Cypher with a gun (Which Subclass?)

[Do-I-Exist]

In the first game I played the basic build of opening combat with a blunderbuss to build up focus and spam Cipher abilities- CC when necessary, or just pure damage. Or both, in the case of Silent Screams (loved that spell).

I'm hoping to play a similar way in Pillars of Eternity 2. To fit with the whole swashbuckling theme, I love the idea of my Cipher using a blunderbuss or an arquebus from a range. I still want to be able to use a lot of my spells, and I don't want to necessarily focus on just crowd control. The beauty of the Cipher in the first game, for me, was the ability to excel at both crowd control and damage, depending on what the situation called for. I also want to stay as a pure class, for my first play through, because I really want to focus on the Cipher abilities.

Now, given that I want to be a ranged attacked, Soul Blade is right out. That leaves Ascendent or Beguiler. I worry about the reduced damage and focus gain from Beguiler, but will the focus refunds from my CC abilities allow me to deal damage well, too? And with Ascendent... I worry that I'd have to invest in another class or weapon to build up focus quicker, and that it will be too unavailable for most fights, and that the loss in power level outside of Ascended mode might be too much.

Does anyone have some ideas for best working out what I want to do, here? Is it simply sub-optimal? Would a pure Cipher with no Subclass be best? Lastly, what kind of attribute distribution would be good?

I'm not the best at coming up with builds- I just want to try and find a fun concept and play through the game with it.

[marc5477]

Ascendant for dps, beguiler if you want utility or want to cheat (range out of combat cheese but its cheating).

I know you are asking for subclass but honestly... the best cypher is probably a multi-class that gets perks to ranged or melee from the other class. 

The best synergy will come from Chanter... actually chanter goes with everything. Actually its so good we might as well call it Chuck Norris. But joking aside, it has a really nice buffs. So much so, that you will probably never cast a spell while using it because simple autoattack will do more dps. Add ascendant to it and you will get some crazy damage output spikes but honestly, I like beguiler better in general so I would probably pick that. On top of that, the chanter grants a lot of utility that expands what you can do.

I also want to say that you can do well with a cypher/ranger but honestly... ranger cannot hold a candle to chanter. The chanter gets better pets, better dps, better defense, and a lot more utility. The only nice thing about ranger is your pet does not need to be summoned but its not nearly as good as 3-6 wurms or drakes...

Edited May 13, 2018 by marc5477

[Zzz]

Pure cipher very strong. Two pure cipher even stronger, expecially with soul annihilation.

About multiclass - you need some, who can buff your cast.

This is monk who buff haste and int ( +might, if you choose hellwalker), or streetfighter - with blunderbuss you have -50% recovery time from passive. Btw, there is nice arquebuse with +75% attack speed for 25 sec, so dont worry about lost time parasit which you lost when take multiclass.

About chanter - in my opinion, better let chanter's role to tank, bcs he anyway didnt land massive dmg.

[evilcat]

Ascendant if you want more dps. Beguiler if you want more CC.

MC:

BleakWaker for Ascendant

Rogue for Beguiler.

 

But pure cipher is also good.

You want big guns, so  Barbarian, Monk are more melee oriented.

Chanter is nice, but it could be other companion,

Edited May 13, 2018 by evilcat

[Elric Galad]

Why not Black Jacket / Ascendant ? (sort of Neo from The Matrix)

Black Jacket can switch 3-4 guns without realoading to quickly ascent.
Then you'll be free to spam mindwave and such.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Elric Galad

[ppscurry]

Why is chanter so good btw? Just the reload?

[EmilAmundsen]

FYI Blunderbuss and Pistol is currently capped at an attack-frequency (reload + attack-speed) of ~3,6 sec due a bug. That makes them less than good.

 

In my experience Acendant single-class Cypher is the best way to go for your main. While the class have it's initial damage-buffs there are simply better options for ranged dps. And for the caster-part of the class, you loose out on the best powers if you multi-class. And they are kick-ass.

 

Stiill, if you do decide to multi-class for ranged attacks the Stalker Ranger is the way to go. The ranger class have some really powerful ranged abilities, especially for guns. If you go this route you should play without a subclass for the Cypher if you want to focus on ranged damage, but as Acendant if you wanna focus on spell-casting.

 

FYI2 the Cyphers combat-buff spells are allied only. He can't target himself.

 

In the first game I played the basic build of opening combat with a blunderbuss to build up focus and spam Cipher abilities- CC when necessary, or just pure damage. Or both, in the case of Silent Screams (loved that spell).

I'm hoping to play a similar way in Pillars of Eternity 2. To fit with the whole swashbuckling theme, I love the idea of my Cipher using a blunderbuss or an arquebus from a range. I still want to be able to use a lot of my spells, and I don't want to necessarily focus on just crowd control. The beauty of the Cipher in the first game, for me, was the ability to excel at both crowd control and damage, depending on what the situation called for. I also want to stay as a pure class, for my first play through, because I really want to focus on the Cipher abilities.
 

Edited May 13, 2018 by EmilAmundsen

[Do-I-Exist]

Thanks for the responses.

As I said, I really want to stay as a pure Cypher, both to get access to the higher level spells, and because I don't want to get too complicated on my first play through.

My goal is to play mainly as a caster. The good thing about ascendant is that they can do either damage or CC, as there's no penalty to either. I worry about how much the -1 power level when not ascended is going to hurt. Are they suboptimal for most fights that end quickly? One thing I really loved about the Cipher in the first game was not having to shy away from casting my big and powerful spells in any fight, because everything would reset in the next fight. But does it take too long to reach ascended state in this game? Will I still be useful in smaller fights?

The gun is mainly to open combat with a nice big spike of damage to gain a good amount of focus right off the bat. Still, it may take two or three shots to reach ascended state. I'm not really trying to become an expert with weapons, only just good enough to build up focus. And I don't want to sacrifice spell casting ability.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Do-I-Exist

[gadenp]

 

FYI Blunderbuss and Pistol is currently capped at an attack-frequency (reload + attack-speed) of ~3,6 sec due a bug. That makes them less than good.

 

In my experience Acendant single-class Cypher is the best way to go for your main. While the class have it's initial damage-buffs there are simply better options for ranged dps. And for the caster-part of the class, you loose out on the best powers if you multi-class. And they are kick-ass.

 

Stiill, if you do decide to multi-class for ranged attacks the Stalker Ranger is the way to go. The ranger class have some really powerful ranged abilities, especially for guns. If you go this route you should play without a subclass for the Cypher if you want to focus on ranged damage, but as Acendant if you wanna focus on spell-casting.

 

FYI2 the Cyphers combat-buff spells are allied only. He can't target himself.

 

Playing an Inquisitor. What is a good fast yellow range weapon to use till pistols and blunderbuss are fixed?

 

Are they also broken in two weapon fighting? Seems like sometimes the reload is fast, but most of the time after first volley is like having 2 single weapon.

[1TTFFSSE]

 

FYI Blunderbuss and Pistol is currently capped at an attack-frequency (reload + attack-speed) of ~3,6 sec due a bug. That makes them less than good.

 

In my experience Acendant single-class Cypher is the best way to go for your main. While the class have it's initial damage-buffs there are simply better options for ranged dps. And for the caster-part of the class, you loose out on the best powers if you multi-class. And they are kick-ass.

 

Stiill, if you do decide to multi-class for ranged attacks the Stalker Ranger is the way to go. The ranger class have some really powerful ranged abilities, especially for guns. If you go this route you should play without a subclass for the Cypher if you want to focus on ranged damage, but as Acendant if you wanna focus on spell-casting.

 

FYI2 the Cyphers combat-buff spells are allied only. He can't target himself.

 

In the first game I played the basic build of opening combat with a blunderbuss to build up focus and spam Cipher abilities- CC when necessary, or just pure damage. Or both, in the case of Silent Screams (loved that spell).

 

I'm hoping to play a similar way in Pillars of Eternity 2. To fit with the whole swashbuckling theme, I love the idea of my Cipher using a blunderbuss or an arquebus from a range. I still want to be able to use a lot of my spells, and I don't want to necessarily focus on just crowd control. The beauty of the Cipher in the first game, for me, was the ability to excel at both crowd control and damage, depending on what the situation called for. I also want to stay as a pure class, for my first play through, because I really want to focus on the Cipher abilities.

 

 

there is an amulet that gives you +1 power level and other items. but honestly once you are ascended the penalty is gone and that happens pretty fast. 

[jones092201@gmail.com]

Black jacket, hands down.

1: you can get to ascended quickly while letting tank grab aggro

2: you can use all those awesome unique firearms and affects

3: once ascended, you can adapt to the fight: if you need to tank, use borrowed instinct and body attunment, if you just need damage, mind blades the entire field

4: and once you’ve done all that, you wade in with dual wield, penetrating attack, which will generally get you back to full focus in two rounds

[Myrtillo]

Guys, stop suggesting multiclasses when he said he did not want to multiclass.

 

To fit the playstyle you are mentionning, I would suggest to go pure cipher. Nothing wrong with that, and you would continue to play the way you used to in POE1.

 

If you want to evolve your playstyle a bit:

Beguiler is an option if you have a lot of sneak attack enablers in your party. Your own CC would refund focus that you can in turn use to cast damaging spells.

 

 

Ascendant may lack the flexibility you need, as you really want to reach full focus before starting to cast spells, an even bigger evolution on the playstyle. It's probably the most powerful if you are looking to cast offensive spells.