So, it's time to get back into PoE. This time around, I'm going for either human or Death Godlike Fighter with a buckler and a weapon. I need some advice though. 

 

I'm thinking sabres. They look good, do decent damage, and once you get up there in damage, the damage type isn't too important. I'm pretty sure Bittercut would be the best option in that case, but please correct me. 

 

However, a weapon with Speed would be really nice. The easy to access ones would be Danulya (I think that's the name) and the frost axe from the visiting stronghold merchant. But I really like swords and Last Blade of the White Forge is just so damn late in the game, otherwise I would almost certainly go for that. 

 

Any advice? Stick to Bittercut, use Durgan Steel sabre, shield, Gloves of Swift Action? I hate potions, so I'd rather not rely on the haste spell. 

 

Oh, and finally. I'm currently on patch 3.01. I've heard of a lot of bugs in 3.02. Is it worth updating, or should I just stick to what I've got until 3.03?

Another early speed weapon is the Sword of Daenysis which you can buy in the Salty Mast. Despite it's name it's a rapier - and also has rending, which is great for fast, light weapons. And there's also Spelltongue. It not only steals attack speed, but also duration for your buffs like Constant Recovery, Disciplined Barrage, Fighting Spirit and so on. Plus: it takes the buffs off of enemies.

Edited July 6, 20169 yr by Boeroer

Are you dead set on sword and board? I'm finding the fighter build I posted here to be working well, it's two weapons (hence decent DPS) but at least one is a hatchet so you get that decent defensive deflection buff too (the combo of Hearth Harvest and Vile Loner's Lance is pretty decent for a huge portion of the game, and once 3.03 hits you could use Captain Vicillo's Anger with Vile Loner's Lance for -10 accuracy -11 defenses against your melee target - I think they'll stack but I haven't tested it yet. Or you can use the Reghar Konnek for the speed enchant).

 

I'm currently level 12 solo in WM part I (I haven't even finished Act 2 yet) and it's working out pretty nicely. No real need for potions or anything, I'm finding even without Durgan enchants or Gauntlets of Swift Action I'm attacking pretty fast already. A big draw to the build is that it's easy enough to slap on Boots of Speed and kite tougher fights too with Persistence, giving the build a lot of versatility. The accuracy is also huge, so any spell scrolls you use hit pretty damn hard.

 

Other than that, if you are set on sword and board, your current weapon picks seem like a good idea (Bittercut and a shield). I wouldn't get too het up about completely minimising recovery, you should be attacking fairly fast anyway to not have to worry about potions, frenzy and the like.

Edited July 8, 20169 yr by Jojobobo

Thanks for the advice. Any tips on which patch to play? I've heard the save-load stacking bug is pretty bad in 3.02. 

It's easy to work around that bug: win your fights on the first try.

Early game the 3.02 stacking bug doesn't figure into gameplay too much, so I think you might be fine (just watch out for Animat defence stacking in Ondra's Gift - take them out early - and don't save often in the presence of Sly Cyrdel. Also use a bit of caution around Raedric's Keep).

 

Hopefully, by the time you're getting to the later game stages where the stacking bug becomes a problem 3.03 will land so you won't have to suffer for it. Two days ago one of the devs said it would go live soon, so on the bright side I think you only need to expect a further 3-4 month wait 

Or you could just use the beta patch?

I would go for human fighter with Bittercut - while both racial abilities are pretty useless the deathlike can't wear helmets (also +2int is meh as a fighter).