Time for the second part the thread I split apart. I have a habit of using the unique parts of classes and builds where possible. I also like to take spears sometimes, since they’re grossly underutilized in gaming (probably because they’re MUCH harder to design and animate than fantasy swords, which have no relation to reality anyhow). Anyhow, I fiddled around with potential builds before ending up with Hoplite/Corsair stuff. After some exploration, I considered Swordie -> Highlander -> Hoplite C2 -> Corsair C3. Of course, the engineer in me keeps an eye for efficiency, and I ended up realizing that I’d just make a gimped version of the predictable Swordie -> Peltasta -> Hoplite C2 -> Corsair C2 -> Dragoon. As of right now, that’s a pretty efficient DPS build selection, albeit somewhat boring.
So now I have to decide where to go with it. In a perfect world, I’d be able to go Corsair C3 for the pistol and Cataphract for the mount. Lucky for me, I don’t live in a perfect world. So here are the build variants, starting with the more mundane:
Without Cataphract: There are really just two issues here: Rank 2 and Rank 7. The first question will be C2. Swordsman is worth basically nothing but Restrain, so I’d either go Peltasta or Highlander. Peltasta is just some health buffs, which are nice but not necessary, especially when the Jolly Roger pulls aggro on mobs without Swashbuckling. Highlander gives Wagon Wheel and Carter Stroke which might (might?) synergize with the offhand firearm, since you don’t have to chase enemies down the same way and can shoot at them as they go. C7 is either Dragoon for much better damage abilities, or Corsair C3. Corsair C3 is notoriously mediocre, but the gun is awesome, so I’m really puzzling over how much taking Corsair C3 will cost me over using Dragoon. 5 more ranks of Hexen Dropper and 100% uptime on Double Weapon Assault don’t strike me as likely to come anywhere near the value of Serpentine and Gae Bolg.
Is there any value to ranking up Jolly Roger, by the way? Rank 2 seems to be the stop-here spot as far as I can tell, since it just increases duration.
With Cataphract: Strikes me as a pipe dream at this time, sure, but there is always potential. I can use Cataphract skills while wielding a one-handed spear. The big issue is that this comes at the cost of one of three slots: Hoplite C2, Corsair C3, or Dragoon C1. If I sacrifice Hoplite C2, I have a swordsman variant of a Schwarzer Reiter, which is hilarious. I’m not sure if I can move and shoot like a Schwarzer Reiter, however. This would just be kinda awesome as a class, but the technicals of it are awkward. How do early Cataphract C1 and Hoplite C1 damage scale later? It seems like the damage loss from the Spear Lunge pierce damage buff and the extra hit on Pierce would be nontrivial, not to mention the AoE buff on Finestra. I could drop the pistol and instead get those buffs or separate damage attacks by way of Dragoon, which would give me more damage. I’m also inclined to think Dragoon would be better than Hoplite C2, but that might not hold up long-term. I’ll make the assumption that Dragoon is better in the summary, but feel free to suggest otherwise if you’ve done some testing on it.
So yeah, recap the options. All start with Sword C1 -> ? -> Hoplite C1, discussion of rank 2 above. After that,
(Generic) Hoplite C2 -> Corsair C2 -> Dragoon
(Light gun) Hoplite C2 -> Corsair C3
(Mounted Corsair) Cata C1 -> Corsair C2 -> Dragoon
(Schwarzer Reiter) Cata C1 -> Corsair C3
Potential for Highlander over Peltasta? Dragoon over Hoplite C2 on mounted variant?
Thoughts? Ideas? Experience?