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Joined: Sep 2014
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stranger
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Hi all, just started this game after hearing many good things about it.
Could use some help with making a couple builds for my characters though. I need to get it right first go as I don't have the time spare to "Just play the game" and learn as I go, as that will mean I'll have to restart probably several times to "get it right", something I no longer am inclined or able to do.
Anyway what I'm planning is a fighter and mage, then picking up the mage companion and the new ranger companion.
Here's what I got so far.

Fighter - Str 8, dex 5, int 5, Con 6, Spd 6, Per 5 - for abilities I've got 1 point each in armour specialist, body building, man-at-arms, aerotheurge and sneaking (no shield specialist as I want to use 2 handers, and the point is in sneaking as I heard that stealth is quite powerful during fights?). Planning on dropping some points in to tenebrium weapons when available. Talents are opportunist and My Precious.

Witchymagezard thingo - str 5, dex 5, int 8, con 5, spd 6, per 6. Abilities are willpower, Geo, Pyro, witchcraft and leadership. Talents are pet pal and far out man. Planning on glass cannon eventually (probably for both characters)

Any suggestions on what I've done right, what could be better, what's a waste of points etc.? Ideas on what to take as I level up would also be most welcome. I like to min/max to a certain degree, and did a search but didn't really find much in the way of "gold standard" or cookie-cutter build guides.
Thanks in advance for any advice/help.

Last edited by DapperDan; 23/09/14 10:03 PM.
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Sneak is powerful during fights in combination with Guerrilla (and Backstab for dagger users). It's probably not optimal on a STR-based fighter because your limited movement makes it hard to get out of enemy line-of-sight. Also, if you're using Opportunist (which is a good talent, but better at higher levels), you usually want to be right in the enemy's face, which means sneaking isn't an option. But it might work, I've never tried it.

1h/shield is better than 2h in the late game, in my opinion. 2h damage is only slightly higher than 1h and costs more AP, and it robs you of a shield, which can make you almost impervious to damage at higher levels due to blocking and resists. You could always start out as 2h and switch to shields later, though, since shields suck at lower levels. Melee overall is weaker at low levels and strong at high levels.

If you're going with a fighter type, I'd recommend not splitting abilities into mage skills at the start. You're going to need INT to make spells effective, and you don't want to be splitting attribute points between STR/DEX/INT at the beginning, or else you won't be able to wear higher-level gear. Also, I'd drop My Precious for Leech.

Mages are pretty powerful at the beginning and very good throughout the game. Air/Water synergize well (Jahan starts with these) and Geo/Pyro synergize.

A couple more things I wish I'd known at the start:
- Dust Devil is not available anywhere in the game except at character creation
- There is only one Whirlwind book
- Glass Cannon (without Lone Wolf) is very risky on Hard difficulty, because it adds up to -75% HP
- Speed only gives you additional AP at odd numbers
- Guerilla doesn't affect skills (just regular attacks)

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stranger
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Thanks for the tips, think I'll try sword and board per your advice.

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Originally Posted by DapperDan

Fighter - Str 8, dex 5, int 5, Con 6, Spd 6, Per 5 - for abilities I've got 1 point each in armour specialist, body building, man-at-arms, aerotheurge and sneaking (no shield specialist as I want to use 2 handers, and the point is in sneaking as I heard that stealth is quite powerful during fights?). Planning on dropping some points in to tenebrium weapons when available. Talents are opportunist and My Precious.

Witchymagezard thingo - str 5, dex 5, int 8, con 5, spd 6, per 6. Abilities are willpower, Geo, Pyro, witchcraft and leadership. Talents are pet pal and far out man. Planning on glass cannon eventually (probably for both characters)

Any suggestions on what I've done right, what could be better, what's a waste of points etc.? Ideas on what to take as I level up would also be most welcome. I like to min/max to a certain degree, and did a search but didn't really find much in the way of "gold standard" or cookie-cutter build guides.
Thanks in advance for any advice/help.


Why do you take a point in Aerotheurge for your fighter? I'd recommend Scoundrel instead. I'd also recommend Expert Marksman instead of Armour Specialist. The reason for only 1 point in Scoundrel and Expert Marksman is for mobility skills which will be useful for positioning yourself behind enemies so you can stealth in addition to self-haste. My Precious is a worthless talent. Take something useful instead like Bully.

Perception is a waste on a mage. Pet Pal is useful but I wouldn't recommend taking it until level 3 because you won't need it until then. It doesn't really matter, but you could substitute it with Know-It-All.

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I actually considered making a fast moving 2her with Guerilla... it sounded potent in theory, but I abandoned the idea when some basic calculations suggested I'd get way more damage out of a rogue wink


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