[CLASS BUILD] Fire Priest (ranged sup-offdps)

[Lampros]

^ Aside from maxed MIG and INT, min-maxing is indeed not that necessary.

 

I usually use this priest with:

- Kana's arquebuss between levels 2-6

- and Gyrd Háewanes Sténes once I get access to rank 3-4 spells

 

His weakest damage contribution (relative to the rest of the party) is between levels 5-7. But once you start using Shining Beacons once in awhile he starts to catchup with Barbarian in terms of total damage done. 

 

Great. Will look forward to those skills. Currently level 5!

[DragoDarkstorm]

The Godhammer- Boreal Dwarf - sturdy fellow which prefers arquebuses and Abydon's Hammer. Follower of Magran.

 

---

STATS:

- Godhammer: 20/7/17/12/19/3

 

---

TALENTS AND ABILITIES:

- Interdiction (!)

- Painful Interdiction (!)

- Inspiring Radiance ®

- Inspired Flame (Godhammer) / Prey on the Weak (Mecwyn) / Aggrandizing Radiance (Moonfire/Anyone)

- Scion of Flame ®

- Envenomed Strike

- Weapon Focus Soldier (Godhammer) / Noble (Mecwyn) / Adventurer (Moonfire) | or Bonus 4th Level Spell ®

- Deep Pockets or Galant's Focus or Would Binding or Field Triage or Interrupting Blows or Beast Slayer or whatever

 

SKILLS:

- athletics: 4-5

- survival: 4 or 10

- lore: 8 or 10 | Recommended scrolls: Wall of Flame, Moonwell, Fireball, Valor, Boiling Water. If solo: Mass Confusion.

 

MASTERY:

1. Barbs of Condemnation or Blessing

2. Divine Mark or Suppress Affliction

3. Pillar of Faith or Dire Blessing

4. Shinning Beacon or Devotions for the Faithful

 

---

EQUIPMENT (COMMON):

Rings: Gwyn's Band of Union; Ring of Thorns; Ring of Changing Heart; Pensiavi mes Rèi

Head: Maegfolc Skull or Garodh's Chorus (3mig, preserve) or nothing in case of Moonfire (but will need to get that 3 might via other items)

Gloves: Celebrant's Gloves/Gloves of Quickness

Cape: Swaddling Sheet; Cape of the Master Mystic (invis); Shimmering Cloak; Shroud of Mourning

Amulet: Necklace of Fireballs; Nîdhen's Finger(+3con); Marked Amulet(+3con); St. Borragia's Tears(+15% healing); Engwithan Adra Ban Amulet(+3 mig);

Belt: Belt of Chimes; Sentinel's Girdle (+3 mig); Girdle of Maegfolc Might (+3 mig); Belt of the Stelgaer (+3 con); Girdle of Mortal Protection (-27% from crit)

Boots: Patchwork Boots; Shod in Faith

 

EQUIPMENT (GODHAMMER):

Weapons: Pliambo per Casitàs, Abydon's Hammer (when in 'caster' mode)

Armor: Wayfarer's Hide

Reasoning: Extra defenses against status effects are always nice. Especially +15 against paralyzed. And ofc Nature's Vigor spellbind. Also it has sort of synergy with arquebus, which being a reloading weapon won't suffer from a bit of extra recovery.

 

Thanks for the terrific post!  I'm on my first run-through of Pillars of Eternity and I've decided to go with the Godhammer Priest build.  My party is about to hit level 6 so it's early days for me.  My current party consists of my MC, an NPC Pale Elf Druid "Thundercat" build, Durance, Kana and Aloth, with Sagani cooling her heels at the Stronghold.  It's been going very well; there have been a few extended battles with some staunch opponents, but so far the battles haven't been very difficult.  As I'm learning the game and mechanics I've found I still have many questions about how to manage this build - especially in the early stages of the game:

 

1. Managing the RES stat - Like I said, the battles haven't been that tough but my MC's adjusted Resolve is still only 3, with a Concentration modifier of -21.  This has resulted in a few of my spells being interrupted.  A bit irksome, but manageable.  However, as I continue to level and get myself into tougher battles, I expect it will become a problem untiI can raise RES through buffs and equipment.  Is that actually the case?  For now I can quaff a few Potions of Spirit Shield (+30 Concentration for 45 seconds) for the tougher battles, but is it necessary to raise Resolve to a certain level?  For example, raising it to 10 will change the Concentration, Deflection and Will modifiers to +0 and avoid a persistent negative modifier to Concentration.  

 

2. Order of Talents - I've chosen Interdiction and Painful Interdiction for my first two Talents, because they're marked Necessary on your list.  They've proven to be extremely useful and I begin every battle with them.  My choice for the next Talent is a bit unclear though, since there are three Recommended Talents.  I would like to take Scion of Flame next, then Inspiring Radiance followed by Bonus 4th Level Spell.  My rationale for doing so is that things are going pretty well so far, so I'd rather have the 20% damage bonus first to help shorten the longer battles, Inspiring Radiance next for the potential to do more damage through more Hits and Critical Hits, with Bonus 4th Level Spell last because Priest is a redundant class in my party (I can use Durance to cast a few extra Shining Beacons or Devotions for the Faithful).  Does this make sense?  Also, how important is Weapon Focus?  It seems there's a premium placed on abilities that increase Accuracy so is there a certain point in the game where I'll need to have a lot of Accuracy?  How would you best take advantage of the extra two item slots you get with Deep Pockets?  Interrupting Blows seems like it could be extremely useful right?

 

I realize as a Veteran of Pillars of Eternity it might be easy for you to think, "It doesn't matter in Normal difficulty," and that's probably true.  Still I'd appreciate whatever insights or feedback you can offer.  Thanks in advance, and good luck in your adventuring!

[MaxQuest]

1. The approach to Concentration is: either take points from other stats into RES; or keep your character highly specialized but let other party-members help with priest being uninterrupted. For example I use 2 ciphers and a wizard for keeping enemies disabled. Priest is not getting interrupted if the enemy cannot attack.

 

- If you rise Concentration via RES stat - it will become another build, as the whole point is to have max MIG/INT (because of the way DoTs do profit from both) plus decent DEX/PER. But you can take the Gyrd sceptre (it adds 3 RES), and take Belt of Chimes/Celebrant's Gloves.

 

- If you have problems with firing spells-up, you could consider an offtank priest instead. You will have to give-up on dealing decent spell damage without Minor Avatar on, through.

 

2. Regarding talents: the only must-haves are Painful Interdiction and Inspiring Radiance. As they make much easier for your party cc to land, plus it adds +30 to effective accuracy of your Shinning Beacons.

Scion of Flame, Wilder Hunter and Ghost Hunter are great if you have the UPMod installed. If not they are optional.

 

I would still recommend taking Aggrandizing Radiance - as +2 to all stats per-encounter is nice. And the bonus 4th spell slot - because casting one more Beacon and dealing extra 240+ damage is nothing to sniff at.

 

All other talents are completely situational and depend on your party composition. Specifically for your case, I'd recommend:

- Inspiring Radiance

- Interdiction

- Painful Interdiction

- Aggrandizing Radiance

- Deep Pockets - Generally you'd want to have the following quick items: DAoM, Potion of Major Stamina, Potion of Major Recovery, Flask of War Paint, Scrolls of Paralysis and the one of 3: Scrolls of Confusion (op, but avoid buffing enemies), Infuse Vitality (good early on), Bullwark vs Elements (if there are shades)

- Scion of Flame

- Prey on the Weak if you will use the Gyrd sceptre (what's your deity btw?) / Apprentice's Sneak Attack otherwise

- Envenomed Strike / Wound Binding

 

As for weapon focus:

- it's not worth it for damage dealing, as your main contribution comes via spells

- taking it, or priest specific +10 acc can be worth it with soulbound weapons, partially for Gyrd (because of domination proc) and partially for Abydon's Hammer - if you are going to use it to kill eyeless on crit.

 

Regarding Interruption Blows:

- it's not worth it, because DoT ticks do not interrupt.

Edited October 26, 2017 by MaxQuest

[DragoDarkstorm]

@MaxQuest thanks for the feedback!  First let me give you some more basic information about the version of PoE I'm playing.  I only have the base game installed so far; I wanted to test it out and see if I like it well enough to add the DLCs.  I do have the IE Mod installed and the relevant options I have enabled are: Disable Engagement, Unlock Combat Inventory/Loot, Fix Moving Recovery Rate, Disable Friendly Fire, Game Speed Mod, Remove Combat-Only Restrictions, Bonus Spells, Target Turned Enemies, Cipher Base Focus 3/4 of Maximum.  Some of these I'll probably play without on subsequent play-throughs of the game, but they are helpful for now.  So far the areas I've visited after Gilded Vale are: Esternwood, Raedric's Hold, Magran's Fork, Black Meadow, Caed Nua, Anslog's Compass, Woodend Plains, Aedelwan Bridge, Copperlane and First Fires.  I recently defeated the group in the Catacombs and I'm mopping up quests in Copperlane at the moment.  My party is Level 5, about 2000 xp each away from Level 6.

 

Now let me give you some more information regarding my MC and the custom NPC Druid (since I'm sure you're very familiar with the stock NPCs' abilities).  MC is a Boreal Dwarf Priest of Magran; I tried to build him as close to your build guidelines for Godhammer as possible.  Base stats are: 20/7/17/12/19/3 and his current stats are 22/8/17/12/21/3.  I haven't found any Might-Enchanted gear yet, although I was able to infuse his armor with Might +2.  His enchanted gear is as follows: Fine Robe of Might +2, Talisman of the Unconquerable, Fulvano's Boots, and Girdle of Mortal Protection.  Weapon Set 1 is Shatterstar and Fine Small Shield, Weapon Set 2 is Fine Wand.  Quickslot Items are Potion of Spirit Shield, Potion of Major Regeneration, Potion of Iron Skin, Potion of Major Recovery, Duc's Own Beefloaf, and Potion of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion.  

 

For my NPC Druid, you can find L4wilight's 'Thundercat' build here: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/86064-class-build-the-thundercat-or-crit-me-maybe-on-more-time/. His base stats are: 18/9/20/10/18/3 and his current stats are 18/10/22/11/20/3.  Enchanted gear: The Dunryd Demon, Pike's Pride, Minor Ring of Deflection, Torc of the Falcon's Eyes, Fulvano's Gloves, Minor Ring of Protection, Blunting Belt.  Weapon Set 1 is Gaun's Share and Fine Small Shield.  Weapon Set 2 is Hearth Harvest and Fine Small Shield.  Quickslot Items are Potion of Power, Potion of Major Regeneration, Potion of Iron Skin, Rauatai's Sweet Pie, Potion of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion, and Potion of Bulwark Against the Elements.

 

So I understand what you're saying about Resolve; I'll continue to ignore it in favor of increasing Might and Intellect.  I haven't encountered Grieving Mother yet, but when I do I'll be happy to add her and remove Kana, who is only in the party because I wasn't impressed with Sagani.  I can add a second Cipher later and remove Durance, who I've left in the party for roleplaying reasons (apparently he is involved heavily with the main story).  My MC Priest's spells are interrupted only rarely, even without Ciphers in the party.  I usually use CC spells and abilities at the beginning of combat and then as the flow of battle permits.  Opening moves are: Eber - Knockdown or Enter the Fray; Durance - Pillar of Faith; Druid casts Tanglefoot; MC casts (Painful) Interdiction; Aloth casts Fetid Curse or Curse of Blackened Sight; Kana attacks with his arquebus and then Justice until he can cast The Thunder Rolled.  This usually keeps enemies occupied so I can focus on taking them out one at a time, occasionally casting more CC effects as necessary.

 

I can certainly take Inspiring Radiance as my next Talent, although I don't understand how the +10 Accuracy buff from Inspiring Radiance translates to +30 Accuracy for Shining Beacon.  (And I won't have access to Shining Beacon until I hit level 7).  I hadn't realized there were still so many issues that needed to be fixed after installing the IE Mod.  Thanks for mentioning the UP Mod; I'll install that right away!  Why would I be in danger of buffing enemies with Scrolls of Confusion?  And if I understand you correctly, I can put off taking Weapon Focus until I get Gyrd or Abydon's Hammer, is that right?  I get what you mean about Priest not worrying about melee damage.  And I see what you mean about Interruption Blows not affecting DoT ticks, although it reads like it would affect any damaging attack right?  So you're saying it's just not worth it over the other Talents you recommend?

 

Besides the IE Mod and the UP Mod, are there other Mods you recommend ?  Thanks again for the feedback; I really appreciate it!  Good luck in your adventuring

Edited October 27, 2017 by DragoDarkstorm

[MaxQuest]

That's a quite detailed party description

I am short on time right at the moment, so will address this first:

I can certainly take Inspiring Radiance as my next Talent, although I don't understand how the +10 Accuracy buff from Inspiring Radiance translates to +30 Accuracy for Shining Beacon.

Inspiring Radiance provides: +10 acc bonus.

Painful Interdiction provides (along other things): -20 will defense on affected targets

Together they provide a +30 effective acc bonus to affect enemies with Shining Beacon (which targets will).

 

---

Why would I be in danger of buffing enemies with Scrolls of Confusion?

Confused enemies that have switched their alliance will get affected by your AoE buffs if you cast any, and they are in radius.

 

And if I understand you correctly, I can put off taking Weapon Focus until I get Gyrd or Abydon's Hammer, is that right?

Yeap.

 

And I see what you mean about Interruption Blows not affecting DoT ticks, although it reads like it would affect any damaging attack right? So you're saying it's just not worth it over the other Talents you recommend?

Yeap.

 

I do have the IE Mod installed and the relevant options I have enabled are: Disable Engagement, Unlock Combat Inventory/Loot, Fix Moving Recovery Rate, Disable Friendly Fire, Game Speed Mod, Remove Combat-Only Restrictions, Bonus Spells, Target Turned Enemies, Cipher Base Focus 3/4 of Maximum.

Disabling friendly fire - can make scrolls of paralysis much much more useful.

Cipher Base Focus 3/4 of Maximum - that would be a sensible buff to any cipher you would take.

 

---

As for party composition, look you can either go for a sturdy team, killing stuff over time:

- frontline: Kana, Eder, NPC Druid

- midline: Durance

- backline: MC Priest, Aloth

 

where:

- Eder tanks

- Kana deals damage via Dragon Trashed

- Druid offtanks, deals ST damage in spiritshift form, and throws AoE stuns/prones (esp. Relentless Storm) once in awhile

- Durance - is there for buffing and offtanking. During Minor Avatar can contribute to dealing damage, when finished casting buffs

- MC Priest - is there to trump majority of boss fights, plus throw a Shinning Beacon once in awhile. For example if you rest on average after 8 easy-medium fights, you can use a Beacon in every second fight; and unload all remaining usages once you know that you will have to rest after given encounter anyway

- Aloth - is there mostly for Shadowflame and Slicken which shall be mastered; interruptions (kalakoths minor blights + blast); Mass Confusion, Gaze of Adragan, Call to Slumber, Wall of Many Colors and Concehaut's Doom. He doesn't have a stellar PER, but on normal you won't really feel it.

 

Other way could be:

- frontline: Kana, NPC Paladin, Grieving Mother

- midline: Aloth

- backline: MC Priest, NPC Cipher

 

Where:

- NPC Paladin - is main tank (gold pact or darcozzi) (moon godlike or wild orlan), and used for Lay on Hands, Zealous Focus, and anti-charm/dominate/confuse utility

- GM - is your main debilitator, with a 2H weapon: Tidefall/Firebrand in early-mid game, Blade of the Endless Paths in the late game.

- NPC Cipher - a wood elf used for both damage and cc

- the rest do same thing as before

Edited October 27, 2017 by MaxQuest

[DragoDarkstorm]

Confused enemies that have switched their alliance will get affected by your AoE buffs if you cast any, and they are in radius.

---

As for party composition, look you can either go for a sturdy team, killing stuff over time:

- frontline: Kana, Eder, NPC Druid

- midline: Durance

- backline: MC Priest, Aloth

 

where:

- Eder tanks

- Kana deals damage via Dragon Trashed

- Druid offtanks, deals ST damage in spiritshift form, and throws AoE stuns/prones (esp. Relentless Storm) once in awhile

- Durance - is there for buffing and offtanking. During Minor Avatar can contribute to dealing damage, when finished casting buffs

- MC Priest - is there to trump majority of boss fights, plus throw a Shinning Beacon once in awhile. For example if you rest on average after 8 easy-medium fights, you can use a Beacon in every second fight; and unload all remaining usages once you know that you will have to rest after given encounter anyway

- Aloth - is there mostly for Shadowflame and Slicken which shall be mastered; interruptions (kalakoths minor blights + blast); Mass Confusion, Gaze of Adragan, Call to Slumber, Wall of Many Colors and Concehaut's Doom. He doesn't have a stellar PER, but on normal you won't really feel it.

 

Other way could be:

- frontline: Kana, NPC Paladin, Grieving Mother

- midline: Aloth

- backline: MC Priest, NPC Cipher

 

Where:

- NPC Paladin - is main tank (gold pact or darcozzi) (moon godlike or wild orlan), and used for Lay on Hands, Zealous Focus, and anti-charm/dominate/confuse utility

- GM - is your main debilitator, with a 2H weapon: Tidefall/Firebrand in early-mid game, Blade of the Endless Paths in the late game.

- NPC Cipher - a wood elf used for both damage and cc

- the rest do same thing as before

I knew that Confusion could cause mobs to attack their allies but I hadn't realized that when that happens they actually switch allegiance a la Charm spells; thanks for the heads up.

 

Regarding party composition, I really like the NPC Druid so I may stick with the group I have.  I hadn't thought about putting Kana on the front line but i might as well; the range on his abilities (at least the ones he has at level 6) pretty much demands melee range.  I'll admit there's a steep learning curve for me with Chanter; it's a completely new class to me.  I've been kind of thinking of him as a Bard but that's really not what he is.  I'll need to read up on the melee Chanter role to see how he should be played.  I mean I've been using him in melee anyway, but I just haven't researched the Chanter class the way I have the others in my party, mainly because I'd planned to replace him with Grieving Mother or a Monk (because the classes seem like they're more fun to play).  But maybe I'm being too hasty - basically in your second composition you're ranking Kana as a better frontline damage dealer than my Druid so I've clearly underestimated what a Chanter can do).  If I decide to try replacing Kana with another class, and later decide I want to bring Kana back, when I add him back to the party from the Stronghold will his level scale with my main character's level or will he have to catch up?

 

Thanks again for the feedback, I really appreciate it

[MaxQuest]

I knew that Confusion could cause mobs to attack their allies but I hadn't realized that when that happens they actually switch allegiance a la Charm spells; thanks for the heads up.

From Confusion description:

Every 6 seconds the target randomly chooses to do one of:

- Behave normally,

- Attack its allies,

- Move in a random direction, or

- Do nothing.

As I understood if a confused enemy is in 'phase 2' he is considered your ally.

 

I'll admit there's a steep learning curve for me with Chanter; it's a completely new class to me.

Chanter is one of the least supervision required classes. Partially because of the usual low dex coupled with offtank role. And partially because Dragon Trashed does all the work for you.

 

I just haven't researched the Chanter class the way I have the others in my party, mainly because I'd planned to replace him with Grieving Mother or a Monk (because the classes seem like they're more fun to play).

You have enough of basic cc, e.g. Aloth and Druid, each being able to cast 1-2 AoEs per encounter. What your party lacks is per-encounter damage. And Dragon Trashed should fix this.

 

when I add him back to the party from the Stronghold will his level scale with my main character's level or will he have to catch up?

His level won't scale-up.

You can somewhat alleviate this via sending him on stronghold adventures. But I haven't compared the xp numbers.

 

P.S. If you want a quicker lvl 9, just do the first 3 bounties + Defiance Bay quests and hearing.

[Rooksx]

Could Nature Godlike work well? The buffs it gets when low on health are pretty sweet.

[JerekKruger]

Could Nature Godlike work well? The buffs it gets when low on health are pretty sweet.

 

The race isn't all that important, especially if you're playing with a party, so if you like Nature Godlikes go for it. That said, Nature Godlike is perhaps the worst race in the game so if you're looking at them from a power gaming point of view I'd look somewhere else.

 

In case you're wondering, the reason they're bad is because you shouldn't be spending much of your time at low health and as a Godlike you lose the ability to wear a helmet e.g. one that gives you +3 or even +4 Might all the time.

[Boeroer]

Yes, but Wellspring of Life stacks with everything. But since stat points are not overwhelmingly important in PoE I'd also say it's one of the weakest races.

[JerekKruger]

Whereas it's looking to be a pretty good racial in Deadfire. 

[Boeroer]

It's good if you are using something where Power Level has impact. Like healing spells for example.

[JerekKruger]

I like it on Wizards. Super easy to activate and a lot of their spells scale with Power Level.

[Boeroer]

Druid Livegiver is my no. 1 candidate for it.

[L4wlight]

Yes druid Livegiver and wizard Evoker.

[Dorftek]

But that's ^ theory.

And here is a dps test vs Alpine Dragon in practice: link to video

In-combat time: 95s (including pauses and buffing)

 

And one more test: solo naked vs Alpine Dragon: link to video

In-combat time: 3m 30s (including pauses and buffing)

 

 

That was the most awesome display of power i have ever seen in a game! WOW!

[dragothica]

This was a great guide for PoE 1st playthrough, didn't even go PotD as well, it was the first playthrough.

 

But this isn't really usable in PoE 2: Deadfire as the game systems have changed in many ways. Any tips for a similar Pure Priest build for the 2nd game?

[MaxQuest]

^ I have tried a Helwalker of Berath in Deadfire.

 

18/7/15/15/19/4 human, with

armor: Aloth's Armor

main set: Aloth's Sceptre + Tuotilo's Palm

offset: Magran's Favor + Tuotilo's Palm

 

it was okay'ish... but very far from great.

First of all I would change from Berath to Wael. Because there are situations when you really want that Arcane Veil deflection vs enemy archers.

 

But best of all would be just to go single-class and thus speed-up your spell progression. Bonus points if it is your main, and you can get +2 to all stats from Berath's Blessings.

[TheMetaphysician]

I'm thinking of playing Pillars 1 again, and want to use a priest I actually like, instead of Durance. Thinking of modding Grieving Mother into a priest and using this build. I've not had luck modding the attributes, though, so I'll be using her attributes. She has good Int and Dex, but mediocre might (11). Is that a build-killer? Or is the extra 7 or so Might just a moderate power-reducer?

Edited February 4, 2019 by TheMetaphysician

[MaxQuest]

Is that a build-killer? Or is the extra 7 or so Might just a moderate power-reducer?

Let's think:

 

Moonfire build has base: 18MIG and 20INT, and up to: 36MIG and 31INT with gear + Minor Avatar

GM has base: 11MIG and 17INT. This will go up to: 28MIG and 28INT

 

Now we can compare Shinning Beacon damage:

- Moonfire: 80 x 1.78 x 2.05 = 292

- GM: 80 x 1.54 x 1.90 = 234

 

Well... this is still decent. And will work including on PotD.

But there will definitely be less impact if used without Minor Avatar, especially early on because of less healing.

 

Btw, after several runs, my favorite variation is:

- moon godlike with Shod-in-Faith + Swaddling Sheet + Gyrd Háewanes Sténes/Abydon's Hammer + Raiment of Wael's Eyes.

Edited February 4, 2019 by MaxQuest

[TheMetaphysician]

All soulbounds still benefit from the priest weapon-specific accuracy talents (Incomprehensible Revelation for Wael, etc.), right? So wouldn't you take that even for the Eothas priest, if you are using the soulbound scepter and Abydon's Hammer?

 

Also, does Aggrandizing Radiance stack with Minor Avatar?

Edited February 10, 2019 by TheMetaphysician

[Boeroer]

Yes.

 

Yes.

 

[TheMetaphysician]

MaxQuest, another question for you: you suggest using some Spell Holding items (Shod-in-Faith, Swaddling Sheet, Celebrant's Gloves), which seem like a waste to use on him if he isn't getting critically hit most every fight. Do you stick him up front, or does he get crit most of the time even in the back? Where in the back?

[MaxQuest]

Think of such a formation:

 

frontline: chanter (1h+shield), paladin (1h + shield), wizard (1h + shield)

midline (somewhere 4m behind frontline): priest

backline (somewhere 8-10m behind frontline): cipher (bow), cipher (bow)

 

Because of the closer proximity and lower deflection, hp and freeze AR, the priest acts as a magnet for enemy barbarians, shades and monks. Some ranged enemies might target such priest as well.

I was often seeing Swadling Sheet proc in the first 6s of combat.

 

The idea is: the enemies that ignore frontline, all gather in one place. Get AoE Stunned. Trigger Shod-in-Faith and bonus defenses from Gyrd Háewanes Sténes and Raiment of Wael's Eyes. And can be easily AoEd by wizard and 2 ciphers. Well and by priest too.

 

Also Ring of Thorns is especially good on such a scapegoat in the early-mid game. Shades use Draining Freeze (which applies paralyze), and after that can hardly hit him.

You can check shades target preferences: here.

Edited February 14, 2019 by MaxQuest