[single-class build] "Dat arsehole ascendant" how to 1.2 pure dps cipher build

[1TTFFSSE]

Update pending for patch 2.1

 

The Red Hand will get its damage "fixed" and that will not apply to spells . But that is a "nerf" to all builds and not just cipher. It is still a good weapon for attacking though I kind of prefer the following setup now:

 

Weapons:

Slot 1 - Aamina's Legacy (weapon when you auto attack-I prefer this weapon to The Red Hand but both are powerful)

Slot 2 -Thundercrack Pistol + Kitchen Stove (both of these weapons have special enchantments with powerful attacks that fill your focus to max instantly, Kitchen Stove has Thunderous Report which is 1/encounter, Thundercrack Pistol has Storm Rune shot which is 1/rest but does the same)

Slot 3 - Amira's Wing (A rod with another 1/rest enchantment attack that does a wilting wind attack that also fills focus)

 

With these weapons you should be able to instantly hit ascension 3 times per encounter instantly if you use the special attacks given by the weapon enchantments and pretty much circumvent the downside of playing a cipher - which is having low dps when you are forced to auto attack and build focus for ascension, even at max level because the special attacks granted by these weapons hit very hard and in aoes.

 

 

Armor:

High Harbingers Robes if you have BoW dlc

Miscreant's Leather otherwise - since you don't meed Sharpshooter's Garb for better reload speed on the arquebus 

 

 

Everything else pretty much stays the same.

 

 

 

 

 

Premise: This is my optimized damage cipher currently. There are a lot of generic ways to build a single class cipher, the devil is in the details though, to get those 900+ point damage disintegrates eventually.

 

 

This is not a solo build currently as I optimize it for offense. 

 

Also, I made once a multiclass variation of this with Assassin but this guide will focus on getting most damage out of single-class ascendant. 

 

Class: Cipher/Ascendant

Race:

A tier: Hearth Orlan (best for consistent dps boost) or

B tier: Death Godlike (near death boost) or Human

Stats: 

Might: 15 base/ 18 total after some buffs

Con: 6 base/ 9 total after some buffs

*note: on PotD if you choose not to use Barath's Blessings get Con to a minimum of 8 and 9 is recommended to not get insta-gibbed

Dex: 18 base/ 23 with buffs

Perc: 16 base/ 22 with buffs

Int: 17 base/ 21 with buffs

Res: 4 base/ 7 with buffs

 

Recommended skills:

Alchemy to 10, Arcana 5 Athletics 3, Mechanics 7/8 - good mix to let you get an ok alchemy boost, use some scrolls in a pinch, disable all traps with thieve's putty and burglar gloves and have athletics for second wind.

 

History 15 - you want an extra weapon slot to diversify damage type so you will be using Giftbearer's cloth endgame. (highly recommended)

 

 

Abilities taken at level 20:

 

 

 Level 1

Iron-Willed -  +15 will on a single lvl1 talent is the correct thing to do

Penetrating Visions - extra penetration is a no brainer for a spell dps cipher

Whispers of Treason - still the most op lvl 1 spell

 

Whispers is good in case a enemy rushes you and you have to charm them without using too much focus. 

 

 Level 2

Draining Whip - standard ascendant talent choice

Mental Binding - best cc spell at level, but replace with Mind Blades if you want to be a bigger arsehole and not cc

Recall Agony - best single target dps spell at level

Two-handed Style - you will be using bow and arquebus when attacking 

Update: use Mind Blades up untill late level when you can replace it with Recall Agony or keep it for more dps untill you get amp wave/ mind lance

 

 Level 3

Secret Horrors - best debuff spell at level and simply great

Hammering Thoughts - no brainer more penetration with attacks

 

 Level 4

Pain Block - too good to pass up, even for a total arse hole

Silent Scream - your first "endgame bread and butter dps spell I would say, hits for raw damage and is a stun

 

 Level 5

Borrowed Instinct

Ringleader or Tactical Meld (New)

Rapid Casting

Uncanny Luck

These are pretty much the best selections at this level for a dps cipher build, Ringleader although not pure dps is really good as an oh snap button when surrounded though and is still essentially the best cipher power at this level

 

 Level 6

Amplified Wave

Disintegrate

The Empty Soul

This is the standard selection at level 6, I see very little variation as these three abilities are just the best at this level

 

 Level 7

Echoing Horror

Improved Critical

Accurate Empower

Potent Empower/ Ancestor's Memory

*if you are arsehole extraordinaire you take Potent Empower to boost your own spell  instead of the excellent Ancestor's Memory and don't give a blip about your team 

In general level 7 spells still blow for cipher unfortunately though Ancestor's Memory is a good buff I guess, but as dps you are better of investing into passive perks at this level

 

 Level 8

Time Parasite

Reaping Knives

A Soul’s Echo

I primary take A soul's Echo just because I want to crit more on Silent Scream (which targets will)  Reaping Knives is great if you have a monk or rogue in the party otherwise put that point into Ancestor's Memory or Mind Blades if you skipped those previously

 

 Level 9

Prestige

Shared Nightmare 

Death of 1,000 Cuts

Ok level 7/8 were lackluster. But level 9 makes up for it. With Shared Nightmare, you get AOE the whole screen with your amp wave as an ascendant, - and many other aoe spells. Prestige ups your power level where you disintegrate (see below) hit for a total of 900 raw damage or so in certain conditions, and death 1000 is actually a better disintegrate against bosses. 

 

 

The whole point is to take abilities that boost your offense with minimal investment into cc/support but you still take a few of those abilities which are simply too good to pass up: ie Mental Binding, Painblock, Secret Horrors (which is needed anyway to debuff Fortitude so your Disintegrates and Amplified Waves hit) 

 

Also and this is important, the nature of leveling up a pure dps cipher through the game is that you will be doing a lot of respecing as higher tier damage abilities become available and you can replace lower tier ones. Like Mind Wave is a good early dps spell as is Mind Blades, but these will get replaced later as your get level 4 and especially level 6 powers. 

 

Also, people complain single-class ciphers are boring (spam same spells) and that multiclass has more variety. That's true to a point but as single-class you will get to play with level 6 spells like an amplified wave and disintegrate relatively quickly and at that point it is gg if you have the items in your build I will outline below. 

 

 

Above are damage numbers you can get at level 20 with these talents and the items below, if you use ascendancy potion and some food I am sure disintegrate can get to over 1000 damage.!!!

 

Items:

 

Weapons 

Slot 1: The Red Hand (all upgrades - yes it is Legendary worthy) - this will be your main weapon unless you run into piercing immune enemies - most game it will take 1 standard attack to max focus with this thing, very late game when your focus pool is large maybe 2x standard attacks on average. Fully upgraded it gives you excellent additional damage at the cost of taking more damage.

Slot 2: Griffin's Blade+Kitchen Stove - an excellent choice when casting to switch to when going ascended the first time, You get an additional +10% damage to spells from Griffin's Blade and also Thunderous Report on Kitchen Stove once Ascendant state ends can quickly give you a second round. 

Slot 3 - Aamiina's Legacy (or Frostseeker) - This you need to use when running into pierce immune enemies. I prefer the unique Hunting bow in fast modal to Frostseeker but with the passives and hearth Orlan Frostseeker should crit often enough as well to make it worthwhile, but ultimately I believe the hunting bow does more dps. And yes you use bows instead of a pistol as you take the two-handed talent for the arquebus anyways. 

 

Headslot - Acina's Trihorn

Armor - Maia's Sharpshooter garb - this is bis armor for this build as you want to reload The Red Hand asap

Gloves: Aegor's Swift Touch for attack speed or Gauntlets of Accuracy for Accuracy

Belt - Any really, I just used Gwyn's but there is no clear bis here

Boots - Bounding Boots - I like these to "jump" away from enemies that decide to rush me in melee

Update: Use Rakhan Field Boots (late game) for a free full attack/per encounter - works with ranged weapons!

Amulet - Precognition (more crits damage) or the +2 Intelligence amulet, or the rare +2 Perception Amulet

Ring 1 - Kuaro's Prize - increases spell damage

Ring 2 -Ring of the Marksman - increases ranged weapon effectiveness

Cape: Giftbearer's Cloth or Magnificent Escape 

 

Bonus (sacrifice) - Sagani, Aloth, Kana, or Devil of Corac are good choices to sac

 

Anyways with this setup and if you play like a total arse hole and just focus dps and don't do cc/ support except for secret horrors you should top the dps of your party easily even ahead of your other heavy hitters. 

 

Update: I highly recommend taking Arm's Bearer talent now + Giftbearer's Cloth and load your weapon slots with fire arms for quick focus (even if you don't have quick switch I recommend it - this is particularly nice with a full attack Item like Rakhan Field Boots

Recommended weapon layout is something like:

1.) Red Hand

2.) Scordeo's Trophy + Kitchen Stove

3.) Eccea's Arcane Blaster + Fire in the Hole

(4)/or use if you run into Pierce immune enemies - Aamina's Legacy or that new Lightning Hunting Bow

 

Eccea's Arcane Blaster seems to apply multiple projectiles to you spells currently sometimes, use at risk of cheesing out the game. 

Edited September 5, 2018 by 1TTFFSSE

[1TTFFSSE]

Also, if Veilpiercer or Saint-Omakku's ignore's recovery on spell crit (with their upgrades) it is worth considering those in the second weapon slot as 50% ignore recovery on crit would be better than flat +10% spell damage from Griffin's Blade. But that is only if they work with spells, and this build crits often enough., especially in aoe. 

[Myztik]

I don't think they work with spells.

 

And why do you keep talking about Ancestor's Honor? +1 max empower doesn't do anything since you can still only use one per fight and can rest afterwards

Edited July 8, 2018 by Myztik

[1TTFFSSE]

I don't think they work with spells.

 

And why do you keep talking about Ancestor's Honor? +1 max empower doesn't do anything since you can still only use one per fight and can rest afterwards

Because it was changed to Ancestor's Memory which is a completely different ability: +1Power Level, 1 power resource regen per 3 sec .  But it only casts on ally.

[mosspit]

Because 1.2 changed up that skill. Now it has been replaced with Ancestor's Memory, and it grants Brilliance to an ally.

[Archaven]

building up a cipher myself. was wondering lingering echoes, is it only useful for multiclass? it stated affliction caused by cipher. i check cipher abilities none of the abilities has the affliction keyword. does deception consider as affliction?

 

also wondering if penetrating visions is any useful? it only helps mind blades and mind lance? beside these 2 ability that penetrating vision does nothing.

[1TTFFSSE]

building up a cipher myself. was wondering lingering echoes, is it only useful for multiclass? it stated affliction caused by cipher. i check cipher abilities none of the abilities has the affliction keyword. does deception consider as affliction?

 

also wondering if penetrating visions is any useful? it only helps mind blades and mind lance? beside these 2 ability that penetrating vision does nothing.

Lingering echoes = not worth it it is like +1 int score total (+10%) to your affliction durations. Yes it lengthens everything that debuffs/ccs the enemy in some way

Penetrating Visions is a must at level 1, it basically improves all your non raw shred spells - like Mind Wave, Mind Lance, Mind Waves, Amplified Wave!!!! and there is nothing better to take at level 1 anyways.

 

at level one the only debate is between Iron-Willed and Mind Wave imo.

Whispers of Treason+Penetrating Visions is always taken. 

[Archaven]

 

building up a cipher myself. was wondering lingering echoes, is it only useful for multiclass? it stated affliction caused by cipher. i check cipher abilities none of the abilities has the affliction keyword. does deception consider as affliction?

 

also wondering if penetrating visions is any useful? it only helps mind blades and mind lance? beside these 2 ability that penetrating vision does nothing.

Lingering echoes = not worth it it is like +1 int score total (+10%) to your affliction durations. Yes it lengthens everything that debuffs/ccs the enemy in some way

Penetrating Visions is a must at level 1, it basically improves all your non raw shred spells - like Mind Wave, Mind Lance, Mind Waves, Amplified Wave!!!! and there is nothing better to take at level 1 anyways.

 

at level one the only debate is between Iron-Willed and Mind Wave imo.

Whispers of Treason+Penetrating Visions is always taken. 

 

 

thanks for the tips! guess i need to respec my character already. currently running a transcendent. gosh it's a quite powerful build. by the way, does anyone take dominate? the nerf on whisper of treason is pretty hard. should have make it 6m though.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Archaven

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

I really don't think Whisper of Treason is worthwhile on an Ascendant.

 

Reason being,

 

1) You can get to level 10 or so with very little actual combat, 

 

2) on an Ascendant you're only casting when Ascended,

 

3) Ringleader is better.

 

I think on an Ascendant you want to maximize your versatility at each level. A lot of the picks above are "best for level" and that's fine on a normal build, but I think the more useful question is "best when level 10+" because that's when most of the game's combat is.

 

I'd therefore suggest Eyestrike at 1st level (so you get the Perception tier 3 affliction), mental binding at 2nd (tier 3 dex affliction), Ringleader at tier 5 for your intellect affliction. 

 

Otherwise I pretty much agree that hearth orlan is the pro choice and while my stat mix might be slightly different (after mutiple plays I'm settling into base, non-berath, 13/6/15/20/19/5).

 

I agree Red Hand is the new beauty -- still not sure whether it's worth it to go for the +40% damage to others and to self bonus, or play it safe with +20% others / none to self upgrade instead.

 

I tend to use a quarterstaff as my secondary weapon though -- still "ranged", crushing damage type, and you can script it so that you automatically switch to the quarterstaff AND engage the defensive modal whenever engaged in melee, so, very useful defensive boost on a fragile character. Plus, melee weapons have a much higher base DPS value than ranged ones.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Dr. Hieronymous Alloy

[Archaven]

increasing PL does it help all the cipher spells? or just specific ones? to the question is PL really important?

[1TTFFSSE]

increasing PL does it help all the cipher spells? or just specific ones? to the question is PL really important?

Yes it is very important, the higher your Pl the more damage accuracy your spells do. It is probably the most effective"stat"overall for a spellcaster.

 

That is why I said if you use a potion of ascendancy which gives another +2 pl to character at level 20 you may get disintegrate to do over 1000 damage. 

[Haplok]

It's particularly notable on Mind Blades, which get a new bounce every 2 PL. So an Ascendant under Ascension will usually have 2 more procs of the spell.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

It's particularly notable on Mind Blades, which get a new bounce every 2 PL. So an Ascendant under Ascension will usually have 2 more procs of the spell.

 

 

that's a really good tip, thanks -- I'd been ignoring mind blades because slashing damage type and it was a poor performer in the prior game.

 

Does Amplified Thrust get similar additional bounces or is it just MB?

[1TTFFSSE]

 

It's particularly notable on Mind Blades, which get a new bounce every 2 PL. So an Ascendant under Ascension will usually have 2 more procs of the spell.

 

 

that's a really good tip, thanks -- I'd been ignoring mind blades because slashing damage type and it was a poor performer in the prior game.

 

Does Amplified Thrust get similar additional bounces or is it just MB?

 

just MB amp thrust is always a single projectile attack

 

Also MB is kind of ridiculous and underrated as long as you have penetration on slash to get through the enemy armor. It scales on pl and is a fast cast. Seriously, before getting amp wave/ time parasite etc I was testing this thing in an optimized damage party with a streetfighter and a beserker also doing damage in the party. All the ascendant had to do to keep up in damage and possibly stay ahead is get ascended as fast as possible and then just spam mind blades as long as two enemies where there to hit. Against a group of 6+ enemies grouped sure stuff like slower cast Silent Scream is better but at 2-3 enemies around Mind Blades is gold. 

[jww]

 

 

It's particularly notable on Mind Blades, which get a new bounce every 2 PL. So an Ascendant under Ascension will usually have 2 more procs of the spell.

 

 

that's a really good tip, thanks -- I'd been ignoring mind blades because slashing damage type and it was a poor performer in the prior game.

 

Does Amplified Thrust get similar additional bounces or is it just MB?

 

just MB amp thrust is always a single projectile attack

 

Also MB is kind of ridiculous and underrated as long as you have penetration on slash to get through the enemy armor. It scales on pl and is a fast cast. Seriously, before getting amp wave/ time parasite etc I was testing this thing in an optimized damage party with a streetfighter and a beserker also doing damage in the party. All the ascendant had to do to keep up in damage and possibly stay ahead is get ascended as fast as possible and then just spam mind blades as long as two enemies where there to hit. Against a group of 6+ enemies grouped sure stuff like slower cast Silent Scream is better but at 2-3 enemies around Mind Blades is gold. 

 

 

After seeing this thread, I decided to try an Ascendant for the first time, though not as optimized as this build and I don't use any buffs outside of equipment. It did reasonably well starting at level 3 with Mind Blades, and then yesterday I picked up the Red Hand and switched from medium armor to Miscreant's Leathers at the same time -- I now reach ascended state much faster and can now get Mind Blades off 7 to 8 times during the ascended state, and it seems to do damage in excess of what I'd expect. Fights that I've been having problems with in other similarly low-level PotD parties since 1.2 are now being finished so quickly that as long as my tanks can keep the enemies off me, my biggest problem is clicking on targets fast enough that I don't waste any of my ascended time. I just hit PL 5, so in a few more levels when I can get Disintegrate, my strategy might change, but at low levels, Mind Blades has been effective enough that I don't really have time to bother with crowd control.

[1TTFFSSE]

Did a minor fine tuning in red in the original post. 

[Kadish]

If anyone's wondering, the SC Ascendant is still very viable with the Red Hand as a main weapon. Finished with it all content (vanilla + DLC's + all megabosses) on latest patch. The build was centered around guns and based on propositions by Dr. Hieronymous Alloy, 1TTFFSSE and L4wlight. 14/8/15/16/17/8 + (eyestrike, penetrating visions, antipathetic field, lingering echoes, hammering thoughts, recall agony, draining whip, two-handed style, mind blades, mental binding, secret horrors, ectopsychic echo, silent scream, body attunement, keen mind, rapid casting, borrowed instinct, ringleader, amplified wave, disintegration, empty soul, improved crit., time parasite, ancestor's memory, soul's echo, prestige, shared nightmare, 1k cuts).

antipathetic + mind blades + silent scream as a combo-parts for 1k cuts

+ (pure priest oc companion: salvation of time, barring death's door, devotions for the faithful) +  (chanter/druid oc companion: sure handed illa + aefyllath ues) + gun-friendly per rest bonuses (damage charged red-hand, shoot-boosting consumables, captain banquet/skewers etc. - btw: replace sth with an accurate empower if you plan to rest often).

Didn't like the Kitchen Stove for its small range, have used: 85% Red Hand, 10% Frost Seeker (mainly prior to receiving RH + skeletons), 5% Kitchen Stove (Thunderous Report).