Share your favorite builds!

[Off The Record]

I wanted to share a build I'm excited about. I'm playing an Orc White Mage focusing on Strength, Toughness, and Willpower. I use Shielded Stance, Soul Arrow/Reaping Blade, Bark Skin, and Flames Within. I have Mare's Ring equipped. This is a regeneration-based tank.

There are 2 ways I increase damage output to competitive levels despite being a tank.

Righteous Fury, a 7th-Level White Mage perk, increases the user's weapon/spell damage by 1/2 Willpower.

Flames Within, an encounter spell, increases the user's damage by 30, but damages the user for 30 Fire damage each turn.

There are 4 ways I tank.

Shielded Stance increases the user's evasion by 15, and increases the user's armor and ward by 50%.

Soul Arrow inflicts about 110 psychic damage, but also heals the user for 1/2 the damage. Or Reaping Blade, which inflicts about 90 bonus blight damage on a weapon attack, staggers the target for 2 rounds, and heals the user equal to the damage dealt.

Bark Skin increases maximum HP by about 75, and regenerates the user's health by 13% each turn. (Also, using Bark Skin means that Witch Gear Cait can still cast Shield of Light on me.)

Mare's Ring increases maximum HP by 25, and heals the user for 5% of the user's maximum HP.

To me, this is such a cool build. I love playing it. It makes me feel immortal. Do you guys also have a favorite build that's more than just "optimized [class]"?

 

[Everblight]

Curious what companions do you Main with this?

 

[UndyingRevenant]

i have various issues that make me unsatisfied with most builds, so instead i looked at party members. most can be replicated, level 7 included, some can be replicated and directly improved on. i always liked cait's default kit because it's really solid and when on auto pilot, doesn't have too many heals or too much damage (so fights can be sustained through but don't take needless time), but i don't always want to have cait involved in every aspect of the game, so i have "copied" it, replaced some abilities with "just better" ones and it's been my favorite overall build.







+1+1+1 will, cun, presence, cun for crit chance to proc overflowing health and more damage, willpower because main stat, presence as filler and to buff team. +3 doesn't wind up an even number, +2+1 is odd and leaves one out so i just like a divide. don't need toughness because of the benefits and equipment pc gets, but if ever need it or agility could also get a drink. bentos are great so could theoretically not build will at all, rush tf out of kiyoko marriage and then have easier, portable access to a extra capped stat on demand. i'm not that satisfied on equipment, i took all purples because i like it, but some non uniques can be marginally better, the winter crown is competitive but i give it to etheryn for her arc to feel better instead of yoinking a symbol of her rule, and im unaware of it's stats but might eventually lie back and think of england to get tetsuya's robe item. equipment will be subject to change for all builds for some time anyway.

hexblade cait is one of the only straight damage kits im satisfied with in the party, and i like dragoon azzy quite a bit personality wise and kit wise. making brint brienne makes me feel kind of yucky, and like eventually they're going to throw a "yeah actually you brainwashed brint, changed his personality and body for your pleasure and made him only like you, you're a horrible person, if you're repentant time to fix it as best you can and make her free and polyamorous" even though she's very enjoyable and romantic, and winter knight brint is just straight better than brienne's kit for most classes imo, wish it was just another character at this point. most likely next game i will instead use default etheryn, winter knight brint, and replace flash fire with entropic winds to capitalize on a frigid party, which i've wanted to do for some time.

i like other classes, have tried the options in coc2 but i've always had a thing for support mages, plus i like the rp of being able to lay hands and heal people including your daughter. overall, maybe not optimal but adaptable, easy to swap out damage for heals or vice versa, tons of possible party variety, and reliably played full auto besides some boss encounters on normal. dark requires manual control regardless for forced comp fights or some boss mechanics, at least until they ever make the auto ai smarter (ie not default attacking when spells are up, not healing when party is injured, not prioritizing shielding tank etc)

 

[Off The Record]

Curious what companions do you Main with this?

To be honest, I don't pay too much attention to the companions I choose. I use witchy Cait (heal) and pyromancer Brienne (damage) almost all the time for a classic Tank + Healer + DPS setup.

i have various issues that make me unsatisfied with most builds, so instead i looked at party members.

You seem like you know a lot about companions. I'm looking to rehabilitate my gap in knowledge. What companions would you recommend for my build?

 

[Baggrin]

My favorite build is probably the offensive black mage, the "pure" caster that avoids weapon attacks and weapon powers (even if those attacks are complemented by magic), only magic (weapons only apply if I don't have spells available), in most cases AoE.
Probably my build is not quite "standard", but still it is an ordinary AoE controller and damage dealer (according to the ideas of about four years ago), which can hardly be called an unusual build (except that it is the classic idea, even some obsolescence, that can be called unusual).
What a pity that this build in some cases is inferior to a pure warrior, not to mention optimized spellblades...

Spoiler: Stats:

Starting Bonuses: Willpower +3.
Maximum Agility, Willpower, Cunning and Presence (Three by points, fourth by Boon).
As for the level 7 perk, I prefer to defeat enemies on my own and that's why I chose the Arcane Penetration.

Spoiler: Equipment:

I won’t dwell too much on the equipment, I’ll note only two points:

1. Yes, Metal Rod is weaker than Control Rod. But Metal Rod is one of the few options available to use the power I need. Also, it's a magical damage type weapon (enemies are usually better protected from physical damage than magic), plus it's a ranged weapon, so I can use it to finish off flying enemies if necessary.

2. I'm much more afraid of physical damage than magic or mental damage, which is why I wear a Fluffy Scarf, Shaman's Cape (immunity to sundered), Lamellar Armor (the best physical protection among all light armor) and the Champion's Belt (resistance to physical damage). If necessary, a shield will also be added to this set.
What, using a tank? Well, I've noticed that even when using the Rogue's Ring, my Threat Level periodically exceeds the tank's Threat Level. That's why I keep using good armor instead of this fancy gear with a bonus to spellpower.

Oh, one more thing, I recently decided to use Royal Gloves to boost my weapon damage. By the end of the dungeon, I remembered why I didn't do this earlier... it only helps if your weapon has physical damage, but in the case of weapons with magical damage, Armor Penetration won't help you much.

Spoiler: Powers:

At-Will: Equilibrium, because I am very annoyed by knockdowns at inconvenient moments for me.

Recharges: Grease + Fireball is a classic combo... but I would argue that fire damage isn't always relevant. So my daily set is more Crackle Powder+Arc Cannon than Grease+Fireball (especially since some unique opponents have knockdown immunity, but not a single enemy with stun immunity comes to my mind).
Yes, I met the opinion that Crackle Powder is worse than Grease and this is not even completely groundless (among the abilities of companions there are much more fire attacks than storm attacks, besides Crackle Powder limits you in the weapons that you can use), but... usually you don't need other companions with the same abilities that you have, more often you will need a companion that covers the area where you are not very effective (for example, a single target damage dealer with physical damage and good armor penetration). Oh, one more thing. The advantage of Crackle Powder over Grease is that it's NOT a SPELL, so it can be used even when I'm silenced (I'm not afraid of disarming thanks to Equilibrium).
Leaping Bolts instead of Arс Cannon? Well, I don't really like this power because of its instability, it deals uneven damage and can miss. Although after getting a new powerful AoE (Dawnbreak) I started to think about this idea a little more, but I'm still not sure.

Encounter. According to the situation, but most likely Dawnbreak:

Very good attack, also buffs the party a bit.

It might be worth considering the option to summon creatures as well, but I like this option much less than the above... it's not at all a fact that such creatures will provide a lot of help, after all, they may choose the wrong ability or the wrong target for using that ability (Talsenne, Why did you use Song of Storms on me? Such a buff looked much more appropriate on Arona!), besides, I would notice that many summons have accuracy somewhat on the low side.
That's why I would prefer Dawnbreak or Vitality Reap almost any day, rather than summoning some creature.

Spoiler: Companions:

Etheryn in her royal attire as a healer and buffer, especially since at level 7 she gains the Expert Inspiration perk, making her Blessing last two turns instead of one.
A third companion depending on the situation or my mood. Any decent damage companion should work reasonably well, but overall I would say that a single target physical damage dealer would complement my abilities the best.

What companions would you recommend for my build?

I'm not sure what kind of damage dealer is best paired with your tank (tanks don't work very well in my opinion, so offense is the best type of defense), but as for the healer, I would advise you to try taking Etheryn in her royal attire to the group , in addition to healing spells, she also has the Blessing spell (upon reaching level 7, the effect will last two turns instead of one), this buffs your attack by about 50% (not only attacks, however, increasing spellpower has a beneficial effect on the power of buff spells) . Etheryn also has decent durability and a good Ultimate.

As for information about companions... I'm shamelessly linking to my old (but updated today) comment:

Companion Combat Tier List

Sorry if this is dumb it just something that came to mind. I really like to know where you all rank the companions in terms of how useful they are in combat. And I mean Set by Set like Onmyodo Kiyoko and Queenly Raiment Etheryn.

forum.fenoxo.com

P.S. By the way, I don't like tanks also because a "tank versus tank" fight (when you have three or four Imp Shankers in your opponents) without high single-target damage can turn into a nightmare. I ran into this once while experimenting with a warrior build (it took me a LOT of rounds to finish Imp Lord, probably more than twenty) and I don't want it to happen again...

UPDATE. Now my build is described in much more detail.

 

[Off The Record]

My favorite build is probably the offensive black mage, the "pure" caster that avoids weapon attacks (even if those attacks are complemented by magic), only magic, in most cases AoE.

I have an alt Black Mage that I haven't touched in a long time, but Equanimity + Primal Scar + Flash Fire + Deadly Shadow obliterates the battlefield.

I'm not sure what kind of damage dealer is best paired with your tank (tanks don't work very well in my opinion, so offense is the best type of defense), but as for the healer, I would advise you to try taking Etheryn in her royal attire to the group , in addition to healing spells, she also has the Blessing spell (upon reaching level 7, the effect will last two turns instead of one), this buffs your attack by about 50% (not only attacks, however, increasing spellpower has a beneficial effect on the power of buff spells) . Etheryn also has decent durability and a good Ultimate.
As for information about companions... I'm shamelessly linking to my old (but updated today) comment:

Companion Combat Tier List

Sorry if this is dumb it just something that came to mind. I really like to know where you all rank the companions in terms of how useful they are in combat. And I mean Set by Set like Onmyodo Kiyoko and Queenly Raiment Etheryn.

forum.fenoxo.com

Thanks!

P.S. By the way, I don't like tanks also because a "tank versus tank" fight (when you have three or four Imp Shankers in your opponents) without high single-target damage can turn into a nightmare. I ran into this once while experimenting with a warrior build (it took me a LOT of rounds to finish Imp Lord, probably more than twenty) and I don't want it to happen again...

I only encountered this against demon Alissa, but overcame that by opening the battle by using the team's damage-based Ults in the first round. But again, Righteous Fury and Flames Within helps use tankiness for DPS.

 

[UndyingRevenant]

To be honest, I don't pay too much attention to the companions I choose. I use witchy Cait (heal) and pyromancer Brienne (damage) almost all the time for a classic Tank + Healer + DPS setup.

You seem like you know a lot about companions. I'm looking to rehabilitate my gap in knowledge. What companions would you recommend for my build?

i don't know as much as several others but for the most part, you can use whoever you feel like with kits, but the primary concern is making sure you have roles filled. what i mean in particular is, with 3 party members, (main character can change abilities so don't have to worry too much there), say you take witch set cait or royal outfit etheryn as a healer. they have several heal abilities but little damage. say on top of that you took atugia as a tank, who has tank and healing but little damage. you would suffer a great deal in most fights, the player might think "i will tank and heal all the enemy does like this" but several enemies will have very high damage every few turns or so, and some fights like with imps, if you don't do much damage, then your tank can be overwhelmed regardless, and fights will also take a long time.

with that said, if you have a dedicated healer like royal attire etheryn, it's in your best interest to have a tank with some damaging abilities and another character with mostly damage. if you have a healer that has some damaging abilities like default cait, then you can get away with having a tank like atugia (lots of healing and tanking little damage) or someone like etheryn's outrider set where she has damage but also a bit of healing. this ensures you can fight most enemies cleanly and don't just get in loops of healing but not killing anything. you can fight without a tank but i recommend one personally, especially on higher difficulties even with a tank some enemies like the earth elemental do massive damage. most likely you will have a character become the "tank" even if you don't have a named one because you'll have one character in particular have the most attention.

imo your build has a lot of defense and healing, and some pretty good damage against a single target, so you want aoe damage for swarms of enemies (which you did with brienne pyromancer). witch cait is good and probably works fine but you could also try her default kit that has less healing but more damage (since your character has more healing), but since you also have flames within i think you made the right choice. id probably agree with baggrin to also try replacing cait with royal etheryn, with flames within, her blessing, and brienne and the bull you will probably do absurd damage. the team you chose is also good though, i'd just recommend sticking to similar characters if you change them because you made good choices. if you want to use a lot more effort though, a final thing is to remember enemy weaknesses, and like if you're fighting enemies commonly resistant to fire, consider changing brienne. you don't have to do that though, you can still make it work, just the "cherry on top" if you can manage it.

 

[Off The Record]

i don't know as much as several others but for the most part, you can use whoever you feel like with kits, but the primary concern is making sure you have roles filled. what i mean in particular is, with 3 party members, (main character can change abilities so don't have to worry too much there), say you take witch set cait or royal outfit etheryn as a healer. they have several heal abilities but little damage. say on top of that you took atugia as a tank, who has tank and healing but little damage. you would suffer a great deal in most fights, the player might think "i will tank and heal all the enemy does like this" but several enemies will have very high damage every few turns or so, and some fights like with imps, if you don't do much damage, then your tank can be overwhelmed regardless, and fights will also take a long time.

with that said, if you have a dedicated healer like royal attire etheryn, it's in your best interest to have a tank with some damaging abilities and another character with mostly damage. if you have a healer that has some damaging abilities like default cait, then you can get away with having a tank like atugia (lots of healing and tanking little damage) or someone like etheryn's outrider set where she has damage but also a bit of healing. this ensures you can fight most enemies cleanly and don't just get in loops of healing but not killing anything. you can fight without a tank but i recommend one personally, especially on higher difficulties even with a tank some enemies like the earth elemental do massive damage. most likely you will have a character become the "tank" even if you don't have a named one because you'll have one character in particular have the most attention.

imo your build has a lot of defense and healing, and some pretty good damage against a single target, so you want aoe damage for swarms of enemies (which you did with brienne pyromancer). witch cait is good and probably works fine but you could also try her default kit that has less healing but more damage (since your character has more healing), but since you also have flames within i think you made the right choice. id probably agree with baggrin to also try replacing cait with royal etheryn, with flames within, her blessing, and brienne and the bull you will probably do absurd damage. the team you chose is also good though, i'd just recommend sticking to similar characters if you change them because you made good choices. if you want to use a lot more effort though, a final thing is to remember enemy weaknesses, and like if you're fighting enemies commonly resistant to fire, consider changing brienne. you don't have to do that though, you can still make it work, just the "cherry on top" if you can manage it.

This is helpful. Thank you!

 

[Baggrin]

I have an alt Black Mage that I haven't touched in a long time, but Equanimity + Primal Scar + Flash Fire + Deadly Shadow obliterates the battlefield.

Well, this looks like an interesting build. But in my opinion this build has some serious drawbacks:
1. I don't see an effective enough attack to deal with opponents with fire resistance, like Earth Elemental (Primal Scar for my taste is a very mediocre Power for level 6).
2. In terms of attacking enemies with high defense against physical damage and magic at the same time (Goblin Succubus, for example), magic is much inferior to weapons, so as a single-target attack, I would rather choose a weapon attack or a weapon spell than a regular spell.
3. I would say that none of the companions can match the player as an AoE damage dealer and crowd controller. On the other hand, there are very good single target damage dealers among the companions, such as (Spirit Totem) Arona and (Hexblade) Cait...
4. At the moment, the burning is completely broken, it deals only 5 damage per turn, as a result of which the effectiveness of Flash Fire is much worse than usual.
5. I would also replace the weapon attack (Deadly Shadow) with an AoE spell, but this is not strict objectivity, but my purist preferences.

Thanks!

You are welcome!

I only encountered this against demon Alissa, but overcame that by opening the battle by using the team's damage-based Ults in the first round.

I also had this situation during one of the replays of this fight. As it turned out, with Daliza knocked out, my party's damage is not enough to overcome Bestial Alissa's recovery (no, don't look at the screenshot with my Dawnbreak damage, it seems that at that moment the Summon Phyria was chosen as encounter power). It wasn't until a few rounds later that I remembered the Ultimates...

But again, Righteous Fury and Flames Within helps use tankiness for DPS.

You know, I'm not completely sure about this.
I used the Spiraled Blade (with holy damage!) and as it turned out, +200 AP from Driving Thrust was not enough to one-shot Imp Lord without the help of a crit (not to mention the more durable Imp Shankers, which are also immune to crits).
As a result, it was a very long fight, in which I had to wait a long time not just for a hit on a Lord not protected by Shankers, but for a CRITICAL hit...

but several enemies will have very high damage

For me personally, the biggest annoyance is not damage, but status effects like silence, disarm and knockdown.
That's why I prefer to crowd control the enemies with something like Crackle Powder before the enemies do a trick that I don't like.
Enemies with multiple Action Points? Well, fortunately, these enemies usually rely more on damage than crowd control. Also, I'm completely crazy about Equilibrium, which gives me immunity to the two most common of these effects.

some fights like with imps if you don't do much damage, then your tank can be overwhelmed regardless

Well, I would say that the problem with imps is not in damage, but in their durability. That and the fact that they constantly disarm you.

During my solo fight against Imp Lord and three Imp Shankers (the fourth Shanker was still knocked out with the help of my companions before they passed out) were unable to surpass my regeneration, in the whole fight my health never dropped below half. And I was not a tank, but a simple warrior with a two-handed weapon in my hands and decent equipment...

By the way, this reminded me of the Battle of Ironclads (Battle of Hampton Roads), which I once read about, a slightly similar situation was: four opponents at once were unable to overcome my defense, but I, in turn, could not inflict fatal damage on any of the opponents...
Luckily, as I said a little earlier, I ended up being able to critically hit Imp Lord and that proved fatal to him. Without the help of a healer, the Shankers were doomed, as their own regeneration was not enough to surpass my damage...

so you want aoe damage for swarms of enemies

I would argue that the weak AoE damage isn't very useful when you're facing healed enemies, so I wouldn't rule out a single target damage dealer.

a final thing is to remember enemy weaknesses, and like if you're fighting enemies commonly resistant to fire, consider changing brienne.

Another option is to change her build from Pyromancer to Wayfarer or Arena Armor, they are decent enough.
These sets won't help much against an Earth Elemental, however, so the advice "don't forget to adjust the game according to your opponent" is generally very relevant.

 

[Afier]

I had a lot of fun running a Summoning Fire Black Mage, for the majority of the content I ran Withering Bolt (because I didn't want to waste the day picking up a better at will) Fireball, Grease, and Summon Fire Spirit (swapping in Flame Knight after getting to the Temple of Terrestrial Fire). Then for the Siege and Demon of Ice I ran some of the stuff Calise hands you (swapping out Withering Bolt and Fireball for Lay on Hands and Jade Flame), before picking up Flamebrand, and Flash Fire.

Companions are Pyro Brinne and either Etheryn (royal for boss fights, and normal for everything else because frost also lowers fire res) or Passion Priestess Cait

Fire Resist doesn't actually mean much anymore, as Grease and Frost can drop it by 100 if I get them both up, and with my massive leadership, Brinne actually does more damage than I do. Of course with the fact that most of the leadership gear comes with a -5 initiatve, and that my compnaions do such massive damage, most fights don't last long enough for me to cast my summon, meaning I only really have 2 abilities in 99% of fights at the end of content.

 

[Baggrin]

frost also lowers fire res

For the first time I hear about this, the description of the status effect, does not hint at anything like that.

Of course with the fact that most of the leadership gear comes with a -5 initiatve

If I'm not mistaken, there are only two pieces of heavy equipment with a bonus to Leadership:
Helm of Heroes (as an alternative, you can use the Patrician Mask) and Conqueror's Breastplate (alas, there is no full-fledged replacement, but as an option, you can use a Heavy Coat with Leadership +5, Kohaku sometimes sells it).

 

[Afier]

If I'm not mistaken, there are only two pieces of heavy equipment with a bonus to Leadership:
Helm of Heroes (as an alternative, you can use the Patrician Mask) and Conqueror's Breastplate (alas, there is no full-fledged replacement, but as an option, you can use a Heavy Coat with Leadership +5, Kohaku sometimes sells it).

I'm aware, but I missed out on the Patrician Mask (due to playing on android and updating, I lost a bunch of saves, and thus have to replay a lot to get it), and the Hairpin (+2 Leadership) and the Heavy Coat are massive downgrades; going from 20 Leadership to 5 (for the heavy coat) isn't worth the initiate, so I'll just suffer with 1 initiative.

As for Frigid, I could have sworn it was set up to be complementary with Burning (which the last time I checked lowered frost resistance, which I was also misreading) because that was actually a really interesting interation.

 

[Ranirain]

With the ryn quest update with all the new spellblade powers, i can finally achieve a true red mage build using dark and light magic.

Race: Half Lupine, cuz i like playing tag with Kiyoko, any race is fine tbh

Class: Black mage/White mage for the stat boost ==> Thief spellblade

Power: Charged weapon, Reaping blade, Holy shock, Deadly Shadow/Soulsword (depending on if i drink presence juice or cunning juice)

Lv 7 Perk: either is fine tbh, both of em are really when playing thief, I would choose perfect positioning if i play with Briene Arena (very broken tank/support for thief), and i would choose eyes for weakness if i go with deadly shadow for long ass debuff.

Equipment: War scythe or Corrupted Dawnsword + Wings of Arisa. I personally use the later combo because it shows the contrast between light and dark better and also immunity to disarm, but i'd use War Scythe if i use deadly shadow. After that just have every piece of equipment that stacks spell power as much as possible. My set up are: Titanic Hat, Tiran Westment, Giant Gloves, Sabatons, Winter Cloak, Senninbari/Champion's belt, x2 lucky strike, Amulet of union/any necklace since nothing is better than AOU for spellblade tbh.

Companion: Ryn or Cait as healer, Briene Arene set for tank/debuff so my champ can reliably land Twist the Knife, other wise any other tank if i apply those debuffs myself.

Roleplay-wise, my character is a Dark Knight, but that is because he needs to harden himself toward the unforgiving world (i play on the hardest difficulty lol). However, he is very caring and has an occasional soft spot. He cares for everyone, but if anyone threatens his friends, lovers or families, he will hunt them down and make them beg for mercy, be that the only mercy they get is Tira's judgement. He is a very morally grey character i think, since he does question his decision a lot, like in Ryn Quest . That's why i only leave my corruption in the tainted area, to show the grey morality of my champion.

Otherwise, i do have an ongoing plan on building an elemental spellblade, using charged weapon, power wave, searing arc, dawnbreak. The theme is a spellblade that has mastered multiple elemental and wield them into their blade. I am still figuring out on how to approach this since this would lack any type of debuff for twist the knife, i can use briene arena but I'm kinda bored now with her. I thinking of just go with black mage since those spellblade spells are "spells" anyone so they benefit from black mage's perk, and it would suit the master of elements theme i think.

 

[Baggrin]

going from 20 Leadership to 5 (for the heavy coat) isn't worth the initiate, so I'll just suffer with 1 initiative.

In my opinion, keeping a balance between the stats is important, the additional buffing of your companions is not worth turning you into a slowpoke that cannot crowd control enemies in time.
Also I would note that with the right party composition you anyway should be able to easily take down enemies in two or three rounds even without the help of bonus leadership from equipment, so sky-high stats on your summons won't help you much, even in boss fights .
In addition, wearing the Conqueror's Breastplate draws more attention from your enemies, which I personally would rather avoid.

 

[Afier]

In my opinion, keeping a balance between the stats is important, the additional buffing of your companions is not worth turning you into a slowpoke that cannot crowd control enemies in time.
Also I would note that with the right party composition you anyway should be able to easily take down enemies in two or three rounds even without the help of bonus leadership from equipment, so sky-high stats on your summons won't help you much, even in boss fights .
In addition, wearing the Conqueror's Breastplate draws more attention from your enemies, which I personally would rather avoid.

Except this hypothetical doesn't reflect reality. Crowd control is great, but due to enemy design being so lopsided, it utility is marginal in boss fights (Banishment is the best CC in the game, and it's essentially a 1½ round stun, on the boss).

And while you do have a point about the Breastplate, the reality is the PC almost never targeted as the summon of choice is Flame Knight, and Pyro Brienne gains a flat 40% increased threat from a perk, and debuffs and CC do not generate threat, so I generate negligible threat for the first three rounds of battle, at which point the Flame Knight and Brienne have huge threat leads that Flamebrand and the Conqueror's Breastplate can't bridge quickly.

So losing 15 attack power and spellpower on Brienne and Cait/Ryn and ~19 on my Flame Knight in exchange for no benefit (as I don't have any agility so losing the penalty from one piece of heavy armor doesn't put me above 1 initiative and I'm not redoing Dracia to get rid of the other piece) isn't "keeping a balance between [...] stats".

 

[A1teros]

Stats: Strength, Willpower, Presence, use Apple Cider to buff Agility
Dawnbreak used to be Summon Talsenne which in turn used to be Dastardly Trick. Ashelander + Bull Totem used to be Galon's Griefmaker, which used to be the Bessy Mauler before the crit nerf. Power Wave used to be Sure Shot before crit got nerfed. Very heavy on single target damage, since that's a role that I feel most teammates can't fill. Great Heal could be anything but having an extra healing option is huge. Rings could be replaced with anything that bumps damage but I like having uniques.

Honestly I think this build would be stronger than my old ones even before the crit nerf, having Ashelander and Power Wave results in really diverse damage: Fire, Crushing, Storm, Ranged. It was pretty satisfying to completely no-sell Alissa with this, with this much damage she just dies instantly and can't do anything about it. The real danger was the Forge Golem which has bulk and damage and that one regenerating mage in the tomb which should have been easier than Alissa? It's the same regen gimmick but she was way harder to kill for some reason.

 

[Baggrin]

Except this hypothetical...

Except that my words are not a hypothetical situation, but the result of my experience playing as the Black Mage.
When I mentioned a fight lasting two or three rounds, I didn’t speak figuratively, but I meant exactly that even boss fights (when you know what and why you are doing) often last exactly two or three rounds.

Crowd control is great [...] it utility is marginal in boss fights

1. Most of the time you fight regular opponents, not bosses.
2. It depends on the boss.
So, for example, did you know that the Faceless Blade will become much weaker if you successfully stun her?



Next, you can remember the fight with Queen Alyssa, where you better take care of her retinue in time before this retinue starts to act (Imp Jester with his AoE silence is especially annoying).

3. The Banishment you mentioned is also a variant of crowd control. It's not that I use this Ultimate very often, however, I can't even remember the last time I had to do it...

the reality is the PC almost never targeted

Well, it looks like our approach to combat is completely different.
You seem to be trying to wear down your enemies.
I, on the other hand (especially if I adjust my build for the next boss, my above mentioned power set is more of a default and versalite than a mandatory and unchanged one) constantly deal so much damage that my tank screams "Slow down! I can't work with this Threat Level!":

as the summon of choice is Flame Knight

Frankly, I find this summon's name misleading. I would say that this is more of a damage dealer than a tank, and not the best. If I had to choose between Flame Knight and Flame Dancer, I would rather choose the latter than the former.

Pyro Brienne gains a flat 40% increased threat

I think it's 25%, not 40%. Also, for my tank, even the Attention Graber perk (doubling the Threat Level) did not always help keep his threat level higher than mine.

first three rounds of battle

Our approach to combat is DEFINITELY different, for me the fight usually ends on the third round, the exception is usually the result of using "experimental" builds or a lot of bad luck or a combination of the two.

I don't have any agility

If my memory serves me right, then Accuracy is important even for spells.
Also, high initiative allows you to relatively consistently act before your allies, which is important when you want to buff allies (this is the main reason that after gaining Dawnbreak I started using this instead of Arc cannon in round 2) or debuff enemies (Grease, for example, to make Brienne use Fireball more effectively). Or you just don't want Blessing to affect your "odd" move (won't give you much when you're about to use Grease. On the other hand, it's useful when you're about to attack enemies with a Fireball...). Yes, you can just cast Bless a turn later... if Lord Random is merciful to you and doesn't force Rin to act after you instead of before you, as it did in the round you cast Grease.
And in general, I prefer not to give the enemy more time, but to take the initiative in battle, make them react to my actions instead of accepting as a disadvantage the need to react to their actions...

So losing [...] in exchange for no benefit isn't "keeping a balance between stats".

Well, I wouldn't call your situation a decent balance between stats. Although, of course, everyone decides for themselves what stats they are comfortable playing with... personally, I prefer to be a "No heavy equipment" AoE damage dealer and have Queen Etheryn in the party (initiative +10 as a rest bonus, by the way) plus someone else (depending on the situation)...

I'm not redoing Dracia

For me personally, there were only two problems in the entire dungeon:
1. Copy ALL possible enemy attacks without missing a single one (I swear I had to wait ages before that damn golem decided to hit me with Searing Arc...).
2. Defeat Grungendyr (the fight was very long due to the fact that my party's damage was mostly physical with a small amount of frost and storm), I entered the battle without hesitation and only then realized that I should have changed my power set...

Very heavy on single target damage, since that's a role that I feel most teammates can't fill.

In my opinion, among the companions there are characters with very decent single target damage, but I would not name a single character that would have a really powerful AoE that could compete with the player's AoE...

P.S. What is your tactic? Dawn Break + Primal Scar + Power Wave? In the case of Alissa Assassinate instead of Power Wave?

 

[A1teros]

In my opinion, among the companions there are characters with very decent single target damage, but I would not name a single character that would have a really powerful AoE that could compete with the player's AoE...

P.S. What is your tactic? Dawn Break + Primal Scar + Power Wave? In the case of Alissa Assassinate instead of Power Wave?

I typically go Primal Scar -> Power Wave -> Dawnbreak/Assassinate, unless I think Assassinate or Dawnbreak might just kill first. Primal Scar goes first to reduce resistances and then Power Wave only has 1 turn cooldown, so by throwing out Power Wave before Dawnbreak/Assassinate after I can immediately Power Wave again which is good for sustaining damage.

About the crowd control thing, I admit I overlooked that. I realized after I cleared Dracia the first time that I didn't have Mirror Stance equipped so when I went back through I actually had some difficulty because of the Jester's AOE silence, took me a few extra turns to kill since I forgot about Remedies. Luckily I can still use Assassinate and basic attacks even while silenced, but I remember now how mad I was when I had to fight Whisper in the Abyssal Fortress and Miko and Mai who could both Silence and Disarm. The Faceless Blade was also a very hard fight for me, although at that time I still had Dastardly Trick and could use it to interrupt Berserkergang and probably did so by accident a few times.

I also don't typically run a tank and bring Cait and Etheryn as companions and just rely on the double heals to keep me alive if I get into a tight spot. Etheryn can buff or be a secondary AOE damage dealer depending on set which is really useful, though I might experiment with other characters now that her arc has essentially wrapped up. I also need to experiment with replacing Cait, since I bring her practically everywhere even if it'd be better to take someone else.

Which companions/sets are good for single target damage? There's a few sets and characters I haven't tried like Hexblade Cait, Vivianne, and Agnimitra so I wouldn't be surprised if I just overlooked an option as new sets and characters got added.

 

[Baggrin]

I typically go Primal Scar -> Power Wave -> Dawnbreak/Assassinate

Ah, I assumed you could start with Dawnbreak for the melee damage buff and clearing the battlefield of small things if there is any... don't mind my words, this hasn't been tested in practice, just speculation.

About the crowd control thing, I admit I overlooked that.

Well, that can work in many cases too.
Although my holy warrior (Charge Weapon+Cleave+Celestial Smite+Smite Evil) during her visit to Undermountain still suffered too much from knockdowns (damn you, Earth Elemental and Minotaurs Miners!), so I ended up having to weaken this build replacing Charge Weapon with Equilibrium...

Jester's AOE silence

Yes, very nasty bugger. I had two crowd controls (Crackle Powder I have + Brint's By The Horns), so I had two chances to get ahead of him at once and for a period of one turn, disable the entire enemy group at once, but I noticed that he still has some a small chance to act first and ruin my simple and easy bossfight...

Whisper

Not another word! Before the Faceless Blade, Master Whisper was my most hated opponent...
I don’t remember which build proved to be the most successful in this fight, but it seems it was something like Equilibrium (immunity to disarm) + Crackle Powder (turn off his clones if another party member does not have time to do this) + Celestial Smite (if silence does not interfere)+ Eviscerate (try to survive THIS!)...

Miko and Mai who could both Silence and Disarm.

It's funny, but I don't remember having problems with them even once, only to knock out both at the same time (or at least sequentially).

The Faceless Blade was also a very hard fight for me

When I first met her, I used Eviscerate only to deal no damage at all... it pissed me off and I restarted the game instead of continuing the fight. I didn't have much trouble with her after that.
I haven't fought her much so I haven't worked out a solid tactic, but in theory this could be Lightning Fist in Round 1, then Eviscerate (main hand: some weapon without holy damage but with a bonus to accuracy, like a Sharp Sickle, offhand: kunai for bleeding), if she does not use Blade Block, then Round 2 may be her last.

I also don't typically run a tank

I don't always use a tank either.

tanks don't work very well in my opinion, so offense is the best type of defense

I might experiment with other characters now that her arc has essentially wrapped up.

Well, in my opinion, two turns of the Blessing spell is the best gift your character can get...

I also need to experiment with replacing Cait, since I bring her practically everywhere even if it'd be better to take someone else.

I would say that her Hexblade set is a decent single-target damage dealer, plus she has a +10 spellpower rest bonus.
The only thing I can notice is that her weapon is actually the Spiraled Blade, some of her damage is therefore a different element type every day, which can be a little inconvenient (on the other hand, peek at her current damage type and rest again if this element does not fit well with your plans for the day).

Which companions/sets are good for single target damage?

Aside from the already mentioned Hexblade Cait, another decent option is Arona's Spirit Totem.

Spoiler: As I said earlier, the damage looks decent enough.

Difficulty is normal, my Leadership is 40 (Presence 20) if I need to elaborate.

She does have less accuracy (her agility is lower plus her base weapon type is Poleaxe with Accuracy -5) and spellpower though, but her weapons always have holy damage (penetrating 30 and holy 20 to be exact) and grants 10 more armor penetration.
Arona also has the Veteran perk (permanent +25AP versus +50AP for Twist the Knife, but only if the enemy has the debuff), three weapon attacks (Cait has two attacks and the Leech spell) and a +5 to all resists as a rest bonus.

Ultimate? I believe that thanks to the "help" from the Faceless Blade, you already know some of the disadvantages: it can be interrupted, does not give guaranteed hits (only guaranteed crits for those hits that have already hit the enemy). A less obvious downside is incompatibility with the Charge Weapon (and other stance abilities, but that's the only one we care about right now).

Vivianne, and Agnimitra

I haven't really used the first one yet. The second one can be a decent option to boost your attacks, but of hers own attacks, only the Ultimate can deserve attention.

 

[A1teros]

Snip

Oh I forgot Dawnbreak gave the charged weapon buff. The reason I mentioned not using it first is because for Dracia, Alissa's party is actually tanky enough to survive a Dawnbreak so unless you get a crit you won't take anyone out. Admittedly, I didn't really focus on killing the mobs because killing Alissa seemed faster, but if you wanted to kill them first then yeah you'd lead with Dawnbreak. Also for general mob fights you would lead with Dawnbreak, the reason you don't for Alissa is because her party has way too much healing so you'll lose a lot of the damage. Ofc, this is dependent on turn order so if you had a string of turns you could probably secure a kill before they heal it off.

I eventually just cheated a bit on the Whisper fight. You can tell from turn order which clone is the real one and then just nuke him down. Alternatively, nuke one down and hope it's the right one, and just reset if it's not. All enemies fall before the infinite power of save scumming!

Miko and Mai was a problem of my own creation. I decided that I really wanted to make sure Nakano properly feared his in-laws, so I insisted on doing the tree solo with only the Kiyoko summon as support. It was a fun challenge, you could probably just no-sell the Silence+Disarm with a Remedy but I instead stacked Magic Resistance for the Miko and Mai fight. Notably Kazuo is way more threatening if you try and solo because the puppets become significant, a 4v1.5 is a lot harder than a 4v3.

 

[Baggrin]

Admittedly, I didn't really focus on killing the mobs because killing Alissa seemed faster

if you wanted to kill them first then yeah you'd lead with Dawnbreak

Well, it didn't make much of a difference to me thanks to my AoE attacks. Moreover, Dawnbreak is actually the strongest attack available to my build for the Encounter slot.
If I don't show off with huge damage numbers, the whole fight will take two rounds.

Round 1
Brint: By The Horns, the enemies are wounded and losing their turn, they are busy getting to their feet.
Me: Dawnbreak, after Brint's attack, only Queen Alissa and Etheryn Clone B have a chance to survive, and only if my hit on them is not critical.
Etheryn: Aurora Arrow, dots round 1 if it wasn't placed by my attack.
Round 2
Brint: Crowd Control if after my attack Queen Alissa fell, but Etheryn Clone B remained on her feet. Net Throw otherwise.
Me: Arc Cannon if I go first and Etheryn Clone B is alive, regular attack otherwise.
Etheryn: Normal attack, but there is a very high probability that Bestial Alissa will not live to see this.

the reason you don't for Alissa is because her party has way too much healing so you'll lose a lot of the damage

Well, good luck to them with this difficult task, under the influence of the Blessing spell, I have a chance to one-shot three opponents at once, only Etherine Clone B is able to survive a critical hit... if she is at full health. If her health isn't full (and after round 1 they all have a very high chance of not having much health)...

Spoiler: What exactly was my build then?

As you can see from my equipment, the potential for improvement remains. For example, I can increase spell power by changing armor and belt. By the way, already after Dracia, I noticed that for some reason I don’t wear Winged Sabatons, but completely different shoes ...
P.S. For some reason it doesn't show up in the list of effects, but I was also under the influence of Razorcap Nectar and Conjurer's Concotion.

I eventually just cheated a bit on the Whisper fight. You can tell from turn order which clone is the real one and then just nuke him down.

It's not cheating when you're just using UI the way the developers intended!

solo with only the Kiyoko summon as support.

Well, that must have been brutal proof of the coolness of a certain couple...

 

[A1teros]

P.S. For some reason it doesn't show up in the list of effects, but I was also under the influence of Razorcap Nectar and Conjurer's Concotion.

Oh right, I forgot Razorcup Nectar was made into a buffing item. Honestly I ought to use buffing items more often, the only time I used one was when I used the Pale Ale because I really needed the toughness for the Kitsune Tree solo so I used it right outside of the tree. Same with Remedies, I keep forgetting they heal disarm and silence. It feels a bit unintuitive for them to do that but I suppose they are status effects.

 

[Baggrin]

Honestly I ought to use buffing items more often

I usually forget about it too. Heck, I used to even sell those buff items I got as loot!
However, this was in no small part because you previously couldn't use most buffing items out of combat (and in combat it wasn't worth the turn you spent on it), only recently in someone's comment I noticed a mention of a buffing item (I don't I remember which one) that previously could be used exclusively in combat...
I decided to check it out and it seems that the developers have decided to make these buffs more useful. Alas, only one buff is allowed outside of combat, applying a second buff will replace the first. Also, such buffs last only one fight (which, however, was to be expected), so it makes sense to apply them only before the fight with the boss.

Same with Remedies

I, it seems, also had moments when I completely forgot about the presence of such items in my inventory.

It feels a bit unintuitive for them to do that but I suppose they are status effects.

You know, I've never thought about this before, but it's really funny that Remedy helps you when you're disarmed.

 

[Order]

Typically (outside of the current MC) I all in on presence and leadership so I can summon the best summon that can be.

Starting class: Charmer (which will be immediately swapped to warrior later (or just straight to mage)
Stats: Agility, Willpower, Presence

Weapon: Sanctified Gladius (thematic reasons)
Offhand: Shield (or Catalyst) until I can pick up the Shield of Absorption
Head: Helm of Heroes
Neck: Generally Fox-Tail Charm
Shoulders: Store bought until Cloak of The Deep
Armor: Chainmail until Conqueror's Breastplate
Waist: Champions Belt until Senninbari
Hands: Anything with Armor
Feet: Winged Sabatons though I imagine Weedwalkers is going to be the play in the future
Ring: eventually Guldring
Ring: Mare's Ring


The companions generally depend on the summon. Biggest variance is if I rip the bandaid off and bumrush Gweyr Quest early or not.
Early game nothing is capable of actually stopping your march. Enemies clunk their heads on your always on Bolstering Dance until Undermountain.

Early game all you really have and need is flame spirit (or Kiyoko): Atugia, Brint/Brienne.
Frostwood: You can bumrush Flame Knight. Flame Dancer falls out of favor until Glacial Rift: Berserker Atugia or Onmyodo Kiyoko and Brint/Brienne or Kanso Kiyoko
Glacial Rift: Flame Dancer with Brienne and Atugia or Flame Knight with Atugia and Kiyoko
Undermountain: Cassidy/Flame Knight: Berserker Atugia and Brienne, or Kanso Kiyoko and Brienne (unless you took the Guld Ring in which case Brienne/Agnimitra/Atugia)
Ryn quest: (Talsenne can be used at this point) Talsenne with Brienne (Atugia if you took the Dawnsword) and Etheryn.


Anyways, I got a bit curious and fired the game up with the intent to see how a straight spellblade-like character who eventually tosses his soul to become a valkyrie (and maybe kitsune if it ever gets powers with more flavor).
It's alright.

 

[STINBEAN]

View attachment 30342View attachment 30343

Stats: Strength, Willpower, Presence, use Apple Cider to buff Agility
Dawnbreak used to be Summon Talsenne which in turn used to be Dastardly Trick. Ashelander + Bull Totem used to be Galon's Griefmaker, which used to be the Bessy Mauler before the crit nerf. Power Wave used to be Sure Shot before crit got nerfed. Very heavy on single target damage, since that's a role that I feel most teammates can't fill. Great Heal could be anything but having an extra healing option is huge. Rings could be replaced with anything that bumps damage but I like having uniques.

Honestly I think this build would be stronger than my old ones even before the crit nerf, having Ashelander and Power Wave results in really diverse damage: Fire, Crushing, Storm, Ranged. It was pretty satisfying to completely no-sell Alissa with this, with this much damage she just dies instantly and can't do anything about it. The real danger was the Forge Golem which has bulk and damage and that one regenerating mage in the tomb which should have been easier than Alissa? It's the same regen gimmick but she was way harder to kill for some reason.

What class is this?

 

[A1teros]

What class is this?

I go Thief or Black Mage, either one gives damage bonuses. Typically black mage is more consistent since Thief's Twist the Knife requires that the enemy be debuffed, while Black Mage is an unconditional damage bonus, although it's not as strong. Honestly if you pair it with someone who can debuff like Ryn with Ice Arrow, Thief is probably the better move.

 

[zagzig]

Pyro-zilla Firefox
Putting the 'fun' in 'you set me on fire you crazy fucking bitch'

Class: Thief
Race: Kitsune (required)
Stats: Agility, Cunning, Willpower (boon Strength or Presence)
Level 7 Perk: Eye For Weakness

At-will: Blue Flame Blade
Recharge 1: Grease
Recharge 2: Cleave
Encounter: Dastardly Trick
Ultimate: Kitsunetsuki

Recommended Gear
-Regal Kimono (boosts fire and blight damage)
-Flametongue Blade (fire spellblade)
-Fox Jewel (enhances Kitsunetsuki)

Recommended Party Members
-Quintillus, Hopknight (tank + fire damage)
-Kiyoko, Onyomodo (fire damage)
-Brienne, Pyro Robes (did I mention fire damage)

The core function of this build is to debilitate your enemies, largely by setting them on fire. Grease + Blue Flame Blade + Flametongue Blade + Regal Kimono combine to really make your attacks burn, even if you choose to boon Presence rather than Strength. Grease + Eye For Weakness is a powerful crowd control which leaves your enemies Prone for 2 turns, which is devastating during horde encounters where your enemies only get one turn a round. With your stat investment you'll be critting a lot, which adds burn damage through Blue Flame Blade (and the duration is doubled due to Eye For Weakness). And Kitsunetsuki + Fox Jewel + Eye For Weakness applies all the debuffs for 8 turns.

It is probably more sensible to boon Strength, since you will be relying on weapon attacks for most of your damage. However, I personally prefer Presence, and then bring fire damage companions I can support with Grease.

My main issue with this build is that it takes a long time to assemble. A lot of it depends on the level 7 perk, the Flametongue Blade is all the way in Khor'minos, Blue Flame Blade and Kitsunetsuki rely on being a Kitsune, and (for now) you need to have a baby with Tetsuya to unlock the Regal Kimono. But if you're happy to do all that or you're handy with console commands, this is an insanely fun build. Especially if you're taking it to a dungeon weak to fire - say, the fungus dungeon or RynQuest2.

NOTE: In theory, Eye For Weakness + Grease should leave your enemies weak to fire damage for 4 turns rather than 2. However, either due to bug or design, it doesn't work like that at the moment. This build is still wildly fun though.

 

[STINBEAN]

Pyro-zilla Firefox
Putting the 'fun' in 'you set me on fire you crazy fucking bitch'

Class: Thief
Race: Kitsune (required)
Stats: Agility, Cunning, Willpower (boon Strength or Presence)
Level 7 Perk: Eye For Weakness

At-will: Blue Flame Blade
Recharge 1: Grease
Recharge 2: Cleave
Encounter: Dastardly Trick
Ultimate: Kitsunetsuki

Recommended Gear
-Regal Kimono (boosts fire and blight damage)
-Flametongue Blade (fire spellblade)
-Fox Jewel (enhances Kitsunetsuki)

Recommended Party Members
-Quintillus, Hopknight (tank + fire damage)
-Kiyoko, Onyomodo (fire damage)
-Brienne, Pyro Robes (did I mention fire damage)

The core function of this build is to debilitate your enemies, largely by setting them on fire. Grease + Blue Flame Blade + Flametongue Blade + Regal Kimono combine to really make your attacks burn, even if you choose to boon Presence rather than Strength. Grease + Eye For Weakness is a powerful crowd control which leaves your enemies Prone for 2 turns, which is devastating during horde encounters where your enemies only get one turn a round. With your stat investment you'll be critting a lot, which adds burn damage through Blue Flame Blade (and the duration is doubled due to Eye For Weakness). And Kitsunetsuki + Fox Jewel + Eye For Weakness applies all the debuffs for 8 turns.

It is probably more sensible to boon Strength, since you will be relying on weapon attacks for most of your damage. However, I personally prefer Presence, and then bring fire damage companions I can support with Grease.

My main issue with this build is that it takes a long time to assemble. A lot of it depends on the level 7 perk, the Flametongue Blade is all the way in Khor'minos, Blue Flame Blade and Kitsunetsuki rely on being a Kitsune, and (for now) you need to have a baby with Tetsuya to unlock the Regal Kimono. But if you're happy to do all that or you're handy with console commands, this is an insanely fun build. Especially if you're taking it to a dungeon weak to fire - say, the fungus dungeon or RynQuest2.

NOTE: In theory, Eye For Weakness + Grease should leave your enemies weak to fire damage for 4 turns rather than 2. However, either due to bug or design, it doesn't work like that at the moment. This build is still wildly fun though.

Thanks for the build! It looks really fun. Is it possible to turn kassyra back yet? I read she doesn't like it if you soulbind and idk if that would change the story. By boon do you mean buy the drink in the tavern?

 

[zagzig]

Thanks for the build! It looks really fun. Is it possible to turn kassyra back yet? I read she doesn't like it if you soulbind and idk if that would change the story. By boon do you mean buy the drink in the tavern?

Yeah, boons are the stat-boosting drinks. Rye Beer for Strength, or Lover's Dry for Presence.

Kasyrra's story likely isn't resolving until endgame. You can still romance Kasyrra if you're soulbound for now (just don't tell her), but it's very likely that at some point in the future she'll figure it out, so yeah. Probably not a good build if you want to live babies ever after with Kas.

 

[Melancholy Man]

Self-sufficient Magi brawler, I play this type so I don't have to carry a dedicated healer around.


Replace the Royal Glove with the Giant Strenght Gloves, use Oxana's bountifulbag instead of champ's belt for more heals, and equip Mare's Ring for more self-sustain. Purple Tuga is really just a flex. And you can replace Cloudforger with War Scythe or Galon's Grief (GG as I like to call it) but you'll miss out on the Frigid bonus for crushing damage from Ryn (honestly it's not even worth I just like synergies).



Pair this build with fox charm and Champ's belt for tanking or Monk wine/Vitra tit beer for Willpower with a regent pouch for spellpower.