[Class Build] The Duelling Corsair

[Myrtillo]

Rogue (Streetfighter)

 

Description:

 

This build tries to find the balance between roleplay and efficiency. It focuses on the duelist archetype, with a corsair/pirate flair (we are in Deadfire after all). It is a lateral approach to the rogue that does not use any form of sneak and stealth. The Duelling Corsair stands his ground in the melee, using his fencing skills rather than stealthy tactics and deception.

It is a single class streetfighter, which I find under-represented on that forum. I tried to make the most of the class, and it turned out wonderfully well. I played on veteran difficulty, and he dealt by far the most damage, while also sustaining the most damage.

 

 

Difficulty: Veteran (although PotD should be possible, I just didn't play it)

 

Solo: not tested
 

Race: Human has the best synergy, but I encourage you to pick the race you like the most.

Origin: Doesn't matter, no stat is min or maxed. Pick what you like and adjust

 

Stats :

 

           8  Might

          14 Con

          10 Dex

          12 Per

          14 Intelligence

          18 Resolve

 

(I got Blessing of Berath for M10 CON16 DEX12 PER14 INT16 RES20).

Overall pretty defensive stats, low might/dex/per is counter-intuitive for a rogue. However, he is still able to get high damage and action speed (see below).

If your purpose is to optimise, you could drop int to 10 and pump perception to 16 (or PE14 MIG10). I like having good int for roleplay purposes and it has decent applications with the rogue (debuffs, wall of flashing steel), and with the watcher abilities (I know a lot of players barely use them but I love them for roleplay purpose, and the actual utility isn't bad. I can get +5 per +5 int, and get an ennemy frightened for a duration longer than most fights. Or heal allies, grant them fit and distract ennemies in an aoe)

Also, more CON wouldn't hurt. If you are playing on POTD, I would highly suggest to drop 2 dex and 2 int, and pump CON. Streefighter benefits a lot from CON as it gives more breathing room when you are bloodied before the danger becomes serious.

 

Skills:

 

Whatever you fancy. I chose my skills for roleplay purposes: mechanics/atchletics, and diplomacy/bluff/metaphisics, but get the ones you want, it has no impact on the build.

 

Proficiency:

 

rapier and dagger.

Optionnal: sword and sabre

special mention: blunderbuss (see bonus section)

 

Blessing of Berath:

 

Recommended: bonus attributes

Great if you have it: Double Skill bonus, 50k gold

 

Gear:

 

We are going for that corsair captain look, while grabbing useful stats for the build. Always maintaining the balance between roleplay and efficiency.

 

Fair Favor

Miscreant Leathers

Drunkard Regret (drink booze at every rest)

Rest of the apparel is up to you depending on the needs.

 

Weapons:

Rapier and dagger

 

- Rannig's Wrath is a must (unfortunately squids grasp completely negates the streetfighter bonus by granting immunity to flanked)

- Pukestabber (great synergy with drunkard regret and booze. It all fits the theme AND is efficient. Marux Amanth is a good replacement. Lover's embrace: you loose on the unique ability because you don't use stealth, but as an early choice it's the best you can find)

 

I went rapier/dagger for the Duelist look. But Saber/dagger is a good alternative if you like that. You will find tons of good unique sabres, reinforcing the corsair feel.

Sword is tolerable if that's your thing. I did it for Modwyr

 

Hand cannon or Fire in the Hole (or another blunderbuss, really, but I prefer the aoe blundebuss rather than the pellets blunderbuss. See bonus section)

 

Ability Choices:

 

Key abilities are:

- Crippling strike (no need to upgrade)

- Escape (no need to upgrade)

 

- Eliminating blow/Ring the bell/Pershing strike/blinding strike. Choose one. Ring the bell deals decent dot damage, Pershing strike nice debuffs/damage, but costs 3 guile, eliminating blow provides aoe debuff and decent execute damage. In my opinion Eliminating>Pershing>blinding>Bell

 

Those skills will be your early/mid game core. As soon as it becomes available take:

 

- Gambit: the absolute must

 

 

 

Passives:

 

Since we go easy on the actives, it opens a lot of points for passive abilities.

recomended passives (by order of availability):

- Two weapons fighting: More speed

- Dirty Fighting : more crits

- Riposte : you will never be as good for riposte as a trickster or a tanky swashbuckler, but you get enough deflection to make it worth. And as stated we have enough points for whatever passives we like.

- Persistent distraction: must have on any melee rogue. Enables free sneak attack+deathblows

- Deep Wounds: more damage

- Improved critical: more damage

- Deathblows: more damage

- Wall of flashing steel: more deflection, will always be up

- Prestige: +1 pl equals +5% damage on sneak attack, in addition to various bonus to skills. good to have

 

That's the core, but you actually have enough points to get more of the decently interesting stuff. Do not prioritise, but get those eventually:

-Uncanny Luck

-Adept Evsion

-Slippery Mind

-Fast runner

-Snake Reflex/Bull Will/Bear Fortitude

 

Strategy and gameplay :

 

This build is designed to take advantage of the steetfighter passive. Get into the middle of the melee to have youself surrounded, or bloodied, or both. Once you trigger at least the first level of the passive, you will start doing some serious damage and act quickly.

He feels a bit slow and not so damaging at first, but becomes powerfull when he needs it: on hard battles. When you get flanked, when you get bloodied. I know some people dislike passives that trigger when you take damage because they feel like being rewarded for playing poorly. But what is the point of obliterating even more an ennemy that you would already defeat easily ? The streetfighter evens the odds when he gets in a clutch, and this comes in synergy with the human passive that has a (much smaller) similar effect.

 

So what are our tools ? First, activate the rapier and dagger modals. The extra deflection will come handy (helping on an occasional riposte), the+20 accuracy gets you a lot of crits, and recovery penalty is absorbed by your streetfighter passive.

Sure, might is low, but the sneak attack and deadthblow bonus permanently on (persistant distraction), and the streetfighter bonus improving that even more. The damage output is great (by far the highest in my party), and the offtanking ability is excellent. In the early game, focus your gear on survivability. (+con>+deflection+>+defenses). Have a priest cast fit inspiration on him every battle if you feel like he's too squishy in the early game. Every non pure tank feels squishy in melee at first.

 

In terms of actual playstyle, obviously use full attack abilities: Cripple strike for cheap full attack, and whichever you chose between eliminating blow/strike the bell/whitering strike, depending on if you need the added effect. Escape is a "o sh*t" button in case you need it. In general, try to save your abilities for when your passive triggers. But you can use them if you feel they will be useful at that time (finish an ennemy, get that debuff you need).

That is until you hit power level 8 and get gambit. Once you're there, spam gambit. I have the IA set on if guile>5-gambit-target ennemy with lowest deflection. This leterally replaces my auto-attack.

You will almost always crit with both weapons and fully refund gambit. You have high accuracy (or very high in the case of the rapier), so you naturally crit decently. You have the Hit>Crit from gambit (up to 80%), the dirty fighting Hit>Crit, and the Uncanny dodge Hit>Crit.

The damage skyrockets with sneak attack+deathblows+streetfighter+crit bonus+improved critical+gambit critdamage bonus+Fair Favor+Grog. If you are in a clutch add on top of that the second tier of street fighter and the racial from human. All these bonuses are on full attacks at a very fast rate. And this damage can be sustained for a long time thanks to gambit refunds, and survivability (further boosted by perma Wall of Flashing Steel).

 

Usually, the only reason why I ever miss a refund of gambit is because my target died on the first hit, or moved. When that happens and guile drops around 6, I use an empower point to replenish, and carry on with the rampage. When guile drops to 6 again (if that ever happens before the fight is over), I can use my other full attack abilities for the added effects.

 

Conclusion:

This is my favourite build in any cRPG I played. It fulfilled my duelist corsair fantasies, and worked as intended (even better actually) both on a gameplay and a roleplay perspective: The great Corsair look with gear that actually synergizes with the build, able to stand his ground in the thick of a deck fight, getting that extra aggressive survival instinct when things get rough, and dealing very, very good damage in general.

 

 

 

Bonus section:

For when you get bored and want to vary your playstyle a bit:

 

At one point, I wanted to take Eder and Pallegina in the party, but both were built tanky, and I didn't want to clog the melee. So I looked for how to make use of my build at range. staying in the theme, and trying to find at least a bit of synergy.

The answer is: Blunderbuss! With the modal on, you get distracted, which is normally bad. But distracted gets you flanked status, which triggers your passive!

Get a single blunderbuss (-10 acc for blunderbuss, -5acc for distracted is too steep to use dual, we need the +12acc from singe wield, and the streetfighter passive gets you enough recovery bonus to shoot decently fast). Preferably Hand Canon or Fire in the Hole.

Since we are not dual wielding, full attacks are less efficient, so I would really recommend more utility with eliminating blow for the aoe debuff.

Turn the modal on. Start making booms.

Disclaimer: This is mostly for fun. It is decently efficient, but nowhere near as strong as the normal playstyle. But hey, a rogue hitting in aoe (from hand cannon/fire in the hole and the modal), and creating chaos and confusion on the ennemy deck is something you need to experiment at least once.

Alternatively if you have accuracy buffs or deflection debuffs on the ennemy, try dual wielding both special blunderbusses and use gambit for aoe gory mess.

Edited May 17, 2018 by Myrtillo

[Frog Man]

Great guide!! I wonder if folks will go back and update builds once POTD gets tuned up, to make sure they are still viable? But this one has great potential regardless.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Great job! Totally fits the theme of the game world. Hats off to a non min maxed build!

[KhanAidan]

Any advice on getting Rannig's Wrath without taking out the guards?  Did you try to stealth in, and what level stealth was required if so?

[Myrtillo]

Any advice on getting Rannig's Wrath without taking out the guards? Did you try to stealth in, and what level stealth was required if so?

I did use stealth, although it was on the low side because I didn't put any points in it. Probably 6 because of 4 from the start (rogue with Blessing of Berath) and two from items.

But I used the boots that give you two jumps per rest (because jump doesn't break stealth and it allows you to skip the entrance guard.) From there, a bit of patience and a few firecrackers did the trick. Grab everything in the vault then jump out with the second jump.

 

That's one hell of a heist

[KhanAidan]

 

Any advice on getting Rannig's Wrath without taking out the guards? Did you try to stealth in, and what level stealth was required if so?

I did use stealth, although it was on the low side because I didn't put any points in it. Probably 6 because of 4 from the start (rogue with Blessing of Berath) and two from items.

But I used the boots that give you two jumps per rest (because jump doesn't break stealth and it allows you to skip the entrance guard.) From there, a bit of patience and a few firecrackers did the trick. Grab everything in the vault then jump out with the second jump.

 

That's one hell of a heist

 

 

Awesome, thanks!  Was trying to decide how early into the game I wanted to try for it because I'm going with a tankier/lower dps version of your build that needs that rapier.

[Sorbicol]

I am very late to this thread but wanted to tell you I chose this build for my resurrected Watcher, and I've thorough enjoyed playing with it! Thank you, it's a good fun build to play once you've got used to the idea that he's supposed to be slightly overwhelmed and half dead! 

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Thanks, this is a really interesting build. Did you consider / do you consider using one-handed rapiers? 

[ErlKing]

Just want to note few tricks to trigger Flanked.

 

1) You can throw firecrackers under feet of Streetfighter, causing Distracted status (same as from Blunderbus). Firecrackers are dirt cheap, easy to craft and there are also gloves that give 2 firecracker casts per rest. I'm used to throw both Streetfighter and firecracker onto enemies in same spot at the same time at start of combat.

 

2) With Perception resistance from hat or armor you can downgrade Blindness effects to Distracted. So you can cast Chill Fog and go inside, getting only stronger from inflicted affliction. Bonus style points if you do that as Pale elf, shrugging off AoE damage.

 

3) I haven't tested it, but second Rogue should be able to trigger Distracted by Smoke cloud ability, if he's nearby, but it could easily miss unlike first two methods.

[Myrtillo]

Thanks, this is a really interesting build. Did you consider / do you consider using one-handed rapiers? 

 

I definitely considered it initially, yes. I have never been a big fan of dual wielding in RPG's. My prefered setup has always been 1 handed no offhand.

However, when I saw the dagger modal, it made a lot of sense to go for a historical rapier and dagger fighting style. That was a compromise I was able to live with.

 

The reality is that dual wielding is just too good for rogue. All the offensive ablities are full attacks (except sap). And most important of all gambit dramatically needs dual wield, otherwise the maximum refund you can ever get is 2/4, as opposed to the 4/4 dual wield gets you. Plus, gambit virtually always crits, making the acc bonus from one handed kind of useless.

And gambit is what makes the build shine, and be one of the highest single target melee dps (fast recovery and virtually unlimited full attacks that always crit for roughly 300% damage once you factor all the bonuses from sneak attack, deathblows and gambit).

 

Going single rapier would give you style points, and maybe an incentive to use Perplexing Sap, but that's about it unfortunately.

[Quickpawmaud]

how to get drunkards regret it does not say on the wiki

[Myrtillo]

how to get drunkards regret it does not say on the wiki

 

Reward from saving Oswald (Oathbinder Sanctum). You need to pass a dialogue check with him to actually get the ring. (I obtained it through diplomacy but there might be other options)

[Quickpawmaud]

and are there any recommendations for the other gear you didnt mention as i am fairly new but great build 

Edited June 20, 2018 by Quickpawmaud

[Myrtillo]

and are there any recommendations for the other gear you didnt mention as i am fairly new but great build 

 

Honestly, not much. You can pretty much experiment with what you like.

If you don't go for the looks, Devil of Caroc armor is a better pick than Miscreant, because the +2 ressources are turned into +20% crit on gambit making it virtually a 100% conversion.

I would recommend a mobility skill on boots (charge or leap).

Some survivavility on the belt (or the one that gives free potions).

Second ring can be defensive, or boundless stars for some cool per rest abilities.

 

Really pick the items you find/like and use them.

[Quickpawmaud]

i like the look plus i usually give that to eder anyway

[Quickpawmaud]

hmm i have looked at quite a few ports and cant seem to buy grog i have been saving all that i have found and am on my way to get oswald rn where do i buy it 

[Myrtillo]

hmm i have looked at quite a few ports and cant seem to buy grog i have been saving all that i have found and am on my way to get oswald rn where do i buy it 

 

Taverns, and booze merchants (The one in Dunnage, radiant court, comes too mind)

[Quickpawmaud]

hmm it says if worn while drinking does that mean i can swap it out for gauns pledge or whatever else in combat as long as whenever i rest i put on the ring

[Torbaal]

Hi all and thank you Myrtillo for this great guide ! I also liked your intelligent fighter one, truth to be told, it was hard for me to choose between the two of them.

 

There is still something I wonder: would it be doable with a pistol (like the smart leader) rather than a dagger in the offhand ?

 

Thank you again for your advices !

Edited October 23, 2018 by Torbaal