Melee dps Chanter build.

[Mercbeast]

How would you pros do it?

 

I'm guessing stacking attack speed and going DW and using it as a flanker is going to be a big part of it. Using a reach weapon for back row tight confines fighting.

 

I'm unsure of stat distribution.

 

Dex is important for the animation turn over, especially if you're swinging around heavier 1h weapons and for general usability early on in the game before the build comes online, but at the same time this might be counter productive because str and int might be more valuable overall. 

 

Strength has obvious benefits.

 

Int because it affects the linger of chants and the aoe coverage.

 

Resolve can probably be left alone or even dumped a couple of points (I'm not a fan of extreme stat dumping, my limit is about

 

Perception, would it be beneficial to take or left alone?

 

Con can be left alone.

[Boeroer]

For me, the best melee dps chanter build was that of a full tank with dumped DEX, high MIG, PER, INT and normal RES. Take all talents that raise defenses and Weapon & Shield. Use a Ring of Overseeing and the Voice of the Mountaintop for a very huge AoE. In the beginning use all the cone-shaped damage invocations for damage, the endurance draining and another lvl 1 chant. Later switch to The Dragon Slashed and take Scion of Flame. Your dps will be great then - as your tankyness. Six of those are really devastating.

 

 I posted a build the other day: The Drake's Ambassador

 

I can't say if this is still viable in 3.0 - but I think so.

[Raven Darkholme]

For me, the best melee dps chanter build was that of a full tank with dumped DEX, high MIG, PER, INT and normal RES. Take all talents that raise defenses and Weapon & Shield. Use a Ring of Overseeing and the Voice of the Mountaintop for a very huge AoE. In the beginning use all the cone-shaped damage invocations for damage, the endurance draining and another lvl 1 chant. Later switch to The Dragon Slashed and take Scion of Flame. Your dps will be great then - as your tankyness. Six of those are really devastating.

 

 I posted a build the other day: The Drake's Ambassador

 

I can't say if this is still viable in 3.0 - but I think so.

Yeah, your dps does not come from melee, but from the chants.

[Mercbeast]

I don't really see how this is true. 

 

The majority of damage from many classes is simply from auto attacking. Melee ranger? Big chunk comes from auto attacking(yes there is the pet, but don't want the hassle of the pet, plus the chanter brings far far more utility and potential damage to the party than the ranger for a major net damage gain). Fighter? Auto attacking. Rogue? Auto attacking with sneak.

 

You can build a baby sneaking dual wielding anything in this game now, and while you might not be top top tier dps, you don't need to be. So, i've just gone with a generic attack speed dw build and the chanter is paired with a skaen priest and 2 disabling barbarians and it's pulling top dps. Yea, the barbarians are not built for all out damage, but they are built for speed and mass carnage. I guess it helps to have a very reliable -5 DR debuff that ensures the chanter is hitting squishy stuff once the first invocation goes out.

[Boeroer]

You can build a lot of things in this game, but you asked how pros do it.

 

Our suggestion is just based on experience. He fits your requirements: he's melee, he does tons of DPS and on top he seldomly goes down or catches an affliction because his defenses are very high. What's not to love? He's basically like a tanky Paladin with Sacred Immolation - but can have his dps chant way eralier, has slightly less defenses - but his chant does not expire. 

 

In 3.0 it may be that he sings so fast that he can also do more invocations. With his MIG and INT they will be devastating - but he will cast slowly. That's no problem though because he just shrugs hits off. Autoattacks can add some damage, that's true, but it just pales in comparison to his main chant - so why bother?

 

The good thing with this tank version is that you can dump DEX to three and it doesn't influence your DPS at all. You can pump MIG and INT and PER and focus on your chant for DPS. Scion of Flame is great for that for example.

 

The DR debuff also works for his Dragon Slashed chant by the way. I think that even his burning lash chant gets applied to the slashing part. Not sure though since I liked to use Frighten + Dragon Slashed to debuff ACC of foes in order to be even more tanky.

 

 

 

I once did a build with Sanguine Plate, Blade of the Endless Paths, Shod-in-Faith and all the talents that boost melee damage (Vuln. Attack, Appr. Sneak, Savage Attack, Two Handed Style and so on). He did good single target damage with the sword, that's true - but he also went down more often and got stunned, prone or paralyzed - then he and his sword and chants did nothing and that's a shame. I found this tanky variant to work better. It also needs nearly no micro. 

Edited January 24, 2016 by Boeroer

[Raven Darkholme]

I don't really see how this is true. 

 

The majority of damage from many classes is simply from auto attacking. Melee ranger? Big chunk comes from auto attacking(yes there is the pet, but don't want the hassle of the pet, plus the chanter brings far far more utility and potential damage to the party than the ranger for a major net damage gain). Fighter? Auto attacking. Rogue? Auto attacking with sneak.

 

You can build a baby sneaking dual wielding anything in this game now, and while you might not be top top tier dps, you don't need to be. So, i've just gone with a generic attack speed dw build and the chanter is paired with a skaen priest and 2 disabling barbarians and it's pulling top dps. Yea, the barbarians are not built for all out damage, but they are built for speed and mass carnage. I guess it helps to have a very reliable -5 DR debuff that ensures the chanter is hitting squishy stuff once the first invocation goes out.

You don't see how it is true, that an area attack which hits basically all enemies at once and is passive to boot, does more damage than your autoattack which hits one target and maybe doesn't even do 40 slash PLUS 40 burn damage like the chant does per foe?

[Boeroer]

And: it does around 80 slash and 80 burn damage if you max MIG and INT and take Scion of Flame in a huge, huge area. Sure, it only fires off every 8 seconds (if you use no second chant) but it hits all foes at once. You basically have a good tank that also does great damage while standing around AND can also use invocations from time to time. Reviving is quite useful sometimes for example.

 

But I know what you mean: it's not melee dps. Well you can of course build him to cause good melee damage and substitute that with his chants and invocations. Especially the level 4 self buff ist quite nice for a melee guy with an estoc. I think together with the Blade of the Endless Paths you can reach 0 recovery. Maybe now - because they can sing faster - it doesn't take an eternity to build up enough points to trigger that invocation. You would still have to use low level chants though to speed that up. That'S a bit sad because the lvl 3 chant that gives you an additional burning lash is also cool for a melee guy. The lvl 1 dr bypass invocation is also great, but it lasts rather short.

[Kaylon]

Well, you can transform any class into a melee monster if you want: 

- give him high MIG, DEX, PER

- buy 2 Rimecutters from Azzuro (+superb and durgan refined); use 2 swords vs monsters immune to slash

- get two weapons style, vulnerable attack, weapon focus knight, savage attack, gallant's focus, apprentice sneak attack

- equip Azalin's Helmet, Ring of Thorns, Lilith's Shawl, Pensiavi mes Rèi/Girdle of Maegfolc Might, Glanfathan Stalking Boots and some  armor with up to 15% recovery penalty

You will attack with no weapon recovery and you'll have great single target dps (with up to 170% critical damage bonus)...

[Boeroer]

Erm... "buy two Rimecutters from Azurro" - not very predictable or reliable. I had that once in about 10 playthroughs.

 

You could use Sword of Daenysis & March Steel Dagger though. Both also have speed, are in the same weapon group and you can get them early.

Or Spelltongue plus Sword of Daenysis or March Steel Dagger.

 

You could also use Danulya & Rêghar Konnek, but they both come quite late.

 

If you don't care about Weapon Focus you can of course combine other weapons as well: Strike Hard and Unforgiven also have speed.

 

But I think that two Rimecutters would be the coolest solution - also literally.  

 

Since v. 3.0 you can also use Svef to gain another +15% Attack Speed in order to reach 0 recovery by the way.

[DreamWayfarer]

Since v. 3.0 you can also use Svef to gain another +15% Attack Speed in order to reach 0 recovery by the way.

I thought Svef made people lie about doing nothing. Or at least my characters with high enough INT/Survival think so.

[Kaylon]

You have to force your luck a little to get two Rimecutters.  You go to Lle a Rhemen where it's less tedious to "wait" (because you only have to click once) and you wait until Azzuro visits the stronghold. The item he sells is random and if you save before the day he shows up you can reload until he has what you want. Or if you have enough money you can simply wait until he comes again.

[Boeroer]

Ah - clever!

 

I didn't understand why you have to go to Lle a Rhemen though...? What's so special about that place?

[Vorad]

@Boeroer: Does Scion of Flame stack with Dragon Slashed now? I think it didn't use to stack a few patches ago. What chanter abilities are affected by it?

 

I playtested with the Secrets of rime myself and it appears to affect the freeze aoe invocation.

[Kaylon]

Ah - clever!

 

I didn't understand why you have to go to Lle a Rhemen though...? What's so special about that place?

Before opening it one of the options is to wait to see what happens there and you can choose this option over and over with a single click and make the time pass. It's less tedious than resting where you have to click multiple times each time you want to rest...

[AndreaColombo]

Or, you know, you could use the console to get what you want right away (with the IE Mod if you're into achievements)

[Boeroer]

 

Ah - clever!

 

I didn't understand why you have to go to Lle a Rhemen though...? What's so special about that place?

Before opening it one of the options is to wait to see what happens there and you can choose this option over and over with a single click and make the time pass. It's less tedious than resting where you have to click multiple times each time you want to rest...

 

Oh yeah - right! That's even smarter. Thanks for the info.

[Boeroer]

@Boeroer: Does Scion of Flame stack with Dragon Slashed now? I think it didn't use to stack a few patches ago. What chanter abilities are affected by it?

 

I playtested with the Secrets of rime myself and it appears to affect the freeze aoe invocation.

Good question. Now it should. There was a bug report and Aarik said he did put it into the database. That was some time ago and should have been fixed by now. I didn't test it lately but it should be easy to see. If you sing it and then watch the combat log the burn damage should be higher than the slash. If it doesn't work the talent is a total waste of course - unless you don't plan to pile up Fireball uses from spell binding items as I did with my chanter back then.  

Edited January 25, 2016 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

Or, you know, you could use the console to get what you want right away (with the IE Mod if you're into achievements)

I know, I just give the method to show it's possible to get them without cheats. 

[Boeroer]

I like things like that.

[Mercbeast]

Rimecutter sounds perfect, since this is a viking themed party ;p

[Boeroer]

If you use Rimecutter you could think about using the high damage invocation that sends out seven ice beams (seven nights she wept or something?). It's very good in melee because if you stand right in front of a foe (even better if it's a pack of them) you can manage it so that three ice beams hit him. They each do huge damage. Three of them can kill a single kith. And there's a big chance that you hit a lot of other enemies, too - because the AoE is huge (albeit somewhat stupid to target since it's pattern is that of a star). Rimecutter and this would work well with Secrets of Rime. I mean: Rimecutter and Secrets of Rime - combined in a chanter who sings rhymes...

Edited September 1, 2017 by Boeroer

[Lampros]

Well, you can transform any class into a melee monster if you want: 

- give him high MIG, DEX, PER

- buy 2 Rimecutters from Azzuro (+superb and durgan refined); use 2 swords vs monsters immune to slash

- get two weapons style, vulnerable attack, weapon focus knight, savage attack, gallant's focus, apprentice sneak attack

- equip Azalin's Helmet, Ring of Thorns, Lilith's Shawl, Pensiavi mes Rèi/Girdle of Maegfolc Might, Glanfathan Stalking Boots and some  armor with up to 15% recovery penalty

You will attack with no weapon recovery and you'll have great single target dps (with up to 170% critical damage bonus)...

 

There are monsters immune to slash? Dayyaam. I guess I really need back-up weapons. But doesn't that also mean I need to get a talent that enables quick switching - since I am not smart enough to memorize all resistances?

[Kaylon]

 

Well, you can transform any class into a melee monster if you want: 

- give him high MIG, DEX, PER

- buy 2 Rimecutters from Azzuro (+superb and durgan refined); use 2 swords vs monsters immune to slash

- get two weapons style, vulnerable attack, weapon focus knight, savage attack, gallant's focus, apprentice sneak attack

- equip Azalin's Helmet, Ring of Thorns, Lilith's Shawl, Pensiavi mes Rèi/Girdle of Maegfolc Might, Glanfathan Stalking Boots and some  armor with up to 15% recovery penalty

You will attack with no weapon recovery and you'll have great single target dps (with up to 170% critical damage bonus)...

 

There are monsters immune to slash? Dayyaam. I guess I really need back-up weapons. But doesn't that also mean I need to get a talent that enables quick switching - since I am not smart enough to memorize all resistances?

 

There are not many monsters immune to slash, you don't have to pick Quick Switch just for that...

[Lampros]

 

 

Well, you can transform any class into a melee monster if you want: 

- give him high MIG, DEX, PER

- buy 2 Rimecutters from Azzuro (+superb and durgan refined); use 2 swords vs monsters immune to slash

- get two weapons style, vulnerable attack, weapon focus knight, savage attack, gallant's focus, apprentice sneak attack

- equip Azalin's Helmet, Ring of Thorns, Lilith's Shawl, Pensiavi mes Rèi/Girdle of Maegfolc Might, Glanfathan Stalking Boots and some  armor with up to 15% recovery penalty

You will attack with no weapon recovery and you'll have great single target dps (with up to 170% critical damage bonus)...

 

There are monsters immune to slash? Dayyaam. I guess I really need back-up weapons. But doesn't that also mean I need to get a talent that enables quick switching - since I am not smart enough to memorize all resistances?

 

There are not many monsters immune to slash, you don't have to pick Quick Switch just for that...

 

 

How long does it take to switch weapon sets? I don't want to get my butt kicked as I do it, because I am a newb, and I don't know all the resistances.

 

Or I guess I could stick dual damage types on every character?

[MasterCipher]

2s to switch weapons

 

There is a talent that lowers the time by 1.5s

 

There is a belt that lowers the time by 1s

 

You can stack both to reduce the time to 0