1TTFFSSE

real men don't summon

helmet does not stack shock lash anymore. on vanilla potd upscaled build should be fine build just using dual sabers, with deadly deadfire it is squishy now with nerf to drugs and spirit shield potion though.

I mean to fully take advantage of skald and getting crits you usually go one handed style and take a cool on crit weapon like The Last Word warhammer or something similar, or you do dual sabers with high hit to crit sabers like aldris+min's, but those two are sometimes reserved for your main melee dps. then give him offensive evocations that stun/ paralyze/frighten enemies in a cone, give the deflection + engagement chant, the fire lash chant and damage to health chant. don't bother with summon chants because skald is not for summoning.

Oracle/ Mystic/ Hierophant need a bit of love no one is making builds for those three class combos.

Hi can someone craft a mod where Wizard, Druid and Priest damage spells generate focus for ciphers like weapon attacks? It be useful to combine those classes with cipher then. Also since most of spells hit in aoe it should probably be something like 25-33% focus per damage point generated as it seems 1 fireball can insta-fill your cipher focus and be pretty broken potentially if focus game is not % based. Thanks!

that's a really good tip, thanks -- I'd been ignoring mind blades because slashing damage type and it was a poor performer in the prior game. Does Amplified Thrust get similar additional bounces or is it just MB? just MB amp thrust is always a single projectile attack Also MB is kind of ridiculous and underrated as long as you have penetration on slash to get through the enemy armor. It scales on pl and is a fast cast. Seriously, before getting amp wave/ time parasite etc I was testing this thing in an optimized damage party with a streetfighter and a beserker also doing damage in the party. All the ascendant had to do to keep up in damage and possibly stay ahead is get ascended as fast as possible and then just spam mind blades as long as two enemies where there to hit. Against a group of 6+ enemies grouped sure stuff like slower cast Silent Scream is better but at 2-3 enemies around Mind Blades is gold.

I mean I soloed game on Potd+deadfire mod with assassin (+15% damage taken) and Beserker. Early on you just kill 1-2 enemies, use shadowing beyond to reset combat and kill again - that's kind of the standard way to not die if you take on too much. Later when you get defensives like savage defiance and levels you can stack +ar robust, spirit potion, whiteleaf and moonwell scrolls for good health/sec and ar. That was enough to not have to use a shield/turtle up but just go 2 sabres or the Lord Darryn's Voulge and do what rogue/zerker is good at- damage. Consumables got nerfed now in 1.2 but in that run I did not need to use poison effects, right now you may as well use stone joint to speed up boss kills since alchemy is not as high scaling as it was before.

It is kind of difficult to compare Zerker and Fighter it is like apples and oranges. Fighter has more "control" and tad better defenses while zerker does in the end more pure damage with all its passives. Zerker does splash damage indiscriminately while with fighter you can control a bit more what your are damaging.

Yes it is very important, the higher your Pl the more damage accuracy your spells do. It is probably the most effective"stat"overall for a spellcaster. That is why I said if you use a potion of ascendancy which gives another +2 pl to character at level 20 you may get disintegrate to do over 1000 damage.

Technically Devil of Caroc is the same as Svef: it gives resistance not immunity. Your only option is Modwyr in this case because that gives immunity. and Terrify is like a tier 3 affliction

has anyone tested cipher/fury? how fast do you get focus and what can you do in shapeshift form?

Lingering echoes = not worth it it is like +1 int score total (+10%) to your affliction durations. Yes it lengthens everything that debuffs/ccs the enemy in some way Penetrating Visions is a must at level 1, it basically improves all your non raw shred spells - like Mind Wave, Mind Lance, Mind Waves, Amplified Wave!!!! and there is nothing better to take at level 1 anyways. at level one the only debate is between Iron-Willed and Mind Wave imo. Whispers of Treason+Penetrating Visions is always taken.

wizard takes too long to self buff. while wizard is strong when buffed while wizard is buffing themselves/ summoning weapons pure melee dps like barb, rogue monk etc are already killing things so their dps is better unless you play specifically for the wizard but that's like cheating. in a free for all rogues would win anyways because stealth->kill, stealth->kill etc. Also in my tests at least before stunning blows (up to level 10ish) best melee dps comes out of barbarian (zerker) and rogue (streetfighter) with monk (tested helwalker as no shenanigans/consumables run) coming in third among melee. Also a lightly / no armored well built ranged dps/caster will outdamage melee because you can be more glass cannon at range and take more risks. also while melee is running up to the target the ranged dps is already firing/ damaging. basically, that's semantics but that is the reality of actual combat as ranged will typically have more uptime on target.

Because it was changed to Ancestor's Memory which is a completely different ability: +1Power Level, 1 power resource regen per 3 sec . But it only casts on ally.

PoE3 "Gorecci Street": A Thugz Life - you better "watch" out

Also, if Veilpiercer or Saint-Omakku's ignore's recovery on spell crit (with their upgrades) it is worth considering those in the second weapon slot as 50% ignore recovery on crit would be better than flat +10% spell damage from Griffin's Blade. But that is only if they work with spells, and this build crits often enough., especially in aoe.

Update pending for patch 2.1 The Red Hand will get its damage "fixed" and that will not apply to spells . But that is a "nerf" to all builds and not just cipher. It is still a good weapon for attacking though I kind of prefer the following setup now: Weapons: Slot 1 - Aamina's Legacy (weapon when you auto attack-I prefer this weapon to The Red Hand but both are powerful) Slot 2 -Thundercrack Pistol + Kitchen Stove (both of these weapons have special enchantments with powerful attacks that fill your focus to max instantly, Kitchen Stove has Thunderous Report which is 1/encounter, Thundercrack Pistol has Storm Rune shot which is 1/rest but does the same) Slot 3 - Amira's Wing (A rod with another 1/rest enchantment attack that does a wilting wind attack that also fills focus) With these weapons you should be able to instantly hit ascension 3 times per encounter instantly if you use the special attacks given by the weapon enchantments and pretty much circumvent the downside of playing a cipher - which is having low dps when you are forced to auto attack and build focus for ascension, even at max level because the special attacks granted by these weapons hit very hard and in aoes. Armor: High Harbingers Robes if you have BoW dlc Miscreant's Leather otherwise - since you don't meed Sharpshooter's Garb for better reload speed on the arquebus Everything else pretty much stays the same. Premise: This is my optimized damage cipher currently. There are a lot of generic ways to build a single class cipher, the devil is in the details though, to get those 900+ point damage disintegrates eventually. This is not a solo build currently as I optimize it for offense. Also, I made once a multiclass variation of this with Assassin but this guide will focus on getting most damage out of single-class ascendant. Class: Cipher/Ascendant Race: A tier: Hearth Orlan (best for consistent dps boost) or B tier: Death Godlike (near death boost) or Human Stats: Might: 15 base/ 18 total after some buffs Con: 6 base/ 9 total after some buffs *note: on PotD if you choose not to use Barath's Blessings get Con to a minimum of 8 and 9 is recommended to not get insta-gibbed Dex: 18 base/ 23 with buffs Perc: 16 base/ 22 with buffs Int: 17 base/ 21 with buffs Res: 4 base/ 7 with buffs Recommended skills: Alchemy to 10, Arcana 5 Athletics 3, Mechanics 7/8 - good mix to let you get an ok alchemy boost, use some scrolls in a pinch, disable all traps with thieve's putty and burglar gloves and have athletics for second wind. History 15 - you want an extra weapon slot to diversify damage type so you will be using Giftbearer's cloth endgame. (highly recommended) Abilities taken at level 20: Level 1 Iron-Willed - +15 will on a single lvl1 talent is the correct thing to do Penetrating Visions - extra penetration is a no brainer for a spell dps cipher Whispers of Treason - still the most op lvl 1 spell Whispers is good in case a enemy rushes you and you have to charm them without using too much focus. Level 2 Draining Whip - standard ascendant talent choice Mental Binding - best cc spell at level, but replace with Mind Blades if you want to be a bigger arsehole and not cc Recall Agony - best single target dps spell at level Two-handed Style - you will be using bow and arquebus when attacking Update: use Mind Blades up untill late level when you can replace it with Recall Agony or keep it for more dps untill you get amp wave/ mind lance Level 3 Secret Horrors - best debuff spell at level and simply great Hammering Thoughts - no brainer more penetration with attacks Level 4 Pain Block - too good to pass up, even for a total arse hole Silent Scream - your first "endgame bread and butter dps spell I would say, hits for raw damage and is a stun Level 5 Borrowed Instinct Ringleader or Tactical Meld (New) Rapid Casting Uncanny Luck These are pretty much the best selections at this level for a dps cipher build, Ringleader although not pure dps is really good as an oh snap button when surrounded though and is still essentially the best cipher power at this level Level 6 Amplified Wave Disintegrate The Empty Soul This is the standard selection at level 6, I see very little variation as these three abilities are just the best at this level Level 7 Echoing Horror Improved Critical Accurate Empower Potent Empower/ Ancestor's Memory *if you are arsehole extraordinaire you take Potent Empower to boost your own spell instead of the excellent Ancestor's Memory and don't give a blip about your team In general level 7 spells still blow for cipher unfortunately though Ancestor's Memory is a good buff I guess, but as dps you are better of investing into passive perks at this level Level 8 Time Parasite Reaping Knives A Soul’s Echo I primary take A soul's Echo just because I want to crit more on Silent Scream (which targets will) Reaping Knives is great if you have a monk or rogue in the party otherwise put that point into Ancestor's Memory or Mind Blades if you skipped those previously Level 9 Prestige Shared Nightmare Death of 1,000 Cuts Ok level 7/8 were lackluster. But level 9 makes up for it. With Shared Nightmare, you get AOE the whole screen with your amp wave as an ascendant, - and many other aoe spells. Prestige ups your power level where you disintegrate (see below) hit for a total of 900 raw damage or so in certain conditions, and death 1000 is actually a better disintegrate against bosses. The whole point is to take abilities that boost your offense with minimal investment into cc/support but you still take a few of those abilities which are simply too good to pass up: ie Mental Binding, Painblock, Secret Horrors (which is needed anyway to debuff Fortitude so your Disintegrates and Amplified Waves hit) Also and this is important, the nature of leveling up a pure dps cipher through the game is that you will be doing a lot of respecing as higher tier damage abilities become available and you can replace lower tier ones. Like Mind Wave is a good early dps spell as is Mind Blades, but these will get replaced later as your get level 4 and especially level 6 powers. Also, people complain single-class ciphers are boring (spam same spells) and that multiclass has more variety. That's true to a point but as single-class you will get to play with level 6 spells like an amplified wave and disintegrate relatively quickly and at that point it is gg if you have the items in your build I will outline below. Above are damage numbers you can get at level 20 with these talents and the items below, if you use ascendancy potion and some food I am sure disintegrate can get to over 1000 damage.!!! Items: Weapons Slot 1: The Red Hand (all upgrades - yes it is Legendary worthy) - this will be your main weapon unless you run into piercing immune enemies - most game it will take 1 standard attack to max focus with this thing, very late game when your focus pool is large maybe 2x standard attacks on average. Fully upgraded it gives you excellent additional damage at the cost of taking more damage. Slot 2: Griffin's Blade+Kitchen Stove - an excellent choice when casting to switch to when going ascended the first time, You get an additional +10% damage to spells from Griffin's Blade and also Thunderous Report on Kitchen Stove once Ascendant state ends can quickly give you a second round. Slot 3 - Aamiina's Legacy (or Frostseeker) - This you need to use when running into pierce immune enemies. I prefer the unique Hunting bow in fast modal to Frostseeker but with the passives and hearth Orlan Frostseeker should crit often enough as well to make it worthwhile, but ultimately I believe the hunting bow does more dps. And yes you use bows instead of a pistol as you take the two-handed talent for the arquebus anyways. Headslot - Acina's Trihorn Armor - Maia's Sharpshooter garb - this is bis armor for this build as you want to reload The Red Hand asap Gloves: Aegor's Swift Touch for attack speed or Gauntlets of Accuracy for Accuracy Belt - Any really, I just used Gwyn's but there is no clear bis here Boots - Bounding Boots - I like these to "jump" away from enemies that decide to rush me in melee Update: Use Rakhan Field Boots (late game) for a free full attack/per encounter - works with ranged weapons! Amulet - Precognition (more crits damage) or the +2 Intelligence amulet, or the rare +2 Perception Amulet Ring 1 - Kuaro's Prize - increases spell damage Ring 2 -Ring of the Marksman - increases ranged weapon effectiveness Cape: Giftbearer's Cloth or Magnificent Escape Bonus (sacrifice) - Sagani, Aloth, Kana, or Devil of Corac are good choices to sac Anyways with this setup and if you play like a total arse hole and just focus dps and don't do cc/ support except for secret horrors you should top the dps of your party easily even ahead of your other heavy hitters. Update: I highly recommend taking Arm's Bearer talent now + Giftbearer's Cloth and load your weapon slots with fire arms for quick focus (even if you don't have quick switch I recommend it - this is particularly nice with a full attack Item like Rakhan Field Boots Recommended weapon layout is something like: 1.) Red Hand 2.) Scordeo's Trophy + Kitchen Stove 3.) Eccea's Arcane Blaster + Fire in the Hole (4)/or use if you run into Pierce immune enemies - Aamina's Legacy or that new Lightning Hunting Bow Eccea's Arcane Blaster seems to apply multiple projectiles to you spells currently sometimes, use at risk of cheesing out the game.

Why not sacrifice Kana, tell Maia about it and then go on a "road trip" with her to that one island om the East of Deadfire where the Skaenites greet you? - Would be funny to see how she reacts if the game was actually well scripted for such interactions.

If you are frontline you should use devil of caroc plate If you are mid/ use another tank to take aggro and you are just sometimes in melee miscreant's or gipon prudesco is best If you avoid melee like the plague you can use 0% robe like spider silk or Skaen Effigy's Husk

I think GM gives +Rsolve last I checked.

I think since patch 1.20 it became borked and now you have to wait for an update of the unity console tool for the new patch

It is simple. Figurines took the function of chanter or druid summons diminishing the uniqueness and powers of those classes and abilities on a consistent basis. Because now figurines have a limited total uses and the actual classes that summon unlimited summon uses that balance is somewhat restored.

needs moar monk ...trickster/helwalker? wiZard is good too: ...trickster/wizard

I think after running a very long game of cipher and marauder as my two main team dps the highest dps currently is on any ranged aoe spam caster built right (cipher, druid, wizard are good choices you can mix these with some other class but you want those devastating aoes from the caster classes) - why ranged? because you can stay alive while maintaining a +41% damage done/ +41% taken from the new arquebus all the time+griffon's blade +10% and maybe something else, you get constant over +50% spell damage that way. run no armor, use speed enhancement abilities and use aoes to hit everything as fast as possible.

I did a quick calculation vs a regular saber: the energy blade theoretically does slightly more minimum damage now, but slightly less maximum damage. Best uses for it given that it probably cannot get as a primary attack hit as a regular sabre is on a second weapon set though where you run into really high ar enemies and need to switch to raw damage on your toon and avoid annoying stuff like 16+ ar / pierce immunity etc which some enemies on PotD get.