Help me build a Solo (Normal, Rogue/Cipher) Character?

[ServbotJake]

So I've tried solo'ing with both a rogue and cipher already without having to much luck, I'm looking for some help in making a melee Cipher build (preferably using 2h weps) or looking for a way to give a Rogue more AoE. But I'm not sure that is possible. With the rogue I've made it into act 2 but the lack of AoE is definitely bothering me. And with a Cipher I haven't finished act 1. I really enjoy the Cipher play style and spells but I'm just so squishy and can't stay alive long enough to kill things. I've looked around a bit on the subreddit and on here and I can't seem to find a good guide for a solo build, can anyone help suggest a build or something to guide me?

 

Would also want to have at least 16 resolve for dialogue options.

 

 

[KDubya]

I'm not a solo expert or anything like that but here are my thoughts:

 

1.) If you are too squishy get a shield and heavier armor. More Constitution is not bad, or at least do not dump it.

2.) Sabre and shield will be more survivable and have near the same damage as a two hander. Also has the bonus of having pistols and blunderbuss in the same weapon group.

3.) If you want to solo, build for that. If you want additional dialogue options then use a team. trying to do both is going to leave you frustrated.

4.) For a Rogue use more scrolls and/or spell casting items

5.) Craft up a slaying weapon for each type of creature and swap as needed before each battle. Even a plain old Exceptional weapon with Vessel slayer or whatever is going to be better than  a slightly better unique, at least until durgan steel comes around.

6.) Throw a lash enchant on everything you use. They are cheap and always help.

[Boeroer]

Rogue and cipher can dish out good amount of damage without being excessively skilled for it. So I would build them very defensively if I wouldn't want to use figurines all the time.

As KDubya said: AoE for rogues is possible with scrolls and spell binding items. THose which deal damage are very nice later on because they work with Deathblows (= double damage). The high ACC of rogues is great for spells and scrolls. But you shouldn't gimp your INT when you want to do that.

 

Ciphers: for early game it's always nice to have two weapon setups: one with weapon & shield and one with a single weapon. Ciphers in the early game can have problems with their ACC and can't hit sh!t with their weapons. A single weapon solves that issue quite nicely because it will give you +12 ACC instantly without any talent and you can switch to that weapon for generating focus more quickly while you're not under pressure so much - then switch to shield once you are. It's also good to use weapons in the single weapon slot that have an inherent ACC bonus - like spears, daggers and clubs. I prefer spears because the have the highest base damage - which is good with soul whip for overcoming enemies' DR. So you will have +17 ACC at the start of the game which can chance things drastically. Later on you can switch to your desired weapon - after Act I I guess. But I think that two handed weapons are not the best choice for a solo game 

[Raven Darkholme]

As to beating Act 1 specifically with cipher.

Sneak into Caed Nua Hall.

With maxed sneak you can sneak to the door in the hall with the stewart.

If you train your timing you can do the following with sugar for movement bonus:

As soon as dialogue with steward breaks your stealth position yourself in a corner next to the throne, so that when you summon the figurine you can't get hit by the phantoms and stunned.

With a little more practice (praise the savescumlord) you can position the figurine in a way that you can spam wall of flame scrolls without instantly killing your own figurine with them.

If your perception is maxed and you got accuracy +5 gauntlets from Raedrics + Stalkers Torc from another random loot location you can easily kill the phantoms before your summon dies.

I did that back in the day when there was no perception for accuracy and I had no random loot table to help me out for accuracy gauntlets (didn't get them until very late in the game, lol.) so now it should be a cakewalk.

[MaxQuest]

And with a Cipher I haven't finished act 1. I really enjoy the Cipher play style and spells but I'm just so squishy and can't stay alive long enough to kill things. I've looked around a bit on the subreddit and on here and I can't seem to find a good guide for a solo build, can anyone help suggest a build or something to guide me?

If you are too squishy, you have two options:

- dump your defenses completely. Focus on ranged damage and cc. Quick-switch blunderbusses with a backup warbow. Summon figurine asap, and charm / mind-bind those who would ignore it and go for you instead.

- or, get heavy armor (preferably plate, esp. Sanguine) and decent con (10+). From lvl 5 you will have all the tools you need, and stuff like shades won't be a problem. They have low fortitude and are quite susceptible to Eyestrike. Coupled with low DR against fire makes them melt against Soul Ignition. And ofc you can just kill them with beams, especially after you have lowered their reflexes with Eyestrike. And if you also hold a shield that's an easy +29 to your effective deflection. And if they can't crit you, a lot of damage will be absorbed by your plate armor.

[Boeroer]

I would say Tenous Grasp is one of the best powers for a cipher. Once encounter starts you cast it on an enemy and he will be the best distraction you can have. Can spare you tons of figurine summons, later also Puppet Master (lasts longer).

 

edit: I meant Whisper of Treason, dammit!

Edited June 7, 2016 by Boeroer

[Raven Darkholme]

I would say Tenous Grasp is one of the best powers for a cipher. Once encounter starts you cast it on an enemy and he will be the best distraction you can have. Can spare you tons of figurine summons, later also Puppet Master (lasts longer).

Tenous Grasp is not that good anymore you charm with Whispers of Treasons now the speed is buffed to fast.

Also something that made solo ciphers a lot more powerful.

[MaxQuest]

Whispers of Treason is just awesome. Kind of obvious but:

- you get an extra body.

- it can often block passage for other enemies.

- they help killing their own ex-mate.

- you can encase your frontline in plate, such that they don't care for low-hitting enemies, and charm the hard-hitting ones.

- if you have a high-cost power, and it is important to not miss with it, you can soothe enemies defenses with a quick charm before that.

- charm dragons and let them help you with the adds.

- low cost, fast cast.

[Boeroer]

Argh - I meant Whisper of Treason, sorry! Mixed that up...

 

Yes, it's aweseome. Should be fast (did anybody test if it's cast time is indeed fast now as the description says?), gives you a meat shield and also debuffs a lot.

 

The only thing that's not so good about it is that you don't get focus when hitting enemies whose alliance got flipped.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

For a solo cipher the strategy is really simple - start the encounter with your hardest hiting ranged weapon, switch to weapon and shield and retreat to a point where you can fight one enemy at a time. Cast eyestrike on the first enemy (with 18int it should last enough to replenish your focus again) - which will lower his accuracy by 41 and his attack speed by 15% (you can use also a potion of wizard's double for hard encounters) giving you enough defense to tank anything...

 

At higher levels you can replace eyestrike with mental binding and silent scream - try to keep your enemy perma paralized/stunned - and switch to dual wield for more focus/dps.

 

Another strategy is of course using charm/dominate on the first enemy to use him as a shield and to block the path to you and shoot the ones behind (casters/ranged attackers) with a bow.

 

If you can't find a spot to fight a single enemy at a time you have to pull them one by one or skip the encounter until you're strong enough to tank more of them.

 

VS enemies immune to charm, dominate, stun, paralysis you can use later stasis shell to block the path to you.

 

When you have to fight many ranged attackers use confusion scrolls.

 

PS. The description of whisper of treason says it's fast but it has just average speed.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Kaylon

[Raven Darkholme]

 

PS. The description of whisper of treason says it's fast but it has just average speed.

Are you sure?

For my cipher it's super fast doesn't feel like average speed at all.

[Boeroer]

It should have fast cast speed from 3.0 on - but it only had average (you can compare it to puppet master which is way faster). This was a confirmed bug, according to Aarik in the tech support forum. Don't know if they already fixed this, hence my question.