[HELP] Cipher MC POTD

[lokeegaming]

 

been thinking...if i create ranged with:

 

DEX - maxed

INT - maxed

PER - even with MIG

MIG - even with PER

CON & RES - min

That's basically 18/3/18/18/18/3.

Btw, unless you really want to max Disintegration damage, 18/7/18/16/16/3 might be a bit more comfortable to play with, as you risk less being one-shot with stuff like Talons' Reach, Ooze Spit, Icycle Storm (or w/e that frost blast is called), and so on.

 

i will surely miss quite a lot in early level yes? if so, should i go for a slow/very slow ranged weapon or average/fast will prevail in a prolonged battle??

It depends on enemy DR, but for majority of cases a non-reloading weapon with provide a higher steady-dps over prolonged fight.

 

As for misses: it depends. On lvl 3 you have 25 + 3x3 + ~6(from per) + 5(wood elf) = 42 acc

While enemies can have for reference (on PotD):

- 38 Def - Xaurip (DR: 4)

- 49 Def - Xaurip Skirmisher (DR: 7)

- 63 Def - Ogre (DR: 10)

- 76 Def - Shade (DR: 16; Burn: 8 )

 

The idea is to throw Aspirant's Mark for instance, quickly build focus, and follow up with Painful Interdiction into Mental Binding/AoE Blind.

It's ok to miss early with auto-attacks, but it's preferable to make sure your cc effect do land.

 

2x Fighter = Custom dedicated tank with just enough pow to get proper attention

It's not exactly how aggro works) You might want to check this post.

 

 

hmmm getting 2 more frontliners might be more comfortable ways to create a wall for squishes, gonna try that out..maybe 2 fighter a paly and barb

 

btw, i used wood elf for extra acc but seems it doesn't proc the way it should for Distant Advantage..or am i playing it wrong??

 

my stats:

15/6/19/13/18/7

 

Antil Field & Soul Shock..and more CC for next level

 

prim acc at 28. with Distant Advantage it should be at least 33..currently using warbow

 

https://imgur.com/nZaJxve

[Boeroer]

Distant Advantage only gives you a bonus if you are not too near. Maybe the distance between you and the opponent wasn't big enough when this roll was done?

 

Although it doesn't look like it...

 

Also, always start with a cc spell before trying to cast a damaging spell. Eyestrike for example will hit better than your weapon attack (targets will which is lower most of the time and has a acc bonus). Once the enemy is blinded you have the equivalent of +20 ACC for your weapon attacks (blinded lowers deflection by 20 points).

 

CC is stronger than damage in the early game. Since your cipher already does good weapon damage you should favour CC over damaging spells.

Things like Eyestrike and so on not only make it easier to hit foes, but foes also don't hit that hard anymore.

 

The best way to do it is to a) buff your accuracy (and other stuff like defenses if you feel the need), then b) use CC and then c) deal damage. The first two parts may be skipped if fights are really easy (for example if your level is a lot higher than that of tour opponents).

 

All spells and active abilities get a +1 ACC bonus per char level by the way while auto-attacks don't. So not only the bonus to your base ACC at levelup will help to hit more often. It's quite normal to miss and graze a lot in the early game if you are playing PotD difficulty. After a few levels it's getting a lot better.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Boeroer

[lokeegaming]

Distant Advantage only gives you a bonus if you are not too near. Maybe the distance between you and the opponent wasn't big enough when this roll was done?

 

Although it doesn't look like it...

 

Also, always start with a cc spell before trying to cast a damaging spell. Eyestrike for example will hit better than your weapon attack (targets will which is lower most of the time and has a acc bonus). Once the enemy is blinded you have the equivalent of +20 ACC for your weapon attacks (blinded lowers deflection by 20 points).

 

CC is stronger than damage in the early game. Since your cipher already does good weapon damage you should favour CC over damaging spells.

Things like Eyestrike and so on not only make it easier to hit foes, but foes also don't hit that hard anymore. 

 

The best way to do it is to a) buff your accuracy (and other stuff like defenses if you feel the need), then b) use CC and then c) deal damage. The first two parts may be skipped if fights are really easy (for example if your level is a lot higher than that of tour opponents).

 

All spells and active abilities get a +1 ACC bonus per char level by the way while auto-attacks don't. So not only the bonus to your base ACC at levelup will help to hit more often. It's quite normal to miss and graze a lot in the early game if you are playing PotD difficulty. After a few levels it's getting a lot better. 

 aye sir..

 

i was outside of bow range at the time, which leads my MC to step forward to reach max range of weapon..shoot then miss..

 

tested again on whelp skuldr the same thing happens like with bandit..no acc bonus from w.elf

 

oh well..guess it's a bug??

 

i'm rerolling with human this time and will use more CC for pre fight

Edited June 16, 2017 by lokeegaming

[Boeroer]

That's bad. Maybe a restart will fix it. Last time I checked (it was version 3.05 - do you already use 3.06?) it worked like it should. It's not uncommon for OBS to introduce a whole bunch of new bugs with a bugfix patch though. :\

 

Boreal Dwarf can also be very good since a lot of enemies at the beginning (oozes, xaurips, trolls, mushrooms and delemgans) are all wilders or priomordials. +15 ACC is huge and it stacks with survival bonuses.

 

That's another thing: survival bonuses only needs 4 survival and gives you +10 ACC which is great in the early game. Stacks with boreal dwarf's racial feat.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Boeroer

[lokeegaming]

That's bad. Maybe a restart will fix it. Last time I checked (it was version 3.05 - do you already use 3.06?) it worked like it should. It's not uncommon for OBS to introduce a whole bunch of new bugs with a bugfix patch though. :\

 

Boreal Dwarf can also be very good since a lot of enemies at the beginning (oozes, xaurips, trolls, mushrooms and delemgans) are all wilders or priomordials. +15 ACC is huge and it stacks with survival bonuses.

 

That's another thing: survival bonuses only needs 4 survival and gives you +10 ACC which is great in the early game. Stacks with boreal dwarf's racial feat.

 

aye 3.06

 

just fiinshed reinstalling the game and it's fixed..horaay for me XD

 

aaaandd...reroll again with w.elf hahahahaha

[Boeroer]

Tehehe - have fun!

[lokeegaming]

awesome!!

 

my current party consist of:

 

1. MC DD/CC cipher 

2. Aloth

3. Eder

4. Custom Fighter - balanced

5. Custom Barb - damage/off tank

6. Durance

 

was thinking swapping Aloth for a rouge melee or range ranger at a cost of a nuker

[Boeroer]

Wizard is the strongest class (besides priest) in the game in my opinion. So I wouldn't do it.

[lokeegaming]

Wizard is the strongest class (besides priest) in the game in my opinion. So I wouldn't do it.

 

still figuring out how to properly use their spells..it feels like a chore when its spent and either use camp or look for an in hahaha

 

and i still need to learn how to properly position my frontliners. just getting wrecked by pack of boars at Magran Fork. mobs always erratically circling the engagement zone, dragging my anti field eats up my team 

 

guess i need to try heavy armor for them and see how it fares..still level 2/3 though

[superior987]

One thing that helped me was slowing everything down. When I started, I'd send the group to attack as soon as I saw enemies. Now I'll let them charge me, which gives me a little more time to get the front line in the proper position to engage and prevent enemies from just running past. Stealth helps too

[lokeegaming]

One thing that helped me was slowing everything down. When I started, I'd send the group to attack as soon as I saw enemies. Now I'll let them charge me, which gives me a little more time to get the front line in the proper position to engage and prevent enemies from just running past. Stealth helps too

 

yeah i tend to forgot there's that thing hahaha

 

i usually put my tanks againts the wall/trees or any viable environment if there's no choke point available and put my range character further away and cipher at the opposite of tanks to spam anti-field. so far it's good that mobs can't flank them. only things left is to get more gear to soak damage even further

 

priest buff tends to draw mobs attention and i really need to be more vigilant on when to use it

[Boeroer]

The boars at Magran's Fork are supertough! Not unusual to get fragged by them.

 

The best lvl 1 wizard spell is chillfog (CC + damage). You can combine it later on with Combusting Wounds (damage), Kalakoth's Minor Blights+Blast (damage) and Pull of Eora (CC). Pull of Eora is one of the strongest CC spell in the game in my opinion. There are no immunities against it for example.

Edited June 17, 2017 by Boeroer

[lokeegaming]

The boars at Magran's Fork are supertough! Not unusual to get fragged by them.

 

The best lvl 1 wizard spell is chillfog (CC + damage). You can combine it later on with Combusting Wounds (damage), Kalakoth's Minor Blights+Blast (damage) and Pull of Eora (CC). Pull of Eora is one of the strongest CC spell in the game in my opinion. There are no immunities against it for example.

 

ooh damn! turns out boars are though..i thought it was just me stupid at controlling my party hahahaha

 

takes me couples of reload to get thru it without having anyone downed

[Blades of Vanatar]

Boars.... go W&S with Aloth, cast a protection spell increasing deflection, drink potion of spirit shield or put up Arcane Veil, enter frontline, cast cone shaped fire spell twice. Bye bye boars. Works in lots of tough early game encounters.

[dam]

hey there guys, been trying playing POE over this past week and got hooked by Cipher!

 

was wondering if there's any tips to optimize the build, which primary role is heavy hitter. now i'm kinda confused at the very early game, which i maxed out PER to get high accuracy but the insane amount of defense at the starting map made my bow only have <40 hit chances..am i doing something wrong with stats distribution or is normal to have a lot of misses??

 

i thought since CIpher will heavily relied on Focus to dish damage, it's very important to get as much hits as possible

 

anyone can suggest or share their builds for DD Cipher??

 

ooh and btw, since i wanted a custom tanker, will it be alright to dump STR in favor of RES, END and DEX???will be using fighter..but other class for main dedicated tank would be superb...

 

thanks and cheers guys!

 

 

Heya,

 

 

Since a lot of people have already covered most of your cipher related questions, I'm gonna take the "other class for main dedicated tank would be superb".

If I understand that one correctly, you're looking to play a Cipher, have a dedicated fighter tank, and have another character do the offtanking correct ?

 

If so, I would suggest either a tanky chanter (bitches be so strong) or a monk (which you're going to need to micromanage a bit).

For both classes, Amaua (prone/stun resist), Moon Godlike (healing waves) and Fire Godlike (DR + aoe damage) are good choices.

[dam]

awesome!!

 

my current party consist of:

 

1. MC DD/CC cipher 

2. Aloth

3. Eder

4. Custom Fighter - balanced

5. Custom Barb - damage/off tank

6. Durance

 

was thinking swapping Aloth for a rouge melee or range ranger at a cost of a nuker

 

Be warned that a melee rogue requires A LOT of micro-management to remain alive and effective.

However, a crit-focused hearth orlan rogue with Tall Spike is a force on the battlefield.

 

Early on, you could get him the stiletto from the smith in Gilded Vale which inflicts Jolting Touch 1/fight on crit , very good damage spike.

That one would last you a long time.

 

I would advise against replacing your mage though.

While a rogue would undeniably be effective, you'd be running almost only melee, which could present its own problems with regards to engagement.