Cyrus_Blackfeather

That's all a pretty good breakdown, to be honest with you. I threw a post up talking a little more about the type of character I want to play, and a few ideas for how to convey it. Cipher is definitely one of those, and Transcendent might be a good way to go about it, but there's others as well that might be a little sturdier. I do agree, Time Parasite needs to last the whole combat.

Hey guys, So recently I've been toying with a few ideas for a pro-Vallian, pro-intellectual, pro-animancy Watcher, been wanting to make another heavy roleplay focused build. And I have a few ideas for how I want to do it. My issue is that I keep running into this problem where I want to do decent damage, but there's a part of me that hates being really frail. So I'm trying to find a build that offers a good mix of those two things. They approach the concept from two different angles, Ciphers and Priests of Wael. A little about this character, if that helps with suggestions. In his original canon, he's a Mesmer - that's a magic user who uses illusions to disorient and attack his opponents. Roleplay-wise, he's a member of his kingdom's royal guard, who also serves as an intelligence and counter-terrorist agent tasked with rooting out threats to the security of the nation. He primarily fights with blades, but has some skill with firearms. He's an adherent of his culture's goddess of illusions and water, though I wouldn't go so far as to call him a priest. He is well versed in her scripture, though. In Pillars, the closest thing to a Mesmer nominally is a Cipher, but I've also thought that a Priest of Wael would fit too. That said, I'm kind of disappointed that the Priest skill lineup doesn't really change much between gods - it's still incredibly fire based. 1. Priest of Wael/Streetfighter (Zealot): Based on the "Let's Learn with Umezawa" build, and using the Marux Amanth Soulbound dagger because, lore-wise, it's easily the most interesting of the Soulbound weapons. It has a chance to proc a fire AoE on Crit (Targets Reflex, I think), and a chance to give an Evoker type effect with Priest spells (Which are usually pretty high damage anyway). I THINK Sneak Attack damage affects Spell damage, but I'm not sure. Basically, this guy would be played as a frontline tank or off-tank, using trickery and illusion magic to bolster his defenses and get into scrapes, and then spells like Barring Death's Door to keep him alive through the worst of it. According to the person who posted the initial build, it does really solid sustained damage and has pretty significant defenses with things like Llengrath's Displaced Image and Mirrored Image, as well as Priest buffs. Apparently you can solo some of the big fights in the late game with it. 2. Soulblade/Bleak Walker (Inquisitor) 3. Templar (Priest of Wael/Bleak Walker) These are the three concepts I was thinking of that might best illustrate what I'm going for here. Of the three, I think the Zealot promises to be both the most interesting and the most challenging to play. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

That said, your Witch build, of the Cipher builds it seems you've used, seems to do pretty high damage. I just don't really like being so frail. I wonder if there's a tankier Cipher I could play for this kind of character - maybe an Inquisitor or something. I've also considered a Wael Priest (Since Priests get a lot of interactivity too)/Paladin. It might help if I share a little about the kind of character I want to play. Basically, he's meant to be a Vallian operative who works for the Republics in order to perform espionage, sabotage, and, if the situation requires it, assassination. I wanted a Cipher because I thought it really fit that sort of aesthetic - someone who lays the enemy's soul bare and plunders all of their secrets. But a Priest of Wael would also work well, thematically.

Turning Wheel is, I think, only melee weapon damage, and Lightning Strikes is only weapon damage in general. So the lashes would allow for quicker Focus gain, but don't affect spell damage.

It also gives me earlier access to high end DPS powers, passive abilities that increase AoE size based on Focus amount and give my Will targeting abilities hit-to-crit.

Level 1: Antipathetic Field (Instead of Tenuous Grasp) Level 2: Whispers of Treason (Retrain to Penetrating Visions after getting Puppet Master) Level 3: Recall Agony and Draining Whip Level 4: Mind Blades (Instead of Iron Will) Level 5: Puppet Master (Retrain to Two-Handed Style after getting Ringleader) and Hammering Thoughts Level 6: Secret Horrors Level 7: Silent Scream/Body Attunement Level 8: Ectopsychic Echo Level 9: Ringleader and Borrowed Instinct Level 10: Rapid Casting Level 11: Amplified Wave and Disintegrate Level 12: The Empty Soul Level 13: Ancestor's Honor and Echoing Horror Level 14: Mind Plague (Instead of Tough)* Level 15: Tactical Meld (Instead of Echoing Shield)* Level 16: Time Parasite and A Soul's Echo Level 17: Accurate Empower Level 18: Potent Empower Level 19: Death of 1000 Cuts and Shared Nightmare Level 20: Prestige OR Protective Soul Belt - Use Upright Captain's Belt for +1 Con and free Concentration at combat start. What do you guys think of these? Also, what other Constitution bonuses can I stack with Konstanten's for more of an HP buffer? Does his last for two Rests (Allowing me to use it and the +2 Constitution shrine outside of Neketaka)? Not sure about Tactical Meld vs Echoing Shield.

Thanks for that! It didn't look like it was doing that when I tested it, but I might have been missing the prompts - I'll have to look at it again. I like the Red Hand from an aesthetic standpoint, but I'll play around with all of them just to see which one is more appealing. I'm excited to start this out, because it seems like it's one of the higher damage potential builds out there.

Hmm. We seem to be at an impasse here. I COULD drop Intellect down a fair bit (Say by four points) for 20 Intellect, with gear taken into account. I could then put the other points somewhere else - back into Dexterity maybe. The issue is, I don't know HOW low Intellect has to be in order to deal with the tick counting issue from skills like Disintegrate. An average Int test Cipher was ticking for about 75, but that was against a much weaker character. I've also read elsewhere that Grazes are actually DESIRABLE for spells like Disintegrate and others, because they halve duration, which means each individual tick deals more damage. This is patently ridiculous - why should you be rewarded for missing the mark? Then of course, Intellect also seriously benefits other Cipher powers - buffs and debuffs, as well as the AoE range of things like Amplified Wave. So dropping Intellect low enough to get the most out of Disintegrate would penalize me in regards to those other abilities. Is Obsidian aware of this problem and are there plans to fix it, or am I better off going with Detonate as a way to frontload a decent chunk of Raw damage V.S. single targets?

Mindblades are one of few must have cipher spells. It is used Vs 2-3 targets. Amplified wave is used Vs bigger crowds and given ur high Int score I'd use Detonate Vs singletargets rather then Disintegrate cuz those 20dmg tics won't be thrilling ... Really? It only ticks for 20 damage? I'll try to work Mind Blades into the build somewhere. Just not sure where I want to put it. Not sure where to put Whispers of Treason, honestly. I could keep it instead of Penetrating Visions, since a lot of my spells deal Raw damage anyway - it really only benefits Mind Blades.

So, thoughts on the belt and swapping out the Cloak of Greater Protection for the Giftbearer's Cloth? (I think it's 20 History to make it better than a CoGP, 10 History for it to be equivalent?). For the belt, I'm considering The Maker's Own Power (A heal and +1 Might, as well as some Crush armor rating - the build lacks any physical armor otherwise). I'll pick up The Red Hand and play around with it. I do like the way my character wears it. The extra Penetration and innate Veil Piercing might help it win out over the Essence Interruptor. Edit: And maybe take Mind Blades instead of Iron Will? +15 Will seems like it'd come in really handy though.

Now that you mentioned it, I think I've seen a mod like this before. But I couldn't find it on Nexus. Do you remember the name of the mod? I know you can do it with the Unity Console mod - but it's not a perfect transition. You basically create a copy of the item you want to use, and then drop the enchantments in there. I'm not sure if you can mod individual armor values to get an exact match though (Like if the robe I wanted gave extra Corrode resist or whatever). And I'm hoping you can edit the name, the flavor text, and whether it's got the "unique" icon or not, but I'm not sure.

Also, I confirmed it for myself. You do lose out on Konstanten's resting bonus when you recruit him. Kind of a shame, really. Or at least you lose it when he's in the party. Not sure if you can get it from him on the Defiant. That said, it's +2 Con/+1 Perception/+1 Intellect. That brings my (Buffed) Intellect to 25 before Inspirations. AKA, 150% AoE range and 75% effect duration.

Might also swap out the Cloak of Greater Protection for the Giftbearer's Cloak even if I don't plan to bump up History that much. Having the extra weapon slot and quick item slot seems more useful than the +5 extra Defenses. Curious to hear further thoughts on this.

If only we could enchant these clothes. Well, you can. If you don't mind modding. Yeah, Miscreant's looks best from a style perspective while actually being armor. I'll look at regular Legendary leather armor. Edit: Normal Vallian clothes look nice too.

Would anyone mind trying their hand at making a more gender-ambiguous Ydwin? https://c-5uwzmx78pmca09x24l9c3x781t2ex78ig1sx2ektwclnzwvbx2evmb.g00.gamepedia.com/g00/3_c-5x78qttizawnmbmzvqbg.oiumx78mlqi.kwu_/c-5UWZMXPMCA09x24pbbx78ax3ax2fx2fl9c3x781t2ex78ig1s.ktwclnzwvb.vmbx2fmbmzvqbgeqsqx2f5x2f5lx2fXwzbziqb_Gleqv_to.x78vox3fdmzaqwvx3dl684k202mn7l71k38ij33lm913l79299_$/$/$/$/$?i10c.ua=1&i10c.dv=14 Trim the ears down a bit if possible and remove the glasses if you can and I will love you forever. (Totally doesn't want to play Ydwin's twin brother or something)

Thanks for the clarification on the Metaphysics bonus. I still like the idea of the Essence Interruptor because it does best of damage, and I'm a fan of that, though the Red Hand works too and suits the sort of character I'm trying to play. Is the Double Tap enchantment any good on PotD with upscaling? Does it work based on relative level to you, or always against certain types of Vessels? The limited variety is definitely a shame, but it's counterbalanced somewhat by having more variety than I would have had playing a melee focused character. I just like different ways to make enemies go boom. I'll definitely consider Tactical Meld vs Echoing Shield. I plan to have Eder as a Swashbuckler Riposte tank, so I can cast it on him for extra engagements. I do like having Metaphysics at least somewhat high for specific dialogue interactions. It's a shame they nerfed those specific skill effects on weapons so much, since you essentially have to gimp yourself roleplay wise to use them. But, again, see posts about balancing a single player game. Does Antipathetic Field affect the enemy targeted as well as all enemies between them and the caster? If so, I might take it over Ectopsychic Echo. Or both. I could grab Antipathetic Field instead of Tenuous Grasp at first level. Didn't know about Konstanten's bonus. Is that something you can ask him for after he becomes a party member? Because if so, I'll have to consider a party slot for him, especially if he gets some interactions in future DLC. Instead of retraining Puppet Master to Two-Handed Style when I get Ringleader, I might retrain it to Mind Blades instead. That way I'll have that, Recall Agony, a few fast beam attacks, and Death of 1,000 to set up a big combo. Thoughts?

Hey guys; Figured I'd share my updated Ascendant single-class build after all of the feedback I received in the previous thread. Features updated abilities, attributes, and gear selection as well as a statement of intent and a few specific questions. First off... Why a single-class Ascendant, compared to a Mindstalker, or anything else? The reason I opted to go with a single-class Cipher is primarily because of earlier access to some of the most fun powers (Disintegrate, Amplified Wave) as well as access to some very good PL8 and PL9 active and passive abilities (Time Parasite, Death of 1,000 Cuts, A Soul's Echo, Shared Nightmare). I really enjoyed my Cipher in the first game from a pure roleplay perspective. That said, there are some things I definitely wish would be improved. Cipher really lacks a lot of the visual *oomph* that Wizards get with many of their powers. So that's a little disappointing. Granted, visual *oomph* is a problem with pretty much every class in Deadfire not named Wizard or Priest, and watching a particularly troublesome enemy more or less just *evaporate* when hit with a Disintegrate is incredibly satisfying. A lot of this build comes from 1TTFFSSE's "Dat Arsehole Ascendant" build, so props go to them for pointing out a lot of these synergies. This isn't an exact rip, as I've adjusted some things for RP flavor. This is not a solo build. I'm hoping the introduction of megabosses will make party play a tad more exciting. The Build: Race: Pale Elf (For customization and flavor - I'm hoping for reactivity from the Beast of Winter DLC) Class: Cipher (Ascendant) Culture/Background: Old Vallia/Aristocrat (Aristocrat has the largest number of dialogue choices, Old Vallia is picked because this is a pro-Vallian Watcher and the Vallian Republics aren't an option* Skills: Arcana and Mechanics (Active)/Insight, Diplomacy, and Metaphysics (Passives)** Attributes: Two stat spreads. One is min-max focused, the other isn't. Ostensibly, both are workable with low to no Recovery penalty from armor, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts on both of them. 17 Might (13 Base + 1 Gift of the Machine +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Permanent Stat Boost) 10 Con (8 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) 21 Dexterity (17 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Aegor's Swift Touch) 20 Perception (16 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Kuaru's Prize) 24 Intellect (18 Base +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Old Vallia +2 Torc of Intellect +1 Kuaru's Prize) 5 Resolve (3 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) OR 17 Might (13 Base + 1 Gift of the Machine +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Permanent Stat Boost) 10 Con (8 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) 16 Dexterity (12 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Aegor's Swift Touch) 20 Perception (16 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Kuaru's Prize) 24 Intellect (18 Base +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Old Vallia +2 Torc of Intellect +1 Kuaru's Prize) 10 Resolve (8 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) Leaning toward the second one myself. I lose out on +15% Action Speed, but in exchange the duration of hostile effects isn't increased. Abilities: Level 1: Tenuous Grasp (It's a fairly consistent -20 Will Primer against non resistant foes that leaves them open for further Will attacks. Level 2: Whispers of Treason (Retrain to Penetrating Visions after getting Puppet Master) Level 3: Mind Blades (Retrain to Recall Agony after picking up Disintegrate and Amplified Wave) and Draining Whip Level 4: Iron Will Level 5: Puppet Master (Retrain to Two-Handed Style after getting Ringleader) and Hammering Thoughts Level 6: Secret Horrors Level 7: Silent Scream/Body Attunement Level 8: Ectopsychic Echo Level 9: Ringleader and Borrowed Instinct Level 10: Rapid Casting Level 11: Amplified Wave and Disintegrate Level 12: The Empty Soul Level 13: Ancestor's Honor and Echoing Horror Level 14: Tough Level 15: Echoing Shield Level 16: Time Parasite and A Soul's Echo Level 17: Accurate Empower Level 18: Potent Empower Level 19: Death of 1000 Cuts and Shared Nightmare Level 20: Prestige OR Protective Soul Equipment: Weapons: Several weapon sets... 1. Essence Interruptor: For auto-attacking to build Focus after exhausting per-encounter abilities. Deals best of Pierce or Shock, can be upgraded with either a Burning Lash or a Shock Lash that scales with Metaphysics (Though I have some questions about that). 2. Kitchen Stove/Thundercrack Pistol: Kitchen Stove upgraded with Thunderous Report and Thundercrack Pistol upgraded with Storm Rune Shot. 1/encounter and 1/rest abilities that pump out enough Focus to auto-Ascend. 2a. Griffin's Blade/Kitchen Stove: Adds another +10% Spell damage (A value of ~3 extra Might). 3. Amira's Wing - A rod that comes with a built in Wilting Wind effect (1/rest) which is another way to generate enough Focus to prompt Ascension. Armor: High Harbinger's Robes (Albeit with the enchantments copied over to a Valian Frock Coat for aesthetic using the Unity Console Mod) for spell damage. Neck: Precognition or Torc of Intellect (+2 Intellect) for buff duration and AoE range. Stat block assumes Torc of Intellect. Cloak: Cloak of Greater Protection. Hands: Aegor's Swift Touch Ring 1: Ring of the Marksman Ring 2: Kuaru's Prize Waist: Gwyn's Bridal Garter, The Maker's Own Power, or the Upright Captain's Belt. Boots: Bounding Boots - for an escape option in early levels, then consider upgrading to Rakhan Field Boots for mid-late game. Final Questions: 1. When testing the Essence Interruptor, no matter what I scaled my Metaphysics to, the Shock lash still read as 5%. Is this an interface bug, or does it have something to do with cheating my way to max level for testing purposes? 2. I want to work Mind Plague into my build somewhere, but I'm not sure what to get rid of for it. Tough seems like the obvious choice, though that drops me down to ~190 HP at level 20, which seems way too low to take any hits, unless Deadfire made it so dragons don't insta-KO squishies anymore. 3. Thoughts on the two stat spreads? Right now, I'm feeling the 10 Resolve one. 4. Any thoughts on the abilities in general aside from where to put Mind Plague? 5. Thoughts on the equipment, regarding which belt would be best to aim for? Thanks for taking the time to look over this. Once I get these last few issues ironed out, a completed version (With lore and music) is incoming.

Hey guys, So, the Vallian Frock Coat looks REALLY good on female characters, but the character I had planned is usually male. By which I mean, the character from the other roleplaying campaigns I've played him in is male. And the male version of the Vallian Frock Coat just looks... silly. Now, I have a few ideas on how to handle this in a somewhat tasteful way, but before I do I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for other outfit style clothing that had that same debonair flair and looked good on men? Preferably cloth 'outfit' pieces, because what I plan to do is mod the enchantments/stats from the High Harbinger's Coat onto a version of that outfit once I get it. Basically, a transmog so I can look fashionable in combat.

I am not! Female character it is, then.

Thanks! I'll try out different armors to see what works best. I probably won't use DoC Breastplate though, simply because A: I use it for all of my other builds and B: It's not really that great for anyone other than a mixed-martial multiclass because of the way the Power Pool bonus works. The AR itself is good, and so is having access to a resistance, but that's about it. Any thoughts on the less min-maxy version of the stats? I'm not sure how noticeable a -15% drop in Action Speed would make.

Hey guys, quick question. Are the male/female versions of different pieces of armor (Namely, the Vallian Frock Coat and some of the other 'clothing' items) stored separately (And thus, able to be used by either gender with some modding) or not? Female characters get an infinitely cooler version of the Vallian Frock Coat that I want to use as 'glamour' for my Watcher (Because yes, roleplay matters to me, dangit), and while playing a female character isn't the end of the world, I want to see if I could get the model to use on a male character. Could someone talk me through the process?

Thinking about it, Hylea actually does suit the sort of character I'm wanting to play. Though it does get a little finicky since I'm also wanting the Gift of the Machine bonus (5% max HP and +1 Might) and you can only (Canonically) get that by feeding some hapless prisoners (Or a little girl, if you've more or less lost all sense of morality) to a self-aware zombie man. Aside from that, this character tends to lean more towards using animancy for the benefit of Eora's people, curing various soul-related conditions and the like rather than wanting to become an immortal lich like Concelhaut (I plan to spare Llengrath in this playthrough as well). (Hylea also gives you a fairly amazing food item) I actually see Galawain's choice as embodying some of the same principles as Hylea's, though keeping true to Galawain's whole philosophy of "Survival of the fittest." Here, you essentially view the souls as essence, a potential resource to be used to benefit those already living. You're essentially creating magical antidepressants. Wael also works for the reasons stated, and is the more neutral of the three, I feel. It sort of sets the quest before your character to find out what effect, if any, your choice even had. I'll need to think a little more about the character I intend to play and decide what he'd do. Of course, the fact that I want to go for Gift of the Machine does point me toward either Wael's or Galawain's choices.

18 Might (14 Base + 1 Gift of the Machine +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Permanent Stat Boost) 10 Con (8 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) 15 Dexterity (12 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessing) 20 Perception (17 Base +1 Pale Elf +2 Berath's Blessing) 20 Intellect (16 Base +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Old Vallia +1 Stone of Power) 10 Resolve (8 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) Had a go at making a "No Dump Stats" variant with a little more Resolve at the cost of a goodly portion of Dexterity. I didn't like the idea of having +15% duration of negative effects.

That's a good point! (And it does? So it just doesn't pop up if you haven't already pledged to someone before going into Breith Eamon or however it's spelled?) It'd also be a good way of distinguishing this character from my others. I pretty much always go with Galawain.

Hey guys... So, this is another PoE1 question. I'm curious as to what you guys think would be the most research oriented/academic thing to do with the souls at the resolution of the Hollowborn Crisis? The character I'm playing is a Vallian minor lord, a Cipher and academic who works for the ducs bel in order to root out corruption (Or at least, unsanctioned corruption) within the Republics. My default from a resarch-based/academic perspective is Galawain's choice (Though I don't plan on pledging to any of the gods, this character isn't hugely religious). From the position of someone interested/invested with animancy/soul research, it makes sense to learn as much about bolstering souls as possible, even though it does make those "Backwoods Dyrwoodans" a bit more of a credible threat to the Republics. I've also considered Wael's choice, more out of a "Let's see what happens," perspective. But I don't really like the way Wael is presented as the god of knowledge in PoE; It seems like they're based on obfuscating information as much as uncovering it. Rymrgand's choice would be interesting from an analytical perspective.