Ascendant MC

[Faraleth]

hi, finishing poe1 with a cipher, and after various melee mc plays I wanna try to be a caster cipher this time, precisely Ascendant. however I'm not sure what I should combine with, and which class need what stats or key items to work perfectly (non solo build)

• Transcendent Helwalker: Swift Strikes, Helwalker Might, Duality Intellect seems very good for this build, and as I plan to stay at longer range, the extra damage taken shouldn't be a problem
• Seer Ghost Heart: Ranger has some great passives for ranged fight, while the pet is situational if needed an extra meat shield or just ignore for shorter fights or where the damage taken is too high for him
• Mindstalker: Not sure about subclass, maybe as previously suggested for another build Streetfighter with the mortars and blunderbuss modal?
• Mystic: Also not sure which God, Skaen/Berath/Woedica maybe?
  Spoiler

  Never did a Deadfire run where I empowered Woedica at the end of 1, so this build could solve that if I go with Skaen/Woedica route.

   

• Single Class Ascendant
• Witch Berserker: This build was suggested several times in comments, but I did so many Berserker multis, I wanna try something different here, so unless this one is a clear winner above all, I wanna ignore it

[Manu22]

To me, the best MC for ascendant is :

Seer (Easy to ascend and the precision bonus of the hunter)

Witch (Cast speed and zero recovery on kill)

Bloodmage/Wizard (you can prolong ascended with WoD)

[Haplok]

You seem to already know the best picks. Transcendant is my favorite. 

Helwalker is great. But another interesting option is the Forbidden Fist (at least with the Community Patch). Huge debuff to the enemy, who cannot heal and will have hostile effects (like Disintegrate) extended by 50%.

[Kaylon]

Ascendant/helwalker is the best combo for a caster cipher. Chromoprismatic Staff with Instruments of Pain is the most efficient way to recharge your focus because you can benefit from Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming/Turning Wheel while attacking from range.

[Faraleth]

@Boeroer any feedback, please? 

[Boeroer]

Ascendant/Helwalker is indeed a very good combo.

Berserker/Ascendant: also very good but comes together a bit later than Helwalker imo. Especially Frenzy+Bloodlust+Blood Thirst with Ascendant (focusing on shortish casting but long recovery dmg spells - such as Antipathetic Field, Mind Blades and Mind Lance).

Same with Ascendant/Streetfighter with blunderbusses/mortars.

Ascendant/Bloodmage is also pretty great bc. of Wall of Draining (endless ascension).

For Ascendant it's all about squeezing a lot of spells into the ascended time.

I also like Furyshaper/Beguiler. The Fear Ward and the rest of the will-targeting deception spells go well together. MC Cipher has no terrify effect 

For a Mystic I would go with Ascendant (bc. Salvation of Time) or Psion (no need to rely on weapon dmg).

Ranger/Cipher = highest "sustainable" accuracy in the game afaik. Very good with Frostseeker because it will crit so much. Iirc the freeze AoE on crit also generates focus.

Another good combo is Soulblade/Beckoner with Grave Calling (+ Chilling Grave). Killing your skeletons won't give you focus - the resulting Chillfog however will generate focus for you and will paralyze (freeze-paralyze = tier 4 affliction) all non-DEX-affliction immune(! not resistant) enemies. The rest of the skeletons will distract enemies. If you need more chillfogs just kill another one.

Single class Ascendant also cool because of Shared Nightmare. Ascended cipher's focus is treated as max filled, so while being ascended Shared Nightmar will give you the maximum AoE size. Also Shared Nightmare is cool with AoE weapons (mortars, rods, WotEP, Kepper of the Flame and so on). Casting while ascended can be superfast due to Time Siphon (cast into a group of enemies to gain lots of stacks).

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Boeroer

[Faraleth]

Thanks

Think I'm down to basically 3 choice:

-Helwalker

-Ghost Heart

-Priest of Woedica/Skaen

What are the most important stats and weapons for these?

[Manu22]

4 minutes ago, Faraleth said:

Thanks

Think I'm down to basically 3 choice:

-Helwalker

-Ghost Heart

-Priest of Woedica/Skaen

What are the most important stats and weapons for these?

I would pick Ghostheart.There is some good guides in the build list.

[Haplok]

For Helwalker I most liked the combo of offhand Kitchen Stove blunderbuss (instant Ascension with Thunderous Report special - plus huge cone damage AND Dazed CC) and main hand melee weapon (most often Grave Calling - vs Vessels but also to kill skellies summoned by Herald and create paralyzing Chillfogs that fuel Focus; later upgraded to Seekers Fang Rapier with its mini-Disintegrate on crits and another instant Ascension from Spider's Flurry - also 3 attacks per target in cone, so crits - and mini Disintegrates very likely). 

[Faraleth]

On 8/7/2021 at 8:06 PM, Kaylon said:

Ascendant/helwalker is the best combo for a caster cipher. Chromoprismatic Staff with Instruments of Pain is the most efficient way to recharge your focus because you can benefit from Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming/Turning Wheel while attacking from range.

still dont know, but at least now down to 2 choice: one is this, the other one is a ranged weapons user (Frostseeker/Red Hand) Ghost heart. meh...how can I decide?!

hm, I guess I'll choose Ghost Heart, while the Helwalker way seems much better in the end, but that build requires a talent upgrade from lvl 19 to work, and thats what, 80% of the game completed by that time

Edited August 10, 2021 by Faraleth

[Boeroer]

? Helwalker/Ascendant works well right off the shelf bc. of the +10 MIG for more damage and soon with +10 INT fpr longer Ascension.

If you don't want to come too close in the beginning you can also use a ranged weapon. For example Essence Interrupter + modal. It will ascend you very quickly. 

But Ghost Heart/Cipher with Frostseeker is also very good. But the high(est) ACC also comes a bit later via Borrowed Instincts + Tactical Meld. 

By the way Helwalker/Ascendant can also be played with Frostseeker. But Instruments of Pain + melee stuff has more impact at the highest levels, it's true.   

Edited August 12, 2021 by Boeroer

[Faraleth]

2 hours ago, Boeroer said:

? Helwalker/Ascendant works well right of the shelf

yeah, I reflected to Kaylon's build, which is basically a melee with a level 19 talent to make it ranged. but if you say with another weapon, and then respec later it works just as good, then its ok

ooor, its not, cause then I still cannot decide between the 2

[Boeroer]

Hahaha...  

Don't know how to help you with that.  

Edited August 10, 2021 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

Ghost heart/ascendant with Frostseeker is a very fun/versatile ranged build with solid ranged damage and casting abilities. However if you want to play just a caster then the potential of Frostseeker is a bit wasted...

[Haplok]

Try playing with the like of Grave Calling (preferably with a chanter i the party who can summon skeletons) and Kitchen Stove....

 

I call that "mid range". 

 

[Faraleth]

in the end, I chosen Helwalker...but didnt liked it so around 10-11 I re-created with Ghost Heart instead and going with Frostseeker/Red Hand (not sure yet which one is faster for ascending, seems quite egal). like this version better, I'll keep Helwalker for a melee

[Boeroer]

Did you play Helwalker until Duality of Mortal Presence (INT) and Stunning Surge were available?

[Faraleth]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

Did you play Helwalker until Duality of Mortal Presence (INT) and Stunning Surge were available?

I had duality, but biggest "issue" was that I always had that 1 and only wound I start the combat with, and never increased - as said, I played in party, and Edér and the gang had too much engagement, so I couldnt fully play for those might/int wound buffs

[Boeroer]

But that's good. Why didn't you use Dance of Death/Enduring Dance and/or Mortification of the Soul for wounds then?

Edited August 23, 2021 by Boeroer

[Faraleth]

I duhn whan it

[Boeroer]

Äh wat?

Anyway - if you don't like it because of certain issues but don't like the solutions to those issues either then I guess there's nothing we can do and it's best to play something else.  

[Faraleth]

yeah, ghost heart seems to be working just fine. maybe helwalker needs too much micromanagement - I wanted to manage the cipher-ascendant side, and while ghost heart may be weaker than hw, its much more automatic, so I can focus on the cipher side

[Haplok]

Thing is, GH only boosts cipher power accuracy (and only indirectly - trough increased number of crits - Pen, damage and duration), while Helwalker offers huge boosts to regular damage, duration (also of Ascension time), aoe size, Penetration and offers spammable attack abilities too. 

But, well, I'm sure ranger is fine also (particularly as an effective puppet master) and the most important thing is you're enjoying it.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Haplok

[Boeroer]

Ranger/Cipher with Frostseeker becomes really good as soon as you get Borrowed Instincts. There's no other class combo that gains as much accuracy - and that's great for using Frostseeker. Also: Driving Flight. 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Boeroer

[Haplok]

I think any cipher combo starts to shine (more) when it gets Borrowed Instinct