Fighter help

[altpstar666]

New player to PoE and not sure where to find updated info on fighters builds/abilities. I basically want to create and DPS fighter with some tanking abilities (or at least able to take some damage) and as a noob i'm trying to find something on here, but everyithign i get is pretty much from last year before all the expansions etc..

i created my fighter with high constitution/resolve/perception as i read those were absolutely important for any solid fighter,,,i kept might at 12 which i now think may have been a mistake and intellect/dexterity at low levels. What are the important attributes? am i totally off??

for skills? is athletics and lore good ones to choose? how do i decide what is more important for my main character.

what abilities should i grab at the lower levels to make my fighter solid? i keep reading how abilities got nerfed and not sure what's essential anymore.

i understand there is no BEST build or optimal fighter, but i need some direction and hoping some of you experienced players can give me some feedback. Don't want to pull another divinity Sin and re-start the game 3 times before i make a character that i can enjoy.


Thanks!

[Gregorovitch]

Fighters are really designed to be primary tanks in POE IMO. They have very high defelction, they have abilities that significantly increase the number of enemies they can engage at the same time and in 3.0 they were given the ability with attacks of opportunity to knock prone enemies that broke engagement with them.

For straight DPS I would look at a barbarian.

[Wasted_46]

on the contrary, fighters are totally decent DPS characters without the glass cannon nature of barbarians.

let me explain a bit about fighters by using the example of my own current potd fitgher:

Level: 11
- Race: death godlike (Lots of other races like all the godlikes, amanua, mountain dwarf, hearth orlan ,human etc. work). Being Godlike has nice stat bonuses.

- Background: Living Lands - Laborer (purely roleplaying here. Pick any background that adds to the important stats below.)

- Stats [brackets without items or talents]:
MIG 21 [18] (you either go high with this and medium DEX or the other way. I went high with this due to this being a potd character where healing is super important)
CON 16 (some base HP is nice but dont go overboard since beyond a certain point defenses are more important for survivability)
DEX 10 (or 18+ if you want a fast hitter instead of a hard hitter)
PER 16 (the ACC bonus is nice, and quite a few conversation checks use perception. Still, fighters have really good base values so no need to minmax here)
INT 4 (This is a tough choice. You kinda have to dump something which will have a really noticeable effect on your playstyle. With dumped INT I pass up the over-time talents of the fighter like knockdown. Dumping INT is the lesser of all evils since a fighter doesnt have good inhetenr AoEs anyway.)
RES 14 (I did not want a shield fighter and also this is my PC and conversations check for RES a LOT. With a couple points I have at least a bit better than baseline DEF and can pass skillchecks every once in a while.)

- Skills:
Currently 8 Athletics and 12 Survival. Athletics for the nice heal bonus (you are oftentimes in the thick of a fight, far from a healer) which is even boosted by the high MIG. Survival has a couple really good things now. 12 might be a bit over the top but the Acc bonus II and the healing bonus II are really a must.

- Build:
- I went with the Adventurer weapon class. You willl have to choose one class and build around it. I picked Adventurer for the Estoc (for the -DR and roleplaying purposes) and the Flail (bekuz Starcaller). Pick all the focus, specialisation and mastery talents.
- Armored Grace. This is one of the best talents for a hybrid DPS- tank fighter if you dont want to use shields. Armored grace means you can equip a pull plate for the DR and still hit with reasonable speed (even with 10 DEX this char is by far the best damage dealer on the party)
- Disciplined Barrage. Lasts for a lousy 10 seconds but since it it per encounter, why not. You have to pick this or knockdown anyways and knockdown is worse on potd since everybody has high fortitude. For non- PoTD Knockdown is great, especially if you pick up movespeed bonuses and beeline for the mages in fights.
- Second Wind. Built- in resurrection. High MIG boosts the initial END.
- Unbending. The duration is really meh but this is about the best sustain talent the fighter has.
- Two- Handed Style. For the Deeps. +attack speed would be better but oh well.
- Superior Deflection. As a frontliner without shield, every bit counts.
- Constant recovery and everything the boosts it. I'm using the Trollhide Belt and the Cloak of the Tireless Defender as well and this way she usually heals more than the damage she suffers, especially with Unbending. None of these supress each other.

- Current combat stats:
Health 1183, END 237
Damage: 31-44 with the Grey Sleeper, 17-24 with Starcaller.
Acc: 100 with TGS, 108 with Starcaller
Defenses: DEF 83, FOR 89, REF 67, WILL 51
DR: 14/ 18 pierce, 18 slash 7 shock

Uses the Sanguine Plate and it triggers basically every fight for +4 MIG (nice with the healing) +4 CON -10 DEF +33% attack speed
Other items are Gauntlets of Accuracy, Fenwalkers (use Boots of Speed if you want a magekiller build), Ring of Deflection, Pensiavi mes Réi (this is a unique ring that gives +3 MIG. Found at the lair of the sky dragon. If u dont have it use a Ring of Prot.), Colak of the Tireless Defender and no helmet(if you have a non-godlike than go with Tempered Helm, Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil, Garodth's Chorus or an armor set helmet like Sanguine.)

In a typical fight she aggroes a lot of enemies, triggers Sanguine Plate and just tanks from there. Basically never goes down and she can DPS with TGS or control with Starcaller. Uses Second Wind for about one third of her max END if needed.

[altpstar666]

Thanks for the help! this really gives me a nice base to work with.

In the starting stats do you see a big difference on a build where might > dexterity? Does one work better then the other for DPS or just evens out during a fight.

[Wasted_46]

Originally posted by altpstar666:

Thanks for the help! this really gives me a nice base to work with.

In the starting stats do you see a big difference on a build where might > dexterity? Does one work better then the other for DPS or just evens out during a fight.

I like high DEX fighter for control builds (aka. one using weapons that stun or prone on hit or crit.).
Versus high damage reductions fewer big hits eventually do more damage than lots of smaller hits.

[jinath715]

Originally posted by Wasted_46:

Originally posted by altpstar666:

Thanks for the help! this really gives me a nice base to work with.

In the starting stats do you see a big difference on a build where might > dexterity? Does one work better then the other for DPS or just evens out during a fight.

I like high DEX fighter for control builds (aka. one using weapons that stun or prone on hit or crit.).
Versus high damage reductions fewer big hits eventually do more damage than lots of smaller hits.

I think in addition to loading up on dex, having a high perception allows melee class characters to interrupt enemy abilities which also allows more control over battles.
So far I have found it to be advantageous. Not sure how well interrups work on bosses though.
Dex is definitely good for attack speed though for all classes. Even my mage has a high dex. Strange I know.

[Wasted_46]

dex is also nice for generally everything. you dont just hit faster, you do everything faster. You got to 10 END and you gotta use that heal instantly but you only have 10 DEX? tough luck