Need a few pointers for very first playthrough

[ziphnor]

Hi, i just recently bought PoE on Steam, as i am a big fan of the BG series (played through it too many times to count back in the day However, these days i don't have as much time staring at a character creation screen, so i was hoping for some hints on a build.

 

I prefer playing with characters that require lots of management in combat/has lots of abilities to choose between in combat.  I also typically avoid using consumables (ie potions/scrolls/special arrows etc), so i don't want a build dependent on those. I plan on playing on Normal based and *not* use custom companions.

 

Looking at the available classes, i was immediately drawn to the Cipher class, but i am confused as to whether to go ranged or melee, and *very* confused as to how to distribute stat points, seeing how different they are from the "typical" RPG stats.

 

Given that Cipher's gain Focus through inflicting damage i would think that Might was actually the most important stat, but the game marks intelligence as the "primary" even though its primary effects seems to be AoE and duration, which while important, does not seem like the primary concern of a Cipher? There must be something i am missing there

 

If i understand correctly, a sensible build is to drop CON+RES in favor of maxing Might and Intellect, and then use a ranged weapon to avoid getting slaughtered in melee? The balance between DEX and PER confuses me a little though. I would have thought that the action speed of DEX was far more important than the accuracy bonus of PER?

 

Based on what i have read (but as mentioned above doesn't fully understand the justification for) would something like this be sensible without being a complete "glass cannon"?

 

Cipher

Moon Godlike

Old Vailia (or perhaps Livings Lands for 19 MIG instead of 20 INT?)

Hunter

MIG: 18

CON: 5

DEX: 15

PER:  15

INT: 20

RES: 5

 

Any input and tips (without spoilers) would be great.

 

 

 

 

[Boeroer]

Hi!

 

Your stats would work well with a ranged cipher. Just note that he indeed will be a glass cannon and will die quickly once he gets attacked directly. If you can avoid that (good frontline or smart use of crowd control), it's all good. And you'll have Silver Tide (Moon Godlikes' racial feat) which will prolong the time you can withstand a beating.

 

Accuracy is very important in this game, because there's not only hit or miss, but actually there is miss - graze(only 50% damage or duration) - hit (normal damage or duration) or crit (+50% damage or duration). The higher the accuracy the more likey you will avoid misses and grazes an do more hits and crits. Since the accuracy bonus from PER stacks with every other accuracy bonus you can get, PER is important for most characters who want to hit/crit - be it with damage or with crowd controlling effects.

However, since you are playing on normal difficulty, where enemies' defenses are lower than at Path-of-the_damned difficulty for example, you can do with lowish PER and still be happy.

 

So, yeah, you should be fine.

 

One rule of thumb for PoE combat:

1. buff your accuracy

2. use crowd control (favorably things that disable foes like prone, stun or things like blind which lower enemies' defenses a lot)

3. deal damage

 

No. 1 can be easily done with a priest (some classes also have their own accuracy buffs), 2 is what ciphers, wizards and druids are good at and 3 can be done with any class, although some have more potential than others. Ciphers are also pretty good at it, be it with weapon or with spells.

 

Crowd control is very powerful - that's why the cipher has INT as recommended stat. He has some good crowd control spells and INT prolongs duration as well as it extends AoE. If you want your cipher to be more of a crowd controller than a damage dealer then INT is more important than MIG. If he should be more of a damage dealer then MIG can be more important than INT (depends on the spell - some deal damage over time and in that case INT is important, too). 

 

Hope you like it! 

Edited July 8, 2017 by Boeroer

[ziphnor]

Accuracy is very important in this game, because there's not only hit or miss, but actually there is miss - graze(only 50% damage or duration) - hit (normal damage or duration) or crit (+50% damage or duration).

 

Am i reading it right that it also affects chance of spell effects applying? I see a lot of mentions of Acc vs. X/Y/Z under Cipher "spells" effects.

 

In that case i can really see it becoming absolutely critical. I am starting to understand why the Wood Elf is also a popular Race for Cipher. With a wood-elf, can i get away with lower PER? After all a +5 ACC corresponds to 5 points of PER wrt. to ACC

 

Seeing as both INT and and RES supplies Will, would it be okay to dump RES to 3 with INT 18?

 

Kind of wondering if i should try a Wood Elf (Living Lands) instead:

 

MIG 19

CON 8 <= Boosted slightly to be less of glass cannon?

DEX 16

PER 14 (giving same ACC as PER 19 on a non-wood elf)

INT 18

RES 3 <= Sucky concentration okay?

 

I can see a Living Lands Wood Elf with Hunter background making sense from an RP perspective as well, perhaps a reclusive timid one to explain low RES

 

How about spells? I like the sound of Whisper of Treason, but for my second initial choice, a lot of the others sound great as well, in particular Eyestrike and Mind Wave. So many choices ....

[Archaven]

Hi, i just recently bought PoE on Steam, as i am a big fan of the BG series (played through it too many times to count back in the day However, these days i don't have as much time staring at a character creation screen, so i was hoping for some hints on a build.

 

I prefer playing with characters that require lots of management in combat/has lots of abilities to choose between in combat.  I also typically avoid using consumables (ie potions/scrolls/special arrows etc), so i don't want a build dependent on those. I plan on playing on Normal based and *not* use custom companions.

 

Looking at the available classes, i was immediately drawn to the Cipher class, but i am confused as to whether to go ranged or melee, and *very* confused as to how to distribute stat points, seeing how different they are from the "typical" RPG stats.

 

Given that Cipher's gain Focus through inflicting damage i would think that Might was actually the most important stat, but the game marks intelligence as the "primary" even though its primary effects seems to be AoE and duration, which while important, does not seem like the primary concern of a Cipher? There must be something i am missing there

 

If i understand correctly, a sensible build is to drop CON+RES in favor of maxing Might and Intellect, and then use a ranged weapon to avoid getting slaughtered in melee? The balance between DEX and PER confuses me a little though. I would have thought that the action speed of DEX was far more important than the accuracy bonus of PER?

 

Based on what i have read (but as mentioned above doesn't fully understand the justification for) would something like this be sensible without being a complete "glass cannon"?

 

Cipher

Moon Godlike

Old Vailia (or perhaps Livings Lands for 19 MIG instead of 20 INT?)

Hunter

MIG: 18

CON: 5

DEX: 15

PER:  15

INT: 20

RES: 5

 

Any input and tips (without spoilers) would be great.

 

congratulations on your purchase of PoE. what i love most about it is the combat. i find myself now abandoning witcher 3 over PoE. i have some thoughts on DW Cipher. maybe my next character. i'm not sure. if the idea of a Cipher as a caster (to gain focus as quickly as possible), i think DEX and PER should be the key as i want to hit as fast as possible and also each hit must also has a high rate of ACC. it also depends on party composition. maybe i can dump to INT or MIG (for CC/DMG) and have other party members and other sources for the ACC bonus. i'm playing on POTD and it seems that normal mob has insane stats. to even penetrate them, i'm thinking ACC is god.

[Boeroer]

On PotD, the beginning is more difficult than the rest of the game. It's normal that this is the part where people struggle the most.

 

One little tip if you don't oppose retraining: cross-class talents and other things like Runner's Wounding Shot, Envenomed Strike, Prestidigitator's Missiles and also Aspirant's Mark are very powerful early in the game. But they don't scale well with level (except Runner's Wounding Shot, which is always very useful). They make the beginning of the game a LOT easier. At some point you will feel that they don't work as well anymore. Then you can retrain and pick something else.

[Boeroer]

An example how to make the early game a lot easier with just two talents:

 

Priest with Inspiring Radiance and any other character with Aspirant's Mark.

 

The priest starts encounter with Holy Radiance, everybody gets +10 ACC. The other char casts Aspirant's Mark. Now your whole party has a +18 ACC bonus when it comes to rolls against deflection and reflex. This is a party-wide buff/AoE debuff that works in every encounter!

 

You can imagine that a Paladin with Zealous Focus will also be very helpful here, adding another +6 ACC bonus to the whole party.

 

Most CC spells / abilities that follow will be hits or crits, same with damaging attacks.

 

You can add Prestidigitator's Missiles then (for example use a ranger with Vicious Aim) which will most likely one-shot most early enemies.

 

Tricks like this will make you rest less and reach Act II with a lot less fuzz.

Edited July 9, 2017 by Boeroer

[ziphnor]

I had sworn to avoid a glass cannon build, but i failed miserably  

 

I ended up with:

 

Wood Elf

Living Lands

MIG: 19 <= I want to use a bow and not a firearm (mostly RP reasons), so i figured max damage to bypass DR

CON: 3 <= I am sure i can find a good RP reason for that.. At least the high might mitigates the Fortitude defense

DEX: 18 <= Fast is good, but i didn't go with 19 because i wanted PER

PER: 17 <= Afraid to miss, in particular with CC abilities

INT: 18 <= Hopefully sufficient

RES: 3 <= Like myself, weak of will

 

Whisper of Treason

Mind Wave

[Boeroer]

The usual ranged cipher stat spread.

[Archaven]

They fix Whisper of Treason. Very long time ago.. when you are able to stealth and then cast Whisper of Treason. One reason i dislike being a ranger, probably because of pierce immunity. Are there any bow that does different damage type like Slash/Pierce or Crush/Pierce? It would make sense if there's actually Arrow Types. I like the idea of Arrow Types where ranger can still use elemental and different damage types.

[MaxQuest]

One reason i dislike being a ranger, probably because of pierce immunity. Are there any bow that does different damage type like Slash/Pierce or Crush/Pierce?

You can take Sagani's Massuk Hunting Bow. It deals pierce/crush damage. But has lowered range (11 instead of 12), and lower base damage (10-14 instead of 10-15).

[Boeroer]

You can use implements. They all have two damage types. Certain implements are quite nice with Driving Flight, Dangerous Implement and Vicious Aim. +45% damage, hitting two foes with one shot most of the time. Also high proc chance with Spell Chance implements like Curoc's Brand or Golden Gaze. Besides that, Engwythan Scepter and later Golden Gaze are especially nice (tested).

 

If you like Apprentice's Sneak Attack and also survival's and item's damage bonus for flanked targets then Grudge Keeper is also very nice. With Appr. Sneak (15%), 20% flanking bons from survival 12 and an item like Glanfathan Stalking Boots (+10%) plus Grudge Keeper's +20% you'll get additional +65% when you attack flanked enemies (which is not hard with your pet and a party member). +110% damage it really good - nearly rogue-with-Deathblows like. Add archer's gloves or CLoak of the Frozen Hunt (again +10%) and  Stunning Shots - and your pet of course - and it's quite the show (also tested).

Edited July 11, 2017 by Boeroer