Looking to create a char for a later import in PoE2

[Boeroer]

I would pick Mountain Dwarf because I like the idea of a short, burly paladin/mon who uses his fists.

The racial is pretty good against vessels and such.

But it doesn't matter that much.

 

The most powerful option would be Moon Godlike I guess.

This would complement the Kind Wayfarer's Healing capabilites quite well.

 

Stats:

MIG: 20

CON: 10

DEX: 10

PER: 10

INT: 18

RES: 08

 

Abilites/Talents would be:

- Novice's Suffering

- Weapon Focus Peasant

- Sword & Shepherd

- Two Weapon Style

- Strange Mercy

- Intense Flames

- Scion of Flame

- Fast Runner

 

- Flames of Devotion

- Lay on Hands

- Zealous Charge or Zealous Endurance

- Inspiring Triumph

- Aegis of Loyality

- Righteous Soul

- Sacred Immolation

- Behold the Martyr

 

Items:

- head: Hermit's Hat, Executioner's Hood (if not Moon Godlike of course)

- neck: Lost Periapt of the Winding Path

- amor: Raiment of Wael's Eyes, later Robes of the Tidebringer

- hands: Gauntlets of Swift Action or Mourning Gloves

- rings: Ring of Protection, Ring of Deflection

- belt: Looped Rope

- boots: Sandals of the Forgotten Friar

 

Something like that.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

That's awesome! How could you end up with a character concept in so little time? Wow...

Now.. on to testing it I guess..

Will the bg I choose here have an impact on the sequel? Like... deadfire archipelago? must I give him lore and survival?

[Boeroer]

I would give him a bit of survival for DR+ and so on and also athletcis. Maybe some lore (max , too for the good defensive scrolls. Background doesn't matter that much, but Deadfire seems tempting.

[Slack83er]

Ok, going out to buy dinner...then coming back and testing it. Let you know how it fares, but I have little to no doubt it's gonna work!

Thanks for your input, as well as draego for your ranger and barbarian (they will be tested too).

 

As always, anyone feel free to add their ideas!

 

Edit: Moon GL is appealing... tons of healings for everyone...even though the typical monk mechanic doesn't work here... but nevertheless..very lore-friendly.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Slack83er

[Slack83er]

Just started today... but my daughter won't sleep and I must continue later. As soon as I manage to see how it fares I'll post some news. Stay tuned!

 

P.s. did ciphers in deadfire lose some appeal? Nobody recommended them to me, either ranged or melee.. I'd like to try them too..

Edited January 28, 2018 by Slack83er

[oscer]

Yeah you're right.. also thought of the monk.. taking punishment in order to make more damage.. just need to tankify him .. is it doable?

For sure monks are amazing and sturdy, if you tried out any of the solo-Monk builds you'd get really handy results with the monk with very little effort. It's naturally very tanky and putting in even 16 RES will do wonders for off-tanking while still keeping wounds high for Torments Reach.

[Boeroer]

The only cipher that's good in the beta is the Soulblade subclass. And only for multiclassing.

 

The Soulblade has a special attack called "Soul Annihilation" which transforms the current focus into a lot of melee raw damage. This cipher is good because he doesn't need to use actual cipher powers which are all crappy in the beta because they take forever to cast but the durations of the effects are very short.

 

Nice multiclass combos for Soulblade are Devoted(fighter)/Soulblade, Assassin(rogue)/Soulblade, Bleak Walker/Soulblade, Shattered Pillar(monk)/Soulblade and also Wizard/Soulblade (because Citzal's Spirit Lance with Soul Annihilation is totally bonkers).

 

So you could build a PoE melee cipher with Veteran's Recovery to emulate a Fighter/Cipher, with Apprentice's Sneak Attack and flanking bonuses to emulate Rogue/Cipher, Gallant's Focus to emulate Paladin/Cipher or Novice's Suffering to emulate Monk/Cipher. Fists are not too good with ciphers in PoE though, but they are viable. Also Wizard/Cipher emulation is kind of meh in PoE.

 

I personally would go the rogue route and make sure I stack a lot of flanking bonus via survival and item, use Apprentice's Sneak Attack and cause Flanked via Phantom Foes all the time. I played a melee cipher like this and the focus generation is pretty awesome that way. I used Firebrand as main weapon but this works with any melee weapon.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

Ok, went up to Anslog's Compass (this should be the name in English).

Unless I wear a heavy armor, the paladin is extremely squishy, even in easy mode (I died couple of times to the mushrooms). Maybe it'll become sturdier later... but I prefer something a little more... straightforward than that. I have to try ranger and barbarian (with a slight preference for ranger). Any other suggestions? 

[Boeroer]

If you have no shield and weapon & shield talent then every char is squishy in the early game except fighter because of Constant Recovery and high base deflection.

 

You can't just run into mobs all on your own like that. Especially not with ranger and barbarian. Both are even squishier than a paladin in the early game. Barb has extremely low deflection and ranger has very little endurance.

 

This gets better and better with every level though. Also Lay on Hands helps.

 

Also: Analog's Compass is kind of tough if you go there too early. The Xaurip Champions and Skirmishers are pretty strong and so are the ghuls and mushrooms.

 

If you want something that's easiest in the early game then use a fighter.

[Slack83er]

I did! mine was an Orlan, with high int and two handed weapon.. tidefall.

 

Are you sure a barbarian is squishy? I didn't quite realise this aspect... I kinda like unconventional characters.. would like to bring one of those in next chapter. I just don't like to "think" too much or handle micro intensive characters in the fray. Maybe the ranger, aided by the pet will do... but with some tweaks.

[Boeroer]

Barbarians become sturdy meat shields over the course of a playthrough, but they start quite squishy because of their low deflection. The higher endurance is not that much of a difference in the early game but the gap gets bigger and bigger with each level until a barbarian can take a lot of hits. The good thing with barbarians is that they have tons of health - so healing their endurance over and over again works pretty well.

[Slack83er]

So to sum it up:

 

Fighter - Already done

Barbarian - High health, can become a tank?

Paladin - Quite good for all playthrough, how to make it unique? I'm not very sure about dwarf... maybe moon gl?

Ranger - You get a companion which does a ton damage under certain conditions, but quite squishy itself? He can play the "rogue" anyway, many roles for him.

 

Is it right? Did I forget something?

[Melusina]

 

 

 

Also: Analog's Compass is kind of tough if you go there too early. The Xaurip Champions and Skirmishers are pretty strong and so are the ghuls and mushrooms.

 

 

And where should he go, then?

[Slack83er]

Melusina, I'll admit that I did the tasks a bit on the quick side. I was eager to see 1) how it fared and 2) the new merchant in Anslog. (Unuseful unless you got cash...so better later on..) 

But tbh I was a bit spoiled by the fighter which proved tanky and quite fun in the interactions (due to the high int I gave him).

Now I'm trying to build something a little more "unique" than the classic fighter, to import in the new PoE2.

I'm debating with my own self whether to go pally or ranger or barbarian, and race for me DOES have an impact, because of lore.

I'm on to trying what Boeroer suggests me a few posts ago (the Monkadin ) but I'll go moon GL. It's the apotheosys of healing, as far as I can tell.

Let you all know how it fares!

[Slack83er]

Oook there's some change in how it fares now. Moon GL heals automatically, so it's kinda rare for him to suffer. What I'm noticing (and I ask to @boeroer) is.. he doesn't deal a lot of damage... 13-17 for now.. is it gonna increase in the future? Moreover I can't carry anything in the hands and head so I lose something in power... how to cope with that? 

Another question 'd be.. what armor to use? I started with a brigandine and didn't change it, but attacks slow down a bit..

 

Wait your input!

[Boeroer]

Did you take Novice's Suffering? If yes, then your damage and accuracy will scale automatically. With Two Weapon Style also your attack speed in thick armor will be good.

 

This is not the optimal approach to FoD damage. It's not bad, but the best results would be with Firebrand or an arquebus - or dual Bittercut with a Bleak Walker's or so.

 

As long as you are too squishy I would keep the thick armor on until you feel it gets better.

[Slack83er]

Ok so it's trial and error basically.. if I die.. then it's not good.

I've made exactly the build you recommended, except it's moon gl so it has 19 starting mig.

The other character I'm gonna try is ranger. But I don't like it melee. Is there a way to be sort of... ranged tank? So that I can be in the front line with him? Forgive me if it's a silly question... I never tried..

 

P.S. I've taken novices suffering, yes. I just hope it fares well when in the fray.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Slack83er

[Boeroer]

Heavy armor has no effect on reloading time - so you could do a gun ranger in plate armor who shoots at point blank or something like that.

 

There is no penalty for using ranged weapons in melee range. You won't have any engagement slots though, but that's all.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Boeroer

[Crucis]

Ok so it's trial and error basically.. if I die.. then it's not good.

I've made exactly the build you recommended, except it's moon gl so it has 19 starting mig.

The other character I'm gonna try is ranger. But I don't like it melee. Is there a way to be sort of... ranged tank? So that I can be in the front line with him? Forgive me if it's a silly question... I never tried..

 

P.S. I've taken novices suffering, yes. I just hope it fares well when in the fray.

 

Slack83er, I guess that it depends on what you mean by a "sort of ... ranged tank".

 

You can certainly create a "warrior" who is balanced between ranged and melee combat.  The question sort of becomes, just how much do you want the warrior to be fighting at range vs fighting in melee?   Are you talking about a warrior who carriers a gun or maybe a crossbow and takes an opening shot on the enemy as they close on the party before switching to melee weapons?  or are you talking about something more like a character like, say, Sagani who might be strongly committed to fighting at range, but does have the capability to fight in melee if pressed to do so?    The former character isn't going to worry about reload times, because he'd be taking only the one shot before switching to melee weapons and is probably in heavier armor, while the latter character is probably wearing lighter armor because he is trying to maintain a higher rate of fire and only fights in melee when it's forced upon him.

 

I've played companions like Kana and Durance as off-tanks who would use both ranged and melee weapons, largely depending on what was most necessary at the time.  I would tend to see Sagani more as a backliner who wants to keep slinging arrows with a hunting bow and only have to fight in melee if some enemy suddenly popped into the rear of the party, like a shadow.

[Slack83er]

Ok, to answer your question: more like Sagani. Almost always ranged, switching to melee if hardly pressed. But wearing lighter armor, will he be tanky? It's just that I'd like a ranger to be a frontliner.. But with ranged weapons.

[Crucis]

Ok, to answer your question: more like Sagani. Almost always ranged, switching to melee if hardly pressed. But wearing lighter armor, will he be tanky? It's just that I'd like a ranger to be a frontliner.. But with ranged weapons.

 

It's hard to be tanky if you're not in heavier armor and/or using a shield to help your deflection.  The idea of a frontliner using ranged weapons seems ... bizarre.  The whole point of using ranged weapons is so that you can hide behind the tanky frontliners, and pew-pew them with your machine gun arrows or hammer them with your guns.  I can see the jack-of-all-trades off tank sitting just behind the front liners using guns, perhaps pistols (though they're a tad short ranged), but then jumping into the front line when you need more warm bodies.  But a front liner in light armor and using ranged weapons seems difficult and almost self-defeating.  But if you want to give it a try, more power to you.

[draego]

You could always do a reach weapon which for the most part will keep you out of range of direct hits. but keep you close to front line. Maybe park behind animal to attack stuff. There are no reach weapons with wounding though. Nothing to special for ranger with reach. maybe Llawran's Stick  for speed or Tall Grass for hit to crit stuff but prones is sort of wasted if you stun enemies with animal tag team but good weapon in general. You could also take both superior deflection and caution attack with a bow i suppose +13 defl and then maybe some Res and Deflec items . Then stick up front. I mean that would cost you two talents and i am not sure if the model would stack with swift aim to counter the lose of attack speed. I dont know just thinking of weird combos. 

Edited January 31, 2018 by draego

[Boeroer]

As I said: armor does not affect reload times. So you could use plate and shoot with an arbalest/arquebus/blunderbuss all the time. The new Spike Flinger should reload really fast with Swift Aim + Gunner and decent DEX and you can get it early. Wait... does it bind to rangers?

 

Silver Flash with Powder Burns later on seems to be nice. You want to be in the front row for those friendly-fire-cones anyways.

 

But you would have to get there first of all.

[Slack83er]

Wait... does it bind to rangers?

It does afaik. When you say it doesn't affect reload times... it's right, but it DOES affect weapon speed...which is already slow, isn't it?

I don't know if it works...I was just curious about it..

Still testing monkadin anyway..

[Boeroer]

Yes, it slows down recovery. But you would have Swift Aim which is +20% speed and high DEX and the Spike Flinger not only speed up reloading but also recovery if I'm not mistaken, so it would no be too bad.

 

Quick Switching Island Aumaua with four blunderbusses would suffer nearly no recovery and also no realoding animation for the first shots of course. But that switching is a lot of micro.