Serg BlackStrider

I don't remember all available areas at this point already, but did you cleared them all?

Looking good, Alesia! Watch out for those Spirits in Caed Nua. I wouldn't call myself a veteran or even an advanced PoE player but your choice to purchase the minor ring of protection seems reasonable to me (even though I remember them, alone with capes of protection, being quite a common loot). Blunting Belt is nice but useless vs status effects which those Spirits will be eager to throw at you. Stay on guard!

It is great to have you with us, Enuhal! I wholeheartedly share your love for Rangers. That's why Sagani with Itumaak are both the must for my Crew. And as I've already mentioned I'm going to make Gloomy Face a Ranger/Druid multi with Wolf Companion in PoE II. Best of luck and safe travels for your Crew!

You might want to start with reading this. If you'll have more remaining questions, feel free to ask. Edit: More details about game mechanics are here.

Great advices, Jaheiras Witness! In my previous runs (out of no-reload) I've rarely used potions or scrolls even on PotD. And actually never crafted anything. Now I'm going to change that.

1. Indeed. Moreover, you can't avoid damage just standing on the back - enemies will run to you sooner than this is expected. And when there is a horde of those, you can guess the outcome. 2. Indeed as well. You need accuracy to penetrate enemies' defences/damage reduction. And I mean a lot of accuracy. It doesn't matter much if you hit 100 times per second when most of those hits are misses/grases. Further in the game there will be a lot of creatures with Charm/Domination/Stun/Paralyze etc so Cleric is the must have in the party, or you'll be doomed... You just need all those Prayers Against Impisonment (Paralyze/Petrify), Trachery (Charm/Doninate) etc.

So, it is happened. Great! Gloomy Face, Hearth Orlan ex-Laborer from The White that Wends, now bow wielding wanderer Druid joined Ashoka on her quest of "To Live Is To Learn" (all the best of luck to her!).. Game Version: 3.7.0.1318 with White March I & II Difficulty: Path of the Damned, Trial of Iron Settings: Maim Before Death: On; Injuries: On; Expert Mode: OFF; AoE Highlighting: On; Show Qualifiers/Personality/Reputation: OFF Mods: None I'm not fond of min-maxing and I want my character to be quick, accurate, smart and able to resolve difficult situations so his stats are: Might - 10 (not much importance for me and could be buffed) Constitution -10 (the same as above) Dexterity - 15 (we need fast cast) Perception - 15 (we want our spells/arrows hit and with Hearth Orlan's passive ability have more crits) Intellect - 15 (for AoE and larger status effects duration) Resolve - 13 (self-explaining - to resist interruptions, some more deflection and, in conjunction with Perception and Intellect, for more dialog options) He is also prime party Mechanic (lockster/trapster). Since I long dreamed to play as Ranger/Druid and PoE finally made my dream come true I'm going to play Gloomy Face that way and when he'll graduate to the PoE II (sooner or later) I'll make him true Ranger/Druid multiclass. The party will be: Eder, Aloth, Pallegina, Sagani, Durance. My latest run was with Grieving Mother in place of Aloth but I don't like his default pre-history in PoE II so I'll make it myself. I also don't like Durance but one need Cleric on PotD and they are by far the strongest class in PoE. Fortunately there is Xoti in PoE II with whom I fell in love the moment I've met her. As usual for me this will be a completionist run but I'll not fight Dragons except from Adra Dragon from the RP point of view. Actually, out of eagerness, I've generated Gloomy Face yesterday, before this thread was formed, and have him run through the first area already but still there is not much to write about so, I think, that's it for now. to be continued...

@Alesia: Your rule set sound pretty solid to me so I vote for it with both hands. On "Maim before death" - I'm still inclined to see it as an option, not a strict rule. But IMO this rule should not be applied to the main character, so it will not be a //free “ok the first death doesn’t count, let’s give you a second go”. In my mind that’s not really in spirit of no-reload where the first death absolutely counts!"//. Whenever main character's health drop to zero and he/she is maimed - game over. On "Disabling injures" - better to be off in my opinion. On "Trial of Iron" - I see it as an option too. On "What other settings would you add to the "critical gameplay" list (in other words settings that should be publicly declared)? " - I think, "Expert Mode On/Off" or "Area of Effect Highlighting On/Off" would be nice to include here. And one more thing I want to discuss - whether respec is allowed or not. Personally I don't respec my characters during the run but the opportunity is there, and using it could influence the run a lot, so...

I absolutely agree that "to be true to the concept of no-reload" is essential and out of any questions. This is the spirit of the challenge itself. I'm not sure if 'conversation qualifiers/pointers should be off' is essential, though myself have them off every time. And I also don't think maim is also should be disallowed save for main character (i.e. if main character is ever maimed - run is over). Unlike Baldur's Gate, in PoE there is no option to pay a temple to resurrect NPC and since I always play PoE on PotD I'm well aware that one might run low of available NPCs rather quickly. Especially with completionist approach.

I'm pretty sure there are plenty of our mutual friends here, but, unfortunately, I haven't met one until now. That's an awesome surprise indeed! I've three completionist runs of PoE but not as no-reload (ToI) and I'm still waiting for all Deadfire DLC to be released before trying it - as you know I'm leisurely player and I'm tired to experience a major game mechanics' changes with each and every patch during my single run. Nonetheless I'm always ready to dive in at least PoE1 (which, I think, is polished enough already) Trial of Iron run. Thanks, Alesia, for your kind words! And here they are (For Those About to Rock No-Reload (We Salute You): - Baldur's Gate 1 No-Reload Challenge - Baldur's Gate 2 No-Reload Challenge Here is hoping we could create something like that with local community.

Yep, but the point of those (bioware's and beamdog's) no-reload challenges is not just to play as no-reload but to share your run with the community - tactics applied, approaches, some even post it as a story. Personally, I see PoE as far less challenging compared to SCS moded BG but I like it nonetheless and it would be nice to have something like those challenges here.

Hi, Alesia! =) I see you are going to stir this community the way you did it back there in the Baldur's Gate community! A noble goal I wholeheartly support! =)