Build Advice for the Non-Hardcore Player

[awesomologist]

So I only just recently purchased Pillars of Eternity (playing on an iMac, purchased game from the App Store since I had an iTunes gift card. This info won't matter for advice, but just in case the mods and devs are curious).

 

Anyways I'm about 5+ hours in playing a Dual-wielding Fire Godlike Cipher on Normal (I'll give more stats in a bit). While the class is fun and I LOVE the way it handles magic, I'm finding early on that I'm often having a hard time staying upright at times. Now i know enough to quicksave before each combat, but I would like to be able to have a bit more confidence when I go into battle. My ego won't let me drop down to Easy either. I grew up playing games like Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, etc so I feel like I should be able to handle everything on Normal difficulty. So while I like the Cipher class, perhaps I should be looking into playing a different class or reworking my build.

 

So far I've reached Gilded Vale and have recruited Eder and Aloth. I then went ahead and cleared out the temple in the center of town at level 3. Man those teleporting Shades... Anyways I rested about 4 times in part due to my own squishiness and the fact that Aloth, which while his spells can hit hard, is about as tough as a wet napkin (part of the reason why I never roll a pure mage in games as my main character). I know I'm very likely playing him wrong; may just need to get used to how his spells work, when to actually have him engage combat, and when to just leave him in another room. Eder, as any fighter class in any game, was easy to figure out. Easy enough in fact that I'm starting to think that maybe I should be playing a ranged class instead of a melee one (or find a more durable melee class that isn't boring to play)

 

So here are the stats for my Cipher:

Class: 3rd level Cipher

Race: Fire Godlike

Background Old Vailia - Merchant

 

Might 14, Con 10, Dex 14, Per 11, Int 17, Res 12

Stealth 4, Athletics 1, Lore 3, Mechanics 4, Survival 1

Abilities: Anitpathetic Field, Battle-Forged, Crucible of the Soul, Mind Blades, Mind Wave, Psychovampiric Shield, Soul Shock, and Soul Whip

Talents: Draining Whip

 

So I'm sure some of you will complain that I put points into "useless stats" but I'm trying to go for a decent RP experience. That said I notices that having Perception at 11 and Resolve at 12 doesn't open up any real dialogue options for me. I just didn't know that going in. I also don't like having negative stats, simply because I'm unsure of how they will affect game play. So far I've noticed that Con seems to be a wasted stat since the health/endurance provided per point are a pittance. Perception seems to be too low to matter as well, even if I was hoping to gain a little bit of Interrupt and Deflection.

 

Seeing as how I'm finding this melee build to be a bit of a bust, I'm considering rerolling as a ranged Cipher. But before I go too far down that rabbit hole I figured I would look to the community for advice.

 

What I would like to play is a class that is survivable (doesn't have to be durable, ranged could help here). I'd like to continue being stealthy and "mechanical". Looking at some of the classes online I see that Rogues are decent as ranged characters, Rangers are supposed to be but have a learning curve to them, and Ciphers are generally considered a very good class. Never really cared for Druids when it comes to RPG, while the Cleric and Barbarian classes don't really interest me (I could be persuaded if someone wants to point out a decent build/guide to them). Chanters seem interesting, but also seem like a heavy support class which doesn't really interest me in terms of my main character.

 

Anyways I know this is a lot to read but any advice would be welcomed. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any help provided!

[Thuringwethil]

13 seems to trigger a fair number of Perception and Resolve checks (though not all, of course) and can be achieved on your current character once you've acquired a few stat-boosting items. Don't be ashamed to switch to different item sets for combat vs. dialogue situations - in a single-player game it's your fun that matters and you shouldn't have to nuke your character to start over, especially since as you point out the Cipher seems a useful class on the whole. I made a Cipher for my own current playthrough and frequently stand just behind the tougher front-liners with a pike, which isn't deal for all the Cipher's abilities but does allow one to let off a fair bit of mind-magic and then recharge Focus by poking nice bloody wounds (I the pike Tall Grass) in whoever Eder and Co. are holding off.  Or if you find the Cipher still squishes too much, you should be able to get by with the missile weapon of your choice even without having so many abilities invested in it. Don't give up hope yet!

[Razorchain]

Nah you don't have to reroll, if you play a little more you'll soon pick up more npc's or you can even hire a couple more.  Your character is more of an off tank or you could even make your character harder to hit through talents like Superior Deflection (+5) or Cautious attack (-20% speed, +10 deflection) and then there are items that add to your deflection and add to your Perception and Resolve stats that will raise your deflection as well.  Also remember your Character gets +3 deflection per level, so leveling up will make you harder to hit as well.

[TrumpetWinsock]

You can also hire player-made companions from an inn to get a feel for other classes before actually deciding to reroll. I had a cipher with weapon focus ruffian and the dual-wield ability who sort of sucked after 1.05 (you would probably be a bit better off, since you've got draining whip at least) and I decided to reroll to a dual-wielding rogue (very original, I know). It's a bit more straight-forward and she's still super squishy, but it fit my preferred playstyle more so I'm a happy camper. If you do go ranged, however, wood elves get a decent accuracy bonus for ranged combat that you might want to consider. Having high accuracy can make the game (esp. those beginning levels) much nicer.

[awesomologist]

Thanks for the insight. I did go ahead and roll up a Rogue and a second Cipher (Elf), this time built for ranged. Got them both to Gilded Vale, figured I'd run them each through the ruined temple there to see how they fare. So far both have fared better, most likely due to the fact that've become more familiar with the game, in the case of the Cipher, it's powers, and the few combat encounters so far. I figure that while it may take a few hours for each character to get through the early stuff, it's a nice way to get a feel for each class before deciding which one I want to see through to the end.

 

So far by the looks of things I could make any class melee or ranged focused without totally making the too character awkward to play which is a nice surprise. For example, after exploring Aloth's spells a little it seems totally possible to play a "Swordmage" or "Arcane Archer" archetype by simply selecting the right spells (though I think the Cipher is better suited for that type of play). This may open up my options for finding a fun class to play in combat while still having interesting options in RP.

[JONNIN]

go to magran's fork and get the priest before you do the temple.  Yes, its doable without, but IMHO the temple is someone's idea of a sick joke.  "Hahaha lets give em a 2 hit point wizard and enemy that can teleport in the very first area, after an easy bit that will lull them into the trap..."   

 

A full party of 6 really helps until you know the game well,  and even knowing the game well its a lot more fun with a group for me.  

 

*anyone* can be stealthy and mechanical but no one can do BOTH well.   You sort of need 3 points at least in athletics or you will get the stupid tired debuff too often.   And you need a LOT of mechanics to find the hidden items and disable the traps.   Its not going to fit to get 10 in both stealth and mechanics and 3 in athletics all on one toon, due to how skills were set up you really need a party expert in each field instead.   Or you can make do with less mechanics if you are willing to miss a few items and eat a few traps to the face.

 

I have a damage themed orlan fighter that is focused on mechanics, for example, as my current play-through.  Much more durable than a rogue, and does plenty of damage with high accuracy.  A KO rogue does 0 damage.   If you can keep your rogue up, sure, it will out damage the fighter, so its just a choice between full bore damage of rogue/ranger/caster or durability and balance.

 

Ranger is not that hard to learn.  Mostly, you stand there and shoot, with a few per-encounter clicks.  

 

Durable, interesting classes....  monk? 

[awesomologist]

I've done the temple again with a rebuilt Cipher going ranged and I had a much easier time. I also gave Eder a cloak that absorbs Freezing attacks which was also a godsend. I then went south and picked up Durance, so too late to shuffle that in. However my Ranged Rogue is a little squishier, so I may do that with her. Sadly Aloth falls into the trap of "Wizards suck until late in the game". I hope to gather more party members and drop Aloth as soon as I can.

 

I also got a Chanter going and they're at Gilded Vale right now. That's actually a pretty fun class! Summoning 3 Skeletons midway through a fight is pretty fun. I think I'm going to get several characters to the Vale and do the temple, then choose the one I enjoy playing the most for a first complete play through.

 

Thanks for the tips on Mechanics vs Stealth. So far I'm not finding stealth to be a viable way for me to play. It's nice to have, and maybe later when Stealth is at 10 it can be more viable to use a single character as a scout, but early on it doesn't feel necessary. However I'm finding Mechanics to be invaluable, so I may favor that for now.

 

So far I haven't played a Fighter, Paladin, or Monk, but one thing I've noticed is that CON seems like a fairly useless stat. It's favored for the Chanter but my Chanter uses a bow, stands at mid range and barely gets touched. I wouldn't go negative with it (though I've seen some optimized builds that do so) it just doesn't seem that important.

[JONNIN]

the skeletons are the weakest too.  If you had rolled it yourself, he would summon a brutal phantom that is really good in the lower levels, and after that, 3 dragonlets that spit fire from range, followed by a pair of ogres that can go toe to toe with almost anything in the game.

 

Con is mostly useless.  It helps your tank to have say 15 or so -- but eder serves that role just fine. 

 

stealth really helps one thing, which makes no sense --- stealing stuff.  Mostly the friendly areas, stealing is just junk, a few copper and plain items.   Hostile stealing, like the "friendly" dragon's loot,  it can be very, very nice as the beast will become MOST upset if you take its stuff and get caught.  There are only 4 or 5 places where that sort of thing matters.

Edited May 13, 2015 by JONNIN