Need help in second playthrough

[Valdee]

Hello. First, sorry for my english. Not native speaker. I want to ask for help. In my first playthrough my main char was a rogue. Bad build but game was very enjoyable. PoE remember me such titles as BG or ICD. Recently I bought White March expansion (both parts) and I need help with another character. Can you give me some tips? I want to play on hard mode (I'm sure that PotD is to much for me) with encountered in game companions. I like Eder, Kana, Hiravias and Pallegina. I don't like Durance. Aloth is Ok. My char should be smart, agile and perceptive. Not very strenght but not weak too. Also he should be talkative. Maybe able to cast some spells or use abilities. I don't have problem with micromanagemnts (not to often). I think I have few options:

 

1. Rogue.

Two weapons or weapon + buckler (with bash maybe so I can use full attack ability). Light or medium armour. Bow as second weapon.  It fit to my personal passions: close combat (with knives) and archery. Next merit: no need to be might. So high Dex, Per and Int. Is viable some crit builds?

 

2. Druid.

Shapeshifter. In harder combats he first cast some spells then go to melee. High Might, Per and Int. I don't know what weapon and armour he should wear. Unfortunately I don't like rest to often. shapeshifting dont last long. Spells will run out and what then? My next char have the same problem.

 

3. Melee wizard.

Clever traveller with high lore and skilled for close combat. High Might. Then Int. Per? Dex? Maybe two handed weapon and light robes. Not sure.  And last idea:

 

4. Priest Eothas or Berath.

These aspects fit to my personality. Not cruel or aggressive. In my opinion Eothas looks better for roleplay view, right? I found some nice view build: "How I buffed the others. Looks like spellcaster who can also take chis chance in close combat. Heavy armour, shield and mace or morning star.

 

So, which one is "better"? I mean, more fun in all aspects of game (talks, quests and combats)? For all acts? I think all "spellswords" are familiar in use: first buff (or release beast inside) then fight.

And, one more question: do you play with enabled AI for companions?

[Boeroer]

After countless playthroughs with a lot of different builds I now have a melee priest of berath with Tidefall as main weapon, focused on dealing damage and buffing. It's a lot of fun. My approach is to stack as much MIG as possible - I'm also aiming for the Maegfolc Skull and Abydon's Hammer as "casting" weapon. Shining Beacon with nearly 50 MIG is devastating... And Tidefall's wounding gets enhanced by MIG, so great melee damage, too. Especially if you combine Envenomed Strike or Runner's Wounding Shot with Tidefall and Cleansing Flame. Kills even tough foes quickly. Also - with Triumph of the Crusaders - able to solo the game.

Another thing is that this priest with high MIG and the right dialogue choices one-shots most vessels with his holy radiance.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Boeroer

[omgFIREBALLS]

Nearly fifty? H to the O to the W?

[Boeroer]

21 starting MIG, +2 from Aggrandizing Radiance (amongst other stat buffs), +10 from Champion's Boon (or +8 from Minor Avatar), +4 from Abydon's Hammer, +4 from Maegfolc Skull, +1 from Gift from the Machine, +1 from Effigy's Resentment, +1 Galawain's Boon, +3 resting Bonus, +2 prostitute = 49 MIG - I think food bonuses don't stack with Champion's Boon.

 

If you want Gift from the Machine and Effigiy's Resentment you shouldn't pick Eothas or Berath though, because they both don't like cruelty. So your max would be 47.

 

Of course that's a lot of fuzz and partly late game. I normally don't care too much about resting bonuses an prostitutes, meaning I don't travel just to get it, I only take it if I'm there anyway. But the rest you can have rel early and use easily in every fight and get around 35 to 40 MIG:

Before I can use Champion's Boon I usually use Holy Might (also nice for RES), then later the Sanguine Plate and then CHampions's Boon or even Mnor Avatar - because it adds more stats and affects the same stats as Aggrandizing Radiance which stacks with everything.

This will give me +2 move speed for initial positioning and +10 to all attributes. Those stat buffs, combined with Inspiring Radiance give me +20 ACC (I could then buff more with Devotions for +40 alltogether, survival bonuses aside) and a ton of interrupt power and around 40 MIG, also a lot of DEX for quick casting. My defenses will be buffed by +20 which stacks with every other buff like Circle of Defense and makes it easy to survive the first impacts when I enter encounters. Then I cast Shining Beacon, followed by Cleansing Flame on the toughest foe. If anyone still lives I go and hit them with Tidefall, because it's Wounding Damage is insane with so much MIG and it also works with Cleansing Flame as I said. Same is true for Runner's Wounding Shot and Envenomed Strike which also get really powerful with a lot of MIG. When I hit any foe with Tidefall + Envenomed Strike, followed by Cleansing Flame, usually that's a death sentence. Later on I mainly use Abydon's Hammer because I'm too lazy for switching and I like the +4 MIG too much for casting and self heals, even if Tidefall still may be the better weapon for dps. 

 

And as I said the Holy Radiance then kills most vessels on touch (and heals a lot). But that's also the result of the correct dialogue choices which enhance the damage a lot which then get's amplified by MIG. If I remember correctly it did more than 300 burn damage over time last time I checked. Ouch...

Aggrandizing and Inspiring Radiance already buff the ACC and the damage of the radiance's burn damage, which is cool.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Boeroer]

BUT: in the early game such a 2h priest is harder to play than most other builds. Until he gets his nice buffs he's squishy and can't hit stuff with his Great Sword. After taking Weapon Focus and The Pallid Hand (Berath) it gets a lot better. At that time you will also have buffs that are good enough. Until then you'd have to be very careful. 

 

Soloing with Triumph of the Crusaders is very effective: You will be the only one who kills - so all the heal-on-kill will go to you. With all that MIG you wil get insta-healed every time you kill a foe. I also took Wound Binding at some point because health was an issue, not endurance. You can skip that if you're resting a lot anyway.

 

This approach combines a lot of staying power (because of self healing an defense buffs) with great damage. But you have to be carefull and don't gt interrupted while buffing or positioning - that makes it fun I guess. And it's very satisfying to see all the approaching vessels die from the radiance alone. It's like snuffing out candles, esp. when you meet a lot vessels that are way below your level - like it happened to me in the Endless Paths, lvl 6.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[omgFIREBALLS]

My good sir, your grasp of this game's buff stacking mechanics is a treasure to this community and a shame to your ancestors.

[Valdee]

Thank you Boeroer. I play as a mighty priest of Berath. Boreal dwarf. M 21 Per 13 Int 14. Is it ok?  PotD mode. Not soloing. How should I evolve first levels? Invest in interdiction or take some combat skills?

[Boeroer]

It's totally ok. With this approach I mentioned - being solo and more focused on damage - I (personally) wouldn't even take Interdiction despite the fact that I normally like it a lot...

...because you will run out of talent points. I'd take Inspiring Radiance as soon as possible (ACC bonus stacks with everything, even Paladin's Zealous Focus or the priest's other ACC buffs), then Pallid Hand (will give you the ACC of a fighter), then Aggrandizing Radiance, then Weapon Focus. If you feel that you don't go into melee too often then you can skip things like Runner's Wounding Shot and Envenomed Strike and take Interdiction and Painful Interdiction instead. In the late game you might get the impression that you're casting a lot and don't go into melee at all except in very hard encounters. YOu can easily retrain then and skip all the melee stuff and totally concentrate on casting damaging stuff with your sky high MIG. On solo you will always have to hit stuff with your weapon if you don't want to rest after every fight - but with a party you don't need to.

 

 

My good sir, your grasp of this game's buff stacking mechanics is a treasure to this community and a shame to your ancestors.

Haha - thanks. But I think a lot of people know this stuff even better. Esp. the ones that solo a lot - or even exclusively. They are very good with all those neat little tricks and how to squeeze the most out of this game when it comes to numbers. I also do solo palythroughs, but not even 50/50 - more like 20 solo/80 party. I like party synergy too much - even if it makes the game way too easy even on PotD once you see how the wind blows.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Raven Darkholme]

That priest sounds like something I should try solo, but I really wanna do rogue next.

[bigwillystyle]

What stat spread did you use for your Priest at low levels, Boeroer?  That sounds like Act 1 could have been on the rough side!  

[Boeroer]

It was. I used plate, Veteran's Recovery and Consecrated Ground and had to rest a lot. And at the beginning I often switched to a shield. But after some levels it got a lot better. I had to skip some encounters first and came back later. For example the three bandits in the Valewood were too much for me at that time you come from Cilant Li's.

 

I played with max MIG, high INT and good PER, low CON+RES and DEX at 10. Didn't completely dump anything this time. Holy Power and Meditation balance out lowish RES and Concentration. I didn't retrain stats.

For most afflictions there are prayers and litanies. And healing via Triumph is great if you can kill fast enough. So your CON doesn't matter too much. Only thing is health.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Boeroer

[bigwillystyle]

So something like the below  ... ?  Trying to get a sense for high to move PER at the expense of INT.  I'm thinking of trying this out, it sounds fun.  Grab the Greatsword power at lvl 2 to fix accuracy, could be interesting.  I've played 8 CON / RES before and it's usually doable.

 

MIG 21

CON 8

DEX 10

PER 13 or 15?

INT 18 or 16?

RES 8 

[Boeroer]

Yeah, like that. PER 15 INT 16 is ok I'd say. 

 

Another thing: few people realise how good the Belt of Mortal Protection is. It's description says something like "receive 27% less from critical hits" and people think "well, only 27%, I'll skip that", but in fact 27% of 150% damage (from crit)  is ~41% of the normal 100% damage. So you nearly receive the same direct damage from crits as from hits. It makes low deflection and the threat of getting killed by crits less fearsome from early to mid game. I combined that with Shod-in-Faith and Fulvanos Amulett. That way you will have a good setup with early items that keeps you alive should you receive a lot of crits.

 

It doesn't prevent longer durations from crits though.