Haplok

Well, it can be damn strong... on as Spellblade for example. With Deltro's Cage lash it can reach like 80+ crit damage per target... and if there are weak/weakened enemies, chain procs of multiple Blade Feasts are possible. Not to mention that it works as instant full heal then - handy for a Bloodmage.

I think Multiclass characters work very well in a party as well - as long as you want to dabble in more complex character building/working on synergies. Depends on class, really. General rule of thumb: casters are great SC (not necessarily ciphers and chanters, although still work well as SC; anyway hybrids are still very possible for all casters), martials are usually better as MC (monk excels as either MC or SC). Regarding Assassin/Bloodmage, in general that'd feel like a solo inclined character. However if one wants to play in Turn Based mode, it also works great in a party in that mode at least. A lot more squishy in real-time. The trick is to dissapear (and be virtually untargettable/uninterruptible) and bombard enemies with +25 Accuracy, +4 PEN and +50% Crit damage spells.... or stay invisible with Brilliant Departure and torment enemies with +25 Accuracy CC. Well, it may not be quite as broken with the Balance Polishing Mod, I guess. But there is no real clash with party play, since you're not relying on kiting/breaking combat/DoTs ticking, etc.

Well, one (late game) reason to go with Ascendant for melee is his higher Focus pool... and a certain rapier that scales its Raw DOT of current Focus. One of my favorite weapons.

Terrify should be quite effective even without Will debuffing in most scenarios IMO. Particularly a lasting, pulsing effect like Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage. Not that debuffing would hurt.

Well, IMO another point against Evoker (and Godlike races) is the existance of Deltro's Cage Helmet. Provides a % Shock damage lash equal to damage you've taking from a lightning spell. You can target yourself (!) with your own Chain Lightning for a extremely potent damage bonus (can use Jolting Touch for a lesser bonus ~30% until you get Chain Lightning). The bounces of the spell reaching enemies will already carry this lash! ...but you rather don't want to echo this (now lash boosted!) spell....

True. But if those are the main selling points, a Trickster can do most of this - while dealing A LOT higher damage per hit (and generating Ripostes when enemies miss him). Of course, he can't summon an aoe Lance, extend stuff with Wall of Draining and do many other nifty tricks.

If you don't play solo, its less of an issue. I tend to always bring Pallegina Herald with Willbreaker morningstar along. Body Blows modal => -25 Fortitude. Can also chant Long Night's Drink for another -14 or my Ciphers often use Secret Horrors (-10, doesn't stack with Chant) and sometimes Mind Plague (or Stunning Surge - if Transcendant) for another -10! Anyway, with -35 or -49 Fort, most enemies are nicely primed for a Disintegrate. Against squishier mobs, Amplified Wave can also work well. Don't remember having issues to land the big damage Disintegrate on enemies. Plus with Seeker's Fang, you also have the spammy mini-disintegrate vs Deflection (needs a Crit, but the attacks are rapid, Flurry is aoe cone and works very well vs many enemies). Granted, I usually didn't fight most of the Megabosses, so its probably more difficult there. But normal enemies are fair game on PotD Upscaled.

I also usually don't play Soulblades - no SA for me. Maybe for the best. Late game Disintegration (and Seeker's Fang mini-Disintegrations) are my thing. Probably coupled with monk's Flagellant's Path mobility. Also I use a lot of Secret Horrors, Mental Binding, Ectopsychic Echo. Some Mind Plague now and then. Borrowed Instinct is a given.

A Kindred Spirit!

Personally I don't use Ancestor's Memory. If I play with a cipher, that's usually my main character and has more interesting things to do then buffing the rest of the party (even if sometimes it would be the optimal thing to do)

For characters with spell progression, such as Priests, Wizards, arguably Druids, I agree that SC in a Party makes a lot of sense. Definately SC wizard Aloth is my best Aloth. Priests like Xoti or Vatnir I also prefer SC (with faster access to Devotions of Faithfull and Salvation of Time!) I'd argue that for most martial types, going SC is a poor idea. Even monks, who get crazy good end game abilities, I prefer to play MC. Playing Fighters, Paladins, Rangers or Rogues as SC characters never seriously crossed my mind. Because of how strong those MC are - that much sooner. And how much less resource constrained they are (due to dual class resource pool). Also they nearly doubly benefit from things like Devil of Caroc BP class resource bonus or self-empower resource restoration.

I agree about single classes. SOME of them have more to look forward to (as partial compensation for sticking to them and suffering trough the game :P). The long wait is part of the reason I've never played a single class before Like that SC Assassin - I could never play it, suffering trough its squishiness and resource limitations - and general awkwardness in a party - just to await that one awesome ability - at level 19, when I'm nearly done with the game! Also SC characters are usually more straightforward and have less synergy/combo potential - a minus in my book. I COULD see myself playing a SC monk, since they are decently strong throughout - but still prefer a Shadowdancer, who is very strong right from the get go or a Transcendant who gets various useful powers throughout the game. Or others, monk comboes exceptionally well with pretty much anything. Same story wizard. I like wizards and consider them quite powerful as SC. But will still probably play Sage, Spellblade or some such. Or heck, even Arcane Knight or Battlemage. Because they are more... solid and reliable - throughout the game. I am quite troubled by Barbarians. One of my 2 favorite classes in PoE1. But here they gain the bulk of their important abilities too late IMO. I'm not gonna wait for Blood Thirst till level 19 on a MC Barbarian. Brute Force comes too late also. Even Savage Defiance feels too late... and too expensive. A SC Barb gets some nice abilities.... eventually. But again, at level 19 its too late for me. So I don't really play Barbarians in PoE2

That's a bit harsh IMO. There are builds that "mature" that late - but personally I tend to avoid them. Many characters, mainly muticlasses, perform fine well below that point. Some almost from the get-go. In my early Deadfire days I used to test characters basing on how well they do solo around level 12. My test sample was the (PotD Upscaled) encounter with some tough Xaurips west of Neketaka. That's because anything that needed level 16 or such I already considered end-game and not representative for normal gameplay. It pained me greatly to wait till level 13 for Borrowed Instincts on a MC Cipher, for example. Of course, we did get the DLCs since then. But I still tend to avoid builds that need a high level to feel effective. Plenty of builds that don't need to wait.

70% at max level? That's maybe true for the Solo experience. In a party its more like the last 30%? IF you're either completionist OR follow trough with DLCs. For me its at least 70% getting to that max level. Of course, I also don't try to "exhaust" all content available (so probably will not do all possible faction quests in each play-trough).

Confusion can be negated easily enough with Modwyr the intelligent longsword or Devil of Caroc Breastplate with appropriate enchantment (hope your PoE1 history leads to existence of DoC BP). As for tanking or even offtanking with a Barb... I'd say it depends on the multiclass and stats. Something like A Barb/Fighter Brute will be decently durable, but a Helwalker/Berserker will be about as solid as a tissue paper.

Perhaps you should try a non-Soulblade cipher then. They have a solid variety of powers, for different occassions and vs different defenses (mostly Will and Fortitude - but the nice beams target Reflex). Soulblade definitely isn't my favorite cipher subclass. Of course, a Bloodmage is great also (and maybe even moreso).

Fort Deadlight, I'd say. EDIT: SOLO... well, no idea then.

Thank you for the definitions. Basing on those, I'd say that the term "cheese" is a little overused on this forum. I for one will try not to use it to describe stuff like SoT / Wall of Draining mechanics any more (kinda cheap, but not unintended). I will classify Strand of Favor and permanent Draining Touch as such, though. Still, everyone can decide what is fair and what isn't in their game.

Serafen also gets a second AOE blunderbuss in his questline But yeah, no other per encounter property can really beat a Kitchen Stove Thunderous Report opening salvo (and instant max Focus).

Well, cheese is not the same as a bug exploit, at least for me. Plenty of cheese to be found in various combos/abilities in Deadfire - and I'm not above using some of it. In fact, finding overpowered item/class/ability combos is a little hobby of mine. Equalizing exploiting a bug with using cheesy tactics rubbed me the wrong way, I guess. Lets leave it at that. Everyone can enjoy the game the way they like.

I was one of the most vocal and first criticizers of this Strand of Favor exploit. I still frown upon it, but as others have said, its a single player game, so everyone can do whatever floats their boat. Provide this information, sure. Maybe it will be useful to some. But I would appreciate it if you include a disclaimer that is is a bug exploit, so one should use it at their own discretion. The way you initially provided that information sounded to me like it was perfectly normal to use it - or even intended. And there is a VERY clear line between a bug exploit and mechanical exploit - for me. Both may reek of aged cheese, but the difference - for me - is fundamental. Of course, I don't mind putting a "mechanical exploit" disclaimer for in information about the other "broken" mechanics for clarity. In fact I do consider it good practice.

Eh, its still not so strong for those long fights IMO due to limited duration - unless you also combine it with Brilliant and SoT regeneration.

As far as thematic weapons go, Engoliero de Espirs Estoc is hard to beat: on-kill summons a cone of ghastly blades that can be enchanted to leech as much life as they damage to enemies (that proc regardless of source of killing damage - also off themselves); also has an attribute debuff (soul hunger) that turns into a buff after kill (sated soul hunger). Plus its gotten trough an epic questline that involves... 2 Deathguards... and fighting at least one of them and his crew (where you also have an opportunity to win his ghost galleon). Too bad its rather late game (though personally I tend to rush this questline). But before that the Eager Blade estoc is very nice also and that can be gotten as early, as Amra. And sure, its probably best in the hands of a rogue, due to all the sneak attack bonuses the blade (and the ghost blades it conjures!) would get. Also a great weapon for offensive casters, due to the Ghost Blades passive nature - they appear also when you kill with spells.

Yeah, both Clear Out and Citzal's Lance are cool... but personally I wouldn't want to rely on them TOO much. Unless I'm mistaken, Clear Out goes against Fortitude and that is often a very high enemy defense. Lance is Piercing, which can also be a disadvantage sometimes. Plus summoning it takes action time. Its cool to use sometimes... but personally I wouldn't Devote my whole build to such a temporary summoned weapon. Frankly, I liked the Amra idea more

I strongly disagree. WoD is intended game mechanics, working as described, even if it allows for plenty of cheese. Stacking effect durations by unequipping and re-equipping an item with a buff extension property is clearly a bug exploit.