Welcome to the...Path of the Unwise :)

[henrywiddas]

WARNING: Some spoilers included!!

I started this thread in April 2015 before buying the game, as a discussion about playing the holy trinity difficulty level from the get-go while going in blind...

I thought it was common sense that to get the most out of this game and to make decisions so much more weighty, then the holy trinity difficulty (expert, path of damned, trial of iron) was the only way to go and by going in blind it would make the learning process even more painful and lengthy which is what I wanted.

I estimated I would complete the game by the end of 2016, giving me over 18 months to do it.

I also set myself a limit of 52 characters to use (so 52 lives) starting with someone named with the letter A, then B, then C and so on all the way to Z and then back again to A.

I am currently on my 44th run and am 500+ hours into the game so I feel this method has given me value for money if nothing else...

I've even written a few vignettes about the characters who have tried and died on this thread to keep me engaged and for amusement of anyone reading from these Chronicles of the Path :)

To start with I was reaching level 3 if I was lucky and then eventually smashed the glass ceiling of taking Caed Nua and since then I have been reaching level 5 and 6 fairly regularly, once peaking at level 7.

But in the last four months or so I've really tried to focus more on the mechanics and have received a lot of help and tips from this thread so managed to reach level 9 on my 43rd run.

Now I'm on level 9 with my next character (an orlan Bleak Walker) and feel confident I will finish the game with this dude (White March included) so I'm still as deluded as I was at the start lol

If I had to offer advice on this method I'd say it's all about treading carefully and not getting overconfident, simple really :)

UPDATE: Just finished the game on 44th run, the Path has been walked finally :)

[The.Spaz.]

K I need I some opinions. I am stuck with choosing One stands alone or Blood lust for my barb. Which is better? Bloodlust gives you speed for every two enemies you kill while the other allows you enage two enemies at once and gves a damage boost.

[henrywiddas]

I chose One Stands Alone for my barb from White March as thought she could be a bit of a tank, but as it turned out she was a glass cannon and lost all her endurance in her first battle!

So if you have other tanks maybe choose Blood Lust and give her some movement perks too in case she gets too much attention from the bad guys :)

[Wasted_46]

haha I would say neither. Barbarian is pretty ability starved as it is.
You just cannot afford to pick up stuff that is inferior to other things, just like both of those talents.
See, you want to pick up things that are reliably, consistently always good, not just when some very specific set of conditions apply.

But that is just me, so probably listen to other's advices as well?

[henrywiddas]

good point there, spoken like a true Holy Trinity veteran :)

You can't lose if you pick deep pockets I reckon as I was always so frustrated when just having four slots, when half were taken up by endurance juice/revive scrolls/paralyse as left little room for the fun stuff.

but if getting deep pockets it may be worth getting the characters lore up to lvl 8 for the more powerful scrolls.

Cleared the Battery mines level and no just gone down to the next... not easy by any means but having Pallegina back in the squad is like having oxygen again, I feel like I may just survive ...

[Wasted_46]

yeah for example deep pockets is a general talent thats very good on potd. There are just so many great potions to have including warpaint, DAOM and barring deaths door, then you have your favorite summons, some good stuff from quests like that unique invisibility item, you got scrolls.... 3 slots feel too few.

other generic talents I'd pick up on barbarians are weapon focus (whatever), one weapon style (2H/ dual on most barbarian builds), savage/vulnerable attack, cross-class sneak attack, bloody slaughter, then you have like 6-7 good general defense talents, then you have fast runner, field triage if you think u need it. Those are always good not just when you manage to apply some specific conditions. Then you have about 9-10 good barbarian class talents, none of which is bloodlust or one stands alone IMO.

These whacky talents mostly sound really nice in theory I admit, but then in the tough battles where builds really matter (aka. bossfights vs dragons and such) your barbarian will be kinda useless because you have this really neat talent that does wonders when you are engaged by 3 enemies but does nothing versus a dragon.
(When you are engaged by 3 enemies your barbarian is daed anyways since defending is not really a barbarian's forte.)

This is generally true to all talents that give neat bonuses but are very specific. I'd almost always pick a generally useful talent instead.

[The.Spaz.]

So what would you suggest? I just hit level 9 and obviously there are more choices on the table than those two but they are the ones that mostly caught my eye. Seeing as how there are enoug choices, perhaps it might help if I gave a little background on how I go about my character. (PSA: WINDBAG ALERT, WALL OF TEXT AHEAD!)

I dunno, ever since the Diablo 2 days a DW barb has been my go to choice and it has served me very well in most games that allow it. I generally go for str/dex haybrid with heavy focus on passive talents and a few key active skills. This generally makes him a very deadly close quarter combatant on his own (hard to hit and hard hitting) and in a party based game I generally let my companions pick up the slack. From there i mostly build on his offense and speed/agility.

In this case however, my D&D based character specs didn't exactly translate over to this system in tact. I made the same mistake I did when I first played this game which is dump most of my points in dexterity to ensure high accuracy and crits. Since I didn't opt for expert mode or iron man this time I also took the game's suggestion and put a few points in Int as well. So far my barb has been very capable though not quite as well rounded as my initial build on POTD in expert and Ironman mode. I tend to recall easily bypassing most skill check and getting the best possible outcome in my first run...

Anyway I have since then been carefully crafting equipment that bolsters his preeption and resolve. I am also trying to keep his skill set as lean as possible so no redundant active talents (note: I am using terms "skill" and "talents" loosely).

For example: Seeing as how you get the watcher skill speaker to the restless that does terrifying AOE, I didn't get any of the warcry skills currently available. I also have scrolls and mages that do terrified so I have no real need of it.

Similarly Bloodlust is appealing but my char got plenty of speed already it won't make him that much more effective. One stands alone has its restriction but doesn't apply to my play style. Him and eder are in the thick of the fronlines and are consistently and reliably flanked. This would definitely help them hold the line better and keep most of them away from my mages.

My next move was to get the fighters skill to rejuvinate endurance during combat followed by savagery. But those options are not available and there are some neat barb skills that will be available too.

This time around I am not specializing my char in any single weapon which keeps his options open. So i have fashioned out matching sets of weapons for most occaisons with racial bonuses that I can swap between as the occaison needs. Not all of them tend to be of the same category though as I found my char quite flexible with a two handed sword or a bow despite lacking skills with the related weapons. The high dex and average preception tends to pay off quite a bit.

Anyway I am definitely open to suggestions if you have any. I have alreadys chosen One stands alone and have taken both options for trial run before setteling on one of them. I have to say I should have gotten this skill a lot sooner it would have helped quite a bit during my battle wtih The Dweller. I am about to clear of Od Nua to level 10 and then likely check out Cragholds keep and maybe check out a little bit of the White Marsh before I head to Dyrwood.

[henrywiddas]

wow i'm impressed, level nine with a barb and down to level 10 of Od Nua, I'm pretty sure you must be doing something right.

if i had to offer any advice it would be like goofy from walt disney telling conan the barbarian how to beat demons in the ninth circle of hell...

but if pushed i'd say as a rule of thumb on path of the damned, perks that boost defence carry more weight than those that make you hit harder, even for a barb

as durance once told me, a living barb hits harder than a dead one lol

in terms of my own experiences with barbs, my last character Jade got to level 9 and from memory she was hitting as hard as even Aloth in the party and i think a lot of that was to do with boosting accuracy where i could (something i learned from reading the proverbs of grand master @Wasted_46) so i would definitely commit to a group of weapons if you can as a +6 accurancy makes a big difference in the long run...

ad as a final thought, DR is such a big issue later in the game that harder hitting weapons are better to focus on (i make sure my entire party have pimped up arbelasts/arquebuses) so a barb should maybe think about dual wielding scimitars as a.) it would be bad azz and b.) they hit harder than all the other one handed weapons i think so you'd slice through a lot.

and as a a final final thought, i've not really tested this out but there is a barb perk at around level 9 (from memory) that lets you target either fortitude or regular defence, so any attack will be measured against the lower of the enemy's fortitude or defence. that may prove useful against some enemies.

and as a final final final thought there are some weapons that can cause two types of damage, like slice and thump (excuse the lack of correct terminolgy ) so that could be good for focussing on..

[henrywiddas]

getting myself psyched up to hit the lower depths of that dwarf fortress... it's hot down there...only 60+ hours of gameplay at stake *adjusts uncomofrtably tight tie*

[Wasted_46]

well... one stands alone will give you some bonus melee damage when a specific condition appllies.

or you can just decide on a best set of weapons an pick up the corresponding weapon focus talent which gives more acc which translates into more crits aka. bonus melee damage ALWAYS.

anyways that's how I built by dual wielding barb a while back:
max MIG and PER, base INT base END dump RES and rest goes to DEX. You can probably play around with various distributions on the 3 DPS stats (MIG/DEX/PER) and get various results. I honestly couldn't tell you which is the best. Probably there is no best as it depends on the rest of the build.
Anyways.
Party: Paladin with +acc aura and a priest is pretty nice with a barb.

- LVL1: you get Carnage and I pick up Frenzy. Barbaric yell.. yeah. You a caster now? Hell no, Leave that for your wizards.
Plus, all the +4 bonuses scale better when you are at a low LVL. +4 MIG is a 25% increase if you have 16, but only a ~15% if you have 25MIG lategame.
- LVL2: Weapon Focus. What I said earlier applies here too. +6 ACC is like a permanent 15% boost earlygame. Really good. Yeah you have to settle on a specific set of weapons but is this a problem? You will have a best set anyways and some filler.
- LVL3: Savage Defiance. Combine this with a high Athletics and your barb cannot die. The HP bonus is fixed which again scales better earlygame (70-% heal or so).
- LVL4: Accurate Carnege. +5 ACC on carnage. What's not to like. I dont see any better options (dual wielding doesnt scale wel early)
- LVL5: Brute Force is nice if you wanna pick up Threatening Presence later, but honestly you can just skip it and go back for Blooded or something.
- LVL6: Bloody Slaughter. You cannot spell "Slaughter" without "Laughter". Also it totally applies to carnage. One Stands Alone is not good for reasons I elaborated earlier.
- LVL7: Threatening Presence. This is sick (lol) with Brute Force, but even without, it is really good overall especially if you are going for dragons. This is an aura that gets reapplied constantly until it sticks. Sticking a free debuff on dragons is invaluable. Really good vs. normal mobs too. The other options (Thick Skinned, Blood Thirst) are great too so if you have enough CC otherwise then go for them. Notice that Blood Thirst is conditional as well but it is not at all an obscure condition; rather, something that happens literally all the time with a barb.
- LVL8: Apprentice's Sneak Attack. If you have any sort oc CC character (or your weapons have CC) then this is free 15% damage all the time. 15% is a LOT for one talent point.
- LVL9: Vengeful Defeat: Meh you don't wanna die. Barbaric Shout: You a caster now? skip this. Pick up something useful from earlier levels like Blood Thirst or Threatening Presence.
- LVL10: Get better Frenzy.
- LVL11: Eye of the Storm: this is why you don't die to mobs anymore. Also you will be overleveled pretty much all the time. if you do sidequests. Except vs. dragons. But even still vs dragons the mobs cannot engage you which is a good thing. The other option Heart of Fury is honestly not bad except its 1 per rest which is pathethic. You a caster now? lol.
- LVL12: Time to pick Dual Wielding up. It scales well with more damage, and also by this time you probably have some sweet CC effects on your weapons which scale better with attack speed.
- LVL13: Dragon Leap. This is why we didnt pick movement speed talents up earlier. They get totally obsolete with this.
- LVL14: Finally you have time to pick Stalwart Defiance up which is a sick talent and this is kinda late for it but oh well. As I said barbarian is extremely talent-starved.
- LVL15: Echoing Shout sucks so you just pick up whatever from earlier.
- LVL16: Beast Slayer for dragons (note thet this is nowhere near as good as the weapon enchantment) or Bull's Will if you are tierd of your barbarian getting dominated all the time or Mental Fortress or Savage Attack/Vulnerable Attack or Deep Pockets or Interrupting Blows or Superior Deflection or..

As you can see, the barbarian is extremely talent-heavy. You could totally use like +6-7 extra talents. You just don't have the luxury of being able to pick up filler talents like One Stands alone. If anything, you will have to deviate from the path I set up because honestly there 's jsut soo much good stuff to pick up on a DW barbarian.

My 2 cents anyways. If OSA works for you then by all means.

[The.Spaz.]

I am jus following my general expereince from the first playthrough. I only just got level 9 when I completed the endless path seals quest. It was sort of unexpected and I ended up choosing one stands alone. its very helpful for keeping the line on frontline defense. Also i already got that perk you suggested much earlier on. Like I said I like focus on passives and let my barb just be a total wrecking machine. Its something I have been doing since the Baldies gate days.

Its funny but generally my barb always dominates the stats. He killed the most powerful enemy so far which is still a diseased pudding... eventhough we just killed The Dweller not too long ago. .. He also has the most kills, crits etc. Its true, generally most enemies break into meaty chunks when he is done with them and he took down two trolls by himself and won the fight against the dweller. I think Kana has the most single damage and eder holds the count for most knockdowns lol.

I cannot wait to get to the DLC content as that will be completely new territory for me and see how my barb stacks up. Do you think I should finish up Drywood village before I go to Craghold keep? I have yet to get all the companions and I have taken care of all major quests at defiance... well quests that don't require me to go dryrwood. I figure Cragholds keep would be worth a view before heading towards drywood and searing falls etc.

[Wasted_46]

couple more things reflecting to what Henry says:

- Sabres are good yes. High damage (especially the unique annihilator ones) or varied types of damage (bittercut) are really good vs. high DR. Only thing is the lack of CC on the good unique ones.
- Generally the best thing to counteract hihg DRs on melee type characters is to have a 2hander of the same weapon class as a backup in the other weapon slot.
- Defensive talents are good yes except if your defense is pathetic to begin with. If your defense is like 20 then a +5 talent won't help if the enemies' accuracy is in the 60-70 range. So if you are going for a dumed RES defenseless build you might as well accept it and not worry about it too much. If you are heavily engaged you will die either way except if a priest or something saves you.
- I'm pretty sure Henry knows the game inside out pretty well on all character classes so I definitely value his advice highly.
- Brute Force is a LVL5 talent that lets you target fortitude instead of deflection if that is lower. Only thing is, fortitude scores are generally pretty high (except on casters who have low deflections anyways) and they are harder to lower than deflection (prone, paralyze, sicken, blind etc... all lowers deflection). The only good thing about that talent is the natural synergy with Threatening Presence but the latter is good in itself so you don't necessarily have to pick Brute Force up.

[Wasted_46]

Cragholdt Bluffs is a lvl13+ area. pretty hard.

[The.Spaz.]

Great so threatening presence I should look out for next since I already picked brute force long time ago. I tend to use blind, sicken and slick quite often with aloth so it all works for my barb. Like I said it mostly ends with them exploding into meaty chunks no matter what weapon. I am currently using a two handed sword on him with beast enchantment on it to clear the ardra beetles. So far so good.

In regards to defense it makes hell of a difference if your rating is average or poor. In my case what I have so far seems to work quite well. most of my equipments are unique loot so they bring about additional protections and immunities which makes my part even more fierce. But generally Eder is my pure defense character.

I was considering adding additional quick slots for weapons on my barb but its not a priority. I tend to have quite a few specialed weapons for my barb to switch from depending on the situation. But thanks to The Witcher games I tend to prepare before a battle by sending Sagani/Kana ahead to scout so I am always stocked on consumables. If I have enough points I am sort of enarmoured with the idea of coating poison on my blades.

Also I cannot argue about Henry's skills regarding this game. Multiple playthrough of the same game is beyond me and this thread has been active since I first played the game years back. I remember commenting in here and I am sure some of my terrible story writing still exists in earlier pages lol. All I can say is my aspriations are simply to beat the game at its most complete and challenging format just once and move on. I am trying to clear my backlog for TW3. All I know is I am very adapatable and thorogh with the games I choose to play even the one time.

[The.Spaz.]

So drywood first? Or White Marsh. Apparently the DLC contents aren't behind one singular portal. So I want to make sure I tackle the game at appropriately. I am close to clearing out level 10 now, taking my time since Sagani is gone for 10 days.

[Wasted_46]

haha nice. Good choice on not doing craholdt bluffs for now.
(on the ohter hand, if you like some challenge, doing CB early is quite some.)
Brute force + presence is fairly decent together, I'ms sure you will notice the effect. It's jsut that it is not the best combo around, (as I said fortitude is generally high and generally harder to reduce than deflection) but still not bad and definitely fun.