[Powerbuilding] Strongest builds that are still viable from beta?

[eschu101]

I'm really curious about Meteor shower (lvl9 pure wizard spell). Did anyone test it with console commands/beta?

[Climhazzard]

Fantastic.  Single class monk is fantastic no matter the variant.  

 

Ascendant Cipher is a bit useless because ascendant ciphers don't scale their melee damage at all, they only cast the actual cipher spells better, which is pretty dodgy.  

 

Also the thing people don't appreciate about multi classes is how few abilities you can take.  It's not that you get there more slowly, it's the fact you have the same number of abilities split across two classes, meaning that having an actual viable pool of Cipher abilities is unbelievably tricky if you multi class and cast.  If you are multi classing into Cipher you are either going soulblade or nothing without a doubt.  

 

 

I have been messing around with Shattered Pillar/Soul blade.  The only thing I don't like is that you have to take a level 1 cipher spell, but it's mostly okay because you can charm an enemy from stealth in your team buffing phase (later that would probably be replaced by the mass charm if you get enough focus to cast it at the start of battle though).

 

After that I think it's fine because you really aren't going to need very many cipher spells.  Instead of end game monk skills (which I guess are OP right now but hopefully they get balanced) you'll end up with stuff like borrowed instinct, disintegrate, and amplified wave.  You might be able to just get those and nothing else, but it probably wouldn't hurt to pick up a little utility too like pain block.

 

Earlier on you'd probably just use phantom foes and maybe the mass charm skill.  Or just rely on soul whip+monk abilities.  All in all you get the same amount of abilities as a single class, just more to choose from.  A single class Monk will ramp up faster though, it's probably the easier choice for a new player.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Climhazzard

[Nixl]

While not a solo build, I stumbled into Thaumaturge - Wizard/Evoker Priest/Eothas.

I was playing on veteran but I am going to up it to potd when I load up next because on veteran it is too faceroll.

That looks like a fun combo.  You gain access to a nice mix of damage spells (Evoker), buffs (Avatar, Crowns of the Faithful), healing (Eothas spells), and summons (Priest).    

 

The cast times would be long, but you could combine Avatar (might, perception, intellect buff) and Meteor Shower and/or high pen spells. As a backup, you could reinforce the party with the Eothas defensive spells and summons.  

[Abalon]

So of the three what's the most powerful, devoted/monk, devoted/soulblade, pure monk

[Leafar]

I just made a bleakwalker/Assassin moon godlike and am worrying that I made a mistake. Can someone tell me something that might make this build stronger than I think it is? I chose moon godlike for the healing but wondering if that was maybe a bad idea since I can't use helmets anymore. The extra healing when I reach certain thresholds doesn't seem that much, I figured the healing might help with the squishyness of the multiclass.

 

Any insight is welcome since I'm still in the beginning of the game so I can restart if necessary.

[dudex]

devoted/hellwaker is also a strong combo on paper.

 

early game use a pistol for accuracy boost with one hand. use dance of death to get wounds and acc up. u should be able to maintain 12 acc and 30% damage from ranged easy. should also get the 30% penetration bonus quite often also

 

mid/late game switch to blunderbuss and abuse swift flurry. i dont like blunderbuss early game because it misses/grazes way too much.v 10 acc penalty early game is huge.

Edited May 9, 2018 by dudex

[pi2repsion]

 

While not a solo build, I stumbled into Thaumaturge - Wizard/Evoker Priest/Eothas.

I was playing on veteran but I am going to up it to potd when I load up next because on veteran it is too faceroll.

That looks like a fun combo.  You gain access to a nice mix of damage spells (Evoker), buffs (Avatar, Crowns of the Faithful), healing (Eothas spells), and summons (Priest).    

 

The cast times would be long, but you could combine Avatar (might, perception, intellect buff) and Meteor Shower and/or high pen spells. As a backup, you could reinforce the party with the Eothas defensive spells and summons.  

 

How exactly would you gain access to power level 8 and 9 spells as multiclass, Nixl? No Meteor Shower or Crowns for the Faithful for you as far as I can see.  In addition you'd only have access to lowlevel spells of both classes for the majority of the campaign. As for the minor Avatar, a 7th power level spell, it only becomes available to you at character level 19.

 

Perhaps the Priest/Wizard(evoker) is a useful multiclass, but if it is it won't be because of highlevel spells,

Edited May 9, 2018 by pi2repsion

[SamOftheUels]

Seems like Melee is doing well - what are peoples opinions on Casters? Or particuarly Druid/Fury? - What would synergise well with a Fury Druid? Is melee that much better than going shifter or Animist would yield better results - combos for Melee mulitclasses seems pretty easy and intuituve

[Answermancer]

I'm looking for a pretty good rogue build focused on sneak attack and probably crit (I have less than zero interest in Backstab or Assassin). Also want to focus on dual sabres where possible for roleplaying reasons (though obviously I'd have a second weapon set for other damage types unless I can get some dual-damage sabres like Bittercut).

 

I'm gonna restart my playthrough once the import bugs are fixed because my save didn't import properly , so in the meantime I'm playing Swashbuckler Devoted/Rogue focused on sabres. So far it's been awesome, but I'm not very far, only level 3 or 4. Devoted could prove to be a problem later on.

 

I'm thinking when I restart I want either the same thing, or a Swashbuckler with plain Fighter/Rogue, or a pure Rogue, or a Shadowdancer (probably Shattered Pillar?).

 

Do people have thoughts or advice on these combos, with my stated goal in mind?

 

I tried a Shadowdancer SP/Rogue in Beta and it was super fun too, so I'm torn between that and the Swashbuckler, but Swashbuckler seemed to have great synergy with things like Disciplined Barrage and Cleave stance, and is probably a bit closer to what I want from a RP perspective, which is basically... a swashbuckling sneak attack rogue.

 

Sadly, I think pure Rogue is probably out, I'm not impressed or interested in the tier 8-9 abilities, only Gambit looks somewhat interesting.

[Abalon]

I personally restarted as my assassin bleak has been nerfed quite heavily due to backstab changes. I'm going to make a monk devoted build to wreck face instead

[Climhazzard]

I'm sure the shadowdancer is a strong combination.  You'd eventually get the deathblows modifier to add to monk abilities, and the rogue skills would add a nice bit of survival and deception for a character focused on damage...

 

Haven't been able to bring myself to try it though, I'll actually probably just end up with a straight shattered pillar on my first playthrough..  since I accidentally messed up my transcendent build again....

[Answermancer]

I'm sure the shadowdancer is a strong combination.  You'd eventually get the deathblows modifier to add to monk abilities, and the rogue skills would add a nice bit of survival and deception for a character focused on damage...

 

Haven't been able to bring myself to try it though, I'll actually probably just end up with a straight shattered pillar on my first playthrough..  since I accidentally messed up my transcendent build again....

 

Yeah.... I know it's a strong combo, I'm just really torn between that and the Swashbuckler, and also waffling on if I want Devoted if I do stick with Swashbuckler.

 

Both should be good (Shadowdancer probably stronger overall but as long as they're both Good Enough I'm not too worried). For this character I like the idea of Swashbuckler a bit more from an RP perspective but even there Shadowdancer would totally work, with more of a blitz feel.

 

Aaaaaah! Why can't one of them just be terrible and make the choice easy .

Edited May 9, 2018 by Answermancer

[Urthor]

Seems like Melee is doing well - what are peoples opinions on Casters? Or particuarly Druid/Fury? - What would synergise well with a Fury Druid? Is melee that much better than going shifter or Animist would yield better results - combos for Melee mulitclasses seems pretty easy and intuituve

 

Druid is quite good.  It's a quality caster. 

[Abalon]

Monks in general are just insnaley good I'm running shattered and devoted and just wrecking things with my fist. The best ranged martial combo I've found is sharpshooter plus bleakwalker simply annilates targets

 

Can we start having dicussion on best skills and abilities?

 

Let's start with maybe monk and fighter

[Voltron]

Bleak Walker/Berserker absolutely wreck things. Brand->Spirit Tornado->Barbarian Blow->Flame of Devotion (both are full attacks!) with dual sabers just destroys any target. Plus Frenzy bonuses and speed + later Bloodlust + Stuns on from Spirit Frenzy + Wild Sprint and other Barbarian control. You can also from Focus Aura + Upgrade + Hits to Crit Passive Uncanny Luck + Berserker passive get 40% Hits to Crit convert + Barbarian Blow has 30% Hit to Crit bonus too. A lot of self healing from Lay Down Hands + Upgarde with Regen + Savage Defiance + High Athlethics Second Wind + A lot of armor from Paladin and Mental Fortress should offsets later Confusion from Zerker. And they buff each other really well. Also zerker brings a lot of control with his Stuns on hits, Leap and Shouts if someone want to invest in that.

 

Generally I think it might be strongest or at least top 3 strongest melee combos in game. Sadly no. 1 will be pure Monk as long as they won't nerf Inner Death, which is just insanely broken.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Voltron

[Kaylon]

The class with the highest (single target) melee dps is the shapeshifter/rogue. Sneak Attack + Deathblows + Deep Wounds + Dirty Fighting + Uncanny Luck + Improved Critical + Persistent Distraction + Greater Wildstrike coupled with dual wield, no recovery penalties from armor and claws upgraded for free to legendary level, free heals, no resources required...

[Voltron]

The class with the highest (single target) melee dps is the shapeshifter/rogue. Sneak Attack + Deathblows + Deep Wounds + Dirty Fighting + Uncanny Luck + Improved Critical + Persistent Distraction + Greater Wildstrike coupled with dual wield, no recovery penalties from armor and claws upgraded for free to legendary level, free heals, no resources required...

 

Inner Death Monk ability can hit with one attack for several hundred damage per ONE strike. Can you beat that on Shapeshifter/Rogue? 500% Crit Damage + Empowered will beat anything. And monk also have almost no recovery and you want to run in lighest armor possible and Shattered Pillar has not resource cost and each time he damage he gets them back.

 

Back to Bleak Walker/Berserker:

 

Also worth to mention (mentioned by SaruNi in other thread) that Berserker PL VII Blood Thrist allows you Recover immidietly after kill for 10 second which lead to Two-Handed weapons having 0 Recovery time during combat. At point of 0 recovery Two-Handed > Dual Wield. 0 recovery on Two-Handed weapons! That will out damage any dual wield.

 

Which makes Berserker/Bleak Walker even more scary late game. 

Edited May 10, 2018 by Voltron

[Dongom]

Seems like double melee is the way to go atm, by far.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Dongom

[Kaylon]

 

The class with the highest (single target) melee dps is the shapeshifter/rogue. Sneak Attack + Deathblows + Deep Wounds + Dirty Fighting + Uncanny Luck + Improved Critical + Persistent Distraction + Greater Wildstrike coupled with dual wield, no recovery penalties from armor and claws upgraded for free to legendary level, free heals, no resources required...

 

Inner Death Monk ability can hit with one attack for several hundred damage per ONE strike. Can you beat that on Shapeshifter/Rogue? 500% Crit Damage + Empowered will beat anything. And monk also have almost no recovery and you want to run in lighest armor possible and Shattered Pillar has not resource cost and each time he damage he gets them back.

 

Back to Bleak Walker/Berserker:

 

Also worth to mention (mentioned by SaruNi in other thread) that Berserker PL VII Blood Thrist allows you Recover immidietly after kill for 10 second which lead to Two-Handed weapons having 0 Recovery time during combat. At point of 0 recovery Two-Handed > Dual Wield. 0 recovery on Two-Handed weapons! That will out damage any dual wield.

 

Which makes Berserker/Bleak Walker even more scary late game. 

 

Empowered Inner Death might do several hundred dmg but can be used only 2 times per rest, while the berserker can achieve 0% recovery only if he one shots everything... The rogue shifter on the other hand can do 100dmg on average with every hit while being also very fast without buffs or resources.

[Voltron]

 

 

The class with the highest (single target) melee dps is the shapeshifter/rogue. Sneak Attack + Deathblows + Deep Wounds + Dirty Fighting + Uncanny Luck + Improved Critical + Persistent Distraction + Greater Wildstrike coupled with dual wield, no recovery penalties from armor and claws upgraded for free to legendary level, free heals, no resources required...

 

Inner Death Monk ability can hit with one attack for several hundred damage per ONE strike. Can you beat that on Shapeshifter/Rogue? 500% Crit Damage + Empowered will beat anything. And monk also have almost no recovery and you want to run in lighest armor possible and Shattered Pillar has not resource cost and each time he damage he gets them back.

 

Back to Bleak Walker/Berserker:

 

Also worth to mention (mentioned by SaruNi in other thread) that Berserker PL VII Blood Thrist allows you Recover immidietly after kill for 10 second which lead to Two-Handed weapons having 0 Recovery time during combat. At point of 0 recovery Two-Handed > Dual Wield. 0 recovery on Two-Handed weapons! That will out damage any dual wield.

 

Which makes Berserker/Bleak Walker even more scary late game. 

 

Empowered Inner Death might do several hundred dmg but can be used only 2 times per rest, while the berserker can achieve 0% recovery only if he one shots everything... The rogue shifter on the other hand can do 100dmg on average with every hit while being also very fast without buffs or resources.

 

 

Cool but tell what mob in game has few hundered points and won't die from two Empowered Inner Death + buffs? And Berserker gets recovery after any first kill. Considering you can hit with zerker/bleak walker combo that deals on lvl 20 200-300 dmg I don't think getting that recovery is hard :D

Edited May 10, 2018 by Voltron

[JerekKruger]

... while the berserker can achieve 0% recovery only if he one shots everything... 

 

Only needs to kill an enemy every 10s.

[baldurs_gate_2]

The class with the highest (single target) melee dps is the shapeshifter/rogue. Sneak Attack + Deathblows + Deep Wounds + Dirty Fighting + Uncanny Luck + Improved Critical + Persistent Distraction + Greater Wildstrike coupled with dual wield, no recovery penalties from armor and claws upgraded for free to legendary level, free heals, no resources required...

Interesting. But with which starting stats / subclasses?

[Noctaem]

My biggest gripe reading through this thread is that no one is actually posting builds.  Just naming class combinations.  More info please!

[Climhazzard]

My biggest gripe reading through this thread is that no one is actually posting builds.  Just naming class combinations.  More info please!

 

 

I'll post the low level basics of a couple of monk combinations.  Go for the listed skills asap.  Stats can pretty much be whatever but you probably want to focus on offensive stats.  For the trans combination I used 16-10-13-13-16-10.  I wanted intelligence for the cipher stuff and so the buffs would last longer since I hate recasting them, you'll hit a lot more stuff with raised torment and rooting pain too.

 

Shattered Pillar:  Lightning strikes, raised torment (so good), tenacious blows, rooting pain, two weapon style.  Use Nature godlike if you want to be OP early on.

 

Pillar/soul blade:  Same as above, with phantom foes (get the weapon pen passive too).  Later levels, borrowed instinct (maybe pass if it doesn't stack with devotions for the faithful), Pain block (if you need tank support), Ring leader, amplified wave, disintegration.  

 

There are probably skills to consider that I missed because I'm at work and going from memory....  Ectopsychic echo used to be pretty good in PoE if you didn't mind mircomanaging your positions, but it doesn't look as good in PoE 2.  I'll have to check it out later to make sure though.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Climhazzard

[ppscurry]

I don't know about you guys, but my high level single class wizard just melted everything with one empowered aoe spell. Same with the last boss, the only difference was that it took 2 spells, for reasons...

 

Max might, 3 Res and even split between perception and intelligence. As for passives, I went with anything that boosted my empowered damage spells.

 

Also, I swear everything in this game hits you no matter what. Deflection is just so bad now...

 

For the record, I used empowered wilting wind to clear the weaker bosses and empowered meteor for stronger ones. (I forgot the exact name of the last tier spell but you really can't miss it).

 

Btw, does soul annihilation crit?

Edited May 10, 2018 by ppscurry