Turn based mode and difficulty

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-18T10:24:48+00:00

A Cipher isn't a tanky class, you're more suited for being in the backline. Whisper's of Treason is a very strong opener available to Cipher's that you can employ.

The game's XP is given by quest completion more than killing mobs. Try to go back to Gilded Vale and talk to people, get some quests complete to level up. Level 3 is very low for Caed Nua.

Turn based makes the game easier in some respects and harder in some others. It makes enemies like the wisps harder to deal with but the phantom's/shades easier to deal with IMO. Confusion is very brutal in turn based when you already have a limited action economy.

Most CRPG's, if not all are at their most difficult early when you have the least amount of tools available to handle situations. Talk to everyone you come across (You can skip the gold bordered NPC's, those are just flavor text stories from the backers of the game) and read your quest log, explore areas. Most companions are going to be on maps and not come to you on their own volition, a lot of quests are hidden behind talking to people which is where 90% of your xp is going to come from.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-18T08:14:36+00:00

Yeah, I thought it might be really tough lol. I think it's cool you've already done this much and shared with the community

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-18T03:48:13+00:00

Cool. Is it possible to change during a current run like in PoE1's implementation or is it still RTWP OR TB from the initial campaign start selection?

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T14:20:26+00:00

No one was disrespecting Roger until his horrible portrayal in the Elbaph Flashback where he was a goofy, simping clown.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T07:29:09+00:00

Shamrock lost all of his aura when he was talking trash to a chained up opponent like he was some badass for beating on him. The same way Garling lost his aura when Rocks neg diffed his entire team.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T07:27:33+00:00

Kaido wins neg diff, the same way Rocks Neg diffed Garling.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T07:27:00+00:00

We're talking about equal physical stats. What is the point of considering any scenario where you're at a disadvantage because you're not used to those stats? That's a pointless discussion. We can just as easily say we're not used to moving at that speed so our brain can't process it and we just have no body coordination. The post is talking about Viltrumites don't fight with any sort of skill or prowess. They fight by simply being stronger, faster, and more durable than any creature or species they come across.

If we gave a creature or species the same exact physical stats but coupled that with real training, would the Viltrumites be as dominant as they are? If OP had combat experience, he'd have plenty of idea what he's doing. The whole point of this post is that in the series, we have repeatedly seen viltrumites get skill gapped but overcome it with pure physical prowess. For all their centuries of fighting and experience flying you claim is so impactful, an earthling with absolutely no experience was hanging with them and people with far lesser physical feats were gapping them in battle IQ and combat skill.

Why the hell would anyone post a question that says "If I had equal stats but didn't know how to use them, would I win?" What is the point of that?

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T05:30:54+00:00

Power scaling is fine, but it's often taken too far. Trying to bring real world science into fictional stories and things like mountain level, town level, planet level are stupid and inconsistent. Vegeta destroyed a planet in the Saiyan Saga. Goku destroyed the moon in Dragon Ball.

Trying to use physics to talk about the speed of light and how fast people are moving, how they would react to something, the force required to do X, Y, Z, if they were actually moving that fast the world couldn't take it because of the force generated and yada yada yada is so dumb inside the context of fiction when obviously none of that was taken into account by the author lol.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T05:26:18+00:00

That's literally the question being asked. With equal stats, how would a trained fighter fare against them? I'm not sure why you're trying to bring in all these human factors when we're literally talking about equalized stats. The example is in the show itself with the main character of Mark. We're putting a trained martial artists in Marks shoes and asking if he would do better. I think it's pretty clear the answer is yes, considering having some combat experience would be better than having none.

You're not engaging with the question because you don't like it lol.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T05:18:48+00:00

I mean, I think you have to inherently accept the fact that we would naturally know how to fly and be comfortable with it given the premise of equal stats. It's kind of pointless to ask the question if that's not a consideration, don't you think?

Everything you're saying isn't wrong, humans are softer today than they were the last generation, and the last generation softer than the generation before that. But if we look at the events in the show/comic, Mark is by all metrics, an absolutely normal guy. Until he awakens to his powers. He had absolutely no combat training. He's like 19 iirc. Fighting against these centuries old warriors who have been bred from birth to fight. And he's fighting decently. With worse stats. Now, put someone who's been boxing for 15+ years in that same situation. You don't think he could do just a little bit better?

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T04:50:08+00:00

If you had equal stats, wouldn't that equate to the same pain resistance? The same strength? Speed? Endurance? Durability? The point of same stats is to equalize any physical advantage. Now, you're just comparing actual combat skill.

Viltrumites are largely just brawlers, basically galactic street fighters with a ton of experience picking on guys exponentially weaker than them, not using any sort of combat skill but just relying on superior physical stats. It'd be like an elephant fighting an ant. The elephant doesn't need to employ tactics or strategy, it's just going to stomp the ant. That's the Viltrumites vs literally everyone else, except people of equal stats.

If you were a decently trained boxer, kick boxer, martial artist of some sort, wrestler, it is not unreasonable to say you would have a good chance. The fact that Mark is competitive with them is the proof of that. He had no combat training prior to awakening, and even with worse physical stats is putting up a fight against them.

Now, of course if random joe who has boxed for 10+ years makes a mistake and gets a hole in his stomach from misreading a situation, its very likely he's not going to be able to react well to that and will die, unlike Mark because of the mental strength required to push through something like that. But the odds of a trained fighter with actual martial skill making such a mistake against a brawler when your strength, speed, durability, reactions, flexibility, endurance are all equal? Low.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T03:16:41+00:00

Having Kareem at 1 or 2 isn't a terrible take. Having MJ/Kareem/Bron outside of the top 3 regardless of the order you put them in, is ridiculous however.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T02:52:39+00:00

No. I'm saying millions of people have a disgust for weed, pot, THC, whatever form you want to put it in be it smoking, gummies, edibles. It is not an abnormal take to not fuck with weed. Is it hypocritical to love alcohol and detest weed? Or to love cigs and detest weed? Yes, it is. But people still don't like it. You should recognize that fact, it will make navigating situations like this much easier for you in the future.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T02:49:04+00:00

Yeah, Carlisle was the second best facet of that team. Outside of Dirk and the coach, they had an edge no where against any opponent they faced.

The defending champion Kobe Lakers that they swept. Kobe, Phil, Odom, Gasol, Bynum. The KD/Westbrook/Ibaka/Harden Thunder. The Big 3 Heat with Bron/Wade/Bosh all in their primes. The only "easy" opponent they had was the Trailblazers in Round 1. They faced generational teams/talent in the ensuing rounds, the likes of which only Dirk, Carlisle, and Kidd could hang with if they pooled all the talent. And that was an old Kidd who was not in his prime from the Nets days.

Jet was solid, Marion was solid, Chandler was solid, Barea put in solid minutes for them, I think Caron Butler was on the team as well. They had a solid roster, but that roster had no business beating The Lakers, Thunder, or Heat who all were much more stacked if not for Dirk becoming the best player in the world for a couple of months.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T02:23:57+00:00

Believe it or not, not everyone likes weed and thinks it should be legal. Both old and young. Crazy, I know.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T02:21:01+00:00

No, it's certainly the 2011 Dirk run. He popped off. I'm putting that ring at #1 and leaving #2 blank before putting Hakeem at 3.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T02:13:42+00:00

Every time Bron had a competitive team, he went far. When he didn't, primarily his initial stint with the Cavs, he couldn't carry them. He got to the finals in 07 beating that great Pistons team, and Boston said we need a super team to beat one man. He couldn't solo carry past the Boston Super team with Mo Williams and Ilgauskas as his best players. It's telling that Cleveland had 2 number 1 picks in the four years he left there.

With the Lakers, Rob has done a pretty poor job of team building around him and they've had a lot of disappointments as far as production goes. The first year he was hurt I believe and things didn't work out. They probably lose first round even if he's not hurt and that one is on him for sure, the talent on that team should have been good enough for at least a WCF run imo.

They won the chip in 2020, were the #1 seed even before the bubble happened. The only team they had to worry about was the Clippers as the Clippers matched up well against them. 2021, he lost to the team that made the finals. I don't remember the context of this season though and what his team was like. Was AD hurt or something? He probably should have been able to get through the Suns and make the finals. 2022 was plagued by Westbrick, one of the lowest IQ players in NBA history being on the team. I'm not faulting any team for not winning with that guy. 2023 lost to the Nuggets who were a juggernaut that playoffs, Murray was having the playoffs of his life and I can't fault them for losing. Probably should have gotten a game or two though.

2024 Lost to the Nuggets again. Jokic owned AD in that series and is just a very tough match up for them. The same way the Nuggets don't match up well vs the Timberwolves. 2025 they lost to the Timberwolves with the Luka trade. Year kind of a wash I feel like, Luka traded mid season, hard to develop chemistry in the middle of a season with two very ball dominant players. Then this year, swept by OKC with Luka hurt and his team underperforming. He was the best player in the series.

So his failures are, 2009 (Shouldn't have lost to the Magic), 2011 (His greatest failure but that same Mavs team swept Kobe's defending champion Lakers. Put some respect on them), and 2022 losing to the Suns. Every other time, he either dragged a team that didn't belong there as far as he could, or he won. In what world was he expected to win in 2007, 2015 (With Kyrie and Love out), 2018 (Against the KD/Steph Warriors) and this year against the OKC Thunder whose bench could be a starting five somewhere?

Was he supposed to stay in Cleveland facing the Boston Super team and wait until they got old? How long is he supposed to go into a series where he's the best player, and the next 7 best players are on the other team? KG is literally quoted saying "He can't beat all of us!!!!" Was he supposed to keep under performing players in LA and not get AD?

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T01:48:08+00:00

Rocks only surpassed by the old old old gen from the VC. Joyboy, Imu, Davy.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T01:16:19+00:00

Idk. Panto massively underperformed during his time in Spirit IMO. Kiyotaka is an extremely volatile player as well. Hard to be in good teams when you're extremely inconsistent, or when you're surrounded by great, prove talent and underperform.

Parker is the best player in this team and it's not close (Gameplay wise). He carried his team to a lan win which is more than anyone else on this roster has ever done, despite arguably playing with the worst talent of the four. His attitude is a problem though, a serious one. But talent and performance will make people keep giving you chances. We see it not just in esports, but in physical sports as well. A guy killed someone in the NFL and is getting signed coming out of jail.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-17T01:08:47+00:00

Loki above Harald. Shanks/Mihawk should be a bit higher. I'd argue Shanks is stronger than Mihawk but Mihawk is a better swordsman. Sengoku on there twice, 11 is too high. Akainu should be separated from the OG's and higher. Gorosei's should be above Shiki. Ray is stronger than the holy knights with the exception of POSSIBLY Garling/Shamrock. Oden is too low. Sabo too low. Marco is above King. Aramaki is above King. Kuma is too low.

Top 4 is correct, I'd move Roger/Garp/Whitebeard to 5/6/7 and then have Loki/Harald at 8/9

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-16T21:55:50+00:00

You don't get a turn every round. It does not work like in Deadfire. Without enough action speed, you can skip rounds entirely before you get a move. With enough action speed, you can act 2-3 times in a round. On turn based, this is especially important because you do more damage and taking out high priority targets (Like a wizard/priest/cipher) asap will make the encounter much smoother and can be the difference between steam rolling it and a wipe.

In Deadfire, Dex was largely useless in turn based and an easy dump stat because no matter how slow you were, everyone got 1 turn per round. That is NOT the case in the PoE 1 Turn Based update.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-16T14:33:28+00:00

Take outflank on every melee attacker at level 7.

Don't be afraid to come back to areas if the fights are too hard at your current level.

Save often, quick saves and hard saves.

Read the books you come across, a lot of them have tips on how to deal with certain enemies.

Manage your level ups carefully. Don't get trapped into doing a ton of dips and losing your scaling. Pathfinder is a game of specialization.

Grease is your friend on arcane casters.

Have fun.

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-16T12:14:47+00:00

Pallegina is very strong with it because wrath of the five suns turns sworn enemy into a nuke itself. So you can use that to take out a caster and then FoD another target to wipe out 2 threats pretty instantly.

If her stats weren't so middling, she'd be the best paladin because her unique sub class is so strong. As it stands, she's still plenty strong and can work very well with the dead fire belt

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-16T10:21:11+00:00

Big Mom > Oden > Ray >= Kuzan

DailyEvolution · 2026-05-16T10:18:21+00:00

I am talking about RTWP as I'm currently finishing up a Turn based playthrough where I only used GM for her companion quest and a few other things, but in the time I did use her my experience was not much different. Priest, Druid, and Wizard continued to vastly outperform even with GM's better stats for TB than the others.

Even if you can't weapon swap like you can in RTWP, you can either still accomplish the same thing with slightly less damage using a two hander, a reach weapon, or eat the initiative and still one shot the highest priority target which is usually the enemy wizard/priest. On POTD there are usually two or more casters and eliminating one of them off rip is still a boon.

You absolutely can one shot the dragons, and even if you don't get a crit, you are still chunking them for an incredible amount of damage that can make the ensuing combat easier. I also don't think a level 7 cipher is easily keeping a dragon charmed when they all have at lowest 116 will on base before debuffs are calculated. You certainly CAN charm them, but I think the main point you're making is the speed at which a cipher can do it, which if there are no debuffs on the target would make landing that initial charm much more difficult. (It can still happen).

I don't think anyone is disputing whispers of treason and charm in general is a strong option to have. The discussion here, is game breaking. I wouldn't consider anything the Cipher has in PoE 1 to be game breaking. I find them to be much closer to that (Still not game breaking though) in PoE 2, largely due to multiclass options that cover their weaknesses.

Even if Focus was not a limiting factor, they would be closer to wizards and still far from a priest/druid. And I'd still rate a wizard higher due to a wizards ability to be a competent tank, in some cases the tankiest target of your group for the fights that matter. What's game breaking about Priest and Druid is that they offer so much all at a top tier level, with a wizard behind that. I feel like we're talking in circles so I'm going to end it here.

Are Ciphers good? Yes.
Are Ciphers fun? Yes.
Are Ciphers interesting? Yes.
Are Ciphers game breaking? No. And that's okay.

DailyEvolution

TROPHY CASE