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Pillars of Eternity 2 Online Walkthrough by David Milward |
EDER, M HUMAN FIGHTER
Stats
Abilities
1st Level - Knockdown: A starting ability by default.
Crippling Strike: A starting ability by default.
2nd Level - Disciplined Barrage: The Perception bonus is an obvious benefit. I ultimately have in mind an upgrade for it that will also prolong his buffs.
3rd Level - Weapon & Shield Style: It adds +6 Deflection when using a shield, and adds the same to the Reflexes Defense as well. It's pretty much an obligatory choice for any shield-based tank.
Fighter Stances: He activates the Defender Stance, which increases Engagement by +3, and reduces Damage by 5% for each enemy Engaged. Keeping multiple enemies Engaged, and stacking the Damage Reduction from the Defender Stance with bonuses to Damage Reduction from several items is the very foundation of this Fighter-tank build.
4th Level - Determination: It provides +20 to all Defenses against any attack that inflicts a Constitution, Intellect or Perception Affliction. A good passive to have for a dedicated tank.
5th Level - Rapid Recovery: It increases the Health recovery of Constant Recovery from 5 Health per 3 sec to 7 Health per 3 sec. Not a bad choice for a dedicated tank.
He also takes Tactical Barrage. It improves Disciplined Barrage so that it also provides the Acute (+5 Intellect, +1 Power Levels) Inspiration for its duration. I often use Disciplined Strikes for damage-dealing builds where I want to maximize the probability of Critical Hits. I prefer Tactical Barrage for a tank character. Use it first at the start of combat, and the Intellect boost will increase the duration of any subsequent buffs like Vigorous Defense.
6th Level - Snake's Reflexes: He plans to take all the passives that boost his Defenses, as they will stack with the bonuses provided by Vigorous Defenses. But he starts with the one that will receive another boost from using a shield in combination with the Weapon & Shield Style passive.
7th Level - Vigorous Defense: It will be a key buff for him that he'll always seek to maintain in battle, as it raises all of his Defenses by +20.
Bear's Fortitude: He continues to shore up his Defenses, and this one helps protect against afflictions of the body, a frequent hazard for one who is frequently engaged in melee combat.
8th Level - Bull's Will: Adds +10 to Will, to round out the shoring up of his Defenses.
9th Level - Guardian Stance: It upgrades Defender Stance so that any Disengagement Attacks he inflicts will also Prone the target that tries to disengage from him.
Superior Deflection: It's a passive that adds +4 to Deflection.
10th Level - Weapon Specialization: It adds +10% Damage with his Dagger, which he is by now Proficient with.
11th Level - Refreshing Defense: It upgrades Vigorous Defense so that any Damage received from an Enemy, even minimal Damage received from a Graze, will add a few seconds of duration.
Overbearing Guard: His Disengagement attacks already inflict Prone through the Guardian Stance and thus make his Engaged enemies extremely reluctant to Disengage. This passive makes his Disengagement Attacks that much more powerful by adding +15 Accuracy and +50% Damage to them. The usual result is that almost no enemy will ever risk Disengagement. But there is value in that, in that Eder can keep his foes locked down tight around him while he enjoys several Damage Reduction bonuses.
12th Level - Armored Grace: It reduces his Recovery Time by 25%.
13th Level - Reaping the Whirlwind: It adds +1 to Discipline. It may become useful when Eder needs to renew his buffs during very long battles.
Tough: More Health is always a good thing for any front-line warrior, including tanks who need to go the distance.
14th Level - Improved Critical: It adds +10% Damage to his Critical Hits.
15th Level - Clear Out: It makes a Primary Attack that can hit multiple enemies in an arc in front of him, and knock them Prone. It is also a prerequisite to an upgrade that I have in mind.
16th Level - Critical Defense: It has a 10% chance of reducing any Critical Hit he receives to a Hit. It's a natural choice for a tank.
Clear the Path: - It's an upgrade on Clear Out. Unlike Clean Sweep, which makes a Primary Attack on all enemies in a 360 circle surrounding the Fighter, Clear the Path makes a Primary Attack on all enemies in a straight line in front of the Fighter. There's no limitation on the distance of the straight line, and that includes the Push and knock Prone effects. It's a situational option for when the party is faced with an enemy spellcaster or two who is keeping a healthy distance from the party.
17th Level - Spell Resistance: A passive that provides a 10% chance of avoiding the effects of any spell outright.
18th Level - Uncanny Luck: The 5% chance to avoid any Attack will help his tanking role a little bit. The 5% chance to convert a Hit to a Critical Hit is sugar on top.
19th Level - Take the Hit: It briefly gives multiple party members the status of Take the Hit, which means that any attack on them only scores half Damage, and the other half is absorbed by Eder as Raw Damage. It's not a big deal for most party members, as it won't last long. But Alliria and Aloth can prolong it exponentially with Wall of Draining. And in Alliria's case half of the Health losses from using Blood Sacrifice now get passed off onto Eder. But Eder in the meantime has the Raw Damage he takes reduced by some of his Damage Reduction bonuses, including his use of Guardian Stance, his Cadhu Scalth, and his Forgetful Night food bonus. And the Raw Damage gets reduced even further when Alliria hands over the Voidward Ring to him. And very often the Damage will be so minimal that Pallegina's healing auras will usually suffice.
Sundering Blow: It makes a Primary Attack against a single target with +3 Penetration. It will temporarily reduce the target's Armor Rating by -4 if it connects. It's a possible option that costs 2 Discipline, especially against boss monsters.
20th Level - Weapon Mastery: It adds another 5% bonus to Damage with weapons.
Inventory
Pukestabber: Found in the Koro River Delta at #7 on Ameria's Island, while sailing on the way to Fort Deadlight. It can be a highly powerful offensive weapon if you go with the Mad Drunk enchantment that provides bonuses to both Action Speed and Damage. But my preference is the Numb enchantment, which provides a -10% reduction of Damage that will stack with all the other reductions to Damage that he gets from other sources. And the Parrying Blade modal for using a Dagger provides a +10 bonus to Deflection, which helps Eder in his tanking role. The dagger itself is powerful, but it comes with side effects. Its wielder will suffer a -1 Power Level penalty, and vomit every 12 seconds if and while hungover. There are ways to prevent that. One is to imbue it with the Iron Stomach enchantment. But I gave it the Debauchery enchantment instead, which can force its targets into vomiting upon Critically Hitting them. I avoid the self-vomiting as I avoid Resting and getting hungover once I get the no Rest run started in earnest. As a backup, I also intend to get him the Drunkard's Regret ring in the future, which itself will provide immunity to hangovers should I need it.
Cadhu Scalth: Looted from a chest at #12 in Old City. Its Deflection Bonus will increase in proportion to the wielder's Athletics score, which Eder has been increasing all along. I enchant it with Luminous Harmony so that it provides a bonus to Damage Reduction against all sources of damage that scales with the Metaphysics skill, which Eder has also been increasing. That bonus also stacks with all of the other bonuses to Damage Resistance that he's been acquiring.