Group build feedback and advice thread

[En1gma]

It's awesome the only late bloomer is Selen- she has a slower build, but once you get QsD things come together...

Kincaid is a monster once you put the Leaf Dagger and the Lukai's Sword on him. He's scary...

[En1gma]

I'm thinking up a few characters built very weirdly.

I want Vincent to use Energy Storm in conjunction with Storm Strike, so when he gets to dart in and out with Charged Speed, he can just do ridiculous amounts of damage. I was thinking about leveling the two skills fairly evenly, and wanted to see if anyone had tried this yet.

I am also bouncing the idea of having Fyona as a heavy striker in a build. I don't think she would put points into Blessed Aura, instead would bank at least 3 points to dump into Battlefield Devotion. She would jack up Zealous Strikes and use 2H Hammers. Sure, she would only do two things per turn, but with Ash (I'm talking about two different groups, btw) or Punishing Blades, she could hit for crazy damages.

Really want any input on how these sound, how people could see them being used in a group, and wether or not people think they would be sold builds.

[fallen]

En1gma - in my current Nightmare Ironman, I am using Fyona similar to how you said. I've raised Zealous Strike to 3, carry the heaviest 3 AP hammer I can find. She does the majority of the melee damage in the group and has killed the most bosses, leads the group in XP. Together, her and Tamilin do most of the killing. I am involved in Righteous Fervor instead of Battlefield Devo. She has Blessed Aura 3. Anyway - I can weigh in that I have enjoyed her being the groups striker, leading in damage and kills.

[En1gma]

Now is she tanking? I was thinking of having her hang around either Kincaid or Selen, then jumping in and crushing things once they get weakened. I wouldn't imagine this build being great at tank work, but as striker this is perfect. I'll probably go with Aura, but I really like the massive HP returns that Devotion gives. I think I'll go KJ for support, with Pureflame for that added armour, then work on Ash, maybe even try out that new-and-improved Shockwave, just to protect the group even more. Tam will snipe, and I don't know how would be a better fit for the fighter. I'll think about it.

I've never done a 2H Fyona, so this will be interesting.

[fallen]

En1gma - in my case, she is not tanking. Vraes is doing that, which means his damage is low (carries shield, 1H spear, and focuses on buffs). Fyona hangs out behind him and steps in (1 AP moves whenever possible) to do the real killing.

[En1gma]

Question I'd like opinions on.

My Kinetic Energy build slammed their way through the Torrent Watershed and the Temple without incident. We just got to Barnett's camp and Kincaid is sitting on two unused Talent Points. He really isn't having any issues in combat, his damage isn't spectacular, but it's steady and effective. I really can't think of anything useful to spend these points on and I'm considering banking then for Storm of Steel.

I'm trying to think as far ahead as possible here. I have yet to bring a group to the UF, or into the temple, and from what screenshots I've seen and stories I've read I can tell that we will be up against some serious swarms of really nasty enemies. I'm confident in Kincaid's abilities through the Keep and just want opinions as to whether banking these points to get SoS 3 or so when he hits 18 is prudent and going to be as effective as I think it would be. Vincent just got to LS 10, Kyera will be putting her next two points into Warders Shield, Selen is jacking up QsD after one more point into Punishing Blades. I'm not worried about how much damage they take, as Selen is going to be dodging circles around things, and Kincaid is using that nifty Parrying Blade, and has Parry 4 and LbtB 4- pretty well protected. I want to make sure any massive swarms of enemies I face get obliterated in one turn, not risking prolonged combat with them face to face.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, I just don't want this group to become unplayable, so I'm asking before I do anything

[fallen]

En1gma - sounds like a reasonable gambit to me. If "steady and effective" is good for his damage because others are taking care of it (LS10!!) then you could camp on them. The two pitfalls are that he will fall behind defensively (and you could spend the TP on buffs to counter this) or he will not be doing enough killing by the end of RH (but LS 10!!).

Either way, if you find yourself running low on steam, then you can stop at a safe campsite and spend them if you have to. Otherwise, with the group build you've given yourself the freedom to camp on the points.

[En1gma]

fallen- thanks for the advice I'm feeling pretty good about how Kincaid is sitting right now. He is using Lukai's Blade and that Parrying Blade, against PB'd enemies he hits consistently around 45-50, so he is still dealing good damage. I'm willing to have him be slightly lackluster during the assault on the Keep, so that once he hits 18, he will start dealing (almost) as much damage per turn as Vincent... (Ok, LS 10 is going to way outpace him) But having SoS crushing the frontlines, LS is freed up to focus on more distant enemies, spreading out the group's damage over a much larger area.

The key to my strategy right now is having Kincaid and Selen dancing death around each other, while moving Kyera and Vincent up behind them. Between the two casters, if anything should target them, they can spread out the damage, but I'm very careful about how I position everyone.

I'll stay the course, banking points as I go. The gear I've found so far us keeping them very safe, Selen and Kincaid are 8 or so fights into the Spy Path, and only TWO attacks have made it through their defenses. One arrow, and one melee.

[CdrPlatypus]

En1gma I gave your current group a short trial run and I am wondering what difficulty you are playing them on atm? One thing I really noticed was a lack of a -parry curse. Is this something you have been able to over come later on because I was switching back and forth between dual wield and 1 hand and throwing knives on the escape to make elite guards / giant ratkin hitable

[En1gma]

..... I'm on normal- to offset the lack of a -parry curse I have been very focused on raising Dex and Blades to be as accurate as possible without them... Selen could be used as PS and PB dual wield if you need a parry curse in NM... The main focus for her is armour stripping and QsD- so a bow could be useful for her- go 1ap and PS it could work...

[CdrPlatypus]

En1gma even with all dex ->16 I've found you need a -parry on hard targets for melee dmg on nightmare atleast to get hit ratios I'm comfortable with. On standard trash mobs they stand attached at the hip shredding them to ribbons.

[En1gma]

..... LS isn't enough for hard targets, is it... The only way ican think of for this group is Pinning Shot/Punishing Blades, splitting her skills... I don't know how well that works in NM though.

[CdrPlatypus]

Without holy strickening ls is just a trash clearer. Thats why I was trying energy storm. Im curious to experiment with darting steel. I'm not sure if that would spread kincaid to thin though.

Pinning shot -> punishing blades works as a long term strategy, but gives up selens amazing single target dmg

[En1gma]

I am a huge fan of DS, keep in mind that I don't really play on higher difficulties. They do require a dedicated build, and do best with elemental damages, IMO. If you're going Energy Storm, consider TB so Kincaid can take full advantage from the added Lightning Damage.... Or you could run it through a lower difficulty - it really is a fun group, but not having that -parry really restricts it the higher up you go in difficulty.

[xdesperado]

I generally beeline Selen to PS5, then start bringing PB up...but I also use Kjartan with CA to help strip armor which means Selen can work up other talents as well.

Just got Kincaid and started new game on NM. Already loving his DS though barely started game.