Can't decide on class

[GawainBS]

I've never finished PoE, mostly because I dislike the mechanics: too many spells/effects with too short a duration, plus I never seem to be able to create a characterbuild of a class that I like.

 

However, I do want to finish the game before part II hits. I've got both expansions.

 

The classes I've shortlisted are Cypher, Paladin, Fighter and Ranger. I want my character to make a meaningful contribution to combat and have several dialogue options available.

 

I tried a Paladin tank, but that was a dud. Also tried a melee dualwield Cypher, but I lost focus on that playthrough.

 

Can anyone help me decide? I prefer something straight-forward, but I'm willing to dig some more into the Cypher.

 

Thanks in advance!

[draego]

You can make low micro versions of a lot of classes if that is what you mean. I wonder how many active abilities you want. Rangers are my fav in all forms (ranged, melee, tank) but you can definitely make a ranger and stick with a hunting bow (the best bow for ranger is hunting - Persistance) / and predator's sense. My main mc going to deadfire is a melee two handed weapon ranger M-15, C-9, D-15, P-15, I-9, R-15. I dont min max much and this give you high res and perc for dialogue stuff. They have very good single target damage especially with their animal companion. You can focus more on positioning and target priority more then abilities although there are some active abilities. And dont be fooled by the damage stats in the character card the animals damage is not recorded which is maybe half the damage the overall character produces. With that in mind you need to give the animal several abilities/talents to beef it up and not just give everything to your ranger. Also if you are wanting more abilities with this character you can give them lore which gives you access to spells and conversion options

 

Also one you may do already is turn off 'Show unqualified interactions' under difficulty settings. The game was not designed to let you get all conversion options and i find the game is more enjoyable if just dont know what you missed. There are plenty of convo options for res, int, per to give you good mix and there are definitely some for might, con, dex. There is for the most part no 'win' attributes so i wouldn't sweat it.

Edited January 26, 2018 by draego

[GawainBS]

Hhhmm, two-hander Ranger actually sounds intriguing. Could you please elaborate on it?

[draego]

I just posted this for someone. I dont min max. This build is heavy on micro and positioning and staying alive. So if you are into more active skills this aint it. But its my funnest build because i like that stuff in the game.

 

Ranger 

Edited January 26, 2018 by draego

[Boeroer]

Another two handed ranger focused on synergies between ranger and animal companion.

 

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/83435-class-build-riptide-the-pit-fright-dps-offtank-melee-ranger-double-team-supreme/

 

It's a bit old but still perfectly valid. Just use it as inspiration or so.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Boeroer

[GawainBS]

Another two handed ranger focused on synergies between ranger and animal companion.https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/83435-class-build-riptide-the-pit-fright-dps-offtank-melee-ranger-double-team-supreme/

It's a bit old but still perfectly valid. Just use it as inspiration or so.

Thank you! That looks awesome! INT does cover some conversation options, right?

[Boeroer]

That's right. Every stat does.

 

To be honest RES is the one with the most options I think. But there are also several for INT, PER and MIG, some others for CON and DEX, but those last two are mostly used during scripted happenings and less in dialogue.

 

The key point of that build is to use Tidefall to apply wounding and then let the pet add a lot of damage via Predator's Sense. You an def. raise RES for dialogue if you want and skip the part with the Shod-in-Faith boots if you have a priest/paladin/druid in the party who can heal (the pet) as well. Then you wouldn't need a lot of INT for example.

 

For Tideall' dps it's ideal to have high MIG and low INT - but at the same time you want to make sure that the wounding effect of Tidefall doesn't wear off on the enemy so that Predator's Sense gets triggered all the time. So... 3 INT isn't an option. Also because you will get Stunning Shots (that also work in melee) later and those are quite good with not-dumped INT.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Boeroer

[draego]

I just sent another person to that build for some reason i had it in my head that that build was a sword and board tank type. I guess i was mis-remembering and not reading

[GawainBS]

Is the build viable from early levels?

[Boeroer]

Well... since you can't pick a lot of talents/abilites/items in the early levels: which build is not?

 

But yes, it is ok until you find Tidefall/Shod-in-Faith. If you play it like a rogue + pet and not trying to engage first you will be fine.

 

If he's too squishy you could think about taking Veteran's Recovery. The build lacks some talents/abilites because it's pre WMII. So there's room for more if you wish.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Boeroer

[GawainBS]

Yeah, I understand you can't be viable from lvl 1 on wards, but some builds in RPGs are only valid at the very last levels.

[Boeroer]

Yeah - well this build also stands and falls with items, in this case Tidefall and Shot-in-Faith boots. Luckily those will come pretty early in the game so the "real deal" should start once you grabbed Tidefall (may be possible from lvl 6 upwards).

 

Before it's a quite generic melee ranger with a great sword. Nothing fancy but works quite well.

 

Rangers work quite well in the early game in general because the additional "body" (the pet) is very useful in the early game. The simpled fact that you have one additional party member makes a lot of encounters easier.

 

That being said: don't stick to this build if you feel it's somewhat weird or doesn't fit your needs. Just use it as inspiration for a melee ranger.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Boeroer

[draego]

Yeah - well this build also stands and falls with items, in this case Tidefall and Shot-in-Faith boots. Luckily those will come pretty early in the game so the "real deal" should start once you grabbed Tidefall (may be possible from lvl 6 upwards).

 

Before it's a quite generic melee ranger with a great sword. Nothing fancy but works quite well.

 

Rangers work quite well in the early game in general because the additional "body" (the pet) is very useful in the early game. The simpled fact that you have one additional party member makes a lot of encounters easier.

 

That being said: don't stick to this build if you feel it's somewhat weird or doesn't fit your needs. Just use it as inspiration for a melee ranger.

 

You can always change the attributes. Most of my builds are inspired by Boeroer but then i go back and un min max and they work just fine. Attributes aren't everything to class.

Edited January 27, 2018 by draego

[GawainBS]

I am in a Ranger-mood for my RPGs nowadays. Onenof the things I might change is the stats, indeed. If you have other suggestions, they're still welcome.

[Vaneglorious]

I made a wood elf cipher that uses the newly added Arbalest (long name, forgot) that's sold by that Aumaua in Anslög's Compass. That thing is pretty sweet. Ciphers aren't micro heavy, either imo. I almost always roll with a fighter tank, and having a chanter as off-tank can be very useful and light on the micro. On ranger I prefer being ranged, especially using Stormcaller.

[GawainBS]

If I'd play a Cipher, it'd be something melee. Are there any decent Paladin builds? Or tanky Fighters?

Edited January 28, 2018 by GawainBS

[Boeroer]

Which kind of paladin?

 

The most effective one (when it comes to support and CC) I played was the Counselor Ploi build that's in the build list.

But he will do little overall dps (until you get Sacred Immolation). His alpha strike capabilites are good though. He's not the tankiest one but tanky enough if combined with anohter sturdy frontliner.

As far as I know most people who tried him liked him.

 

Tanky fighters are quite uneffective in my opinion. But it highly depends on the difficulty setting. In easier settings tehre are less enemies which makes it easier for the fighter to control the movement of enemies - while on PotD he just gets rushed by all the time. If he has no qffensive capabilites he can be almost useless.

 

One ability is very effective though if you build around it, and that's Take the Hit. Only problems: you need very high INT because of the range and very high CON because of health loss -  and you need to maximize your endurance regeneration by all means. And most importantly: you can't use mind control on enemies (charm/dominate/confuse) because they will also get covered by Take the Hit, all their damage will get directed to you andthis will NOT stop once the alliance of the controlled enemy flips again. 

If you don't use Mind Control then it's an awesome ability. 

[GawainBS]

Yeah, probably a support/DPS Paladin. I play on low difficulty settings.  I'll look into the Counselor Ploi build. BTW, your background story about the Ranger was pretty funny.

[Boeroer]

[Slack83er]

Can I ask you a question Boeroer? The ranger build... is it also viable with ranged weapons? I mean.. can you flank just the same and make your companion do tons of damage? Or is it melee only?

[oscer]

To be quite frank you cant go wrong with Boeroers build and as mentioned above RES really opens dialogue up. However, RES is very easy to keep buffed in the mid-game if one desires to do so. While a melee Cipher is a ton of fun! I would almost recommend you give ranged bow-Cipher a shot to contrast all the melee-talk.

 

Assuming you don't even want to do some min-maxing or even dumping a stat, you could quite handily do something like:

MIG:15 / CON:10 / DEX:10 / PER:15 / INT:18 / RES:10

 

That should open up some very neat dialogue with the option of buffing your RES, and not to mention how incredibly strong Ciphers are in general. Always miss Amplified Thrust when I don't play a Cipher. Also as a sidenote, if you want a really fun melee playthrough with a ton of base RES, I'd recommend you delve into monks a bit (even if its outside of your mentioned classes)

 

Best of luck! Theres so many fun builds in the game one can get overwhelmed trying to pick something.

[Boeroer]

You can make a ranged ranger with the same concept of wounding + Predator's Sense.

 

Just build a bow ranger and use Persistence from the Endless Paths lvl 4. It also has wounding that triggers Predator's Sense.

 

It's also the ranged weapon with the highest single target dps, so a very viable pick anyways.

 

You can't flank with a ranged weapon though. But of course you can build a ranged character more like a glass cannon than you can do that with a melee character.

 

A ranger with high MIG, DEX and PER and mediocre INT can perma-wound (and later also perma-stun) an enemy while the pet can deal a lot of damage via Merciless & Vicious Companion and Predator's Sense. I also recommend Takedown and Brutal Takedown. A wolf who uses Brutal Takedown on a wounded target can one-shot squishies like enemy casters and such (and the bow's damage gets added as well). He also bites through high DR very easily. Brutal Takedown only has to overcome 25% of enemies' DR, that makes it way better as it appears "on paper". And of course the target is prone as well if it doesn't die instantly - which is also very useful.

 

The only drawback is that pets attack quite slowly - so don't waste pets' attacks and time them right so that you get the max outcome. Only start attacking with the pet when the ranger did wound the enemy with the bow - stuff like that.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

Thank you, most inspiring!