Confused Newbie: Main Character help

[Tesla33]

Hi and hello everybody,

 

I just got my hands on PoE and for my first play-through I'd like to play one of the non-companion classes, preferably a monk or better even a ranged rogue (I have read - among a lot of other stuff - that they are better rangers than rangers).

 

But here is my problem: Despite the incredible amounts of guides and info it is really REALLY difficult to figure out basic, vanilla recommendations for character builds (but that may be my fault. I'm not the brightest tool in the shed). Most advise is either for melee rogues, min/max or special builds.

 

Could somebody please help me set up a reasonably fun to play ranged rogue that is not min/maxed, isn't built around a single weapon or equipment and doesn't require a lot of micro-management? Please? With sugar on top?

 

cheers

t

[MaxQuest]

I just got my hands on PoE and for my first play-through I'd like to play one of the non-companion classes

Just in case: there is a rogue companion which you can get in WM1.

 

preferably a monk or better even a ranged rogue (I have read - among a lot of other stuff - that they are better rangers than rangers).

Maybe that was true before White March came out. Twinned Arrows is a solid dps boost.

In any case, if you want rogue, then let it be rogue.

  

Could somebody please help me set up a reasonably fun to play ranged rogue that is not min/maxed, isn't built around a single weapon or equipment and doesn't require a lot of micro-management?

You can take any character build and just un-minmax it's stat spread. For example take a look at these ones: one, two.

For the hornet you could just go with something like 18/9/18/15/15/3 or even 18/9/18/15/10/8 (if you have a better user for Envenomed Strike).

 

Also check this thread: link.

[fiddlesticks]

Ranged Rogues aren't particularly great (unless you make heavy use of scrolls or spellbinding items), but they are very easy to play since they basically require no micro whatsoever. Just click on the enemy you want dead and let them do their thing.

Edited July 19, 2017 by fiddlesticks

[ColeTrain9192]

A couple things:

 

What difficulty are you planning on playing? Builds are less important the lower your difficulty setting, and the type of build you go with can depend on the number/difficulty of foes you'll be up against.

 

Also, if you get the White March, there is no non-companion class. They add a Rogue, a Monk, and a Barbarian in the expansions. I don't know if that's something that's important to you, or if you'll be getting the DLC at all, but if so, just wanted you to be informed.

 

In regards to guides, be careful what you read, and always check the date. A lot of guides out there were made back in 2015 around the games release. However, there was a pretty major update relatively early on that changed how a few of the core attributes work. So outdated guides can lead to you making a character that doesn't work the way it should anymore.

[rheingold]

Don't worry to much about min/maxing stats, you really don't need to. I'd say though, a ranger is far more superior as a ranged attacker than a rogue. Rogues shine as melee dps. But there is a lot of micro involved. To be honest, even Rangers take micro if you want to get the best out of the pet. The classes in general that require less micro are chanters and Paladins, and they both make great main characters and don't require min/maxing at all. Easy to get the stats for dialogue if that's your thing, as both benefit from resolve, Int and might.

 

Melee rogues are fantastic though on the lower difficulties, less so on PoTD, just micro intensive.

If you want to go ranged though, I'd look at cipher instead of rogue. You can plink away with a weapon and still do substantial damage, but you bring so much more to the table. And it can get as micro intensive as you choose, you can auto attack for most of the time only occasionally casting or you can go wild.

Edited July 19, 2017 by rheingold

[Tesla33]

Dear all

 

thank you so much for all the replies, that's very helpful. I forgot some key info, of course. I'm planning to start on "Hard" difficulty because despite my problem getting a grip on PoE I have played most every notable RPG since ..uh.. many years. (Except Skyrim, and just because I hated the inventory screen). If I can't do hard I know I'm doing something fundamentally wrong and I rather restart after 2 hours than 2 weeks.

 

I realise that a lot of info is outdated with patch 2.0 (haven't been able to figure out if there were massive changes in 3.0, I guess not that much) but even the info past 2.0 is sometimes somewhat.. contradictory :D For example I still don't know if INT for a ranged rogue is important, meh or negligible.

 

But @rheingold raised a good point. During my first run I'd definitely like to have the reasonable maximum on dialog potential. 

[Piero]

You mention that you want a non-companion class, so i guess you do not want to have similar characters, and even worst, let some companion out because of that, since with white march expansion there is one companion per class you may want to make substantial differentiation of your character and the companions, like if you choose monk, play one (your character or the companion) unarmored fist, while the other heavy armor sword, avoid taking the same abilities, dps active abilities fighter, passive abilities defensive with shield the other, you get the idea.

[rheingold]

Well there are companions for every class so it's not really possible to choose a unique class unless you don't have white March. I'd use the first run as a role playing exercise personally, that means I'd choose a class I'm happy with, and companions I like regardless of potential overlap.

[ColeTrain9192]

So, on Hard, you're build matters a little, but still not as much as if you were doing PotD. So how much you roleplay, and how much you "strategize" is really up to you. You can manage a full run on Hard with your primary focus being on roleplaying, and you'll do just fine. That said, there are a few things to think about.

 

Like rheingold said, Resolve, Intellect, and Might have a lot of dialogue options, and specifically Resolve and Intellect probably have the most. Where you run into a problem their is neither one of those stats are essential to Rogues (if that's the class you've settled on). Intellect can be somewhat beneficial, but only for duration of status ailments. Intellect affects duration and AoE of ALL abilities and spells. Since Rogues do not have many (if any) AoE abilities, this part of Intellect is not helpful to them. And, while duration can be somewhat useful, since Rogues have a lot of status-inflicting attacks, it is less important than some other attributes - namely Perception, Might, perhaps Dexterity if that's the build you're going for. However, if you really want to play a Rogue, I would suggest just sticking your Intellect at 13. A lot of dialogue options open up at Intellect 13, and I think the next tier is like Intellect 16 or something. But you really don't need to shove 6 whole points into Intellect for a Rogue.

 

The most obvious class for dialogue options, in my opinion, is the Paladin. They benefit heavily from Resolve and Intellect, and some extra Might can't hurt, sense it dictates the power of healing spells as well. Of the three non-companion classes (not including White March), I would say Barbarian works the best for getting lots of dialogue options. Might is an obvious choice for the Barbarian, and Resolve can be somewhat beneficial (though it's not the most helpful for a Barbarian). Believe it or not, Intellect is great for Barbarians. They have several AoE attacks, as well as their innate ability to make reduced-damage attacks on all enemies surrounding their target. This field is increased with higher Intellect as well. 

 

Whatever you choose to go with should just be what you think you'll have the most fun with, because pretty much every class is very playable in this game. But these are just helpful (hopefully) tips to think about.