Pardon me... Another one of those new party advise things...

[mosspit]

So in light of the new patch, and the upcoming Tyranny (pre-ordered whoo hoo!), I think I will be doing another run.

 

These are the things I wanna keep for the new start:

 

- PotD ToI.

- No Priest.

- Because of no priest, I will include Paladin (most likely Darcozzi), Druid and Cipher.

- Ranger with pet focused on dps. He/She will be most likely be melee, so not wielding Stormcaller or Borresaine.

- Monk as I skipped the class the previous playthrough and it is one of my fav class.

- Plan to get through signature fights.

- Try not to have duplicate class.

 

So these are my preliminary thoughts. ToI is not for bragging rights, but I feel that it gave the right amount of tension even after 7 playthroughs.

No Priest is going to be hard for me. I once did a no caster party ToI playthrough and the lack of Priest support was big. I wasn't confident in tackling signature fights for that setup.

I added a Cipher because I feel Defensive Mindweb will help alot in endgame dragon fights. But haven't used a CIpher since the change to skill costs so not entirely sure of how He/She will perform.

 

So what do you guys think should be my last party member? Or maybe the other 5man? I am leaning towards a melee frontliner Wizard as my 6th as I havent used a Wizard since my 2nd playthrough.

Edited October 20, 2016 by mosspit

[AeonsLegend]

Chanter?

[Raven Darkholme]

If you go no priest just go chanter with scrolls.

You can cast scrolls while the chants still automatically work.

Most scrolls are priest spells.

Edited October 21, 2016 by Raven Darkholme

[KDubya]

I'd go with a Chanter in the mix as well.

 

With the two regen auras from the Chanter and if each guy in the frontline, the ones likely to take damage often, takes Veteran's Recovery early, like at level two or four, you'll have a Wolverine party that will be nigh unkillable. You won't miss any heals from the Priest as you'll be regenning endurance faster than the incoming damage. In cases where you need even more healing you'll have the Paladin's two Lay on Hands per encounter. 

 

For extra durability I'd go with Zealous Endurance for the Paladin aura. The DR is nice but the hit to graze conversion is the hidden gem, it drastically reduces damage and durations on some (all?) status effects.

 

A melee Ranger with Tidefall or Drawn in Spring will do massive pet damage due to the DoT. Look at Boereor's Riptide Ranger build in the stickies.

[mosspit]

Ah crap, chanter...

 

No offence to chanter lovers, but I find them mechnically unimpressive. And I also took Kana on my last playthrough. Although he did pull his weight with Tidefall and Dragon Thrashed.

[demeisen]

​

I added a Cipher because I feel Defensive Mindweb will help alot in endgame dragon fights. But haven't used a CIpher since the change to skill costs so not entirely sure of how He/She will perform.

So what do you guys think should be my last party member? Or maybe the other 5man? I am leaning towards a melee frontliner Wizard as my 6th as I havent used a Wizard since my 2nd playthrough.

 

​IMHO, ciphers rock.  Lotsa different play styles, so what works for one person may not for the next, but even if you ignore mindweb (which is essentially an "i win" button, once you get it in the later game), I found ciphers to be enormously useful and powerful.

​

​I won't say a wizard is the best thing for the other slot, but I'd take one anyway, because wizards are just fun to play, and they can do pretty much anything in a pinch.  Plus, you've got a monk and a paladin, and some secondary melee classes, so there's plenty of that to go around.

​

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[mosspit]

I agree on Ciphers. I played a ranged Blunderbuss as my first main, and a dual wielding sabre melee 2 playthroughs ago. In fact, I used Stasis Field as the key opening spell to separate WM1 dragon from the other mobs. That underrated spell was the key in my strategy for that fight.

However, I have personally found it tricky for a Cipher to maintain a stable Focus amount during big signature fights. Focus is non issue in trash fights but still. And I feel without a Priest to provide the usual defensive buffs, Defensive Mindweb isn't that gamebreaking. Good but I don't think it is god-mode level.

 

Just finding a sweet spot where I can be conservative enough to have a consistent victorious outcome for ToI but interesting playstyle/build for the characters which ultimately complement each other in a party setup.

Edited October 21, 2016 by mosspit

[Raven Darkholme]

I agree on Ciphers. I played a ranged Blunderbuss as my first main, and a dual wielding sabre melee 2 playthroughs ago. In fact, I used Stasis Field as the key opening spell to separate WM1 dragon from the other mobs. That underrated spell was the key in my strategy for that fight.

However, I have personally found it tricky for a Cipher to maintain a stable Focus amount during big signature fights. Focus is non issue in trash fights but still. And I feel without a Priest to provide the usual defensive buffs, Defensive Mindweb isn't that gamebreaking. Good but I don't think it is god-mode level.

 

Just finding a sweet spot where I can be conservative enough to have a consistent victorious outcome for ToI but interesting playstyle/build for the characters which ultimately complement each other in a party setup.

Haha even tho that's the most awesome use of Stasis Shell I ever heard of, if you have to roll with a will attack why not charm it staright away?

As to mindweb a priest is not needed at all, just hav a paladin or chanter with maxed defenses and the godmode is real.

I have a 3 man party right now with pala, Kana and GM, pala provides defence, Kana chants for reflex, will, fort and ofc dragon slashed (in dragon fights also beast slaying), and GM does arquebus shot into mindweb and then goes ham with dual bittercut..

I only had slight focus trouble at start of adra dragon fight since I couldn't build focus vs. the dragon herself.

I then distracted her with the pala built focus off a xaurip and went into my usual combo of mindweb, focusbuild (now on the dragon herself Kana also provided with protection from fear), time parasite, more autoattack, borrowed instinct, i then went into scalebreaker and disintegrate but realised that on cast she was already near death.

That 175 accuracy crit still looked good especially since I didn't use acc potions or scroll of valor.

[mosspit]

Oh wow I didn't realize she wasn't immune to charm. I went into that fight without much beastiary info so the safest bet was Stasis Field which, although can be saved against, I can be sure she isn't immuned. Plus it last for a long time. I actually completely cleaned up all the mobs and was waiting for Stasis Field to expire to dmg her.

 

In that case, I might not be using Defensive Mindweb or even a Cipher for that matter. Same way I abstain from Repulsing Seal for the priest and Mind Wave / Echoplasm for Cipher.

[Raven Darkholme]

The waiting is the reason I never use stasis, I once used it myself by mistake, I wanted Time Parasite.

Turns out you can't run out of sight and let the debuff expire either, so a lone simple Lagufaeth kept me waiting for the whole duration of it.

The only dragon that can't be charmed is one of the bog dragons I think.

[mosspit]

Hmmm it depends on your strategy I guess. Maybe I made it sound negative but I needed Stasis Field to last that long. The idea is to split the combat into 2 distinct phases. 1 with the mobs and 1 with the dragon alone. Truth be told I only picked Stasis Field only for that fight and I only used it once during that fight. However, I don't find it a waste but more like a planning goal. I rather wait a little longer than failing a ToI at level 14

Edited October 21, 2016 by mosspit