Stasis_Sword

Besides dot or combat ending (especially solo) I've never had any issues with invisibility ending early. Yes you can still use escape with shadowing beyond. The biggest difference between shadowing beyond and escape + smoke veil is the recovery time (and slightly longer casting time). With shadowing beyond after 0.5 seconds you teleport and are invisible with 0 recovery time. Escape -> Smoke Veil is: 0.5 seconds casting time, still visible additional 0.5 seconds casting, 3 seconds recovery time.

Stealth offers a lot of benefits: pre-trapping, positioning and bonus damage (especially with backstab). With that said it's inherently micro heavy. Especially with where the difficulty is right now you could argue a fighter/monk who could just face tank everything would be more optimal. Games are about having fun so play how you want.

Agreed Beguiler has some nice synergies as well. You can make an argument for all 3 sub classes depending on the build you want. I'll add Psychovampiric shield to the list of 2nd level choices. Personally it never made me feel tanky enough, but it is a nice 2nd level ability. I wish ciphers had grimoires.

As requested here is an assassin/soul blade build: Dishonored Mindstalker: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/101391-class-build-dishonored-mindstalker/

I recommend group play so that some else (Eder) can tank and you can focus on stealth / flanking. It might be able to work solo if you have the skill / patience.

Samelia's Legacy and Gladiator Sword might be useful if you're really trying for max deflection.

I'll be honest other than an occasional soul annihilation and the concentration / focus bonus on melee kill the Soul Blade sub class didn't do a ton for me. Having played a similar build I'm curious if you have any feedback on the abilities.

Honestly unless you're trying to solo PotD anything can work. Dagger will have lower damage and lose the penetration for the sword modal. That particular breastplate is chose because it has nice armor and -15% recovery speed. Effectively leather armor speed. Miscreant Leathers seems like a good choice if you'd prefer leather armor. I'll add some notes in the gear section.

Corvo Attano was once the Royal Protector to the empress before her assassination. Following her death he was stripped of land and title becoming a vigilante assassin bent on revenge. He was brought to the Void In-Between by the Outsider Pallid Knight where he was given supernatural powers and a mission. Now he hunts a god. Dishonored Mindstalker Difficulty: Veteran v1.02 Class: MindStalker (Assassin* + Soul Blade**) Race: Human (RP choice no benefit) Background: Aedyr + Hunter (RP choice) * Assassin fits thematically and gives several bonuses to attacks from stealth ** Soul Blade seem to fit the best but I don't feel as strongly about it Stats (without Blessings): MIG: 10 CON: 10 DEX: 15 PER: 18 INT: 15 RES: 10 Might is only at 10 because it's additive damage and we'll already have over +200% on backstabs. Perception is at 18 because this build relies on burst damage and can't really afford to miss (also helps crit). Dexterity helps us to get those attacks and abilities off faster. Intelligence helps keep our buffs and debuffs up longer (including stealth) A true min maxer might lower CON or RES, but I feel this build is squishy enough. Skills: Stealth is useful for a free backstab and pre-combat setup. Otherwise whatever you want. Abilitites: Disclaimer: The rogue abilities selected are heavily influenced by the fact that in the current version DOT abilities break stealth. In order to remain invisible this build avoids several good abilites: deep wounds, ring the bell, ect... Escape (Blink), Whispers of Treason(Possession) Backstab Fast Runner (Agility) One Handed, Phantom Foes/Mind Blades/Psychovampiric Shield* Draining Whip Blinding Strike** Confounding Blind, Recall Agony Deep Pockets Dirty Fighting Shadowing Beyond*** (Blink 2), Body Attunement Persistent Distraction Hammering Thoughts Uncanny Luck, Borrowed Instinct Ring Leader Detonate Tough (Vitality), Amplified Wave Disinegrate (Shadow Kill) The Empty Soul Death Blows Echoing Horror Improved Critical * Phantom Foes is useful all game and has a large area of effect. Mind Blades are fun for early AOE damage. Psychovampiric shield is a useful buff/debuff. Feel free to choose whichever you want. ** I chose confounding blows for the stacking deflection penalty (for the whole party). One of the few rogue actives that might be a better use of guile than setting up a backstab. *** Arguably the most important decision is Shadowing Beyond vs Smoke Veil. Shadowing Beyond is a better ability, but comes later and costs more guile per use. Gear: Weapon set 1: Modwyr* or Aldris Blade of Captain Crow Weapon set 2: Scordeo's Trophy Helmet: Cowl of Piercing Gaze (Closest to his mask) Amulet: Protective Eothasian Charm Cloak: Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak Chest: Devil of Caroc Breastplate** Gloves: Boltcatchers Ring: Chameleon's Touch Ring: Entonia Signet Ring Belt: Ngati's Girdle Boots: Rakhan Field Boots * Weapons can be changed throughout the playthrough but swords are preferred. Swords have good base damage, extra pierce on their modal and fit for RP reasons. ** The Devil of Caroc Breastplate is everything we want. Good protection, extra guile and a recovery time equal to leather armor. Also from an aesthetics point it has sleeves. I don't like the open arms of leather armors. If you'd prefer leather armor Miscreant's Leathers is a good choice. Strategy and Gameplay: The key to this build is to play like Corvo. In a perfect world you stick to the outskirts of combat backstabing to build up focus then firing off cipher abilities. Repeat as necessary. Axiom 1: You are not a tank "When you see an agent you do what we do run..." Seriously use shadowing beyond or escape whenever engaged. Axiom 2: Live by honor, kill by stealth Stealth is your best friend. Enter combat via stealth, use your invisibility ability often and whenever possible flank. Axiom 3: Use all the weapons at your disposal Use bombs, potions, and traps to your advantage. Especially with high stealth you can place a trap right in front of enemies. Note: traps going off doesn't break stealth. Axiom 4: Get the most from your focus Soul Annihilation can do some nice damage, but its rarely the best use of focus. Amplified Wave, Ring Leader and Borrowed Instincts can really turn the tide.

It’s really frustrating since 1/2 the abilities in the rogue tree have DOT components. Poisons, deep wounds, ring the bell, ect... The list of what you need to give up to stay stealthed is sad.

Pretty much this ^ I think the swords were generally lighter and would be the equivalent of one handed swords in deadfire. I like that Nalpazca forces the alchemy use (and also makes it stronger). Maybe scrolls or items with spell like abilities to round him out.

Have you tried to only use party targeting chants (buffs)? I read somewhere that offensive chants break stealth. Which kinda makes sense so you can't slowly whittle down enemy health while staying invisible.

I found an example of the chests you can pick in broad daylight... I was in the Valera Estate in Queen's Bereth and I could pick all the chest with no stealth right in front of them. No one seemed to care. I could also look in the chest and no one cared. Stealing while being observed caused as fight (as expected). Either the code is buggy (always a possibility) or maybe containers/locations associated with factions are treated differently than independent ones?

In melee 1:1 yeah the finisher is usually the right choice. But if there are 3 melee units and a mage using whisper of treason on the mage is often more productive then finishing a melee unit. Similarly AOE abilities can outshine melee against multiple targets and the the debuffs can do wonders on a bosses. Cipher powers could definitely be better, but they have their uses.

I was thinking the exact same thing. If you're looking for mobile fireballs (or meteor showers) this is the way to go. I would only multi-class if you're looking for a different feel / combat style.

First I also suffer from chronic restart syndrome and feel your pain. Second I'm assuming you're looking to be the main tank, if you're just looking to off tank there are more options. From reading your post it sounds like you know Paladin is tanky but would rather avoid it (which is fine). The other really tanky class is fighter so I would recommend Fighter / X where X is a class with abilities you find interesting. Fighter / Chanter: You don't have to use the refund resources chant. Use summons, CC or whatever else floats your boat. Fighter / Monk: You'll get lots of wounds tanking (trigger rooting pain) and can use monk abilities to keep combat active / interesting. Fighter / Rogue: Skip invisibility abilities and focus on debuffs. You also have riposte and sneak attack bonus damage. Fighter / Cipher: Still tanky and has some cipher abilites to keep things interesting (including ones that buff/debuff for bosses). Fighter / Barbarian: If you're tanking everyone they're in the perfect spot for carnage...

I'm not sure on the proc chance but it seems reasonably high. In my opinion the point isn't necessarily to have him be a super dodge tank that can riposte everything. I look at like this: he was going to be my main tank anyway, I would boost his deflection anyway and now when they miss he'll deal extra damage.

Are you quite sure? No one cared in POE1 if you picked locks or disarmed trapped chests so long as you didn't take anything, but I picked a lock in POE2 and lost reputation. PugPug no I'm not sure. I thought I picked one and didn't get in trouble, but that might have just been a buggy NPC/container or maybe field of vision plays into it. I'll try to test more tonight and see if I can reproduce. It's subtle. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been keeping an eye on the dialogue/combat log window to check. It was the chest in the Port Maje mayor-type-guy's office. I retested with that chest and you're right I get flagged for picking the lock. Also looking in the chest (without taking anything) resulted in a reputation loss. I wonder if certain chests not affiliated with a faction are different or if I had just seen those results on a buggy container.

Katarack21 what level is your character? I tried that with a test character and I found as I got to be higher levels I was having trouble reaching max focus off one strike. It's possible I was under geared / un-optimized at the time so I'm curious.

Are you quite sure? No one cared in POE1 if you picked locks or disarmed trapped chests so long as you didn't take anything, but I picked a lock in POE2 and lost reputation. PugPug no I'm not sure. I thought I picked one and didn't get in trouble, but that might have just been a buggy NPC/container or maybe field of vision plays into it. I'll try to test more tonight and see if I can reproduce.

I knew about the stealing icon, but I was surprised I could pick locks in broad daylight and no one seemed to mind I know if I want to steal everything not nailed down I probably need a stealth / sleight of hand specialist. My question is for a melee unit say a certain bearded swash buckler how much stealth would I need for him to be able to reliable close and stealth attack?

Presumably more stealth is better, but how much do you need? Or how much does additional points help? The lone watcher only scripted check supposedly requires 4. For combat situations where sneaking is an option is 4 generally enough to close on your target? Is there some other golden number? Also based on some limited testing it appears unlocking chest in town is legal but taking things from them is not and requires stealth (possibly slight of hand) is that right?

When I think of ascendant I think of maxed out ability spamming. The main thing that would make that better is getting to spam 8/9th level abilities for free, which only a single class can do. If you really want to multi-class the normal cipher combinations will work, but if you're trying to squeeze the most out of ascension I think single class makes sense.

It's sub optimal mechanically but if you're trying to roleplay there is only one choice Helwalker with iron wheel. It's the only class that literally get stronger and more armor the more you get hit. Hulk mad, Hulk smash.

Assuming you want to be a wizard/melee hybrid: 1). As mentioned summon weapons aren't that great. However if you love them they could work 2). I'd recommend against conjurer because you lose access to illusion which along with enchant has most of the melee buffs. 3). If you wizard/fighter is too defensive I would recommend checking out wizard/monk. If however you want to lay waste to your enemies with meteors and cleanup the stragglers with summoned weapons pure wizard would be the way to go.