Pillars of Eternity: Cipher Character Class Guide (Tips, Tricks & Strategies)

Cipher is a unique class specific to the world of Pillars of Eternity and is built differently than a typical fighter or sorcerer in other RPGs. This spellsword has abilities that specifically pertain to souls. As souls are a main part of the storyline, this class is very special.

Starting with bonuses in stealth, lore, and mechanics, this class is meant to toe the line between a rogue and a sorcerer. Although this could still be played as more of a spellsword type. With a low health pool, but high endurance, accuracy, and deflection, this class is a glass canon.

Race Choices for Ciphers in Pillars of Eternity

As the Cipher is based around the player’s magical and stealth abilities specific races will help boost those abilities. Within the list of playable races, the Elf, Orlan, and Godlike are the best for this class. Like in other RPGs, these races with their subraces can build up the class even further with their inborn stats.

Elves as a race start with a plus one in dexterity and perception. Elves have two subraces, Wood Elves, and Pale Elves. Both have decent bonuses for the Cipher. The Wood Elf gains the ability of Distant Advantage that gives the player bonuses to their accuracy, deflection, and reflex. The Pale Elf gains the ability, Elemental Endurance which increases their resistance to burning and freezing damage.

Orlans are a special race to the world of Pillars of Eternity. This tiny furred race has a plus one in resolve, a negative one in might, and a plus-two in perception. Orlans two subraces are Hearth and Wild. Hearth Orlans gain the ability Minor Threat, which allows them to turn some of a teammate’s attacks into criticals when they are attacking the same enemy. Wild Orlans gain the ability Defiant Resolve, which gives them a temporary boost in all their defensive stats after receiving a will based attack.

Godlike, another special race to the world of Pillars of Eternity, are blessed with physical aspects related to a god. As a standard, all of the subraces of this race receive a plus one to dexterity and intelligence. Death Godlike receives the ability Death’s Usher, which increases their damage against an enemy with 25% or less endurance. Fire Godlike gain the ability Battle-Forged which causes them to gain a damage reduction from enemies and deal fire damage to melee ranged enemies when they are below 50% of their endurance. Moon Godlike have the ability Silver Tide which grants them and their party an AOE heal every time their endurance is lowered by a quarter. Nature Godlike gains the ability Wellspring of Life which gives them a bonus to their might, constitution, and dexterity when their endurance is below 50%.

Culture and Background for Ciphers in Pillars of Eternity

Culture and backgrounds for characters are tied, and these choices affect the beginning stats of the character. The cipher’s culture is completely based around their country of origin. The best options out of the list of countries are Deadfire Archipelago, Old Vailia, and the White that Wends.The Deadfire Archipelago gives the character a plus one to their dexterity at the start. Within this country of origin, there are several different backgrounds. The backgrounds that best suit the cipher are the aristocrat, drifter, hunter, and raider. The aristocrat gains a plus two to lore. The drifter gains a plus one to stealth and mechanics. The hunter gains a plus one to stealth and survival. The raider gains a plus one to stealth and athletics.Old Vailia, a crumbling old empire gives the character a plus one to their intellect. In this one, the best background options are the aristocrat, colonist, drifter, artist, dissident, and hunter. The colonist gains a plus two in survival. The artist gains a plus two in the lore. The dissident gets a plus one in stealth and lore.The White that Wends gives players a plus one to their perception. The best background options in this one are the aristocrat, mystic, drifter, and hunter. The mystic gets a plus two in lore.

Abilities and Talents for Ciphers in Pillars of Eternity

As Ciphers are a bit of an in-between class, they can be built a stylized in many different ways. However, the cipher tends to be on the line between a spellsword and a stealthy sorcerer. So depending on which way the player wants to swing this class, they’ll want to choose different things.For more of a stealthy sorcerer who keeps their distance or plays as more of a supporting role, good starting abilities would be ones like Whisper of Treason, Soul Shock, and Antipathetic Field. Whisper of Treason is a targeted charm spell. Soul Shock is a support spell that gives a sort of shocking shield around a targeted ally. Antipathetic Field is a barrier or wall spell that creates a corrosive area to keep enemies at bay.In this case, with attributes, a player will want to put most of their points into dexterity, perception, and intellect. Dexterity affects the player’s action speed and dodging ability. Perception affects dodging, accuracy, and the ability to interrupt their attackers. Intellect affects the amount of space and AOE will affect the duration of a spell and their will.For more of a spellsword, players should put most of their points into intellect, resolve, constitution, and might. Might affect the amount of damage a player puts out and how much they can heal. Constitution affects the player’s endurance, health, and fortitude. Resolve affects the player character’s concentration on a spell, the ability to deflect a spell, and their will to withstand a spell.In this case, with attributes, a player should pick abilities that are more reactive and defensive. Abilities like Soul Shock, Mind Wave, and Eyestrike. Mindwave is a cone AOE that deals damage interrupts attackers, and can knock enemies prone. Eyestrike blinds and dazes enemies within a 10-meter radius of the character.In either case, this class’s spell abilities are fueled by Focus. Focus is captured by the player’s passive soul whip ability. This causes the character to gain focus for spells based on the damage they do to their enemies. The Soul Whip can be upgraded several times to absorb more Focus per hit.Outside of the talents and spells previously talked about, here are the rest of the talents and the recommended spells for either playstyle.

Talents:

• Biting Whip – Passive ability that causes the Soul Whip to deal more damage.
• Psychic Backlash – Trades the ciphers accuracy for a stun on enemies that have performed a will based attack.
• Brutal Backlash – Builds onto Psychic Backlash, causing it to deal damage as well as stun.
• Draining Whip – Passive ability that causes the Soul Whip to absorb more focus from attacks.
• Greater Focus – Passive ability that gives the Cipher 10 more points of focus they can build up.

Spells:

• Amplified Thrust – A second level spell that uses a teammate’s psychic energy to power a piercing attack on an enemy.
• Psychovampiric Shield – A second level spell that grants the Cipher the ability to absorb enemies’, within a radius, resolve and improve their deflection of the enemies’ attacks.
• Mind Blade – A second level spell dealing slashing damage that chains to up to five other enemies nearby.
• Ectopsychic Echo – A third level spell that deals a wave of crushing damage.
• Puppet Master – A third level spell that takes away an enemies psychic resistance and dominating them for 10 seconds.
• Pain Link – A third level spell that deals damage to a target and then 25% of that damage to those surrounding the target for 18 seconds.
• Secret Horrors – A third level spell that frightens and sickens enemies in a radius for 15 seconds.
• Silent Scream – A fourth level spell that stuns targeted enemies and deals damage to enemies in a radius from the target for six seconds and has a chance to interrupt their attacks.
• Mind Lance – A fourth level AOE spell that deals piercing damage and has a chance to interrupt enemy attacks.
• Pain Block – A fourth level support spell that gives a targeted ally an extra 20 damage reduction and gives them 66.3 points to their endurance for 20 seconds.
• Detonate – Level five raw damage spell to several targets that cause targeted enemies with low endurance to explode and damage nearby characters.
• Ringleader – Level five targeted domination spell that causes nearby enemies to be charmed.
• Amplified Wave – A level six AOE crushing damage spell that deals 25-32 points of damage.
• Disintegration – A level six 25-point raw damage spell that drops the enemy’s endurance down to 0.

Pillars of Eternity is available on Mac OS, Linux, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

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