Boeroer

That is the quintessence of the Cipher class I'd say. Very good against weak mobs - but not so great against bosses and other tough enemies. The Barbarian has a somewhat similar profile btw. But since most fights are against numerous foes and a lot of them are relatively weak the Cipher in the party can still make a lot of sense: makes short work of "filler fights" without spending any per-rest resource so the other party members with per-rest resources (wizard, priest, druid) can spare their spells and use them in the tough fights. This problem also gets better with higher levels, a good accuracy buffer (priest) and complementing cipher spells (for example Borrowed Instincts).

If with the Watcher boss fight you mean the fight against Maerwald then that's normal: The Fighter is a front loaded class, mostly because of the very good starting values (defenses and accuracy mostly). There's no class that has better ones. On top of that the Fighter also has some very good low level abilities such as Disciplined Barrage which have a really nice impact in the early game. In order to catch up and then outperform a Fighter, most classes need a few (or a few more) levels - especially the caster classes.

Yes, I personally would pick Draining Whip over Biting Whip (CP version) for a Beguiler because Draining Whip - besides improving focus generation from weapon dmg - also improves the Beguiler's focus generation when using Deception spells (!). Biting Whip does nothing for that special Beguiler feature but only boosts weapon damage.

Hello and welcome. 🤗 I never used the Epic Games platform but a Google search result leads here: https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/epic-games-store-c-202300000001639/launcher-support-c-202300000001735/achievements-are-not-updating-in-the-epic-games-launcher-a202300000014828 Maybe it helps. That's also the answer Gemini suggests in general. So it's not a general problem with the game (because PoE's achievements usually work with Epic, too) but rather the Epic cloud services not synching properly for whatever reason.

Imo the original Biting Whip is almost never worth taking (with the original value of +10% additive dmg). With Soul Whip, +20% dmg are done and 0.5 points of damage get transformed into Focus (or half your damage in other words). Other dmg bonuses aside (who all work in favor of Draining Whip because Biting Whip just adds additive damage) let's just assume you rolled 100 base dmg with an attack (which is absurdly high,so this example is actually shifted in favor of Biting Whip, and still...): Soul Whip (+20%/0.5): 120 dmg/60 Focus Biting Whip (+30%/0.5): 130 dmg & 65 Focus Draining Whip (+20%/1): 120 dmg/120 Focus This is so unbalanced it's ridiculous imo. Every additional point of damage (from other damage bonuses) make Draining Whip perform even better in comparison -because its effect is multiplicative while Biting Whip's is only additive. You can decide between +10% additive dmg gain (which translates into a tiny bit more focus, too via more dmg) - or no additive dmg but +100% focus gain which is multiplicative because it is based on all dmg dealt (including lashes). I mean even if you want to build the absolute weapon dmg monster cipher you would be better off taking Draining Whip, forget about the measly 10% additive dmg and instead cast Recall Agony for 30% multiplicative and even have spare focus left. Even in case of Soulblade, Biting Whip is a trap choice, too, since you can convert focus into damage directly and a ton more focus per strike translates into much more raw dmg via Soul Annihilation. The only build I can imagine where I maybe wanted to use the original Biting Whip over Draining Whip is with an Ascendant/Ranger or -/Rogue -/Shattered Pillar or so who wants to keep attacking even when ascended and not spam spells (because Soul Whip doesn't turn off while ascended so you keep the dmg bonuses from it). One cast of Borrowed Instinct maybe and then keep attacking. In that case Draining Whip wouldn't do anything while ascended (because you're already full - takes you longer to get there, but if that's okay with you...) but Biting Whip would still add +10% damage on top of the already elevated Soul Whip dmg of a currently ascended Ascendant. But even then I guess it would be better to ascend more quickly with Draining Whip and cast a Recall Agony for more weapon damage. Back when CP was created I believe it was@MaxQuest who did some calculations and tests on how high Biting Whip (as a multiplicative lash instead of an additive dmg bonus) should be just to be on par with Draining Whip. That's how he landed at the current solution which is in the Community Patch. There has to be a discussion/thread about it somewhere here in the forums. 🕵🏾‍♀️

Draining Whip is very good in general - Biting Whip's original dmg bonus is a joke in comparison. CP just brought Biting Whip up to the power of Draining Whip. For a Beguiler I would always pick Draining Whip.

You can use them of course, but you will get the accuracy malus and so on and also you cannot use the modal since taking a shield proficiency is weird for a Devoted (unless you go with fist a main weapon). As Okkes said: Tuotilo's Palm is an exception because it works as an "unarmed" weapon. I would use Unbroken then because you also get +1AR when using a shield - which is very good to have as a tank.

As a main tank I really like Streetfighter/Unbroken or -/Devoted. Devoted is nice with swords as main weapon, especially the Gladiator Sword which already has +1 PEN (when fully enchanted) and is perfect for a sword & board build which is obviously nice for a tanky setup because it also provides extra defense and a bit of additonal dmg. With additonal +2 PEN from the Devoted you will have very few "no PEN" issues - if if there are you can switch to your fist + shield (take Monastic Unarmed Training). Unbroken is great if you go for clubs (namely Kapana Taga) as main weapon and if you have party members who can terrify enemies. The club+modal lowers the Will defense by 25 points, making is a lot easier to terrify enemies. Terfifies enemies disengage randomly and then catch the nasty disengagment attacks for the Unbroken/Streetfighter (higher Sneak Attack, higher PEN, Deathblows potentially - all unlocked by Persistant Distraction). Alternatively Unbroken/Trickster can do all that by himself and doesn't need another party member with terrify and be even tanker - but will lose quite a bit of offensive outpout (lower speed and supstancially lower Sneak Attack while flanked). The main reason is that a Streetfighter/Devoted or Unbroken Swashbuckler can tank as good as Edér as a Swashbuckler (which is absolutely suffcient on PotD difficulty) but will have a significantly higher damage output. This makes playing a tank a lot less "boring". Once you get flanked - as it's common for a main tank - your streetfighter passive unlocks immediately, giving you +50% Sneak Attack damage and -50% recovery time. Even with a weapon & shield setup this is serious melee damage output by itself. Add Riposte for the occasional free attack and also Mob Stance (more speed and free attack when killing foes) this tank becomes a decent werecking machine while not giving up much tankyness (if any). I played a Streetfigther/Unbroken themed as a "gladiator" as main tank with Bronlar's Phalanx and the Gladiator Sword (and later the Contendor's Armor and helm - those just for aesthetic reasons) and had a great time. I really like large shields on main tanks because the modal + Adept Evasion makes them pretty much impervious to AoE attacks - even if they come from my own guys. ;) Other good tank combos are: Paladin/Chanter (most prolific maybe Kind Wayfarer/Troubadour - needs attention towards additional engagement slots though) Unbroken/Trickster (as I said) Unbroken/Furyshaper (Fear Ward + disengagement) Paladin/Forbidden Fist (I particulary like Steel Garrote Paladin: enfeeblement + life drain) Shieldbearer/Trickster any Paladin/Fighter (Goldpact/Unbroken can have insane AR) any Paladin/non-Berserker Barbarian (engagement via Barbaric Shout) Tactician/Priest of Wael (if flanked -> becomes confused -> is now able to cast Withdraw as auto-hit on enemies to remove them from the fight for a long time) any Paladin/Wizard (except maybe the wizard subclasses you cannot cast Illusions, can be extremely tanky early on but needs additonal engagement if not Shieldbearer) any Fighter/Wizard Fighter or Paladin/Stalker Stalker/Ancient (lots of bodies: Sporelings + Animal companions - who help tanking) Lifegiver (Bear)/Goldpact (Gilded Enmity + Bear's hide grants very high AR with 0 recovery + lots of healing - needs more enagement though. Later great "aura-like" AoE dmg while tanking dmg via Sacred Immolation + Nature's Terror) And lots more... ;)

The combination Unbroken/Wizard is especially fun imo if you are able to cast Ryngrim's Repulsing Visage and Ryngrim's Evervating Terror*. Illusionist covers that (sine both spells are Illusions), but the Enchanter subclass will make you lose access to all Illusions spells, including both Ryngrim spells. Besides that there are also several Illusion spells which provide nice defense bonuses. So I personally would not pick Enchanter. Illusionist would be cool with me, but honestly I would rather pick the Bloodmage subclass because the combination of Constant Recovery and later Unbeding with Blood Sacrifice (get back spells, pay with health) is pretty neat. You cannot use the Empower mechanic then, but in my experience players new to Deadfire forget about Empower anyway (or don't forget about it but try to save its uses for the perfect time - which seldomly comes because you have no meta knowledge yet). ;) Your attributes could be pretty balanced. I woudn't go below 10 with any and put a focus on INT, PER and RES. PER mostly because if you play with official companions, most of them have not very high PER - and PER is what determines whether you discover traps and secrets in Deadfire (NOT Mechanics like in PoE - in Deadfire Mechanics is only for opening doors and containers and disarming traps). INT for your spells and RES for more dialogue options and higher deflection as well as shorter hostile effects on you. If you pick a Bloodmage there's benefit in picking the human race - because you can regain spells with health (Blood Sacrifice) you might get bloodied in the process. You can use that to unlock the human "Fighting Spirit" passive (higher accuracy, more damage output). If you pick Illusionist it's not that important which race you pick imo. There's a cool and rel. early large shield for a Battlemage spoiler: name of item which scales some of its defensive enchantments with Athletics (active skill) and Metaphysics (passive skill). It's best to skill those two from the beginning if you plan to use that shield. But you could also retrain with some money when you find it and decide to use it. )* the reason is that both spells terrify enemies. And terrified enemies will crouch down and move around randomly, potentially triggering free disengagement attacks (if you had engaged them in the first place). The Unbroken has paritculary strong disengagment attacks to that's a nice synergy.

Yes, all Full Attacks (while dual wielding) get a 35% dmg malus. This was done to counter the massive advantage that the combo "dual wielding + Full Attack" would have otherwise (see Full Attacks in PoE1). It's part of the vanilla game and has nothing to do with mods etc. Also see: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/227477-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/faqs/76599/full-attack-vs-primary-attack

The only tips that I can give: If going SC Paladin you want at least one Chanter in the party who can summon very weak summons frequently. Optimal would be Beckoner with Ancient Brittle Bones+ Many Lives Pass By or a Troubadour with Brisk Recitation, Ancient Brittle Bones + Many Lives Pass By. But any Chanter who can do either works. Also an Ancient with Summon Sporelings works well. A Ranger with Animal Companion is also nice to have. The reason is the Paladin's ability "Divine Retribution" at Power Level 9. It's a late game passive of course, but it's very powerful: for every ally that goes down you get +2 Zeal points. With the weak summons of Chanters that basically means your Paladin will have endless Zeal at his disposal. Since his Exhortations and other stuff are fast (but expensive which usually limits the usage) this is very impactful. You can also spam Flame's of Devotion endlessly. With a Ranger's Animal Companion you can revive it "for free" unlimited times because you get 2 points when it goes down and it costs 2 points to revive it. If you use a Ghost Heart Ranger a downed animal companion just gets you 2 Zeal (and costs only 1 Bond to summon). In addition the usage of the Essence Interrupter Bow in the party is great: with the upgraded enchantment "Soul Diplomacy" every time you crit an enemy, when that enemy dies an ally summon will pop up in its place (with long duration). If that summon dies you get +2 Zeal. Also a Goldpact should use Sworn Rival. You will mark one enemy for +20% damage for 1 Zeal. You also get your +4 AR (against 7 hits). But if that enemy dies you get back the Zeal point, so basically it getting bonus damage and +4 AR for a time for free. Because this is very cost efficient you can to it all the time and this get away with lighter armor (which increases DPS). However, since I don't play Turn Based mode, I cannot say whether this is impactful or not. As far as I can tell action and recovery speed are not that crucial in the TB mode of Deadfire. Since Shared Flames is good but very short lived (and the AoE is kind of small) I usually prefer Eternal Devotion (both mutually exclusive upgrades of Flames of Devotion). However: as soon as you can spam Shared Flames mindlessly it becomes the superior upgrade for the party performance as a whole. I don't know how good it is in TB mode, but in RTwP an ability which is severely underrated for a Paladin is Zealous Charge. It adds a lot of movement speed to the party which directly translates to higher dps for all melee party members. And since Goldpact's Gilded Enmity (+4 AR) doesn't stack with Exalted Endurance's +1 AR (which is also very good in general) so you might want to try Zealous Charge in TB mode, too (although I don't know how movement speed works there tbh).

Sure, I'm not recommending Psion for a melee weapon user either (I mean if the intention is to actually attack with the melee weapon and not only use it as stat stick). Beguiler is perfect for this I think. Good luck and lots of joy with the character! A pleasure! 🤗

Yeah, because I dislike the "normal" Soul Whip mechanic and its shortcomings I favor Psions (and then Beguilers). It's a matter of taste I guess: does one like the spells/weapons hybrid playstyle or not.

Hi! I personally - in the scope of your ideas - would prefer Beguiler/Trickster: thematically very fitting and also works well mechanically. What I like about the Beguiler (and even more so about the Psion - but that subclass doesn't fit the play style you're aiming for) is that weapon damage is not the only way to generate focus. In fact, as soon as you have Phantom Foes and Secret Horrors you will generate a lot of focus and often don't even need any weapon damage as long as you can reach enough enemies at once. And if it's against singular foes you can still rely on weapon damage as focus generator. Also the synergy of Deception spells with the several Will-based passives is great. The best thing about the Beguiler mechanic is that you don't need to afflict the enemies beforehand in order to generate focus with Phantom Foes or Secret Horrors: the afflictions they bring already count because first they get applied and only after that the game checks whether you generate focus with that same spell or not (which you do unless you missed). Which is hilariously good imo. Also those spells easily unlock Sneak Attack and Deathblows of course. Since Guile (the resource of Rogues) is limited, the danger of Trickster powers overshadowing Cipher spells is non-existent imo. You also need guile for Rogue strikes, maybe the occasional Escape or Invisibility etc. While multiclass Ciphers have a lot of charm/dominate potential, they don't have terrify - which the Trickster can provide. Also the all-defenses bonus of Borrowed Instincts stacks with the deflection-only buff of Mirrored Images for example - which makes a Cipher/Trickster surprisingly sturdy. Also makes sense to pick Riposte then. Even with a dual wilding setup, the combo of Mirrored Images and Borrowed Instincts make it worthwhile. --- Streetfighter is very strong once flanked/bloodied, but imo it's most fun on either blunderbuss users (who can automatically unlock the SF passives with Powder Burns) or if you play a main tank who still wants to dish out great damage despite tanking - because in that case you'll be flanked all the time anyway. --- For a Soulblade I personally like Assassin a lot. Just because it's so frustrating to miss with Soul Annihilation (all focus lost and all I got was this stupid "I miss you" t-shirt). Soul Annihilation profits from all weapon damage bonuses, so from invisibility you'd get the assassinate accuracy bonus (+25) as well as bonus PEN (doesn't matter for the raw damage but matters for the physical weapon damage) and also bonus crit damage (matters because with +25 accuracy from assassinate and maybe even a one-handed Rapier + modal which gives + +37 accuracy on top - all in all +62, jeez). Hard to miss with that one... On top of that Sneak Attack and even Deathblows bonuses apply to the raw damage portion, too: deadly strike from invisibility indeed. Add Backstab (also applies to Soul Annihilation) and that's pretty hefty stuff for a single strike from invisibility or stealth. Single handed Rapier (check out Rännig's Wrath) is perfect for this because of the modal and the inherent +5 accuracy bonus of Rapiers. --- The best late game weapon for a Cipher of your playstyle is Seeker's Fang, no matter the subclasses. Its raw damage is very strong and stacks with stuff like Deep Wounds and Gouging Strike/Ring the Bell/Toxic Strike. It comes late though. --- My pick as I said would be Beguiler/Trickster though. It's more versatile with focus generation, sturdier and has more stuff it can do to impact combat in different ways. Imo that is more fun to play than a somewhat one dimensional build that focuses on a single thing too much (such as hefty strikes from invisibility - although depending on the player that can be a lot of fun, too). Soul Annihilation usually leads to a behaviour where you spend all your focus for the attack and almost none for spells. It sounds like that isn't what you want to do.

You can use the Community Patch (Basic or all of it) right away. The changes it makes are reasonable, unobstrusive and improve the gameplay and balance. Also I nowadays would hate to level up without the unique icons for passive abilities from the CP - because I 'd have to mouseover every passive ability to check which one it actually is. Some few standard icons get reused for a lot in the vanilla game which is a bit annoying imo. I would also highly recommend the Enhanced UI mod (by Spherical), I wouldn't want to play the game without it. It just adds some additional UI bits for more info and tooltips which is really useful without messing with the game mechanics at all.