dgray62

One of the most fun and relatively low micro party runs was with a berserker/devoted wielding Amra. You just need some chanters in your party to summon skellies. @Boeroerrecommended this build in this thread. It's loads of fun and very sturdy. Just make sure that the rest of your party is ranged, because anyone who gets too close in melee will be permanently destroyed with this build. Alternately, any caster is great in a party if you're not in the mood for melee. Also, @Not So Clever Houndposted a SC trickster build that's great in a party, but for some reason I cannot find it.

Thanks for sharing this, @thelee. I'm sorry to hear that you're unable to update your FAQ on Gamefaqs.

Ah, that makes sense. I'm glad that your run was successful. Congratulations. Using the AC to build up focus and concentration sounds like a great idea.

Since you are going with soulblade, which implies melee, why not go with stalker as well for the extra defense for you and your AC? Also, given the melee focus, you might consider reducing your MIG and boosting your RES a bit. You don't really need high MIG with a cipher, since you'll have a nice damage boost from the cipher side, and also from the ranger side for select foes if you pick Hunter's Fang as well.

Yes, if you give Willbreaker to Serafin you could always use Saru-Sichr, which is nice due to the fact that poison stacks. Ultimately you might want to go for the Effort greatsword, which is fantastic in the hands of a Howler, although Mageslayer would be ideal, since wielding Effort your chants will apply the Mageslayer debuff as well.

I'd say for barbs PER and INT should be maxed, and the remaining stats can be left flat (or even dumped, in the case of RES) as you note. The only caveat is if you want to use Amra you'll need high STR, at least 20 (with equipment) before casting frenzy. Yes, the Amra 'carnage' does stack with barb carnage, which makes it a particularly good weapon for barbs. If you're not going to use Willbreaker, it probably is one of the best weapons for barbs, although it suffers from only one damage type. If you are going to keep STR flat, you'd be better off with LDV. Keep in mind that it can't be improved to legendary, at least in an unmoved game. I agree, Pale Elf is great for a front liner, given how much fire and cold are thrown at you in this game.

I agree, this combo would probably be best in a party. For solo the paladin or FF MC would be much safer.

I really like stalker, and soul blade would make a great pair with it. You'll have sky-high ACC, and your AC will make you a bit tankier, and you can buff your AC and debuff enemies, making it a plausible solo build. You could go with heavy armor or the Devil of Caroc breastplate (if it's available in your game) or ultimately the contender's armor with maxed athletics. If you're playing with a party, any weapons would be fine, but for ciphers in general Grave Calling and the Seeker's Fang are always great. If going solo, I'd recommend getting monastic unarmed training and equipping Tuotilo's Palm in your offhand. For the main hand, Griffin's Blade is ideal for your main hand. With it, you'll crit a lot, and when you do, you'll debuff foes by dazing them, which will improve your survivability since dazed foes will underpen and thus do little damage. With the bear companion (with extra AR) you'll both be very sturdy. Its loyal companion enchantment is also great for rangers. You won't need arcane magic to keep your AC alive, but naturally you can bring along a wizard if you're traveling in a party.

Thanks, @Jayd. I'll try it out and will let you know if I notice any issues. I downloaded it and tried it, and it works like a charm. Thanks again for sharing this! It's great for those who like to play shifters with maximum flexibility, allowing you to change shapes or return to kith form to cast a spell, and then shift again.

Yes, up close and stealthed. I never had a problem with it until now.

I recently noticed that I am no longer getting the backstab damage bonus after downloading the later BPM patch. I still get the backstab icon while stealthed, but when I attack from stealth or invisibility there's no bonus damage and no backstab animation.

@Waski, am I correct in assuming that you use Mental Binding so frequently because (1) it doesn't break your invisibility and (2) to immobilize foes to keep them in place to be drained? I never used that power much but I can see in your video that I undervalued it.

By all means you could play a stalker geomancer. You could use your pet as a shield (bear is best for the additional AR) and attack from behind. Once you cast the lance, you can also cast essential phantom, which will have the lance too. Or you cast Concelhaut's Draining Touch and then cast the phantom; in either case, the phantom would have the summoned weapon for its entire duration. @Boeroersuggested a fine stalker geomancer build here.

I would definitely be interested, @Jayd. Like you, I like being able to quickly switch among the forms when playing a shifter. When the mod is available please let us know. Regarding @NotDumbEnough's suggestion, I would recommend not changing this. I believe that the lack of initial damage lets you cast disintegration on foes without breaking stealth or charm, which can be very nice for some builds.

Wow, that's amazing. I never realized that the +20% bonus applied to spells as well. I thought it applied to melee only as the tooltip seems to indicate, which is of course ridiculous, since one generally just casts powers while ascended.

With loaded pockets I always occasionally get rare gems from pickpocketing once I hit lvl 10 or so. Before that, I only get the more common gems. Not sure if you can get them with loaded pockets as I always take this blessing.

This is probably the optimal way to play a SC soul blade, using a ranged weapon with AOE procs like Watershaper's Focus, once you reach PL 9 and get shared nightmare. I agree that SA is the usually the best use of focus for melee MC builds.

Yes, the quick cast powers are nice for soul blades. The slower cast powers are great for psions, since they generate focus while casting. While SB is the best choice for martial MCs IMO, psions are best for caster MCs.

While I agree with the general principle that SBs are optimally built toward doing melee damage and then expending it in SA attacks, there is good reason to pick up other powers in addition to self-buffs like Borrowed Instinct. That is, CC and debuffs can greatly augment your martial damage. A quick example of this is Phantom Foes. With it, for only 20 focus and a fast cast, you can reduce the armor (by 1) and deflection (by 10) of a large number of foes, potentially, enabling you to hit, crit and overpen more often. And, if you're not multi classing with a trickster rogue, Secret Horrors can be great when your surrounded by foes. Needless to say, staying alive also augments your martial output. My favorite cipher MC is soul blade/forbidden fist, and I always take these two powers at least. Mind Plague is also a great debuff that I almost always take. There's no need to cast these powers when facing easy foes, but they're great for the tougher battles IMO.

I use AF all of the time when playing solo, but you are right, you have to be careful with it in a party. Yes, MW is very cheap in terms of focus if you're a soul blade, but it is more expensive, time wise. It's probably better for a back line ranged cipher.

If you are going to focus on rapiers and arquebuses, you can always use the Red Hand with the double tap upgrade, which will destroy vessels that are lower level, even pierce immune ones. But you might also want to spend a skill point on the extra skill slot, and keep weapons there like Grave Calling, Keeper of the Flame, Magran's Favor, Sungrazer, etc. Weapons like these, that have an AOE effect on hit, crit or kill, are great for ciphers since you'll also get focus from them when they proc. You might also want to get the Seeker's Fang eventually. It's one of the best weapons for melee ciphers, since it inflicts a raw damage DoT effect, like a mini disintegration, when you crit, and you'll crit a lot as a psyblade wielding this. Also, I'd recommend that you get Phantom Foes at lvl 4 rather than 6. You'll want this right away for a tactician psyblade. You might also consider getting antipathetic field instead of mind wave. It's fast cast and is a situationally very useful spell that can do great damage if you set it up properly. I use it throughout the game. Mind Wave, in the other hand, I tend not to use much after the lower levels, largely because it is a slow cast spell that doesn't do much damage.

Yes, it would be something. Maybe it would be worth giving up on nature godlike to be able to wear headgear. This toon would benefit greatly from Whitewitch mask early on and Helm of the White Void late game.

I just tried it but they didn't stack even when I saved and reloaded. Weird. What do you think about playing a FF/blood mage solo upscaled? I am thinking that this might be a bit more dynamic and fun than a votary, which gets a bit boring after while unless you automate it and sit back with a beer, as you did with your brawler run.

Likewise, the +2 all skills doesn't stack with Luminous Adra Potion. Not worth it even for votary unfortunately.

Thanks, I suspected this was the case but wasn't sure. As for soul power, you're right, it wasn't implemented. I forgot that I downloaded a mod that implements this for main characters too. Also, regarding food, I wonder if Hylea's Bounty might be ideal for martial multi classes like this? The extra defense, skill points and health would all be great, and this doesn't seem like a build that requires empowering attacks.