Need some help on my first character (Dirwin 2H-Axe, Xbow)

[Nekrovex]

Currently at a Level 22 Dirwin and I wanted to know if my random ass build is any good. It's my first character so I don't really know what synergies/combos are good or what skills to avoid. Lemme know what you would recommend given my current stats/skills:
Str-10, Agi-20, Per-19, Vit-15, Will-10

Skills:
https://imgur.com/a/AH8otdv

Tier 4 Bandit Dungeons are kicking my ass IDK if its a skill-issue or a "skills"-issue (heh) or both.

[Mimung]

Początkowo opublikowane przez laveley:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Stealthkibbler:

Jonna passive is nothing to scoff at though, thats +16% total magical power(I assume magical mastery counts) once you read all treatises, you can get 8 of the treatises easy from Brynn and Mannshire and the higher tier ones have a pretty good chance of showing up in Broker, T4 and T5. I feel like I get magical treatises the most from boss chests out of any other treaty.

In future when more magic is added jonna passive will get even stronger. 5 sorcery trees to be added, assuming each tree gets 4 tiers thats another 20 treatises just for magic.

Though i do hope in future we get a way to just buy the higher treatises when council is added.

Personally i like using Jorgrim for XP, he starts off with the amulet that gives 6% exp, you can get resourceful really early for 5% added onto vigor then straw dummy upgrade gives another 3%. Then you can go to Brynn and get nikkaf for 25% bonus and that buff lasts for pretty much a whole dungeon. Ranger brew gives 10% boost and lasts a whole ass day.

49% exp boost, makes it very easy to level out, though i only abuse it at the moment to try and get the achievements for getting every skill in a tree.

Edit: If you were to somehow grab the owl banner early on thats another 7.5% though I feel the owl banner should be easier to get or the level cap raised once council is added to justify getting it, by the time you can fight the harpies guarding it you dont really need the extra exp.

Jorgrim amulet is just to compensate the fact that he can't pray, so he loses 5% XP from blessing.

The rest I pretty much agree.

u wanna get the crab recipe from the inn in brynn 5% xp for idk 1200T

[laveley]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Mimung:

Początkowo opublikowane przez laveley:

Jorgrim amulet is just to compensate the fact that he can't pray, so he loses 5% XP from blessing.

The rest I pretty much agree.

u wanna get the crab recipe from the inn in brynn 5% xp for idk 1200T

And the first caravan upgrade for the altar.

Also, if I gonna hunt i always take the skill for skinning that gives 5% XP for vigor.

[|Revenge|]

one of those spice ones also gives +xp and the training area gives like 5+xp

[Trolleur_Durden]

Levelling up too fast can also be actually detrimental if you can't manage to improve your gear at the same pace, because enemies scale with your character level, no matter how good your gear is.

[Mimung]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Trolleur_Durden:

Levelling up too fast can also be actually detrimental if you can't manage to improve your gear at the same pace, because enemies scale with your character level, no matter how good your gear is.

there is no enemy scaling in stoneshard like in e.g. vanilla skyrim.
i guess u mean "the encounters you are ment to do at said level and the contracts getting higher tier" i think rep changes dungeon tier but idk

[laveley]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Trolleur_Durden:

Levelling up too fast can also be actually detrimental if you can't manage to improve your gear at the same pace, because enemies scale with your character level, no matter how good your gear is.

It's not. You are not obliged to do endgame content before you want to.

Road banditry and wildlife can be easily avoidable too regardless of lvl.

There's no scenario where you having more levels (and thus more skills and stats) is detrimental.

[money3030]

Oddly enough when you hit level 20-30 or so Young Trolls are just everywhere in Forest Tiles, so there's still some weird spawning mechanic tied to your Level.

I rarely see trolls before 15 outside their usual hotspots.

[|Revenge|]

Początkowo opublikowane przez money3030:

Oddly enough when you hit level 20-30 or so Young Trolls are just everywhere in Forest Tiles, so there's still some weird spawning mechanic tied to your Level.

I rarely see trolls before 15 outside their usual hotspots.

thats true, fortunelly they have a similar mechanic to most wildlife.

[Tato]

Level has nothing to do with enemy spawns in the overworld anymore.

[Mimung]

is u guys sure the troll things isnt just because you hang out at weepin willow typa area?

[Stealthkibbler]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Mimung:

Początkowo opublikowane przez laveley:

Jorgrim amulet is just to compensate the fact that he can't pray, so he loses 5% XP from blessing.

The rest I pretty much agree.

u wanna get the crab recipe from the inn in brynn 5% xp for idk 1200T

Crab supremacy, if only there was a spice that douubled the actual effects. Also if you mean stuffed crab its from Wystan in Denbrie from what i remember, unless theres some other secret crab recipe i never found.

[Nekrovex]

Początkowo opublikowane przez money3030:

🤔 who the eff pumps Perception over 15 for Melee anyway. 2 Handed Axes without Crit Efficiency from Strength... Actually Everything about STR is for 2 Handed Axes. Critical chances are easier to get than Critical Efficiency on Gear.

I was working off of old information from the Subreddit saying that Axe's have atrocious fumble chances and accuracy penalties + energy costs and would benefit more from crit-fishing and wearing light armor. But after reading all the replies and understanding the game more, I find that even with just base strength I was starting to do fine with T4 and T5 dungeons even with this build. My crits may not deal big numbers but when every hit causes a broken arm I can afford to prolong the fight cause no one could hit me.

But yeah, I avoided STR cause I saw it provided +Block Chance and in my noob head I thought, axes aren't for blocking so in this game axe fighting is more about precision and dexterity (like in real life, but tbf that true for most martial arts). And also I pumped Perception that high cause I REALLY wanted to hit all my Xbow shots and it was frustrating that I had to use Take Aim almost all the time pre-Lvl15 just to hit anything (Bad RNG maybe idk).

[Nekrovex]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Mimung:

i wont sugarcoat it:

the only more gimped tier above that would be spending points in two different 2 hand skilltrees

but you get much more points than you need to clear the content
but you need to get there

no time to linger will elevate your game
since with 2 hand axe you shuld be able to achieve an afflict
and then profit from the free hit of lunge with the silence and cd reduction for yourself

for the future
for melee/ranged hybrid if you really want it you want to go right side to hunters mark and upper hand.
constant practice and startling volley are basically the two skills you shuldnt take

survival
pathfinder is allround okay
tho if u had taken the will to survive line on the right you wouldnt struggle at all now

I also really do not understand why you didnt take any strength since 2 h axes have the biggest base damage in the game each % weapon damage is super valuable

What to do now?

Take no time to linger then adrenaline rush, then make space in 2 hand axes

brace for impact in the armoured combat tree is a tremendously powerful defensive skill you can get for minimal invest, prebuff it and or use it when u anticipate a lot of pain

then you could opt warfare down to finisher
all the skills on the way are a big benefit to you and offensive tactic is great to shave of the peak of an engagement wave

I avoided Hunter's Mark cause I think you need to spend one point in Suppression in order to unlock it and at the time, I really underestimated Stances and prebuffing (half the time I forgot to use elusive and massacre). I didnt pump Str cause like you said it has high base damage already, so I thought fishing for critical hits + never missing with both Xbow/Bow and Axe would be better given the fumble and accuracy penalties both weapons have. My build philosophy was basically mitigating weaknesses rather than improving the core strength of my skills+equipment. Also I didnt know crit efficiency was a thing lmao.

All in all, I'm in a better spot now that I understand the game more and after all the feedback here. I took some time off to be a merchant and started trading commodities in order to buy better gear and so far, no road blocks yet.

[money3030]

Yeah Reddit builds are kinda iffy. Seize the initiative is good for starting the fight (Some Situations might require Sudden Lunge first though), Right on Target also buffs Attack skills.

[funkmonster7]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Nekrovex:

Początkowo opublikowane przez money3030:

🤔 who the eff pumps Perception over 15 for Melee anyway. 2 Handed Axes without Crit Efficiency from Strength... Actually Everything about STR is for 2 Handed Axes. Critical chances are easier to get than Critical Efficiency on Gear.

I was working off of old information from the Subreddit saying that Axe's have atrocious fumble chances and accuracy penalties + energy costs and would benefit more from crit-fishing and wearing light armor. But after reading all the replies and understanding the game more, I find that even with just base strength I was starting to do fine with T4 and T5 dungeons even with this build. My crits may not deal big numbers but when every hit causes a broken arm I can afford to prolong the fight cause no one could hit me.

But yeah, I avoided STR cause I saw it provided +Block Chance and in my noob head I thought, axes aren't for blocking so in this game axe fighting is more about precision and dexterity (like in real life, but tbf that true for most martial arts). And also I pumped Perception that high cause I REALLY wanted to hit all my Xbow shots and it was frustrating that I had to use Take Aim almost all the time pre-Lvl15 just to hit anything (Bad RNG maybe idk).

You're gonna need Taking Aim to hit anything before any level. Only with specific crossbows can you hit anything with as high Prc as you can afford without Taking Aim.

To be fair, Hunter's Mark isn't really a build for crossbows. The reason is you only have so many turns before an enemy gets right in your face, and the debuff only lasts 15 turns (same as Thrill of the Hunt buff on yourself). So you want to spend as many turns as possible shooting, which means a bow is better for this build. Specifically, a shortbow.

The old information from subreddit will mostly be outdated because 2h axes prior to RtR indeed boasted a lot of fumble chance etc. But those are the old days now, 2h axes don't fumble nearly as much (different axes will have different negative modifiers), so you're more free to do whatever you want.

I don't know what other skills you picked so far, but if you want to make use of your Startling Volley and go with Hunter's Mark, as well as not waste your high Prc, bow is indeed a good way to start. Shortbow is better, since you have range from Prc and shortbows cause bleed chance, and 2h axes benefit from bleeding enemies.