Hi Everyone,
So after playing a fair bit with a few different builds and experimenting etc. I saw this thread and though, given the opening request for us to post actual builds we are using and happy with, I would throw in my two cents on what I have found useful and what I have decided to actively avoid in ym playthroughs so far.
Currently I have two separate games that I have continued playing through the game (I have started the game over at least 6 times now and found the following two builds to be very viable right the way through the game).
First off, there are a couple of contingent "events" that I would consider important but I don't want to spoil anyhting for anyone so I will be very vague on these points: first, although lockpicking is very controversial in terms of its usefulness I will just say that are one or two points where lock picking level 5 is CRUCIAL if you want to be able to gain extra ability and stat points and gain access to the well-known ability to trade out unspent talent points for abilities (1 unspent talent can buy you 10 ability points, 5 unspent ability points can buy you 1 attribute point) so, if you can find bracers, belts AND BOOTS with lock picking +1 (i know they exist but I have found boots with lock picking very rare) KEEP THEM so that you don't have to spend too many points in lock picking.
Anyhow, on to my builds>
1. My first very fun and viable build is centred around a synergy between a two-handed knight and a Mage with witchcraft for buffing and debuffing that also has geomancy and pyro (to make sure I have all 5 schools of magic with Jahan in the party).
-Knight character (Beatrix):
-obvious things are Man-at arms (getting to level 5 by around level 10-12, depending on when you unlock the trader of secrets) - also get willpower up fairly early so you can get comeback kid talent mid-late game. Don't bother with any crafting or nasty deeds, but it can pay off to spend a few points in leadership given that this chatter will almost always be visible to the rest of your party. Talents are the really interesting thing to experiment with; my favourite combination for this kind of knight build (one buffed from the back by witchcraft) are: Bully, Opportunist, Leech, Weather the Storm, Thick skin (least important but still viable), Picture of health, comeback kid. These talents really maximise your tanking ability whilst also giving a good bonus to damage dealing: I was taking out bosses solo with my knight with all other characters only casting buffs and control spells mid-life game. Plus, with leech and comeback kid it is quite difficult for enemies to kill you outright in a single turn, especially if you have buffs like fortify and elemental shields casts. Anyhow, overall this is quite a simple build, but I have found it very effective. (At character creation i gave this build +1 in leadership for that annoying ability point you have to spend).
Attribute points: I got strength to base 12 ASAP and then invested the rest in speed and cons for extra action points (str at base 12 allows me to use items to boost it to 15/16 easily by mid game) at level 12 my str was 15, speed 11 (base 8/9) and cons (base 8) 10.
Witch Mage (Drizzt): as long as you take Jahan on in your party this mage really is hub of this build in terms of dictating the battlefield (I also use this character as my main interacting character, so in counterpoint to my knight, who got +1 in leadership at CC, I gave this character +1 in charisma with that surplus ability point in CC).
- Anyhow, this build was a little more fiddly when experimenting with talents etc. as there are not (on the face of it) a lot of very useful mage talents. Firstly, I focus on the three schools of magic (pyro, geo and witch), with a very good stating combination of skills being midnight oil, flare and oath of desecration (MO and FL combine beautifully in early game). I did also place a couple of points in willpower, just to be sure. As far as talents go, I started with far out man and pet pal (for the fun and extra XP you can get for doing animal's quests etc.), after that the only really viable talents I took were glass cannon, picture of health (yes this requires 3 points to be spent in Man at arms, but trust me I was drowning in ability points for this
character by level 11, and this talent negates some of the negative effect of GC) and weatherproof (this leaves two talent points unspent which can be traded in for 20 ability points in total, allowing me to max out all three schools of magic and place some extra points into man-at-arms to get some more vitality bonus to negate GC as much as possible) - as far as I can remember, the two talent points i traded in for ability points were at level 11 and the last one (level 19?) weatherproof was the last talent I took.
- Overall, this character is an absolute monster at both dealing damage and buffing/debuffing.
Attributes: Intelligence to base 11/12 asap and then cons privileged slight over speed given that GC negates some of the positive effects of speed on ability points whereas cons maxes out your OVERALL action points. by level 11/12 this character had int 15 (base 11), cons 11 (base 9) and speed 10 (base 8).
I decided to take on bairdotr with this build too and have her be a mix between marksman and rogue with decent sneaking, lock picking (for above reason). Jahan is my go to craftsman seeing as he starts with scientist so it makes sense to invest a couple of points in craft and blacksmithing (also he only specialises in two schools of magic, giving a little more freedom with ability points). It is worthwhile trading out at least one talent point with this character I must say, in order to max out both Aero and hydro with a few points to spend in willpower.
Overall I have found this build to be very well-rounded in terms of both combat and getting as much out of crafting etc.
I have run out of time now so I will post my second build I like at some other point - its a rogue lone wolf combined again with a witchcraft mage and, contra to what someone previously said about rogues being lacklustre, THEY ARE AMAZING IN COMBAT AND OFFER SOME INTERESTING WAYS TO MAKE MONEY/GAIN CERTAIN ITEMS!!!!
Let me know your thoughts,
