Ranger / Rogue abilities question

[Lampros]

Ack. I haven't used Toxic Strike since launch. Tried it today, and yeah, it's pretty beefy. Still like the blind part of Gouging Strike better than the weakened part of Toxic Strike, it's also less expensive.

 

Man, no one likes Perishing Strike

 

This weekend, I am going to start another PotD run with 3 Rogues, so I will definitely test soon. But yes, 3 Guile is pretty prohibitive. It has to be on the Devil of Caroc armor character.

[Prince of Lies]

 

Ack. I haven't used Toxic Strike since launch. Tried it today, and yeah, it's pretty beefy. Still like the blind part of Gouging Strike better than the weakened part of Toxic Strike, it's also less expensive.

 

Man, no one likes Perishing Strike

 

This weekend, I am going to start another PotD run with 3 Rogues, so I will definitely test soon. But yes, 3 Guile is pretty prohibitive. It has to be on the Devil of Caroc armor character.

 

 

Yeah. Ancestor's Memory from a cipher fixes that problem as well. I've also heard that SSS has some items that can help, too. 

[Lampros]

 

 

Ack. I haven't used Toxic Strike since launch. Tried it today, and yeah, it's pretty beefy. Still like the blind part of Gouging Strike better than the weakened part of Toxic Strike, it's also less expensive.

 

Man, no one likes Perishing Strike

 

This weekend, I am going to start another PotD run with 3 Rogues, so I will definitely test soon. But yes, 3 Guile is pretty prohibitive. It has to be on the Devil of Caroc armor character.

 

 

Yeah. Ancestor's Memory from a cipher fixes that problem as well. I've also heard that SSS has some items that can help, too. 

 

 

I just noticed this. How frequently can you cast this in a normal fight? I've never played Cipher, so no idea. (I made Serafen a pure Barbarian until I recruited Maia.)

[Prince of Lies]

I just noticed this. How frequently can you cast this in a normal fight? I've never played Cipher, so no idea. (I made Serafen a pure Barbarian until I recruited Maia.)

Completely depends on your build. The faster you generate focus, the more frequently you can cast Ancestor's Memory (or any cipher ability):

 

Soul Whip generates focus at 50% of weapon damage (including weapon attack abilities) rounding down. I.E. If you graze for 7 damage, you generate 3 focus. 

Biting Whip increases weapon damage by 30%, and therefore 50% of that additional damage become focus.

Draining Whip increases generated focus to 100% of weapon damage (including weapon attack abilities).

 

So, the higher your weapon DPS, the higher your focus generation. Ancestor's Memory has a focus cost of 70, which means you need to deal 140 damage with an un-upgraded soul whip or 70 damage with draining whip to use it. (Biting whip would be somewhere in between).

 

Probably the best way to do it is by using an Ascendant. They Have -1 Power Level normally, but acquire focus at an additional 33%. When Ascendants hit max focus, they get unlimited focus (unlimited cipher abilities) and +3 Power Level for 15s +/- 5% for every point of Intellect above/below 10. That way you can spam it on anything. 

 

Edit: Certain AOE weapon effects also generate focus- which is why you see people using blunderbusses and rods.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Prince of Lies

[Lampros]

 

I just noticed this. How frequently can you cast this in a normal fight? I've never played Cipher, so no idea. (I made Serafen a pure Barbarian until I recruited Maia.)

Completely depends on your build. The faster you generate focus, the more frequently you can cast Ancestor's Memory (or any cipher ability):

 

Soul Whip generates focus at 50% of weapon damage (including weapon attack abilities) rounding down. I.E. If you graze for 7 damage, you generate 3 focus. 

Biting Whip increases weapon damage by 30%, and therefore 50% of that additional damage become focus.

Draining Whip increases generated focus to 100% of weapon damage (including weapon attack abilities).

 

So, the higher your weapon DPS, the higher your focus generation. Ancestor's Memory has a focus cost of 70, which means you need to deal 140 damage with an un-upgraded soul whip or 70 damage with draining whip to use it. (Biting whip would be somewhere in between).

 

Probably the best way to do it is by using an Ascendant. They Have -1 Power Level normally (often literally 1 Red Hand shot!), but acquire focus at an additional 33%. When Ascendants hit max focus, they get unlimited focus (unlimited cipher abilities) and +3 Power Level for 15s +/- 5% for every point of Intellect above/below 10. That way you can spam it on anything. 

 

Edit: Certain AOE weapon effects also generate focus- which is why you see people using blunderbusses and rods.

 

 

Thanks - very well-explained. And 70 damage is frankly not much; so it seems like you can use it quickly. I guess I should try the build then! ;0

Edited October 13, 2018 by Lampros

[Haplok]

Like the previous poster wrote, an Ascendant can cast any power many times when Ascended. On my Transcendent Cipher/Monk Ascension lasts about 30 seconds. Priest with Salvation of Time can increase that by another 20+10 seconds. So a full minute during which you can spam any Cipher power an unlimited amount of times (actually time and action economy are the only limits). Note that with the right weapons and proper setup you can usually easily Ascend in one attack (such as weapon ability use - Kitchen Stove Thunderous Report is particularly good). And once Ascension ends, you can reenter it almost instantly (for example using Amiras Wing Wilting Wind).

Edited October 13, 2018 by Haplok