Sorry for the long time to reply... Oh boy, time has been short lately.
I'm afraid I would have to play it again, I don't fully remember each step that I took lol.
First of, I played on Iron Man, died twice for sheer stubbornness and stupidity. Then I got my sh*t together and became the immortal one.
For weapon, always 2H. Who needs shields when you're immortal. Besides, Arbenos' Might gives 2x the bonus for 2H.
The companion is obviously Grissenda.
Now, the first skill is Sacred Fire.
Initial traits are 2 Str, 1 End (you don't need that much mana at lvl 1 since you'll only use Arbenos' Might to hunt a few goblins).
Lvl 2 you get Cure 1 and Arbenos' Might 1 (and this will be the only lvl in this skill ever). And buy Per 1 and Int 1.
At lvl 2, I ALWAYS recommend getting to the Unknown Dungeon Asap.
By the end of the Unknown Dungeon, with all the 3 skills above, it's a literal walk in the park. And by the end of it, you'll already be lvl 3.
At lvl 3, get Intervention 1 and Nivarian's Blessing 1 and Int to lvl 2. Strange, yes. But at this stage, increasing Int to 2 will grant you the same 1 extra Mana/lvl for the same cost, while also granting other bonuses.
After that, since there's the possibility of getting Tolassian Tomes at different stages, I won't describe traits by lvl, but rather how to improve them whenever you have the points.
I ended up in total with Str 6, End 4, Dex 2, Int 4, Awa 2 and Per 6. But to be very blunt, Per 5 is MORE than enough, and I should NEVER have went with 6, better using the points to get End 6 for instance. For Gr8Scott, that tells him a lot about his concerns over mana reliability.
So, optimal Trait progression would be:
- Str 2, End 1;
- Int 1, Per 1;
- Int 2;
- Per 2;
- End 2;
- Int 3 (Again, very very strange, I know, but you'll actually want this early on so that you can buy the Summon Wolf early on, since Int 3 is a prerequisite);
- Per 3;
- Str 3;
- End 3 (really, no kidding, that's how much you truly DON'T need massive amounts of Mana, specially at this early-mid stage, to the point that investing in physical traits is a better option)
- Int 4 (strange yet again, but remember, Int 3 to 4 will give 1 extra Mana per lvl just as it would give if you'd get Per 4, but Int has other bonuses);
- Dex 1, Awa 1;
- Dex 2;
- Awa 2;
- Str 4 (truly, no joke);
- Per 4;
- Per 5 - you need Per 5 as a prereq for Battle Prayer; so, you might find it so weird that I put this at the very very bottom of the list, but the truth is, although Battle Prayer is so central to the build of the Cleric Summoner (Shaman), there's actually a mountain of other skills that you'll get before it, which is why you can optimize all other traits before (just make sure to hunt for all those Tolassian Tomes around)
After that, just dump everything on physical traits. End 4, Str 5 and just keep on those (personally, I would just pump Str henceforth).
This is a VERY good Trait design. Int 4 and Awa 2 makes your Perception to be incredible, you'll never have problems finding secret doors, and Thelume's Wisdom is actually useless (use a scroll for the very few doors you can't find, like a certain "hellish" cave somewhere). And Int 4 Per 5 grants you all the mana pool you'll ever need.
Let's also not forget that, by the time you get to Per 5 (having bought all the previous traits as I listed), you'll already have plenty of items to increase those traits and more, and cleric items that also increase the mana pool, so yes, never worry about your mana, and get bigger, stronger and meaner instead.
Now, for the sequence of skills:
- Sacred Fire 1;
- Cure 1; Arbenos' Might 1;
- Intervention 1; Nivarian's Blessing 1;
Now, a few reasonings for such a weird early selection:
Early game is particularly easy. Sacred Fire does massive damage early on, Cure and Intervention 1 turns you into an undying beast (remember, enemies are still quite weak). Arbenos' Might 1 gives a big damage output bonus (and it will be useful throughout the entire game).
Sacred Fire (3) is also a prereq for Flames of Faith, while Nivarian's Blessing (2) is the prereq for Battle Prayer; those however, are the LAST skills you'll get, so no need to rush them, but at early game those skills will be useful (and are cheap).
- Sacred Fire 1 (lvl 1)
- Cure 1, Arbenos' Might 1 (lvl 2)
- Intervention 1, Nivarian's Blessing 1 (lvl 3)
- Cure 2 (lvl 4)
- Sacred Fire 2 (lvl 5)
- Summon Wolf 1, Intervention 2 (lvl 6)
- Summon Wolf 2 (lvl 7)
- Summoner 1, Intervention 3 (lvl 8)
- Summoner 2 (lvl 9)
- Nivarian's Blessing 2 (lvl 10)
- Summoner 3 (lvl 11)
- Battle Prayer 1 (lvl 12)
- Battle Prayer 2 (lvl 13)
- Summon Wolf 3 (lvl 14)
- Sacred Fire 3 (lvl 16, but if you do Adaon's quest you can obtain it at lvl 15)
- Flames of Faith 1 (lvl 16)
- Flames of Faith 2 (lvl 17)
- Cure 3 (lvl 18)
- Flames of Faith 3 (lvl 20, but you can have it at lvl 19 if you made Adaon's quest)
And there you have it, the full Wolf + B.Prayer + Flames of Faith massive Cleric spellcaster/summoner, the super team buffer Cleric.
If you're having troubles with keeping your team (including Wolf) alive, get Cure 3 before FoF 2. Otherwise, keep all the rest as is.
The counting of points is exactly what's necessary on each lvl, so you can finish the entire buid by a mere lvl 20, which is still an "early late game" as opposed to late late game, and if you do Adaon's quest, you can do it by lvl 19, which you should do nevertheless. Heck, I managed to get all those skills and traits before even reaching Sunken Citadel, let alone the Ark. And, while I was feeling pretty invencible, I decided to test my might against a certain group of infamous witches at a mere lvl 20, and oh boy, it didn't disappoint.
You'll notice considerable spikes of power over each single new toy you add to the box, even at just lvl 1. For example, my Wolf at a mere lvl 6 was a MASSIVE boost. Then, B.Prayer 1 already turned my team of veterans into a bunch of bloodlust berserkers; improving it just made them even more lethal. And then, the joy of using FoF for the first time, damn, it's pure delight.
After lvl 20, just spend in whatever skills you wish. I did buy Gate early on because I never farm, I just do quests, thus I'm always low on gold, and I can't bother to walk every where, so everything I did I was 1 full lvl late, and it was still insanely powerful nevertheless, but from lvl 20 up to lvls 24-25+, just buy whatever skills you fancy; Body Development is a good call, after that there ain't any really good options left, Precision Strikes and Massive Criticals or Bloodlust perhaps, or Nivarian's Barrier 3 or any other you'd like, it really doesn't matter all too much.
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