Musketeer viable class? (Rapier/Dagger and Arquebuses)

[Gungriffen]

I haven't played this game yet, I started the tutorial of PoE2 and realized I needed to play the first.
I know the reload time of the Arquebuses is high, so I'm thinking firing a single shot and swapping to Rapier and Dagger.

That viable or is the a reason this should be avoided?
I have little concern of Min/Maxing and I hate following community premade classes (I'm playing the game, not watching a Let's play) but at the same time I don't want to find myself in hardmode because I didn't know some stat or penalty.

Also I plan to play on Classic Mode as I haven't played a game like this since Balders Gate.

[smilehigh]

Originally posted by Gungriffen:

I'm thinking firing a single shot and swapping to Rapier and Dagger.

This makes perfect sense. Actually you can do it with your entire party: fire the heavy-hitting ranged weapons first, than switch to melee.

It is almost impossible to botch a character on normal difficulty, so don't worry that much about it and just enjoy the game.

There is one thing you shouyld consider though: there are talents that increase accuracy (and damage with fighters) for certain weapon types. Rapier and Dagger benefit from "Weapon Focus: Noble" while arquebuses benefit from "Weapon Focus: Soldier".

Soulbound weapons are an exception to this rule as they use any weapon focus that you happen to have for accuracy bonus.

If you dual-wield rapiers and daggers and prefer to make a ranged alpha-strike first you may want to consider "One-Eyed Molina's Gold-Fingered Spike-Flinger" soulbound arbalest as it will benefit from Weapon Focus Noble too.

However if you prefer arquebuses for RP reasons (Musketeer) - just roll with them and don't obsess about your build too much. Arquebuses are excellent alpha-strike damage-dealers.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Arquebus (and other slow high damage weapons) as combat opener are viable. However, switching from arquebus to rapier/dagger would be a different weapon class, and you would need to learn two different Weapon Focus talents, if you wanted to get +6 Accuracy for both weapon types. Soldier for arquebus and Noble for dagger/rapier. Not that you are low on skill points, but depending on which class you choose, there are more interesting abilities/talents to learn.

That said, on the lower difficulty modes, everything is possible and viable.

[Gungriffen]

Thanks,
I'll focus on Fighter/Noble then since that's going to be my mainstay fighting system. The Arquebuses is just an opening shot to cause bonus damage before the gap is closed.

[THE_RaBiD_CanuK]

Get your perception up. Landing crits is what really makes those slow firing guns worth while.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Also keep in mind that Fighter class can learn Weapon Specialization for the individual weapon classes, such as:
https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Weapon_Specialization:_Noble

Originally posted by Gungriffen:

The Arquebuses is just an opening shot to cause bonus damage before the gap is closed.

If done right and with a capable character, it can kill some enemies with one shot. A fine strategy for solo runs.

[ÄmJii]

If you really wanna muster out all the value from arquebus, make sure you add a chanter to your group (Kana for example). They get a chant "Sure Handed" which improves Ranged Attack Speed AND Reload Speed by 20%, plus a chant "Mith Fyr" that adds +25% Burn damage on all allies weapons (if your arquebus deals 40 damage, "the chant adds an extra 10 Burn dmg on top of it for 50 dmg in total).

You can also slap "Lash" enchantment on your weapon for more bonus damage, I recommend Corrosive as it's the least commonly resisted damage type.
Even if you shoot at piercing immune foes those lash -effects still delivers a punch, you don't necessarily have to carry a secondary weapon set if you don't feel like it.

You can pick any class you want, really, but roleplay-wise you could justify one of these picks:
a) Rogue: this would fit the rapier/dagger bill nicely
b) Ranger: has most ranged attack related talents, think of it as a "Hunter with a rifle" archetype
c) Paladin: a commander or a spanish conquistador -type of musketeer, you can stay in middle-row and toss buffs to your frontliners. Can also go sword+board tanking if needed.

For the record, last time I played PotD I had Durance go all in on Arquebus (as his personal talents gives him +10 Acc with Arque & Swords) and paired him with Kana. He certainly carried his own weight, often critting for 50+ dmg per shot... not too bad for a back-row support priest.