You only fire at the beginning of combat then switch to casting spells/using a sword.

 

I don't like the first action to be a non-spell. I find it more useful to have the Cipher get off a spell to isolate a VIP before the battle becomes pitched--which is as soon as it begins. That's one of the main reasons why I avoid long recovery duration weapons for the Cipher. Switching to another weapon would cost even more time.

 

You only fire at the beginning of combat then switch to casting spells/using a sword.

 

I don't like the first action to be a non-spell. I find it more useful to have the Cipher get off a spell to isolate a VIP before the battle becomes pitched--which is as soon as it begins. That's one of the main reasons why I avoid long recovery duration weapons for the Cipher. Switching to another weapon would cost even more time.

 

 

 

It's sortof situational for me. Sometimes if there's an enemy soft target, like the wizard in the group of adventurers by the drake eggs, i can usually one-shot that wizard with a blunderbuss blast, so that's better than crowd control powers because at that point an enemy is *removed*. If you're facing more durable enemies then CC-first is the better tactic.

I had very good results choosing the +focus talent (greater focus?) on level up which got my build a pool of 45 focus, opening combat with 2x the 3rd level puppet ability and then switching to a firearm (blunderbuss then lead spitter).

Sorry for kind of jumping into this discussion late, but I had been thinking about the viability of a 2-H Melee Cipher build, with Maxed Int followed by Might and Dex. If kept in decently light armor (so still squishy), would this be a relatively viable (not necessarily min/maxed) build? The rationale would be to keep some of the hard hitting nature of the blunderbuss but keeping it melee to avoid weapon switching and taking advantage of stealth skills to get close as an opening move.

 

Feedback greatly appreciated!

That would be a pretty sweet Cipher. Just remember your squishiness so try not to get hit in the face too many times.

Thanks! I'm not overly concerned with min/maxing, just like the idea of such a build and want to play it out if viable (I don't want to be reloading every five minutes just to progress). Hopefully, the squishiness can be addressed through a bit of armor as well as keeping stuns/knockbacks at the ready for getting out of trouble when death comes knocking. Very excited to try this all out tomorrow!