I played this game (on the Normal Difficulty) for as long as it exists, probably, but always stayed away from matial classes. Last build i decided to give them a shot... and was severely underwhelmed. If playing as Black Mage or Charmer (even as White Mage to a degree) I could totally dominate the battlefield without ever bothering with shops and feel like I have no less raw power than Brint, with martials it's impossible. You don't inflict enough damage, you go down more quickly and all this while spending massive amount of money (by the start of the game standards anyway) on armor. My latest attempt to begin a new game was with Charmer and Warrior and I found out that latter struggles with the same fights former breezed through but opposite is never the case. I have the utmost respect for the developers and presume that classes are balanced, but, if so, I have no idea how to proceed. How do I play Warrior (and, to a lesser extent, Thief) to his strenghts? How can I have the same amount of power as with other classes?
Are martials underpowered?
- Thread starter Esti
- Start date
With my latest attempt I'm at the start of the game.
My Warrior is Level 2 with Toughness 6, Strength, Presence and Agility 5, Cunning and Willpower 3. I use Sanctified Gladius, Hoplon Shield, Mail Cuirass, Flame Cape and Amulet Of Transference. His powers are Guarded Stance, Rend, Cleave and Thunder Strike.
My Charmer is Level 2 with Toughness and Strength 3, Cunning and Agility 5, Willpower 4 and Presence 7. Her powers are Bardic Cadence, Song of Storms, Allure and War Song. I use Sanctified Gladius and Wooden Pipes and nothing else.
The problem is that even if I forego bombarding enemies with Allure and Teasing them into submission, Bardic Cadence, Song of Storms and War Song are more than enough to (with party's help) physically obliterate basically everyone I meet. With my Champion doing significant amount of damage, I might add. With Warrior it's not the case. It seems that I do less (and take more) damage using all my powers then Charmer, who only uses three.
My Warrior is Level 2 with Toughness 6, Strength, Presence and Agility 5, Cunning and Willpower 3. I use Sanctified Gladius, Hoplon Shield, Mail Cuirass, Flame Cape and Amulet Of Transference. His powers are Guarded Stance, Rend, Cleave and Thunder Strike.
My Charmer is Level 2 with Toughness and Strength 3, Cunning and Agility 5, Willpower 4 and Presence 7. Her powers are Bardic Cadence, Song of Storms, Allure and War Song. I use Sanctified Gladius and Wooden Pipes and nothing else.
The problem is that even if I forego bombarding enemies with Allure and Teasing them into submission, Bardic Cadence, Song of Storms and War Song are more than enough to (with party's help) physically obliterate basically everyone I meet. With my Champion doing significant amount of damage, I might add. With Warrior it's not the case. It seems that I do less (and take more) damage using all my powers then Charmer, who only uses three.
Shield plus heavy armour is more of a tank setup than a damage dealer. If you want to do better damage as a warrior, consider light armour and either dual wielding or 2 handing. The sanctified gladius works pretty well for dual wielding and there's a magic sword in the foothills that makes a very nice early (and midgame honestly) 2 handed weapon. Warrior gets really nice powers later on, but i will say that besides cleave their early ones are a bit underwhelming
Yeah, sounds like you've turned on Tank Mode, while it sounds like you want to be a damage dealer.
Just swapping your chest piece for a light one will give you an instant passive Attack Power boost from your Veteran perk. But Attack Power is a % scale on your weapon's damage; if you want to do big numbers, you need to equip a two-handed weapon or dual wield Light weapons. Ogrish sells a Poleaxe that's perfectly fine, or you can grab a short sword to dual wield with your S.Gladius.
You'll want to get rid of Guarded Stance. Switching it out for the Thief's 1st level At-Will (Garth teaches it) will help you manage the high Threat you risk pulling by doing big damage numbers; alternatively you can go for a spellblade build with Flamebrand (Sanders teaches that) for more raw damage numbies. Since you already have the Gladius, a magic-boosting sword, that's a strong direction but obviously isn't pure martial.
You'll then want to get a Companion who can tank for you rather than you doing it. Brint comes with his Arena set which is god-tier at tanking, and Atugia's default set us a pretty decent one out of the box too.
(FWIW I run a DPS Thief as my main character and Arena Brint and Passion Priestess Cait are my go-to party for doing everything on the highest difficulty. Shit just works.)
Just swapping your chest piece for a light one will give you an instant passive Attack Power boost from your Veteran perk. But Attack Power is a % scale on your weapon's damage; if you want to do big numbers, you need to equip a two-handed weapon or dual wield Light weapons. Ogrish sells a Poleaxe that's perfectly fine, or you can grab a short sword to dual wield with your S.Gladius.
You'll want to get rid of Guarded Stance. Switching it out for the Thief's 1st level At-Will (Garth teaches it) will help you manage the high Threat you risk pulling by doing big damage numbers; alternatively you can go for a spellblade build with Flamebrand (Sanders teaches that) for more raw damage numbies. Since you already have the Gladius, a magic-boosting sword, that's a strong direction but obviously isn't pure martial.
You'll then want to get a Companion who can tank for you rather than you doing it. Brint comes with his Arena set which is god-tier at tanking, and Atugia's default set us a pretty decent one out of the box too.
(FWIW I run a DPS Thief as my main character and Arena Brint and Passion Priestess Cait are my go-to party for doing everything on the highest difficulty. Shit just works.)
As has been observed part of your warrior problem is you are stuck halfway between trying to tank and do damage, and so poor at both. If you're trying to do damage you probably want to get rid of your investment into toughness or presence, the shield, and the heavy chestpiece. If you want to tank, prioritize getting Rime Veil and Mirror Stance as soon as you can (can get both pretty easily at level 3) and you're pretty much set for the rest of the game. The armor from Livrea's quest at the beginning of the game is better for tanking purposes than what you can buy in town and costs nothing.
The rest of your warrior problem is down to the fact that your initial impression isn't wrong. Warrior is indeed weaker than every class but white mage (in damage terms), at pretty much every stage of the game. With the current suite of endgame powers you will still wind up stronger than any companion, but as the game currently is you will never "have the same amount of power as the other classes" on warrior. If what you want out of your character is doing damage with your weapon, especially while wearing a heavy chestpiece, play thief and just train/steal the relevant warrior powers.
Honestly it doesn't really matter what kind, if damage is the main thing you want out of your character just play thief.
The rest of your warrior problem is down to the fact that your initial impression isn't wrong. Warrior is indeed weaker than every class but white mage (in damage terms), at pretty much every stage of the game. With the current suite of endgame powers you will still wind up stronger than any companion, but as the game currently is you will never "have the same amount of power as the other classes" on warrior. If what you want out of your character is doing damage with your weapon, especially while wearing a heavy chestpiece, play thief and just train/steal the relevant warrior powers.
Honestly it doesn't really matter what kind, if damage is the main thing you want out of your character just play thief.
I will say that while Warriors do have less overall DPS output compared to other classes, their output is decent enough at Normal levels to generally sweep enemy groups; you will however have to rely more on specific team/gear setups in order to get results.
For instance, I tend to run my Warrior with:
Stat Spread:
Strength/Willpower/Cunning
Gear:
Eastern Greatblade
Panoply of the Holy City
Champion's Belt
Gloves of Giant Strength
Winged Sabatons
Powers:
Charge Weapon (At-Will)
Whirlwind (Recharge)
Take Cover (Encounter)
Brint/Brienne w/ Arena Armor Set
Etheryn w/ Queen Raiment Set
Start first round with Take Cover, let Brint/Brienne grab aggro with something like Shield Drive, then let Etheryn cast Blessing. Next turn, use Whirlwind and watch the damage stack.
For instance, I tend to run my Warrior with:
Stat Spread:
Strength/Willpower/Cunning
Gear:
Eastern Greatblade
Panoply of the Holy City
Champion's Belt
Gloves of Giant Strength
Winged Sabatons
Powers:
Charge Weapon (At-Will)
Whirlwind (Recharge)
Take Cover (Encounter)
Brint/Brienne w/ Arena Armor Set
Etheryn w/ Queen Raiment Set
Start first round with Take Cover, let Brint/Brienne grab aggro with something like Shield Drive, then let Etheryn cast Blessing. Next turn, use Whirlwind and watch the damage stack.
attack damage DPS would be really good if you have the right companions (namely the weapon buff gals).
mages/charmers do not receive good support from companions (only blessing/war hymn) but is strong independently.
There is also the issue of your companions being pretty bad at controlling threat.
these points end up making earlygame attack damage carries to be weaker than other roles.
They scale well into lategame though.
mages/charmers do not receive good support from companions (only blessing/war hymn) but is strong independently.
There is also the issue of your companions being pretty bad at controlling threat.
these points end up making earlygame attack damage carries to be weaker than other roles.
They scale well into lategame though.