Party Planning

[MortyTheGobbo]

Seeing as my attempts to pick up Pillars again keep running into analysis paralysis, I'm going to see if I can run some of my options by you fine folks. I've finished the game twice by now, but this time I feel like I'd like to actually know what I'm doing, rather than just wing it.

 

The first character I might play is a ranged paladin. So, she'll be staying in the back, shooting her war bow to stun people. I decided I'd be speccing Kana Rua as a tank, with Dragon Trashed. So far, so good.

 

I was thinking about making Grieving Mother a frontliner in this run as well, but this runs into a problem, since I was thinking of doing the same to Durance. So I feel like my front line is getting a bit crowded. With Kana Rua, Eder, Durance, Hiravras, Pallegina and Grieving Mother specced for melee, it leaves me, Sagani and Aloth in the back row. Particularly since the three White March companions are also melee-focused.

 

I guess I can have Hiravras focus on ranged attacks and spells, rather than spiritshift, this time around. But I'm not sure if it's feasible.

 

Also, I'm not sure what to do with Eder. In past games, I've always made him a passive tank with a shield, but now I'm not so sure. With Kana standing around and burning enemies, maybe Eder can be shifted to something more active. Don't people give him the Blade of the Endless Paths?

 

My other option is replay my light-armoured fighter with a greatsword. Which is another frontline character, so Grieving Mother, Durance, or both, would have to go to the back. I have a good plan for GM here, but I'm not sure if I should do more with Durance than just give him an arquebus, leave his robe on and CC the ranged enemies who always focus fire him.

 

 

[Livegood118]

My rule of thumb for party composition on POTD is as follows:

 

Front-Line:

 

1. Sturdy Front-Liner (Fighter/Monk/Barb/Paladin/Chanter)

2. Sturdy Front-Liner (Fighter/Monk/Barb/Paladin/Chanter)

3. Whatever Front-Liner, Having single target damage is nice

 

Back Line:

 

4. Dedicated hard CC Char (Wizard/Druid/Cipher)

5. Ranged Damage/More hard CC

6. Priest

 

You can put a Priest in the front-line if you want but you're not really playing to the class's main strength, which is ultimately their ability to dish out spells. A Ranged Paladin is also not really playing to the strength of the Paladin class, which is being sturdy as hell on the front-line and providing support.

 

With what you've discussed I'd suggest the following:

 

Front Line

 

1. Kana - Dragon Thrashed Tank

2. PC – Dual Marking weapon Darcozzi paladin

3. Eder – Medium Armour single target DPS, 2h Wep (Tidefall -> BotEP, Sanguine Plate)

3.5. Itumaak

 

Back Line

 

4. Grieving Mother – Ranged damage/CC

5. Sagani – Ranged Damage + CC when you get Stormcaller + Doggo, or Hiravias

6. Durance

Edited May 6, 2017 by Livegood118

[MortyTheGobbo]

I have already settled on a ranged paladin; that's not going to change. I know it's not the usual way of playing the class, but that's basically why I'm doing it. Also, I'm not playing on Path of the Damned.

Edited May 6, 2017 by MortyTheGobbo

[Livegood118]

I have already settled on a ranged paladin; that's not going to change. I know it's not the usual way of playing the class, but that's basically why I'm doing it. Also, I'm not playing on Path of the Damned.

 

 

Ok then, I guess a nice option would then be:

 

1. Kana

2. Eder

3. Grieving Mother

 

4. Hiravias

5. Your Paladin

6. Durance

[MortyTheGobbo]

Hm, I see. Two questions, then. What weapon would Hiravras use while in the back row? An implement? Also, like I asked in the OP - do I just give Durance an arquebus, and leave his robe on, if I leave him in the back? He always gets a beating from ranged enemies focusing on him.

[scythesong]

A priest can easily be a frontline while casting spells, that's one of the reasons why the class is so versatile. They're a lot like chanters in that you can set them up in any number of basic roles (tanky melee, melee DPS, ranged, etc) and the best thing about them (their spells) retains its functionality. Durance, in particular, does well with just light/medium armors, a good shield, defensive talents and buffs thanks to his high resolve. Ideally you should give him the option to be tanky whenever he needs to be, especially if you want him to make the most out of that really nasty staff he starts with.

Durance has below average dex/per. You should not be relying on him for auto-attacks, and he'll hardly do any damage with very slow attack weapons if you have him casting spells too.

 

Grieving Mother should ideally be in the back row using crowd control spells/nukes. You could make her melee, but then you'll want to use her focus on other spell types. You should take that into consideration if you're mostly interested in her for her CC.

 

The best thing about druids are their spells, Spiritshift is just one other very nice thing about them. Hiravias' Spiritshift is basically a single target DPS boost.

You can give Hiravias any available useful ranged weapon, from Golden Gaze to Lenas Êr to a soulbound like Gyrd Háewanes Sténes. The idea is that you want the weapon to offer some kind of utility besides damage, because if what you needed was a damage spike then you'd doing something else besides auto-attacking with a weapon.

 

Eder is pretty versatile but he should be spending most of his time in melee (any weapon will do, depending on build). The fighter's biggest strength is his tankiness combined with reliable DPS. That doesn't mean you shouldn't switch to a good ranged weapon especially if you're trying to kite something (like lurkers or ogres in early game).

Ideally you should have both an offensive (usually a two-handed weapon) and defensive (something  + shield) setup on him. You could have him dual-wield sabers on a switch if you want higher on-demand DPS.

Edited May 6, 2017 by scythesong

[MortyTheGobbo]

Hmm. The reason I want to spec Grieving Mother for melee is that I've always had her in the back, so it'd be a change. But maybe that's forcing her into a role she's not suited for.

 

I'll put some scale or chain mail on Durance and give him a sword with small shield in his other set. That should keep him on his feet more.

 

As for Eder... dual-wielding sabres sounds like an idea. I've been building him up from level one, so I haven't picked the weapon focus talent for him yet. Besides, I've been having him use Gaun's Share, since I haven't found any good sabres yet. I'm not sure if Defender is worthwhile.

Edited May 6, 2017 by MortyTheGobbo

[Gnomic]

Edér seems to do pretty well with a two-hander like Tidefall.

 

I tend to give him Defender + Hold the Line + Overbearing Guard so he's able to keep a lot of jerks busy, or at least tends to prevent them from approaching too quickly.

[MortyTheGobbo]

Overbearing Guard does give him some stickiness, yeah. I'll think about what sort of weapon to give him. Maybe something with marking.