Reent

If i ever did an Ultimate run... i would have no clue how to keep Vela alive (are there enough scrolls of withdrawal?) and how to do it in the timeframe, but my build would be: Chanter/Bloodmage, invis summoner - every 30 secs he would be visible for 1 sec (blood sacrifics into invis), nothing anyone can do to him, i have a run (no godchallenges but fights not ending) with one and the only reason i stopped the run was to restart the run with more might to speed the fights up (and i didn't activate the godchallenge...). Didn't even get to the good parts, simply lost my mind lvl 15 fighting stuff that should die fast (and i shouldn't fight in the first place... no exp no loot...) you can't mess the fights up - no need for no rest run, no need for anything but arkemyr's brilliant departure and ancient weapons (earlier its: you can't mess the fights up, just don't get stuck, the run with more might did all bounties but torkar lvl 8-11, that character is lvl 18 just waiting for tomorrow to get arkemyr's grimoire and ancient weapons - he didn't use summons to fight and died quite some time to badly timed blood sacrifices, 19 starting might pairs badly with 3 starting con with bloodmage) That would be the Ultimate boring run (may be the reason why i will never try Ultimate)

tried a berserker/cypher for a sec, it would be cool to cast brilliant on yourself right after (while) frenzy wears of - but just as you said, can't cast the spells on yourself too bad, that would have been a fun character - very fun, need confused? Change Modwyr do something, use frenzy

Well... i tested invisibility a bit more just now... and invisibility works differently depending on the ability that grants it (shadowing beyond/smoke veil the difference was the assassin bonus): with shadowing beyond i can't do anything (at least almost? i can move...), no summoning with chanter, everything that interacts with the enemy (long nights chant), borrowed instincts with cypher... heck, shadowing beyond stops if i use second wind everything stops the invisibility. With my bloodmage/chanter (Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure) i can use summons, CC invocations... as long as i don't use any damage ability everything is just fine... invisibility almost unbreakable... The test bloodmage/assassin i created just now could use call to slumber with Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure and stay invisible... with smoke veil and shadowing beyond - invisibility broken.

Okay... not what happens in my run. (and i never play with mods) here some screenshots i took just now: 1) Started a fight 2) i used Gouging Strike after that 3) i used Shadowing Beyond and waited for a damage tick and took a screenshot, i wasn't revealed 4) i used Gouging Strike again to look at the assassin bonus, nothing (and i could do it without Gouging Strike and it would be the same) 5) reloaded and did 1) 2) again 6) i used Smoke Veil and Gouging Strike after

Shadowing Beyond doesn't break because of DoTs, i used it with my character today all the time (one of my 6 runs i play) however, i tested it just now and found a bug... with my Assassin/Cypher the first attack has 145 ACC from stealth (155 with Gouging Strike), if i attack normally after that its 120/130 everything correct, if i use Shadowing Beyond after Gouging Strike (or after an attack, doesn't matter), i am invisible, however i still have only 120/130 ACC... if i use Smoke Veil i have 145/155 ACC. Shadowing Beyond stealth is fine to run away or reposition (tested it just now again, with true love's kiss), but it doesn't work with the assassin passive...

jeah, with 35 resolve you can do whatever (okay, if you trigger blade cascade and spam forbidden fist you die), it all depends on what you want (and my builds are focused on spamming FF, no need for int in that case).

it should be: 6 sec base base*1,3*0,8*0,65=4,056 secs (4,2588 with powelevel 2 character) however the powerlevel is included too, with 5% per powerlevel over 1 (5% bonus lvl 4, 10% lvl 7, 15% lvl 10, up to 30% level 20, for multiclasses, 40% for single classes) it's easier to get it under 3 secs with low int, if you only have 5 int (3 start+2 BB) you have 2,7846 secs with powerlevel 2 (and if you don't change any attributes you get above 3 secs with powerlevel 4) everything multiplicative.

18 start +1 human +1 background +2 Berath's Blessing +2 Token of Faith (killing the Bounty Purakau) +1 (and -35% hostile duration if you solo) Ring of the Solitary Wanderer (same Purakau) +1 Boots of stone (Berath's merchant sells them) (boots of the white are better, but hard to get early) +2 sleeping with rabyuna in Neketaka +2 the pet Eviee (later Nalvi with +1 is better since its just enough for 35 res lategame) =30 resolve with just one fight, everything else is available without fights. in a rest run you can swap rabyuna with food bonuses (i prefer glazed chops instead of resolve or -hostile duration bonuses) to finish the 35 resolve in a no rest run: +2 natures resolve (need 7 survival, no fights needed) +1 effigys resentment +2 alchemic brew (thats hard to get early... something for the lategame) +1 Cauldron Brew (same fight as above) (with dawnstar blessing for +50% healing for the OP OPness)

Depends, i play solo because party play is either too easy (if i control everything, the builds of companions and every detail in fights) but fights tend to take too long for me (or i get wiped because i stopped caring about anything and its just a filler fight...) or i just have to reload/rest all the time (because casters are too squishy and the builds supbar if i don't care about them)... i tend to do everything with the MC ... In solo i have a plan, get items X right after the start until i am strong enough to use endgame items Y i can't get early - on the way to the items i get exp, i do the bounties... and before i do 10% of the quests in neketaka i saw the whole world and i am high enough lvl to ignore most quests. But thats not a first run, i haven't finished the game yet but i know the way to lvl 20 and to everything i need - a first run solo (not POTD recommended) where you do all the quests (or at least don't skip the way i do)... you get most of the story/history, however i'd still recommend taking companions, they are a plus for the story

Bloodmage is very strong - but you should know what you are doing, i killed myself quite some time before i understood that blood sacrifice can deal ludicrous amounts of self damage (my last BM build could heal his entire health pool in something like 12 secs (stopped lvl 11) passive... and with spells much faster, but he could kill himself with 2 blood sacrifices. (no mod player here)

If you use a no rest run you can get +10 acc, +50% healing done - get a few more bonuses, that is really good, helps a lot. If you rest, you can use per rest abilities (summon drake (dragon pendant), and quite a bit more). (a ranger can stack +acc and damage or deflection against his chosen race each time he rests, in a no rest run you can get it against one enemy type, in a rest run against the type you need) Both are strong, however higher stats are always good, per rest abilities... there are good ones, but its not great in every situation (okay, for a solo run to summon a drake every fight is a great fight opener) There are a few ways to fight: 1) endless dots and run 2) summon stuff that tanks 3) tank yourself 4) run around and make sure the enemies don't deal more damage than you can sustain 5) kill stuff fast 1) isn't mentioned in your post, but i wouldn't call it normal, however its the easiest way to win POE2, you use the "you die" button, after that the "i don't get attacked" button, after that you wait until the enemies are dead - rinse and repeat, no counter play, just a few encounters where you can't hide (withdraw scrolls with enough item slots?), as Boeror said. 2) that's one of the easiest ways to fight "normally" 3) no rest run helps a lot, i play characters that tank against anything the game throws at them and survive - but thats with +50% healing done in sustain tanks, maybe there are enough usefull per rest abilities (summon drake and kill a few enemies at the start of the fight could do the trick...), but thats probably possible with a lot fewer builds. 4) no rest would help a lot, however this can be done with many different characters, if you are (much) faster than the melee enemies and have high dex they are useless (until you fail your pathing), but that's not a normal playstyle. 5) i haven't tried this approach in a long time, you can have fun in many encounters only to get obliterated in the next one with no chance, i don't know if its even possible to play this way in POE2 (did it in POE1... but the encounters are way different)

If you do no rest runs and rush to good gear - there are quite some builds that can do it. Troubadour (SC) with Interrupt immunity (Bellower dies quite easily to any little mistake, not recommended in Trial of Iron), Herald Forbidden Fist+paladin with max resolve (30+ after Port Maje) has an easy time. Bloodmage/troubadour with interrupt immunity, max HP regen had an easy time dealing with stuff early too.

Troubadour is simply the go to for everything, summon uptime is just worth so much (and you can use different invocations too)... in a party you don't need the uptime, Beckoner for party play, troubadour for solo play... (that's how i would do it) But multiclass to be able to do something in between? Depends, SC Beckoner can summon wurms lvl 3, Ogres (or strong wurms) lvl 7... and lvl 13 you can kill stuff with weapons MC Chanter has lvl 4 wurms, lvl 10 Ogres and lvl 19 Weapons... Trade off, SC Beckoner has strong summons all the time and can't do anything himself (okay, not much himself) while the summons of MC Beckoner are bad for long parts of the game (wurms are great against some enemies, bad against many others, ogres are good, but feel useless at the same time), weapons are strong, every fight. In my (former) current (same build, just swapped 15 con 3 might for 3 con 15 might) run my troubadour/bloodmage summons stuff that does nothing but stare at the enemy (just a body) despite building everything for a CC+summon damage build... maybe lvl 19 (weapons) the summons could deal significant damage, however the fights take too long, much too long if i try to kill stuff with summons (while CCing them) at the moment (lvl 16) and... its tragic if you simply forget to get your spells back, don't summon something and the last enemy corners you and kills you because his 19 brothers are dead and you thought he would just fall over and die after 25 min... and you have to redo the whole fight, 25 mins down the drain because you didn't do your rotation against the last enemy^^) every other summon isn't that strong - the dragon can be fun (and strong), but weapons are reliable, i don't know if i even take the dragon or +1 penetration, didn't play a SC summoner in quite some time... Summoner are great SC character, they are powerfull all game long MC Summoner just to "do something" while your summons are up? In my experience MC summons feel bad most of the game (party play)

Tried the build just now (naked... but whatever) - bellower is a bad choice indeed, to keep the weapons on all the time (22 int, lvl 20) you can't use any other invocations - with items etc maybe you can use one summon+one other spell... with troubadour its more. breaking your invisibility is no problem, i don't think you need it all the time - just to deaggro, with high dex and everything its no problem at all, if you can get your sustain high it could be a really fun solo run - invisibility as fight opener - spam spells while the summons hold aggro and use invisibility again if enemies switch target. Early game you can use Fleet Foot (nature godlike ) to run and summon...

sounds like a normal high lvl "only summon" chanter - with the summon skelleton chant you get the time to summon once - run away and thats it, fight is over (at least there aren't many encounters that can kill animated weapons fast enough) The part where you stand next to enemies to affect them with chants and use CC invocations is the interesting part - only summon chanter is a no fun character, this sounds like it could be much more fun.

I love to play games, i hate the tedious parts (so a build has a hard time with stuff? Its not strong enough, restart)... i love to reroll my characters. I haven't finished a POE 2 run up to now, with 335 hours in Steam... i will finish a run this or next week - as long as i don't reroll too much (my run was lvl 19, but lost to one encounter too many times (3 times xD) and i thought about a stronger version... restart - got to lvl 20, took too long to kill a megaboss (3 hours, 30 mins after i figured out how to do it right he died) and i thought about a stronger version - restart... now that one is lvl 13 and i thought about a version that could deal much more damage (+20 to 30 acc, - 3 armor) - maybe i will reroll again and finish both runs?^^) I restarted Divinity Original Sin 1 about 40 times before finishing my first run (was a coop run i finished and honor runs i didn't finish) I just love to see a build work - its the reason i restart games again and again and again, its the reason i play on the hardest difficulties (okay, pathfinder kingmaker is simply stupid to play on the hardest difficulty - and some god challenges are too stupid to consider) In school i couldn't open a page i needed for my politics class, the link had "analyse" in it... "anal"... German... i stopped buying books in german (as long as they are translated to german), i don't play games in german... The last translated book (english to german) i read butchered it... in the original i didn't need to know who was speaking, everyone had his unique quirks and i could tell who is who with just 1-2 sentences... the translation? Dwarfs, elfs, humans... everyone spoke the same way, no way to differentiate it at all.

The thing is... i had to manually fight, with just the dot he used his pull and i was in range... with just melee i had to do more than 1000 damage in 2 mins or something (no chance to get him to bloody, hurt was the best i could do) The solution was easy but not something i wanted to do (i wanted to afk him)... i had to run away from Doru whenever he started casting his fire ability and run back to him before he ran into his fireballs - easy.

FF needs the right build, with everything going into resolve, you get one hell of an ability, great in a no rest run - bad in a rest run... playing FF/chanter, FF/pala (high int, low dex), FF/pala (high dex, low int) the last 3 weeks and they can deal with enemies easy enough, but i killed myself quite some time because of lvl ups and wrong resolve/int/dex points at different powerlvl... 30 resolve after port maje is a must, and can be not enough (and if you get enfeebled? you die if you dont react^^) If you know which items to get first, you can have fun with him, however... you dont really do anything but spam FF (it is your debuff, your heal, your damage - your everything) And if you don't put everything into resolve, don't spam FF all the time? You get a subpar wound mechanic - not enough wounds...

FF is a curse, you get damaged (about 13 per tick on that character i think) every tick, if you have enough resolve you get damaged once (35 resolve on that character), after the curse expires you get healed by the wound generating mechanism (on hostile effect expiring), this character heals 50-53 health per expiring hostile effect... (20 because he had only 20 damage)

Tried killing Doru with a tank just now, first try i died to fire damage after 30-40 mins, 2nd try i used the fire cloak, after 1 hour doru was at full health... (his fire damage scales up...) now i am waiting for his death to True Love's Kiss... He isn't doing anything after i used a scroll of withdraw out of his sight... thx thread, i wouldn't kill him without this thread

Thought about Berath Blessing, forgot its different Gods for each challenge... Jeah, the time limit challenge (i refuse to use it, always) And Berath Challenge is my go to Challenge for solo, the ****ty combat system where the fight ends because you are solo and use invisibility right in front of the enemy, try to attack the enemy... and the fight restarts before you attack him... is a nightmare.

upscaled vs higher Power lvl/Might... jeah, that's okay, 3 hours? 6 hours?, doesn't really change anything (as long as you don't use Beraths Challenge), i'd always do it at night

3 or 4h? I think it takes longer, he heals himself sometimes, i looked every hour for 3+ hours, i think he was at 50++%, a quiet night later he was dead.

I tried the Assassin/Paladin... killed Doru lvl 8, simply attacked him once and ran to the hills - he didn't try to pull me (or if he did, it didn't work, took too long to watch). And PotD can be tanked (a very conventional concept), no heavy exploits needed, it just is no fun (and... i don't know how to kill hauani o whe with a tank...) My Forbidden Fist/paladin killed everything while i did something else (his (final and only) death was to doru, after a few hours he died, i think he rolled high a few times in a row)

If you are on a no rest strategy "rest to lose the bug" is a "start a new run" answer In my opinion its unfortunately, but if a run with such a bug qualified, it would be stupid to check the replay.