Oh, Priest wherefore art thou?

[IndiraLightfoot]

I saw there was a thread about wizards, so I thought priest deserved no less.

 

I haven't played much wizards in PoE 1, but I really liked various forms of priests.

 

In the Deadfire beta, priest is almost dead in the water as a single class (almost literally, like that bug with a floating corpse levelling up with our party at the dock). Sure, some of their healing spells are lightning fast, but the few spells they have aren't exactly turning battles nor are they working as levees for the party. 

 

And what I miss in particular are those cool auras. Now, I only see remnants of them, a few have even been made into crappy spells.

They were part of the PoE priest identity, and personally I'd like to see them get reinserted again. Chanters have there cool chants still, so how about giving priest some substance too?

Edited November 21, 2017 by IndiraLightfoot

[IndiraLightfoot]

I mean, this above ain't exactly making a CRPGer drool. Right now the only word I can describe single class priest choices with, qualitywise and quantitywise, is "snorefest".

Edited November 21, 2017 by IndiraLightfoot

[dam]

In my (limited) POE1 experience with priests, they only started shining during mid-late game, say level 10ish when you got access to Crowns for the Faithful, stuff like that...

 

YMMV

[Juodas Varnas]

I've no access to the Beta myself, but from what i'm hearing from people about the Priests, i'm kinda worried for my PoE 1 import Eothas Priest.

in PoE 1 i used him mostly as an Off-tank Support (high Resolves/Intelligence) with a Flail and Small Shield and he worked pretty nicely.

 

But from all the update videos and the beta streams, it's pretty obvious he won't be viable at higher difficulties AT ALL (despite me playing with PoTD difficulty with him in PoE 1)...

 

Could someone answer a question though? Since Eothas Priests gets the fire-related druid spells, do you get to choose the spells or it's like a completely preset spell list you just get, because i've seen people mention Eothas priests getting the Firebrand, which seems kinda redundant seeing how all priests will be getting summonable weapons already (and ones that actually fit the deity), so i'm asking if there's a choice in it? Would the Firebrand (or other cross-class spells) be as an extra option to choose from when leveling up or is it just "you get it, be happy with it" kind of deal?

[IndiraLightfoot]

@dam: Indeed, or perhaps two levels earlier. But you could make so many kinds of priest, and still you got a great support character.

[dam]

I've no access to the Beta myself, but from what i'm hearing from people about the Priests, i'm kinda worried for my PoE 1 import Eothas Priest.

in PoE 1 i used him mostly as an Off-tank Support (high Resolves/Intelligence) with a Flail and Small Shield and he worked pretty nicely.

 

But from all the update videos and the beta streams, it's pretty obvious he won't be viable at higher difficulties AT ALL (despite me playing with PoTD difficulty with him in PoE 1)...

 

Could someone answer a question though? Since Eothas Priests gets the fire-related druid spells, do you get to choose the spells or it's like a completely preset spell list you just get, because i've seen people mention Eothas priests getting the Firebrand, which seems kinda redundant seeing how all priests will be getting summonable weapons already (and ones that actually fit the deity), so i'm asking if there's a choice in it? Would the Firebrand (or other cross-class spells) be as an extra option to choose from when leveling up or is it just "you get it, be happy with it" kind of deal?

 

You don't get to choose, they're learned automagically when you reach levels X, Y and Z.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

The priest seems pretty important so far on the beta; the default party comes with a Berath priest and he's very useful.

 

Main issue I'd point to is that for most classes the penetration mechanic really heavily encourages weapon switching, and priests are somewhat locked into their class weapon. Still that's not insurmountable and the class weapons have a potent lash for an added damage types which will help with that .

 

Past that it's hard to say because all casters need third cast times tweaked; it's clear spell balancing isn't finished yet.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Dr. Hieronymous Alloy

[Juodas Varnas]

 

I've no access to the Beta myself, but from what i'm hearing from people about the Priests, i'm kinda worried for my PoE 1 import Eothas Priest.

in PoE 1 i used him mostly as an Off-tank Support (high Resolves/Intelligence) with a Flail and Small Shield and he worked pretty nicely.

 

But from all the update videos and the beta streams, it's pretty obvious he won't be viable at higher difficulties AT ALL (despite me playing with PoTD difficulty with him in PoE 1)...

 

Could someone answer a question though? Since Eothas Priests gets the fire-related druid spells, do you get to choose the spells or it's like a completely preset spell list you just get, because i've seen people mention Eothas priests getting the Firebrand, which seems kinda redundant seeing how all priests will be getting summonable weapons already (and ones that actually fit the deity), so i'm asking if there's a choice in it? Would the Firebrand (or other cross-class spells) be as an extra option to choose from when leveling up or is it just "you get it, be happy with it" kind of deal?

 

You don't get to choose, they're learned automagically when you reach levels X, Y and Z.

20171121193618_1.jpg

20171121193621_1.jpg

 

Bummer... I'd rather just get an extra 'normal' Priest spell instead of something i'd probably never use. 

(Because you no longer get ALL the priest spells when reaching the required level like in PoE 1, do you? I remember hearing you just get to pick a few spells and that's that)

Edited November 21, 2017 by Juodas Varnas

[dam]

The priest seems pretty important so far on the beta; the default party comes with an eothas priest and he's very useful.

 

Main issue I'd point to is that for most classes the penetration mechanic really heavily encourages weapon switching, and priests are somewhat locked into their class weapon.

 

Eothas ?

 

Whatcha mean Eothas ?

 

The guy gets Touch of Rot and Spreading plague whatever.

 

 

That ain't sun-themed

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Yeah don't know why I typed that already fixed.

[Juodas Varnas]

 

The priest seems pretty important so far on the beta; the default party comes with an eothas priest and he's very useful.

 

Main issue I'd point to is that for most classes the penetration mechanic really heavily encourages weapon switching, and priests are somewhat locked into their class weapon.

 

Eothas ?

 

Whatcha mean Eothas ?

 

The guy gets Touch of Rot and Spreading plague whatever.

 

 

That ain't sun-themed

 

You're thinking of Berath. God of Death.

 

Eothas is the god of sunshine and lolipops.

[AndreaColombo]

Priests suffer very much from two things, in my opinion:

 

• Like Wizards, Priests too suffer from casting times that are generally too long. Self-buff (including weapon summons) should be fast cast. Casting times should be slightly shorter across the board.
• Unlike Wizards, Priest cannot compensate the meager number of spells they get at level up by casting through grimoires. Hence, they should learn extra spells at level up. As they are now, you're basically pigeonholed into taking must-have spells (just to find out they take so long to cast that by the time you're done, combat's over.)

A multiclass Priest has some utility, in the sense that you can play it as a Fighter and only take healing spells, Suppress Afflictions, and Devotions for the Faitful. Not much of a Priest, but at least they've got some use in combat.

 

Casting classes were hurt very much by the lengthy casting times and absence of the graze mechanic for spells, imo. A full party of frontliners tend to be more effective than a mixed party that has casters.

 

Even Ciphers are only attractive when multiclassed with Fighters so you can stack the Soul Whip and Biting Whip damage bonuses on a DPS-oriented character.

Edited November 21, 2017 by AndreaColombo

[White Phoenix]

Played priest of Eothas a lot in beta. Single class and multi (with druid, paladin and monk). Shattered Pillar combo is insane (two weapons style + priestly buff), same with Fury druid (I am electric god!). Paladin was fine (Kind Wayfarers).

 

If you plan to cast a lot you HAVE TO max Dexterity as it shortens action time. Tried more offensive build with high perception and I noticed that some  spells like Divine Mark, Interdiction and Shining Beacon hit more often than Repulsing Seal or Pillar of Faith because they attack enemy will - their weakest defense

 

I think that loss of protection spells is too much as you cannot cast Watchful Presence or Supress Afflictions. Same with no passive talents. Fire druid spells are fine, maybe Firebrand not (miss, miss, miss :0) but Sunbeam and Firebug at power level V are nice touch.

Edited November 21, 2017 by White Phoenix

[Juodas Varnas]

I think that loss of protection spells is too much as you cannot cast Watchful Presence or Supress Afflictions. Same with no passive talents. 

Woah, woah, woah, woah!

 

...No Suppress Afflictions? It was like... One of my favorite Priest spells at lower levels!

Losing that spell is just.... Dumb... I'm beginning to dislike the changes from PoE 1 more and more. 

 

Let me guess.... No Withdraw either? 

Edited November 21, 2017 by Juodas Varnas

[White Phoenix]

 

I think that loss of protection spells is too much as you cannot cast Watchful Presence or Supress Afflictions. Same with no passive talents. 

Woah, woah, woah, woah!

 

...No Suppress Afflictions? It was like... One of my favorite Priest spells at lower levels!

Losing that spell is just.... Dumb... I'm beginning to dislike the changes from PoE 1 more and more. 

 

Let me guess.... No Withdraw either? 

 

Yeah, no Withdraw. Is Eothas god of death now? 

 

You can only kick asses with offensive spells, heal allies, sometime buff allies, debuff enemies but you cannot protect your party from death. I have hard time with understanding Inspiration spells and Protection one because they seem to be similar sometimes. In general this subclass looks more offensive than Berath.

Edited November 21, 2017 by White Phoenix

[Juodas Varnas]

 

 

I think that loss of protection spells is too much as you cannot cast Watchful Presence or Supress Afflictions. Same with no passive talents. 

Woah, woah, woah, woah!

 

...No Suppress Afflictions? It was like... One of my favorite Priest spells at lower levels!

Losing that spell is just.... Dumb... I'm beginning to dislike the changes from PoE 1 more and more. 

 

Let me guess.... No Withdraw either? 

 

Yeah, no Withdraw. Is Eothas god of death now? 

 

God of Disappointment.

[Breckmoney]

I feel like Eothas has traded in the upstanding parts of his portfolio for those more vengeful in nature.

[dam]

I feel like Eothas has traded in the upstanding parts of his portfolio for those more vengeful in nature.

 

s/vengeful/useless/

 

 

'cause let's face it, once you cast this firebug (fck, IF you cast it, interrupts hello !! ) , you still need to hit AND overcome the enemy's resistance.

 

 

Useless AF.

[White Phoenix]

 

I feel like Eothas has traded in the upstanding parts of his portfolio for those more vengeful in nature.

 

s/vengeful/useless/

 

 

'cause let's face it, once you cast this firebug (fck, IF you cast it, interrupts hello !! ) , you still need to hit AND overcome the enemy's resistance.

 

 

Useless AF.

 

Maybe it because of Gaun? As he is more protective than Eothas and Xoti worshipps him (I am sure she will have Protection spells).

 

Well, class is not so bad if you find tactics (but forget about protection your party like Berath cleric). When I was playing I was usually healing and (de)buffing everyone. For now offensive spells worth of using are Divine Mark, Interdiction and Shining Beacon as they can hit often. Barbs of Condemnation are awesome too.

Edited November 21, 2017 by White Phoenix

[Juodas Varnas]

I do find it kinda funny how devs decided to make the classes more "distinct" by removing the universal talents and what not, but then decided to just give Priests random spells from other classes while taking away a huge part of their own kit. 

.

.

Should i just start up a new character in PoE 1 to get imported to Deadfire? 

[dam]

I do find it kinda funny how devs decided to make the classes more "distinct" by removing the universal talents and what not, but then decided to just give Priests random spells from other classes while taking away a huge part of their own kit. 

.

.

Should i just start up a new character in PoE 1 to get imported to Deadfire? 

 

There's gonna be huge checks and restrictions WRT importing characters.

 

Otherwise even with content scaling, importing a wizard who knows every spell means that you'll only need to pickup the few extra, new POE2-only spells et voila.

[Boeroer]

In my (limited) POE1 experience with priests, they only started shining during mid-late game, say level 10ish when you got access to Crowns for the Faithful, stuff like that...

 

YMMV

Not at all. They had Inspiring Radiance right from the start (if you wished) which gave +10 ACC (stacked with everything, even another Inspiring Radiance). They also could have Interdiction + Painful Interdiction. Note that these were talents which are now gone. :/

 

And of cours one of my favorite lvl-2-spells: Iconic Projection which wa great because it only had to overcome 1/4 of DR and was a superfast cast. Then at spell tier 4 there's the best spell: Devotions that stacks with universal ACC buffs like Disciplined Barrage... and so on...

 

Now the best priest buff suddenly is Dire Blessing because it gives the whole party the ability to graze. That sounds so lame but is so powerful.

[dam]

 

In my (limited) POE1 experience with priests, they only started shining during mid-late game, say level 10ish when you got access to Crowns for the Faithful, stuff like that...

 

YMMV

Not at all. They had Inspiring Radiance right from the start (if you wished) which gave +10 ACC (stacked with everything, even another Inspiring Radiance). They also could have Interdiction + Painful Interdiction. Note that these were talents which are now gone. :/

 

And of cours one of my favorite lvl-2-spells: Iconic Projection which wa great because it only had to overcome 1/4 of DR and was a superfast cast. Then at spell tier 4 there's the best spell: Devotions that stacks with universal ACC buffs like Disciplined Barrage... and so on...

 

Now the best priest buff suddenly is Dire Blessing because it gives the whole party the ability to graze. That sounds so lame but is so powerful.

 

Yeah, no.

 

First, it doesn't give the ability to the whole party, it gives it to those in the area of effect, so you're gonna have to position properly.

 

Second, it's absolutely wasted on some select classes with this or that ability (hello fighters ?).

[Boeroer]

What is your formation when combat starts? Each char in one corner of the map?

 

You should cast it at the start of combat of course - so that your casters' CC spells can graze. That makes it powerful. Who cares about the fighters? They are OP anyways at the moment.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Boeroer

[dam]

Nuh uh.

 

At the start of combat (and given combat's current speed), I'm way too busy positioning my frontline so my DPS and support chars won't get rekt