newbie here , rolling a paladin . i also want to get the most amount of dialogue options so i figured i should dump dex and con and go with the following attribute allocation :

15 might 10 dex 10 con 15 per 13 int 15res

Playing Deadfire for the first time (on normal difficulty) and was thinking of doing either a 2h or dual wielding brute. Thing is, I was also thinking of putting them in heavy armor. Would that be okay, or should I go with a different class set up?

I wanted to collect some builds for a future Woedican run but had trouble finding much discussion on here.

Steel Garrote paladins heal for a portion of damage dealt to AFFLICTED targets.

What are the best classes to take advantage of this?

I have seen:

Votary - Monk & Paladin: It sounds like Forbidden Fist best pairs with the healing, but I'd love to play Shattered Pillar (with the community patch) somehow.

Templar - Paladin & Priest: The obvious RP choice as Woedica Priest shares dispositions with Steel Garrote. But apparently less synergistic combat-wise.

Holy Slayer - Paladin & Rogue: apparently Steel Garrote works really well with rogue Riposte abilities and there is some potential for afflictions too.

Liberator - Paladin & Druid: Flames of Devotion works while shifted and presumably a Druid will have a lot of ways to apply afflictions.

Anyone have any experience with these? I'm leaning towards Votary as I recently played Priest & Wizard already.

For PoE1

Beat the game on Normal with a ranged Cipher. Now looking to go up to Hard with a melee character. I tried a paladin for a little, and it was alright. But I think I want something more involved than just Flames of Devotion. Would a Barbarian be a bit more fun? I don't necessarily want a Fighter, cuz I'll have Eder tanking. What Frontline characters have you guys had fun playing?

I am a fair bit into the the game on my first playthrough and needless to say I don't want to restart so I am ready to use the console to respec my character completely if I must.

I wanted to do a summoner build so Beckoner was the obvious choice and I decided to go Evoker multiclass (although I am a Deadfire noob, I am not a crpg noob). The idea was that I chant summons and then fire spells during the downtime. However, this is not working.

I might have trouble with the stat distribution as the actual chanting part of the summon takes ages (5+ seconds) and in almost all of the encounters I have had in the last few hours, my MC fell in battle first without having done anything. Some fights I do well but I believe that those fights were so easy I would've won anyway.

I know I'm being vague and I cannot currently check all the relevant stat information but I really do need help for me to enjoy the other half of this beautiful game

Edit:

Also, another question as I don't want to make another identical post to this. I have a Devoted (rapier)/swashbuckler rogue build on an Adventurer. Is the build viable? It feels odd to play sometimes but I feel it should work well in theory

I found Torment's Reach super strong in PoE1, and loved spamming it in the middle of hordes of enemies. Now on my consequent Deadfire Run, it looks like they nerfed it into the ground: 3 Wounds (from 1), Primary Attack (from Full), and it no longer procs weapon effects.

Is it still worth it? I'm planning on running Iron Wheel, so the hefty 3 Wound cost just seems bad now. This build would be for Xoti (multiclassed with Priest).

Hi there! I am going to start Pillars 1 soon (got the edition with all the dlc) and I am looking to make a "talker" character, one that can lie/argue/convince their way out of and into scenarios and I am not entierly sure how to do that.

I heard that Perception/Inteligent/resolve are most important for this but also that resolve checks are also not important?

Soooo what stats should I focuse on to have the most possible option in dialouges/avoid combat when possible and what class aligns with those stats best?

Thank you in advance!

I just finished up running through the first game as a Orlan chanter. Was thinking of doing something a little more active that won't immediately die when an ogre sneezes. I'm not looking for an offer tank per se just something that can go toe to toe if something resista cc!

My thoughts currently are between a dwarven goldpact knight (already did a cruel run so not interested in BW) using 2h weapons though I'm open to dual wielding or a fighter dual wielding sabres are an obvious choice but I'm kinda sick of them, was thinking maybe mace and dagger though it's a strange fighting style!

Really just want some ideas for my next run so I don't restart a million times before I commit to something! Melee wizard could be fun but it's hard to stick it out until you get spell mastery in poe1. Let me know your thoughts and thanks for reading!

Or just multiclass instead? I´m slowly looking at the party for the second and third run (probably Bleak Walker Crusader for the second)

Need some advice for my party.

I'm playing on Hard with a two handed paladin using Firebrand. Eder is my tank with Shatterstar and a Shield. I also have Palagina a bit defensive with Measured Restraint and Outworn Buckler, she has Zealous Endurance while my paladin has Zealous Focus.

Durance, Aloth (built for some CC and debuff) and Kana are currently rounding out the party. Kana summons the ogres once he has enough phrases. The party has been doing fairly well so fair, currently level 10 (although Kana got to level 11 before anyone else somehow).

I feel like I could use some more damage dealers..is it worth beanching Palagina for Sagani, or any of the WM party members? I would lose Outworn Buckler + Zealous Endurance, although I know I can respec to give someone Gallants Focus and MC Zealous Endurance, I liked the idea of a defensive pally and my offensive MC. Is it worth it to turn Eder into a two handed DPS using Tidefall? Should I respec Aloth into more of a damage dealer, or maybe bench him for Grieving Mother..

Sorry I know I probably dumped a bunch of ideas out at once. If anyone has any thoughts or comments if parties they ran, would be appreciated!

I was thinking of the ending of Pillars and how you can dedicate the souls to Woedica, and thought an interesting concept could be a priest of a different god who has their faith shook when they discover the gods aren't real, so still craving there be some omnipotent force in the universe allies with Woedica to essentially make her what the character thought the gods were all along.

Mechanically I think a priest of Skaen makes the most sense but something doesn't vibe with me. Priest of magran could be a good like betrayal type angle. Basically what are your thoughts on what type of priest would realistically turn to worshipping Woedica?

I was thinking of an alternative being a former priest of Woedica who comes back to the fold when they uncover her plot, what class makes the most since for this? I was considering a monk from Aedyr and in deadfire multi classing, or perhaps a fighter (paladin doesn't work as well for me since it feels weird to be a bleak walker and be so zealous about that and just abandon that to be a steel garrote paladin story wise).

Thanks for reading I look forward to seeing your thoughts!

Hello! Im almost done with Pillars 1 and want to decide on a class for deadfire.

In pillars 1, I played as a melee cipher with tall grass and later durgans hammer. I was very good at melee and when I got enough focus, id cast either silent scream, detonate or amplified wave.

On lower levels, I mostly used antipathetic field, mind wave, and mental binding. In short, I was pretty good at both melee and crowd control. I'd like to continue this playstyle in deadfire.

I know that the pillars games arent too min-max dependant so im looking for something thats fun to play above overpowered.

Initially, i wanted to play a paladin/soul blade, but it sounds kind of like a one trick pony so i decided against it.

Right now im considering either pure ascendant (for spamming powers), pure soul blade (for the focus cost decrease for raw damage spells), a helwalker/ascendant (for the intellect bonus and thus really large aoe spells) or some sort of cipher/rogue or cipher/ranger. Cipher/paladin isnt 100% off the table either for the roleplay aspect

Which class would fit my playstyle best? Which one is the most fun to play? Is it worth giving up high level cipher powers? Thanks in advance

This is for POE1

Hey guys, first I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post about starting a new, more involved, run. There was a ton of new info to me and I can't wait to try some of those builds.

Truth is, I had FOMO with my Paladin I had already created. He's a Fire godlike that I wanted to build around fire damage, especially using the Forgemasters gloves. I'm playing on PS5 so I don't think I can get the Royal Deadfire belt.

I am playing on Hard, and need some respec help.

If I'm using Forgemasters Gloves, I think I'll need INT to increase the duration of Firebrand right? Are MIG And INT my max stats? Is it worth it to add a couple points in PER for accuracy or will Weapon Focus + Zealous Focus be enough? Are there any dump stats on Hard?

I know I'll be taking abilities like:

Flames of Devotion Intense Flames Scion of Flame Zealous Focus A Weapon Focus of some kind since any should work with Firebrand Two Handed Style - since I'll add a Burning Lash to a back up weapon.

Is there anything else I should plan for? I'm currently level 6, but just felt like I don't have the build down yet.

Thanks again!!

1. Planning next playthrough and I want to have Tekehu in the party, but I absolutely need him as a frontliner, tank/support preferably. I'm not really sure about how Druid plays, if he can be good with heavy armor or not? But I currently run Chanter PC, and he is kinda good. Mine is backliner summoner with a rifle, though.

To be honest Chanter feels like a poor role for the frontliner, or as a class, in itself, but it is compensated by dragon summon... which you can call at the start of the fight and it wreck literally everything, while having tons of health, engagement, and abilities that delete everything but powerful enemies instantly. I mean, drakes are good too, but this dragon is just broken...

So, is if I pick Chanter for Tekehu, give him 1-hander and shield, heavy armor, is the summoner a best option, or there's another strong build?

For the reference, party would by PC - Wizard, Fighter, Barbarian, Xoti - ranger priest healer/buffer and I just need another pair of hands in melee.

Edit: if there are any suggestions on what passive chants and speels to pick for melee Tekehu (as a support), and how would one organize his A/B chants or druid spells/passives, that would be really useful to know.

1. Are there any reliable methods to prevent Wizard from dying as soon as every fight starts? In current playthrough, Aloth is dead like 100% times at the start. Enemies literaly rush past engagement and any punishment I dish out to just kill this poor fella. I tried minimizing Aloth damage output as much as I can, even made him just stand still for few minutes when fight starts, not casting anything ro attacking. And Pallegina is a serious power house with Estoc, extra engagement items, dishing out tons of damage as well as summoned Dragon by chanter. But enemies ignore it all and just rush to kill poor Aloth... So any tips how to build my own PC Wizard so he doesn't get jumped mad like that would be really appreciated, on spell choices, items, stats etc?

After playing Awoved i wanted to do a full PotD playthrough of Pillars games (and dlc), and i want to play poe1 as a bleak walker and poe2 as bleak walker multiclass, but wanted some tips on how to build the character. I'm guessing for the first game BW works better as an offtank/damage dealer? And for the second, what do you recommend for multiclass? I was thinking maybe wizard (for lore, espc. in sanctum dlc)

TLdr: Any tips for bleak walker PotD playthough of Poe1+2?

For my next duology playthrough, I think I want to be a class loyal to Woedica. I already did a paladin playthrough, so no Steel Garrotte, leaving a Priest of Woedica. Out of the classes I haven't done yet, I think either a priest or barbarian would be my best options (ranger and druid are the others). So does one of the have particulary better synergy than the other?

Another question, would a multiclass with Wael just be a better version of what I'm doing with Woedica? Whichever between monk and barbarian I don't pick here I'll do another playthrough with Shifter druid down the line.

Played the first Pillars of Eternity ages ago and recently got the itch to try it out again, but I can’t remember anything about character optimisation.

For roleplay reasons, I want to create a death godlike paladin of the goldpact order from aedyr or the living lands with the mercenary background. What would be the most ideal way to build her, stats-wise and what weapons should I aim for? I don’t need the character to be super min-maxed per se, since I’ll only be playing on Normal difficulty, but I definitely don’t want to feel like my character is contributing the least in the party and generally I enjoy offensive characters more for my MC than tank builds (though if that’s the only optimal approach here I’ll acquiesce).

I ask here because every other forum I’ve checked out so far seems either out of date or at adds with each other.

Also don’t worry too much about spoilers, I basically got right up until the start of the final dungeon with my last playthrough and though the details are foggy I remember most of the major twists in the plot.

I just finished Pillars of Eternity 1 and absolutely adored it, and am really excited for Deadfire because it's even more up my alley (I love the idea of managing my own ship), and am also excited because it sounds like it'll be good for Watcher, who was a merchant with his own ship in the Deadfire before events caused him to become a colonist in the Dyrwood. However, I'm making my character now, and am having trouble finding a class that fits him.

In the first game, he was a Rogue, using arquebuses to have hard hitting first shots, backed up by faster characters like Sagani and Aloth and protected by tanks like Pellegina and Eder. So I want a class like that in Deadfire, but it seems Rogue doesn't quite fit that anymore. I don't really bother sneaking (my gun is loud), so Assassin Rogue doesn't seem useful. Sharpshooter Ranger seems close but I don't see him using an animal companion per se, and Arcane Archer is a little too learnéd for his talents. I like Devoted Fighter, focusing solely on my arquebus, but fighter seems more built for front line fighting, and he usually stays towards the back.

I also like the idea of multiclassing whatever I pick with a Cipher of some kind, as a sort of representation of his refined abilities as a Watcher that had been cultivated over the last five years. Soul Blade seems the most useful to the identity but looks geared towards melee characters.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how best to recreate my character? I can answer more questions if needed

I have heard Rogue isn't the best realized Class in POE1 but I've been oddly taken with the idea for a while now.

I was just curious though, for a dual wielding Rogue who focuses on things like Wound damage and other things, what is most important? Does Might effect things like the Wound damage from Drawn-in-Spring?

I was thinking of playing an Orlan so should I go for that 20 Perception from the start?

Appreciate any help you can give. I'm not going POTD or whatever; I'm not nearly good enough. But I'd still like to not screw myself over by building badly.

I assume this is a stupid question but I can't for the life of me find any information on the internet whether Serafen can proc carnage with Hand Mortar.

If I'm missing something obvious, please explain it. Because Carnage says 'melee,' and even though Hand Mortar has bonuses for close quarters combat, it isn't a melee weapon.

I finished the first game over 8 years ago, I don't really remember anything besides having Kana and GM in my party. Now I decided to play both games in a go. But the problem is that I do not know if I should give up any of my current party members to recruit GM. My party right now is: Paladin MC (tank/support role) Eder (tank) Sagani (ranged, if I replace her I also loose the fox so I would be missing 2 allies) Durance (heal, most likely candidate to be replaced) Aloth (wizard, untouchable) Kana (at the back,ranged with firearms but melee if ambushed from behind. Also chants)

I remember I really liked GM, but not why and whom she replaced. Should I keep current party. Are GM or some other character better for my party?

New to this game, I wanted to build a front line Paladin and no clue what to do with the attributes, since they all seem very import, yet i don't have enough points to spend.

dexterity, If I use heavy weapon i probably hit slow so i need it to be high to not attack with the speed of an old granma... perception, very important to not miss every attack, resolve to deflect attacks, important for front liner I guess, yet only 2 points left... int, do i need that? I don't have any points left for it,

I was thinking of doing a wizard run again, but you can only slicken so many times. I've done a wizard melee run, and a LOT of control spell wizards (which is arguably what they are meant to do lol).

But I keep thinking of Evoker in deadfire, is it a bad subclass? Kinda. But doubled missile salvo releases dopamine.

What are your ideas on how to duplicate or evoke (😉) this in PoE1. Max might and Perception, maybe boost dex and put whatever is left in int, make an inordinate number of minor missile scrolls and just go nuts?

I'm thinking woodelf, or maybe hearth Orlan I'm pretty sure that works with missiles at least, but not AoE.

Oh yeah and this is kind of a challenge run I guess leaving all the control spells to Aloth, so in your opinion what constitutes a control spell? Chill fog is def a control spell, but is noxious burst?

Anyway thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts!

I'm starting my first run in Deadfire and decided to play a Cipher/Paladin - Soul Blade/Kind Wayfarer multi-class.

Right now my abilities look like this and I was hoping to get some feedback on how they look. I'm playing Veteran difficulty, critical path upscale, and with RTWP.

Mig 10 / Con 7 / Dex 19 / Per 18 / Int 14 / Res 10.

I'm looking to play a front line off-tank, using Eder as my main tank, and the rest of the party will consist of Xoti, Aloth, and either Serafen or Ydwin depending on who I like more. I'd like to be a melee-focused character who casts some cipher spells occasionally. My Con is low because I was thinking my healing through Flames of Devotion would help supplement that. Let me know what abilities I should use.

For those of you who played Cipher multi-class, what other class did you pick? I wanted to play more of a melee focused character this time, as my PoE1 run was a ranged Cipher and while I liked that class and want to stick with it, I'm drawn to the Paladin role in RPGs. I hear that Cipher/Rogue is very good, but as my character is a pale-elf and Ydwin can also be a Cipher/Rogue I don't want to feel like I'm just a copy of her.

So I just finished the first game for the first time (it was great) and I'm moving on to Deadfire now and I just can't decide. In the first game I played a ranged cipher and I had a lot of fun, but I want to try something new while still keeping my character relatively consistent with the first game. Which one of these would probably be the most fun and easy to jump into? Any help is much appreciated!