Boeroer

I think Sungrazer has the best interaction here. The occurrence of the AoE should increase significantly with Carnage if you attack tight groups of enemies. Maybe here a hybrid dual-wielding setup (Sungrazer + one-handed ranged weapon) could make sense to dish out as many Sungrazer-attacks (with Carnage) as possible?

Carnage can trigger multiple times, but if it does in a short time frame (for example when Swift Flurry/HBD procs) the game will tell you something like "similar effect already applied". So it doesn't really "stack" like it did in PoE1. Weapon effects which get triggered not only by weapon attacks but on spells etc., too (universal), should also proc on Carnage hits (or kills): Scordeo's Edge: Double Strike Sungrazer: Return Orbit Engoliero do Espirs: Cruel Blade and Blade Feast The Twin Eels: Breath of Life Azure Blade: Wrong Place, Wrong Time Sanguine Greatsword: Thirsty Blade and Parched Blade Oathbreaker's End: Found Guilty/Innocent Dire Talon: Tooth and Claw Aamiina Legacy: Slayer of Beasts The Spine of Thicket Green: Purge Decay Wicked Beast: Wild Heart Amaliorra: Ash and Dust Amaliorra: Innevitable Decay Whispers of Yenwood: Soul Cutter Xoti's Sickle: Soul Reaper List originally composed by @Constentin Lévine

Livegiver/Priest: high MIG and INT and DEX Ascendant/Priest: high INT, PER and DEX, decent MIG If you use official companions for the party, then I would use 16+ PER for the main character in any case, because finding secrets and traps is based on the party's highest PER value - and the official companions all don't have very high PER. It's annoying to step into traps and not be able to find many secret stashes, levers etc.

I forgot that Priest of Skaen can use Finishing Blow. Not that it's a particulary great ability, but for a class combo which has zero other martial attack abilities otherwise, this Full Attack could indeed help to build focus faster.

I personally would prefer Psion over any other Cipher subclass when paired with a caster. But a particularly strong synergy between Ascendant and Priest is Ascension + Salvation of Time. The "only" synergy Psion/Priest has is good action and resource economy (gaining focus while casting spells). But that's the case with any Psion/Caster multiclass and not special for Psion/Priest. Priest of Wael/Beguiler would be a thematically very fitting combo and it's also not bad mechanically I think. But also here there's no special synergy that stands out to me.

I personally would use Kitchen Stove (+Thunderous Report) for the initial focus boost and then I guess switch to the Red Hand. Reloading weapons have the benefit that you can always cancel the reloading process and cst right away after shooting. Cannot do that with recovery weapons. There's need for a backup weapon though against pierce-immune foes (like a rod maybe). Priest of Magran had the arquebus as favorite weapon in PoE1... Now has spiritual pistol+sword which is a sh!tty combo imo. If melee I would maybe use the Spiritual Weapon - because lashes generate focus and spiritual weapons have good lashes if your disposition is mananged properly. And then either dual-wield it with a similar weapon (for example Spiritual Flail + Sun & Moon if Priest of Eothas) or use a two-hander (e.g. spiritual greatsword in case of Berath).

Ascendant/any Priest has a good synergy with ascension + Salvation of Time. If you have a source of Brilliant you can keep being ascended and cast Cipher spells and Priest spells "for free". Unfortunately a Cipher cannot use Ancestor's Memory (Brilliant) on himself. But something like Least Unstable Coil + an empowered Storm of Holy Fire will almost always give you the Brilliant inspiration (plus a bunch of other ones). Priest/Livegiver(Cat) can also form a great healing synergy with the Spine of Thicket Green (+2 PL to Rejuvenation and Restoration). This also fits the Nature Godlike best thematically I think. You can prolong the Spiritshift and its cat flurry with Salvation of Time. Livegiver's Spritishift does +5 PL to all Restoration spells which is a huge bonus. Cat Flurry lets you cast extremely quickly (no armor recovery, too). As soon as you drop out of Spiritshift your Rejuvenation spells will suffer -5 PL (actually only -3 bc. of the staff's +2 PL), but now you can use the Priest's Restoration spells with no drawback (and the staff's +2 PL). Priest of Eothas has the best healing auto picks iirc. But any Priest subclass works. The spell cycle might most likely be: buffing, shifting for healing/buffing (Moonwell etc.), healing without spiritshift. Later one can also keep up the Spiritshift longer with Salvation of Time. Of course any other Spiritshift form works, too. It's just that the cat form has the best benefit for casting spells (speed).

It's what the Jaws dude from the James Bond movies has when the sun is shining.

I mean if your tank isn't even reaching bloodied status despite getting disoriented I would just live with it. Just watch out with Resonant Touch and also Avenging Storm (from scrolls or items): if you are not using the Community Patch, Blinding Smile will cause Resonant Touch and also Avenging Storm procs on the tank. Large shield + modal and Adept Evasion helps against Avenging Storm, but the Resonant Touches will still occur. I usually use Escape to dive the tank out of the Resonant Touch AoE before activating it with the Monk. Community Patch limits the max amount of Resonant Touch stacks and also prevents Avenging Storm to proc off of non-damaging attack rolls. So with CP it's easier for the tank.

PG = Player Garacter

The Forbidden Fist ability doesn't generate focus without the Community Patch mod.

Hi! In short: no. There are a few edge cases and build ideas where it might be good (pairing Shared Nightmares with an AoE weapon such as Whispers of the Endless Paths and using Reaping Knives on party members to be able to spam Soul Annihilation all the time) - but in general a multiclass is just better over the course of the game. The gist of it is that SA damage scales with all kinds of damage bonuses. That's what makes the Rogue a popular choice. Forst of all the Rogue makes it easier to harvest focus because the weapon dps is high - and then secondly the Rogue's damage bonuses apply to the SA dmg itself, improving it quite a bit. Soulblade/Streetfighter has the highest damage potential. Soulblade/Trickster is a great mix of offense and defense. Soulblade/Fighter can harvest a lot focus immediately with Clear Out. Especially when using Whispers of the Endless Paths. Soulblade/Monk is nice in combination with Tuotilo's Palm and the Sun & Moon Flail. The flail's double head dumps the SA-raw-damage with the first flail head and already regains focus with the second flail head. This can lead to a situation where you can gain enough focus per flail head to spam SA without pause. It's a primary attack so the bashing shield won't even be used for bashing, but the dual wielding speed bonus will still apply. And at the same time the shield grants amazing defensive bonuses for a monk. The INT and MIG bonus (when Helwalker) are great for Cipher spells, too. But when you really want to focus on SA I'd say the Soulblade/Rogue combo is better. Tuotilo's Palm + Sun & Moon also works very well with a Soulblade/Trickster btw. Another very good combination is Soulblade/Bloodmage. The synergies aren't very clear at first, but SA works very well with all AoE weapons. The Bloodmage has Citzal's Spirit Lance - and the means to raise his INT (Infuse with Vital Essence) for bigger weapon AoE. Also the Wall of Draining lets him keep all his buffs for a long, long time (includes Soulblade's +10 max focus on kill). I personally also like Barbarian/Soulblade because the high attack speed from Frenzy and Bloodlust and the overall decent damage bonuses (Blooded, One Stands Alone, higher MIG during Frenzy) leads to good SA damage. Then later the combination of being able to kill quickly with SA & triggering Blood Thirst is quite satisfying. Human Berserker/Soulblade can reach bloodied status quickly which triggers Blooded and Fighting Spirit. But it is also risky. If you use an AoE weapon (Whispers otEP, Spirit Lance) INT is crucial. Else not as important as it usually is with ciphers - if you want to concentrate on soul annihilation. Still: stuff like Borrowoed Instincts lasts a lot longer if you have hig INT. If it lasts longer you have to cast it less often. And that gives you more focus to dump into SA. Might is not very important if you are multiclassing with Rogue since the dmg bonuses from the Rogue class are high enough that the bonus from MIG feels rel. small in comparison. If you pick non-Helwalker Monk or Bloodmage it's a more important source for dmg bonus for SA imo. If you go for Soulblade/Rogue it can be nice to have some cheap way to applying afflictions for a rel. long time in an AoE. Like Phantom Foes. Lvl-1 Shred powers such as Mind Wave and Antipathetic Field are supercheap (5 focus) for a Soulblade. It can be more impactful to use Mind Wave/Antip. Field against a group of enemies for 5 focus than to spend at least 10 focus on a single enemy with SA (and do potential tremendous overkill -> wasting focus). Might well be. Didn't try both myself on a Soulblade so I cannot really recommend anything here, sorry.

Hi, it would be useful to know what your tank looks like, but in general a resistance or even immunity to PER afflictions would be helpful: immuities Effigy's Husk (robe armor) Captain's banquet (food) Slippery Mind (Rogue ability) resistances Defiant Apparel (hat) Blinky (pet) Ring of Mule's Wit (ring) Eder's Saint's War Armor (scale armor) Clear Head (Paladin ability) They Shielded... (Chanter phrase) Svef (drug) If your tank is part Forgotton Fist you do not want any resistances though! They mess up the wound mechanic of the Forbidden Fist. And/or having really high Will defense. That would mean high INT+RES and other stuff like for example Casita Samelia's Legacy etc. Blinding Smoke doesn't have great base accuracy so you can can prevent a lot of hits/grazes with high Will. I personally often use a Swashbuckler tank (usually Edér) with Slippery Mind - so it's not a real issue for me because it gets cleared as soon as he hits 50% health. If you have a Troubadour who's in chant-range of the tank then the Disoriented/Distracted affliction can be reduced every 3 secs with a chant (again: bad when tank is a Forbidden Fist). If your tank is part Streetfighter I would only use a resistance and pray to get Distracted as often as possible - and not pick Slippery Mind. The Blinding Smoke cone originates from the shooter. If you postion yourself carefully enough you can avoid hitting your tank. Of course this won't be possible anymore when using Whispers of the Wind with the tank in the midst of it all. But since the enemy usually isn't in the position to fight anymore it doesn't matter if the tank gets distracted or not. In general my main tank is most important at the beginning of the fight to "collect" enemies and engage them. Once the rest of the party unleashes their full CC potential it's not that important whether the tank catches an affliction or not. Most enemies will not be able to attack the tank with their full potential. So I just live with it.

Knockdown is cool and very helpful from the early to mid game. But it requires to make the fighter a dw non-tank. And to be honest: at that point I might as well go with a non-tank monk instead which gives me a lot more utility and power in the long run. Fighters are great tanks, but that's a rel. narrow niche. It's not bad! Just a niche. Where Fighters are really cool as you said: with spells from items. Barrage in combination with the high base acc is perfect for that on a non-tank build. But that's an even more narrow niche and the same role as a melee wizard would take. Not a bad one at all, but still a niche imo. I, too, have to remember myself from time to time that niche-tier doesn't mean bad tier. That's why I argued for the Ranger to come out of the niche tier: because in combination with the animal companion it can do more than just single target damage. By the way: playing a party in PoE atm against a bounty and the rangers' Binding Roots is annoying me sooo bad - I consider taking it for Sagani. Funnily enough since Deadfire I value the per-rest abilities of PoE higher than before. Binding Roots is "only" 5/rest - but that also means it can be 5/encounter in a very tough fight. And a very long lasting (30sec base) stuck with the Ranger's high accuracy can totally turn the tides of a fight. Also the 15 pierce +15 slash dmg of Thorny Roots only have to overcome 1/4 of DR (as all fixed dmg it seems). You can totally kill some casters just with that at the start of the fight (it's a fast cast so getting out 5 in quick succession is easy). I'm honestly considering to build a "per-rest", high INT/high PER Ranger just for maximizing Binding/Thorny Roots in combo with spell items (Rotfinger Gloves and such). That's how much I was annoyed by Binding Roots.

Hi, and welcome! Melee or ranged? I personally would recommend ranged if it's your first run. It does a little less potential damage (=focus generation) but doesn't need to move as much to reach enemies, doesn't need to be very sturdy and is most often inherently better positioned for casting spells. Ciphers don't have their own attack abilities (like for example Rogues have) so they use auto-attacks almost exclusively (except if they pick up something like Envenomed Strike or Runner's Wounding Shot - which I wouldn't recommend). So you are pretty free in the choice if weapon. Some weapons do very good dps but achieve this with a raw damage-over-time lash (see the hunting bow Persistence). Those DoT lashes (as all[!] DoT damage) do NOT generate focus for you so you can leave them for party members who don't have to bother with focus. Non-DoT elemental or physical lashes (burn, freeze, shock, corrode, pierce, crush, slash) can be found in weapons, too. They are multiplicative damage bonuses which makes them very potent. And they also generate focus! Because of this a Cipher should use a weapon with a lash. You can find some who already have one or you can enchant your weapon with an elemental lash. A Chanter with the phrase "Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr" will add a burning lash to the Cipher's weapon attacks. This means additional focus, too. So I would recommend to bring a Chanter. Since a Chanter can also pair that phrase with the "Sure Handed Ila" phrase (speeds up ranged weapons basically) that's another reason to bring a Chanter (for a ranged Cipher). Official companion Kana Rua is fine. A Priest is very helpful for every party, so bring one. Concentrate on accuracy buffs (Blessing, Devotions for the Faithful). Also pick Inspiring Radiance! Its accuracy buff stacks with everything. Official Companion Durance is fine. Also Durance isn't bad with an arquebus (pick the Priest of Magran talent "Inspired Flame" (+10 acc with arquebus) and Weapon Focus Soldier to get to fighter-levels of accuracy. It also profits a lot from Kana's Sure-Handed Ila. I also pick the Gunner talent for Durance often. This all makes him a decent shooter for the times when his spell slots are empty or when you want to spare spells. Ciphers often target the Will and Fortitude defenses of enemies with their spells. A Wizard has some awesome spells for lowering both (see for example Miasma of Dull-Mindedness, Ryngrim's spells and so so on). So a Wizard can help. The official companion Aloth is fine. Having a dedicated tank is helpful, too. You want to bind as many enemies as possible to that tank so they don't swarm your backline. The official companion Edér (Fighter) can fill that role well. So you already have 1. Cipher (mc), 2. Edér (Fighter), 3. Aloth (Wizard), 4. Durance (Priest) and 5. Kana (Chanter). For the 6. spot you are totally free imo. You could use the official companion Hiravias (Druid) or Pallegina (Paladin) or Sagani (Ranger). The potentially most powerful (in the long run) of those is Hiravias. But all of them work well. Paladins can use a marking weapon (Blade of the Endless Paths, Spectacular Septum, St. Garam's Spark etc.) + Coordinated Attacks (paladin passive ability) to boost a single ally's accuracy by +20 points (fully stackable with everything). That could be your Cipher. Having +20 acc for your Cipher can be a very good thing. Ciphers usually shine in fights against many weaker enemies but struggle in boss fights - because bosses are hard to hit and have thick armor. Both lowers the damage you do considerably. Low damage means low focus. Low focus means your Cipher stinks. To prevent that high accuracy is the key. So I would recommend Pallegina as "marking Paladin" - or even better a custom adventurer, a Darcozzi Paladin with Inspiring Liberation. He/she can combine marking weapon, Coordinated Attacks and Inspiring Liberation to a +30 all-stackable accuracy bonus for your Cipher. But Pallegina also works fine and you will have a companion quest and proper banter. I personally would make the paladin an offtank and give the Spectacular Septum (pollaxe) first and later pick up the Blade of the Endless Paths (estoc) and keep the pollaxe as backup for pierce-resistant or -immune foes. However: Coordinated Attacks + Marking require the Paladin and Cipher to attack the same target AND be nearest to each other. This can be a challenge for a melee paladin + ranged cipher. If the cipher isn't nearest to the paladin but another party member and that party member also attacks the same target he/she will get the accuracy instead. To prevent this the paladin could be a ranged one and use a pistol (see St. Garam's Spark) and just stand side by side to the cipher and shoot at the same enemies (and also profit from the chanter's sure handed Ila speedup). I would then make Kana an offtank. Now the Cipher: the best overall performance would be with the war bow "the Rain of Godagh Field" - but it comes rather late. Fortunately there's another good war bow named Borresaine earlier in the game that you could use in the meantime. But reloading weapons are also not bad. They don't have as high dps on paper, but against bosses they provide more penetrating power which makes them viable in those encounters that are usually hardest for ciphers. You decide which you like best on "vibes". Both paths are viable and good. I wouldn't recommend blunderbusses though because they don't work well against bosses and have trouble to perform well with lashes against mid- to high armored foes in general. They are awesome against weak foes, but that's not an area where the Cipher needs improvement. One Eyed Molina's Spike Flinger (soulbound arbalest) might be a great option after the latest patch because it got fixed and is now very strong once fully leveled. And you can get it super early if you saved some coin. Attributes: MIG:+ CON:ø DEX:++ PER:+ INT:++ RES:- Important talents are Weapon Focus (which fits your main weapon of choice), Marksman, Gunner (only if reloading weapon such as arbalest,crossbow or firearms), Draining Whip. Go with light or no armor. I personally value mind control (confuse, charm, dominate) over all else. It's much more impactful than the damaging cipher spells for example. Exceptions are Disintegrate and Amplified Wave, both are amazing. Disintegrate vs. bosses and Amplified Wave against everything. Besides that Borrowed Instincts is great as well as Defensive Mindweb. If you use the marking Paladin from above then Tactical Meld is also very interesting! It will give you an additional all-stackable accuracy on top of the Paladin's +20 (or +30 if Darcozzi) from Marking. +40 in total (or+50). This makes landing crits against any enemy (even dragons etc.) supereasy. Watch out: mind controlled enemies (charmed, dominated) usually don't generate focus if you attack them with your weapon. Let them do their thing and pick another target instead if you can. Cheers!

Yes, the "barely have to pay attention" is what lifts the Ranger (without Animal Companion) up over the Rogue imo who usually needs constant attention to be most effective. This maybe isn't a plus if one's considering a Ranger as the main character (I think most players even like to micromanage their MC) but as a companion or adventurer that's a good thing, especially when you have 6 party members who all might demand at least a little bit attention. That was the only reason why a tried to turn the otherwise high-micro-mgnt Monk into a low-maintenance build: It's cool to have a party member you don't need to care for and who's still very good.

It has two damage types (shock/pierce) which is pretty good. The only other bow that does this is Sagani's Massuk Hunting Bow. Edit: btw. Heart of the Storm (+20% dmg for shock attacks) works for both the arrow damage (no matter whether pierce or shock gets used) as well as the Returning Storm proc.

Maybe also try out Stormcaller. It's the more exciting bow, also because of its cool visual and audio effects - but Persistence does better single target damage.

Yes, it's great. But I sort of count it in when I claim that Rangers (without Animal Companion) do comparable dmg to Rogues. I think without Driving Flight the damage output of the Ranger (without AC) is lower than a Rogue's (even if you can attack faster) - until you get Twinned Shot.

Cool! Glad we were of use.

I play the AC like a Rogue, not a frontliner. If an enemy is already attacked by a teammate (usually tank) I will flank the enemy with the AC and also shoot at it with the ranger. You are right that it's more difficult to maneuver the AC through enemy lines. When there's no space I won't do that. The Ranger does comparable single target damage to the Rogue, especially at the higher levels (see Twinned Shot) and has resourceless CC (see Stunning Shots). But on top you get an additional entity which can act like a "Rogue light". That's my reasoning why Rangers should be higher in the list than the Rogue. Maybe they are at the bottom of my personal BnB-tier. The good thing about the AC is that is has no health pool, only endurance. It also knows no injuries. So it is an additional body that will never force you to rest. And if you have a Chanter with "Rise Again, Rise Again, Scions of Adon" in the party you can revive the AC infinite times.

Exactly

I mean if you generally want to limit resting as much as possible it's only logical to use Wound Binding + Mercy and Kindness. By the way: Infuse with Vital Essence + Mercy and Kindness ist nice for a Wizard who doesn't need wound binding or field triage then. Also works with the potion.

Oh yes, you are right! It's only in Deadfire that Mith Fyr doesn't apply to direct spell damage anymore. Sorry, it's been a long time since I played PoE1. I even found an old post of mine that explains that it works with direct spell damage. I most often preferred Dragon Thrashed though. With a good build you can put 3 instances on enemies - and the DoT does stack. It's just nice that you can deal "passive" damage while there's buffing/casting/running around or even while party members (maybe you most potent damage dealer) might be disabled. Just a pretty big source of damage from a character who otherwise wouldn't deal much damage himself. Mith Fyr is great if you do alpha strikes and high per-hit damage numbers in general. The 25% fire lash has to overcome 1/4 of enemies' burn DR - and unfortunately lashes get no MIN damage if they cannot penetrate. So with a "death by a 1000 cuts" approach (Minor Blights+Blast, Chillfog...) and also DoTs like Combusting Wounds, Plague of Insects and so on it's not that great. Maybe that's why I often pass on it: I like to do all that stuff. With direct damage attacks that hit hard it's indeed very good. It's even better if you have some party members who picked Scion of Flame. They usually can do fire damage by spell/ability/weapon - and that gets boosted by 20%. Add the burning lash which gets boosted from 25% to 30% and uses the 20% higher fire damage as base - very nice! Where Mith Fyr is def. better: if you have a low ACC and/or low MIG Chanter. While that won't influence Mith Fyr at all it transforms the Dragon Thrashed into the Dragon's Trash a bit (although the +12 ACC quirk can help). I wouldn't bother with it then and pick a nice support chant setup (like Mith Fyr + Sure-Handed Ila and later Mercy and Kindness or so). But the cool thing is: with enough INT you can put out Mith Fyr and Dragon Thrashed with complete overlap. And with higher Brisk Recitation scaling you can even have 2 stacks of Dragon Thrashed on the enemy and still use Mith Fyr without a gap. The party's Animal Companion with Predator's Sense sure would love that: unlocking with the fire/slash DoT AND gaining +25% burn damage for the bites: