to your name! How are we supposed to fight that crazy ubermensch party? I'm goin' home watching dyrwoodian football..."

Edited November 18, 2015 by Boeroer

[AndreaColombo]

I tried to build the Twinned Arrows iTell ranger; it was good but against high-DR targets its DPS plummets

 

Very interested in the Priest build. I usually play pure-support Priests so it might be good to change for a play through. You sure are a build-creating machine :D

 

With all that firepower, more than 6 slots aren't really called for.

 

Thaos (in a Cartman voice): "Screw you guys. I'm going home."

[Boeroer]

Hehe

 

The ranger with twin arrows, stunning shots and driving flight is really (I mean really really) good when you give him Stormcaller. Since it's special attack (Returning Storm) triggers on 10% of all hits and crits, you want to generate as much hits per attack as possible. Driving Flight lets all arrows punch through the first enemy and travels to the next - in a not to narrow arc. And it covers a longer distance than I thought it would. So when you fire at the nearest enemy, he will get hit twice, then the two arrows will travel to the next enemy and also hit twice. So the chances to trigger Returning Storm with four hits from one shot are a lot higher than with a single arrow that stucks (before: 10%, with skills: 35%).

 

After two shots (8 hits) it's about 56% (if I'm not screwing up the math - I hate math). After three shots ~70%, after four shots it's 80% and so on. There were times when Returning Storm triggered two times from one shot. And we know how awesome Returning Storm is: it does lots of aoe shock damage and stuns in an aoe.

 

On top of that you have the shock DR reduction of stormcaller that also applies to all enemies that were hit with one shot - and it lasts long enough that you can refresh it over and over with your fast bow.

 

Once again: Ryonas Vambraces are your friends if you want to damage the really hefty dudes with tons of DR (pierce AND shock DR - Stormcaller can do both). Shock damage will have 11 DR bypass (14 with Ryona's V.) - remember that Returning Storm also does shock damage - pierce damage (in case of immunities or high shock DR) will have 5 DR (8 with Ryona's).

 

Then come the stunning shots: when you hit the enemy that your pet is engaging the enemy gets stunned. And if that's not enough: after the latest improvements to the animal companions they do tons of damage (when properly skilled - more than the LoP per hit - although they hit quite slowly) while being sturdy enough to tank two foes at once. They can bring down even the best armored foes.

 

So - I think a stormcaller ranger is one of the most powerful builds there is atm. A bow ranger without that bow is also good, but not that good. I also tried a bow ranger with Persistence (wounding), to automatically trigger Predator's Sense. It worked perfectly well - but the stormcaller guy stole the show.

 

By the way: a tanky melee ranger with Drawn in Spring (wounding) and a shield plus a dps wolf will be my next build after I finsh the other...3? that are in the pipeline. There's an ability that gives a bonus when the ranger is engaged in melee - that would be always.  Maybe he also gets Badgradr's Barricade.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Boeroer

[L4wlight]

So - I think a stormcaller ranger is one of the most powerful builds there is atm.

Yeah, I predicted this the first day I got my hands on TWM1 in 2.0 after I saw the Ranger changes and the px1_spellchance_returning_storm_bolt.unity3d file. :D

The good thing is, that the whole package (auto-dps of ranger and pet, crowd control per Driving Flight, Stunning Shots, Returning Storm procs etc.) can be fully handled by the AI alone. And let's not forget the (optional, but great) synergy between a ranger/ his pet and the shapeshifting druid build (how fitting), because Wild Strike Shock damage and many 'fire and forget' skills from the druid benefit from the DR debuffing from Stormcaller (Relentless Storm, Natures Terror and Returning Storm). The Druid has also a bunch of spells (area damage over time spells and afflictions) to set up Predator's Sense and Merciless Companion. And let's not forget Nature's Bounty - one of the rare dexterity buffs and a good way to compensate the loss of Swift Aim after you get Twinned Arrows. Once everything is prepared, the (let's face it: squishy) Druid can jup into the fray and unleash havoc in close combat protected by all the CC (side by side with the animal friend of your ranger friend)! The Druid can also prepare some nice healing for our beloved animal companion and himself. The good thing is that Hiravias and Sagani are my most favorite companions... and they have a relative decent attribute distribution for these roles. Add Priest support on top of that and a sturdy frontline and you are good. If you want to go totally bonkers with the CC-thing add a Tall Grass wielding (or other stuff like that) Barbarian.

 

EDIT: A DPS/ tanks hybrid paladin with all the nice support options is also a very good addition to that team. Usually Pallegina get's the job done just right (with that Marking Estoc, LoH, Hasting Exhortation or Coordinated Attacks etc.) and her godlike look fit's the nature theme just right. I love Black Sanctuary on her for the first part of the fight (hello Warding Seal/ Stormcaller DR debuffing synergy). I like to give her Starcaller for this phase of the fight till the Warding Seal charges are gone. And since she likes to get it hard with crits (at least I like her that way ) she usually gets the good old Sanguine Plate Shod-In-Faith combo too ...

 

EDIT2: And don't forget Stag Helm for Hiravias (it's important). He looks amazing with it.

 

I call this party-setup 'BEAST CLEAVE'. This party has so much flair.   Who needs Wizards anyways...

 

EDIT 3: Btw love this thread and your builds. You have inspired me to do a new run with some new ideas for my front line. :D

 

Maybe I add your Fulmineo Prondroni to my next party and tweak it a bit to fit the nature theme a bit more (sorry for the affront, I like the vailian duelist style, but it would be a bird of paradise in that team *g*). Something like dual Sabre and Pale elf to make Drizzt do'urden clone... *roflmao*

 

EDIT 4: So many opportunities... now that I think of Drizzt I want to add a melee ranger to my team. Wondering how that'd work out. Two sturdy extra bodies for the frontline. Any Ideas? Guess he would even more talent starved than his ranged counterpart... Swift Aim works with melee weapons too, right? :D

Edited November 18, 2015 by L4wlight

[Boeroer]

Thanks a lot.

 

I also think that a Stormcaller ranger and a Spiritshifting Druid (Wildstrike shock) make a great team (a monk with lightning strikes also gets an invitation ). Not only because of all the crazy dps, cc and all that stuff, but also because of the background, the lore and style. I like it when the builds also cover style.

I was thinking about an unarmed (Novice's Suffering) but tanky druid with Sandals of the Forgotten Friar (which boost unarmed base damage a bit). I know that Novice's Suffering doesn't work for spiritshift weapons, but when your Spiritshift expires you can still do some nice damage. And maybe the sandals also boost the spiritshift weapons - have to test that. 

[L4wlight]

Thanks a lot.

 

I also think that a Stormcaller ranger and a Spiritshifting Druid (Wildstrike shock) make a great team (a monk with lightning strikes also gets an invitation ). Not only because of all the crazy dps, cc and all that stuff, but also because of the background, the lore and style. I like it when the builds also cover style.

I was thinking about an unarmed (Novice's Suffering) but tanky druid with Sandals of the Forgotten Friar (which boost unarmed base damage a bit). I know that Novice's Suffering doesn't work for spiritshift weapons, but when your Spiritshift expires you can still do some nice damage. And maybe the sandals also boost the spiritshift weapons - have to test that. 

Interesting. With all the CC he may stay alive outside of his form. One thing that I want to test asap is if Priests Salvation of Time extends Spiritschift's duration. That would be the first good use for it. :D I gues the Sandals of the Forgotten Friar dont work during shapeshifting? (Edit: stupid question... how should they... nevermind)

 

Do you have a good idea for a stylish melee ranger build that is able to survive? I guess Stalker's Link and Defensive Bond work really good together with the ranger and his pet fighting next to each other. But I never tested something like this. Wow so many animals in just one team...

 

Edit:

 

By the way: a tanky melee ranger with Drawn in Spring (wounding) and a shield plus a dps wolf will be my next build after I finsh the other...3? that are in the pipeline. There's an ability that gives a bonus when the ranger is engaged in melee - that would be always.  Maybe he also gets Badgradr's Barricade

Ah.. very interesting concept. :D

Edited November 18, 2015 by L4wlight

[L4wlight]

I guess a ranger can achieve a pretty good crit rate with STALKER'S LINK! (and the class item), max PER, The White that Wends background +1 (guess Sagani and such a main char with hunting background would have a lot of staff to chat) and Pale Elf +1 - hell maybe even Hearth Orlan. The question is does Badrafr's Barricade work with Swit Aim? I mean does Swift Aim works with Bash? Two Weapon Style does not. Hmmmm Blasca's Labor would be a good weapon for Badrafr's Barricade too. And since it belongs to the same specialisation as sabres... u could swith to them for style... hmmm...

 

EDIT: This is the thing I love about PoE... you can build all these crazy class builds... at least since TWM. I hope build diversity will just increase with Part 2...

 

EDIT 2: Sagani as melee is an interesting alternative (this way one could min max the main char to be the Stormcaller ). Her Stats should be ok and her race gives a huge AC bonus for a hell of a lot of enemys. But her PER is a bit low though... not bad, but ok...

Edited November 18, 2015 by L4wlight

[Boeroer]

I honestly don't know if Swift Aim works with shield bashes. It might. When you execute a bash, there is a special icon of the shield in your recovery bar - so it's not considered a normal melee attack but a special attack - maybe that's why two wepon style doesn't work. Badgradr's Barricade - or it's Thrust of Tattered Veils - profits from Penetrating shot (who knows why). Maybe an island aumaua melee ranger with Quick Switch, Penetrating Shot, a Blunderbuss (Lead Spitter), a Pistol (Fellstroke) and Blesca's Labour (nice one) plus Badgradr's Barricade would be really nice. Opens up with two quick devastating wounding shots and switches to tank mode when the enemy reaches him and his pet. Then does his hit/crit thing. 

 

Edit: But I also still like the idea that he automatically wounds the foes for his pet with the "Drawn in Spring" dagger.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Boeroer

[L4wlight]

Really like the alpha strike idea. :D

 

Edit: Out of stealth you shoud be able to do even 3 Wounding Shots. And spread them over 3 different enemies for DoT preparation.

 

EDit 2: But Drawn in Spring would be the wrong specialisation. A plus for Blasca's Labor.  And don't use daggers on aumauas... it's a no go. *g*

 

Edit 3: Do Thorny Roots (Binding Roots) count as DoT? Never used it. But we don't have the talentpoints anyway....

 

And the Coild of Resourcefulness would be the perfect belt with all that Quick Switching (should eliminate the rest of the recovery) and gives a +1 to stealth too. You could go for mechanics too for style. Traps... AMBUSH!

 

EDIT 4: One could decrease DEX to ~10 and INT to 3 (no Driving Flight, no stuns...) with this Build. Much room for tankiness that way...

 

EDIT 5: Thanks for sharing thoughts on this. I'm eager to test this build and some stuff. I plan to use this lovely done portrait from Lucanii01 for my Ranger chick (Charname: "Taliriktuk" means Strong Arm; Wolf: "Amaruq" means white wolf) Huntress from the White that Wends:

http://orig01.deviantart.net/5545/f/2015/086/d/8/rain_the_cipher_by_lucanii01-d8nc0zm.jpg

 

EDIT 6 (sorry... ): Statwise 20 STR (Island Aumaua) 10 END 9 DEX (10 with Coil of Resourcefulness) 19 PER (The White that Wends) INT 3 (or 9 if you don't want to play a stupid character rp-wise - I don't mind) RES 10 should be a good frame for this - leaving 7 points to distribute as one likes (go 15 RES for conversations - np; or more DEX to increase the chance of Thrust of Tattered Veils in the long run...)

Edited November 18, 2015 by L4wlight

[Boeroer]

Your're right about the 3 wounding shots. Also works with a Paladin's FoD.
Sounds all good. You can get that vicious club "Dîal Ewn Dibita" quite early. It does bonus damage when you flank and stuff. That will be most of the time. Until you get Blesca's Labour that might be a good choice.

Or you go for Weapon Focus Soldier and shoot with arbalests/arquebuses (ouch!) and swing a hammer. Shatterstar is really nice. Annihilation is always good for a high PER char and the additional engagement slot may result in some nice diseng. attacks.

I would like to see you post that build if you like it and when it's polished. Sounds fun! 

[AndreaColombo]

Holy mole! That portrait is marvelous Hello, next LoP portrait!

[Boeroer]

Holy mole! That portrait is marvelous Hello, next LoP portrait!

Right - I forgot to mention that. I also like that one. Most of the time I do my own ones (The Gimp + pictures from deviantart.com). But this one is really nice.

 

Edit: my custom portraits so far (sorry for stealing and blemishing the pictures of others, but is was for a good cause ):

https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/bOMZLjSc05WUHOmgHQJoa4CLXweWKRF81jMWAEZuQip?ref_=cd_ph_share_link_copy

 

Edited November 18, 2015 by Boeroer

[L4wlight]

You're right about Weapon Focus Soldier. It's a good alternative and Strike Hard is another good warhammer option (you're right about Shatterstar too). But dunno which armor type would be best for such a build...

 

And as you can basically dump int without losing anything (besides will) one could even build around double Sabre and deal some good damage. But that would be less tanky off course and deal much less single target damage than a Fighter could dish out. But then there is the pet, dealing tons of damage too, leaving the fighter behind. Many things to test (thanks respec). :D

 

@Andrea: Yes I always wanted to use that portrait. It's just stunning. Now I have an appropiate characterbuild for this.

Edited November 18, 2015 by L4wlight

[AndreaColombo]

Heh. I wish I had any artistic skills. I've been mostly relying on existing PoE portraits but there's a lack of decent ones for human female characters (most are either helmed or not to my liking.) I just might be back to an Aumaua LoP for my next play through...

[JerekKruger]

EDIT 5: Thanks for sharing thoughts on this. I'm eager to test this build and some stuff. I plan to use this lovely done portrait from Lucanii01 for my Ranger chick (Charname: "Taliriktuk" means Strong Arm; Wolf: "Amaruq" means white wolf) Huntress from the White that Wends:

http://orig01.deviantart.net/5545/f/2015/086/d/8/rain_the_cipher_by_lucanii01-d8nc0zm.jpg

 

That portrait is really nice!

[L4wlight]

The best thing is, that the artist clearly based the portrait on an ingame appearance:

http://imgur.com/tV0cqGi

 

 

 

[mosspit]

For custom portraits, check out an existing thread https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/71722-the-custom-portraits-thread/. Plenty of great content by talented guys and ladies.

 

Thanks to them, my current playthrough looks like this

 

 

 

Kudos to the developers for making it easy to do use custom portraits too

Edited November 18, 2015 by mosspit

[L4wlight]

Maybe an island aumaua melee ranger with Quick Switch, Penetrating Shot, a Blunderbuss (Lead Spitter), a Pistol (Fellstroke) and Blesca's Labour (nice one) plus Badgradr's Barricade would be really nice. Opens up with two quick devastating wounding shots and switches to tank mode when the enemy reaches him and his pet. Then does his hit/crit thing.

The more I think about my party composition, the more I think that this idea was golden, thank you. With two ranger pets, Hiravias as Semi-Melee, the Aumaua Ranger and maybe 1-2 other melees, there may occur situations with too many frontliners. The Aumaua can then fall back behind her pet and support it with Pliambo per Casitás.That's another plus for Weapon Focus Soldier.

Edited November 19, 2015 by L4wlight

[Boeroer]

Glad you're happy. I finished a two-ranger playthrough the other day and really became a fan of the class.

[Boeroer]

I just realized that The Last Tower (large unique shield in Concelhaut's Tower, treasure room) has +1 Move Speed. Since it's a weapon it stacks with other equipment like Boots of Speed and so on.

 

I just created a paladin with the console. He had Zealous Charge (+2 move speed), Boots of Speed (+3), The Last Tower (+1) and Fast Runner (+1). That all stacked for a total move speed bonus of  7(!) without potions or food. I just have to find out if potion of fleet feet stacks with that or if it surpresses the aura.

 

This stacking of move speed also works with a monk (Long Stride: +2), a priest (Aggrandizing Radiance: +2) and a chanter (Wengrith chant: +1,2).

 

The move speed is awesome - even faster than the Speedy Gonzales of Eora, Fulmineo Prondroni.

It will also work for a barb (Wild Sprint & Powerful Sprint: +5,5) and would result in a total bonus of 10,5 - but that's only per rest and that's sad.

 

Anyways - I just imagined a superfast chanter running around an enemy mob so that they clump together, chanting The Dragon Slashed and shooting them with Stormcaller from time to time until his invocations are ready. Put a summon in the midst of them and shoot and chant and do invocations. Should be a viable solo build. Same with a Paladin.

 

I just tested that without the shield: I took a chanter with boots of speed and Potion of Fleet Feet and tried to reach Concelhaut's Tower just by running past the Torn Bannermen. It works! But it's difficult. You have to give them some summons as cannon fodder so that they let you go and turn to them. If you don't do that, all of them will follow you forever. Pull some of them to the Death Guards and Alguls and watch how they decimate each other. Nice sideeffect: lots of exceptional gear drops. When encounter stops, enter the tower, sneak to the treasure room and pick up The Last Tower. Now you're even faster! Go back the same way that you came and repeat the tactic. Tadaa - you have the shield. You need 10 mechanics to open the chest if I'm not mistaken. 

 

I also would like to know if a high deflection rogue with +5 move speed, Riposte, Graceful Retreat and a Cape of Withdrawal (+35 def. against diseng. attacks) who forces disengagement attacks upon him while running around the enemy would be viable. He would be like a living CC effect that also does damage from time to time, or not? 

 

Edit: maybe also a nice shield for a wizard? Fleet Feet+all the other stuff = +8 move speed. 

Edited November 20, 2015 by Boeroer

[L4wlight]

I think the developers would not have thought in their wildest dreams, that they might have to investigate in such harmless thing like +movement speed stacking, because the A.I. can't handle it adequately. And then there was Boeroer with all his crazy build testing...

 

Let's hope they don't nerf all that stuff you lately discovered and all class end like the barbarians (or to a degree like ciphers) - a decent class, but without any room for some crazy stuff (Jolting Touch does not work anymore with Carnage, Retaliation not working with Carnage anymore). Retaliation generating focus and Combusting Wounds will be the next victims of the nurf bat...

 

 

Speedy Gonzales of Eora

Made my day.^^

 

Edit: And don't forget chanters Rime and Frost Followed the Footfalls of Karth...

[L4wlight]

Some stuff I tested with Bagradr's Barricade:

- Barbarians are a poor choice, carnage does not work with bash (read the opposite in these forums)

- Melee ranger works, because they can achieve a pretty high AC when they coop. with their pet

- Driving Flight does not work with Thrust of Tattered Veils (but that was to be expected)

- I have the feeling that Swift Aim works with Bash (like it does with melee weapons), but my testing methods were bad... ^^ (highly subjective)

- Spelltongue works nice together with Bagradr's Barricade/ Bash

- you need a maximum crit setup for it to really shine (prone/ paralyse, Priest support, Paladin Support)

 

Some random thoughts about Badradr's Barricade (Cipher):

- Melee Ciphers (yes I know ToTV don't generate focus) may end up beeing the best users for this shield (at least if you don't want to rely on your party for it to shine).

- Why?

     - they can achieve absurd AC amounts (Tactical Meld & Borrowed Instinct) -> crit, crit, crit

     - they can chain paralyze (for - 40 Deflection) with Mental Binding -> crit, crit, crit

     - they end up getting Time Parasite to achieve absurd attackspeed levels (time to switch for some lighter armor at that level)

     - they can be tanky and benefit from the extra deflection from the shield just nicely

        - durgan steel lets sword and shield style attack speed tactics really shine with medium armor

        - hello The Golden Scale + Badradr's Barricard Reflect synergy <3

     - they have Soul Wip & Biting Wip to burn through some DT (and you want that for your one handed weapon and bash attack)

     - hell they even can steal some DT

     - since Penetrating Shots works with ToTV you can use that to your advantage and go Island Aumua + Weapon Switch with Fellstroke/ Lead Spitter

        - some serious burst focus when u need it midfight or at the beginning (for 2 talent points)

        - Ryona's Vambrances

        - Deadfire Archipelago Aumaua pirate style *awwwrrrr* (sabre in the main hand, Dandy Hat of the Diseased Yak on the head, Pistol)

          - ship vs ship fights (ur task is to eliminate the enemy caster ^^)

          - Carow Golan drug abusing rp justification -> check

          - for those who want to be more good: mercenery hired to protect trading ships

- Downsides?

     - they can only use two focus generating retaliation effects (losing the shield slot) this way (sky is falling... )

     - they need some serious high DEX levels to apply all these buffs and debuffs (some of them beeing average speed) witout driving you mad

     - if you focus on getting the most out of this shield you have to do alot of micromanagement and have to babysit the character constantly

       - Benefits/ Costs???

       - plays different than the Backlash variant where you just switch on the char to unleash all the focus you got...

     - the abuse of pre buffing is a thing for this build

     - more single target damage oriented

     - late bloomer (but you can play it like Boeroer's Backlash Beldam for the most part)

     - gimmick build

 

I got bored with the melee ranger and will go melee cipher instead and share my results in the future. Pallegina (crit support), Kana (the funny bro), Aloth (Miasma abusing for Mental Binding) and Durance (the buff bitch) are fixed party members. Kana will use Quick Switch Arquebuse/ Arbalest.

Keep in mind that the whole retaliation thing might end up getting nerfed and than more active playstyles - like this gimmick build - end up beeing the way you have to play a melee cipher.

Edited November 20, 2015 by L4wlight

[Boeroer]

Nice infos. I think I will try that melee Ranger myself. Only thing about quick switch is that it requires meticulous micromanagement if you want to avoid recovery time and starting of the reloading animation. An AI script for that would be great.