Which augments for a solo Fighter / Warrior and why?

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

The title says it all. :)
Would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

[insolent1]

clout, automony and anything that boosts your damage
the 10% damage for core skills is good, warrior core attacks are solid
the jump attack damage from strider as warrior jump attacks are really good
bloodlust is excellent although situational
the warrior knockdown one combined with the ring from madeline and playing with a large and musclesbound arisen will make knockdown an extremly useful tool

[Huggles the Cat]

Fighter
Augment - Sinew(Ft)/Vehemence(Ft)/Clout(Wr)/Proficiency(Wr)/Apotropaism(Ma)/Awareness(So)
These are entierly dependent on the type of fighter you are wanting to build. They are oriented around a pawn and not arisen. They are also orriented around higher defense and attack, while neglecting magic defense on level gains. These should be pretty self explanitory but the mage and sorcerer ones are to boost magic defense.

Warrior
Augment - Sinew(Ft)/Ferocity(Wr)/Temerity(Wr)/Vehemence(Ft)/Clout(Wr)/Proficiency(Wr)
These are also pretty self explanitory. The build is for a warrior that only cares about strength and natural defense. I chose Temerity over Audacity and Impact because Impact doesn't have as much "impact" compared to the stats of later game weapons and the ability to equip two barbed nails for what seems to be a stronger knockdown/stagger effect than the augment can provide. Audacity could be useful but you can just give your warrior two Ogre Bone rings for +30 stagger/knockdown resistance at all time instead of only when charging. I'm pretty sure Audacity provides more than +30 but to only have it during a charge attack and the fact you are likely with upgraded armor so late in the game that the armor's stats are far superior to any augment. This leave Termerity as the only helpful choice as it halves damage while charging.

(all augment sets are intended as possibilities for players that havn't gotten any secret augments or can't be bothered to farm them)

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

Originally posted by Brew:

clout, automony and anything that boosts your damage
the 10% damage for core skills is good, warrior core attacks are solid
the jump attack damage from strider as warrior jump attacks are really good
bloodlust is excellent although situational
the warrior knockdown one combined with the ring from madeline and playing with a large and musclesbound arisen will make knockdown an extremly useful tool

Originally posted by Mr.Huggles:

Fighter
Augment - Sinew(Ft)/Vehemence(Ft)/Clout(Wr)/Proficiency(Wr)/Apotropaism(Ma)/Awareness(So)
These are entierly dependent on the type of fighter you are wanting to build. They are oriented around a pawn and not arisen. They are also orriented around higher defense and attack, while neglecting magic defense on level gains. These should be pretty self explanitory but the mage and sorcerer ones are to boost magic defense.

Warrior
Augment - Sinew(Ft)/Ferocity(Wr)/Temerity(Wr)/Vehemence(Ft)/Clout(Wr)/Proficiency(Wr)
These are also pretty self explanitory. The build is for a warrior that only cares about strength and natural defense. I chose Temerity over Audacity and Impact because Impact doesn't have as much "impact" compared to the stats of later game weapons and the ability to equip two barbed nails for what seems to be a stronger knockdown/stagger effect than the augment can provide. Audacity could be useful but you can just give your warrior two Ogre Bone rings for +30 stagger/knockdown resistance at all time instead of only when charging. I'm pretty sure Audacity provides more than +30 but to only have it during a charge attack and the fact you are likely with upgraded armor so late in the game that the armor's stats are far superior to any augment. This leave Termerity as the only helpful choice as it halves damage while charging.

(all augment sets are intended as possibilities for players that havn't gotten any secret augments or can't be bothered to farm them)

Thx for both of your advice! Will test ur said setups! :)
What are your personal thoughts on the HP and defense boosting passives btw?
Seeing that bastion seams to boost phys def. by a ton. (wiki says by 225 def on hard mode)
I'm also suprised you didn't mention autonomy @Mr.Huggles. Is there a reason why you didnt pick it that I should be aware of? :)

Cheers!

[Lv 20 Bolting Bot]

For solo warrior I'd go:

Autonomy (Sin)
Bloodlust (Sin)
Clout (War)
Vehemence (Fight)
Eminence (Str)
Impact (War)

Offense is the best defense in solo. This gives great jump attack damage and stagger power with Barbed Nails x2. Your encumberance can't be too high with this, but jumping isn't all too affected by it any way so it should be just fine.

For fighter I'd go:

Autonomy
Bloodlust
Clout
Vehemence
Proficiency (War; for Dragon's Maw spamming)
Bastion (War), Prescience (Fight; if you like perfect blocking) or Tenacity (Secret; if you find yourself getting one-shot)

Spam Dragon's Maw on everything; avoid flying enemies. Bring lots of Liquid Vim and stamina consumables.

[Huggles the Cat]

Originally posted by Mergos Wet Nurse:

Originally posted by Brew:

clout, automony and anything that boosts your damage
the 10% damage for core skills is good, warrior core attacks are solid
the jump attack damage from strider as warrior jump attacks are really good
bloodlust is excellent although situational
the warrior knockdown one combined with the ring from madeline and playing with a large and musclesbound arisen will make knockdown an extremly useful tool

Originally posted by Mr.Huggles:

Fighter
Augment - Sinew(Ft)/Vehemence(Ft)/Clout(Wr)/Proficiency(Wr)/Apotropaism(Ma)/Awareness(So)
These are entierly dependent on the type of fighter you are wanting to build. They are oriented around a pawn and not arisen. They are also orriented around higher defense and attack, while neglecting magic defense on level gains. These should be pretty self explanitory but the mage and sorcerer ones are to boost magic defense.

Warrior
Augment - Sinew(Ft)/Ferocity(Wr)/Temerity(Wr)/Vehemence(Ft)/Clout(Wr)/Proficiency(Wr)
These are also pretty self explanitory. The build is for a warrior that only cares about strength and natural defense. I chose Temerity over Audacity and Impact because Impact doesn't have as much "impact" compared to the stats of later game weapons and the ability to equip two barbed nails for what seems to be a stronger knockdown/stagger effect than the augment can provide. Audacity could be useful but you can just give your warrior two Ogre Bone rings for +30 stagger/knockdown resistance at all time instead of only when charging. I'm pretty sure Audacity provides more than +30 but to only have it during a charge attack and the fact you are likely with upgraded armor so late in the game that the armor's stats are far superior to any augment. This leave Termerity as the only helpful choice as it halves damage while charging.

(all augment sets are intended as possibilities for players that havn't gotten any secret augments or can't be bothered to farm them)

Thx for both of your advice! Will test ur said setups! :)
What are your personal thoughts on the HP and defense boosting passives btw?
Seeing that bastion seams to boost phys def. by a ton. (wiki says by 225 def on hard mode)
I'm also suprised you didn't mention autonomy @Mr.Huggles. Is there a reason why you didnt pick it that I should be aware of? :)

Cheers!

They suck, don't bother with any of the augments that boost your stamina or health. They only boost by 100 points for each augment. That's easily made up for in a few levels and anything that hits hard enough to hurt you will do a lot more than a few hundred points of damage.

[Lv 20 Bolting Bot]

Originally posted by Mr.Huggles:

They suck, don't bother with any of the augments that boost your stamina or health. They only boost by 100 points for each augment.

Yeah, only time they're (health ones) worthwhile is at the start of a Lv.1 HM run, as they help you get out of the "one-shot stage" quicker. After just a little while they become pretty much useless.

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

Ah I see thanks for the clarification! :)
What about Bastion? Worth it?

[Huggles the Cat]

Originally posted by Mergos Wet Nurse:

Ah I see thanks for the clarification! :)
What about Bastion? Worth it?

It's quite good if you have trouble avoiding damage. I used to think it was a flat defense increase of 50 points but it turns out it is a flat damage receved decrease by 50 points and on hard mode that is changed into 225 points. Very handy, even against magic damage.
(just double checked with the wiki and it seems it also changes to 112.5 damage reduction when in bitter black isle.

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

Originally posted by Mr.Huggles:

Originally posted by Mergos Wet Nurse:

Ah I see thanks for the clarification! :)
What about Bastion? Worth it?

It's quite good if you have trouble avoiding damage. I used to think it was a flat defense increase of 50 points but it turns out it is a flat damage receved decrease by 50 points and on hard mode that is changed into 225 points. Very handy, even against magic damage.
(just double checked with the wiki and it seems it also changes to 112.5 damage reduction when in bitter black isle.

So it even works against spells dealing phys dmg.?
Damn thats quite good indeed.
And yes, as Warrior it seams like a good idea to keep it since from time to time you indeed miss a swing here and there.
As fighter I think ur fine without since you can block and have higher def.

[insolent1]

get the defensive augments asap as they are useful early - mid game
later on when you have loads of augments to pick from, change to augments that boost damage and or knockdown
the percentage augments become better as you level while the static defense become less useful

[Proconsul]

For pure soak-it-all-up tanking, you could stack all the damage reduction augments. That would be Bastion and Fortitude for physical plus Apotropaism and Awareness for magical damage. This would reduce each and every instance of damage taken by 80 on normal, 360 on hard, and 180 on Bitterblack, regardless of what is causing the damage! And remember that it calculates the reduction for each and every blow and each little glowy blast of mana separately. The tradeoff is that it only leaves you two more augment slots for other stuff, but if that playstyle appeals to you, then there is something to be said for this method.

Other good complimentary pairs to fill out those last two slots on a pure tank might be:

Dexterity and Arm-Strength (both strider augs) - this makes you climb big beasties faster while also using only half as much stamina doing it, leaving you both more time and more stamina for whacking at those weak spots. For best effect, wear Gloves of Might with this build, to make it much easier to cling to those beasties like a giant tick when they try to shake you off.

Leg-strength and Sinew - this is a crutch for special conditions. If, for aesthetic or other reasons, you choose to make a tank that is not very heavy and thus has mediocre (or worse) carrying capacity, this combination will greatly ease your mobility woes while wearing your heavier gear. Sinew will add 20kg of capacity (starting with the very light weight class!), while Leg-Strength will give you the movement rate of the next lower encumbrance level below your current actual encumbrance. Functionally it's better to just make a heavier toon that doesn't have the weight problem in the first place, but sometimes you just gotta roll with looks over muscle, I know.

Adamance and Egression - this combo is obviously for fighters, not warriors. Adamance cuts your stamina drain for shield blocking in half, while egression makes it much easier and faster to escape enemy grapples, most particularly the nasty ones like when you are in an archydra's jaws about to be swallowed. If you are THE tank in the party, you cannot necessarily rely on your more squishy pawns to get you out of such a fix, especially once you are sliding down a gullet and only a timely head-chopping can save you.

Big caveat: this kind of build is all about style over substance. If you are trying to play the indomitable tank, this can be a fun kind of build to do it with. But make no mistake: there is nothing remotely min-maxed or "optimized" about it - it's about fun and style, not about trying to be the "best you can be".

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

Originally posted by Brew:

get the defensive augments asap as they are useful early - mid game
later on when you have loads of augments to pick from, change to augments that boost damage and or knockdown
the percentage augments become better as you level while the static defense become less useful

Allright! Thanks for explaining!
Will try to drop the defensive augments at some point and see what works better for me instead.

Originally posted by Proconsul:

For pure soak-it-all-up tanking, you could stack all the damage reduction augments. That would be Bastion and Fortitude for physical plus Apotropaism and Awareness for magical damage. This would reduce each and every instance of damage taken by 80 on normal, 360 on hard, and 180 on Bitterblack, regardless of what is causing the damage! And remember that it calculates the reduction for each and every blow and each little glowy blast of mana separately. The tradeoff is that it only leaves you two more augment slots for other stuff, but if that playstyle appeals to you, then there is something to be said for this method.

Other good complimentary pairs to fill out those last two slots on a pure tank might be:

Dexterity and Arm-Strength (both strider augs) - this makes you climb big beasties faster while also using only half as much stamina doing it, leaving you both more time and more stamina for whacking at those weak spots. For best effect, wear Gloves of Might with this build, to make it much easier to cling to those beasties like a giant tick when they try to shake you off.

Leg-strength and Sinew - this is a crutch for special conditions. If, for aesthetic or other reasons, you choose to make a tank that is not very heavy and thus has mediocre (or worse) carrying capacity, this combination will greatly ease your mobility woes while wearing your heavier gear. Sinew will add 20kg of capacity (starting with the very light weight class!), while Leg-Strength will give you the movement rate of the next lower encumbrance level below your current actual encumbrance. Functionally it's better to just make a heavier toon that doesn't have the weight problem in the first place, but sometimes you just gotta roll with looks over muscle, I know.

Adamance and Egression - this combo is obviously for fighters, not warriors. Adamance cuts your stamina drain for shield blocking in half, while egression makes it much easier and faster to escape enemy grapples, most particularly the nasty ones like when you are in an archydra's jaws about to be swallowed. If you are THE tank in the party, you cannot necessarily rely on your more squishy pawns to get you out of such a fix, especially once you are sliding down a gullet and only a timely head-chopping can save you.

Big caveat: this kind of build is all about style over substance. If you are trying to play the indomitable tank, this can be a fun kind of build to do it with. But make no mistake: there is nothing remotely min-maxed or "optimized" about it - it's about fun and style, not about trying to be the "best you can be".

Thanks for the very detailed explaination!
I sure will try different setups you suggested here!

To give you a rough idea of my current playstyle and what I'm up to:

I started with fighter, spec'd to warrior asap and planningto go warrior until 100 since HP gain will drop off alot after.
Thats when I will go figher to keep getting decend HP and defense.
I'm basicly building a somewhat offensive tank with tons of HP and defense.

My current augments are:
-Autonomy
-Clout
-Vehemence
STR boosts for alot more dmg.

-Bastion
-Awareness
My two defensive boosts which seams to help alot when I kite enemies together to kill them all at once with AoE abilities.

-Impact
Since I'm wearing 2x Barbed Nails this helps alot to control the crowd with knock downs and knock backs.

Current abilities I use are:
-Exodus Slash
Help alot when I need to get some space or vs shielded foes.

-Corona Slash
For AoE when surrounded and knock downs to control the crowd.

-Arc of Deliverance
Even tho it takes some time to channel I often found myself to have enough time to use it and it easily knocks down even the greatest of foes thx to my two rings and impact.
I can basicly chain one arc into another if a bigger foe like a chimera gets knocked down.


Hopefully this gives you an idea.

Cheers, Mergo.

[Proconsul]

Nice package. Seems like you already have a pretty good handle on building your own custom build to match your playstyle, because that one seems to be pretty well rounded.

The only small tip I might add would be to throw in some under-100 time as an assassin, just to increase your stamina pool. I am a big believer in having a goodly sized reservoir of that for pretty much ANY build, since it is so universally necessary for all activites, i.e. fighting, magicking, and just plain old running. Fighter only gives 15 pts of stamina per level under 100, while warrior is even worse at 10 per level. Min/maxing just those two classes for almost all of your under-100 leveling is likely to leave you a little low in the stamina department, or at least lower than I would personally be comfortable with.

Remember that once you hit 100, stat growth is going to slow to a crawl, both because the per level numbers are going to drop dramatically for all classes and because the XP requirements to level are going to get much higher. So under-100 is the time get your stat pool in order for the long haul. Just my opinion there.

Normally I migth advise using the ranger class for stamina buildup since under 100 it is fastest at that at 30 stam per level. But assassin is a better fit for your situation I think, since it is almost as fast at building stamina, 27 per level, but is also the fastest builder of the strength stat at 6 per level, faster even than the warrior's 5 per level. So you can beef your stamina pool without slowing your strength growth, and in fact increasing it slightly. It works out to a straight up trade with no loss of overall points. You give up 18 HP per level in exchange for 17 stamina and 1 strength. But again, that's just my own opinion. Your current plan will still result in a very viable build, for sure.

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

Originally posted by Proconsul:

Nice package. Seems like you already have a pretty good handle on building your own custom build to match your playstyle, because that one seems to be pretty well rounded.

The only small tip I might add would be to throw in some under-100 time as an assassin, just to increase your stamina pool. I am a big believer in having a goodly sized reservoir of that for pretty much ANY build, since it is so universally necessary for all activites, i.e. fighting, magicking, and just plain old running. Fighter only gives 15 pts of stamina per level under 100, while warrior is even worse at 10 per level. Min/maxing just those two classes for almost all of your under-100 leveling is likely to leave you a little low in the stamina department, or at least lower than I would personally be comfortable with.

Remember that once you hit 100, stat growth is going to slow to a crawl, both because the per level numbers are going to drop dramatically for all classes and because the XP requirements to level are going to get much higher. So under-100 is the time get your stat pool in order for the long haul. Just my opinion there.

Normally I migth advise using the ranger class for stamina buildup since under 100 it is fastest at that at 30 stam per level. But assassin is a better fit for your situation I think, since it is almost as fast at building stamina, 27 per level, but is also the fastest builder of the strength stat at 6 per level, faster even than the warrior's 5 per level. So you can beef your stamina pool without slowing your strength growth, and in fact increasing it slightly. It works out to a straight up trade with no loss of overall points. You give up 18 HP per level in exchange for 17 stamina and 1 strength. But again, that's just my own opinion. Your current plan will still result in a very viable build, for sure.

Yeah, even tho I recently just finished the game for the first time (missed a ton of side areas and didnt do the dlc area) I was wondering if proper build creation is a thing in this game and when I discovered the stat growth in the wiki I thought: Well, lets reroll a proper character to explore everything with.

Since I died quite often when I started I decided to go offensive tank and warrior / fighter seamed like the best options.

Having a blast so far, just reached lvl 85 and exploring the everfall after the dragon died.
I also never really bothered to explore the world once it changed... big mistake, everything changed by alot it seams... so I will revisit every location I have been before I think.

Since I'm playing solo and hard mode, I sometimes switch around my augments if needed.

I also decided against ur idea leveling assassine a few times since I mostly use jumping light or jumping heavy attacks and only abilities when really needed or the situation allows it.... cant just swing that huge sword around like a madman... :))))

Thx again for your advice!

[Proconsul]

No wrong way to go about it. If it matches your style and you're havin' a blast, then you're doin' it right!