Cyrus_Blackfeather

DoC BP doesn't really benefit a single class caster though. At least not as much.

Did we talk about armor for this guy yet? I was thinking Miscreant's Leathers (Almost no Recovery Time, negative recovery penalty with Abraham or Nalvi), but I also want to use cloth armor (To make it a little easier to rip models for clothes) so I was thinking about the High Harbinger's Robe (+10% extra spell damage). Furthermore, are the male and female models for the Vallian Frock Coat able to be interchanged? Because I'd really freaking like the female model on a male PC. Edit: Oh, and what pets? I was thinking Abraham or Nalvi, but I've also heard tell of a few cats that might be better working with magic users (AoE and spell damage or something?)

Royal guards in his main canon - ducal guards in Pillars. Then of course the entire plot of the first game happened, so he had to deal with that for a bit. Cipher is definitely a crucial part of the build. I enjoy the focus of going pure Ascendant (Getting strong powers early, and being able to take more of a mix of damage and CC abilities), and lots of people have spoken to its versatility. Rogue would be a fine multiclass option if I wanted to go that route, but I'd lose out on some genuinely very good Cipher passives (Shared Nightmare, A Soul's Echo) and actives (Time Parasite, Death of 1,000 Cuts). So I'm definitely leaning toward that. If I weren't so caught up in Cipher's various mid-late game toys, I'd consider Mindstalker as a solid alternative. And, unfortunately, he doesn't have any furry friends. He does have a cat though, but that moreso exists for passive buffs than actual fighting.

You may! Thank you, I appreciate the suggestion.

So right now I'm thinking either pure Ascendant Cipher (Ranged focus) or Inquisitor (Brotherhood of the Five Suns/Soul Blade) for melee. It's kind of a shame that the bonuses for Brotherhood of the Five Suns seem to suck so much.

I do that using the Unity Console, right? What are Brotherhood's bonuses, aside from the "Sworn Enemy now shoots fireballs at the enemy" thing?

I've considered a Priest of Wael with him, but I'm not sure what I could multiclass that with.

Two-Weapon is for dual wielding Kitchen Stove and Thundercrack Pistol for their per-encounter/per-rest focus gain abilities. You don't need it unless you are planning to auto attack with those weapons...but why should you? if you are in an auto attack situation it is better to switch to the red hand or a huning bow with the modal on Hrm, fair point. I'll grab Two-Handed then. Also, do you think there's any way a build like this would work in melee? Or are there no melee weapons that have such big focus generating attacks? Sure there is Whispers of the Endless Paths with that 1/encounter cleave attack and Espiers Estoc and even Wohai Poraga. But....in melee you will have to put on some breastplate probably and in general play more defensively or have a pocket healer handy. Overall if you are "stuck" in a situation where you have to Auto-Attack to gain focus I think no melee weapon auto-attacks beat auto attacks from Animancer Bow or Aamina's Legacy with the hunting bow modal on. If you have ring of marksman and Acina's Trihorn and even accuracy bracers equipped, which completely cancel the penalty from having hunting bow fast modal on. Fair point. Ranged does seem to fit better, especially with the Bounding Boots for getting out of the way.

Two-Weapon is for dual wielding Kitchen Stove and Thundercrack Pistol for their per-encounter/per-rest focus gain abilities. You don't need it unless you are planning to auto attack with those weapons...but why should you? if you are in an auto attack situation it is better to switch to the red hand or a huning bow with the modal on Hrm, fair point. I'll grab Two-Handed then. Also, do you think there's any way a build like this would work in melee? Or are there no melee weapons that have such big focus generating attacks?

Hey guys, So, I'm wanting to bring one of my characters from other roleplaying campaigns into Deadfire - this is a character I've played, in one iteration or another, across several different platforms. I figured I'd tell you a little bit about him, and then ask for some feedback/input in deciding on a class for him. This character is a Vallian Pale Elf (Yes, I essentially cribbed off of the Ydwin character sheet, sue me. He even has a similar name in Deadfire, Yngve). In his overall canon, he's an unlanded member of the gentry through his service to the royal family's personal guard/espionage and security forces. He works as a spy and sometimes as an assassin, gathering intelligence from known or suspected traitors to discover plots against his home country and then eliminating the architects of those plots with surgical precision. In Guild Wars 2, he is a Mesmer - which is a class that uses illusions and other mind-influencing magic to devastate opponents. He tends to use swords or rapiers, for the style points, but is highly proficient with firearms. In Deadfire, he's going to be an agent of the Valian Republics, essentially working for the same 'team' as Pallegina, albeit maybe a little less overzealous. He's exceptionally pro-animancy, pro-intellectual, and is intended to go for maximum reactivity with both Beast of Winter and the upcoming Archmage DLC. Right away, I'm thinking of going with either Cipher or Wizard, leaning a little more towards Cipher since that seems to fit the bill of a magic using class that also utilizes weapons a little bit more. I've been looking at pure ranged Ascendant, and while Mindstalker would seem to fit thematically (As well as do more weapon damage), I think sticking with the pure Cipher offers better options in the long run (AoE size based on your Focus pool, Death of 1,000 Cuts, Prestige, etc.). Wizard is picked mostly under the assumption that there will be more reactivity to it with the Archmage DLC, but I feel like high Metaphysics/Arcana/Intellect characters would get the same out of it. Basically it boils down to Mindstalker or pure Ascendant, melee or ranged.

Two-Weapon is for dual wielding Kitchen Stove and Thundercrack Pistol for their per-encounter/per-rest focus gain abilities.

Also, I edited the skills in the second post to replace Eyestrike and Two-Handed Style with Accurate/Potent Empower. And I'll retrain Puppet Master for Two-Weapon style once I get Ringleader.

And of course that's a problem too. In a party, it almost doesn't matter what you play. I wish fights lasted long enough to matter. Hopefully not using custom adventurers helps some. Cipher is still my top pick, though. Something else I'm curious about is how Cipher's onscreen presence is. How are the animations and audio for their spells compared to the other casters?

Best weapon and I tested this extensively and it works in practice is up to about level 14 any good weapon will do like The Red Hand, a unique hunting bow or dual mortars or Frostseeker will be fast in getting to max focus, but after level 14 going into level 16+ the focus pool becomes large enough that only special attacks from unique weapons like Kitchen Stove, Thundercrack Pistol and Amira's Wing will generate 1 shot max focus consistently and basically on ascendent you are really gimped if you don't hit max focus as soon as possible and maintain it through an encounter. And especially because at those high levels other classes like monk, barbs and whatnot get some sick abilities and start to out damage you if you are not spamming nukes from the time combat starts to the end of combat. Also on ascendant you want to pump your Int through the roof...sac the companion max it in anyway possible like the more the better 25Int is good to aim for. It hursts your disintegrate burst damage but you make up for it by longer ascendant state and time parasite and borrowed instinct state which makes more than up for it. Priest is you best friend ... he gives you acute inspiration at start of combat and once you hit ascendant+have time parasite and some buffs on he casts salvation of time on you and then it's gg. Who should I sac then? Aloth, because no one likes him? Do you think Ascendant by itself is top tier ranged DPS? What do you recommend for armor?

Hmm, alright. Shame the enchantments kinda suck. Lots of good ranged options though. Will look at powers after work.

Fixed. Yeah, I'm thinking ranged is probably for the best. Guns seem a lot more fun than just using melee weapons again, and there's some nice enchantments to be had with them, especially with stuff like The Red Hand. The main thing turning me off of Wizard was just the fact that the weapons you used were more or less stat sticks, and you didn't really take them to complement the build in any real way. I'm holding out on Tough because that gets me 240 HP as opposed to somewhere in the ballpark of 190 or so.

I mostly went with Essence Interruptor because I have a 'thing' for dual damage type weapons, and I liked the enchants on it. I'll definitely put The Red Hand on the list of items to consider for the build - I didn't think about ignoring Recovery through just skipping reload. Updated 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 and Draining Whip Level 4: Recall Agony Level 5: Puppet Master (Retrain to Two-Handed Style after getting Ringleader) and Hammering Thoughts Level 6: Secret Horrors Level 7: Mind Lance OR 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) - Prestige counters the Ascendant malus by existing, more or less If I opt to go with Ydwin as another party member, I can have her bring Defensive Mindweb or any of the other support powers I didn't take here. That said, I'm more or less playing a better version of her, so probably not. As for stats, they're looking something like this... 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) 20 Dexterity (17 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) 5 Resolve (3 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) Took the seven points from Might and put them into Dexterity.

Hey guys, So, after talking to a few people, I decided that rather than focus on a Wizard build for my pro-Animancy, pro-Vallian Watcher (I'm seeking reactivity from the final DLC as well) I'd instead try an Ascendant Cipher instead, because I ultimately think the spells and effects, as well as weapon/armor choice are more interesting together (Weapons serve an actual purpose in combat and aren't just stat sticks for spellcasting). Race: Pale Elf Culture: Old Vallia - Aristocrat Class: Ascendant Skills: Mechanics and Arcana with a splash of Stealth/Insight and Bluff with an investment in Metaphysics* *One of my big weapons for this build is going to be the Essence Interruptor. I'm curious as to how much Metaphysics is required to max out the extra lash damage. Attributes: 22 Might (18 Base + 1 Gift of the Machine +2 Berath's Blessing +1 Permanent Stat Boost) 10 Con (8 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) 13 Dexterity (10 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) 8 Resolve (6 Base +2 Berath's Blessing) Considering taking a few points out of Might (Down to 18 from 22) for 4 extra points in Dexterity. I'm not sure how much Might matters for a lot of Cipher damage spells. I could even drop Might down to 15 (After all bonuses are taken into account) for 20 Dexterity. What are your thoughts on this? Proficiencies: Most important - Pistols, Hunting Bows, Blunderbusses 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 and Draining Whip Level 4: Mental Binding Level 5: Puppet Master and Hammering Thoughts Level 6: Secret Horrors Level 7: Mind Lance OR Silent Scream/Body Attunement* Level 8: Combat Focus Level 9: Ringleader and Borrowed Instinct Level 10: Rapid Casting Level 11: Amplified Wave and Disintegrate Level 12: Farcasting Level 13: Ancestor's Honor and Echoing Horror Level 14: Tough Level 15: Keen Mind Level 16: Time Parasite and A Soul's Echo Level 17: Defensive Mindweb Level 18: Great Soul Level 19: Death of 1000 Cuts and Shared Nightmare Level 20: Haunting Chains The only power I'm missing out on that I think would be worth going for is Eyestrike. I'd consider dropping Farcasting for that. *Body Attunement is mostly taken to ensure that my damage dealing powers penetrate. I'll be using food that will boost spell penetration, but I wanted another way to lower enemy armor. The big issue with that though is that it targets Fortitude, which means tougher frontline enemies won't be as easily affected, and those are the ones with armor I'd want to strip anyway. That said, a lot of my powers do Raw damage, which ignores armor anyway. Equipment: Food - Spell penetration food, assuming it applies to Cipher powers Pets - Abraham, or another pet (Not sure what pet. I know there's one that increases AoE size and maybe spell damage) Weapons: Essence Interruptor as a primary DPS weapon, with Kitchen Stove and Thundercrack Pistol as a secondary weapon set for frontloading Focus through Storm Rune Shot and Thunderous Report. Armor: Not sure! Miscreant's Leathers seems good, since I'm not sure if Cipher powers count as 'spells' for the purposes of the High Harbinger's Robes. Miscreant's Leathers, with the right pet, can achieve negative Recovery penalty. Neck: Stone of Power for +1 Intellect and extra PL (Could be used to counteract the Ascendant malus on long boss fights?) Cloak: Cloak of Greater Protection or Greater Deflection Helm: Rekvu's Fractured Casque, maybe. Otherwise, I'm not sure. Maybe the new helm from the DLC to increase the accuracy of my Affliction causing abilities. Or Acina's Tricorn for Reload speed and Ranged accuracy and penetration, as well as aesthetic. Rings: Ring of the Marksman (Ranged Accuracy). Not sure for the second one - Ring of Greater Deflection, maybe? Hands: Not sure here. Bracers of Greater Deflection? Belt: Upright Captain's Belt for another source of Concentration. Alternatively Maker's Own Power for an extra Might point and an emergency button in case things get hairy. Boots: Bounding Boots - because as the lowest defense party member, enemies are going to be all kinds of likely to want to give me big hugs, and I'd rather avoid that if it all possible. A few other things... 1. I really want to be able to wear the female version of the Vallian Frock Coat on a male Pale Elf. Is there a way to rip that model and then do the thing where you drag enchantments from another piece of gear onto it? 2. Any major suggestions regarding abilities/attributes/gear? Don't worry about this turning into another one of those "Cyrus posts like, a bajillion threads talking about different builds" things. After thinking about it, I've realized that Ascendant fits the inspiration for the character I'm wanting to play here a lot more. I'm currently searching through my mood music folder for when I create the Big Thread.

Ah, okay! Nice, I don't have an easy ref for what all of the food does, so I'll go for that.

I just don't like having to wait that long for seventh level spells, and lose out on things like Wall of Many Colors or Meteor Shower. So, my initial testing has been kind of plagued by the animation loop bug that's been cropping up, but I've noticed that my hits tend to be pretty big, but I run into problems as far as penetration is concerned. I suppose that's what things like Expose Vulnerabilities are supposed to be for, but still, 10-12 Penetration seems somewhat low.

How would I get you those output logs?

Is it possible to rip the female version of the Vallian Frock Coat and give it to a male character? Because damn, does Ydwin's outfit make me jealous.

Thanks for the feedback! I never even thought of using that - but you're right. It is a much better debuff. Wall of Many Colors is another really good choice - it procs some really nasty status effects. Right now it's seeming like I shouldn't go Evoker, just to have the most well-rounded experience.

I wonder how hard it'd be to do a model swap?

Didn't know if the action speed boost applied to spellcasting or not. What would be some good 'stat sticks' then? People seem to suggest Magran's Favor and Sun and Moon quite a bit.