Want to use shield.. but Oathkeeper + what?

[Sdattosauro]

Well, I was a former level 58 back then. Now got back to playing but don't want to use the old character. Would like a sword+shield char, and like oathkeeper. Taking soldier would seem natural, but I don't like how many abilities just seem to overlap. Since I prefer Oath over Soldier, what could possibly complement the build without spreading too much the damage sources? (e.g. I like retaliation, fire and physics.. don't want to add cold, lightning and so on..) Thanks!

[Finnvbot]

Demolitionist is the natural choice for fire Oathkeeper. Inquisitor is also cool, but is more elemental than physical.

[GodfatherPlunger]

oathkeeper + demo is a solid combo imo and fits your preference

[Halcyon]

I would vote inquisitor for aura of censure and word of renewal

[Sdattosauro]

Well, I like 'em both, those you suggested. Care to explain (if you have the time and patience) what would the main advantages of each build?

[Halcyon]

Hm, both are good.

Shieldbreaker gets fire strike, but oathkeeper has righteous fervor so this is not super important here. Also important are blast shield, flame touched, vindictive flame, flashbang, and maybe temper. This covers OA and DA, a circuit breaker, flat damage sources, a speed buff, and a good confuse/debuff on a wide area. This also will require quite a few skill points to fill out all the necessary skills. There is good equipment that supports shieldbreaker too.

Paladin gets the mighty aura of censure, which is probably the best ultimate skill in the game in my opinion. Huge resist reduction and damage reduction plus skill disruption and fire damage that ticks every second in a radius around your character. Alone, it makes me prefer inquisitor over demolitionist. Secondary notes are word of renewal for a heal (which works well for a shield character because you can restore your health while also taking less damage in the first place) and deadly aim, which creates a big OA boost every time you land a critical. Inquisitor seal deals fire damage and makes you much more survivable.

Shieldbreaker is probably the more 'balanced' because it offers many different skill options for different needs, while Paladin has fewer (but stronger IMO) desired skills which leaves more points for oathkeeper skills.

[Sdattosauro]

Thanks a lot, this makes everything much clearer. As I understand, If I go paladin, I'll take less skills from Inquis. and more from Oathk. It's a more specific and hard-to-master build but more effective. On the other hand, taking Demo will be easier and a more allround type of build, but a bit less powerful. I'm not a super expert at playing, I'm still normal difficulty. Which of the two has a more linear learning curve?

[Sdattosauro]

Oh, and.. I forgot... Which abilities of oathkeeper are recommended?

[Halcyon]

Shieldbreaker will probably be easier to learn because you have more passives (flame touched, blast shield, and vindictive flame require no input to work) and you really only need to think about flashbang.

Paladin is trickier because the inquisitor seal requires thoughtful placement and control of where your character stands to benefit from the damage reduction it grants, and also because word of renewal has a cooldown so firing it at the right times requires active input.

[Halcyon]

Originally posted by pac83man:

Oh, and.. I forgot... Which abilities of oathkeeper are recommended?

All of them, lol

Seriously though, the must haves for a fire shield build are probably celestial presence (and by extension guardian of empyrion), presence of virtue and its children, a few points in resilience, and safeguard. Aegis of Menhir is super strong and synergizes with the oathkeeper set: "virtue's defender" is the shield of choice. Righteous fervor is a powerful attack replacer, judgment is a powerful area attack, and vire's might is kind of handy for moving around the field. If you take demo as your other class, you also want maxed Divine Mandate since demo offers no ultimate skill. Smite and Shattering Smash are good if you use a default attack such as righteous fervor, but not as good if you rely on aegis of menhir and judgment.

Edit: Also, ascension is really good

[Sdattosauro]

Ok. Mind if I take advantage of your knowledge a little bit more? If I take Inquis instead, what abilities form a good sinergy? Another thing is... objects-wise... which combination is the most "supported" by sets?

[Halcyon]

There are a lot of good ways to itemize for fire. Have you been introduced to grimtools.com yet? You can play with items and skill setups there.

Skills that synergize...Aura of Censure and Celestial Presence stack, completely shredding enemy fire resist. Presence of Virtue increases your OA enough to help land the criticals that trigger Deadly Aim. Righteous fervor (with a melee weapon) can then deal the fire damage and criticals that those skills support while putting you in range of the Aura of Censure's 7-ish meter maximum. Word of Renewal synergizes indirectly with any skill that reduces incoming damage, such as Haven or Safeguard, since the less damage you take, the more powerful a heal becomes.

Skills that DON'T synergize...ranged stuff and aura of censure. The range cap on aura of censure is shorter than your shooting range, meaning that you'll often be hitting enemies outside the range of the aura. Aura of Censure and Divine Mandate cannot both be active at once. Aegis of Menhir and Judgment use up attack time and thus reduce the proc frequency of Smite or Shattering Smash.

[Sdattosauro]

thanks for your help for now. A pizza waits for me, so I'll take a look in 15 minutes! ;)

[Sdattosauro]

Here I am, and once again thanks for your assistance. I know the site, and use it for calculations, but as far as "what a skill does" I'm pretty clueless... this is why I'm asking to you! :) Now... the only thing I have to decide is Demo or Inquis. Inquis seems a less obvious choice, but maybe (hearing your zeal in talking about it) it's the most effective if one can play it properly. Given the impossibility of changing a build completely, I'm a bit confused on what to take!

[Sdattosauro]

Sorry for double posting... I noticed that Inquisitor just gives you 4 abilities. Am I missing something or am I right? If so, this makes me the Ultimate Oathkeeper, as I'm free to go Oath much more than with demo..

[Halcyon]

Both are quite good, so you can't really go wrong :) That said, I would recommend paladin over shieldbreaker just because of personal bias towards inquisitor. In my experience, the harder playstyle becomes natural with practice and the result should be worth it because you get a few nifty things that wouldn't otherwise be possible.