Which character class?

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I think the devs went this route with the Pally to give us something a little different and remove the "same olde, same old..." stereotype of the character classes. Not many classes in this game fully replicate the DnD line of thinking. It is a refreshing change. Though I am a AD&D fan heart, I like the build system used in PoE. And that says a lot as I don't ususally stray to far away from AD&D games in my rpgs these days.

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Crucis,

Wouldn't a Barbarian cover that role just as well? Note that I'm asking, not stating...

My party currently consists of Pally, Fighter, Barbarian, Druid(PC), Cleric and Ranger/Wizard/Cipher( keep switiching them out, they are all a level behind the party..)I find my Barb to be DPS monster with spear and saber combo or I switch him to arquebus when I need to bottleneck the enemy. I use a Two-Handed Sword or Mace and Shield when he is getting crushed quickl on my Fighter and a Sword or Flail and Shield for my Pally.

 

I am considering making my next PC a Death Head Godlike and I think there is a Paladin order that would fit him. His character would tend to be lawful. If this were BG lawful neutral I think.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Blades, honestly, I can't associate with barbarians. I just can't. Barbs seem so utterly out of control and crazed, and that's the opposite of me, so much so that I just cannot wrap myself around playing one. At least not as a PC. I prefer to play characters who are cool and calculating, not crazed berzerkers. Call it personal taste.

I thoroughly enjoyed my offensive Fighter, Takka, immensely. And she seemed capable of handling anything that I asked of her.

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Sounds like you're thinking of a Bleak Walker.

 

Tbh, while bleak walkers fall in the 'evil' category, preferring the agressive and cruel dispositions which i do feel is a good fit for a death godlike, i don't know if i'd call them neutral, or even lawful, since their disfavored dispositions are diplomatic and benevolent.

I feel like the Goldpact knights are a better fit for a lawful neutral character.
To quote from their description :

"Paladin order that is devoted to a rigid way of living/working/existing(essentially mercenary paladins). They are believers in the idea that payment/gold is a solemn bond that must be upheld at all costs. They are the most "professional" and least morally-concerned paladin order players can select."

They fit the lawful side in so far as that they will uphold a contract above all else, and the neutral bit by not being concerned about good or bad, just about getting paid. (Good, evil - who cares, adventurers have bills too. )
Their favored dispositions are rational and stoic, which i also feel would be the better fit when roleplaying as a lawful neutral character.

 

Of course the class doesn't have to be Paladin but it is one class that I never cared for in the IE games but seems more playable to me in PoE.

The character I am thinking about would be different from my normal play style. More rigid, focused on what they see as what is lawful perhaps with an aristocratic background. A very self assured person, not so questioning as another type might be. One who honors the gods and will be shocked when faced with the truth or at least what we believe is the truth. Who would probably choose Berath believing that is the correct and lawful order of things. or maybe not.

 

Well, playing as a priest of berath comes to mind allmost instantly.
Much like the goldpact knights, their favored disposition are also stoic and rational, so i still feel the goldpact paladin is a good fit as well.

outside of the paladin and priest, you're not limited to any dispossition, you can just RP whatever you want.
I can see barbarians, rogues and rangers not really fitting with the lawful aspect Being "free spirits"of sorts or right out law-breakers, but a large deal of that is down to how you RP the character.

Another one of the more obvious choices might be the monk, they are widely considered as peaceful, abiding by the rules of society.
Also, going with the aristoctatic theme, it wouldn't be unheard of for the second son of a noble family to be shipped off to become a monk.

Druids, while not so much following the laws of men as the laws of nature, are often regarded as the neutral role, and quoting from the game :

So maybe RP a 'rural noble' role ?

Wizard, chanter and cipher are all valid options as well of course, but i feel you might come a bit too close to becoming a clone of Aloth, the games resident of semi-nobility origins spellcaster.

 

A priest, don't know why I didn't consider that before. I haven't even tried an experimental one. Thanks for the suggestion. It could be very interesting.

 

No problem, glad i could help
One thing worth remembering here is that priests in pillars are nothing like their DnD counterparts.
They're not really suited for melee, instead filling the role of fragile pure spellcasters.
Also, while priests are flexible in use, building one is pretty strict, there's just not a lot of variation in different builds.
Once you've raised/maxed the 3 important stats, there's not a lot of points to put anywhere else.

You'll want a high Might score - the better your might score, the better your healing.
Similarly, high Intelligence - you need a decent to great range on your AoE's.
Also, dexterity is pretty important for fast casting. you'll really feel the benefit of a high dexterity score when you hit level 9, where your lvl 1 spells change from per rest to per encounter, and again at lvl 11 where the same happens for your lvl 2 spells.
A high dex allows you to spam the lvl 1 & 2 spells, adding a lot of utility to your party.
You might also want to buy the Ring of Faith from Lora (copperlane district in defiance bay) which gives your priest +1 spell use for lvl 1,2 &3 spells.

 

I decided on a Priest of Berath. Female, Nature Godlike. Not sure if I did the stats right tho. Mtg 16, Dex, Int and Res are all 14. Don't know if they changed it in patch 1.06 but they had those all stared. I didn't dump any stats. She has a poleaxe and a warbow. I have her using the war bow. She came with a Breastplate. We just reached lvl 4 and are still in Act 1 about to go to Raedrick's Keep. She has an aristocratic background but because she is godlike they rejected her. I did get an option when speaking with Kolsc to say I didn't wish to kill a lawful thayne.

I have the dialogue hints on because she does have preferences. Rational and stoic and dislikes Passionate and cruel. I am finding it a real role playing experience. She is pretty flexible in dialogue so far.

She has a minor cloak of protection which helps. I have Eder, Aloth, Durance, a hired barbarian and a hired rogue for the party.

I will look for that ring when I get to Defiance Bay. Thanks for the info.

 

Not having any dump stats is fine. it's my personal preference to min-max, but you can get by without.
In this case, i'd probably have used perception as my dump stat just so i could raise st/dex/int to their max.

I also play with the dialogue hints on, i find it easier to RP that way, since sometimes a response doesn't carry the disposition you'd think and/or want for your character.
I do find that even in conversations where your favored disposition is not available as an option, there's usually a neutral option carrying no disposition effects at all, so that's cool.

If you want to go melee with your priest, don't forget that priests of berath get access to the pallid hand talent - giving accuracy bonuses to maces and greatswords.

Some talents i find worth having on the priest:
Brilliant Radiance - a free burn damage aoe each encounter is nice to have early on, though it tapers off towards the midgame.
Interdiction - AoE that dazes all enemies in a 20m radius if it hits, also nice for the early game.
Scion of Flame - priest get access to quite a few spells with burn/fire damage, like searing seal, pillar of holy fire and galvanizing flame.
Other then those, you're probably best off with the +bonus lvl2/3/4 spell talents.

 

Priests do just fine in melee. They even make halfway decent tanks. They're better off as backline casters though.

 

Thought I took Pallid Hand when I leveled up but I just checked and I didn't. Hopefully I can get it later. I have Brilliant Radiance and another Radiance. Don't know why I didn't take Interdiction I always do for Durance if he doesn't have it.

Thank you for the help. It is much appreciated. When I can get a good wand or scepter should I I switch one of the ones I have for it?

I was hoping to avoid the dungeon this play but I can't unless I want to fight my way through the guards in the upper floors. I did get a cute response option when talking to the Berath High Priest/Archmage. "I'm just here to clean out the place" No I didn't take it. I am trying to stick to rational, stoic, intellect if possible. I have taken advantage of those neutral responses.

I love the dialogue in this game and Eder is magnificent. He is brilliantly written in my opinion.

 

On the endless path's lvl 11 you can find Cgadob's Hazel - arguably the best wand available, has the exceptional enchantment, also gives your party members +10 accuracy when attacking the same target as you.
Though it also grants you the spell jolting touch, which is garbage.
Basically an enchanted wand with a nice effect, otherwise not so great. scepters are probably a better way to go.

the best scepter available is on the last level (15) of the endless paths, called Puitènte med Príncipi. is superb enchanted, 20% of grazes converted into hits, and criticals have a chance to knock a target prone.
Out of the two, this is the one i would go with.

As a placeholder weapon untill you are able to complete the endless paths, you will want to do a quest in the docks - find an npc called Imatl standing near the weapon. he wants you to collect 3 parts of a rod - when you've done this he'll tell you about his contact at the sanitarium (an animancer called Nans) that will offer to buy or repair the rod for you.
Repairing it costs you 1200g, but will give you the Engwithan Scepter, has a fine enchantment and x1.2 attack speed on it.

Alternatively, since convincing nans to repair the scepter requires a stat check (perception i believe, all i know is that i couldn't get her to repair it for my barbarian, which was a while back) you can buy The Lady's Hand at ingrun's weapons shop in the copperlane district of defiance bay. Holds a fine enchantment, but also has the 20% grazes turn into hits enchantment.

 

Ah yes, I am familiar with that dock quest I have given it to Aloth previously. Almost sold it, the pieces, then changed my mind and got it fixed and kept it.

PoE can be tricky and it doesn't always pay to rush into doing things.

Any suggestions for Eder? His Saint's armour has that speial enchantment. This time I am having a hard time finding stuff for him.

Usually I take the pre-made companions but my barbaria dwarf and Orlan rogue are doing nicely. I like Kana and find him pretty good especially as he levels up although I don't think I really have the hang of this Chanter stuff. How it works and how to correctly set it up. I understand the need for three phrases and then four etc.

Note: I am on Steam but have taken to playing as administrator which I have seen recommended. I haven't had trouble with the game but the switch does seem to improve loading times and smooth things out.

 

The larder door is probably the best shield you can get for Edér, the "bash" it grants actually means you can use your shield as a weapon, effectively allowing him to dual-wield while still having a shield equipped.
You can get it incredibly early by finishing the blacksmith's quest from gilded vale.
If you don't choose the option to respec companions as they join your group, he comes with the ruffian weapon specialization, so sabres are a good fit for him.
Eventually when you get to twin elms you can find a sabre with the draining ability (20% damage restored as endurance) and gear with retaliation on him also works quite well since he has a high might score, though the earliest item you'll probably get this on is Sura's supper plate in cliaban rilag, which is also a shield, so it might not be worth replacing the larder door with it.
You can also get retaliation on Hiro's Mantle, but that's only sold by the wandering merchant who ocasionally shows up at od nua, and you might not be able to get it for an entire playthrough.
It used to be that the Sanguine Plate armor also had retaliation, but they changed it to have Frenzy on it instead (like the barbarian ability, procs when you get hit by a critical hit.)
You'll probably want to shoot for the Coat of Ill Payment as your final armor on eder - has the retaliation mod, 4+damage reduction for a total of 14, which is on par with most plate armors, and +1 resolve as icing on the cake.
you can get it from the corpse of one of the later bounty quest targets, so be sure to restore the warden's lodge of od nua quite early on so you can get started on the bounty quests.
You get bounties in sets of 4 targets, and if i recall correctly the target that grants you this armor is in the second set of 4.

 

Right now, lvl 4, Act 1, Eder has the Saint's armour, Helm-The Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil, A minor ring of deflection and the Eothasian Priest cape. +1 Resolve, +1 Perception, +10 Will. With the barbarian to aid him he is doing quite well but we haven't had a major battle yet.

I also picked up a nice flail, Gaun's Share.

 

Yeah, that is a very nice flail - iirc, the 1st weapon in the game you can get with the draining mod.
though damage wise it can't measure up to sabres(sabre's get increased damage) it does get the %to convert grazes into hits, as all flails do, and has a fast attack speed instead of average, so it's not a bad weapon at all.

One thing to know about Kana and chanters in general is that it's important to focus your build on either chants or invocations.
to quote the game :

The advantage of chants is that they are modal abilities, granting their bonuses right from the start of a battle.
On the other hand, for invocations you will need to have saved up phrases (each "ability" or line that makes up your song/chant is 1 phrase) before you can cast them.
Phrases have 3 levels, the higher the level,the longer their effects last, but also the longer it takes to chant them. 4,6 and 8 seconds respectively for lvl 1,2 and 3 phrases.

Similarly, invocations also have 3 levels, the higher the level the more phrases you need saved up to cast them. 3 phrases for lvl 1 invocations, 4 for lvl 2, 5 for lvl 3.
This means that if the chant you are using consists of nothing but lvl 3 phrases, it will take you 5x8 seconds to generate the 5 phrases to cast a 3rd level invocation.
That's a total of 40 seconds - way too long for most encounters to make good use of them.

So either stick to lvl 1 phrases in your chant, allowing you to save up phrases quickly and cast your invocations faster, or use higher level phrases but remember that this means you won't be bale to use your invocation abilities nearly as often.

hope that explanation makes sense

This has made me want to start a new game as a priest, so i present to you my iteration of a magran fire-godlike priestess, Aine Ember :

 

Thanks that does help. I did a search, checked the official WIKI but couldn't find a good explanation of how to set up the chants. Now I have an idea of how to do it. I like those summons that Kana has even if they don't survive long they help out in tough fights. So I need at least one chant that doesn't take more than 5x4 secs. Yes?

Haven't picked him up yet so this time maybe I can get him set up to be extra useful. He has been pretty good even so. I like that gun of his I know some people change it but I keep it.

Your priest looks good. Just had a long talk with Raedrick. I realize that the dialogue can't include all the possible builds a player can make but I must admit I wish my Berath Priest could have been recognized some how. That quest is certainly not one of my favorites. Actually it is probably very well written it is so ambiguous. I was tempted to skip it but wondered if I could do it a little different. Did get a little different dialogue from the Berath High Priest. Got a fine stiletto for my rogue and a better weapons for my barbarian. Almost time to head over to Caed Nua.

 

Depends on what you'd like to use, chants or invocations.

a chant is a song, consisting of several phrases, each phrase being a buff/debuff.
It might be a good idea to have at least 1 chant with only lvl 1 phrases in it, so you can build up a lot of phrases quickly so you can switch to that if you want to use invocations quickly or more often in a battle.(3 phrases are sung in 12 seconds with a chant containing only lvl 1 phrases, allowing you to cast a lvl 1 invocation, 5 lvl 1 phrases are sung in 20 seconds and allow you to cast one lvl 3 invocation)
Downside is that lvl 1 phrases aren't going to give your party big bonuses.

in general, i feel like the bonuses from a chant are more important then the invocations, so you're probably going to want to have one or two chants with higher level phrases for better bonuses. you'll still be able to use an invocation or two in those long lasting battles, but not much else.

Chants are all about buffing and debuffing, while invocations are more balanced between both buffs, debuffs, summons and at higher level some damaging invocations, at the cost of having to wait before being able to use them.

Plan your build accordingly, focus on one of the two methods
I.e : it won;t do you any good getting the Ancient Memory talent (constant endurance regen for the party while chanting) if you plan to focus on invocations.

 

So far I mostly just used the chants but there were a couple of places where I just wanted to throw every thing I could at the enemy.