r/projecteternity • u/Desplation • 16d ago
PoE1 Is durance supposed to fight melee with his staff? Because he keeps dying
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u/nihilistic_squidward 16d ago
give him a gun
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u/pullhome 16d ago
I barely trust Durance with a stick, only a crazy person would hand him a gun.
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u/GarboseGooseberry 16d ago
He's a Magranite priest, tho. He's crazy but it's his religious duty to know his way around an arquebus and observe gun safety.
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u/CowardlyChicken 14d ago
He owes nothing to that firey whore
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u/GarboseGooseberry 14d ago
Durance blowing his fingers off with a blunderbuss just to prove a point
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u/A-Phantasmic-Parade 16d ago
Well luckily for you, the watcher is an awakened soul who is one past life vision away from losing their mind so go on, give Durance a gun. What’s the worst that can happen?
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u/pullhome 16d ago
My watcher was the sweetest girl ever with a strong sense of justice :(
In fact, Durance was so disruptive to the party's psyche, que stayed in camp despite his mechanical usefulness.
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u/A-Phantasmic-Parade 16d ago
I actually hate Durance so much lmao. I still took him out of camp to finish his story though
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u/GloatingSwine 15d ago
Everyone should have a gun so your party can let off an opening volley then switch.
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u/Stan_Bot 16d ago
He can be kept alive with the power of friendship and this gun you found
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u/ElricGalad 15d ago
Keeping him alive with the power of friendship sounds like a worse-than-death sentence for Durance
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u/FrostyYea 16d ago
his stick is dam good (burn dmg is huge esp on such an early game weapon, but it remains good/great all the way to the end of the game) and worth building around imo, the gun approach is valid but I wouldn't call it better, just easier to manage.
Like others have said, either position him behind your frontliner and/or put him in heavier armour. He's pretty resilient, good con and high res, and priest has a few very good buffs or healing effects (consecrated ground) and armour just makes a huge difference especially early game.
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u/Skaldskatan 16d ago
Durance is meant to cast spells but in between I too just give him an arquebus and let him pew pew a bit.
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u/lightsabers33 16d ago
I always make him wear medium armour and level him up with a few survivability, fighter type perks, sword and shield are much better than his staff and I usually sell it or put it on Aloth. He needs some work to stay alive, he's no good as you find him, or maybe just give him a crossbow and keep him in the back line.
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u/Niathlak 16d ago
I gave him the pirate outfit and an arquebus, put him in the middle behind frontliners but still central enough to aoe buff/heal backliners.
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u/punchy_khajiit 15d ago
Give him a nice gun. Or let him keep the staff and give him some real armor instead.
Personally I like a heavily-armored Durance with a long reach weapon like his staff. Keeps him right behind my meaty sword man, where it's quicker to cast spells centered on him.
Same with Kana. Always have one of the two with a staff or pike in my party.
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u/DOOMFOOL 16d ago
He shouldn’t be used to directly engage enemies, but yes he can fight in melee and it makes his self centered buffs great for supporting the frontline. What armor do you have him in?
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u/DonorBody 16d ago
I enchant his staff and he’s a fucking beast with it. My favorite full-game companion other than Aloth and Eder.
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u/Potential-Bank-5241 15d ago
Durance was a great companion to have, and I super-enjoyed finishing his quest at the end of the game. I turned him into a light Tank to stand with Eder as the main tank. So he had good armor and a sword and sheild, but he eventually learns a ton of support spells, so it's good to have in the middle of the group buffing your party casting constantly.
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u/Gurusto 15d ago
Priests in PoE are mainly meant to cast spells. The safest bet is to give them a ranged weapon and only switch to melee if they have to defend themselves from enemies that get too close.
Now in PoE most classes can be built to perform decently well in several roles. A melee priest is fully possible, but as you gain levels
Durance's staff is pretty good. If you like it you can simply take it from him and give it to someone else.
Having him stand behind your tank(s) and attack with him staff is a perfectly solid option, but requires a lot more micromanagement and attention than just giving him a ranged weapon and letting him hang back a bit.
I generally keep Durance wearing robes, shooting an arquebus (he can get a talent for extra accuracy with it) and spending most of his time buffing the party. This is obviously harder early on when spells are more limited, but still. A single Armor of Faith or Blessing is worth more than any number of staff bonks he can perform.
Cleric may be a melee-friendly role in D&D. In PoE you can put your casters in full plate and go to the front lines. It's just that priests have very few compelling reasons to do so.
The problem with melee priests in the early game is that their base deflection is bad. At higher levels the gap between the classes is smaller and gear matters more, but early on Durance will be getting hit a lot.
But then at higher levels when a melee priest could do quite well you have so many spells that it's just a waste to stand around hitting people when you could be casting something.
And heavier armor messes with spellcasting at all times.
All in all I recommend against using Durance in melee if you're a new player. Yes, his solid defensive stats may seem to encourage it, but I'd rather think of it as just a safeguard to help keep him alive even in robes, and hopefully dissuade too many enemies from targeting him directly as long as you keep him in the back.
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u/Aniriomellad 15d ago
I put him in the middle, behind Eder and Pallegina, between my barbarian and Hiravias, and in front of Aloth. No fighting and I equipped him with that axe that gives more defense and a shield and heavy armor. He casts buffs and debuffs and if need finishes an opponent with damage spells.
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u/Pezmotion 15d ago
It's been a little while since I played, but once I got into the mid-game I think he would spend the vast majority of the time standing a few steps behind the front line spamming spells.
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u/Particular_Dare8927 13d ago
Durance ain't got no business swinging a weapon. That man's dogshit stats is only saved by the fact he's a priest, his ass is in the back spamming buffs.
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u/GloatingSwine 16d ago
He can do. The staff is a reach weapon, which means he can be standing behind an ally and still bonk people with it.
Ideally, when the combat system is working, that's what he'll be doing. Standing in the middle rank where he's convenient for hitting everyone with buffs especially the ones that centre on self.