Help Me choose Between skaen priest, Rogue, Druid.

[Rayjay13]

Hello everyone, I really need help choosing I love this game so much but I have restarted over 50 times and I really want to finish it. So help me out. I'm looking to choose between A Skaen priest or a Rogue, and maybe druid. So I want to know which one has the most Dialogue, and unique Dialog. Most Damage and versatility. And A Good Build for them. And thanks for helping me : )

[JFutral]

There are only a couple/few dialogue options that are class dependent. There are more attribute dependent dialogue options than class. Resolve, might, and intelligence seem to garner the most options. Perception and dexterity have a one or two/couple. I don't recall seeing anything for constitution, but I could be wrong. There are a couple of actions that are constitution dependent.

 

Other than that, I got nothin' for ya. I love rogues. Druids and rangers are my usual second choices.

 

HTH,

Joe

[mosspit]

But why 50 retries? Any particular reasons?

[firkraag888]

The problem with druids is that you will possibly get bored with the game because of the storm spells. You will basically eneter combat and activate relentless storm every time, which will trivialise most encounters.

 

Priests are great. Rogues are great fun to play.

 

From a power game perspective priest comes out on top. Rogues are arguably the most fun class out of three to play.

[Rayjay13]

But why 50 retries? Any particular reason.

That always happens to me for these types of games. until i get that special someone.

 

The problem with druids is that you will possibly get bored with the game because of the storm spells. You will basically eneter combat and activate relentless storm every time, which will trivialise most encounters.

 

Priests are great. Rogues are great fun to play.

 

From a power game perspective priest comes out on top. Rogues are arguably the most fun class out of three to play.

Yeah Rogues do seem fun to play but they dont seem to versatile, might be me or i just dont know how to play them, and well the priest, I heard the Skean priest is good and has unique dialogue, but wouldnt that be like a gimp rogue? since it uses stilletos and lesser sneak attack? I could be wrong but yeah, Now its between Rogue and Skaen priest.

[Boeroer]

Most AoE damage: priest (after gaining some levels). Needs high MIG, PER and INT for that.

 

Best single target damage: druid (cat form or boar form) or rogue (whatever weapon, dual wielding is great for his strike abilites, two handers are better for Backstabs).

 

Best crowd control: druid

 

Best buffs: priest

 

My recommendations (viable and fun to play - at least for me):

 

Moon Godlike boar druid with focus on Spiritshift and self healing

 

MIG: 18

CON: 16

DEX: 14

PER: 13

INT: 14

RES: 3

 

Or something like that - shift some points if you like. High MIG boosts the wounding lash that the boar tusks have. High CON prevents death from health loss (while endurance gets healed all the time). The goal is to be sturdy despite being an offensive druid and to use spell holding gear that benefits your shifted form.

 

Pick Veteran's Recovery, Wildstrike Shock, Weapon Focus Peasant, Greater Wildstrike Shock, Two Weapon Style, Heart of the Storm, Savage Attack, Apprentice's Sneak Attack.

 

Push Survival to 12. You'll get +2 from Sanguine Plate and will choose healing bonus when camping (+60%). This will boost you Silver Tide (moon godlike racial ability), Boar regeneration, Veteran's Recovery and Consecrated Ground from Shod-in-Faith boots (see below).

 

Put on the Sanguine Plate and Shod-in-Faith boots and also the WIldstrike Belt.

When encounter starts use a DR+ spell like Form of the Delemgan, later also Avenging Storm and then use a CC spell like Subeam or Returning Storm or Overbearing Wave or whatever in order to lower enemies' defenses. Then run towards them. Once you get a crit: Frenzy and Consecrated Ground will trigger. Then shift asap and hit the CC'd enemies with your tusks. Once the first is dead: Off to the next!

 

Your self healing will be immense and you will not be easy to kill - however when you get pummeled badly you will lose health. A potion of Infuse with Vital Essence can heal your health without resting! It also profits from the healing bonus.

 

Pick the Doemenel Faction in order to get Merciless Hand and also help the Dyrwoodan looters in order to get Dungeon Delver. This will improve your critical damage from +50% to +90%.

 

When not shifted you can use dual hatchets for better deflection and of course you can always cast spells - preferably shock based spells.

 

This build is not optimal for RES-based dialogue options as you could have guessed. But it is a lot of fun. You could have better dps with a cat form, but nothing is more frustirating than getting knocked out a lot - this won't happen too ofteen with this druid if you don't get too reckless.

 

---

 

Hearth Orlan Priest of Skaen with Firebrand:

The more priests advance the less they use melee weapons because they are so busy casting their awesome spells. THis build takes this into account and pairs the most powerful early-to-mig-game weapon with the damage bonuses of a priest of Skaen. This guy is a flanker like a real rogue. The race is not set but I think orlan background fits both Skaen and also the flanking style.

 

MIG:15

CON:10

DEX:15

PER:15

INT:15

RES: 08

 

Skill survival to 12 in order to get +20% damge bonus when hitting flanked enemies.

 

Pick Prey on the Weak, Inspiring Radiance, Aggrandizing Radiance, Apprentice's Sneak Attack, Weapon Focus Ruffian, Two Handed Style, Savage Attack, Scion of Flame.

 

Put on an item with bonus damage to flanked enemies (Glanfathan Stalking Boots for example). All items that raise stats are fine. Try not to put too much recovery penalty on the priest - but enough DR so that he doesn't go down too quickly. Use Consecrated Ground if you feel that you are too squishy.

 

As soon as encounter starts wait in stealth until the enemies engaged your front line, cast Radiance and flank an enemy. Later also cast Dire Blessing, Devotions, Minor Avatar and stuff like that. Your damage per hit will be great. You can use this tactic every time you want to spare spell uses. Else spam your fire spells, preferably Shining Beacon.

 

Here you should also pick the Doemenel Faction because of the same reasons.

 

---

 

Dumbest rogue with Tidefall

This rogue will be relatively sturdy comapred to most other rogues while he will do decent damage via wounding. Best thing for wounding is high MIG and low INT. So wie drop INT to 3 and reduce it further to 1 later (this boosts wounding dps to the max). Race doesn't matter that much.

 

MIG: 18

CON: 18

DEX: 18

PER: 18

INT: 03

RES: 03

 

You can put 4 points into survival for the ACC bonus, rest to stealth.

Tidefall's draining doesn't profit from healing bonuses, so we can skip that. Put on heavy armor at first in order to stay alive. You can reduce that step by step later on if you feel you're safe enough.

 

Grab Tidefall asap (needs 10 mechanics), put on a freezing lash (or any other lash), get the Ultimate Hat of Alluring Perfection from Stalwart (INT-2, RES-2, MIG +2, CON+2). Get the Cape of the Master Mystic as well. Blunting Belt is good. Boots of Speed greatly increase the usefulness as well.

 

Pick Weapon Focus Soldier, Two Handed Style, Backstab, Runner's Wounding Shot, Vicious Fighting, Shadowing Beyond (also bind Nightshroud for an additional use of Shadowing Beyond), Fast Runner, Secrets of Rime.

 

Crippling Strike, Reckless Assault, Dirty Fighting, Deep Wounds, Deathblows, Sap, Shadow Step, Feign Death.

 

Wait in stealth till enemies come near and want to engage to your tank or whomever or even better snaek around them to reach the squishies. Place two afflictions on enemies with the party while the rogue still is in stealth (skip that if you don't have Deathblows yet), then engage an enemy with auto-attacks while you are stealthed (it doesn't matter if you unstealth on the way to the target). You will get two backstab-strikes with +300% damage bonus because of Sneak Attack, Deathblows and Backstab. then use Crippling Strike, Runner's Wounding Shot, Crippling Strike. Use high move speed to reach squishies quickly and kill them. Also use Shadwo Step to do so. When you catch a crit you will be invisible and can allpiy Backstab again. While yoi kill yopu will gain a lot of endurance - if it's not enough activate Shadowing Beyond and get Backstab once again. If you seem to go down use Feign Death (very short duration here), get back up and again do a Backstab. It's a lot of micro but a lot of fun.

 

Here Doemenel as well.

 

---

 

All very offensive builds I have to admit. But those were the rogue/priest/druid I had the most fun with recently. Dialogue choices are overrated. You won't miss a lot of things because of dialogue options. I have to admit low INT and RES remove a lot of (rather pointless) dialogue options, but there are still some with PER, MIG and so on. For the best stat spread for dialogues I would pick a tanky paladin or chanter. THose have a stat spread that fits most dialogue options best.

Sorry for the typos. Had to write quickly...

Edited October 7, 2017 by Boeroer

[Rayjay13]

Most AoE damage: priest (after gaining some levels). Needs high MIG, PER and INT for that.

 

Best single target damage: druid (cat form or boar form) or rogue (whatever weapon, dual wielding is great for his strike abilites, two handers are better for Backstabs).

 

Best crowd control: druid

 

Best buffs: priest

 

My recommendations (viable and fun to play - at least for me):

 

Moon Godlike boar druid with focus on Spiritshift and self healing

 

MIG: 18

CON: 16

DEX: 14

PER: 13

INT: 14

RES: 3

 

Or something like that - shift some points if you like. High MIG boosts the wounding lash that the boar tusks have. High CON prevents death from health loss (while endurance gets healed all the time). The goal is to be sturdy despite being an offensive druid and to use spell holding gear that benefits your shifted form.

 

Pick Veteran's Recovery, Wildstrike Shock, Weapon Focus Peasant, Greater Wildstrike Shock, Two Weapon Style, Heart of the Storm, Savage Attack, Apprentice's Sneak Attack.

 

Push Survival to 12. You'll get +2 from Sanguine Plate and will choose healing bonus when camping (+60%). This will boost you Silver Tide (moon godlike racial ability), Boar regeneration, Veteran's Recovery and Consecrated Ground from Shod-in-Faith boots (see below). 

 

Put on the Sanguine Plate and Shod-in-Faith boots and also the WIldstrike Belt.

When encounter starts use a DR+ spell like Form of the Delemgan, later also Avenging Storm and then use a CC spell like Subeam or Returning Storm or Overbearing Wave or whatever in order to lower enemies' defenses. Then run towards them. Once you get a crit: Frenzy and Consecrated Ground will trigger. Then shift asap and hit the CC'd enemies with your tusks. Once the first is dead: Off to the next!

 

Your self healing will be immense and you will not be easy to kill - however when you get pummeled badly you will lose health. A potion of Infuse with Vital Essence can heal your health without resting! It also profits from the healing bonus.

 

Pick the Doemenel Faction in order to get Merciless Hand and also help the Dyrwoodan looters in order to get Dungeon Delver. This will improve your critical damage from +50% to +90%.

 

When not shifted you can use dual hatchets for better deflection and of course you can always cast spells - preferably shock based spells.

 

This build is not optimal for RES-based dialogue options as you could have guessed. But it is a lot of fun. You could have better dps with a cat form, but nothing is more frustirating than getting knocked out a lot - this won't happen too ofteen with this druid if you don't get too reckless.

 

---

 

Hearth Orlan Priest of Skaen with Firebrand:

The more priests advance the less they use melee weapons because they are so busy casting their awesome spells. THis build takes this into account and pairs the most powerful early-to-mig-game weapon with the damage bonuses of a priest of Skaen. This guy is a flanker like a real rogue. The race is not set but I think orlan background fits both Skaen and also the flanking style.

 

MIG:15

CON:10

DEX:15

PER:15

INT:15

RES: 08

 

Skill survival to 12 in order to get +20% damge bonus when hitting flanked enemies.  

 

Pick Prey on the Weak, Inspiring Radiance, Aggrandizing Radiance, Apprentice's Sneak Attack, Weapon Focus Ruffian, Two Handed Style, Savage Attack, Scion of Flame.

 

Put on an item with bonus damage to flanked enemies (Glanfathan Stalking Boots for example). All items that raise stats are fine. Try not to put too much recovery penalty on the priest - but enough DR so that he doesn't go down too quickly. Use Consecrated Ground if you feel that you are too squishy.

 

As soon as encounter starts wait in stealth until the enemies engaged your front line, cast Radiance and  flank an enemy. Later also cast Dire Blessing, Devotions, Minor Avatar and stuff like that. Your damage per hit will be great. You can use this tactic every time you want to spare spell uses. Else spam your fire spells, preferably Shining Beacon.

 

Here you should also pick the Doemenel Faction because of the same reasons.

 

---

 

Dumbest rogue with Tidefall

This rogue will be relatively sturdy comapred to most other rogues while he will do decent damage via wounding. Best thing for wounding is high MIG and low INT. So wie drop INT to 3 and reduce it further to 1 later (this boosts wounding dps to the max). Race doesn't matter that much. 

 

MIG: 18

CON: 18

DEX: 18

PER: 18

INT: 03

RES: 03

 

You can put 4 points into survival for the ACC bonus, rest to stealth.

Tidefall's draining doesn't profit from healing bonuses, so we can skip that. Put on heavy armor at first in order to stay alive. You can reduce that step by step later on if you feel you're safe enough.

 

Grab Tidefall asap (needs 10 mechanics), put on a freezing lash (or any other lash), get the Ultimate Hat of Alluring Perfection from Stalwart (INT-2, RES-2, MIG +2, CON+2). Get the Cape of the Master Mystic as well. Blunting Belt is good. Boots of Speed greatly increase the usefulness as well.

 

Pick Weapon Focus Soldier, Two Handed Style,  Backstab, Runner's Wounding Shot, Vicious Fighting, Shadowing Beyond (also bind Nightshroud for an additional use of Shadowing Beyond),  Fast Runner, Secrets of Rime.     

 

Crippling Strike, Reckless Assault, Dirty Fighting, Deep Wounds, Deathblows, Sap, Shadow Step, Feign Death.

 

Wait in stealth till enemies come near and want to engage to your tank or whomever or even better snaek around them to reach the squishies. Place two afflictions on enemies with the party while the rogue still is in stealth (skip that if you don't have Deathblows yet), then engage an enemy with auto-attacks while you are stealthed (it doesn't matter if you unstealth on the way to the target). You will get two backstab-strikes with +300% damage bonus because of Sneak Attack, Deathblows and Backstab. then use Crippling Strike, Runner's Wounding Shot, Crippling Strike. Use high move speed to reach squishies quickly and kill them. Also use Shadwo Step to do so. When you catch a crit you will be invisible and can allpiy Backstab again. While yoi kill yopu will gain a lot of endurance - if it's not enough activate Shadowing Beyond and get Backstab once again. If you seem to go down use Feign Death (very short duration here), get back up and again do a Backstab. It's a lot of micro but a lot of fun.

 

Here Doemenel as well.

 

---

 

All very offensive builds I have to admit. But those where the rogue/priest/druid I had the most fun with recently. Dialogue choices are overrated. You won't miss a lot of things because of dialogue options. I have to admit low INT and RES remove a lot of options, but there are still some with PER, MIG and so on. For the best stat spread for dialogues I would pick a tanky paladin or chanter. THose have a stat spread that fits most dialogue options best.

Sorry for the typos. Had to write quickly...

Wow : ) Thanks, Those builds are very unique, just a couple of questions though.

-Will the Druid have zero recovery rate while shapeshifted? Boar form or Cat. Even if i dont this is a very nice build.

-So with the Skean priest no point in using stilletos then? So fireband will just be king in dps? and Yes those fire spells are awesome.

-So this Rogue build you made does it do more Damage than Dual wielding sabre, and is recovery rate zero, with durgan enchants?

And thank you so much for this. All these builds are excellent, might make them all 3 my playthroughs and take them with me to Pillars 2. : )

[Torm51]

What Boer said.

[JFutral]

Boeroer is rarely wrong, but that will have an effect on dialogue options. Resolve is pretty consistently one of the dialogue choices.

 

Joe

[Boeroer]

True. I wrote about that in the last paragraph.

[JFutral]

True. I wrote about that in the last paragraph.

Yeah, sorry about that. I zoned out after a bit there.

Joe

[Boeroer]

Understandable. It's a huge pile of text.

[Moneo]

Speaking about the priests, I want to stress out that on top of all, this class has some reputation rewards and restrictions. For example, a Skaen priest must be Cruel and Deceptive and mustn't be Aggressive and Benevolent. Being Cruel and Deceptive is rather important in this game, 'cause this gives you a couple of some nice talents. But so is the Benevolent reputation. It's crucial to be Benevolent in some cases (being Benevolent, you can get +3 Fame - or how it is called - to you stronghold not to mention a couple of artifacts). Being Aggressive is handy in couple of times, but it's avoidable. You can choose one Aggressive response in order to gain more money and reputation and not pump up the according disposition.

 

Of course, there is one quest, where a priest of Skaen can take a unique decision, but that's minor IMO.

 

I like to play priests and pallys as PC, 'cause they are the only classes which get stronger just because of roleplaying. But I don't like to restrict myself and gimp my character for only roleplay reasons, so I usually pick up a priest of Magran or a paladin of Goldpact. They both can be Cruel and Deceptive and also Honest and Benevolent, so they have no penalties in game mechanics because of roleplaying. Moreover, a priest of Magran is quite strong, it has arguably the best Symbol of Deity (a 8th level spell) and also can carry an arquebus (it's not so handy as Wael's rod, but is also viable, there is one good unique arquebus).

[Boeroer]

I'd like to add that priests' special accuracy talents like Hope Eternal, Inspired Flame, The Pallid Hand and so on which will give you +10 accuracy with two different weapons work with all soulbound and summoned weapons as well.

[Boeroer]

Wow : ) Thanks, Those builds are very unique, just a couple of questions though.

-Will the Druid have zero recovery rate while shapeshifted? Boar form or Cat. Even if i dont this is a very nice build.

-So with the Skean priest no point in using stilletos then? So fireband will just be king in dps? and Yes those fire spells are awesome.

-So this Rogue build you made does it do more Damage than Dual wielding sabre, and is recovery rate zero, with durgan enchants?

And thank you so much for this. All these builds are excellent, might make them all 3 my playthroughs and take them with me to Pillars 2. : )

Huh? How did that post slip in? Ach - I guess it first had to be unlocked by an admin because you're a new user? I totally missed it.

 

Druid 0 recovery:

With Dual Wielding, Frenzy and Two Weapon Style you would have 0 recovery without armor penalty. But if I recall correctly the natural armor of the shifted druid has -25%? Anyways, the remaining recovery is pretty short (like 8 frames or lower I guess - check MaxQuest's awesome speed calculator) - but more importantly your attack cycle is shorter than that of dual sabres with 0 recovery. That's because the natural weapons are faster than the heavy one-handed weapons (but hit even harder AND have innate DR bypass).

 

Skaen priest with Firebrand or stilettos

When looking at dps: in the long run stilettos would be better - but only from late midgame to late game. But this would need enchantments, finding decent stilettos, probably use some durgan steel on them and so on. Since priests usually tend to spend a lot of their time casting I always feel that's a waste of resources. Also, the very high base damage of Firebrand works very well with the good damage bonuses of the skaen priest - and Aggrandizing Radiance + Minor Avatar will ensure a lot of summon duration and also a lot more crits (which is great for Firebrand). And in the early to mid game there's nothing better.

You can later retrain for stilettos if you want to improve your dps in the later game - but I usually want to spend the good stuff on characters who make more frequent use of their weapons.

But yes, stilettos are also a good alternative. See my old build "Sheemer's Needler" in the build section for that (it is old and has no WM talents if I recall correctly, but it gives you an idea).

 

Rogue with TIdefall and recovery

No, he will not reach 0 recovery without potions. He is more focused on hefty spike damage to possibly one-shot enemies (works pretty well) and survivability rather than boosted dps and dropping unconcious all the time. With 20 DEX and Gauntlets of Swift Action and Scale armor + durgan steel he would have an attack cycle of 85 frames which is good. If he gulps a potion of Alacrity or using Angio's Gambeson he would have 0 recovery and thus would deal a lot higher dps than a dual sabre rogue. Also, Backstab with dual sabres will give you teo hits - Backstab with Tidefall also teo hits. Tidefall is the better option when using Backstab because of that. Wounding with 1 INT and +300% damage bonus is really devastating. Also Runner's Wounding Shot + Deathblows + Tidefall is a death sentense. Way better than Finishing Blow when using two handers in my opinion.

The good thing is the good survivability with the awesome damage per hit and the overall tactical approach with Backstab. For some this is fun, for some it's just tedious.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Boeroer

[Ymiraku]

I have played druids dozens of times and they don't need to be trivialized just to relentless storm etc. As boeroer has mentioned before spiritshift boar + veterans recovery leads to some really good self healing, especially if you put on a belt of bountiful healing for +25%, cast moonwell on yourself and you are pretty OP. Although I wouldn't dump resolve unless you are very experienced. It is great for avoiding being interrupted and for making your druid a bit tankier. Druids get an aoe called Venom Bloom on higher levels which is ridiculous  because it is a passive aoe and deals raw damage. When spirtshifted you can deal use taste of the hunt for a really decent heal and a nice little DoT also. Sunbeam is nice because it does decent damage and blinds enemies for a long time.

 

I find what has worked really well for me with druid is to spec higher perception of about between 15-17 then use gauntlets of accuracy and the +4 accuracy aura (cant remember its name lol) if you don't have a paladin in the party. I find druids kind of need decent accuracy for spirit shift attacks and for spell casting.

 

And yeah shod in faith boots are really nice but im not sure if the proc stacks with moonwell. I usually use boots of stability, fenwalkers etc.

[Boeroer]

But how do you retain the bonus of the Gauntlets of Accuracy and the healing bonus from the Belt of Bountiful Healing when shifted...?

 

Consecrated Ground from Shod-in-Faith is my preferred method compared to Moonwell although the latter is a lot better. The reason is that catching a crit to trigger Frenzy + Consecrated Ground needs zero frames while casting Moonwell takes some time and my attention/explicit action. This works quite well with low RES and is a good justification to dump it completely.

[Ymiraku]

But how do you retain the bonus of the Gauntlets of Accuracy and the healing bonus from the Belt of Bountiful Healing when shifted...?

 

Consecrated Ground from Shod-in-Faith is my preferred method compared to Moonwell although the latter is a lot better. The reason is that catching a crit to trigger Frenzy + Consecrated Ground needs zero frames while casting Moonwell takes some time and my attention/explicit action. This works quite well with low RES and is a good justification to dump it completely.

The accuracy bonus from gallants focus will apply to the spiritshifted form. Spiritshift doesn't last that long so if I am still going to be in melee when it expires I will cast Firebrand, that will actually benefit from gauntlets and having the belt. 

 

Im pretty sure that intelligence actually affects the overall duration of concecrated ground on shod in faith because it lasts for friggin ages.

[Ymiraku]

Btw I was actually not aware that the bonuses from gauntlets of accuracy and belt of bountiful healing did not apply when spirit shifted. I just assumed that they did. Still nice to have high perception though so those spells hit.

[Boeroer]

Yes, you won't be running around shifted all day.

 

By the way there's not a single item with a passive bonus that will work when shifted. The Wildstrike Belt works obviously, but it's not giving you a passive bonus. Actually it will give you a timed bonus and its base duration is of the same length as Spiritshift's - but it's fixed and not influenced by INT, so you will likely have longer shifting duration than Wildstrike Belt's bonus lash. It's a bit stupid.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Boeroer