[Discussion] Companion Builds

[JerekKruger]

Somewhat related to the idea raised in this thread, I'd like to start a thread for discussing builds for the official companions. If a new sticky post for builds gets created this thread will hopefully be a source of links, if not then hopefully it'll still he helpful. I definitely find that I tend not to have anywhere near as clear an idea of how to build my companions as I do my main character so either I go with one of Boeroer's builds, KDubya's Juggernaut Monk for Zahua, or some modification of one of NerdCommando's builds if neither of those fit. Recently I tried out ottffsse's Fire General build for Pallegina and realised that there is clearly a lot more potentially cool builds out there, and the purpose of this thread is to collect as many of them in one place.

 

So, if you have any cool builds (or indeed uncool builds) for a companion feel free to post them here. Ideally you'll give a bit of context around the build: what difficulty it's designed for, whether it's min-maxed or more role-play oriented, why you made the choices you made etc.

 

Also welcome would be any questions about how to use particularly companions, which will hopefully encourage others to post builds (I think a certain rogue will get a lot of attention here).

 

Feedback on posted builds should be encouraged, but try to keep it civil and take into account any context given. If someone posts a role-playing build for easy mode then "that build is terrible and will never survive on PotD" is not a good thing to post.

 

Finally, whilst I can't in any way stop people from doing so, it would be great if people could avoid negativity. I know there are some strong opinions on the viability of Barbarians, but when it comes to Maneha let's stick to ways to make her viable rather than complaints about why she can't be.

[Crucis]

Finally, whilst I can't in any way stop people from doing so, it would be great if people could avoid negativity. I know there are some strong opinions on the viability of Barbarians, but when it comes to Maneha let's stick to ways to make her viable rather than complaints about why she can't be.

 

You're dreaming.     People will be people.

 

 

That said, I think that your intention of having a thread to discuss Companion builds is worthy, though often the discussion of a single Companion build is enough to occupy an entire thread all by itself.  It might be better to have a single thread dedicated to each Companion, if only to make it easier for anyone trying to search out builds for a particular Companion.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Crucis

[ottffsse]

In my recent playthrough Maneha rocked. (You can adept this to any barbarian btw but this was specific to a high might / con / int dps barbarian, average (10) dex, perc so no interrupt build)

 

Setup:

 

main hand: strike hard, durganized (optional: superb)

off hand: unlabored blade

 

Before strikehard and unlabored blade I had Tidefall, but the dual wield setup allows 0 recovery.

 

Other Items:

 

armor: Sanguine plate or wayfarers hide

belt: blunting belt or rope that binds

gloves: glittering gauntlets!!!!!

helm: white crest helm or hermits hat

cape: swaddling sheet

ring of protection

ring of wonder

 

abilities:

 

-frenzy

-brute force

-threatening presence

-one stands alone or blooded

-vengeful defeat

-heart of fury

-whatever that 15th level ability (stun wave shout) is

 

talents:

-barbaric blow

-veterans recovery

-vulnerable attack

-weapon focus: soldier

-scion of flame (for unlabored blade firebug+lash)

-bloody slaughter

-apprentice sneak attack

 

max survival (as you skip savage defiance to take other abilities)

 

theory: maximize carnage with items like glittering gauntlets, strike hard, unlabored blade. veteran's recovery provides basic protection and dying on occasion does not matter as you have vengeful defeat and hopefully a paladin/ priest buddy to resurrect you. 

 

WHY it's great: the combination of strikehard (already with speed) durganized and unlabored blade (also speed) allows 0 recovery without two weapon fighting talent so you can get another talent, and those items work very well with carnage. 

[JerekKruger]

You're dreaming.     People will be people.

 

Of course, but I can hope 

 

 

That said, I think that your intention of having a thread to discuss Companion builds is worthy, though often the discussion of a single Companion build is enough to occupy an entire thread all by itself.  It might be better to have a single thread dedicated to each Companion, if only to make it easier for anyone trying to search out builds for a particular Companion.

 

 

 

You might be right. I didn't want to spam the front page with eleven threads but it might be that we'll have to do it eventually.

 

theory: maximize carnage with items like glittering gauntlets, strike hard, unlabored blade. veteran's recovery provides basic protection and dying on occasion does not matter as you have vengeful defeat and hopefully a paladin/ priest buddy to resurrect you. 

 

WHY it's great: the combination of strikehard (already with speed) durganized and unlabored blade (also speed) allows 0 recovery without two weapon fighting talent so you can get another talent, and those items work very well with carnage. 

 

Thanks for the build. Barbarians are one of the classes I struggle to figure out how to use, and so I've tended not to take Maneha with me much at all.

 

I guess the key to any Barbarian build is going to be making the best use of Carnage, usually through weapon procs. Also, whilst it's a silly reason to like a build, I like that you don't have to respec upon switching weapons.

 

Also has Barbaric Blow received a buff at some point. I swear I remember it being considered pretty bad, but looking at the description it seems pretty powerful albeit only once per encounter.

[ottffsse]

quite frankly barbaric blow is not that strong, but it is once per encounter at least. you can take greater frenzy though instead I guess. I took barbaric blow because it is one of the first things the ai does. Ai sometimes never went into frenzy before the battle was over. 

[Mocker22]

^{Well since you don't have a lot of control over companion stats I've always kept their builds fairly vanilla. Sagani as an archer, zahua a juggernaut build, Eder is basically a Lady of Pain type with Estocs. Nothing too fancy. I do really enjoy a Pallegina similar to the Fire General build. Only difference is I use a marking weapon and coordinated attacks so that once her alpha strikes are done she can really assist the melee dps.}

[Guest]

JerekKruger, are you looking for power builds or role-play builds?

[kvaak]

Thanks for the build. Barbarians are one of the classes I struggle to figure out how to use, and so I've tended not to take Maneha with me much at all.

 

1) Acquire Edge of Reason (level 13 of Old Paths)

2) Glue some Durgan steel on it

3) Turn it green and shiny

4) Duplicate it

5) Wield both

6) ???

7) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Edited March 15, 2016 by kvaak

[falchen]

Barbarians are a one trick pony, if you aren't building them around carnage they are wasted imo. Give her something with a good on hit or spell proc and she's set.

[prototype00]

Hey Jerek, taking a trip over from Rpg.net?

 

Hiravais is really easy to build as Spiritshift DPS killer. Just pick wild strike and greater wild strike shock, two weapon fighting, weapon focus peasant and Outlanders Fury.

 

Then most combats just cast Returning Storm and leap into the fray and kill everything.

 

For some reason he moves really slowly in Spiritshape though, I wonder why that is?

[falchen]

For some reason he moves really slowly in Spiritshape though, I wonder why that is?

Are you using an item that give speed (like boots of speed)? They are bugged so when you shift the speed bonus seems to get deduced from your base speed.

[prototype00]

Ah excellent, I had three sources of move speed increase! (resting, boots and armor) With them gone, Hiravais is really booking it now! (Comparatively, he moves fast enough to kill two more foes per combat).

[JerekKruger]

JerekKruger, are you looking for power builds or role-play builds?

 

Either and both. The thread's not specifically for me but rather a resource for anyone looking for suggestions on companion builds (though I'm sure I'll get some good ideas from it).

[Ymarsakar]

I build the companions around their weapon slots. That's kind of the reverse of how other people do it, when they start with class/stats and talents.

 

On the other hand, it means the companion stats don't really impact that playstyle. Sure you can squeeze some more min max effect out with might/int maximization, but usually it is at the expense of something else.

 

For Eder, I normally use weapon with high accuracy + small shield, and either a warbow/crossbow for pulling or a melee dps option for when Eder needs to output more dps, say against high DR enemies. Disciplined barrage, shield, rapid recovery, weapon focus, fray is pretty balanced early on. Take the hit at level 11 and overbearing guard at 7. 9 is either critical defense or unbending.

 

For Sagani, a swift attack modal combined with crossbow/arbalest/firearm can be pretty interesting, with a vicious 15% 3 dr bypass boost for the pet. If going with her first shortbow, taking -5 dr bypass for ranged attack is needed to bring out her damage. I usually keep her in 0 recovery clothing. Her slightly average might and above average int, plus high per, makes her useful for lore attack scrolls or as a summoner with figurines. I usually max her survival to get the higher acc.

 

The wizard and priest I keep safe and in -15% recovery armor. or 20-25%. They usually use a primary range weapon that has +20% attack speed on it, plus a weapon + small shield. Large shield might make more sense for the priest. The shield's accuracy malus affects spells, but doesn't matter for self buffs. So it's good to keep from being interrupted if aggroed, and other preventing big hitters like ogres from hitting your squishies as easily, while they cast protective buffs/spells. 

 

Aloth has a perception issue, only +2 per, so he's much more effective using buffed weapons like blight or citzal's spirit lance. He tends to need to debuff enemy's fort or reflex or deflection before his spells do as much damage as they could. Wizards tend to have pretty low base ACC, so debuffing an enemy, such as flanking or hobbling them, can be pretty good for tactical synergy.

 

Aloth has the blast talent, for a little bit more aoe dps. Durance I mostly use as a fast self buffer with bless/armor, aoe regen heals and iconic projection. I took the interdiction traits as well, for weakened later on. Very useful for my monk and barbarian synergy.

 

The monk, barbarian, rogue, and fighters are very good when they attack flanked targets and targets debuffed by prones and blinds. It multiples their force, so to speak, so any class that can constantly debuff the enemy, such as monk/barbarian, really brings out the power of the martial classes.

 

The rogue I use with weapon/sshield and a crossbow. I like the escape +backstab pulling option.  Run up to within 2m, fire with crossbow, then hit escape. Hilarious damage. I like being able to choose alpha targets at range, to get rid of the higher priority enemies like casters and archers (especially rogue archers).

 

Monk is dual fist and fist/sshield, acting as melee tank and single target perma CC. Barbarian is on the pike build, very good for when I create chokepoints in caves and dungeons. Barbarian can hit right in the center of the enemy horde, while my melee wall blocks the rest.  Needs some equipment before it can do crowd control + aoe damage. But has some good passive buffs later on that sicken and increase attack speed. More attack speed, the better for the barbarian.

 

The chanter I build with all defensive talents, plus some ancient healer, using healing and summong invocations with death chant and dragon's lash third level. Death x4 + Dragon 1x = 5x for ogre/drake summon later on. Neat screen effect for notification.

 

Let's see here, what's left. Cipher is good for parties that don't like resting. Some medium armor, with sabre/shield and some range alpha, makes it pretty flexible. The psycho drain makes the cipher's will attacks easier to hit and crit, while giving you 25 deflection now. So might not need the shield any more. The cipher's talent build is probably the least flexible, which I didn't like. You pretty much need the 2 whip powers and then a weapon focus. And needs some kind of healer, like a druid/priest/chanter/paladin to support em. 

 

The druid I use as a light aoe tank, sort of like the chanter who is the heavy aoe tank. Druid's cone spells are hilarious when you use it at the front. And the blind works very well for parties that need to reduce their damage or make the enemy easier to hit (such as ciphers). Not a lot of enemies immune to blind from sunbeam. Combos well with prone and or wizard's aoe raw daze attack. I also experimented with outlander's frenzy + shapeshift, and it works out quite well for the druid's burst dps.

 

The barbarian, I also take savage defiance with, plus healing multipliers. Makes the barbarian, not a tank, but something that can absorb some damage in case your main tank's endurance is too low.  I didn't like savage blows, wasn't as game changing as frenzy or the self heal.

 

 

As for paladin, I go with arquebus/arbalest, and then weapon/ sshield. With zealous focus, put Pallegina in the middle, and have her support. Go to melee if melee is needed. Otherwise keep using range dps.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Ymarsakar

[Ichthyic]

I tend to roleplay more than powerplay (hell, you can actually solo the game on POTD if you want that kind of challenge).

with that in mind, I tend to follow the idea that the companions start off with their own builds in mind... and just expand on those.  whatever they come equipped with... that becomes their focus. 

for example, Hiravias' primary story revolves around his Stealgar shapeshift abilities, so it makes sense to pump his shapeshifting skills.

no matter what difficulty you play at, if you stick to the directions each companion seems to already be going in (indicated by the equipment they carry, or the stories they tell), you won't go wrong.

even if you keep Sagani with a hunting bow and never give her any firearms, or leave pallegina with a primary focus on great swords... you will do just fine.

I get that some want to spend hours thinking about the design of each character, and that's cool, but for someone reading this thread and thinking about playing the game for the first time... don't worry too much about it.  You don't HAVE to, if you would prefer just moving through the game and the storyline.

and that works, even if you decide you want to start your first run on the hardest difficulty.



 

Edited March 16, 2016 by Ichthyic

[JerekKruger]

I tend to lie somewhere in between a role-player and a powergamer myself. For example, I tend to stick to bows with Sagani because it seems wrong for this bow hunter to suddenly start using guns, but I still think about what skills will make her the best she can be with bows.

 

Also when creating my main character I try to avoid reducing any stat below 8, and ideally most should be 10 or above, unless I can justify it in some way from an RP perspective; but at the same time I do try to make my stat spread decent within those limits.

[Elric Galad]

Sagani (and her boreal people) has increased utility now that one of WM II major boss is a primordial with wilders minions.

(Adra minions were also primordials and wilders.)

 

With the chanter "I like killing dragons" chant and all anti-vessel weaponry, all major battles are covered by some specific counter.

 

PoE difficulty is mostly about 6 crazy fights. I think this kind of metagame considerations are relevent.

[Crucis]

I tend to lie somewhere in between a role-player and a powergamer myself. For example, I tend to stick to bows with Sagani because it seems wrong for this bow hunter to suddenly start using guns, but I still think about what skills will make her the best she can be with bows.

 

Also when creating my main character I try to avoid reducing any stat below 8, and ideally most should be 10 or above, unless I can justify it in some way from an RP perspective; but at the same time I do try to make my stat spread decent within those limits.

 

I'm with you, Jerek, on all of these points.  I prefer to avoid excessive min-maxing of attributes. 

 

And I prefer to stick with bows (preferably hunting bows) for Sagani for the same reason as you.  Though in all honesty, I'm not a big fan of guns in this game.  Part of it is that they rub me the wrong way in terms of the no-guns fantasy paradigm.  But I'm mostly over that.  The thing that really gets me for any character who's thinking about using guns as their main weapon is the fact that you really have to invest in one extra talent (gunner), and maybe even a second (quick switch), to get the most out your guns.  And on top of that, consider having a chanter in the party to chant the shorter reload chant.  That seems like a really, really high cost just to use guns as a main weapon.  Oh, if you have a front liner who carries a gun (or an arbalest) as an initial alpha strike weapon then switches to a melee weapon, that doesn't really count.  At least with bows, you don't have to put up with long reloads and the need to take one or two extra talents to support your ranged weapon's effectiveness.

[Crucis]

Sagani (and her boreal people) has increased utility now that one of WM II major boss is a primordial with wilders minions.

(Adra minions were also primordials and wilders.)

 

With the chanter "I like killing dragons" chant and all anti-vessel weaponry, all major battles are covered by some specific counter.

 

PoE difficulty is mostly about 6 crazy fights. I think this kind of metagame considerations are relevent.

 

Honestly, after having Pallegina use The Redeemer in my last run (my first through WM1/2, particularly WM2), I think that the Redeemer is extremely OP.  I mean, seriously, in combination with Eder wielding Abydon's Hammer, Pallegina was able to plow thru the Eyeless like a hot knife thru butter.  And in the final battle against Thaos, Pallegina nuked both of the Judges with ridiculous ease.

 

IMO, The Redeemer would be a lot less OP if the anti-vessel slaying ability was replaced with the more reasonable anti-vessel ability that you can add to any weapon, IIRC, a +4 (?) bonus to accuracy and +25% to damage.  This would prevent those Redeemer shenanigans of one shot killing of monsters like the Eyeless or the Judges.  Mind you, I'll be the first to admit that it's amusing to zap vessels with the Redeemer.  But after the first few, it really loses its charm because it makes those battles ridiculously easy.

[Elric Galad]

Just thinking : does the redeemer work on the floatting weapons summoned by these annoying vithrack ?

[AndreaColombo]

IMO, The Redeemer would be a lot less OP if the anti-vessel slaying ability was replaced with the more reasonable anti-vessel ability that you can add to any weapon, IIRC, a +4 (?) bonus to accuracy and +25% to damage.

 

It would also make it a terribly bland weapon that isn't worth using in any case. At least right now it's situational: Best weapon against Vessels. If you take that out, it's just another sword with good looks and meh abilities.

 

What could be done is flag Woedica's Judges in the final fight as not killable through Destroy Vessels (suffice to make them level-17 creatures.) It does seem overkill to have two weapons at your disposal that can one-shot the Eyeless—then again I also expected the Eyeless to be higher than level 12. With that said, I didn't use the Redeemer against them despite having it fully unlocked in my last play through because I couldn't be arsed to equip it.

[Crucis]

 

IMO, The Redeemer would be a lot less OP if the anti-vessel slaying ability was replaced with the more reasonable anti-vessel ability that you can add to any weapon, IIRC, a +4 (?) bonus to accuracy and +25% to damage.

 

It would also make it a terribly bland weapon that isn't worth using in any case. At least right now it's situational: Best weapon against Vessels. If you take that out, it's just another sword with good looks and meh abilities.

 

What could be done is flag Woedica's Judges in the final fight as not killable through Destroy Vessels (suffice to make them level-17 creatures.) It does seem overkill to have two weapons at your disposal that can one-shot the Eyeless—then again I also expected the Eyeless to be higher than level 12. With that said, I didn't use the Redeemer against them despite having it fully unlocked in my last play through because I couldn't be arsed to equip it.

 

 

 

I would hardly call the standard +4 acc/+25% damage vs vessels a meh ability.  I will say that it might be worth giving it an additional something to give the weapon more oomph, without making it ridiculously OP.  Maybe a lash?  Maybe a Will save bonus? 

 

And yes, it's situational.  And it'd still be situational with the above suggested change.  To go any other route would change the essential nature of the weapon.  That said, if you read through the weapon's "story", there's nothing in it that gives one any reason to think that it should be an anti-vessel or anti-undead weapon.  In theory, its effects could be completely different and still be in keeping with its background story.

 

 

[AndreaColombo]

I would hardly call the standard +4 acc/+25% damage vs vessels a meh ability.

 

Not "meh" in terms of practical effects; "meh" because it's so vanilla and already available to you via enchanting.

Soulbound weapons are meant to be special, as in, more special than unique weapons. Destroy Vessels is the Redeemer's endgame; if you change it to a bland Slaying (Vessels), the sword becomes really uninteresting. Changing it to something else entirely would be fine by me; I'm not particularly tied to that specific ability. But it would have to be something cool, not a Slaying/Lash/Stat bonus that you can already get via enchanting. Heck, Tidefall is a way better sword against any other enemy type already; let's give the Redeemer some love

[Crucis]

 

I would hardly call the standard +4 acc/+25% damage vs vessels a meh ability.

 

Not "meh" in terms of practical effects; "meh" because it's so vanilla and already available to you via enchanting.

Soulbound weapons are meant to be special, as in, more special than unique weapons. Destroy Vessels is the Redeemer's endgame; if you change it to a bland Slaying (Vessels), the sword becomes really uninteresting. Changing it to something else entirely would be fine by me; I'm not particularly tied to that specific ability. But it would have to be something cool, not a Slaying/Lash/Stat bonus that you can already get via enchanting. Heck, Tidefall is a way better sword against any other enemy type already; let's give the Redeemer some love

 

 

It's so "special" that it's ridiculously OP (situationally, of course).  Also, IMO, most of the soulbound weapons are blah.  I don't like most of those cast spell X on Y% of hits/crits.   I honestly prefer reliability over some random, low percentage chance of triggering a spell effect.  Or for that matter, spells that are bound to the weapon for use X times per rest.  I hardly ever remember to use them.  Maybe they seem vanilla, but I just prefer reliable, constant effects that produce good solid results without the need for them being OP.

[Stasis_Sword]

Does anyone have a priest build for Durance (since he  isn't a Skaen Priest)? Also any ranger builds for Sagani?