Nobear

This would make soloing with Quick Switch builds much more convenient. It would allow you to maximize DPS whether you're cycling through four guns, or switching back and forth between two two-handed melee weapons. It would also allow you to switch to casting a spell or doing any other action ASAP once you auto attack and Quick Switch. BTW I realize that an argument could be made that the concept of attacking faster by switching between weapons, than you could by sticking to one, is cheesy, but personally I haven't found it to be game-breaking. Pulling it off requires more micro than would make sense in a full party, and the easiest builds to solo with are probably still going to be the tankier ones.

Resolve and Per in 1.0.6 to maximize Deflection. You need all the Deflection you can get if you're soloing PoTD, especially for a class that, as you say, is kind of lacking in reliable defense. Opening a fight from stealth with Psychovampiric Shield does help there, although it's not perfectly reliable because it can graze or even miss. I'm looking forward to Body Attunement and Borrowed Instincts for further survivability (not to mention damage and accuracy). Even at level 4, I think certain fights are better done with a hatchet and small shield than with two-hander quick-switching. Namely, fights like the ones in Raedric's Hold Dungeons where you are swarmed with guls. I've just started there, but I'm thinking for those fights I'll want to start with a Tanglefoot scroll for debuffing their Reflex defense, then use Antipathetic Field on an enemy that's left running around the outside once the enemies have swarmed around me. It's an ongoing experiment, but I'm optimistic. Edit: My stats will probably remain good in 2.0, but my survivability may drop enough that the gain in accuracy can't make up for it. This remains to be seen.

It is true that 6 Con in 2.0 will inflict slightly less of a penalty than 3 Con in 1.0.6. However, I think due to not only the rise in accuracy but the decrease in deflection on characters who previously focused on it, Con will generally be considered to be somewhat more important for its relative role in survivability.

You're welcome! I think soloing PoTD is forcing me to pay even closer attention to everything and find more bugs to squash. I wish I had access to the 2.0 beta on GoG to help even more, but I'm glad to know I can still help from 1.0.6 lol.

Are you soloing or in a party? Is your cipher melee or ranged? What difficulty? Edit: Since you're focused on maximizing survivability, you might find this advice from my solo PoTD melee cipher run helpful. Keep in mind I am still only level 4 on that run and don't know for sure how viable it will be throughout the game, but I do present an unusual way to deal with the balance between survivability (maxed Per and Res and dumped Dex in 1.0.6) and DPS exploiting using the Quick Switch talent. Take a look if you're interested. If you're playing ranged in a party, however, you'll probably always want to keep Dex high, and survivability should be the lowest thing on your totem pole of priorities, but in 2.0 I still probably won't dump Con. I'd be more likely to dump Res. The only things that typically pose a threat your back row are effects like Insect Swarm, which Res won't help with but Con can help you survive. Then again, having a priest or ring with Suppress Affliction makes even more of a difference there.

I think the last thing you suggested is the most likely scenario , since someone started that Phantom Foes thread a long time ago, and I just updated it recently to report that it was still an issue. What I'm finding is that soloing kind of forces you to pay attention to every little thing that your character is doing (or not doing). Recall Agony is another example. Most players just figured that Recall Agony was a lackluster power not worth taking. I took it the first time I played a cipher, and I couldn't tell what it was doing (if anything), but I let myself be convinced that things died a bit faster with it. Turns out that was just placebo. It's only when I soloed that it became undeniable that it does nothing because it's broken, and it would probably make for a decent choice as a third power in that tier if it actually worked lol. Then I went back to a previous save and took Phantom Foes instead. After using it a few times, paying close attention to debuffs because you kind of have to pay attention when you solo PoTD, the bugs stood out to me, and I went back again and took Mind Blades, basically my fifth choice for that tier if Recall Agony and Phantom Foes were working. Overall, soloing seems to be a great way to catch bugs that you normally wouldn't notice.

To keep it simple, it's hard to go wrong following Boeroer's advice here. The one super-strong power he forgot to mention, of course, is Ectopsychic Echo. Since Antipathetic Field is so hard to position effectively for a ranged cipher, Mind Wave would be a decent alternative for level 1 powers after Eyestrike and maybe Whisper of Treason. The prone effect is very short and you don't have any fine control over its area of effect, but the fact it's fast-casting and deals Raw damage to the target makes it decent just for finishing off a target quickly. Eyestrike will usually be the first power you use until you get Mental Binding, which will become your bread and butter for CC/debuffs until max level. Even at max level, when you will usually want to use other powers first, there will occasionally be good uses for Eyestrike and Mental Binding. Some of the weapons Boeroer mentioned have the speed enchant, which doesn't work in 1.0.6, but will work in 2.0. There are some great unique blunderbusses and pistols in mid-late game without the speed enchant.

As far as what people tend to consider optimal for a debuff-spreading barbarian in a party, you've heard the case for maxed Int. However, if you've beat the game already, you can certainly beat it with an average Int barbarian, and it sounds like the RP consideration is more important to you in this case. Nothing wrong with that. This game is soloable on PoTD, so it's not like your party will be totally gimped because you have a barbarian with 10 Int lol. If that's what you want, go for it.

Post 2.0 you'll probably want average Con and dumped Res. Per won't be as important as it will be for, say, ciphers, and mostly offensive casters. I imagine you'd be well off with a stat priority like Int>Dex>Mig>Per>Con>Res, assuming your priest is typical in that he buffs and heals more than he deals damage.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but dumping a stat means making it as low as it can go, which is either 3 or 4 depending on your race. Also, what Raven said. In 2.0 you would not dump Per, you'd have it high. You could dump Res instead in 2.0, which only benefits you if you're being hit, and you're only putting points into now because you have nowhere better to put them. Con also makes more of a difference in 2.0, so you might not want to dump it as you safely can now. Tanks will have less deflection and won't be quite as invincible as they can become now, but your cipher will get stronger, not weaker. You will just need to respec, which is also coming in 2.0. 2.0 is also the patch for the expansion, coming on August 25th. It will bring some significant bug fixes, but the game is certainly playable and enjoyable in 1.0.6. It's up to you whether you want to upgrade mid-game or not, but don't make that decision because you think your cipher will get weaker: it won't.

Welcome! Keep in mind that, even though 2.0 is coming soon, it will have a respec feature and you can take your current game into it, so you really don't have to worry about getting things "perfect" in 1.0.6. That said, there are many ways to play, but I've beaten the game on PoTD with a gun cipher in the party, and here's how I would build a new one in 1.0.6 from that experience: 1) Powers -Level 1: Eyestrike, Antipathetic Field*, Whisper of Treason *Antipathetic Field does TONS of damage, but does friendly fire and is hard to position. The easiest level 1 AOE nuke to position is Soul Shock, but it has a small range and you'll outgrow it quickly. -Level 2: Mental Binding, Psychovampiric Shield, Mind Blades. Mental Binding is the super-essential one. The others less so, and honestly you'll rarely have enough spare Focus to use Psychovampiric Shield to good effect, but Recall Agony doesn't work at all in 1.0.6, and Phantom Foes is bugged. I've submitted/updated bug reports for both of these. -Level 3: By far the most essential one here is Ectopsychic Echo. It's like Antipathetic Field without friendly fire. I love to cast it on a summon and have that summon run around behind the enemy, making all enemies melt between you and the summon. I generally like debuffs, but the debuffs in this tier are not the strongest for the Focus they cost, so you may not use them very often. I took Secret Horrors and ended up using it like once lol. Puppet Master is kind of a wash with Whisper of Treason costing less Focus and having a longer range. Basically, as long as you have Ectopsychic Echo, pick whatever else sounds cool and you can't really go wrong. -Level 4: Body Attunement and Pain Block for sure. You probably won't need them in most fights TBH, but in the hardest fights they are great to have. The other level 4 powers all basically have better alternatives in other tiers IMHO, so again, just pick whatever third one sounds cool. I took Silent Scream FWIW, but I hardly ever used it. Instead I used Mental Binding even into endgame for CC, as well as a certain godly level 6 power - keep reading! -Level 5: You might think Ringleader is by far the most obvious must-have for this tier, but the problem I've found is that it is often too good. The range is so huge that it often ends up controlling literally every enemy, which results in them all breaking control about one second later and you are back to square one with wasted Focus and a less controlled fight than you could have had. However, another player has told me that he can sometimes use it effectively if he targets an enemy on the very edge of the battlefield, but if it's a melee enemy it will probably run into range of all the others by the time it's done casting. Most players prefer Ringleader over Detonate, but TBH I'd probably test them both and see which I liked better. By the time you are making this decision, 2.0 will probably be live anyway, which, as I say, has a respec option. Now, the real must-haves of this tier are Tactical Meld and Borrowed Instincts, which do stack. You can even cast Tactical Meld on an ally before the fight starts, and have your starting Focus back by the start of the fight as long as a second or so passes. -Level 6: You can take all of these: there are only three. When you hit level 12 and start each fight with enough Focus for a level 6 power, if you're like me you'll be starting almost every fight with Amplified Wave. Literally every enemy on the screen will start off the fight both damaged and CCd. Can you say OP? :D 2) Talents Biting Whip Draining Whip Weapon Focus: Ruffian (covers both Blunderbuss and Pistol, which are super good for low-medium DR and high DR enemies, respectively) Marksman Penetrating Shot (especially good for making your Blunderbuss more effective against medium DR enemies) Gunner 3) Stats That stat spread is good. If you don't mind min-maxing, you could dump Per and make sure Might, Int, and Dex are all maxed, in that order of priority. You could even dump Con and put more in Res. If you're playing a balanced party with, say, two tanks, your cipher will not get hit often. When s/he does, for example when fighting teleporting Shadows, that extra deflection and concentration will probably make a bigger difference than more health. Keep in mind your ideal stat spread will change drastically in 2.0, but as I say, 2.0 will also include a respec feature, so no need to sweat the small stuff. Enjoy!

After beating the game on PoTD with a full party of companions, my first two PoTD solo characters (which I'm playing in two concurrent saves, with Expert mode but not Trial of Iron yet) are a melee wizard and a melee cipher. At first I found the wizard to be a lot more tanky (despite less tanky stats) and more powerful overall, but I'm learning and making my cipher more viable. So far I am only level 4 and have just cleared enough of Raedric's Hold to get the money for Blunting Belt and the Bronze Horn Figurine after completing the blacksmith's quest, which will hopefully allow me to take Caed Nua (though that remains to be seen). I'm not going to lie, I've died many times, and I think I'm only able to appreciate the challenge because I've already beat the game and am ready for something more punishing. One thing I discovered that helped a lot is that, if you take Quick Switch as your first talent, this will negate the auto attack recovery time (even if you have dumped Dex) from wearing plate armor. So I've been wielding two two-handed weapons and quick-switching back and forth as soon as my character swings, hit or miss. Dex and other speed mods still affect the swing speed, but it's still pretty high DPS (and Focus gain) with dumped Dex, which allows you to max Per, Res, and Might. I'm an Aedyrian Moon Godlike and my stats are 18/9/4/18/10/19 I am focusing on Fast-casting powers, although I do have some Average speed ones, mostly debuff powers for opening a fight from stealth. The other benefit of Quick Switch is that, since it negates recovery after a weapon swing, your next action will start right away, whether that's a swing from your new weapon, a quick slot item, or a power. And when you start not having to recover, Fast-casting powers are almost instant even with dumped Dex. So far my level 1 and 2 powers are Eyestrike, Antipathetic Field, Whisper of Treason, Mental Binding, Psychovampiric Shield, and Mind Blades. For soloing, I'd consider Recall Agony over Mind Blades, but it doesn't currently work, and Phantom Foes is bugged. I've submitted or updated bug reports for both of these abilities. The only time I've used Whisper of Treason so far is for small groups of forest trolls or similar slow-moving enemies, because of its Slow cast time, but it's great for that. Antipathetic Field is awesome, but you have to get used to when and how to use it. Sometimes you'll be swarmed by so many enemies that one will be literally running circles around the rest trying to get in, which is when you use his own stupidity to melt all his allies LOL! Unless you're playing to exploit cheese positioning, you may be disappointed that you can't make good use of Antipathetic Field in most fights, but when you can make good use of it you will thank yourself. I tend to open against a single enemy with Psychovampiric Shield, against most fairly strong packs with Eyestrike, and against weak packs with Mind Blades. Time will tell how viable this play style is in the long run, but when I get retaliation items I will probably switch to being a more typical solo melee cipher with a small shield and using retaliation + Carow Golan for focus generation. In this case, Quick Switch may become a "wasted" talent mid-endgame, even though I'd say it helps early on. It does require a lot of micro, though, so I'd only bother with it for solo play. So, since I have what I'd consider educated hope that I could beat the game with a melee cipher on PoTD, it will still be a challenge on Hard depending on your level of experience with the game, but I'm confident that it'd be doable. Probably not nearly as easy as making your first solo run a tank who mostly (ab)uses scrolls, but more fun IMHO.

You couldn't miss them if you didn't know they exist , but I know what you mean. On further thought I think evilcat has a point, and that they might be too strong for soloing if they got significant buffs.

Right. Before 2.0, I'd tend to have at least average Resolve even with casters, but with 2.0's changes there just won't be enough points to go around for that. Resolve is only needed if you're being hit, so out of all character types, it'd be the least needed on a back row caster in a party. Of course, when a priest is being hit is typically when his spells are going to be most urgent, but there will just be too many other stats that are even more needed in 2.0.

Wow, I wanted to check and see if a bug report had already been made, because this is still happening with the latest 1.0.6 hotfix.

Are you planning to solo or play a full party? A high Int barbarian I think is generally advised in the context of spreading debuffs (like stun or prone on crit) from his weapons through carnage in a party. The fighter build you're referring to is a pure tank build, which is ironic seeing the dumped Con, but a pure tank can become almost invincible (after, say, level 6, vs most level-appropriate fights) by focusing on passive defenses. If enemies hardly ever land a hit (let alone a crit) against him, his health simply won't drop enough for Con to matter. Note that this all applies to 1.0.6. The system has changed significantly in 2.0, which is still in beta and only available on Steam, but it will go live in about a week. Are you planning to play in 1.0.6 or 2.0?

Is your priest solo or in a party? And there's no reason you can't have high values in all three, unless you are against min-maxing.

As Boeroer says, that ability (the class talent Psychic Backlash) is generally considered crap. If you're confused because you've heard of retaliate in relation to ciphers, melee ciphers benefit from retaliate items combined with the Carow Golan drug for generating Focus. It has nothing to do with Psychic Backlash. Ok, I just tried out Phantom Foes on my solo melee cipher and was disappointed. OFC I know it's one of the weaker debuffs and of questionable use for soloing, but I figured if my Focus gain eventually became high enough to justify casting another debuff... The more fundamental issues I'm having are the following: 1) Sometimes the ability lands according to the combat log, but only the Frightened debuff shows up on enemies, not the Flanked one. 2) As soon as I (or my figurine summon) hit the enemy, either Flanked or Frightened disappears. The next time he's hit, the other one disappears too. The enemies I was fighting were priests and acolytes in Raedric's Hold Sanctuary. I thought maybe there was something special they did to purge harmful effects, but then the same thing happened with the bears in the Valewood cave. Do you know what might be going on here? I'm playing on 1.0.6. I know we have gone pretty far off topic on this thread and I'm not helping. I could submit a bug report unless you can enlighten me here.

Yeah this is kind of where I am at just a couple roolz... 1)I don't min max - nothing lower than an 8 2) I like to RP my character - it's somewhat disappointing that nothing you choose to do ever seems to piss off any of the companions which IMO would increase role play value/fun (I am looking at you Eder) but the gist of it is I choose my actions/answers based on what I think my character would do not necessarily on what I think will bring the "best" response/outcome 3) I rarely use adventurers (so far anyway) other than as "placeholders" while I wait for a companion to be available without running ahead to get them but I can easily see games in the future where I might have a mixed bag of companions/adventurers altho I am less likely to go with all adventurers unless I get into "themed" parties that companions wouldn't really fit. 4) So far I also seem to be operating under a rule of not going beyond chapter 2 before starting another interesting character but I am currently debating trying to finish one of those games before the expansion comes out. LOL nice, just a few points: 1) I do min-max, but just my main character, or temporary adventurers that I replace ASAP with companions. Sure, boo at me, but I'm soloing now where every little thing counts. 3) Same here 4) Wow, remember I used to have this problem too, but I finally beat the game with a full party on PoTD, and am experimenting with soloing PoTD on expert (but not Trial of Iron yet) with a melee wizard in one save and a melee cipher in another. It's pretty cool: stats, food buffs, potions, scrolls, figurines, and every little thing can really often make the difference between life and death . Keep in mind that the expansion will add mid-level content and won't AFAIK change the game ending, so you don't have to beat the game before it comes, though I found it both awesome to unravel the whole mystery of the story, and useful for purposes of planning future playthroughs with the intelligence I've gathered as far as item locations, types of enemies, best order to complete things easiest to toughest, etc. But the expansion content is aimed for parties starting around level 7, so you could continue one of your partial playthroughs into the expansion if you wanted to. The one rule I will mention that hasn't been mentioned here yet is that I won't do anything too meta-gamey, that my characters couldn't possibly have knowledge of, like use the list for locations of "random" items. If I find a duplicate item, sometimes what I do is reload from a recent save and write a note that there's a hidden item in such and such location, to come back and check later. I admit, though, even this is a bit cheesy compared to just taking what I get.

Yeah, see I enjoyed both Oblivion and Skyrim for some time, but stuff like this where, by a certain level if planned properly, you could effectively enter God mode, made me lose interest. In PoE, if planned properly, the difficulty curve does trend downward, but not quite as bad as in the Elder Scrolls games. There are still a small handful of endgame fights in PoE where you won't be practically invulnerable, and there will be some challenge involved, at least requiring you to employ good strategy and tactics.

I haven't given a barbarian a good chance yet, but I like how a lot of the same gear would be good for a solo melee cipher. Unfortunately you can't get any of it early or easily, although that seems fair and balanced. Good thing I discovered back-and-forth double two-hander Quick Switch cheese to make the early levels more viable. Also, if you're complaining that Battle-Forged doesn't trigger often, why not make it a Moon Godlike instead? Not having experience with the class, I don't know if it'd be overkill in a full party, but for solo I'd think it'd be a top choice (as it is for any melee character that's not a pure tank). Lastly, you recommend stacking two retaliation items, but will three stack and become even more effective? For the chest slot, there's Vengiatta Rugia or the more protective Coat of Ill Payment.

lol... well I hope you come back for the expansion! Bump for my original issue.

Hey pedroelm, there's a name I haven't seen in a bit! I do press X, but my character goes back to auto attacking the next time she's attacked.

Actually, I just went to test it against that lone Young Wolf, but was reminded of a different issue: the "disable auto attack" option doesn't do anything. Whether it's on or off, characters won't auto attack when idle at range, but they will auto attack when attacked. I know I should generally report a different issue in a different thread, but it's hard to test a DoT effect when I kill the enemy on the very next auto attack hit . I know this has been reported before, and I hope it's been addressed in 2.0, but alas I'm on GoG and don't have access to the 2.0 beta. In any case, I hope you can make use of the info and files I've provided.

Here they are. Keep in mind this is a solo PoTD run (but not Trial of Iron) with a squishy level 3 character about to fight a pack of wolves, so it'd be easy to die testing it. That log file should reflect that I died shortly after Recall Agony should have completed its duration on that Young Wolf. You should, however, be able to reproduce this with any cipher, as there has been wide consensus about this ability apparently not working. Edit: If you'd like an easier fight to test this, go to the West side of the map above the broken wagon. There should be a lone Young Wolf there.