Boeroer

Yes, it's because some cipher powers are really awesome and too good to not use them. Like you said: Mental Binding and Amplified Wave are two examples. But since mind control (confuse, charm, dominate) is one of the strongest CC effects in the game (and it's really cheap with ciphers) I use Whisper of Treason a lot - even at high levels. In fact I find charm so useful that I value Munacra Arret and Spirit Spiral as some of the best items in the game. With a rogue, paladin or fighter you can crit-charm a lot and it makes tough fights a lot easier if you can spam that on a per-rest-basis.

Nope. It's always fighting as far as I know. Maybe there is a way with a ton of RES, but I don't think so.

I think Torm meant the Witch's Hat and confused the creatures. As far as I know there is no item that summons a banshee nor is there an item or ability that lets you shapeshift into one.

Yeah - but you can use both. They are not mutually exclusive. But people treat them like they are.

MIG also makes healing via Ancient Memory, Beloved Spirits and Veteran's Recovery more powerful. And with a Dragon Thrashed chanter there are basically no "Oh sh!t"-moments.

Which innocent man?

No, being a godlike does not entail worshipping the corresponding god. Maybe some godlikes even despise the god who "touched" them - because usually being a godlike comes with some hefty (social) disadvantaves.

Why didn't I think of that?

@dgray62: No problem at all. Glad that you like the build. @hansvedic: You are welcome. Surely a hearth orlan would work. I honestly can't say if if it would be better or worse (it really depends on how you play your char and which targets you pick - like dgray62 said), but the difference would be marginal I guess.

Yes, I do. There is a bubble-animation when I cast it but then the blueish bubble is gone and I'm left with no visual effect for the rest of the duration. I don't mind though because I don't like all those fancy-shmancy glowing effects from all sorts of abilities and enchantments anyway.

? Really ? In my game I never saw anything (Linux with minimal settings). Aw man!

@MaxQuest: last time I checked (long ago) the damage of Sweet Winds and Dragon Thrashed didn't get logged properly in the char sheet. So it may be that your chanter did more damage than it is written there. Sweet Winds would be really neat if it transfered the endurance to the party...

If you concentrate on damage dealing via chanting (Come Sweet Winds of Death, later Dragon Thrashed) you can dump DEX completely and wear the thickest armor. If you want to use Invocations a lot (like debuffing with Killers froze stiff) you need low recovery which means light armor and high DEX in order to have a decent frequency. That's because using invocations will trigger a recovery phase which is influenced by both DEX and armor penalty. The first approach is better for tankish chanters. Because it combines awesome AoE damage with good sturdiness. High MIG and INT are mandatory for max damage via chants because both leads to higher damage numbers. INT also increases the area of effect a lot. You'll also need decent PER because that influences your accuracy of your attack rolls. With a shield and thick armor you can do without high RES, 10 would be enough. Put the rest onto PER and then CON. Chanters are not the kings of debuffing. That's because when you're in dire need of a crowd control effect the chanter usually hasn't build up enough phrases yet. And most debuffing effects are a bit weak. On the other hand they have good AoE healing (regeneration) which works great with the above stats and makes the whole party sturdier and The Dragon Thrashed is one of the best abilities in the game. It stacks with itself by the way. You don't need to mix in something else once you have it.

It has no fancy visual effect.

What would be the advantage of a summoned armor? That it's a lighter than plate while having the same protection value I suppose? And (better) conversion of crit->hit->graze? Sounds nice I have to say. Never thought about that, but it makes sense if we look at all the cool summoned weapons wizards can have. Basically things like Iron Skin, Woodskin and such are a bit like this - without the visuals of an actual armor. I guess what keeps OBS from doing this is that they'd have to create an armor model for every gender/race combination - instead of doing just one model for a summoned weapon. But still: the idea is cool.

Yeah, it's the same game engine, but a higher version.

Priests don't have a big variety of damage spells, true, but the ones they have are among the best in terms of damage (as I said: look at the damage done by Shining Beacon with high MIG and INT through Minor Avatar or other buffs and add Cleansing Flame to double the ticks) - also because they can buff themselves while buffing the party so well. Another reason why priests are the most powerful class for me are the prayers and litanies. They make most defense buffs against afflictions obsolete. Another trick with a priest: Inspiring Radiance + Devotios for the Faithful (+30 ACC combined) stack with universal ACC bonuses like Disciplined Barrage, Zealous Focus or Blessing. I can totally recommend building a priest who's focused on damage. The first two spell levels are a bit meh, but then the good stuff comes around. And of course: at the start of the fight both priests should cast a buff before the CC and finally the damaging part begins. That way you spare precious buffing time. For CC wizards, ciphers and druids are cool. Buff them with +30 ACC and watch how their CC spells crit. Then start the nuking...

Ah, ok.

Priests is the most powerful class in my opinion. When they don't buff they can deal awesome damage. They are only a bit short of CC, but there are other classes for this. So if you want to use Durance for buffing mostly I would skill your main character for (spell) damage. Then take the Doemenel faction for the talent "Merciless Hand". With a crit your spells will deal a ton of damage then (look at the damage of Shining Beacon if you have high MIG and INT AND score a crit). With the right dispositions, your Holy Radiance can one-shot most vessels. Healing is very situational so I wouldn't evolve a whole character concept around it. If you can deal a lot of damage (with high MIG and INT) you will also be good at healing. Actually I never tried if 2 Inspiring Radiances stack. If they do, that would be superawesome. Stacking MIG and INT into the sky is pretty easy with a priest. Little Tip: Aggrandizing Radiance's bonuses stack with everything. If you cast Minor Avatar and then Aggrandizing Randiance, you will have +10 to all stats and +2 Move speed. If you cast a damaging spell with those stats enemies get obliterated. Also nice for Envenomed Strike if you like that talent. You could even make your MC priest a melee one - berathian priest with great sword is actually pretty fun. So is a skaenite priest with stilettos or a priest of eothas with a morning star - but that's all a matter of taste I guess. Note that all soulbound weapons an summoned weapons (Firebrand) work with the special priest talent that gives you +10 ACC with certain weapons. They also work with EVERY weapon focus. So you are no necessarily stuck with the weapons which are mentioned (like for example long sword and arquenbus as a preist of magran or great sword and mace as a priest of berath and so on).

Yes, that might be. It might also be that OBS changed that because it is (or was) a bit cheesy to be honest. I also like WoT a lot. Tenuous Grasp just used to be my no. 1 opening strike "for free" and I liked just because of that. I didn't play a cipher with either WoT or Ten. Grasp for a while so please keep me posted if you discover if more stealth works.

It's impossible to understand the mechanics completely if you can't look into PoE's source code. They are just too complex and there are many inconsistencies and also bugs. MaxQuest did a truly great job looking into the code every time somebody asks questions. Also check out his Attack Speed Calculator (link in his signature). It's superawesome. Honestly OBS should hire him as a consultant for their mechanics - and also as bug crusher.

PoE's PoTD is easier with the official companions.

I think it looks fine.

Yeah, you are right. Would even be better if there was a GUI that lets you pick a custom portrait from anywhere via dialogue. It's easily done with Unity. Maybe even has the ability to crop and shrink the picture to the correct size - like profile picture uploads on several websites do it.

Just replace the background with one of the original portraits, maybe dye it.