The undead killer

[Slack83er]

Hail'o! A particular concept of char just came to my mind: the undead killer priest. Famous for their hate for the abomination of the undead, they've got the strongest radiance possible and can kill undead relatively easily. I like it armed with some kind of crush weapon, such as mace, morning star, or better flail. A sort of crusader of the light. Can someone point me in the right direction with race, stats and gods?

Oh and, by the way.. is it worth it? I mean... are there enough undead around to justify this choice?

[Ben No.3]

It may be a bit specific... However, a melee buffer, debuffer and damag dealing priest is very viable indeed. So he'll not only kill the undead, but also everyone else

Deity: Many of the priests offensive spells deal burn damage, so I'd recommend Magran... Both for roleplay and her bonus spell talent is a burn-damage spell. Enchant your weapons with fire lash and with the right talent you'll deal quite some damage with all your spells and hits.

Stats: I am no expert on melee priests, but I would recommend two spreads (notice I did not include race or culture, you decide on that):

1. Early game, and keep it if you value roleplay over power game:

M: 15

C: 8

D: 10

P: 12

I: 16

R: 14

So, early on you'll have some better defenses, but this spread mainly should meet your request for a leader-character.

 

Later on, if you want to go for power gaming, I'd recommend:

M: 18

C: 3

D: 17

P: 15

I: 18

R: 3

 

Late game, you will have enogh spells to boost you into oblivion, no need for survivalbility from stats, but let's focus on spread 1 since it may suit you better.

So what you will do is be an off-tank priest. What does this mean? Well, basically you will be starting the big fights with buffing everyone, debuff the enemy, deal damage via spells and then go into melee. Priest has some very powerful spells so it will work out. So, what is there to notice?

Equippment:

I'd recommend a good mixture of speed and protection. Probably a Breastplate will fit you best, or if you want a bit more speed go for scale. At lower difficulties, you can also go by look... Breastplate tends to look way more noble/rich since it's valian design.

For weapons I'd recommend a sword since magrans blessing gives you a +10acc for it and the dual damage is nice as well. Whispers of Yenwood gives you +2 Con early on. Also have a small shield and the talent... In melee extra protection is always wanted, but as a caster we should avoid accuracy losses since they also affect our spells. As a secondary weapon take something with reach, so if the situation requires it (for example in a bottleneck) you can fight behind your frontline. Take veterans recovery, early on it is a live saver... Later you can respec.

For spells and spell mastery I recommend you simply take a look at the dozens of guides written by much better people around here.

But... Yeah Hope Incould help anyway

 

Please excuse the little detail I gave, I'm a bit tired from smashing my head against the wall after going through my thread in way of topic... But that's not to be discussed here.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Ben No.3

[DreamWayfarer]

Magran gives accuracy to Swords, not maces. Berath, however, favors maces, greatswords and is said to pay surprise visits to those who try to cheat death.

[Ben No.3]

Magran gives accuracy to Swords, not maces. Berath, however, favors maces, greatswords and is said to pay surprise visits to those who try to cheat death.

Yes swords... I meant swords! Sorry... As I said, but tired. I edited the post. Thanks

[Slack83er]

First and foremost thank you, that's no little detail at all!

I initially thought of eothas for the flail, a weapon I like so much. And a bit also for the rp aspect of eothas itself. If I take magran, will durance be redundant?

[Ben No.3]

He will probably be anyway... You can ignore the deity, it is important to have a priest. So, you probably won't use durance either way.

[DreamWayfarer]

Wait! Why not Berath?

[Boeroer]

St. Ydwen's (=St. Waidwen's) Redeemer is connected to Eothas, Berath doesn't like it when souls don't return to the wheel. Both are fitting I guess.

The most effective way to be a great slayer of vessels is to be the main char, have very high MIG (using buffs), picking sanctifier, using the bartender's ring and pick the right dialogue choices. That way you can severely damage vessels with your Holy Radiance. All the minor trash mob vessels will die from it. At higher levels even darguls and later also fampyrs drop dead. Very convenient.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

With a priest I won't be able to wield that sword anyway... Berath seems fitting with his hate for undead...sanctifier is cool, bartender's ring is great, and of course the great difference is made via dialogue choices...  the only thing is berath favors mace and great sword... i only like maces...great sword is not very to my liking.. Nightshroud instead is a great weapon...

All that is left is a shield... must still choose... 

 

and race... maybe dwarf...

[Slack83er]

M: 15

C: 8

D: 10

P: 12

I: 16

R: 14

This allocation is lacking some points...2 I think...  I made a Mountain dwarf, and it comes to:

 

M:16

C:10

D:10

P:12

I:16

R:14

 

Well...all the better after all... but maybe I should change something...

And what about...origin for example? I gave it Ecclesiastic...for 2 lore, in Aedyr... My lore is 4 right now..

and 1 Athletics... what shall I bring up? Even some survival could prove useful... bonus for vessels for example...

[Boeroer]

If you like Nightshroud: it's a soulbound weapon and therefore works with any weapon focus - it also profits from any of those priest's talents that give +10 ACC to two weapons. Like the Pallid Hand gives you +10 for mace and Great Swords, Hope Eternal gives you +10 to flails and morning stars. Nightshroud works with all of them. 

 

So you could play a good hearted but dedicated eoathasian vessel slayer and start with flails - there's a nice early flail in the ruins of the temple of Eothas in Gilded Vale named "Gaun's Share" which is connected to Eothas ("Gaun" is an alias of Eothas). And once you get Nightshroud you could use that. Or you could start with a priest of Berath and use maces right away. A really nice mace for mid game lies in the cellars of the Brackenbury Sanatarium, named "Ravenwing". It's appearence and the whole raven theme fits a priest of berath nicely I'd say. 

 

For a shield: if you pick a dwarf the best looks you will get with a large shield (there's Thy Clef with looks great with that mace, also dark colors) - but it will not only lower your melee but also your casting ACC. But of course you'd gain a lot of deflection and reflex. If you decide for this, you could consider to lower RES a bit and put more poits into PER. You would balance out the loss of ACC and deflection you would have enough anyway. Small shields are good, but look a bit funny with maces. A medium shield  might be the best compromise, here "Refield" comes to my mind, which has the enchantment "harbinger" that decreases enemies' ACC a bit. It might fit a priest of berath well because church wardens of baerath are called "harbinger" as well as far as I know (see the church in Dyrfort). That shield comes quite late though. A nice substitute may be Ilfan Byrngar's Solace which you can find in the Endless Paths lvl 5.

 

What about dual wielding maces?

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

I'm always for dual wield but not in this case... I like going mace and shield, it fits my idea... if i find a bashing shield, all the better. 

I didn't think at the fact that soulbound weapons benefit from any focus... I'm trying berath right now... let's see how it goes...

[Boeroer]

Just don't be disappointed because of the early game: the priest is squishy at first and can't hit things. You need to level a bit and be patient.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

Is it better to be berath's or aeothas story-wise?

[Boeroer]

All of the deities for priests are ok and get covered in some way. I think berath is the way to go if you want to be a vessel slayer. He really doesn't like cheating death. And he's the most important god in the dyrwood atm.

[Slack83er]

Good. I'll follow, then.

 

Some good maces to find?

Edited October 9, 2016 by Slack83er

[Boeroer]

As I said: Ravenwing in the Brackenbury Sanatorium is the best until you'll get and unlock Nightshroud (it's cool, but a fully enchanted Ravenwind will be better). Until then you'd have to use normal maces and enchant them yourself.

[Slack83er]

Roger. T.you

[Ben No.3]

In my defence: I purposely missed out three points from stat allocation to not include culture or race. I thought that should be up to you.

[Slack83er]

In my defence: I purposely missed out three points from stat allocation to not include culture or race. I thought that should be up to you.

That was no accusation thought you just fogot.. Anyway I chose dwarf... dwarven clerics always sounded good to me.. put i picked mountain instead of boreal...

[Slack83er]

Out of curiosity...Boer if you can answer... Are Priests and Paladins the only classes that get personalized dialogues based on class? I never talked to someone who allowed me to say something just because I'm a... monk let's say...

[Boeroer]

There are also special options which can be unlocked if you have a certain background - clergyman for example, or if you are a preist of a certain god.
Those are few, but they are there.
But what I mean is not that you unlock special answers, but that choosing the right answers that match with your god's or order's dispositions will give you bonuses.

For a priest of berath this means: if you choose a lot of stoic an rational answers and avoid cruel and passionate ones, your holy radiance becomes more powerful.

With paladins it's their defensive buff via Faith and Conviction.

 

Other classes couldn't care less for dispositions. Their values don't get influenced by their reputation.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

Yeah yeah I know what you meant... I'll go forth with cleric now, he seems the most consistent choice I can make. The only doubt I have is with Eothas. His dispositions are the ones that I usually pick even if I'm not a cleric... Stoic for example is not a thing I like a lot... but let's see how it goes now. I'll let you know.

[Slack83er]

Brief question: do paladins have something similar vs undead? Or are the talents cleric-exclusive?

[Slack83er]

I'm trying Eothas now... more fitting with my moral choices... I simply can't be stoic sometimes... Do you think I should pick mountain or boreal dwarf... I went mountain, 'cos I really like 'em more thematically...