[CLASS BUILD] Schemer's Needler (roguelike Skaen priest)

[Boeroer]

If you don't want to use guns at all but only Outworn Bucker + weapon and still do good damage I would use a sabre because of the high base damage that is good for FoD. Bittercut is nice because it has two different damage types (slash/corrode). You won't have to switch weaoons if you meet slash-resistent or -immune enemies. It looks neat together with Outworn Bucker (and Argwe's Adra armor by the way) and you can put a corrosive lash on it to fit the Bleak Walkers "Remeber Rhakan Field". Then you're all fire and acid. At level 13 - with Sacred Immolation - you won't have to worry about weapon damage anyway. Make sure to also take Scion of Flame then... Later, you could test if Vent Pick (a stiletto that procs FoD by itself) works with your Intense Flames and Remember Rhakan Field. If it does, I would take that then.

 

The new helmets for Argwe's Adra, He Carries Many Scars, Whit Crest and Sanguine Plate are pretty nice - I would favour them at any time. They have all good to very good enchantments that are better than +25% damage when the enemy is nearly dead already.

Death Godlike fits the theme - but their racial is just bad for a single target melee guy. Better to use this on a character that does AoE damage or wants to steal kills a lot (a rogue wielding Steadfast will have a 25% chance to cast Champion's Boon on kill for example).

 

Then there is a new helmet that looks like a skull and gives you +4 MIG. I'm sure you want to wear that with an evil party. It looks a bit stupid on anything but elves and dwarves because it's ridicoulusly big when you out it on an aumaua, human Orlan etc.. But on a dwarf or elf it is smaller and looks spooky and good.

 

Another great headgear is the Executioner's Hood - you will so want to wear it. It has a passive fear aura and looks great together with the Wayfarer's Hide.

 

So just make sure you don't take too many godlikes.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Boeroer

[Blunderboss]

Thank you for such great answers , now i will know to avoid many godlikes i guess , kinda sad that no adjustments were made for them to use atleast some of the headwear , i read more and more on forums that paladins actually do damage now which was not the case when poe was released , so i will give it a shot with Bleak Walker tanky paladin , will start like a normal tank hatchet and shield and switch to more offense later when i get some gear . Currently im leaning towards Skaen Priest MC ( also orlan race gives some flavor for dialogues more than others i guess ) , a human rogue hireling that i will try to build arround backstab talent later ( this way by stacking deathblows and backstab i wont have to worry about missing 0,5 crit from watcher only stuff ) , also fighter maintank to help paladin and these 2 melee by holidng some agro ( i read fighters are exceptionally good at that nowdays , true or not ? ) also i willl have a rangers pet as 5th melee body .

[Ymarsakar]

The orlan PC was particularly funny when doing Orlan's face and knife game in that one tavern.

 

It was like stabbing a mini hiravias. Hiravias also has some comments about when people talk about Orlans. 

 

The fighters have a new talent, overbearing guard, that prones people who break engagement. So that helps out. Don't need to take defender, just take the +1 engagement talent and use rapier of Daenysis or shatterstar for another +1 engagement.

 

I was more into chanter tanks using their death chant aoe debuff. That was true since 1.0 even, before the AI changes. Although I didn't notice that the aoe was pretty good for drawing aggro until after the AI changes.

 

The fighter also has clear out and fray, which does seemingly more damage now. I never used them before, so can't say how much difference they would make in a fight concerning aggro drawing.

 

If enemies attack people who do lots of damage to them, it might be more useful now for a fighter. If enemies only pay attention to aoe or consider aoe attacks the most dangerous, the fighter may not be able to hold aggro against 3+ enemies as well as a chanter or aoe spot tanking wizard.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Ymarsakar

[Boeroer]

 a human rogue hireling that i will try to build arround backstab talent later ( this way by stacking deathblows and backstab i wont have to worry about missing 0,5 crit from watcher only stuff )

Then try to get the Cloak of the Master Mystic early. It makes you invisible (like shadowing beyond) when you receive a crit (2/encounter). So you can get two additional free Backstabs per encounter now. And Backstab got buffed to +150% dmg. With Sneak Attack and Deathblows combined you can do +300% damage three times per encounter (and 2/rest with shadowing beyond - even 3/rest if you upgrade Nightshroud).

[Blunderboss]

I will do that for sure , thanks .

Maybe you could also share a build for bleak walker paladin ( 1h+shield ) what stats should i max and what abilities to use

[Ymarsakar]

I will do that for sure , thanks .

Maybe you could also share a build for bleak walker paladin ( 1h+shield ) what stats should i max and what abilities to use

 

Maxing might and per would provide a solid damage base to make the corrode lash effect as high as feasible. 

Edited March 12, 2016 by Ymarsakar

[Boeroer]

Don't know if you need max PER - since you get +20 ACC with FoD you might be okay with less PER. Interrupts are not your priority, so I wouldn't max PER. But putting some points into it is not a bad idea. 

 

Maxing stats on a paladin is difficult anyhow because a paladin can make use of any stat. So I don't try to dump any (except for very special builds).

 

As a weapon & shield frontliner what you probably want is a stat spread that's not too unbalanced in order to have equal defenses. Luckily, Reflex gets buffed by Weapon & Shield Style, so you don't need to put as many points into DEX  and PER. You might want to have:

 

High MIG because of:

a) FoD

b) Healing (like Lay on Hands)

c) Sacred Immolation (so powerful)

d) Fortitude defense

 

High INT because of:

a) Focus Aura AoE

b) Sacred Immolation AoE

c) Duration of many of your support abilites

d) Healing duration of Lay on Hands

e) Will defense (Sacred Immolation on a charmed paladin is really painful)

 

ok PER because of:

a) ACC of FoD

b) ACC of Sacred Immolation

d) Reflex Defense

 

ok RES because of:

a) Concentration

b) Deflection

c) Will defense

 

normal CON because of:

a) Endurance & Health

b) Fortitude defense

 

normal DEX because of:

a) Action Speed

b) Reflex Defense

 

When you start with 10 point in each you will have 18 points to spend (15 + 2 from race + 1 from background)

 

So you could do like:

 

MIG: 18

CON: 10  => +24 Fortitude

DEX: 08

PER: 14 => +6 Reflex

INT: 16

RES: 12 =>+24 Will

 

Your defenses with an exceptional Outworn Bucker would be (without Faith and Conviction of course): +29/+27/+29 (+29/+31/+29 with a superb one).

Your damage per hit will be good, your speed is a little gimped (just a little), but something's gotta give. I think you could also do 08 CON and 10 DEX and so on. A few points doen't really matter though. I played with Pallegina in my last Playthrough and although her stats are totally different she was just fine. 

You can also wear Gauntles of Swift Action and use durgan steel on your shield & weapon and you will be pretty fast despite the 08 DEX (around+30% before armor). 

 

That's just an example and I think it will work well in a party. That's not a "I tank a dragon" stat spread - but it's a good mixture of dps and tankyness that you can keep through the whole game.

 

p.s.: This stat spread is also great for using srollls like Fireball or Fan of Flames: your high MIG will result in lots of damage and the high INT guarantuees a big AoE. If you took Scion of Flame (for Sacred Immolation) - even better!

 

Concerning race: Take what you like best. I suppose a wild orlan bleak walker is not what you think of.

But Coastal Aumauas can get some nasty red patterns on their face that looks rather spooky. Pale Elves can look quite sinister, too. Humans always work. Even a dwarf might be ok. Of course a fully armored Aumaua is the most impressive figure.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Boeroer

[Blunderboss]

Wonderfull answer thank you ! Concerning the race , im thinking to go Paladin Pale Elf , and Fighter Coastal Aumaua , fighter will be main tank so i want him to look bigger than others :D

Edited March 12, 2016 by Blunderboss

[Ymarsakar]

For a party paladin, I wouldn't max per. I was focusing on a solo paladin build's stats. But that must have been another thread.

[Blunderboss]

Boeroer , i was thinking to skip Interdiction and Painfull interdiction talents ( i am runing full party so spending two talents on one debuff for SA doesnt seem to be worth it , especially because i wont have it untill later in the game ) , what do you think about geting Aggrandizing Radiance , to buff the priest when he goes into melee , i would pick it sometime after act 1 when heal from holy radiance isnt as crucial as early game , does +2 attributes get overwritten by some other spell ? Can i use it with watchers ability that also gives +2 of each stat for +4 stats boost or they dont stack ?

Edited March 15, 2016 by Blunderboss

[Boeroer]

With Aggrandizing Radiance you only gimp the heal for yourself - your party members still get the full healing from Holy Radiance. And as far as I know, Aggr. Radiance's bonuses stack with other stat buffs. I'm playtesting a dwarven priest of Berath atm. with the Maefolc Skull, Abydon's Hammer, Sanguine Plate (currently 33 MIG: 21 base and +12 from items + abilities. With Champion's Boon it's +18 = 39 MIG) - I hope I can raise this with Aggr. Radiance to +14 = 41 MIG. Shod-in-Faith boots are really funny with ~40 MIG.

 

So I think Aggr. Radiance can be fun. But it's rather short. 

[Dorftek]

Boeroer. I'm thinking about trying this priest build for a priest+Cipher duo. Both dual wielding. Are there any tweaks or changes you'd do with the Needler today?

[Blunderboss]

I used Boerers needler recently and i would suggest to have another character that can heal in party so you get to do some of the dual-wielding stuff

ended up using Dominate Scepter from stronghold because it benefits from Skaen Talent and baby sneak attack but my mistake was taking needler as the only healer in group so he just spent all game buffing and healing like normal priest

Edited April 18, 2016 by Blunderboss

[Boeroer]

I would put 10 points minimum into survival nowadays.

 

And I would like to test Vent Pick on this priest - and that club, "St. Wygelt's Cudgel".

 

Maybe I would try to duplicate Vent Pick with the Helwax Mold - or Bleak Fang. Touch of Rot is a nice Spell. 

 

Other than that - it's a priest. You can't go wrong with a priest. Especially Crowns for the Faitful + cipher seems to be a great combo.

 

Painful Interdiction + Secret Horrors is also a great debuff combination for the beginning of a fight. That will lower fort. and will a lot.

 

You could try to use Boots of Speed on the priest (or the cipher) and cast "Hand of Wael on Woe" an the cipher while the cipher casts Ectopsychic Echo on the priest. Nice double-beam that does tons of damage and healing.

 

 

Yeah - at some point you will find that you do way more casting than melee. You will have plenty of spells at some point - aome of them per encounter. But I think it's ok if this guy transforms from melee + casting to pure caster during a playthrough.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Boeroer

[Dorftek]

I would put 10 points minimum into survival nowadays.

 

And I would like to test Vent Pick on this priest - and that club, "St. Wygelt's Cudgel".

 

Maybe I would try to duplicate Vent Pick with the Helwax Mold - or Bleak Fang. Touch of Rot is a nice Spell.

 

Other than that - it's a priest. You can't go wrong with a priest. Especially Crowns for the Faitful + cipher seems to be a great combo.

 

Painful Interdiction + Secret Horrors is also a great debuff combination for the beginning of a fight. That will lower fort. and will a lot.

 

You could try to use Boots of Speed on the priest (or the cipher) and cast "Hand of Wael on Woe" an the cipher while the cipher casts Ectopsychic Echo on the priest. Nice double-beam that does tons of damage and healing.

 

 

Yeah - at some point you will find that you do way more casting than melee. You will have plenty of spells at some point - aome of them per encounter. But I think it's ok if this guy transforms from melee + casting to pure caster during a playthrough.

Ok no changes with the talents? No frenzy?

Was thinking about getting mechanics up on the Needler and lore on cipher. As it's a duo and I value lore and mechanics high I'll have to use survival as a dump stat. I want a minimum stealth of 5 without stealth gear. I reckon I'll get accuracy high enough anyway, after all I'll have the debuffs of the cipher and the buffs of a Priest.

 

Blunderbuss, I intend on playing this as a duo so additional healers aren't happening

I plan on buying that healer figurine to accompany me and use CC scrolls and speed to my advantage so hopefully most fights will be doable without too much headache. Also I'm considering playing the duo on Hard.

Playing Potd on my magerogue right now and while I don't find the additional difficulty very noticeable anymore at around lvl 13 I do find the insanely large encounters a dull timesink. The Magerogue build I'm using is so overpowered tho it gets boring after a while. If I find the patience to get to 16 on him I'll post my build, otherwise I'll just leave it where it is and see what Boeroer posts about his magerogue.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Dorftek

[Blunderboss]

on Hard Consecrated Ground+Watchful Presence probably will be enough to cover all ur healing needs , so u should be fine , i would try to have atleast 6 survival ( only need few points for that assuming u took colonist background ) , cipher can start fights with Phantom Foes from lvl 6 and that 10% damage is simply free then 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Blunderboss

[Dorftek]

on Hard Consecrated Ground+Watchful Presence probably will be enough to cover all ur healing needs , so u should be fine , i would try to have atleast 6 survival ( only need few points for that assuming u took colonist background ) , cipher can start fights with Phantom Foes from lvl 6 and that 10% damage is simply free then

Yeah sounds like a plan alltho i always pick drifter background. Need that xtra stealth and mechanics to get the gloves of the mechanic in raedrics in time.

[Dorftek]

So far I'm really enjoying this Priest Boeroer, thank you for the build. So far lvl 9. I've made a few personal changes so far tho but I'm keeping myself within theme. Using the mucra eye glass with +12will and whisper of treason spellbind, cuz I think it fits the Skaen theme (deceptive and cruel god, usage of slaves etc etc) and i use heavy plate armour and pale elf race for lots of DR. So far very solid on my Hard difficulty duo with a cipher, surprisingly easy actually. Anyway, enjoying your builds so far and thank you for sharing. How's your roguemage coming along btw? I'm playing mine right now about to do Durgans battery, wich I hate btw.. So I have a nice mix of deep house music and a bottle of cheap whiskey to ease the pain. Wich explains my jabbering o_O

[Boeroer]

 

Glad you like it so far.

 

I'll have some business meetings around the country for the next couple of days and will do a lot of traveling. So I won't be posting much. Next week I will have time to write down the final class build I guess. Tuesday or Wednesday or something like that I hope.

[QuiteGoneJin]

How has this build aged? Is the painful Empowered interdiction criticism substantiated? 

Edited March 17, 2017 by QuiteGoneJin

[Boeroer]

The build basically works as before. This priest can deal some nice single target melee damage if he's not casting spells.  

 

Empowered Interdiction still only works for the dazing part of Interdiction, NOT Painful (weakening) Interdiction. That's sad, but it is as it is. Just skip it.

Interdiction itself already has +15 starting ACC and gets +1 ACC per level like any other ability/spell - this applies to dazing as well as weakening - so it hits good enough. With other possible complaints about Painful Interdiction (duration is rather short etc.) I can't agree. It's a powerful debuff with a huge radius which you can get really early. Still a great ability in my opinion. Few other spells or abilites can cause weakened in such a big area. It's perfect if you also have a cipher with Phantom Foes and a rogue in the party who is hoping to deliver some AoE spells with Deathblows. Also great for every chanter who likes to chant "Come, Soft Winds of Death" because it targets fortitude.

 

Note that (Baby) Sneak Attack bonuses do not work with spells, only Deathblows does! 

[QuiteGoneJin]

The build basically works as before. This priest can deal some nice single target melee damage if he's not casting spells.  

 

Empowered Interdiction still only works for the dazing part of Interdiction, NOT Painful (weakening) Interdiction. That's sad, but it is as it is. Just skip it.

Interdiction itself already has +15 starting ACC and gets +1 ACC per level like any other ability/spell - this applies to dazing as well as weakening - so it hits good enough. With other possible complaints about Painful Interdiction (duration is rather short etc.) I can't agree. It's a powerful debuff with a huge radius which you can get really early. Still a great ability in my opinion. Few other spells or abilites can cause weakened in such a big area. It's perfect if you also have a cipher with Phantom Foes and a rogue in the party who is hoping to deliver some AoE spells with Deathblows. Also great for every chanter who likes to chant "Come, Soft Winds of Death" because it targets fortitude.

 

Note that (Baby) Sneak Attack bonuses do not work with spells, only Deathblows does! 

Thanks, corrected myself. Question for you, with builds like this I find pick order a rough choice, I feel like early game going the melee accuracy talents and abilities first would be good cause of spell casts limitations, even though people would be tempted to take interdiction and painful first. 

[Boeroer]

Yes, you are most likely right. Especially in the early game +10 ACC for melee attacks is a huge bonus because spell use is really limited. But Painful Interdiction is also very cool if you can have it early and can boost the priest offensive usefulness. It depends on your party I think. A rogue for example would be pretty pleased with Painful Interdiction - a barb with Brute Force too. 

 

By the way I didn't mean to correct you - I just wanted to make clear what exactly I mean and what's the problem with Interdiction and it's talents.

[harf4ng]

To be a hearth orlan only works if we're not going solo isn't it? 

This build is maybe then better in duo like with a tank along us... So we can use all our priest buffs on someone else too... And the hearth orlan talent too... 

[Boeroer]

9 hours ago, harf4ng said:

To be a hearth orlan only works if we're not going solo isn't it? 

Correct. Also for solo play you want to put way more emphasis on survivability.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Boeroer