Tank Attributes Help (Unbroken/The Shieldbearers of St.Elcga)

[iAmburn]

Hello! I am new to the PoE attribute system, and I looking to run a sort of Shield Tank slash Healer/Utility combo using Fighter and Paladin. Damage is not a priority, survival and utility is. Can I dump stat Dex? What would be a good distribution for a build like this? I read a tip that you should keep these stats in increments of 5. Any thoughts on attributes, including a recommend build, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Witness41920]

I'm far from the best player or number-cruncher around but the general advice I would give for the kind of tank you're looking to build is:

 

Resolve should be your highest priority, Intelligence is good due to the AoE increase (auras and spells) as well as the duration increase on any debuffs or buffs you apply. Perception and Dexterity are of almost no importance at all (mechanically). Constitution wasn't that important in PoE 1 but it seems a bit more important in PoE 2. Might is helpful but not a priority. So...

 

Resolve > Intelligence > Constitution >>> Might >>>>>>>> Dex = Perception

[illathid]

Hello! I am new to the PoE attribute system, and I looking to run a sort of Shield Tank slash Healer/Utility combo using Fighter and Paladin. Damage is not a priority, survival and utility is. Can I dump stat Dex? What would be a good distribution for a build like this? I read a tip that you should keep these stats in increments of 5. Any thoughts on attributes, including a recommend build, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

I am playing this currently, and this is what I went with:

 

Human Aedyran

Might - 16

Constitution - 10

Dexterity - 10

Perception - 12

Intelligence - 14

Resolve - 16

 

I didn't get too much con as you won't get hit a lot all things considered, and constant recovery/lay hands can deal with the hits you do take.

[Senenleigh]

My main for POTD was a Shield Bearer pure: I went with:

 

Str 19

Con 10

Dex 3

Per 9

Int 18

Res 19

 

Pure shield Bearer, PoTD was incredibly easy, maybe I will have more of a challenge doing Iron man mode with this guy. The lay on hands was incredible strong, and I built this guy to never have any loss of control. Charms or stuns never held on him very long, and then he could rez party members, hold engagements, or keep people from dying. 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Senenleigh

[Braven]

There is no advantage to any sort of special increments. All stat benefits scale linearly. The main thing I suggest is not go too high with CON. 10 is the max I would assign here and you can go lower if you wish. High armor and constant recovery will be able to keep you topped off so extra health is kind of a waste if you prioritize those. You can always use lay on hands if needed. Perception is important if you want to see traps and secret objects. Otherwise, you need to find a companion with high perception.

 

If you dump dex, you definately want to have large shield proficiency at the ready. Your reflex defense will be low with the unbroken penalty and it will provide a large damage reduction to those attacks. Enemy gunners can really hurt so having that active is great once you are planted. It basically has no downsides since you can just turn it off to move and it greatly mitigates ranged burst damage potential. Dagger is a great starting weapon prof. You will learn others later, but dagger will help a lot early with the deflection bonus (and accuracy). Sword is a good option later because of useful enchantments, but you don’t need the prof. to use them and the modal ability is detrimental to your character role.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Braven

[Kaylon]

As a tank you need both good defenses (to avoid criticals which bypass your armor and also reduce damage because more misses/grazes) and armor (to greatly reduce the damage).

 

The resolve should be maxed because it increases both will and deflection (negative effect reduction is a bonus). Might should be maxed too - it increases fortitude and the healing bonus (which increases your regeneration). The unbroken starts with -15reflex penalty which is later compensated by the shield bonus, however you have to invest in dex/per to keep your reflex at the same level with the other defenses - I recommend max perception because it helps landing hits/abilities. A good stat distribution for a tank is: 18mig/5con/5dex/18per/5int/18res (without the racial/culture bonuses).

Edited June 6, 2018 by Kaylon

[Braven]

Personally, I would keep Int maxed. All the good fighter abilities need Int, it is the most effective stat to increase lay in hand healing (better than might even) because it is a heal over time and 5% per point > 3% per point. It also lengthens inspirations and increases aura size. Same deal with constant recovery.

 

Perception is the least useful after dex and con. None of the paladin utility skills require accuracy rolls, nor does fighter ones like constant recovery, stalwart defense, etc. You can use disciplined strikes to increase your accuracy and fighter has the best graze-to-hit bonuses of any class so they kind of want average accuracy. Reflex is going to be bad, yes, but that is why you have the large shield to block 50% of reflex damage. That said, accuracy is hard to come by and you do have the large shield malus, so you don’t want want to drop it too low.

 

Might helps healing and damage, moderately, but we mainly want it high for fortitude defense since Con is low.

 

These are the stats I would personally use, but feel free to adjust.

 

Str: 18

Con: 5

Dex: 8

Per: 11

Int: 18

Res: 18

Edited June 6, 2018 by Braven

[George_Truman]

I would go with: 18 8 8 8 18 18. You make up the reflex with a large shield, accuracy with disciplined strikes, and recovery with cleave stance. Three items that work together extremely well  together are the Reckless brigandine, Bronlar's Phalanx, and Kapana Tonga.

[Sunistey]

You probably don't want low Perception because, as an Unbroken, you want your engagement break penalties on enemies to hit in order to force prone. That's essentially the main draw of a fighter tank. Otherwise, engagement slots are rendered useless since enemies can effectively ignore you (and enemies in this game are keen to ignore the front liners from what I've experienced.)

 

Keep in mind, the reflex penalty is not tremendous especially when you factor in Weapon and Shield Style, large shields, and Paladin's increased defenses. Fortitude should be your lowest defense. Encounters are tougher since the new patch, so I'd advise against dumping Con.

 

Ultimately, you are unable to be the perfect Tank/Healer. You have to sacrifice something. I would not suggest maxing might because your effectiveness as a healer is thwarted by becoming a stationary tank. Paladin's excel at healing when they are able to close distance to party members and utilize Lay on Hands (base range of 3m). This knocks down your only efficient party heal to Exalted Endurance and maxing might for 1 extra HP per 3 seconds doesn't seem as valuable as forcing prones. With base might, your self healing abilities are fine because of Exalted Endurance, Constant Recovery, and Lay on Hands. You can also use your Lay on Hands abilities on melee range companions like Eder more effectively. Remember, Shieldbearers are about preventing death of allies, not necessarily healing them to full. Lay on Hands just allows time for a Priest or other dedicated healers/Second Wind to stabilize a focused companion.

 

This is, of course, only my opinion.

 

Edit: Corrections

Edited June 7, 2018 by Sunistey

[George_Truman]

Engagement isn't wasted with all the items that give boons though. 5 engagements = -25% recovery, +20 accuracy, +15% weapon damage, -25% damage, etc with the right items. Also in my experience the enemies don't break the engagement anyway.

[Thormind]

I would go with: 18 8 8 8 18 18. You make up the reflex with a large shield, accuracy with disciplined strikes, and recovery with cleave stance. Three items that work together extremely well  together are the Reckless brigandine, Bronlar's Phalanx, and Kapana Tonga.

 

IMO if playing on veteran/potd you want perception as your highest stat. You certainly dont want to dump it. As a tank dumpting constitution is another bad advice. You would be perfectly fine with might at 10 and lower int. Dex is really good because it allows you to use your "oh crap" abilities when you really need them (ie faster). Those stats looks like something Nerd Commando would suggest. I strongly advice taking his built with a grain of salt. Even if he looks like he knows what hes talking about in his video, Ive found they are not always that effective. I went with 10/10/14/17/10/17 and it works quite well.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Thormind