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| Pillars of Eternity 2 Online Walkthrough by David Milward |
YDWIN, F ELF MINDSTALKER (CIPHER / ROGUE)
Stats
Abilities
1st Level - Tenuous Grasp: Her starting ability by default.
Crippling Strike: Her other default starting ability.
2nd Level - Monastic Unarmed Training: This one requires some explanation. Taking full advantage of Risposte, which is part of this build, requires high Deflection along with a weapon in the main-hand and a bashing shield in the off-hand. The reason is that Riposte responds with a Full Attack (i.e. attack with weapons from both hands) but also needs high Deflection to trigger. But most bashing shields aren't very serviceable, even the ones you find in the later stages of the game. The reason is that their Accuracy and Penetration remain static and never scale, so they pretty much never land and never do much damage even when they do land. The one exception to that rule is Tuotilo's Palm. Its bashing attack is considered an Unarmed Attack for purposes of the Monk's Transcendent Suffering. And it will therefore scale its Accuracy and Penetration as a Monk gains Power Levels. Monastic Unarmed Training is the passive that allows a non-Monk to scale the Accuracy and Penetration of his or her unarmed Attacks. Tuotilo's Palm + Monastic Unarmed Training or Transcendent Suffering is in my opinion the one pathway to make a Bashing Shield a viable weapon. And therefore the best opportunity for a Rogue who has not multi-classed with Monk to make real use of Riposte.
3rd Level - Lingering Echoes: Some of her powers inflict negative status effects, so it makes sense to take this passive to prolong their duration by 10%.
4rd Level - Biting Whip: I would definitely prefer Draining Whip on a single-class Cipher who concentrates on spellcasting. Biting Whip is a good choice to put extra punch (+30% Damage with Weapons) into the Melee Attacks of a Cipher/Rogue multi-class.
Weapon & Shield Style: Adds +6 to both Deflection and Reflexes when using a Shield. The former will augment the use of Riposte, while the latter will augment the use of Adept Evasion.
5th Level - Phantom Foes: It puts the Flanked condition on multiple enemies over a very wide area. And a key part of her build is inflicting bonus Damage against Flanked enemies.
6th Level - Two Weapon Style: It reduces the Recovery Time with weapons by -15% when using a weapon in each hand. If the character is using a weapon in the main-hand and a bashing shield in the off-hand, the character will benefit from both Weapon & Shield Style and Two Weapon Style.
7th Level - Hammering Thoughts: A passive that adds +1 to Penetration with her weapons. It's one of those abilities from the Cipher class that helps the Rogue do what she does best, land highly damaging blows on single-targets.
Dirty Fighting: A passive that provides a 15% chance to convert Hits to Critical Hits, which is a logical choice for any Rogue character. In this particular instance it will also increase the chance of triggering instant Recovery through the Mercy Strike enchantment of Stalker's Patience.
8th Level - Riposte: It's a passive that provides a chance of a Full Attack as a counter attack with a Melee Weapon, after an enemy has made a Melee Attack against Deflection and Missed. Fully realizing this passive to its best potential requires maximizing Deflection to the greatest extent possible, and a bashing shield in the off-hand that increases in Accuracy and Penetration. Tuotilo's Palm combined with Monastic Unarmed Training fits the bill.
9th Level - Snake's Reflexes: The bonus to Reflexes will augment another ability she will soon get, Adept Evasion.
10th Level - Body Attunement: It drains a single target of -2 Armor Rating, and for the real point boosts her own Armor Rating by +2.
Persistent Distraction: This is a key passive for the Mindstalker build that I use for her. It forces the Distracted (-5 Perception, Flanked) Affliction on anyone that she Engages, and the passive itself also adds +1 Engagement. Just placing one Affliction on her Engaged targets makes them vulnerable to her Sneak Attacks. It will also help place one of two Afflictions on her targets to enable Death Blows when she gets it. Furthermore, Ydwin herself will use items that provide bonus Damage against Flanked enemies, including Thaos' Headdress.
11th Level - Adept Evasion: Any attacks that target Reflexes and Graze will get reduced to a Miss.
12th Level - Greater Focus: It provides a +10 bonus to maximum Focus.
13th Level - Keen Focus: A passive that gives the Cipher a +10 bonus to Focus at the start of each battle.
Deep Wounds: It will apply Raw Damage over time after each successful weapon Attack.
14th Level - Borrowed Instinct: It imposes Intellect and Perception penalties on an enemy target. But more importantly, it boosts the Cipher's Accuracy and Defenses by +20. And that will indeed augment Ydwin's ability to fight up close in Melee.
15th Level - Tactical Meld: It will provide Aware (+5 Perception, 50% chance of converting Graze to Hit) and +3 enemies Engaged to both Ydwin herself and an allied target of her choice. It's a natural choice for a Cipher multi-class who fights upfront in Melee combat. The bonus to Engagement will also enhance her ability to force Flanked on nearby targets through her Persistent Distraction passive.
16th Level - Amplified Wave: This becomes her weapon of choice when faced with numerous hordes of enemies. It inflicts Crushing Damage and knocks enemies Prone in a very wide area-of effect, and will likely cover the field during ship battles.
Improved Critical: It adds 10% Damage to Critical Hits, both for her weapon strikes and her offensive spells.
17th Level - Uncanny Luck: It adds a 5% chance of avoiding any attack outright, which helps with her tanking role. It also adds a 5% chance to convert a Hit to a Critical Hit, which can help increase the chance of triggering instant Recovery through the Mercy Strike enchantment of Stalker's Patience.
18th Level - Tough: More Health is always a good thing, especially for a character who fights on the front-lines but whose class makes her a little light on Health compared to classical Barbarians or Fighters.
19th Level - Ancestor's Memory: I won't object if the computer AI has her use it to replenish a party member's resources during ship battles.
Deathblows: It adds 50% Damage to her weapon attacks to targets that have two or more Afflictions. She'll impose one of those Afflictions herself with Persistent Distraction. Other ship combatants will add that second Affliction. For example, if Konstanten is nearby then his The Long Night's Drink Birthed the Revenge of Morning phrase will bring the Weakened Affliction, and his attacks buffed by Spirit Frenzy will bring the Staggered Affliction.
Echoing Horror: It causes nearby enemies to become Frightened (-5 Resolve, cannot use activated abilities) whenever she lands a killing blow. It's a good ability for a Cipher multi-class who frequently participates in Melee combat.
Inventory
I add Mercy Strike, which provides a 20% chance of instant Recovery upon scoring a Critical Hit. That's helped along by the inherent +5 Accuracy bonus for using Spears, the +5 Accuracy bonus vs. Flanked enemies provided by Thaos' Headdress and Dirty Fighting. It's also an easy choice over Standoff, which is a once per Rest ability. I also add Hamstringing instead of Mortal Wounds. Mortal Wounds only slightly increases the Raw Damage over time provided by the Wounding ability the weapon already has. I preferred the 10% chance to cause Hobbled on Hit provided by Hamstringing, as it increases the chances of Deathblows coming into play once I get that ability.
Tuotilo's Palm: Stolen from a chest in Marihi's Metalworks, the entrance to which is #13 in Periki's Overlook. The shield's bonuses to Accuracy and Damage and Penetration will also scale with increases in Monk's Power Levels for a character who has Monastic Unarmed Training. I add Precision Striker for the +5 bonus to Accuracy, as well as Outward Spikes, which provides a 20% chance for another Riposte-style Attack after an enemy Attacks the wielder but Misses.
Thaos' Headdress: Part of Aloth's starting equipment if he took over the Leaden Key as part of his Pillars of Eternity 1 history. The +5 bonus against Mind Afflictions for all allies within 5m is certainly welcome, as is the +1 boost to Intelligence for a Cipher. The bonuses for attacking Flanked enemies kick in after she's primed them up with Phantom Foes.
Token of Faith: Looted from Purakua at #3 on the West Island of the Wakara Reef. The +2 bonus to Resolve helps to maximize her Deflection, which not only enhances her survivability as an off-tank but also maximizes her use of Riposte.
Cloak of Greater Deflection: Obtained after defeating Sigilmaster Auranic. Maximizing her Deflection means maximizing her resiliency as a tank, and maximizing her opportunities to use Riposte.
Casita Samelia's Legacy: Looted from Atello Valera in the Valera Estate. It provides a bonus to Deflection that scales with the Intimidate skill. Besides Deflection always being good for a tank character, it also maximizes her chances of using Riposte attacks.
Bracers of Greater Deflection: Purchased from Engari at #10 in the Temple of Toamowhai. More Deflection is always great for a tank character. But in Ydwin's case it also maximizes the chances of triggering extra attacks through Riposte.
Ring of Minor Deflection: Purchased from Dimessa at #10 in the Radiant Court in Dunnage. It provides a +2 bonus to Deflection, which not only helps her to tank but also maximizes her use of Riposte.
Ring of Overseeing: Looted from the desk at #4 in Arkemyr's Bedroom. It will augment the area-of-effect of some of her powers, like Phantom Foes, Amplified Wave and Echoing Horror.
Girdle of Mortal Protection: Purchased from the Lone Survivor at #4 in Port Maje on the way to the West Wakara Reef. The +2 bonus to Constitution, and 15% chance to reduce Critical Hits to Hits, will likewise improve her resiliency and survivability.
Boots of Evasion: Purchased from No-Nut Ned at #6 in The Upper Bowels. The bonus to Reflexes will assist her use of Adept Evasion.
Improvements: If you were to design the character yourself, it might be worth considering Trickster for the Rogue side of the build. It allows you to spend Guile on a Mirror Images effect, thereby boosting your Deflection even more. It does come at the cost of a -10% penalty to the bonus Damage you would score on Sneak Attacks. A Soul Blade can be multi-classed with other melee builds like Fighter and Paladin. But it could also work for the Cipher side of this build as well. Soul Annihilation expends all remaining Focus and adds it as Raw Damage to a Melee Attack. It is best used as a killing blow. Landing a killing blow with it adds Concentration and temporarily raises Maximum Focus by +10 when the Soul Blade normally suffers a -5 penalty to Maximum Focus. And that it would be in addition to Echoing Horror triggering on a killing blow.
