can't decide on weapon focus

[GrimWisp]

So i'm getting close to the end of Act 2 and I have a lot of the best weapons in the game at this point and I can't decide on what to focus on. currently my party is (PC)Barbarian, Eder, Pallegina, GM, Durance, and Aloth. I have my PC, Pallegina, and Durance using Greatswords, Eder using War Hammers (Shatterstar only atm), GM using a Hunting Bow (Persistence) and some random melee weapons and Aloth using the scepter/wand from the Caed Nua quest line. My Barb and Pallegina are specced for fire damage so i'm wearing the Deadfire Belt and Pallegina is using the Forgemaster's gloves so that they can summon Firebrand however i never really have a need to use Firebrand unless i know i'm in a boss fight. Durance is using a GS/Arquebus simply because of his unique talent but i don't think it's really worth it.

So with that out of the way i'm mostly looking for some help on deciding on weapons for Durance, Pallegina, and my PC. I still want my PC to use a Greatsword/Estoc but i don't which weapon spec is more beneficial for a Barbarian when it comes down to dps/cc. I know that Estocs can put out more damage but the greatswords seem to have a bit more CC in them. I should mention I own Tidefall, St. Rumbaldt, Justice, Blade of Endless Paths, and the Drake's Bell. I'm not sure if Pallegina really would prefer to use an Estoc, Greatsword, or maybe even dual wield Sabres. I usually have her open up with Sworn Enemy followed up by a FoD arbalest shot. Durance. . . I'm not really sure on what to do here at all. I already have too many people in melee so i'd like to keep him on the back line but being a Priest he really doesn't want to be using a weapon with a long reload.

I can always respec my barb if needed but the starts rn are 20 MIG, 10 CON, 10 DEX, 10 PER, 18 INT, 10 RES.

[✙205🍉🐆→]

Barbarian with Firebrand max int and str AOE build (a pair of gloves you buy at Crucible Keep in First Fires)
Durance arquebuse
Pallegina - trash (Tidefall)

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Durance should use a 1H Sword, since as a Priest of Magran he favors Sword/Arquebus. 2H Great Swords and Mace are for Priests of Berath.

Do you play with The White March installed? Then you could get interesting weapons like St.Ydwen's Redeemer even before starting Act 3.

There are also tons of interesting 1H weapons for a dual-wielding barbarian. In case of doubt, browse the Wiki:
--> https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Weapons#See_also
--> https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/List_of_soulbound_items

Finally, you could also choose to learn two different Weapon Focus talents, but it's just +6 Accuracy. With just PER 10, you didn't invest into any Accuracy bonus there. Do you really need Weapon Focus? There are potions and support spells to boost Accuracy.

[smilehigh]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Durance should use a 1H Sword, since as a Priest of Magran he favors Sword/Arquebus. 2H Great Swords and Mace are for Priests of Berath.

I know that the OP asked specifically about weapon focus, but in a party-based play...

...Durance should not be using a 1H sword at all. Durance should be casting spells (Devotions for the Faithful among them).
And while his deity "favors" swords - to be able to use that favor he should pick Inspired Flame, which is a waste of a talent because a melee priest with a 1H sword is not the most efficient combo.


EDIT: sorry, I've missed the part where the OP states that he/she already gave Durance this talent. Then maybe giving him a 1h sword like Shame or Glory or Steadfast might make sense (though leveling the latter might take some effort).

[smilehigh]

Originally posted by GrimWisp:

I still want my PC to use a Greatsword/Estoc but i don't which weapon spec is more beneficial for a Barbarian when it comes down to dps/cc. I know that Estocs can put out more damage but the greatswords seem to have a bit more CC in them. I should mention I own Tidefall, St. Rumbaldt, Justice, Blade of Endless Paths, and the Drake's Bell.

Take Weapon Focus "Soldier" with Tidefall then, as its draining and wounding effects should be applied to all enemies affected by Carnage.

As for Greatswords vs. Estocs - yes, estocs have armor penetration but they only use one damage type, while greatswords use 2 damage types, so on average they are roughly equal.

Do you have White March expansion? Because if you do you might also try The Grey Sleeper:
https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/The_Grey_Sleeper
Especially if you tend to hit a lot of enemies with Carnage.
(It's an estoc, but it's a soulbound weapon so it will work with any weapon focus. Btw same goes for Firebrand, but you probably know that already)

Originally posted by GrimWisp:

Durance. . . I'm not really sure on what to do here at all. I already have too many people in melee so i'd like to keep him on the back line but being a Priest he really doesn't want to be using a weapon with a long reload.

Not sure what you mean in your last sentence, but reload phase does not affect casting speed as it can be cancelled. Of course you will still have to reload your weapon if you want to fire it after casting spells.

[LHGreen]

Yeah, just stick an arquebus on Durance and call it a day. He shouldn't be doing melee very often unless you really need him to, and I believe it's only in the sequel that using a range weapon in melee incurs a penalty, so even then there's not much need to switch. He should be using his per encounter abilities, then shooting guys from the middle of the party unless the use of one of his spells is either required or at least overall more efficient than not using it.

[Paladin]

For Durance, I give him a Arquebus and a Sword. Whispers of Yenwood and later Sheathed in Autumn. He should barely be using it, only switching to Sword and Shield if enemies manage to get past the front line defense. He'll usually be taking shots between spells.

Pallegina would do fine with a Greatsword. Tidefall or Hours of St. Rumbalt. You could make her tankier, with Shatterstar and Outworn Buckler, but I didn't find that as effective as using a Greatsword.

My only experience with Barbarians is the companion Maneha. I found her to be effective using Tall Grass. With some increased Dex and/or Per, you could probably do a good job at knocking enemies down from behind the tank. Alternatively, Grey Sleeper seems like a great Estoc for Barbarians, for a chance at causing Paralyze and summoning Vessels with each enemy hit by Carnage. I imagine Tidefall would be very effective too, if the Draining and Wounding applies to all the splash damage targets.


For myself and party members, I have the following focuses and main weapons:

PC Paladin - Soldier - Justice > Hours of St. Rumbalt > Tidefall
Eder - Ruffian - Resolution > War Club of Materu/Purgatory + Badgradr's Barricade/Redfield
Aloth - Noble - Gyrd Háewanes Sténes
Durance - Soldier - Whispers of Yenwood > Sheathed in Autumn, Pliambo per Casitàs
Pallegina - Soldier - Shatterstar + Outworn Buckler/Hours of St. Rumbalt, St. Garam's Spark
Sagani - Peasant - Persistence > Stormcaller, Cladhaliath
Hiraviras - Peasant - Greenstone Staff, One-Eyed Molina's Gold-Fingered Spike Flinger
Zahua - Peasant - Fists, Persistence
Kana - Adventurer - The Rain of Godagh Field, Unforgiven > Starcaller + Ilfan Byrngar's Solace
Maneha - Soldier - Tall Grass
Grieving Mother - Ruffian - Dîal Ewn Dibita + Misery's End > Bittercut + Bittercut, Leadspitter
Devil of Caroc - Noble - Ravenwing + Spelltongue > Drawn in Spring, Fellstroke

[BoogieMan]

Something I always find annoying with these types of games is you never know what good weapons of X type you're going to find, and it's not at all uncommon for several weapons types to be available for choice, but greatly under represented in game.

[GrimWisp]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies. I do own WM1 and 2 which i plan on doing pretty much right after i get to twin elms and get myself some of the weapons there.

I decided on the Tall Grass and Tidefall for my Barb while also keeping the SoF perk for if i want to use Firebrand since there's no real reason to ever take off the deadfire cannoneer belt.

For Pallegina I really wanted to switch to the Estoc but I wanted to keep the Soldier perk for the extra acc on the arbalest since i open up with Sworn Enemy in to a FoD arbalest shot. It feels like a waste to not use the BoEP but it is what it is. she's currently using St. Rumbaldt as her melee.

Durance will just stay on the Arquebus an the yenwood sword and Shame or Glory. he is pretty much casting all the time anyway.

I didn't really mention Eder or GM but Eder i'm happy with for the most part. He's also soldier spec'd but he's using Shatterstar. sadly i don't have a second good unique War Hammer so he's using Edge of Reason as his secondary for now.

GM i'm not to sure on what to do with, I have her using lead splitter and persistence but i hope to replace persistence with the bounty war bow. i know melee cipher is a thing but is it worth it on her? if i did it i'd be using dual sabres on her.

[smilehigh]

Originally posted by GrimWisp:

I decided on the Tall Grass and Tidefall for my Barb while also keeping the SoF perk

Then you might also want to add a burning lash to them to get the most of Scion of Flame.

Originally posted by GrimWisp:

GM i'm not to sure on what to do with, I have her using lead splitter and persistence but i hope to replace persistence with the bounty war bow. i know melee cipher is a thing but is it worth it on her? if i did it i'd be using dual sabres on her.

Melee ciphers are very viable, but they require more micromanagement for proper timing to join the melee and for correct positioning. So it depends on your willingness to babysit another party member.
You also have enough frontliners already, so sometimes it will not be easy to postion yet another melee attacker in narrower passages or some particularly crowded fights.

Dual sabres work nicely. Especially when you find Bittercut in White March (which you can also duplicate using Helwax Mold).
Another option is a rapier + dagger, for example upgraded Sword of Daenysis + March Steel Dagger for better speed (you can substitute them with Spelltongue + Drawn in Spring/Unlabored Blade later).
Firebrand is not bad on a cipher either.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by smilehigh:

...Durance should not be using a 1H sword at all. Durance should be casting spells (Devotions for the Faithful among them).
And while his deity "favors" swords - to be able to use that favor he should pick Inspired Flame, which is a waste of a talent because a melee priest with a 1H sword is not the most efficient combo.

Ever played a battle priest in PoE? They are so much fun, if they reinforce the frontline and cover companions and themselves with small radius support spells, then adding self-support spells as extra boost. Accuracy above 110 and high damage due to buffs. Of course, it all depends on chosen playstyle and whether you let the priest join as a melee combatant. Priest of Berath with The Pallid Hand can be tuned to become a nice Vessel killer, wielding St.Ydwen's Redeemer even. And Nightshroud as 1H weapon.

Durance is very defensive (RES 18 / CON 13), since devs want him to cater for all those players that desperately want "a healer" (and quite some people ignore the more interesting spells because there is a certain learning curve). Reduced DEX/PER 9 hurts. But that is exactly why wielding a single 1H weapon is the interesting choice for that extra +12 Accuracy.

[smilehigh]

I have nothing against battle priests. (They still have to cast to be effective though)

My comment was specifically about a priest using a one-handed sword. Even you yourself quote other weapons in your examples.
Yes, you can buff your priest all you want, but even then casting Pillar of Faith and Storm of Holy Fire will be so much more effective than auto-attacking with Steadfast.

(There'll be exceptions like different immunities, lack of active spells left, etc. And of course there will always be moments when your priest will be auto-attacking with his weapon just because the fight is so easy that his spells are no longer needed).

As for the accuracy buff from Inspired Flame:
- in the beginning of the game you should proritize taking other priestly talents;
- in the second half of the game this bonus becomes less relevant as you will have high enough accuracy already from levels, equipment, enchants and on top of that +20 Accuracy from DotF. IMHO in late game with a priest in your party obsessing too much about stacking accuracy is overkill.

IMHO you might still take Inspired Flame:
- for roleplaying reasons;
- for those first shots with arquebus if you make alpha strikes with it before starting to cast;
- just because there are no more other useful talents left to pick from.

[smilehigh]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Ever played a battle priest in PoE? They are so much fun. Priest of Berath with The Pallid Hand can be tuned to become a nice Vessel killer, wielding St.Ydwen's Redeemer even. And Nightshroud as 1H weapon.

Come to think of it, this might be a good idea for my next character :) Probably a death-godlike for conversation options in Deadfire?
Thanks for the inspiration!

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by smilehigh:

I have nothing against battle priests. (They still have to cast to be effective though)

It's the same with melee wizards.

Originally posted by smilehigh:

Yes, you can buff your priest all you want, but even then casting Pillar of Faith and Storm of Holy Fire will be so much more effective than auto-attacking with Steadfast.

Of course.

It's about role-playing. I've played with six dwarves, naked barbarians, five monks lead by a priest, five fighters lead by a paladin (knight), melee wizards, wizards restricting themselves to a subset of spells (e.g. fire wizard, frost wizard).

[smilehigh]

That's why I love PoE character system and combat :)

Is playing melee wizard tedious? (Party play, not solo)

I've been toying with the idea for a long time, but I just can't imagine myself casting all those protection spells in every battle even if most of them are quick-cast. (Granted you probably don't have to cast all of them every time, but still...)

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by smilehigh:

Is playing melee wizard tedious? (Party play, not solo)

Yeah, certainly on PotD mode. It's highly repetitive and tiresome. And dubious, too.

While the wizard is still preparing for battle with self-support spells, the better warriors are fighting already, saving the show and leading the total damage statistics. During one of my tests in 2017, around level 10, the party's quick monk was ahead by more than 20,000 damage.

And just as it is with priests, for wizards it is too tempting to contribute essential spells that cause afflictions rather than trying to become a warrior. The difference is that a smart battle priest casts AoE support on companions and can benefit from the effect in addition to self-support spells.