Cipher SC Tank

[Andres Arigon]

Hello 

I am trying all the off-meta tanks.. and at the moment the Blood mage (SC) is love! Now it is the turn for the Cipher, is there any way to make a Cipher (SC) tank? I know he cannot get a good DEF numbers, Tank is not only to have about BIG DEF, I think CC is a big part of the tanking role as well.

If it is possible.. what is the best sub-class?

Also, I would like to double check how the Cipher focus generation works.... big dmg (HIGH MIG = more focus by hit?)

Ta!

[The Berathian]

1 hour ago, Andres Arigon said:

Hello 

I am trying all the off-meta tanks.. and at the moment the Blood mage (SC) is love! Now it is the turn for the Cipher, is there any way to make a Cipher (SC) tank? I know he cannot get a good DEF numbers, Tank is not only to have about BIG DEF, I think CC is a big part of the tanking role as well.

If it is possible.. what is the best sub-class?

Also, I would like to double check how the Cipher focus generation works.... big dmg (HIGH MIG = more focus by hit?)

Ta!

I would say that a beguiler would be your best bet. Single class suites the beguiler, and contrary to popular belief, you don't need to attack much to get focus. You have to cast spells to get focus. The real trick would be making yourself defensive without hurting your accuracy. Not easy. Large shields will impair your aim. It might actually be worth it to go dual daggers, with the modal. Psychovampiric shield will go a long way towards making you durable. With a well-played beguiler, you do reach the point where the enemies aren't much of a threat to you. They can't really hurt you. Much. They're weakened, hobbled, have lowered power levels, can't use abilities, can't heal for much, are scared silly, and have any number of other conditions that cripple them. 

[Waski]

8 hours ago, The Berathian said:

It might actually be worth it to go dual daggers, with the modal.

Why? Modal doesn't stack.

[Boeroer]

Right. Dual daggers don't do anything for you defensively compared to a single dagger. Dagger's modal does stack with Borrowed Instincts though. So a Beguiler with small shield, dagger and Borrowed Instincts could reach repectable deflection and good overall defenses. Cast Psychovampiric Shield, too. 

Since Beguiler gets focus from casting Deceptions most of times (and those also help to tank better) that could be a viable strategy. Dagger's reduced dmg wouldn't matter.
Or use a hatchet...

Cast Phantom Foes to gain a lot of focus and follow up with Secret Horrors to seriously impede enemies' offense. Then check out how the fight is going. Also Whisper of Treason, Puppet Master and Ring Leader can be string tools for tanking: you just let the enemies tank for you.  All things the Beguiler is good at. 

I would also consider medium shields. The -4 ACC isn't that bad - and you can activate the block modal which is nice and only slows down your weapon attacks, not your casting. Nerian's Ward is a great medium shield for a tankisjh character. The conversion upgrade is sweet. By the way: the (Greater) Fire Shield of Magran's Blessing does generate focus... so that's also an option.

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by Boeroer

[Andres Arigon]

5 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Right. Dual daggers don't do anything for you defensively compared to a single dagger. Dagger's modal does stack with Borrowed Instincts though. So a Beguiler with small shield, dagger and Borrowed Instincts could reach repectable deflection and good overall defenses. Cast Psychovampiric Shield, too. 

Since Beguiler gets focus from casting Deceptions most of times (and those also help to tank better) that could be a viable strategy. Dagger's reduced dmg wouldn't matter.
Or use a hatchet...

Cast Phantom Foes to gain a lot of focus and follow up with Secret Horrors to seriously impede enemies' offense. Then check out how the fight is going. Also Whisper of Treason, Puppet Master and Ring Leader can be string tools for tanking: you just let the enemies tank for you.  All things the Beguiler is good at. 

I would also consider medium shields. The -4 ACC isn't that bad - and you can activate the block modal which is nice and only slows down your weapon attacks, not your casting. Nerian's Ward is a great medium shield for a tankisjh character. The conversion upgrade is sweet. By the way: the (Greater) Fire Shield of Magran's Blessing does generate focus... so that's also an option.

 

Cool thank you for the feedback! At the moment I am lovely my experience with this off-meta tank! Even more than the blood mage. 

Are the following attributes distribution ok?

Race: PALE ELF (extra PER point and nice anti fire/frozen def)

MIG: 8 (buff/debuff are not relate with MIG, also I am not  expecting to generate focus attacking or even using auto attacks)
CON: 13
DEX: 3 + 1 (Turn base, DEX sucks!)
PER: 18 + 1 (It is very important because if I fail with my debuff = lose focus = lose tank potential) I have tried with PER:15 and omg.. fail a debuff feels so bad! because in the next turn you are not going to have enough focus to do something and the enemies are going to hit you harder for two turns
INT: 16 Buff/Debuff duration and AOE radius. 
RES: 18 + 1 Love to see my enemies failing all their attacks

 

[Griffonheart]

On 5/6/2021 at 4:57 PM, Boeroer said:

Cast Phantom Foes to gain a lot of focus and follow up with Secret Horrors to seriously impede enemies' offense. Then check out how the fight is going. Also Whisper of Treason, Puppet Master and Ring Leader can be string tools for tanking: you just let the enemies tank for you.  All things the Beguiler is good at. 

 

If it's for the flank effect, would it be easier to open the fight with Eyestrike then Secret Horrors? Or does Beguiler's +focus doesn't work unless you're already in combat, hence Phantom Foe (quicker cast)?

[Boeroer]

Beguiler's mechanic is a bit weird (in a benefical way) : first the affliction gets placed and then it checks if you hit an afflicted enemy to determine whether you get back focus or not. This is funny because you will always get back the focus if you don't miss with the deception spell. 

That means even from stealth you will gain focus - as long as you cast a Deception spell that puts an affliction on the enemy, even if the enemies are not afflicted before.

I would prefer to open with Phantom Foes because a) its AoE is huge compared to Eyestrike (=potentially a lot more enemies get hit) and b) it targets Will instead of Fortitude.

Also when casting from stealth the longer recovery (4 secs compared to 2 secs) doesn't matter because of the -85% recovery bonus of stealth. Secret Horrors then: 0.5 secs cast time only (Eyestrike has 3 secs), also targets Will and it shuts down all offensive abilites of the enemies - which I find more useful than blinding them. So in a very short time you can dish out those two spells. You will have a lot of focus and can then also cast Eyestrike. 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Boeroer

[Andres Arigon]

Hi I only use Eyestrike when there is a group of range mobs to F*** them and force them to walk in melee, also to avoid my back line (low CON and low DEF get killed in 2 shoots)

I prefer to use Phantom Foes to open as well... because I don't know if it is a bug but...sometime some mobs who are flaked they don't attack or walk or anything... it is weird. It is like they are stunned.