Dual Flail Pala

[lozturk]

Hello,

 

This is the first time I'm posting here but recently I found out that I am spending almost all of my time while playing PoE, trying to create viable builds. Have checked all builds under the The Obsidian Boards' Build List and haven't found a similar toon, so I thought I might add this here as I have had so much fun playing this and maybe you guys also enjoy your next playthrough with this while waiting for PoE2. 

 

The idea is to create a durable dual wielding fast and hard hitting paladin which can easily overcome hard foes like dragons with the help of sworn enemy and flames of devotion. 

 

The character is as follows;

 

Race: Coastal Aumaua

Class: Paladin (Goldpact Knights)

 

Starting stats: 

 

Str 21 (18 +2 racial +1 the living lands)

Con 8

Dex 18

Per 10

Int 3

Res 18

 

You can even decrease perception more to increase Constitution if you find it hard to survive. As the idea in this build is to use paladin aura "15% of grazes converted to hits" & flails "30% of grazes converted to hits", you will never have hard times hitting anyway (tried it on dragons, Abbey of the Fallen Moon - all solo). I just wanted to be on the safer side in terms of hitting, cause after a couple tries i found out that the faster i destroy my opponents the easier is to survive, then i did no longer care about a bigger hp pool.

 

Skills: Background Merchant

 

Stealth 0 

Athletics 2 (Paladin)

Lore 2 (1 Paladin 1 Merchant)

Mechanics 1 (Merchant)

Survival 0

 

Final Skills:

 

Stealth 0

Athletics 5

Lore 6 (Is to cast lvl 3 scrolls)

Mechanics 12 (9 Base +1 Dungeon Delver +2 Gloves)

Survival 8 (Is to enable Healing II)

 

Abilities:

 

Deprive the Unworthy

Faith and Conviction

Flames of Devotion

Lay on Hands

Healing Chain

Sacred Immolation

Righteous Soul

Second Wind

Sworn Enemy

Towering Physique

Zealous Focus

 

Talents:

 

Two Weapon Style

Enduring Flames

Scion of Flame

Savage Attack

Vulnerable Attack

Bear's Fortitude

Deep Faith

Intense Flames

 

Items:

 

A side note here, you can try this build with improved gear which I have noted down in parenthesis as alternate. However I tried to make a viable build with comparably easy to find gear and did not include Caed Nua quest rewards to avoid the need for companions (in case of solo tries). 

 

Helm : Garodh's Chorus or any str helm (alt: Maegfolc Skull)

Chest : Heldrik's Coat (alt: He carries many scars or Ryona's)

Ring 1 & 2 : Ring of Protection & Ring of Thorns (alt: iron circle or ring of deflection)

Feet : Shod-in-Faith (alt : Viettro's)

Cloak & Neck : Shroud of Mourning (alt: Lost Periapt of the Winding Path)

Hands: Gauntlets of Swift Action (alt: Ryona's)

Belt : Belt of Bountiful Healing (alt: looped rope or binding rope)

Weapons : Gaun's Share & Unforgiven (Both Superb & Durgan Refined & Burning Lash)

 

See you guys for now. Have fun playing RPGs.

Edited June 23, 2017 by lozturk

[Torm51]

You hit hard with flails as a paladin?  I am not being sarcastic I think its great I just have not been able to find a class that can hit hard with a flail except fighters with a Weapon Mastery of Adventurer (maybe a rogue with sneak attack?).  Also not a total fan of crush only weapons thanks to the White March.

 

I would love a Flail Paladin but never did it because flails are a fast weapon and hit like we noodles.  I will try this.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Torm51

[Boeroer]

Flails are not an optimal choice for Flames of Devotions because they are light - and light weapons' base damage is the lowest.

 

You get the most out of FoD with weapons with high base damage or very good crit modifiers - or both.

 

Besides that: cool build. One question though: why not Starcaller instead of Gaun's Share? Gaun's Share's Draining enchantment does not profit from healing bonuses (survival and Belt of Bountiful Healing) and Starcaller has stun on crit and a spell striking - which should be cool once you add Sworn Enemy + FoD and crit with it.

[lozturk]

@Torm51

 

I admit that hard hitting is an objective comment. I know that I must have been more precise and give concrete info on how hard those hits are. However I prefer to not do it and let you try and see it with your own eyes and then make a comparison :D

 

 

Flails are not an optimal choice for Flames of Devotions because they are light - and light weapons' base damage is the lowest.

You get the most out of FoD with weapons with high base damage or very good crit modifiers - or both.

Besides that: cool build. One question though: why not Starcaller instead of Gaun's Share? Gaun's Share's Draining enchantment does not profit from healing bonuses (survival and Belt of Bountiful Healing) and Starcaller has stun on crit and a spell striking - which should be cool once you add Sworn Enemy + FoD and crit with it.

 

 

You can try microing that part and use FoD with higher base damage weapons (it is even cooler that way I must admit). You can even replace Enduring Flames with Quick Switch for this. However the idea behind this build is to benefit maximum from graze to hit conversion and max Str, Dex to achieve good dmg and max Res to achieve good survivability. 

 

I did not know that Gaun's Share's Draining does not benefit from healing bonuses. But it is rare to see crits with this build and the only times you are more likely to crit are the times of FoD and we may benefit from them even more with two-handers as noted above. 

[Torm51]

@Torm51

 

I admit that hard hitting is an objective comment. I know that I must have been more precise and give concrete info on how hard those hits are. However I prefer to not do it and let you try and see it with your own eyes and then make a comparison :D

 

 

Flails are not an optimal choice for Flames of Devotions because they are light - and light weapons' base damage is the lowest.

 

You get the most out of FoD with weapons with high base damage or very good crit modifiers - or both.

 

Besides that: cool build. One question though: why not Starcaller instead of Gaun's Share? Gaun's Share's Draining enchantment does not profit from healing bonuses (survival and Belt of Bountiful Healing) and Starcaller has stun on crit and a spell striking - which should be cool once you add Sworn Enemy + FoD and crit with it.

 

 

You can try microing that part and use FoD with higher base damage weapons (it is even cooler that way I must admit). You can even replace Enduring Flames with Quick Switch for this. However the idea behind this build is to benefit maximum from graze to hit conversion and max Str, Dex to achieve good dmg and max Res to achieve good survivability. 

 

I did not know that Gaun's Share's Draining does not benefit from healing bonuses. But it is rare to see crits with this build and the only times you are more likely to crit are the times of FoD and we may benefit from them even more with two-handers as noted above. 

Agreed on the switch for a higher weapon damage FoD burst.  Also how about high DR enemies?  This is what has always frustrated me about Flails.  Even with Vulnerable attack its not that much of a bypass on an Animat or Dragon that has 25+ DR to crush (Sworn Enemy will help here but i still dont think its enough).  I am in no way trying to poke holes in the build.  I am just asking questions I love Flail Paladin flavor but havent been able to make it work.

[lozturk]

 

@Torm51

 

I admit that hard hitting is an objective comment. I know that I must have been more precise and give concrete info on how hard those hits are. However I prefer to not do it and let you try and see it with your own eyes and then make a comparison :D

 

 

Flails are not an optimal choice for Flames of Devotions because they are light - and light weapons' base damage is the lowest.

 

You get the most out of FoD with weapons with high base damage or very good crit modifiers - or both.

 

Besides that: cool build. One question though: why not Starcaller instead of Gaun's Share? Gaun's Share's Draining enchantment does not profit from healing bonuses (survival and Belt of Bountiful Healing) and Starcaller has stun on crit and a spell striking - which should be cool once you add Sworn Enemy + FoD and crit with it.

 

 

You can try microing that part and use FoD with higher base damage weapons (it is even cooler that way I must admit). You can even replace Enduring Flames with Quick Switch for this. However the idea behind this build is to benefit maximum from graze to hit conversion and max Str, Dex to achieve good dmg and max Res to achieve good survivability. 

 

I did not know that Gaun's Share's Draining does not benefit from healing bonuses. But it is rare to see crits with this build and the only times you are more likely to crit are the times of FoD and we may benefit from them even more with two-handers as noted above. 

Agreed on the switch for a higher weapon damage FoD burst.  Also how about high DR enemies?  This is what has always frustrated me about Flails.  Even with Vulnerable attack its not that much of a bypass on an Animat or Dragon that has 25+ DR to crush (Sworn Enemy will help here but i still dont think its enough).  I am in no way trying to poke holes in the build.  I am just asking questions I love Flail Paladin flavor but havent been able to make it work.

 

 

As the build is not focused on accuracy (no weapon specializations) but graze to hit conversion, you can always try to use Jena's Lance, Whispers of Yenwood or Resolution in times of hard DR counters. The weapons I have given as examples are also Reliable "+20% of Grazes converted to Hits". 

[Boeroer]

Ryona's Vambraces + Vulnerable Attack will give you 8 DR bypass which is OK then. You can even shove the Devil of Caroc into the Blood Pool and make it 9 DR bypass. If you have a wizard in your crew he can add Expose Vulnerabilities and you're at 14 which should really be enough.

 

I would not replace Enduring Flames. It's a great talent when you have low INT. And even better in this case: it doesn't care about weapon damage.

[Dr <3]

You can have a similar charachter even with a warrior ( via confident aim ) or using as a weapon even a proper build cladhaliat ( es: stunning + reliable). Just saying.

 

Obviouly you will lose the "inquisitor" flavour

[Kaylon]

Sorry, on what difficulty have you tested your build? Because having played extensively solo paladins, I have serious doubts your build can survive solo against a dragon...

[Boeroer]

Who said this is supposed to be a solo paladin?

[Kaylon]

Who said this is supposed to be a solo paladin?

 

 

You can even decrease perception more to increase Constitution if you find it hard to survive. As the idea in this build is to use paladin aura "15% of grazes converted to hits" & flails "30% of grazes converted to hits", you will never have hard times hitting anyway (tried it on dragons, Abbey of the Fallen Moon - all solo).

 

[Boeroer]

Ah, he said.

Well, actually lozturk only said he tried the graze-to-hit conversion on dragons and the abbey guys solo.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Boeroer

[lozturk]

You can have a similar charachter even with a warrior ( via confident aim ) or using as a weapon even a proper build cladhaliat ( es: stunning + reliable). Just saying.

 

Obviouly you will lose the "inquisitor" flavour

 

Have tried that as well but did not like that toon as much as this one. 

 

 

Sorry, on what difficulty have you tested your build? Because having played extensively solo paladins, I have serious doubts your build can survive solo against a dragon...

 

This is not a solo build. I have made my playthrough with this in POTD and never had a slight issue with surviving as his defenses (especially fortitude) were very good. I have just checked with my save and saw that they are 85 135 113 99 with +3 resting bonus (might) applied at 16. And this is with mediocre gear only. So I think it is not even bad for a solo POTD play. 

 

Seems like I have been the one who mislead you with my gear choices and skill choices that this is intended for solo play. I don't think it is wise to share any build intended for solo play without one accomplishing the game solo POTD with that very build or maybe depending on the experience of the builder, some of the hard encounters or parts of the game accomplished with that build. The reasoning behind my gear choices is giving people the idea that the build works with easily achievable gear (so perform quiet fine once he had acquired some of the critical talents in the build). And skill choices was to show that one can achieve solo play skill needs with this. 

 

However as I have noted down above, I have made a solo try on Temple of Hylea Dragon, a couple of bounties and Abbey and saw that this toon can run those at lvl 16 solo. Although it is tough at abbey solo, the rest was too easy beyond my expectations. Maybe you, as an experienced solo paladin player, may try this toon on some of the hard encounters you have had across the world and share with us your observations on his performance solo POTD.

Edited June 26, 2017 by lozturk

[Torm51]

Just had a horrifying thought at work (yes im bored haha) this guy against the Alpine Dragon...whats he do?  That dragon is immune to crush.  I know its not a solo build but does he hinder the party in this fight?

Edited June 26, 2017 by Torm51

[Boeroer]

He can always switch to an estoc/pollaxe or a any soulbound or Firebrand, I guess. It's not that those flails are glued to his hands.

[lozturk]

Just had a horrifying thought at work (yes im bored haha) this guy against the Alpine Dragon...whats he do?  That dragon is immune to crush.  I know its not a solo build but does he hinder the party in this fight?

 

For this kind of encounters I proposed a solution beforehand;

 

"As the build is not focused on accuracy (no weapon specializations) but graze to hit conversion, you can always try to use Jena's Lance, Whispers of Yenwood or Resolution in times of hard DR counters. The weapons I have given as examples are also Reliable "+20% of Grazes converted to Hits"."

 

You can also increase the number of choices as Boeroer mentioned as well. 

 

Maybe i may even find a save with Alpine alive and kill him in POTD to give you more leads on how the alternative stuff works.