Nomad or Warden calling for my long sword duelist?

[erter]

I am quite new to Caves of Qud and I am working on my second character build after my first character met its untimely demise against a Disciple of the Sightless way. My new character build is going to be a mutant duelist using long swords as his main weapon and using mutations to boost his agility and strength. This is my build so far:
Stats including modifiers from mutations and potential calling:
Strength: 21
Agility: 21
Toughness: 18
Intelligence, willpower and ego all 16.
Mutations: Chimera, Adrenal Control, Double Muscled, Night Vision and Triple Jointed.
For calling I am doubting between Warden and Nomad. First I was thinking of Warden. However I am not planning on using shields nor am I planning on making extensive use of ranged weapons. The equipment you start of with can also be looted from Snapjaws quite easily. So the only thing that is really interesting for me the Long Blades skill. On the other hand Nomad gives me not much in the way of skills either with Gathering being the only skill I would pick up if I were to go Warden. It however offers a great piece of early game armor. I also feel that the Nomad calling suits my character more. The character is more of a adventurer, explorer and duelist and not so much a soldier or knight like the Warden. I really can't decide as I see valid arguments for both. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Faital Ryuu]

Consider trying out Pilgrim or Arconaut. Pilgrim gives +2 Willpower, a very useful attribute for a Long Blade build since it'll reduce the cooldowns on Lunge and Swipe. Pilgrim also starts with the underrated Wayfaring skill which makes fast travel less of a hassle. Arconaut gives +2 Agility and starts with short blades. Some but not all of the Short Blade skills work with Long Blade builds in that with a short blade in your off-hand, these short blade skills will still proc while using a Long Blade in your primary hand. Arconaut also gets the Acrobatics skill tree and Spry, the latter of which is a flat +2 DV bonus.

If I were to pick between Nomad and Warden, your two initial callings you're deciding on, I'd lean towards Warden. Shields will always have a place in your off-hand if you don't plan to get the Dual Wield skill tree. Since Warden comes with the Shield skill tree you can use Shields right away unlike Nomad, who would need to spend 100 skill points for any damage blocks from Shields to occur. Shield Slam is also great crowd control if you've got multiple enemies trying to hack away at you. With pistol and long gun skill trees, whichever ranged weapon you're able to get your hands on first, you'll have better proficiency than the other callings mentioned thus far. Even if you'd prefer to specialize in melee, you always want a back-up firearm since many enemies can easily foil a melee combatant.

Nomad's Weathered skill has some use, particularly in hot and cold places like the Asphalt Mines or Bethesda Susa. Harvestry is also a decent skill to make money since you can sell your preserved plants for extra cash. But compared to Warden, Nomad's benefits are a tougher sell for my play style at least. Toughness isn't as important of an attribute for me compared to the others, but I know how to avoid dying on the average play session.

[CHOO CHOO]

If you want to roleplay a nomad, roleplay a nomad.

I'd always go Warden though. You can always strap a buckler to your arm to get staggering blocks against melee attackers, which is immensely useful. Shield bash is a life-saver, too. And no use for ranged weapons? There are plenty of enemies that even the deadliest duelist should prefer to kill from afar. So for me, for practicality, Warden - no contest.

[erter]

Thanks for the info. I actually like the idea of taking Arconout. The extra aglity and starting with acrobatics and spry is very usefull. And a shortblade in my offhand could also work out. Although I was planning to either go for 2 long swords or a 2 handed long sword. However I simply fail to see the use of shields for my build. You are trading a bunch of DV for a chance to get some extra AV against a single attack. And lastly while you might be able to survive the early game without too much trouble I am still quite new to the game and I really do want my toughness at 18 for the extra regen and health.

[CHOO CHOO]

Originally posted by 503 erter:

However I simply fail to see the use of shields for my build. You are trading a bunch of DV for a chance to get some extra AV against a single attack.

https://cavesofqud.gamepedia.com/Shield_Slam
https://cavesofqud.gamepedia.com/Staggering_Block

Knockdown and Stun. Two effects you can't get out of Long Blades alone, and that'll save your life sooner or later. And you can run them off a light buckler that'll cost you 1 or 2 DV at most while only occupying an arm slot.

And then there's https://cavesofqud.gamepedia.com/Stopsvalinn, which isn't even very rare.

[erter]

Originally posted by CHOO CHOO:

Originally posted by 503 erter:

However I simply fail to see the use of shields for my build. You are trading a bunch of DV for a chance to get some extra AV against a single attack.

https://cavesofqud.gamepedia.com/Shield_Slam
https://cavesofqud.gamepedia.com/Staggering_Block

Knockdown and Stun. Two effects you can't get out of Long Blades alone, and that'll save your life sooner or later. And you can run them off a light buckler that'll cost you 1 or 2 DV at most while only occupying an arm slot.

And then there's https://cavesofqud.gamepedia.com/Stopsvalinn, which isn't even very rare.

Fair enough. A wooden buckler strapped around my arm for stuns and knockdowns at the cost of 1 DV seems pretty good.

[CHOO CHOO]

1 DV and some skill points, yeah, but it's easily worth it.

[erter]

Yup I think I am gonna go with Warden. You start of with the long blade skill which is good for my character. But apart from that starting with the bow and rifle, shield and shield slam skills is great. You want something ranged with pretty much every character and the Warden provides the base skill for both bows and rifles and pistols which is great. And then shield and shield slam skills give you a good way to escape from sticky situations. From all the possible callings I think it offers the best set of starting skills. The equipment the Warden starts with isn't very good but his starting skill set is great.

[Vidi Kitty]

Need more Int for dueling stance and swipe to disarm. It's the only way I've survived the goat people in the jungle besides running.

[erter]

Originally posted by Vidi Kitty:

Need more Int for dueling stance and swipe to disarm. It's the only way I've survived the goat people in the jungle besides running.

Good point however to unlock dueling stance and swipe you only need 17 intelligence so it should be no problem to get that up high enough to unlock said skills.

[Faital Ryuu]

Another FYI for the OP and anyone else who may not know, Shields can augment Mental Armor by blocking attacks made by psionic weapons. When an attack is issued with a psionic weapon, it uses the attacker's Ego modifier instead of their Strength modifier when attempting to penetrate. Because it's a mental attack, it is penetrating against Mental Armor instead of AV. If the receiving target has a Shield or Buckler, they can attempt to block with it. The AV on the shield is added to their MA instead of their AV when defending against this Mental Attack. MA is augmented by the Willpower modifier.

The above is very specific knowledge. You have no guarantee of running into enemies that will wield psionic weapons against you, but your chances of running into one go up the farther in the game you progress. This knowledge won't help you if you don't use Shields.