A ranged only Paladin.. can it be good?

[Slack83er]

And the pally gets to Defiance Bay, and starts hitting things  

So I ask you some questions, in order to improve my experience:

- Isn't there any way to improve shooting/reloading speed? My pally is a sniper, yes, but awfully slow.. Dex is average, and I try to use Kana's singing to hasten things but...to little avail.

- Are there any occasions in which my shieldbearer lore will be used? For now, there hasn't been any...

- What's the best party? I got Edèr, Aloth, Sagani, Kana, Durance.. 

 

Thanks for your info.

[Ascaloth]

Oh, forgot about this thread.

 

Anyway, the ranged pally I said I was playing. You can now find that build here. 

[Slack83er]

Yeah I've taken a look, and seems fun to play. Though we got two different approaches to combat it seems.. your pally relies on mind control and cc in general, while mine's purpose is to weaken (or take out of possible) the main threat of the encounter. Usually I scout a little ahead, then FoD the mage or the boss for a good 70ish damage right away. Then when the fight begins, I send him back and send Eder and itumaak on the front while keeping aloth Sagani and kana back, and boosting everyone with durance. It's very unlikely that I go melee, and I focus on honest and diplomatic due to st. Elcga. Think I'll take pallegina asap. Not sure about hiravias, can't find a place for him.. what about your party?

 

 

Edit of the day after:

Someone of you posters in this thread told me I could also go Goldpact. Elric if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure I want to go on with Shieldbearers, 'cos it's too.... similar to Pallegina, which I literally ADORE having in the party.. Elric can you please tell me what to change if I go Goldpact and what bg suits? 

Thanks a lot! (Other posters welcome of course, it's just that he was very kind in helping me..so credits due )

Edited February 21, 2018 by Slack83er

[Slack83er]

Where are you my friend?

[Elric Galad]

Well, for the pure mechanical point of view, Goldpact suits for sure.

Goldpact are basically sworn cotract killer, so you don't need a very original background to have him become a sniper.

It is basically a killer with a gun.

 

It was a bit less counter-intuitive to have a Shieldbearer with a gun, but that is also what made this short story a bit more interesting to write.

[Torm51]

Speaking of backgrounds,  I can never play a Bleak Walker because I like to complete mosts (not all if they go against Disposition or Paladin order ethos which most do not) because I cannot see a Bleak Walker going off and doing side quests.  The actual Ethos is for the enemy to surrender or they all die.  With being that type of person I just cant see a Bleak Walker taking a detour to the White March before Act 3

 

This is why I would liked the White March as an adventure after act 3.

 

The rest of the Paladins I Could see it.

 

Kind Wayfarer: wonderers, guides of people to safe places, good guys if a bit hot headed

 

Shieldbearer: Diplomats and GUARDIANS, I could see them lending a hand to a small village in need for a source of income

 

Darcozzi:  General witty good guys who love life, They would help a down on its luck village to help it survive and seem like they are the type that love adventure (my interpretation anyway), I would not say they are total good guys but their order disfavors Cruel so I dont think they like bad guys lol

 

Goldpact Knight: Lets make money.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Torm51

[Slack83er]

Torm, I agree with your point of view, but other than that, there's pure mechanics.. I mean.. gold pact have fire dot.. but darcozzi.. give nothing to my benefit, and wayfarers which are usually awesome are almost no use while ranged.. I want to continue with the main idea: the sniper that opens combat, it's really fun and strong, Elric was great in giving me the build, AND a good story! Maybe o just want to go stoic, just to vary a bit from the usual good and honest pally.. but still evaluating... For Elric: the sworn enemy is something I don't use frequently.. I can't open the combat with it.. can I replace it with something else?

[Elric Galad]

You can always swap an ability for another, but I thought Sworn Ennemy really suited the build (and RP).

Liberating Exhortation is a good filler in case you need one. There are other options but I don't like them. 

 

You don't have to use it an ability each combat to make it useful. Sworn ennemy is really strong for boss fight, or just to kill a random though guy after you have killed your #1 priority target. 

Think about boss fight (the most critical) : won't you enjoy casting sworm ennemy on dragons or bounty ? Or ogre druid ?

 

You might feel Sworn ennemy as an overkill for normal fight and... well, it is. But it is really nice for the most critical fight. Remember that is applies to everything from Spellbind items to Sacred Immolation, and it basically brings you above Cipher's level of weapon damage against 1 target. 

 

It is exactly the same as reviving exhortation : in a normal fight, you won't even use it.

In a critical fight, it can save the day.

 

 

By the way, NEVER EVER miss Sworn Ennemy and her Wrath of the Five Suns unique talent with Pallegina.

It is her most powerful asset, and the reason why she is such a good sniper.

[Slack83er]

By the way, NEVER EVER miss Sworn Ennemy and her Wrath of the Five Suns unique talent with Pallegina.

It is her most powerful asset, and the reason why she is such a good sniper.

Does that mean you use her ranged?

I send her in the fray with a 2hander... am I wrong in doing this??

[Elric Galad]

 

By the way, NEVER EVER miss Sworn Ennemy and her Wrath of the Five Suns unique talent with Pallegina.

It is her most powerful asset, and the reason why she is such a good sniper.

Does that mean you use her ranged?

I send her in the fray with a 2hander... am I wrong in doing this??

 

 

Pallegina stats aren't good for pure ranged, but she's great at quickswitching, or just alpha-shoting.

 

Even if you go pure melee, Wrath of the Five suns will give her ranged alpha strike without even needing to change your weapons.

[Slack83er]

Sweet. I’ll try gp then. Oughta be cooler with scion of flame... even though +10ac on fod for everyone isn’t bad..

[Slack83er]

Turnabout: I'm going on with my current MC. It's too long to just restart and do it all over again. The Character is quite good as it is, and I thank you all who have been patient with me.

Keep you posted.

 

Slight edit:

What if I try to focus on protecting others with stuff like zealous endurance? Does my ranged status weaken my auras due to distance?

Edited February 24, 2018 by Slack83er

[Elric Galad]

About "stuff like zealous endurance", what are you thinking about ?

Zealous Endurance + Shielding Flames is a good combination. That's the one I personnally used.

I think you already have a priest to cast Blessing and there are also a couple of endgame items that can cast it too.

So in general, I pick Zealous Endurance over Zealous Focus.

 

Inspirating Triump is another good defensive option, but it was already in the build.

 

Are you thinking about other defensive abilities ? I think I've already put the best ones in the original build ^^

[Slack83er]

You're right, I didn't mention I use zealous charge. Since I have Pallegina in the party, I have zealous focus enabled. I want to switch to zealous endurance. 

I was thinking about going melee sometimes, but I'm still not too sure, since I like the sniping ability a lot. I love this MC because I get a strong RP experience, plus he is a natural leader, and fits the party excellently. Just want to have a little more impact on the combat, so I also took Gunner a little earlier, but I'll admit it's still very slow. Thus the idea to also go melee.. but I'm undecided atm..

[Elric Galad]

You'll have more impact on combat when you'll get Sacred Immolation, trust me. Sacred Immolation is about half of max DPS you can get from a character on its own (The Dragon Trashed Chanter being #1 DPS and Sacred Immolation beinh around half of it). It is IN ADDITION to the snipes. 

That was one the point of having a lot of INT with this build.

 

Overall, you won't be a DPS character (but Paladins aren't anyway), but you' ll be solid DPS with Alpha strikes an support, so you'll be fine. 

 

Having outworn buckler + melee weapon is also a decent backup. Party defense buff + flanking work You don't have to go melee to use it.

That was one the point of having a lot of INT with this build.

[Slack83er]

Sounds good. The fact that I can have zealous endurance makes me feel more "shieldbearer" as the character is otherwise very in tune with the bg (Shieldbearers are usually elves from aedyr, and that I am..) 

So I'll respec and take zealous endurance. Other thing is the group. Currently:

 

Me - ranged arbalest

Eder - melee sword&board

Kana - ranged  arquebus

Pallegina - melee  2hsword

Durance - melee  staff (many doubts about this)

Aloth - ranged scepter/wand/implement

 

Would you change someone/something? 

[Elric Galad]

In endgame, Durance is better with sword and board, so it can offtank with his (too) high RES. It's not like he could get interrupted.
Little Savior is the ultimate shield for him, and it won't hinder his Accuracy for Fire Storm and similar ultimate Priest endgame damage spells.

 

On the other hand, Eder will be ultimately so tanky anyway that going Sword & Board is a waste of DPS. Fighters are better with dual wield or 2-hander.

 

For the early game, you might keep Eder and Durance as they are, because tanking in the early game is not that easy, and you might prefer keeping your priest safe in the back row and your fighter as armored as needed.

 

 

Chanter are actually very good as offtank with a shield or even as secondary tank. Remember that he will probably be your main DPS with Dragon trashed, so having him in the heart of melee is nice. You can give him the hardest possible armor, as Chanters don't give a ship about attack speed anyway. Alternatively, he is a good quickswitcher with guns as an island Aumaua.

[Slack83er]

Ok thanks, so I didn't do any big mistakes in the end;) Glad to hear that. Now I'm gonna go and add Hiravias and GM to the party. Do you recommend changing someone? I used to have Sagani before getting Pallegina, but now my dps is higher..

[Slack83er]

Well...just wanted to update you as I am now Lvl. 14 and going for thaos. This MC has been really good all the time. I really think he will follow me in PoE2. 

I've not done anything about WM1/2.. Shall I finish the main game before going on? Or should I leave Thaos for last?

[Boeroer]

You can't go to WM after you jump into the pit to get Thaos.

 

WM is meant to be tackled at lvl 6-8, WM II would be ok at lvl 12+. Those are not expansions you play after the main game, but in between. They are woven into the main game.