Haplok

Well, a Beguiler can largely focus on casting rather then fighting and gathering focus, as his Deception powers also generate focus (per target affected). You won't be spamming strongest, damaging powers as one, though. The single most OP piece of equipment is Kitchen Stove blunderbuss with its Thunderous Report per encounter special - which is almost guaranteed to max your Focus in 1 cone shot vs multiple enemies (and even provides a strong Dazed debuff to enemies in radius).

Clear Out wins IMO - for that very purpose. Also for fun of ragdolling everyone. But before the Lance and Clear Out, a Spellblade would be better for the likes of Minor Blights / dual mortars for aoe and Nanassin's Cobra Strike for single target.

In most fights you don't need Ancestors Memory, 2 regular Salvations will do. Or maybe you'll Ascend only once more. Actually, I didn't pick Ancestors Memory.

After you go trough Old City, both will Ascend in every fight at exactly the same time: after single Kitchen Stove Thunderous Report shot. Granted, it probably is seriously overpowered.

Well, you can stand in your own Chillfogs OR use Blunderbuss Powders Burns modal for permanent flanked status. But it does debuff your Perception (Accuracy). Recovery reduction helps with spell Recovery also, I think. So you can spam fast cast spells really fast... only when you could be doing so much martial damage, is there a point?

Streetfighter sure is strong... but it's extreme martial prowess led me to limit casting to support only. Plus the fact that it often wants to self-inflict Perception afflictions (to trigger the special) debuffs its Accuracy (double effect: Per affliction AND lack of Per Inspiration). Which is not great for actually landing the cipher powers. For more of a balance between martial and casting ability, I like the Helwalker much more. Huge aoes, durations, good Penetration, good speed...

Zip-zaping trough the battlefield with Flagellant's Path is really fun with Seeker's Fang rapier You just need to get one crit and you can zip to another squishy in the back, the DOT from the rapier will usually take care of the rest. Even faster if it procs Swift Flurry/Heartbeat (each crit does the "zero" start tick of the DOT). And of course, the rapier's Spider's Flurry simply melts groups of bunched enemies - as it also applies the usual DOTs, but strikes everyone 3 times, so plenty of chances to crit and start the big DOT; it also Immobilizes enemies and often maximizes focus.

I'm playing in the Turn based mod for the first time... and find it quite interesting how the ray spells have been altered. They've effectively become very strong very short range nukes (with echo, as they strike twice!). I was already impressed by Ray of Fire doing nearly 50% more damage then a fireball (twice!), but Ningauth's Death Ray looks ridiculous! 100 damage on a PL 3 spell (again, twice!). Need to get close to enemies and it's tricky to hit more then 1-3, but it's actually good even as a single target spell now! Really nice for my Assasin Spellblade.

I believe crit confirmation started in 3rd ed.? And yes, you need to beat enemy AC with the confirmation roll. If you don't, you just land a normal hit, not a crit (misses are also possible within a weapon's critical threat range if the roll isn't sufficient to beat the enemy AC).

Yeah, late game and end game he doesn't really shine that much, except against the big ones. The thing is a lot of the actual game happens before that and it seems to me there is no contest for low to mid levels. Even moreso that most enemies have very distinct strengths and weaknesses - in 2 layers actually: strong/weak save & elements they have strong/weak Armor against. Which often leads to pretty clear optimal spell choices to solve each encounter... and only the Bloodmage can (almost) freely spam the same, optimal spells again and again, without concern about same spell slots also occupied by buffs he would like to have and, god forbid, possibly missing. Well, there is also Brilliant, but that's tricky to activate (before Cipher PL VII, that is), often gamey and still probably slower and more limiting (as you need to strictly control the slots/resources you expand ion order to keep control over what you're getting back).

That's why I love my new Bloodmage (Assasin Spellblade). Sure, you have all these AWESOME buffs, but normally you have so few slots, that before late game you EITHER buff or actively cast offensively. And woe on you should a spell miss and be wasted! I always loved ciphers, but their mid-game power selection is badly lacking if you don't enjoy charming enemies (other then the best buff/debuff in the game). Admittedly they do rock late game (MC) and the Seeker's Fang rapier is just lovely for them. Bloodmages combine the best of both worlds: unlimited resources, instant mighty buffs AND a wizard spellbook (plus grimoires).

Well, Freezing Pillar is very strong. Granted, that's PL VI.

I got rid of the Oracle, supported Llengrath, but the Seeds quest (or any seed parts) never appeared. Also never met a living Bekarna at the Sanctum, if that matters (so no quests for her either).

I can vouch for Seekers Fang being an absolutely fantastic weapon for a melee oriented cipher. On my Transcendent it does like 40-50 damage per tick after crit with Spider's Patience when Ascended - about half of Disintegrate - but rapier strikes much faster (particularly dual wielded with a ranged weapon), normal hits also leave a slight (stacking) DOT. The nice thing is that the first tick is instant, so it deals almost 100 damage per crit... and then the deadly DOT. And it has the fantastic per encounter Spider's Flurry ability, which deals 3 hits to everyone in the cone (plus immobilized and offers 3 chances to crit, 3 stacks of regular DOT)... Can usually affect 3-5 enemies with it... and maximize focus too.

What multihit ability is that? Not Heart of Fury I guess, not at level 11, not on a multiclass.

Make sure to pick the paralyzing upgrade for Grave Calling also. That way Chilling Fog aoe pulses will count as ticks for the paralysis to occur -and after a short time, the enemies in the fog will be paralyzed also... Note the ChillFog aoe damage even provides Focus if Grave Calling is wielded by a Cipher....

Yeah, its a good combination. Race selection is probably not optimal, but it doesn't have a great impact, so whatever. Personally I think I'd want a little more Might, at least 14. Not a huge difference, but at least something. Probably at the cost of dumping Res further, as it's not that important for a ranged character.

Sure it does. Check a Monk's "Mortification of the Soul" ability btw. Can also get you killed real quick if you happen to be a Helwalker. Also I'm not sure about Frenzy upgrade effects not affecting spells. I believe they used to, at least.

Negating attacks with Blade Turning happens only when you're not moving... and my char tends to be quite mobile, so it's not great - for me. Prefer the Burning Wheel. But Rooting Pain... yeah, I should try it, thank you Boeroer.

Well, on my Transcendant I prefer.... Patinated Plate (does it still offer the most protection?). Was creamed too much otherwise, particularly in ship boarding actions and other heavily crowded battles. Granted, the monk subclass is Helwalker.

That would be (short) ranged though. Slightly different from melee.

IMO go melee weapon main hand + ranged weapon (blunderbuss/pistol/scepter/wand) offhand. Gives you the attack speed of dual-wielding, but when close to the enemy you always strike with main hand, when at range you shoot at him. Works really nice for ciphers and many of their multiclasses, as they have great active powers and great passives, but lack physical "special attacks" - and Full Attack abilities would be fairly poor with this combo. Plus you can use two weapons that have 1-per-encounter abilities that provide massive Focus when used. The extreme case is Thuderous Report of Kitchen Stove blunderbuss (HUGE cone aoe, HUGE damage + Daze CC). I used to couple it with Grave Calling saber (can create party friendly Chilling Fogs when you kill a vessel - even your summoned skeletons; those Chillfog aoes damage & Blind enemies, generate Focus for you and with proper enchantment can even freeze - paralyse enemies), but now I love the rapier Seeker's Fang from SSS DLC. Does a very strong Focus scaling DOT on crit, lesser DOTs on hits, has fast attack speed & bonus accuracy (like all rapiers) and it's Spider's Flurry per-encounter special is a cone aoe 3-hit combo - that reliably applies these DOTs to multiple enemies aaaand provides a ton of Focus in the process. So my Transcendant Ascendant at the beginning of combat instant-Ascends after firing the Thunderous Report and can freely spam his powers and afflict enemies with deadly DOTs. When the enemies are nicely bunched OR Ascension runs out, he can use Spider's Flurry to typically instant-Ascend again.

I see, didn't realize it was that much higher level for a druid. Next to Maelstorm, its probably quite sad indeed.

I'm quite surprised about your low opinion about Ninagauth's freezing pillar. It's one of my favorite spells on Aloth. Of course, don't use it on Cold resistant enemies, but otherwise...

You should always pick Trickster at least, IMO. What he gives up (10% Sneak damage) is really miniscule compared to what he gains (very strong defensive buffs, plus some less awesome offensive powers).