Want to use shield.. but Oathkeeper + what?

[pac83man]

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!

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Автор сообщения: pac83man

soldier doesn't add anything that strongly boosts damage output.

that's just not true, Warlord was like the most OP build before patch and aint exactly no slouch after
first you have the option of having a non Nightblade with 100% wps, that actually all function together (unlike Necro which makes you either convert or decide which wps to go for because of the different dmg types it use)
Then you have debuffs that compliment eachother, oathkeeper and soldier both have RR, which means you can even go the bleed route if you don't wish for phys.
You can also just take the soldier phys dmg and use fire conversions, since there are decent low lvl items that support fire+phys-to-fire conversion. Which despite that, stuff like cadence would still be very viable if not opting for Fervor

and (specially when using a shield) you can soak and deal so much damage that with overguard and menhir you wont need more breaks than what they + a heal pot and mobility provides
+if you go the phys route, which oathkeeper still supports, then obviously soldier has a ton covered there with Force wave or cadence/deadly momentum, which still boosts your oathkeeper wps, judgement and even aegis..

sure soldier has a ton of passives to make you tanky as heck, but saying soldier doesn't have any strong dmg output is just wrong, Cadence, Forcewave and Blade Arc isn't really super weak, and been/are used in a bunch of builds still, and can be very useful lvling.
You could even go Forcewave retal if you wished, but oathkeeper just has so much retal synergy it would be sorta an even bigger waste now, but that silly stuff still works, -because Solider aint exactly weak even just on its own..
everything oathkeeper has deals phys dmg, likewise with soldier, you'd be crazy to think you cant combo offensives to compliment and boost Warlords dmg against bosses while lvling..

[pac83man]

Ermm.. I got two issues: Number 1: what is WPS? (I'm italian, and maybe I know it under a different name)
Number 2: Care to help me with a build? The warlord was my first choice, I abandoned it due to the fact that I was stuck with so few abilities...

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Автор сообщения: pac83man

Ermm.. I got two issues: Number 1: what is WPS? (I'm italian, and maybe I know it under a different name)

WPS = weapon pool skill, attacks that proc off default autoattacks, such as Markovian and Zolhan in soldier, or Smite and Shattering Smash in Oathkeeper, get 100% wps, and you will never make a basic "default"/non-boosted auto attack dmg again, meaning all your standard swings will be buffed in some way instead of just regular weapon dmg..-that's on top of stuff like auto attack replacers, like Righteous Fervor, which means when you combine an auto attack replacer+wps procs, then you start to get real fun and powerful "basic" attack swings..

that's just "an" option, like i said, personally i always leaned towards maining the oathkeeper skills, because i found them more fun(new class after all, been using the others the past 2 years already) and i found them highly powerful too, so seemed like an obvious choice for simple lvling.
Also depends on how you play/prefer. So if you are bored with oathkeeper, then just make a switch, but accept it might be a little different. You don't "have" to use Aegis, but it's handy when already using shield, some stuff will obviously be more powerful if wielding a 2hander, but doesn't mean Forcewave or blade arc is useless with 1h+shield.

if you upload a character to https://www.grimtools.com/calc/ then people can give you input to what they think might be helpful or "better". Whether or not you like/find all suggestions fun to play is up to you.

[pac83man]

I'm still at the beginning so no point in doing it right now, but will do later. I will gladly take back my tank, if you assure me it's fun and strong, maybe I was just wrong. What final skill will be better? The oathkeeper's? And.. which one you recommend boosting between cadence and fervor (which I prefer because it boosts attack speed)? I started my new character after buying Forgotten Gods and instantly chose to build a shield character, that I never had. So yes, I basically want to be with a shield quite all the time (I will use a different weapon set maybe later..)

[Slash]

Soldier(oath)+arcanist with spellscourge set,you will have shield guy with devastation spell

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Автор сообщения: pac83man

I'm still at the beginning so no point in doing it right now, but will do later. I will gladly take back my tank, if you assure me it's fun and strong, maybe I was just wrong. What final skill will be better? The oathkeeper's? And.. which one you recommend boosting between cadence and fervor (which I prefer because it boosts attack speed)? I started my new character after buying Forgotten Gods and instantly chose to build a shield character, that I never had. So yes, I basically want to be with a shield quite all the time (I will use a different weapon set maybe later..)

personally i prefer Righteous Fervor, because it allows full use of the wps, even if cadence hits harder, +Fervor works well with both retal and fire bonuses /conversion. But that's just me, Cadence can be really powerful too, and deadly momentum will boost your other attacks in the meantime, making stuff like Vire Aegis or Judgment that bit powerful if going that route
lvl 30 is also relatively "low", so your need for deep focus in 1 skill isn't really necessarily that important, but ofc works out, personally i 1pt a ton and just run nuts. What gear your are lucky to happen to find can/will ofc improve stuff. But in my taste, be prepared for an Oathkeeper heavy play.

[pac83man]

Ok thank you. You have some suggestion for constellations? I usually pick bull first... and give almost all to physique... is that right? Also... you recommend some weapon in particular? Swords? Maces...?

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Автор сообщения: pac83man

I usually pick bull first... and give almost all to physique... is that right?

depends, phys or fire ?; i tend to lean more fire heavy with my oathkeepers, easy to grab a tons of resist reduct, boring part being meeting fire resistant heroes/mobs ofc, but otherwise worked well for me, i like it more than going phys/retal during the lvling stage at least, but i think that's different for person-person/build-build, but i've also never been super keen on "main" retal focus during lvling on norm/elite.

And while lvling, i also rarely go physique now, sounds weird maybe. But from my lvling my toons i figured pure cunning actually worked okay as long as being able to wear whatever armor popped up(tho it also helps i had a attribute respec potion now so i could switch physique points when needed, don't know if you have that luxury from a "main")
seems like dumping in cunning works okay while lvling to get the dmg/oa increase for "raw" dmg output to help nuke stuff when oathkeeper was involved... been a while since i've put stuff in physique before Elite/Ultimate actually,
even AoM and FG on normal turned out to be surprisingly doable with 0 physique with oathkeeper skills blasting away, luck or just the norm i'm not sure.
Tho i'm also playing softcore, so not really sure if it's worth to do if on HC, but so far seems okay for me, i usually don't have my first death until 60+ when i decide to try stupid sht; like facing off against Mad Queen o.0 -or fcn around in AoM and ofc if not paying attention/being lazy

[pac83man]

I was undecided between fire and phys actually... since lvling is kinda easy I still don't understand which one is better. I can go all fire, and the revert back if the need arises. I got some blue items from past playthrough, so I'm quite full of oblects right now, it's enough to reach required level. Any more suggestion, plus the weapons?
One question is: to achieve full WPS I'm forced to bring all 3 WPS skills to maximum?

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Автор сообщения: pac83man

One question is: to achieve full WPS I'm forced to bring all 3 WPS skills to maximum?

no, iirc both oathkeeper and soldier wps only requires 9 pts each to get 25%, 25*4=100. but the last couple of %pts are "expensive, so it's very okay to just start at 5(20%) or 6 which is where the "good" proc% per pt scaling ends, since then you need 1pt per 1%.
you don't "have" to have 100% or "close to it", it's just good/beneficial. but at lower lvls where skill points are more valuable it's often better spend them where they reward/scale the most, so 5-6pts are totally okay to stop at in the beginning if going wps.
and yea, there is no "fixed" decision if going fire or phys, you can always swap skills or devotions at anytime, hell you can even go retal if it turns out you find better gear suited for that than direct dmg boost. (tho "aiming" at something ofc helps maintaining the most from devotion lvls)
"no rules", and changing to what the game hands you is never bad when you don't have a specific full set prepared waiting.

[pac83man]

Ok, my aim would be fire/retal, so hopefully the blasted game hands me something coherent ;) I'm going bull devotion for now, to get to shield later..

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Автор сообщения: pac83man

Ok, my aim would be fire/retal, so hopefully the blasted game hands me something coherent ;) I'm going bull devotion for now, to get to shield later..

if you go fire, i'd suggest getting fire reduct devotions, they will help you absolutely muder stuff even if you have minimal dmg bonuses from gear
Viper, Rowans Crown, and ofc Solael's Witchblade constellations

[pac83man]

Ok thanks, will do!

[pac83man]

Does anybody use Judgment? Is it the best control we have?

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Автор сообщения: pac83man

Does anybody use Judgment? Is it the best control we have?

judgment is sick for several reasons
good damage(like really good per point spent)
incapacitates bunch of mobs, specially on normal where cc resist is minimal,
and it bunches stuff up for you nice to aoe more
oh, and it has a neat debuff if you put further points in it
so, win, win, win & win, -if you don't spend a point to get judgment at least for the pull effect, you are wasting the oathkeeper tree ;)