Help with Party / Character Build?

[IcyDeadPeople]

I've been playing the backer beta for a while and I don't know if I made some mistakes building my party or what, but it seems insanely challenging. Even on the easiest setting, I can't beat the first group of enemies inside the first dungeon in Stormwall Gorge.

 

I'm playing a Fire Godlike Cipher character, with the same BB Wizard, BB Rogue, BB Fighter npcs that we start out with. The only one who does significant damage is the BB Wizard, and pretty quickly the entire party wipes except for the BB Fighter. My BB rogue seems useless, as she has very few active abilities, and she dies so fast. The BB Priest seems somewhat helpful, but she has only one relatively weak healing spell, and the rest of her spells seem to restore stamina instead of health.

 

Any suggestions for playing Cipher character? Should I go back and re-roll a wizard, or recruit some wizard mercenaries?

 

Also, I noticed the tooltip description for some AOE abilities includes "damages everyone in area" - does this include allies?

Edited September 8, 2014 by IcyDeadPe0ple

[Ink Blot]

Are you going to Stormwall first thing? If so, don't do that. Wait until you've gained a level or two. Go around Dyrford village and gather up some quests (talk to everyone), then head to Dyrford Crossing. After that you'll have a couple extra levels, better gear, and more spells and abilities.

[IcyDeadPeople]

Are you going to Stormwall first thing? If so, don't do that. Wait until you've gained a level or two. Go around Dyrford village and gather up some quests (talk to everyone), then head to Dyrford Crossing. After that you'll have a couple extra levels, better gear, and more spells and abilities.

Hmm, I did try leveling up a bit; however, there didn't seem to be enough enemies to fight near Dyrford Village and Dyrford Crossing to level up. Perhaps I'm reading the map wrong, but it seems there are only two very small areas we can visit beside Stormwall.

 

I did find quite a few lions and other enemies near the entrance to the Stormwall dungeon. These were challenging, but I managed to beat them. Do enemies respawn if you keep wandering around that area?

Edited September 8, 2014 by IcyDeadPe0ple

[swordofthesith]

You just need your Priest and her Consecrated Ground spell. Check it out in action here:

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68442-the-grand-powers-balancing-thread/

[illathid]

 

Are you going to Stormwall first thing? If so, don't do that. Wait until you've gained a level or two. Go around Dyrford village and gather up some quests (talk to everyone), then head to Dyrford Crossing. After that you'll have a couple extra levels, better gear, and more spells and abilities.

Hmm, I did try leveling up a bit; however, there didn't seem to be enough enemies to fight near Dyrford Village and Dyrford Crossing to level up. Perhaps I'm reading the map wrong, but it seems there are only two very small areas we can visit beside Stormwall.

 

I did find quite a few lions and other enemies near the entrance to the Stormwall dungeon. These were challenging, but I managed to beat them. Do enemies respawn if you keep wandering around that area?

Quick thing: Fighting enemies will not help you level up. You only get experience from completing quests.

 

Maybe you know this, but your comment that there "didn't seem to be enough enemies to fight... to level up" would suggest otherwise.

[IcyDeadPeople]

 

 

Are you going to Stormwall first thing? If so, don't do that. Wait until you've gained a level or two. Go around Dyrford village and gather up some quests (talk to everyone), then head to Dyrford Crossing. After that you'll have a couple extra levels, better gear, and more spells and abilities.

Hmm, I did try leveling up a bit; however, there didn't seem to be enough enemies to fight near Dyrford Village and Dyrford Crossing to level up. Perhaps I'm reading the map wrong, but it seems there are only two very small areas we can visit beside Stormwall.

 

I did find quite a few lions and other enemies near the entrance to the Stormwall dungeon. These were challenging, but I managed to beat them. Do enemies respawn if you keep wandering around that area?

 

 

Quick thing: Fighting enemies will not help you level up. You only get experience from completing quests.

 

Maybe you know this, but your comment that there "didn't seem to be enough enemies to fight... to level up" would suggest otherwise.

 

Oh, wow, thanks I had no idea. Thought I needed to kill lots of enemies. I think I only managed to complete one quest, given by the fugitive NPC in Dyrford Village.

[Ink Blot]

Hmm, I did try leveling up a bit; however, there didn't seem to be enough enemies to fight near Dyrford Village and Dyrford Crossing to level up. Perhaps I'm reading the map wrong, but it seems there are only two very small areas we can visit beside Stormwall.

 

I did find quite a few lions and other enemies near the entrance to the Stormwall dungeon. These were challenging, but I managed to beat them. Do enemies respawn if you keep wandering around that area?

 

What illathid said: there is no XP award for kills in the game. You can only get XP by completing quests. And in the beta there are no quests tied to Stormwall Gorge at all. So adventure in Dyrford Village, talk to various people to get the quests going, then head to Dyrford Crossing to be able to complete the quest chains.

 

Onve you've completed the quests and leveled, then head to Stormwall (it's a good area solely to test out combat mechanics and see if there are any bugs with various abilities/monster/area designs).

Edited September 8, 2014 by Ink Blot

[Kjaamor]

Ciphers are broken. If you don't mind the break, read on, but it will spoil things for you.

1. Equip Cipher with Melee Weapons.
2. Stand out of range of group of enemies.
3. Click for the Cipher to Melee Attack, then immediately pause.
4. Cast level 1 spell "Whispers of Treason" on any of the enemies.
5. Watch as the other enemies kill it.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5.
 
In the event that you run out of other enemies to kill the creature. Use Whispers of Treason on it and then get your party to attack it, unmolested.