Melee Cipher build and party advice

[Stargazer55]

I started playing the character and I‘m loving her to pieces from a roleplaying perspective. However, I have the feeling that the druid I played lasted time was substantially stronger. Is this just in the nature of the classes or am I playing the cipher wrong?

[Boeroer]

Druid (with Spiritshift) is very strong. Melee prowess + good spells. It's in my top-notch tier of PoE classes (with Priest and Wizard).

 

Also the Rapier + Dagger is really strong in the long run but is weaker in the early part of the game - due to the lack of dmg bonuses and talents. Pick Vulnerable Attack if you feel it's too weak against DR.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Boeroer

[Stargazer55]

Thank you for your continued advice. It‘s very much appreciated!

[Manty5]

I just finished my first playthrough a little over a week ago with a cipher.  My party was like this:

 

Watcher Cipher, human raider from Deadfire.  I was in heavy armor and was dual wielding sabers most of the game.

 

Pallegina, Sword and board, mostly, with Deadfire belt Firebrand for occassional burst damage.

 

Devil of Caroc, dual wielding stilleto's, mostly, since I had a ton by the time I got her and wanted to see them used.

 

Itumak, mostly focusing on Casters.

 

Sagani, with Twin Sting helping her fox focus casters.

 

Grieving Mother, on CC and using Stormcaller.

 

A player made wizard for AoE, since I'm not a huge Aloth fan.

 

Overall it went pretty well.  I think that any party can work for almost any watcher.  While the story companions might not be optimized, they still do a the job just fine.

 

 

I'm curious:  Where did you get your healing from?  Potions can flub the animation, and Pallagina and the ciphers are the only ones with healing spells at all.

 

Also, Borerer:  What kind of stat spread would you recommend for a flaming greatsword Cipher?  I plan to use Amuna for 2 reasons:  Knockdown resist and because you can make him look like Darth Maul with the right head and black skin.  Not sure what hood I'd use that would be both useful and complete the look.  And since I'd plan on 3 weapons (SYRedeemer for special cases, Firebrand for most cases, both of them don't care what weapon focus I get, eventually going to a 3rd weapon for fire resistant enemies and eventually being my main weapon, what should that weapon be?  Estoc?  HoStRumbolt?  I'd like to corrode lash it because you mentioned i lashs grant focus..   

 

Finally... and I know I'm asking a lot... what does the cross-class paladin aura stack with?  Accurate Carnage?  Having a sickening barbarian and a painful interdiction priest seems like the ultimate partners for a will-targeting cipher, not to mention that phantom foes would be nuts with a barb too.

Edited March 14, 2018 by Manty5

[Boeroer]

A cipher with Firebrand will profit from high MIG, PER and DEX as well as INT. It's no possible to max all that without dropping CON and RES completely. I wouldn't do that but keep it around 16 or 15, leave CON at 10 and the rest I'd put into RES. That would mean dumped RES or up to 8 RES. Since cipher can use Whisper of Treason to very easily avoid getting attacked too hard I have no problem with completely dumped RES.

 

Executioner's Hood is perfect but of course it would cover your face. The frightening aura is also great in combo with Threatening Presence and Painful Interdiction. The only other good with an enchantment is Footpad's Hood (+1 PER).

 

Hours of St. Rumbalt works a bit like Firebrand (also annihilating) so it would be a good substitute. Although I like it better on characters who don't have their own disables. Another good backup weapon is Justice - because it not only has a 25% crushing lash but also an additional +10% crushing lash which will contribute to focus generation. But you need high hit numbers to push the smaller lash through DR. Blade of the Endless Paths is cool with the speed, but I believe you can't enchant it to legendary because it already uses too many enchantment slots.

 

Since a Firebrand user might want to pick Scion of Flame (for +20% damage) he might want to put a burning lash on his backup weapon (+30% lash instead of +25%). The difference is not huge though. One has to decide if the synergy of Scion + burnig lash is better than the higher flexibility with a corrosive lash.

 

Accurate Carnage stacks with everything. But it does not influence Threatening Presence.

 

Gallant's focus doesn't stack with Zealous Focus and Blessing. Also not with any other active universal ACC buffs like Disciplined Barraged, Eldritch Aim and so on. All those active ACC buffs don't stack.

 

What stacks with Gallant's Focus is: Inspiring Radiance, Coordinated Attacks, marking, coordinating, Devotions for the Faithful, Inspiring Exhortation, Tactical Meld and Borrowed Instincts. The last one and Devotions don't stack. The rest all stacks with each other.

Edited March 14, 2018 by Boeroer

[fgalkin]

Interesting. Thanks for the suggestions, all! 

 

One last question- are there any benefits to giving Abydon's hammer to my cipher, who is the highest damage dealer of the party by far (something like 2x as much damage dealt as Aloth who is the runner-up)?