Haplok

Both will be squishy. Streetfighter will own more, while being slightly less squishy. Of course I recommend Berserker. Less squishy options would involve a Paladin or a Fighter. One other option is to stay pure. A high level Barbarian is not half bad.

Ok, then maybe 10 Might, 15 Dex and 16 Int. Or the other way around.

Not sure about "legendary" status, but so far many items were nerfed from 100% activation chance on crit to like 10% (like Nature's Embrace) or from 75% protection when near death to like 25%. Making a lot of them borderline useless. While they were possibly OP before, IMO it would be enough to nerf them a bit, for example to 40-50%, but keep them valuable and interesting.

Well, I'd raise the mentioned stats and cut Might & Resolve. How deep - well, that depends on your comfort. Would be easier if you planned to stay ranged.

Particularly in PoE 1.0 :D

Like I wrote in the PM, I'd definitly not skip Ecto Echo. It's one of the best Cipher powers. And unless he's soloing, chances are he'll have another ranger (Maia?) or Chanter (Pallegina/Tekehu?) to comfortably link the companion/summon behind enemy lines. Hammering Thoughts are nice, but a bit redundant with Thunderous Blows.

Too low Dex and Int IMO.

You don't really need a cloak for that. There's the Barbarian "Blooded" ability that also activates at that point. If you're character is a Human, becoming blooded will also activate Fighting Spirit.

It won't really help but... CC and damage powers are not exclusive... I'd probably pick a mix of both. Well, maybe I wouldn't on a Streetfighter. He's very strong, which makes a lot of the damage powers doubtful. Still I'd get some staples like Ectopsychic Echo, Disintegrate and Amplified Wave. If going Ascendant, maybe also Mind Lance. Should be fun to spam that with Streetfighter speed. My advice is to get a taste yourself. Play each for a bit and see which one you like more. So far I rather enjoy a third option: a ranged Helwalker/Ascendant. Was a bit rough early on, but now he's getting better. And he's just starting. All the monk stat bonuses supercharge the Cipher spells and he doesn't need to go though those hops/immersion breakers like a Streetfighter or Assasin.

Fair enough. But Disintegration is level 16 on a MC character. That's almost end game. Before that you could get some substitutes like Soul Ignition, but they could feel inferior to what you could be doing as a rogue instead (I was not impressed by Soul Ignition, even with the ring, I much prefer Ectopsychic Echo, though they serve different purposes of course).

Opening combat isn't the brightest idea when you're squishy anyway. If you wait a moment, some enemies will charge. After a Powder Burns you can switch to another weapon, with more range (and probably accuracy and penetration). You're correct with the formal amount of the recovery reduction bonus. But when you compare it on the same scale as other speed boosts/maluses (Frenzy, Bloodlust, Swift Flurry, Blind malus) it functions like 100% (compared with their +25/20/15 or -33%). Crippling Strike and the like do way more damage then a Backstab because they are Full Attacks (2 for the price of 1). That alone makes them more damaging. But on a Streetfighter they also get another 50% boost. They are significantly cheaper in both Guile and action time as well. Cipher CC abilities help the Cipher and the whole party. Assassin wasting time and Guile playing hide & seek only needlessly prolongs the fight putting more strain on the rest of the party. And I don't consider spamming invisibility potions a valid point of discussion. You can also spam spell scrolls and various other potions that will greatly help different aspects of your characters/strategies. But in principle they are a limited resource. You could spend a few during a boss fight or something. But personally I always hoard such resources and sit on them till the end of the game.

In fact it is much more then 50% action speed bonus due to the way this game handles math. More like 100%. So even under Blind 50% penalty, your still very fast. And what is that about limiting oneself to 4m range? Why? I've tried both Assasin/Cipher and Streetfighter/Cipher. To me Assasin felt very weak and unefficient. You waste combat time trying to hide and loose precious Guile resource that could instead be used to directly deal MORE damage (seriously, a 1 Guile Full Attack of a Streetfighter does WAY more damage then a Backstab) and simultaniusly debuff enemies/apply a DOT. And then you loose the only boosted attack you had, because the enemy has moved away. Granted it might be better on a ranged character. But still for me double speed and +50% damage bonus (AND still having Guile to deliver devastating FullAttacks with the bonuses, including Streetfighters added 50%) is >>>>> situational bonus 3/4 times per encounter (plus having no free Guile for special attacks and being much less efficient in a party). The only other Rogue subclass I'd consider would be the Trickster - for a more defence oriented playstyle. Regarding the early Accuracy woes, the solution is simple. Don't use the Pistol modal and Switch from Blunderbuss to another weapon after activating Powder Burns. Eventually your buffs/debuffs on enemy will compensate. But no need to butcher your accuracy from the get go.

I'd think most people consider Arterial Strike the better upgrade to Crippling Strike. Particularly for a ranged character. Distracted is nice, but you also have Blinding Strike, potentially Eyestrike and a dozen other Perception debuffs. Meanwhile Arterial does good DOT to moving targets (like ones chasing your mindstalker).

Barbarian is faster and more aggressive. Also at higher levels has more burst (with Barbaric Smash and Heart of Fury). Plus has some aoe CC options (Spirit Rage, Interrupting Blows, Shout, Spirit Frenzy)

Well Accuracy is a bit of an issue. But one that can be solved, particularly in a party. I'd teach other party members, especially tanks and offtanks, weapon modals which decrease enemy defences. Particularly club for -25 Will and Morningstar for -25 Fortitude. Plus there are many debuffs which can help your important spells to land. Tenuous Grasp costs almost nothing. Secret Horrors is a great debuff in a nice aoe.There's even Psychovampiric shield for even more ownage. A club Bewildering Blows + short duration graze from one of the debuffs is usually all you need to land follow-up nasty disabling power even on a mini boss.Plus it's kinda fun to plan, prepare and coordinate this. If you enjoy micro managment like me,that is.

Not really gimped. Sure, Ascendant has -1 Power Level when below max Focus, but it's not a big deal. On the other hand he has higher max and starting Focus and gains Focus faster. So he can cast more even without Ascension (when he gets +3 PL and unlimited Focus). But there is something to it. Considering the crazy damage Streetfighter does on his own, it could be that a Beguiler would be a better match. You forget about damage spells entirely then (so mostly forget about Disintegration and such) but focus on Streetfighter combat with CC thrown in as needed. Soulblade has been nerfed to uselessness, I think. Also I'm not a fan of Assasin playstyle.

Well, you can use Puppet Master instead. At least now you have incentive to do so.

For me they look ok for a character who stays back. Personally I'd drop Resolve all the way (it's not really helping anyway) and put those 2 extra points in Con maybe, to have a little more health buffer. Or possibly Dex, if you like living dangerously.

Personally I would rather opt for redesigning the class around ideas like Boeroer's Soul Communion, rather then chew on iron, bark or bone.

Not only oozes pose a problem. Good luck eating raw Lurker or Dwrga bark/wood. Or construct bronze/iron. Rotten, toxic flesh of a rotghast is not particularly healthy either, I imagine. Bone marrow from skeletons? Now that's a rich diet. Not that much would be left after some decades.

Eating Vessels and Primordials doesn't make much sense, though. The other suggestions are fine. But don't solve the issue that you can't use the ability in a fairly large number of encounters. Unless it's changed to something like Soul Communion, which was already suggested.

To be honest, as a Streetfighter I would probably pick neither Soulshock nor Mindwave. It's cool to have offensive powers, but... truth is that under Heating Up your auto-attacks will probably be more damaging then those powers - if you can setup Flanked/Blind/Hobbled. Not to mention Crippling Strike Full Attacks. With the Trickster version it would be another story, but Streetfighter is a beast and casting those weak offensive powers is probably not worth it. Mind Blades at PL2 are an option (the speed you can spam them at IS pretty cool), but still it's not clear for me if they are better then, say, a Crippling Strike. Particularly when you consider that with a Crippling Strike you may have just downed an enemy (and reduced threat to your party), while Blades slightly weaken everyone and possibly drawn their attention to your Cipher (awesome when there are 2-3 enemies left though). I probably would pick Devastating Blow. Just because it sounds pretty awesome. Not sure I'd use it a lot in practice, though. Regarding weapons, also consider dual mortars from Serafen. Aoe damage is pretty great, aoe afflictions even better. Definitely pick Arterial Strike then, might consider Gouging Strike as well. Then Devastating Strike on weakened enemies? Sounds fun! They deal slash/pierce, so partially solve your Penetration issue as well (not that I consider it a big issue, with the Marksman's Ring and Hammering Thoughts).

One interesting fact about Carnage is that it also seems to distribute Lord Darryn's Voulge Static Charge. This can lead to quite a lot extra aoe damage on a crit (plus area Perception debuff). At least it used to be the case, not sure about current game version.

It is very difficult. A choice I recently had to make I'd lean more on Streetfighter for more physical damage focus and Helwalker for more spell damage focus. That said, Streetfighter can still churn those damage spells at a much faster pace, reaches Ascension faster and contributes way more to physical party damage. Definitely much easier to play at the critical early levels (particularly before Monk reaches Stunning Surge). But there are some inconveniences involved: deliberately debuffing your Perception (plus being unable to buff it, so the net Accuracy loss might be like -10). In case of Powder Burns, timing the reloading of your Blunderbuss and activating the effect with reaching Ascension. One reservation about monk I can't really agree with, though. About their abilities being melee only. Of course that's true for many great ones, BUT I'm struggling choosing between ones that are actually useful anyway. Honestly you don't need that much: Duality of Mortal Presence+Burning Wheel, Stunning Blows+Surge (though it does come online pretty late, Rogue can spam Crippling Strike from level 1), Swift Strikes, Dance of Death, Thunderous Blows. But I do like the Cipher powers and mostly fill the levels with them (don't even have space for most Cipher passives). One thing I haven't tested yet, but looks promising for end-game at least is to pick Long Pain+Instruments of Pain and be able to mix some ranged melee as well.

No, but there's an armor that adds 2 PL to Shock spells... and a Pollaxe that adds the same amount (I think?) for Druids.