Would this work for a Barbarian?

[Dark Elf]

Meadow Human

 

The Living Lands

 

Mercenary

 

Frenzy

 

Might: 20

Constitution: 15

Dexterity: 18

Perception: 3

Intellect: 18

Resolve: 4

 

 

Pros and cons of this build? Should I use pikes or should I use something else?

[Boeroer]

Perception 3 is bad for a barbarian.

 

That's because barbarians start with lower ACC than for example fighters and their innate ability Carnage has -10 Accuracy at lvl 1. PER 3 would lead to -7 ACC on top of that.

You will graze and miss all the time in the early game.

 

Another side effect: you won't cause interrupts. Since barbs hit in an area of effect with every weapon attack they are good AoE-interruptors if they have decent PER.

 

If you use a pike you can do with a lot less CON because you can stand behind the front line.

 

If you want to use dual weapons you can do with less DEX because dual wielding in itself makes you 50% faster than with a single weapon or with a two hander.

 

The only thing that works alright with dumped PER is if you use fists and pick the talent Novice's Suffering. With this talent you quickly get ACC bonuses with your fists and a good damage bonus that gets buffed by MIG, but doesn't care much about the quality of the hit (graze/hit/crit). With Novice's Suffering you can get away with 3 PER.

[Dark Elf]

Okay, how's this:

 

Mig: 20

Con: 3

Dex: 18

Per: 18

Int: 15

Res: 4

 

 

We shall fight with pikes! 

 

 

 

Between the Int and the Per, I should get good dialogue options too. 

 

Any final tweaks? I figure I'll make an entire custom party, so this guy will be paired with a rock-hard tank or two.

Edited August 5, 2017 by Dark Elf

[MasterCipher]

Human is a fun choice. If you are going max offense, I would prioritize INT (carnage radius and buff-affliction duration) > MIG. After that it's going to depend a lot on your weapon, armor, feat, and ability choices. IF you plan on autoattacking most of the time, you can get away with 3 DEX, but if you plan on using more than 2 abilities every encounter  (Frenzy and HOF are givens), you are going to feel the painful slowness and your low RES will open them up to being interrupted. CON goes a really long way on Barbs and fortitude defense is good on front liners to lower time spent stunned and knocked down, so you might want to try:

 

Mig: 20

Con: 8 (kamikaze = 3)

Dex: 10 (kamikaze = 15)

Per: 18

Int: 18 (choose +1 INT background)

Res: 4

[Dark Elf]

Okay, so how's this for an entire party then?

 

 

TANKS

 

Human Chanter 20/10/3/17/18/10 - Shield and Hatchet, Soft Winds of Death, waiting for Dragon Thrashed. Hunting bow when appropriate I guess.

 

and

 

Human Chanter 20/10/3/17/18/10 - Because why the hell not? The chants that hurt stack, don't they? 

 

 

THOSE THAT LAY DOWN THE HURT

 

Kamikaze Barb: 20/3/15/18/18/4 - pikes and arquebuses. 

 

Bear Druid: 18/10/18/10/18/4 - for nuking and disabling, I suppose. Bear grants damage reduction, which might come in handy.

 

 

UTILITY

 

Human Ranger 20/3/18/15/18/4 - because there are guns in this game.

 

Human Rogue 20/8/18/18/10/4 - because there are traps and locks in this game.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Dark Elf

[Boeroer]

A little weak on the CC and the buff side, but it would work.

 

Chanter phrases do stack, yes. Even Ancient Memory and Beloved Spirits stack which will give your party a decent regeneration effect. If you give all your melees Veteran's Recovery, too (stacks with Ancient Memory & Beloved Spirits and is great with high MIG and INT) you will have a sturdy yet offensively capable melee setup.

 

Concerning the chars:

 

Chanters: all cool. From lvl 9 onwards the rest of the party might get bored.

 

Barb: I wouldn't drop CON to 3. Besides the lower health and endurance it will also gimp your fortitude defense which protects you from things like paralyze, stun and prone. Those things can be really annoying. You can get away with 15 or 16 PER and DEX easily. But if you like 3 CON, then I can recommend Vengeful Defeat. It's a great ability for squishy barbs. Turn off knockout injuries though.

Try to get the Tall Grass pike asap.

Don't waste time with arquebuses.

Give those to your ranger or rogue.

 

Druid: I consider bear form to be one of the weakest. I would alsways use boar or cat (if it's only about effectiveness). Boar is nice because he heals while shifted (not a big regeneration effect, but it stacks with Veteran's Recovery and Ancient Memory & Beloved Spirits). But the best part is the wounding damage that boars do. This is one of the best damage enchantments in the game and the boar's tusks have it. The cat hits faster. Both are on par in terms of DPS. It depends how high your MIG is and how high the enemies' DR. Cat prefers lower target DR and more DEX, boar likes high MIG and can overcome enemies' DR easily with the raw damage of wounding tusks, no matter how high the DR is.

 

Ranger: guns are fun. Especially with Wounding Shot. An arquebus or blunderbuss with wounding shot does a ton of damage. Marked Prey and Driving Flight also work great with guns. Just note that Powder Burns does not work with Swift Aim, so reloading will take forever even with high DEX. You might want to try a quick switching approach because of that. Here DEX doesn't matter that much. Maybe an Island Aumaua with Arms Bearer talent for 4 powder burns gunshots in quick succession. This is a lot of fun but requires some micromanagement.

Blunderbuss + Powder Burns has a very broad but short arc. You have to get close. Arquebuses have a long and narrow cone and are better for long range shots with Powder Burns. I prefer arquebuses.

If you want to reload after every shot you will have a lot lower DPS than a bow ranger.

 

Rogue: since you didn't specify that one I can only guess that it's a ranged rogue. Here anything works as long as you provide afflictions for sneak attack and later deathblows.

A nice, early setup is Borresaine war bow with a rogue. Due to his high crit chance, a rogue can cause stun with Borresaine a lot. So you will bring your own auto-attack-affliction. Later in the game there's a bow called Sabra Marie which does double damage on crit (annihilating) and confuses. This would be the best weapon for a war bow rogue and is very powerful. Until then Borresaine is great.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Boeroer

[Dark Elf]

Would I, for CC purposes, be better off with a Wizard instead of a Rogue? I reckon I could spec one of the chanters to scout ahead anyway.

[Boeroer]

A wizard would definitely add more versatility, especially CC and AoE damage. Chillfog alone may turn hefty fights into easy ones. With Kalakoth's Minor Blights and Blast + Combusting Wounds (combined with Pull of Eora) you also have a great ranged AoE damage dealer who doesn't waste too many spells. If you choose the soulbound scepter (early Act II) you will also have a great auto-attack-CC effect because it can dominate on hit/crit and works with the AoE of implements' Blast.

 

A rogue's mechanics skill bonus is quite handy though. But of course every other character could skill mechanics instead.