De-cipher

[migelo]

I need help getting through Path of the Damned Temple of Eothas. I have two priests, a fighter, a mage, and a paladin and a barbarian and the 'shadows' and 'shades' on the lower level are freaking untouchable. I am left with the impression that you are required to have a cipher to succeed on this difficulty, which is disgusting and is making me instantly hate this game. What else could I do if I don't want to gross myself out with ciphers? Their abilities seem blatantly OP to other classes and they are presented as these pretentious special-snowflake characters.

 

I hadn't actually beaten the game before but I'm not some noob who can't figure out the mechanics... so barring the unlikely scenario where I am using poor tactics there is nothing to say about this situation except that this game is unbalanced and annoying and I seem to have wasted the 5 hours I spent trying to build up my party.

[gunman78]

You definitely don't need a certain class to beat an area. I have never played a cipher myself.

 

What is your average party level? The problem could be you are simply not high level enough for that area. You are not supposed to clear it immediately as you arrive in Gilded Vale. On PotD I think I came back to this temple after finishing Raedric Hold, and I was around level 4-5 if I remember correctly.

[anameforobsidian]

Try it again later or sneak past the shades. Optional dungeons are harder, but cyphers are not necessary in the game at all.

Edited November 29, 2016 by anameforobsidian

[Tigranes]

"I can't beat this fight but I'm super sure I'm not doing anything wrong so game must be broken", can't argue with that. 

 

Look at the Bestiary, they have lower fort/will defence and burn DR, so target that instead of swinging at their face uselessly or whatnot. Fan of flames smashes them if you land a proper hit, so one way is to work on spells/items/food that increase the mage's accuracy and anything that lowers their reflex save.

 

Given that it's well possible to solo POTD the temple with Barbarians or any other class...

 

You could also go elsewhere in Act 1 and come back later, when you're levelled up.

[migelo]

Sorry for the attitude yesterday. I saw a video of a level 2 cipher soloing the bear cave on this difficulty and at that point I started to believe they were Obsidian's pet class or something. Plus the angle is that they can manipulate other people's souls which is I just don't agree with.

 

Anyway I finished 90% of the dungeon with all level 2s and 3s I had to resort to saving before every encounter and trading around my characters' equipment which I suspect I'll have to do more of and is incredibly tedious - but the complexities of DR is one of the unique qualities of the game I can appreciate.

 

I should also mention that I spent nearly the entire day on this one small dungeon as I'm set on the Zero Knockouts achievement and I didn't want to rest more than once... and of course I'd never even done this dungeon before (my character is an Eothasian Priest and at the end I was even more disgusted with the writers than I was with the devs)

 

As for Aloth - yes I took complete advantage of his spells. At level 3 I had taught him Bulwark Against The Elements which made him a viable mage tank with the priest DR buff (since all the shadows do frost damage) this would put him in an ideal position every encounter for him to use Fan of Flames, except that even with Laborer's Rest and Priest's Blessing (+5 accuracy and 10% damage) or my inspiring radiance effect (+10 accuracy), he would still miss and graze and rarely hit. It sort of came down to doing each fight over and over until I was lucky enough with my rolls to hit with maybe 30% of my attacks before they took out a party member.

 

In hindsight: yes I should have just tried it at level 4ish.

Edited November 29, 2016 by migelo

[draego]

Ye i usually dont go into that dungeon until level 3 or 4. Not every area is meant to be beat in order you find them. Sometime you have to go level up and come back. And i concur with the cipher comment i have never found any class necessary for any part of the game.

[JerekKruger]

How old was the video? Cipher's were super powerful early on and got hit by a few nerfs (they are still powerful now, don't worry) so perhaps it was from an earlier version of the game.

 

In any case, the Temple of Eothas is not usually a level 2/3 dungeon. I usually do a bunch of easy quick quests in Gilded Vale first, then do the Temple when I am at level 4 (perhaps after picking up Kana too). Even then, on PotD there are some pretty tricky fights.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Bulwark, Mirror Image and Fan of Flames got my solo Wizzy thru at Level 4 while wielding Hatchet and Larder's Door. If you wait to Level 5 Expose Vulnerbilities is your friend in a Party game.