Durance or Pallegina?

[DreamWayfarer]

Hey there people. I decided to give PoTD another try now that they decided to cut down on the thrash fights, and now I have a question about party composition for when I reach Defiance Bay.

 

I want to use 4 story companions at a time, and none of my self-made characters is especially minmaxed.

 

I am using a Druid Watcher that has a mostly generic druid stat spread, except he has 8 DEX and 14 RES, because I've found it is the amount of base Resolve I generaly like on my chars. I plan on building him to use shield and hatchet, so he can be an emergency frontliner. While spellcasting, I plan to use a lot of damage over time because of Combusting Wounds from Aloth and interrupts.

 

Further on the backline, I have Aloth who I plan to build for implement use, mostly minor Blights, based on Boeroer's Zeblastian Hurtstacker.

 

On the frontline, I have Edér built as a two-handed weapon user and a hired warrior who is built as a damage dealer with 17 MIG and 16 DEX, but instead of investing into PER like a normal DPS warrior, I left it at 10 and gave her 16 INT. Both will eventualy have prone on crit weapons.

 

As a middle-liner of sorts, I have a chanter hireling whom I will replace with Kana very soon.

 

So, between Durance and Pallegina who will contribute more as a sixth member for my party? Or should I drop Edér and take both? And when I get into the White March, which of my frontliners could be replaced with Zahua or the Devil without changing too much the way my party plays?

Edited January 27, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[limaxophobiacq]

The two of them have probably the worst attributes of all companions save the Devil of Caroc.

 

Palleginas attributes are a bit less bad but she's stuck with Flames of Devotion which isn't good at all for her. You could probably use a real tank though if you are going to have Edér go two-handed.

[Heijoushin]

Well... Pallegina makes an okay tank, but if you already have 2 front-liners then that's probably not necessary. So maybe Durance's cleric spells will serve you better? That being said, priests are a lot more high-maintenance than tanks. If you already have your hands full, then Pallegina might be the better bet after all. 

[HawkSoft]

Pellegina gets a unique talent to boost her FOD in the 3.0 beta (a party speed buff).

 

As a character I much prefer Pellegina, Durance normally gets to escort unpleasant visitors to the Stronghold (that'l teach them!).

[AndreaColombo]

As I cannot think of going through the game myself without a Priest (their buffs are too good to pass), I'm going to vote for Durance. I also like his personal story, though if you've already sat through it once or twice, it may not be as enticing because it's rather wordy.

[DreamWayfarer]

As I cannot think of going through the game myself without a Priest (their buffs are too good to pass), I'm going to vote for Durance. I also like his personal story, though if you've already sat through it once or twice, it may not be as enticing because it's rather wordy.

Last time I tried to get throught his personal history, it was bugged and a few dialogue options showed up before they should, but that was long ago, before 2.0 even. Is it still happening?

[AndreaColombo]

Last time I tried to get throught his personal history, it was bugged and a few dialogue options showed up before they should, but that was long ago, before 2.0 even. Is it still happening?

 

Not that I know of. When I played through his story in 2.0 it looked fine.

[PrimeJunta]

I'd pick Pallegina. You already have two casters, adding a third would add a quite a lot of micro.

[DreamWayfarer]

I'd pick Pallegina. You already have two casters, adding a third would add a quite a lot of micro.

It is not the micro that worries me, I am used to pause all the time and always turn off the AI for battles where I am outnumbered.

 

It is more because the on-demand single target healing and revival Paladins provide is better for me than priest healing, since my chars generaly drop one at a time, and the new FoD talent Palegina has could be of good use for my Fighters.

 

However Priests are much more flexible, and my party does not seem to need more frontliners, and I still need to go throught Durance's quest. And while Paladins can buff the accuracy of a single party member at a time with Coordinating Attacks, Priest buffs are generaly area based.

 

Well, I still have quite some time to try out Durance before picking up Palegina. Thanks for the advice, everyone.

[PrimeJunta]

Hehe, both are good, but you did ask for opinions

[DreamWayfarer]

Hehe, both are good, but you did ask for opinions

Their classes are good, and their personalities interesting. However, Pallegina's stats do make me want to throw a fit. They are neither effective for the class, nor feel really conected to her personality like Durance's or Devil's stats do.

[PrimeJunta]

Funny thing that, I never even look at the companion stats...

[DreamWayfarer]

Funny thing that, I never even look at the companion stats...

It is not that I care that much, as I can and do aproach stats from a roleplaying perspective. It is just that Palegina's stats feel so... bland. I would complain less if for some reason they gave her high DEX and low MIG, even if DEX is the stat Paladins need the least.

 

But lowest stat being 11 and highest 15, in a semingly random spread? That just feels uninteresting, in my opinion.

Edited January 27, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[PrimeJunta]

I'd rather have story companions with average-ish stats TBH. That way I can skew their builds any way I like, rather than having to follow the direction set by the stats. (Exception made for INT and casters of course, with average INT they'd just be bad.)

[DreamWayfarer]

I'd rather have story companions with average-ish stats TBH. That way I can skew their builds any way I like, rather than having to follow the direction set by the stats. (Exception made for INT and casters of course, with average INT they'd just be bad.)

Maybe that way is better. It is just that I have a thing for unusual builds. Actualy, I was disappointed when I first saw the Devil's stats because I expected from what I had heard for her to have at least 17 Resolve and less than 10 DEX. Weird, don't you think?

Edited January 27, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Stargazer55]

Would you like to share some of your unusual companion builds?

Edited January 27, 2016 by Stargazer55

[DreamWayfarer]

Would you like to share some of your unusual companion builds?

My unusual companion builds? Wish I had them . It is just that I find it more fun to place Durance on the frontline with sword and board than keep him as a gunner and buff bot, for exemple. Things like that, when the stats make it better to play the character in a way that deviates slightly from how the class is generaly played.

[Wolken3156]

 Pallegina gets unique talents now, which makes her a fairly unique character beyond her race. Anyway I'll just drop them here since I have nowhere else to do it.

 

~ Vielo Vidòrio ~

Modifies Flames of Devotion

Allied AoE: +20% Attack Speed for 6.0 sec

 

~ Wrath of Five Suns ~

Modifies Sworn Enemy

Foe Target: 12 - 18 Burn Damage, 10 DR bypass | Accuracy (+20) vs. Deflection

 

They're not spectacular really, but at least she has them. Vielo Vidòrio seems nice on paper but the duration is painfully short.

 

EDIT: Wrath of the Five Suns is 5 projectiles? Daaaang that's good.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Wolken3156

[PrimeJunta]

I've had great success with frontline Durance also, that maniac.

[Boeroer]

OK, Wrath of the Five Suns is crap (if the damage doesn't scale with level) - but the Attack Speed buff is perfect for my Leech Barb build if it stacks with other speed buffs. I will call it Neverending Haste - whoohoo!

Edited January 28, 2016 by Boeroer

[AndreaColombo]

but the Attack Speed buff is perfect for my Leech Barb build if it stacks with other speed buffs.

 

Hate to rain on your parade, but it doesn't. It counts as an active ability, same as Frenzy or DAOM.

[Boeroer]

Argh! OK - back to Wrath of the Five Suns: I just read that damage is per projectile - and there are five of it. That's not crappy at all! Esp. with 10 DR bypass. Wonder if Penetrating Shot works. You could give her Prestidigitator's Missiles and some Spell Binding items with Minor Missile and a Blunderbuss and make her Mage Killer No. 1.

[DreamWayfarer]

Argh! OK - back to Wrath of the Five Suns: I just read that damage is per projectile - and there are five of it. That's not crappy at all! Esp. with 10 DR bypass. Wonder if Penetrating Shot works. You could give her Prestidigitator's Missiles and some Spell Binding items with Minor Missile and a Blunderbuss and make her Mage Killer No. 1.

The Engineer 2: The Republics Strike Back?

Edited January 28, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Boeroer]

Hehe - the Engineer's Wife.

[HawkSoft]

Hehe - the Engineer's Wife.

Why can't an engineer be female?