How would you build a charmer/warrior character- basically I want to use ashelander as a weapn but also get some benefit from its sexiness
Build advice
- Thread starter Lostname475
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I make a charmer/summoner build. I have Ashe equipped as a weapon but only really use her as a backup if enemies are immune to tease and Dischord is on cooldown. I can give you details if that interests you, though it's not exactly what you were asking for.
I think the benefits of a summoner build are a. you're making good use of your high Presence, b. it's a good use of your encounter power; it means you're not generating much threat in the first round of combat and you have an effect that usually lasts the whole fight, and c. towards the current end of content (which admittedly is annoyingly late) the pool of available summons becomes much bigger and more diverse, letting you pull different tricks out of your bag.
I am very much a the-best-defence-is-a-good-offence player; so I focus on damage rather than status moves.
STATS
So high Temptation is important for the effectiveness of your charms, and Leadership will boost the stats of your summons and allies so also very important. Leadership is tied to Presence, which is great, but Temptation is tied to Strength, which is not, so boosting it with equipment and alcohol carries you. Obviously Sexiness is super-important but this takes care of itself more readily than the other two.
I maximise Presence, Cunning and Agility. Leadership and Sexiness are both tied to Presence. Cunning boosts your crit chance, and Agility your evasiveness. I used to put a few points into Willpower but that's become less important since charms and spells were split out, though options for non-tease-damage charms are still pretty bad, so you might want to boost Willpower/Spellpower a little. When possible I'll drink a strength-boosting alcohol before a dungeon because you will feel the benefit of all that extra Temptation (and/or Spell Penetration).
ALLIES
I love Azzy but she is cursed for charmers, since her sleep 'buff' converts any tease damage you do to pheromone damage, which 9 times out of 10 is less effective. Many bosses weak to tease have high resistances to pheromone. Otherwise I rotate allies pretty freely, though I make sure I have a tank and usually a healer - I can act as a healer but at a cost of other options. I don't get much use out of Kiyoko, Viv or Agni however,because they're terrible (maybe their party roles are too similar to mine?).
A strong tank is important. Quin's, Arona's, Brint's and Tui's tank sets are great. I haven't tried Ryn's new Glacial Guard set, but it also looks promising. Azzy's default set is good for roaming around but I don't trust her for dungeons or bosses, as noted above. I'll compromise with Arona's holy damage set, since with it your party will be vaporising anything corrupted.
Cait and Tui make good healers, and Azzy does when her 'buff' isn't being a hinderance. Ryn probably would too, but I like her default set too much, even though Harrick is eternally a third wheel. Ryn and Tui make a strong team. Any ally who can cast 'Blessing' is, well, a blessing.
POWERS
At level 7 my power choices are:
At Will
Bolstering Dance - Always my first choice all game. It's a great healing ability for keeping the party topped up and minimising the amount of actions your party has to spend healing. Strong enough to stay relevant all game.
Great Heal - This spell is so powerful that it's fantastic even if your willpower is low. Soothing Dance is awful by comparison. Generally if I don't have a healer in the party - say because I took Ryn and Arona to Dracia, or, for some inexplicable reason, I have Kiyoko in my party - I'll switch in Great Heal so I can be the main healer, but I'll miss Bolstering Dance.
Recharge
I'll have one single-target and one multi-target recharge power - usually this will be Suggestive Sway and Dischord, but if I know I'm approaching an enemy with high tease resistance (elementals and other people's summons are the worst) or weakness (anything with high corruption), I might switch things up.
Single
Suggestive Sway - Make three tease attacks against a single target. With high cunning, good chance of one or more crits. Against a single target with low tease resistance, this can nearly one-shot many fights. I used it against the Lureling and dealt over 1000 damage in a single action.
??? - A non-tease attack is a lot trickier now, as charms don't give you many options. There are a couple that deal mental damage, but enemies resistant to tease are often resistant to this as well. Celestial Frost and White Fire are surprisingly effective even with low Willpower; there are probably other spells worth exploring, especially if you've boosted your Willpower.
Multi
Dischord - Fantastic, powerful, multi-target attack. Not much more to say; consistently reliable.
Allure - not the most powerful, but if you know your enemies will be weak to tease, a solid choice.
Encounter
A variety of summons. Kiyoko is great early on. The Fire Dancer is a solid choice once Kiyoko is freed. Later in Act 2 you unlock a whole range more to explore. Phyria is baaaaaaaad, but Cassidy is a solid choice for Undermountain where common roaming elementals resist tease and fire, and tons of options open up to play with once you progress through Khor'Minos.
Ultimate
Inspiration is good in a pinch. There are other solid choices depending on how you feel.
GEAR
I am very much a the-best-defence-is-a-good-offence player; so I focus on damage rather than status moves.
STATS
So high Temptation is important for the effectiveness of your charms, and Leadership will boost the stats of your summons and allies so also very important. Leadership is tied to Presence, which is great, but Temptation is tied to Strength, which is not, so boosting it with equipment and alcohol carries you. Obviously Sexiness is super-important but this takes care of itself more readily than the other two.
I maximise Presence, Cunning and Agility. Leadership and Sexiness are both tied to Presence. Cunning boosts your crit chance, and Agility your evasiveness. I used to put a few points into Willpower but that's become less important since charms and spells were split out, though options for non-tease-damage charms are still pretty bad, so you might want to boost Willpower/Spellpower a little. When possible I'll drink a strength-boosting alcohol before a dungeon because you will feel the benefit of all that extra Temptation (and/or Spell Penetration).
ALLIES
I love Azzy but she is cursed for charmers, since her sleep 'buff' converts any tease damage you do to pheromone damage, which 9 times out of 10 is less effective. Many bosses weak to tease have high resistances to pheromone. Otherwise I rotate allies pretty freely, though I make sure I have a tank and usually a healer - I can act as a healer but at a cost of other options. I don't get much use out of Kiyoko, Viv or Agni however,
A strong tank is important. Quin's, Arona's, Brint's and Tui's tank sets are great. I haven't tried Ryn's new Glacial Guard set, but it also looks promising. Azzy's default set is good for roaming around but I don't trust her for dungeons or bosses, as noted above. I'll compromise with Arona's holy damage set, since with it your party will be vaporising anything corrupted.
Cait and Tui make good healers, and Azzy does when her 'buff' isn't being a hinderance. Ryn probably would too, but I like her default set too much, even though Harrick is eternally a third wheel. Ryn and Tui make a strong team. Any ally who can cast 'Blessing' is, well, a blessing.
POWERS
At level 7 my power choices are:
At Will
Bolstering Dance - Always my first choice all game. It's a great healing ability for keeping the party topped up and minimising the amount of actions your party has to spend healing. Strong enough to stay relevant all game.
Great Heal - This spell is so powerful that it's fantastic even if your willpower is low. Soothing Dance is awful by comparison. Generally if I don't have a healer in the party - say because I took Ryn and Arona to Dracia, or, for some inexplicable reason, I have Kiyoko in my party - I'll switch in Great Heal so I can be the main healer, but I'll miss Bolstering Dance.
Recharge
I'll have one single-target and one multi-target recharge power - usually this will be Suggestive Sway and Dischord, but if I know I'm approaching an enemy with high tease resistance (elementals and other people's summons are the worst) or weakness (anything with high corruption), I might switch things up.
Single
Suggestive Sway - Make three tease attacks against a single target. With high cunning, good chance of one or more crits. Against a single target with low tease resistance, this can nearly one-shot many fights. I used it against the Lureling and dealt over 1000 damage in a single action.
??? - A non-tease attack is a lot trickier now, as charms don't give you many options. There are a couple that deal mental damage, but enemies resistant to tease are often resistant to this as well. Celestial Frost and White Fire are surprisingly effective even with low Willpower; there are probably other spells worth exploring, especially if you've boosted your Willpower.
Multi
Dischord - Fantastic, powerful, multi-target attack. Not much more to say; consistently reliable.
Allure - not the most powerful, but if you know your enemies will be weak to tease, a solid choice.
Encounter
A variety of summons. Kiyoko is great early on. The Fire Dancer is a solid choice once Kiyoko is freed. Later in Act 2 you unlock a whole range more to explore. Phyria is baaaaaaaad, but Cassidy is a solid choice for Undermountain where common roaming elementals resist tease and fire, and tons of options open up to play with once you progress through Khor'Minos.
Ultimate
Inspiration is good in a pinch. There are other solid choices depending on how you feel.
GEAR
- The Aphrodisiac Whip has the best stat boosts for a Charmer - both sexiness and temptation. Ashe's stats aren't as good but her damage type gives you more versatility and, you know, it's nice to have another friend along.
- The Parasol, purchasable from Kohaku, boosts Leadership and Temptation; this is my favourite offhand choice. The Rosebloom Shield is a trap for the same reason Azyrran is.
- The Helm of Heroes gives a tasty boost to Leadership and its Heavy tag doesn't affect that one trait affected by heavy gear because only your body slot counts. It isn't a great vibe visibly, so let's imagine the game, like all good RPGs, has a 'hide headwear' option.
- Choker of the Pain Slut boosts temptation and lowers incoming crit damage a bit. You can stock up on Ice Wine from Kohaku to keep your libido under control.
- The Cloak of Winter is, I think, the only cloak that boosts sexiness.
- Royal Leathers and the Kunoichi Bodysuit are strong choices, and there are arguments for a few other light armours.
- Underwear that boosts Temptation rather than Sexiness should give you more mileage.
- For your waist slot, Fluffy Sash probably your best bet for stats, or the Senninbari if you're
a cowardcautious. - While it's not tied to Sexiness, the Golden Carrot's crit-boosting will never not be welcome.
- Various good foot options but I settled on the Kunoichi Footwear.
- For rings, the Ring of Temptation boosts Sexiness and (predictably) Temptation. The Guldring boosts Leadership considerably, though I haven't gotten far enough in my current playthough to test if its special power works on charms as well as spells. Hana's White Blossom Ring gives nice crit boosts, despite the fact that, annoyingly, it's tied to Willpower (grrrr...). Sleeping while wearing the completed Ring of Fate unlocks a strong summon power that you don't need to be wearing the ring to use.
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I like her default Outrider set a lot; it's just so strong. But being neither tank nor healer, throughout Act One at least, it restricts her to being in a party with Tui. Her new tanky set looks promising, though.
Her Queenly Rainment set has the Blessing power which I love to have on an ally, but it has no offensive powers to speak of, so not really my jam otherwise.
I've edited my above post with some more thoughts on allies, because I can never leave anything I've written alone.
Her Queenly Rainment set has the Blessing power which I love to have on an ally, but it has no offensive powers to speak of, so not really my jam otherwise.
I've edited my above post with some more thoughts on allies, because I can never leave anything I've written alone.
Charmer summoner with melee sounds like a Fire Emblem dancer with a summon.
Summoner charmer debuffer is my style of play but a blade dancer with a summon could work fine, unless you want to deal more damage then you will have to drop the summon for a different encounter power.
For Companions I took a look at all of them and their sets other then the newest ones Here, which you should take a look at if you want my opinions there. The new sets will be added when I have time.
Summoner charmer debuffer is my style of play but a blade dancer with a summon could work fine, unless you want to deal more damage then you will have to drop the summon for a different encounter power.
The first step is the stats as those are going to help you out the most. For the type of build your wanting I would say to go high strength, Presence, with the last stat being the one you really want be it Agility for speed or Cunning for crits.
Side note is if you are willing to be a kitsune, it does add some option but it is by no means needed.
Side note is if you are willing to be a kitsune, it does add some option but it is by no means needed.
The next step is items and equipment, hand slot 1 is taken by Ashlander so for an off hand you can use the Parasol for the best stats for this build or a Shield for crits blocking and general bulk.
If you use the Jassiran Glaive instead of Ash you can then make use of the Serpent Dance power and its benefits for this build.
Next is the main outfit and what is important to know is that most charmer armor is not very useful, you want something light which means that armor will not be for you unless you use the one or two pieces that do work for you. Bondage Gear is the best tease armor in the game but I find the added temptation unneeded and would stick to other armors like the Royal Leathers if don't care for bonus Sexiness but want light armor, the Heavy Coat for its bonus leadership and Sexiness, Kunoichi Bodysuit for evasion plus bonus Sexiness, or the Regal Kimono if you want to boost Ashes fire damage up while having a mix of bonus Sexiness and some Evasion.
For the feet I would say to use the Kunoichi Footwear for the Sexiness or the Winged Sabatons for the initiative. For the gloves use the Giant Gloves for armor pen or the Golden Carrot for crits. Headwear should be Hairpin for the leadership and Sexiness.
Accessories for the neck should be the Fluffy Scarf or use the Black monkshood. Shoulder should be the Winter Cloak for the Sexiness. Belt can be the Fluffy Sash or Belt with Pouch. Rings are up to personal choice but I like a Lucky Strike and then the Guldring for the Leadership with the White blossom giving a ton of crits in case I want it.
If you use the Jassiran Glaive instead of Ash you can then make use of the Serpent Dance power and its benefits for this build.
Next is the main outfit and what is important to know is that most charmer armor is not very useful, you want something light which means that armor will not be for you unless you use the one or two pieces that do work for you. Bondage Gear is the best tease armor in the game but I find the added temptation unneeded and would stick to other armors like the Royal Leathers if don't care for bonus Sexiness but want light armor, the Heavy Coat for its bonus leadership and Sexiness, Kunoichi Bodysuit for evasion plus bonus Sexiness, or the Regal Kimono if you want to boost Ashes fire damage up while having a mix of bonus Sexiness and some Evasion.
For the feet I would say to use the Kunoichi Footwear for the Sexiness or the Winged Sabatons for the initiative. For the gloves use the Giant Gloves for armor pen or the Golden Carrot for crits. Headwear should be Hairpin for the leadership and Sexiness.
Accessories for the neck should be the Fluffy Scarf or use the Black monkshood. Shoulder should be the Winter Cloak for the Sexiness. Belt can be the Fluffy Sash or Belt with Pouch. Rings are up to personal choice but I like a Lucky Strike and then the Guldring for the Leadership with the White blossom giving a ton of crits in case I want it.
First is the Summons which will change depending on the enemy or boss. Wolf Spirit is good overall with Grungndyr overtaking it later on for me. Other Summons are there too but in the end the choice is you for what you need. For a tease the power Allure is going to be fine for most if not everything in the game unless you are fighting a single target then you should switch to Suggestive Sway. For For At-Wills Sneak Attack with the longer self buffs perks can help you deal some good damage as you can abuse five stacks of Obscurement to get plus 250 Attack power and plus 75 Accuracy or you can use Fading Strike to control your threat better. For the last Recharge slot you can use Acid or Estrus flask with the latter comboing with sneak Attack to give Ten turns of Obscurement and the former giving you an acid attack with sunder attached. Grease is also always good to have.
For Companions I took a look at all of them and their sets other then the newest ones Here, which you should take a look at if you want my opinions there. The new sets will be added when I have time.