Good Melee Cipher build?

[zal_rayden]

Been thinking of making a good melee cipher build that can take a hit while still dealing good damage. Not saying I'm gonna off tank with it, just don't want to be squishy and prefer using melee weapons as opposed to ranged, any helpful advice would be great, thanks

[Braven]

Ciphers, though they seem to have low defenses, are actually quite hardy if you choose the right powers. The first level blindness is basically +20 defense against an enemy. Second level has vampiric shield which provides +25 deflection for a long time. With those, your defenses will be better than a fighter or paladin. However, you are wasting attack time casting the buff.

 

You could go with high resolve and those powers and basically be a tank. Only downsides is that ciphers have a lower endurance pool and also, every stat and talent you place to increase defenses, the less "focus" you will generate while attacking so you might not be able to cast powers as often.

 

Some have created builds around retaliation to solve that problem since that generates focus, but that is very item-dependent. Also not needed for an off-tank cipher. Since you don't even care about off-tanking, the blindness or CC powers and vampiric shield should alone solve the problem.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Braven

[zal_rayden]

Appreciate the input, thanks

[KDubya]

I would not bother with pumping Resolve to be better in melee, better to put those points in something else. Psychovampiric shield is a +25 deflection boost, if you need more than that you can use a small shield.

 

Melee does more damage per second than ranged, you will generate focus quickly with a melee cipher. with your Soul Whips you will have +40% damage adder, only a Rogue with Sneak Attack will hit harder

 

I'd either go with reach weapons, quarterstaff or pike, and stay behind your melee guys for added protection or go with weapon and small shield. There are some really nice small shields. Try and use the lightest armor that you can,  the padded armor with retaliation would be great. Use the power that transfers 7 DR and you are as good as plate but faster.

 

If your powers will generally be used for crowd control instead of damage you can drop Might to 10. This'd free up points for intellect, dex and perception.

 

Something like:

Might - 10 - you will still have +40% damage from Soul Whips

Con - 10 - in melee you will get hit so you want some hit points

Dexterity - 16 - faster attacks and spell casting. You will generate focus quickly so you'll want to be able to blast it off as quickly as you can

Perception - 16 - you want to hit and crit as often as you can, especially with CC powers

Intellect - 16 - longer duration of buffs which is what will keep you alive

Resolve - 10 - more would be nice but you run out of points

 

Using the SpellTongue rapier and a small shield can get you some interesting abilities. You use a lot of buffs and SpellTongue will extend them while also boosting your attack speed. Between the retaliation small shield and the ranged reflection one you can handle whatever comes your way.

 

You could use a combination of the Flanking power (secret horror or whatever it is), Psychovampiric shield and the DR transfer one. I think that is two 20 focus and a 40. Attacking in between casts should set you up quickly with a -10 deflection in a big AoE to your enemies, +25 deflection to you  and some debuff to one target and a 7 DR transfer from a target to you. From then on you are pretty well protected have increased accuracy and can quickly generate focus to power up some of the big ticket ones.

Edited March 5, 2016 by KDubya