The Vestal

[thorin.hannahs]

I really like the Vestal design and concept but for some reason the execution just isn't working. I have played her front and back rank and really her most effective role is as a buff bot in rank 3 since she has a bit of meat on her. Hand of Light doesn't give or use combo, you have to perform quite poorly to get use out of Divine Grace, Bonk is very small time even with conviction. Mantra is just a lot of set-up.

Confessor wants to throw out judgement every turn but other heroes, quirks and trinkets make the damage and debuffs subpar.

Chaplain wants to consecrate and guard? I guess to build up to a big two hero heal or a ♥♥♥♥ tier bonk? But MaA and PD exist.

Seraph wants to consecrate, consecrate, judgement, judgement, consecrate, consecrate.

Has anyone made Vestal work and be fun at the same time? I think her conviction mechanic makes her very slow and wasteful.

Unchecked Power is much more satisfying and other heroes feel great with lower threshold restrictions, cooldown and token mechanics.

I am interested in hearing about team comps that get good use out of Vestal's paths.

[Grimwulf]

Seraph is the most popular path from what I've gathered. I find Seraph a bit boring.

I like her in position 1, with Sharpshot HWM in position 2. If you manage to get a profane scroll, her hand of light will:
- give her block, taunt and strength
- give Dismas strength, which together with his Take Aim has the same effect as The Blood

Sharpshot-Chaplain is a powerful and straightforward duo. The only weakness is Chaplain's notable lack of taunts, but that can be fixed with trinkets and/or Inn items

[ska.one]

I like the Seraph Vestal as buff machine with oh ♥♥♥♥ healing. Something like Seraph, Virtuoso Jester, Sharpshot Dismas, Vanguard MAA as the set up. Vestal throws Consecration of Fort+ on spot 2. Jester uses razor and fade+ to back and forth over the consecration while adding combos, swapping with Dismas, both getting dodge+ or shield+ while powering up Vestal's tokens. Judgement is decent with token build up, Divine Healing is pretty good with token build up, and Mantra is a pretty large heal with no HP% requirement, so can be fairly flexible for region grind healing top ups or oh ♥♥♥♥ big time heals on two spots if you have both consecrations down. MAA is self sufficient, no need to worry about him, just use him normally. After turn one Vestal probably has nothing better to do than hit spot 3 with Cons. of Strength (the attack token one, and forget the mastery, it's not really worth it). Now your Jester and HWM are attacking with constant strength and defending with dodge/shield most of the time with combo marks on the front line and rank 3.

It's not amazing or anything, but it is pretty fun. And once you get the hang of it you can play around with using Flag/Leper up front, maybe GR instead of Dismas. I actually used Carrion pet to make corpse destroying add more tokens and healing while keeping the Flag skill bar intact (not wasting spot with corpse clear skill). I took down Act IV blind on the first try with this set up (V/J/HWM/Flag).

[thorin.hannahs]

Originally posted by Grimwulf:

Seraph is the most popular path from what I've gathered. I find Seraph a bit boring.

I like her in position 1, with Sharpshot HWM in position 2. If you manage to get a profane scroll, her hand of light will:
- give her block, taunt and strength
- give Dismas strength, which together with his Take Aim has the same effect as The Blood

Sharpshot-Chaplain is a powerful and straightforward duo. The only weakness is Chaplain's notable lack of taunts, but that can be fixed with trinkets and/or Inn items

I might give it a go, not a fan of the trinket dependency though. I recall playing her pos 1 and she just couldn't do any damage.

[thorin.hannahs]

Originally posted by ska.one:

I like the Seraph Vestal as buff machine with oh ♥♥♥♥ healing. Something like Seraph, Virtuoso Jester, Sharpshot Dismas, Vanguard MAA as the set up. Vestal throws Consecration of Fort+ on spot 2. Jester uses razor and fade+ to back and forth over the consecration while adding combos, swapping with Dismas, both getting dodge+ or shield+ while powering up Vestal's tokens. Judgement is decent with token build up, Divine Healing is pretty good with token build up, and Mantra is a pretty large heal with no HP% requirement, so can be fairly flexible for region grind healing top ups or oh ♥♥♥♥ big time heals on two spots if you have both consecrations down. MAA is self sufficient, no need to worry about him, just use him normally. After turn one Vestal probably has nothing better to do than hit spot 3 with Cons. of Strength (the attack token one, and forget the mastery, it's not really worth it). Now your Jester and HWM are attacking with constant strength and defending with dodge/shield most of the time with combo marks on the front line and rank 3.

It's not amazing or anything, but it is pretty fun. And once you get the hang of it you can play around with using Flag/Leper up front, maybe GR instead of Dismas. I actually used Carrion pet to make corpse destroying add more tokens and healing while keeping the Flag skill bar intact (not wasting spot with corpse clear skill). I took down Act IV blind on the first try with this set up (V/J/HWM/Flag).

That is a great comp when you sub out Vestal for PD. I do the same strategy just without burning turns on cons. I actually prefer Flage over Leper and HWM. I'll try out the second team comp.

[Grimwulf]

Originally posted by thorin.hannahs:

I might give it a go, not a fan of the trinket dependency though. I recall playing her pos 1 and she just couldn't do any damage.

I mean, the trinket just adds taunt to Hand of Light, making this skill completely ridiculous. Imagine if Bulwark MAA's Stand Fast spawned strength token on both MAA and HWM, while doing marginal damage to an enemy. It's insanely good trinket.

But even without it, you're good to go. It's not like every single team needs taunts. It's just one of those superstitions, same as "you need a healer/stress healer/damage dealer" etc

[OBLITERATE]

seraph with consecrations and mass healing skill will be my try for the last boss, soon.
I discard the grave robber for her.
Consecrations are strong because once placed they proc no matter what and i think you can obtain buff twice if you move characters

[Alpro]

Currently running Confessor in rank 2 with Hand of Light, Illumination, Mace Bash, Sanctuary and Divine Comfort. I do not need Illumination and Sanctuary very often, but Confessor Illumination is great and Sanctuary can save a butt occasionally. My usual rotation is Any -> Hand of Light -> Mace Bash. Any is usually Mace Bash or Divine Comfort or Illumination if needed.

Confessor Hand of Light applies Weak on the first two ranks instead of granting Block. This reduces the need for healing. On the following turn, 3 Conviction tokens make Mace Bash ignore Block, Dodge and Guarded and deals double damage. She doesn't hit often but when she does, it counts.

I have an Orphan Runaway in rank 4, i try to use Firestarter on the Vestal before she uses Hand of Light, so she can burn the enemy's frontline in addition to applying weak. This also grants the Runaway a crit token, which can be useful for Cautherize. Smokescreen+ applies vulnerable, i try to use it before the Vestal's fully powered Mace Bash for massive damage.

Doing very well so far and having a blast. Other characters are Ravager Hellion in rank 1 and Scourge Flagellant in rank 3.

[Strikeslol]

Vestal is a solid healer but she can great depending on which path she is as she can cast many buffs/debuffs.

By default her sanctuary skill can be amazing for stress heal when upgraded and her judgement can do loads of damage when charged up which is easy as vestal can just buff/heal in the meantime.

I use her confessor path the most as its the most useful.

Her confessor path decreases her damage but makes her amazing buff/debuff player.

Illumination is a must have as it changes to removing 2 positive tokens which is great.
Hand of light can now inflict the first 2 ranks with attack down which is amazing.
Judgement inflicts vulnerable and attack down which is great against tough enemies.

[Pixel Peeper]

In Rank 4 she's functional but boring, attacking, guarding or healing as required.

I like her best as a Wanderer or Chaplain in Rank 2 or 1. She can still use Divine Comfort from Rank 2, then she can use Hand of Light to remove an enemy token and grant your team three tokens, setting the stage for a strong Mace Bash.

She doesn't shine at anything, which is probably why people aren't impressed, but she's surprisingly decent at everything. As long as she doesn't get moved, anyway...

[Bulleta©™®]

Do consecrations then heal for 30+ before they wear out.

[Alpro]

The problem with Seraph Mantra is that you do not always need a 30+ heal before Consecrations wear out. And sometimes you need a heal right now and don't have Consecrations in place.

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by Alpro:

The problem with Seraph Mantra is that you do not always need a 30+ heal before Consecrations wear out. And sometimes you need a heal right now and don't have Consecrations in place.

That's so very true. You can make Consecrations work on your side if you put enough planning into it, but the enemies don't care about your plans and any disruption in your pacing will make the Seraph really bad.

I like reliability, including heroes having an immediate response at any given time.

[Alpro]

^ Yep, this. The heavier the RNG factor is in a game, the more valuable reliability is. Of course it's hard to have a team setup that is prepared against everything without sacrificing much.

[Pitchslayer]

Seraph is single handed the best Backline Support period, u can build anything arround her and actually win. Change my Mind.

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by Pitchslayer:

Seraph is single handed the best Backline Support period, u can build anything arround her and actually win. Change my Mind.

She's way too slow to set heals up, and heavily subject to disruption. I run Wanderer Vestal way more often than Seraph.