Ye Olde Party Builds Thread

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Pallegina is odd because because it seems the devs designed her to be a jack of all trades-kind of skirmisher, much like how you'd play a monk in BG2 or an AoO fighter in Neverwinter Nights. I built her around abusing disengagement attacks and running away from anyone who tries to pin her down in melee. With enough +deflect/+deflect when disengaging and movespeed buffs she's great at kiting enemies and bursting down casters with Flames of Devotion/Intense Flames using a Pike/Arquebus.

I use her this way because she's terrible at tanking (compared to Eder) or providing sustained DPS (because of her stats, unless you give her an Arquebus and use Kana's fast reload chant). She's just bad at anything that involves standing still, in general.

Aloth's usefulness in my parties has skyrocketed since I could replace Blast with Gunner/Marksman and take Slicken/Chill Fog instead of his original spell choices. He now provides powerful debuffs + solid single target DPS the instant you get him.
Never really saw the point in using him as a main nuker TBH (at least until late game) since he has the potential to almost completely shut down your enemies' ability to survive/fight back.

 

Yeah, Crucis - was more relating my experience than disagreeing. Same page.

I too usually play at Normal difficulty or one above in most games.

On my next playthrough, I may dispense with a Cleric altogether and try the Druid route. Different brand of healing, but it can be equally effective, I've read.

I don't see how, at this point, I could ever play without at least 1 Paladin, Eder, and Grieving Mother. So far I've found Chanters to be of alright but not sensational value (or perhaps their contribution goes unnoticed because I've become used to their passive benefits via songs?). Cipher's stun and mind blades is my bread-and-butter crowd softener, so I'll always have one of them, probably over a Wizard.

 

To each their own.

I seldom go any where without Kana. His gun alone is worth it. I do make a hired rogue when I get to Gilded Vale. My first play through I didn't use Durance that much but since then I have come to rely on him.

I think it boils down to what interests you and what you are willing to put the time and effort into.

 

I've been wondering Druids can be an effective alternative to priests in PoE as well.

As for as Chanters, I agree that it can be difficult to notice if their contribution, if any, due to the always on nature of their songs. Also, another generally felt problem with Chanters is how long takes to build up a high enough chant count to cast level 3 Invocations. The entire chanter class construction is a pain because you have the choice of using longer, more potent chants but waiting that much longer for your chant counts to increase, or using only the fastest chants so that your chant counts rise ASAP so that you get to the best Invocations ASAP. It's a painful dilemma.


I used GM in my last party in place of Aloth and was quite satisfied. Of course, this was prior to patch 1.05, so I don't know how well Ciphers perform after this patch. I may have to give her another shot. And yes, I found mind blades to be one of her bread-and-butter spells as well.

 

Grieving Mother plays very differently from Aloth and comparing them is almost exactly like comparing Hiravias to Durance, I'd say. Both Hiravias and GM should ideally be dealing damage as well as providing healing (Hiravias) or debuffs (Grieving Mother). You could say that in their case, using attack spells/attacking also counts as a form of damage mitigation (dead people can't fight back). Aloth and Durance favor directly debuffing/healing/supporting their fellows. They can deal damage, especially at higher levels, but until then it's more of an option.
Aloth/Durance would likely do better in parties that need the extra survivability, while GM/Hiravias would do better in parties that lack DPS. I wouldn't want GM to focus purely on debuffing, the same way I wouldn't Hiravias to only cast support spells.

The chanter is easily my favorite class atm. My first set of chants always has some variation of the shortest ones (3-5 instances). This guarantees that I can bring out my favorite Invocation ASAP. After that I add multiple instances of longer chants (usually same instances of powerful buffs). This is my default set.
The second set of chants is for harder/extended fights. I just switch to this after my default set gives me my first invocation.
The nature of the chanter class makes it so they're only as useful as you make them. Chanters excel at improving the overall effectiveness of a group, and you get best results if you tailor their abilities around enhancing some particular aspect. Kana in a party of 3 or so Gunners using "Sure-Handed Ila Nocked Her Arrows with Speed" is just beastly, for example.
Making a particular chanter character excel all by itself requires extra effort. Atm my favorite build is a dual-wielding chanter, which with the right stats/talents/chants/invocations plays almost exactly like an FMT/Blade in BG2.

 

The key to Druid, IMO, is start with offensive magic then either engage with shifting or keep the rest of the party alive. Depends on the enemy composition. I like the Druids flexibility. Like DnD, he is not quite the healer the Cleric is, but sufficient.