CC gun blazing Cipher

[Zarkhes]

Hi, i want to create a Cipher for my second playtrough.This time i want to min/max a little bit.I aim to create a inteligence-based CC spells only Cipher, to get most out of max Int.
I want to use guns.Mainly because i never played ranged, and didnt played much of a dnd rpgs with gunpowder.

RACE

Should i choose Godlike for that +1 inteligence?And try to max out Int to 20?If yes, what kind?The racial bonuses seems a little off...
Or just go with human?


Atributes

What would be the ideal number of inteligence for max CC?Is 20 overkill?I dont think that Might will give me bonus to ranged damage.Low cont is ok, i will be back anyway and plan to have at least 2 tanks.High dex i suppose, and maybe resolve for interupting reloading and casting spells?

Talents

From Cipher tallents:

Greater Focus.Since i will do big damage, should i have this so i can earn more?
Biting whip?I think its good, i would take it.
Draining whip?Instead of Greater focus?
Psychic/brutal backlash.Since im not at front lines, i will not be will targeted, no?

All tallents

Weapon Focus Ruffian.I think its must.I will be using pistol AND blundebuss.
Marksman/Close shooter : What is close and what is distant?I would take Marksman.
Gunner.Since guns are slow to reload, would this be good?
Two-handed style.Wiki didnt sad it is only for melle...so i dunno

What about armor?Should i carry only light?Or some lighter medium armor?

if you have any tips in area i didnt mention, let me know.And thank you in advance for any advice!

 

 

[Shadell13]

For ranged, I've found that no armor works best. You're not going to be hardy enough to stay up much with armor if you're going for a purer CC build, and not the survival powers, so get faster actions and forego armor entirely.

 

Draining and biting whip are both great, I've never bothered with greater focus. The +10 won't really help terribly much and if you aren't spending focus as fast as you earn it, you probably don't really need to for a fight.

 

Gunner is good as well, though I've seen some argue in favor of going for cycling weapons instead of reloading (purchasing extra equip slots and swapping between them). Ruffian's worked well for me as well, though I haven't tried out close range or marksman to compare yet.

 

Early on Mental Binding is probably your go-to CC power.

 

For godlike, the intelligence/dexterity are both useful, but I've found that the racial powers at taking damage tend to be wasted. Hearth Orlan would get that +10% crit chance which would mean more damage. More damage=more Focus.

 

 

As far as I know, the best build would be Might/Dex/Int maxed, dropping others until you can do so. You'll be very squishy, but if you're getting hit you already have problems anyway.

[Zarkhes]

For ranged, I've found that no armor works best. You're not going to be hardy enough to stay up much with armor if you're going for a purer CC build, and not the survival powers, so get faster actions and forego armor entirely.

 

Draining and biting whip are both great, I've never bothered with greater focus. The +10 won't really help terribly much and if you aren't spending focus as fast as you earn it, you probably don't really need to for a fight.

 

Gunner is good as well, though I've seen some argue in favor of going for cycling weapons instead of reloading (purchasing extra equip slots and swapping between them). Ruffian's worked well for me as well, though I haven't tried out close range or marksman to compare yet.

 

Early on Mental Binding is probably your go-to CC power.

 

For godlike, the intelligence/dexterity are both useful, but I've found that the racial powers at taking damage tend to be wasted. Hearth Orlan would get that +10% crit chance which would mean more damage. More damage=more Focus.

 

 

As far as I know, the best build would be Might/Dex/Int maxed, dropping others until you can do so. You'll be very squishy, but if you're getting hit you already have problems anyway.

Why Might?I will not use melee weapons or damaging spells.Only ranged and CC spells.I thought that +dmg from might is only for melee weapons.

[Jazou]

 

Why Might?I will not use melee weapons or damaging spells.Only ranged and CC spells.I thought that +dmg from might is only for melee weapons.

 

No. Might is also for ranged weapon damage and healing spells.

[Kaldurenik]

If you want to min/max you should probably stay away from the godlike ones

[Zarkhes]

Ok, so i come up with this build :

Race : Hearth Orlan

Class : Cipher with eyestrike and whisper of treason

MIG : 16
CON : 7 (cipher con is low anyway, so it will not matter)
DEX : 16
PER : 10
INT :  18 (19 with culture)
RES : 10

I will play with pistol/blunderbluss, wearing just padded armor.All my spells will be CC.I am woried only for reflex, but since i will be behind front lines, i should be ok.Maybe go with little more RES for concentration bonus?Also, i want to be skilled in mechanics.is it possible with this low PER?Should i go even lower with CON?Or maybe trade few MIG for DEX since guns will be strong anyway, so i can shoot faster.

Any thought?

[termokanden]

Concentration bonus seems pointless at the moment. If your 7 con, low-deflection cipher is getting hit, you have much more to worry about than getting one spell interrupted.

 

If anything, you could trade some PER, RES or CON for MIG and DEX and it probably wouldn't make you much squishier.

[ErlKing]

My Cipher

 

Race : Wood Elf  - distant advantage work for spells too, so extra 5 Acc for spells, also reflex bonus versus distant attacks.

Class : Cipher  - damage dealer (guns/bows) and controller (spells)

MIG : 18 (19 with culture) - for max damage
CON : 3 (20% of health will not make Cipher any tankier)
DEX : 19  - you want to cast and shoot as quickly as possible
PER : 4  -  have to sacrifice something, also interruptions does not matter for Cipher
INT : 18 (19 with culture)
RES : 15  - for Will resists, stubborn dialogue options and some extra deflect

 

Per and Res could be swapped for roleplay reasons (dialogue option) if you want observant Cipher

 

Talents:

Biting whip - more damge, MORE DAMAGE

+

Draining whip - great with blunderbuss, but no good with other slow weapons - you may skip that one if you stick to arbalest/arqebus

Penetrating shot - only for blunderbuss or bows - skip if going for different weapon

+

Quick Switch - 0.5sec to switch to other gun instead of 2-4sec gun recovery and reload time - skip if you dont want to manage weapon switching

Arms Bearer - for extra gun slot - not sure that its good, but viable for quick switch combo

or +

Marksman / Ruffian Spec - for ranged accuracy buff, pretty good,

Gunner - for quicker reload, good for arbalest/arqebus/blunderbuss if you not going for switch combo

 

 

Cipher goes in second row, behind tanks, cast stun/paralyze/charm on toughest enemy or two, shoot (regain Focus) - switch guns, cast again, shoot other gun, repeat.

 

Powers, my favorite:

 

Eyestrike - good aoe debuff.

Whisper of treason - good, but slow and debuff target. 3rd level Puppet Master much better, though there are no any better powers at 1st lvl.

Mind Wave - damage bit weak, but fast and aoe knockdown really good, also visuals...

 

Mental Binding - best Cipher power ever, fast cast + paralyze + aoe root...  –40 Deflection debuff to target mean that most attacks hit and lot of crits

Mind Blades - multi target damage power with insane range, good versus lot of weak targets.

Recall Agony - description wrong, it deal extra damage after each hit for spell duration, but does not appear in log  (30% damage buff versus target - tested, it works)

 

Puppet Master - one of best CC next to Mental Binding.

 

I haven't explored class further, but these for start.

Edited March 30, 2015 by ErlKing

[termokanden]

Oh wait, Recall Agony *does* work? I thought it did nothing. If what you're saying is true, it's awesome against bosses. +30% damage for > 17 seconds? Yes please!

 

Glad I didn't waste the point then.

Edited March 30, 2015 by termokanden

[omgFIREBALLS]

As far as I understand, Greater Focus only affects how much you start each battle with, but that's not a cap. You can go way beyond your default number without that talent.

[LastSoloer]

Per is also a defensive skill, putting it to 3 and not being able to wear any big armour can be pretty bad in the advanced stages of the game.

You obviously need Mig Rs and Int so maybe  not capping dex is the way to go.

I want to make a cypher for another run, idk if Ironman or solo, so I've been wondering how to build one too.

[ErlKing]

Oh wait, Recall Agony *does* work? I thought it did nothing. If what you're saying is true, it's awesome against bosses. +30% damage for > 17 seconds? Yes please!

 

Glad I didn't waste the point then.

Yep, you can try it yourself - cast Recall Agony and hit for ~50-70% of mob health, with slight delay enemy health will drop further.

[ErlKing]

Per is also a defensive skill, putting it to 3 and not being able to wear any big armour can be pretty bad in the advanced stages of the game.

Per deflect boost not so good to be worried about, you get it back by rising Res. High Dex allow to cast/shoot faster, or wear heavier armor without gimping yourself too much.

[Zarkhes]

My Cipher

 

Race : Wood Elf  - distant advantage work for spells too, so extra 5 Acc for spells, also reflex bonus versus distant attacks.

Class : Cipher  - damage dealer (guns/bows) and controller (spells)

 

MIG : 18 (19 with culture) - for max damage

CON : 3 (20% of health will not make Cipher any tankier)

DEX : 19  - you want to cast and shoot as quickly as possible

PER : 4  -  have to sacrifice something, also interruptions does not matter for Cipher

INT : 18 (19 with culture)

RES : 15  - for Will resists, stubborn dialogue options and some extra deflect

 

Per and Res could be swapped for roleplay reasons (dialogue option) if you want observant Cipher

 

Talents:

Biting whip - more damge, MORE DAMAGE

+

Draining whip - great with blunderbuss, but no good with other slow weapons - you may skip that one if you stick to arbalest/arqebus

Penetrating shot - only for blunderbuss or bows - skip if going for different weapon

+

Quick Switch - 0.5sec to switch to other gun instead of 2-4sec gun recovery and reload time - skip if you dont want to manage weapon switching

Arms Bearer - for extra gun slot - not sure that its good, but viable for quick switch combo

or +

Marksman / Ruffian Spec - for ranged accuracy buff, pretty good,

Gunner - for quicker reload, good for arbalest/arqebus/blunderbuss if you not going for switch combo

 

 

Cipher goes in second row, behind tanks, cast stun/paralyze/charm on toughest enemy or two, shoot (regain Focus) - switch guns, cast again, shoot other gun, repeat.

 

Powers, my favorite:

 

Eyestrike - good aoe debuff.

Whisper of treason - good, but slow and debuff target. 3rd level Puppet Master much better, though there are no any better powers at 1st lvl.

Mind Wave - damage bit weak, but fast and aoe knockdown really good, also visuals...

 

Mental Binding - best Cipher power ever, fast cast + paralyze + aoe root...  –40 Deflection debuff to target mean that most attacks hit and lot of crits

Mind Blades - multi target damage power with insane range, good versus lot of weak targets.

Recall Agony - description wrong, it deal extra damage after each hit for spell duration, but does not appear in log  (30% damage buff versus target - tested, it works)

 

Puppet Master - one of best CC next to Mental Binding.

 

I haven't explored class further, but these for start.

Hmm, droping CON seems like a good idea, but i am not so sure abou low PER.

 

Question is, if i am not at front lines, what is more of a concern?AOE atacks or will ressistance?As sad, firearms have low interupt, so i would go for resolve wich would give me deflect and will res.Both usefull to me imho