Need your advices for 2wf dwarven paladin

[Boeroer]

DPS with bash is lower than with a normal shield if we talk about auto attacks. Bash itself is not good if it's not connected with a spell chance or spell striking.

For full attacks like FoD it's a bit better.

It's not considered to be dual wielding by the game. So it doesn't speed you up.

 

Bash is considered to be a special attack from an ability and therefore gains 1 ACC per level. So its overall ACC is not too bad.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

So if I use fod, the shield does not attack, right?

Recommend a good shield with bash?

Dunno why but I like it...

[Boeroer]

With FoD + a bash shield you will strike with the main weapon and with the shield. Both get the +50% burning lash.

 

The only good shield with bash for a paladin is Badgradr's Barricade and that comes quite late in WM I - in Durgan's Battery.

 

Way better than that is the Outworn Buckler that you can buy in Gilded Vale right at the start. It has no bash.

 

The first shield with bash is the Larder Door that you get after helping the smith in Gilded Vale.

[JerekKruger]

Yeah, there seem to be two good bash shields in the game, Badgradr's Barricade and the Dragon's Maw Shield. The latter is soulbound and can only be used by Barbarians and Fighters so for a Paladin you're restricted to the former (well, you can use Dragon's Maw, but it won't level up and hence will never get it's attack proc).

 

If I remember correctly (anyone who knows better, do correct me) if you use a bash shield your attack speed remains the same, but you alternate between attacking with your shield and with your weapon. Given that bash will, generally, do worse damage than a weapon this will make your autoattack dps go down.

 

However, bash shields do count as a second weapon when it comes to full attacks, so whilst a weapon and bash shield won't be as good as dual wielding two weapons with something like Flames of Devotion, it will do better damage that just a single-handed weapon.

 

Personally, for a Paladin, I'd go with the Outworn Buckler, upgrading to the Little Savior when you get it (unless Outworn and Savior stack, in which case I'd be tempted to put Savior on someone else).

[rheingold]

^^^^ they do stack. But to be honest I normally just use one of them at the most. I'd use a large shield for my other tank.

[JerekKruger]

I avoid Large Shields because of the Accuracy penalty, which is probably a mistake on my part. Well, I also avoid Large Shields because I don't feel like beetroot is a very heroic emblem :D

[Slack83er]

I know, there's the outworn buckler... but it's so tiny... So I got this huge dwarf in a full plate with a frisbee in his left hand.... meh....

 

There's also Scath Gwannek from Azzuro.... can bash be enchanted to enchance it?

Problem is that with a 1 handed weapon my damage is mediocre at best... and it's slow.... argh...

Edited October 24, 2016 by Slack83er

[JerekKruger]

You can't enchant Bash to give it more damage. All you can do is add Shield enchants to improve the protectiveness of your shield.

 

If damage is what you want then, honestly, you're better off going two-handed or dual wielding (or even going with a single one-handed weapon without a shield). A sword and board Paladin is going to do fairly poor damage until they get Sacred Immolation.

 

Honestly, all Paladins tend to be fairly unimpressive damage until they get Sacred Immolation. Damage dealing simply isn't a Paladin's forte. Flames of Devotion is a great ability, but it's only 2/encounter and apart from that the Paladin doesn't really have any abilities or talents dedicated to improving their damage.

[Slack83er]

So... playing paladin, what am I going to excel in? Except protection of those who stand nearby... I don't see anything else... Dialogues are lacking, equipment is meh... damage is meh too... I'm quite tanky...yes..this is the only thing I have... sigh

[Kaylon]

Bash attacks have 50% less recovery than normal attacks.

Until you get Sacred Immolation you should build your paladin for burst damage - you can improve Flames of Devotion (especially if you're Goldpact/Bleak Walker) and use high damage weapons (Firebrand/arquebus/arbalest) to 1-2shot an enemy at the beginning of a fight.

[Slack83er]

Firebrand requires the gauntlets, if I'm correct... That would go splendidly with goldpact's fod of fire...

[JerekKruger]

So... playing paladin, what am I going to excel in? Except protection of those who stand nearby... I don't see anything else... Dialogues are lacking, equipment is meh... damage is meh too... I'm quite tanky...yes..this is the only thing I have... sigh

 

You're probably the most tanky class there is, and you're a great buffer. On top of that, when you do get Sacred Immolation you become a very good AoE damage dealer. Paladins rock, just not particularly at doing damage early on.

 

As Kaylon says, the most effective way to use FoD is to use it with high damage weapons to alpha strike enemies. Arquebuses have horrible reload times, but this only matters if you actually fire them more than once in a fight. Flames of Devotion synergises exceptionally well with them because it's a percentage damage increase (so works best with high damage weapons) and the +20 accuracy minimises the chances of your single shot missing.

[Slack83er]

So you'd go Pliambo? and then...say...greatsword? two handed weapons anyway?

[JerekKruger]

My last play through was as a Kind Wayfarer who used an Arquebus and Tidefall. Start combat with a Flames of Devotion Arquebus shot (often taking out an enemy in one) then wade in with Tidefall. Use the second FoD to try to proc Strange Mercy. It was a fun build.

[Slack83er]

Since I'm interested in slaying undead and spirits, I'd go St.Ydwen Greatsword....

[Boeroer]

St. Ydwen is the best choice for sure. And it's also good against other enemies.

 

If you don't want to use guns or a two hander like Firebrand for FoD then dual wielding is good enough.

 

For example dual wielding battle axes or war hammers (one of them Shatterstar which is annihilating) does good damage with FoD.

It's "only" 2/encounter, but with a burning lash, Intense Flames and Scion of Flame you get 4 attacks with +20 ACC and +90% burn damage via lash. That is a lot better than Deathblows for example that gives you +100% base damage only.

Once you crit (which happens a lot of times because +20 ACC from FoD and also Sworn Enemy's +15 - add some buffs and debuffs before using FoD) the damage of those 4 strikes is impressive.

And in a party, 2/encounter is not as bad as when you go solo. Most fights are over pretty soon - so 2 Full Attacks get a big share of all your attacks in an encounter.

 

If you want more damaging attacks, you can take Runner's Wounding Shot. It doesn't do full attacks, but it adds 80% of all the damage you did with the initial hit - lash included. And it even works with MIG. So normally it adds around 100% of your overall damage (not only base damage). This is even better with a two hander or a gun.

 

You could even add Envenomed Strike. With high MIG and INT it's pretty good. It can save the day when tough encounters go south. Sadly, it doesnt work against most spirits or vessels.

 

I once suggested a talent that adds 1 FoD use per encounter. Sadly, nobody at OBS gave a shart.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

Well, tbh opening a fight with a rifle is not so bad as a dwarf... then I'll go melee with a two hander maybe... because I'm not sure about the shield....

Maybe maximizing that attack will be more rewarding... Using fire, maybe the goldpact would be in tune...

[JerekKruger]

Remember that St Ydwen's is Soulbound, so you don't have to have Weapon Focus Soldier to get +6 Accuracy with it (Soulbound items get +6 Accuracy from any Weapon Focus). That said, Soldier's a good choice anyway as it works with Arquebuses and earlier two-handed swords. I strongly recommend getting Tidefall early on and using it against non-Vessel enemies.

[Slack83er]

Remember that St Ydwen's is Soulbound, so you don't have to have Weapon Focus Soldier to get +6 Accuracy with it (Soulbound items get +6 Accuracy from any Weapon Focus). That said, Soldier's a good choice anyway as it works with Arquebuses and earlier two-handed swords. I strongly recommend getting Tidefall early on and using it against non-Vessel enemies.

I think that is what I will do. I will give shield to other fighter. 

I want to be a little more into damage dealing... fire sounds nice..

[Slack83er]

Sorry Boer, what does annihilating do? Improve the critical damage?

[JerekKruger]

Sorry Boer, what does annihilating do? Improve the critical damage?

 

Yup, changes criticals from doing 1.5x weapon damage to 2x weapon damage.

[Slack83er]

Ok, great. Since Soldier covers both hammer AND greatsword.... And I'm a dwarf...I though... why not?

[Boeroer]

 

Sorry Boer, what does annihilating do? Improve the critical damage?

 

Yup, changes criticals from doing 1.5x weapon damage to 2x weapon damage.

 

To be precise: 1.5x or 2x weapon base damage.

 

MIG, enchantments, dmg mods etc. don't get touched. A normal crit adds +50% base damage - like Sneak Attack basically. Annihilating adds another +50% base damage.

 

Guns and arbalests only do +20% base damage on crit by the way.

[Slack83er]

Good. I think I won't stick to a single weapon but adapt to different situations. Even though I'll try to use greatswords as much as I can, as I want to maximize PER HIT dmg.

[JerekKruger]

I've had a sudden thought. You could go Weapon Focus: Knight. You'd eventually use Ydwen's and Daybreak as your primary weapons. Ydwen's kills vessels, Daybreak kills spirits. It's perhaps not the best option, but it fits your desire to kill undead pretty well.