dreamrider

Reiterating what draego just said above about stats. When returning to the game a couple months ago, after years (and not finishing the first time), my reading and analysis of the effects of each attribute lead me to believe that no stat was unimportant across the range of combat types in the game, and that in solo in particular, balanced was probably as good if not superior, at least after the first 2-3 maps. I was aided in coming to this view by reviewing the work of, and consulting with, several forum acknowledged build architects, notably Boeroer. Don't get me wrong. Min / maxing can be very powerful, but it is most powerful when done within a carefully constructed party, and focused acquisition of particular artifacts, to cover the deliberate weaknesses of the min/maxed MC, and, to a lesser extent, magnify the features that you built the lead character around. So I began a test run, to see how well "balanced Attributes" really works. I'm soloing a Monk whose initial culture/background-adjusted stats were 13 / 13 / 13 / 13 / 13 / 13. Difficulty setting is Hard, ToI. (I didn't go Expert since I had no recent experience with ranges, etc.) I just made L15, shortly after the beginning of Act III, completionist, and progress is actually gradually getting easier. There have been perhaps half a dozen "You are dead" map start reloads. There has been NO point where I have said, "This would work better with maxed ____ stat." In fact, without it really being a goal, I have found myself choosing gear, boons, etc, mostly to keep the stats pretty balanced. Currently, unbuffed for any particular encounter, but wearing my favored all-purpose gear, the character's stats are: 17 / 15 / 16 / 15 / 15 / 16. I think if I do a subsequent similar run, I will probably experiment with choosing "1 up, 1 down" among the paired Attributes, MIG/CON, DEX/PER, and INT/RES, but not more than that for now. I don't have any personal experience with paladin MCs, but extensive reading of various build architects forum presentations indicates that paladins are one of the favored careers for MC tanks and, especially, off-tanks, along with chanters, barbarians, and maybe monks, in party runs. Probably a choice ahead of fighters in those roles. Fighters seem to be viewed as perfectly OK, even great, in the frontliner role, but a little limited or "one-note" for an MC. Rogues, Monks, and Wizards seem to be slightly favored as solos, for their flexibility I imagine.

Haven't updated here in a while. Still very pleased with the even stats build. Gives a balance of capability as sort of expected. Especially like that whenever a particular Attribute is key to an interaction, it is probably within buffing distance if you have the opportunity to tune it up. Currently at L14, cleared literally everything through Act II, including Craigholdt Bluffs and Concelhaut. Actually, onec I'd pulled and cleared all his supports, Concelhaut himself was not too bad. But I acknowledge that was largely due to built up Deflection and Fortitufde, and every item-based immunity I could find a slot to wear. Steelspine magi more than 2 at a time would be kinda deadly. When you go to Craigholdt Bluffs, TAKE YOUR TIME! Go home and rest whenever you are down about half. Kite and pull like crazy. AND, as with the Bear, DO NOT try to take a shortcut through the Cave. It will not be kind to you. One thing I noticed before, other places, but doubly reinforced at the Bluffs. High Mechanics is a very good thing for a solo through this map. About 7-8, with buffs on top of that. Possibly more worthwhile than high Survival or high Athletics. Currently just made L14, and about to trigger the end of Act II. Haven't done any White March yet, and haven't finished the Master Below. Mostly a choice because I had a secondary goal of fully binding the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer, AND the Company Captain's Cap, before venturing into WM or Eir Glanfath. These are GREAT items. I highly recommend them to any adventurer in the Eastern Reach, but especially to someone working an even distribution build. That is because once you fully bind both of them, they lift EVERY Attribute (except Perception) by +2 to +3 points, with very little mutual suppression. Then there are a couple of other items that you available in Act I or Act II that will get that Perception up 2 -3 points. Plus, the fully bound items give a whole group of affliction immunities. Taking your time, parking Companions at the Stronghold, and garnering extra xp for all the Stronghold Assignment Quests is a VERY GOOD THING. Worth lots of xp, and you score some excellent unique items.

It was an acknowledgement of a well-crafted (well-spoken?) troll-tamping comment. (Perhaps I could / should have chosen a more obviously "Right On !" imogi.)

@ Mangamina:

To answer the OPs underlying mechanics question (leaving aside the above thoroughly thrashed question of unannounced traps in the level design), … … while in Combat Mode you cannot leave the current map. Also, while in Combat Mode, you cannot re-enter Stealth Mode. If you can evade, out run, or hide from your opposition long enough that Combat Mode terminates, you can stealth to an entry point and leave the map. Such evasion, escape, and hiding is GREATLY aided by being, at least temporarily, faster in move speed than your opposition. There are Abilities, and potions, and items, that raise move speed. Scout out the available empty space before you challenge any scouted enemies. Know what you have available to run to "safely". There are a few maps, mostly interiors, that are so close or open that, once you are revealed, the chances of separating far enough to hide until the opponents lose interest are virtually nil, no matter how fast you are. My recommendation: You should stealth all of a new map that you can, and eval the opposition before you challenge them. Generally, assume that on a new map there are at least as many similar opponents just beyond sight as the ones that you found on the edges of your scoutable area. Make a very careful eval of whether you have enough room and combat power to take the visible oppos + equal friends. Always assume, if you are seeing some new type of critter or kith class, that you CANNOT take them at first encounter without either leveling again, or a full-as-possible party of help. PS - That Bear Cave was never intended as even a tough win for a 1-2 level character, though it IS possible for a properly leveled and, especially, equipped 2nd level char. How about if your character crafted some potions of Wizard Double, Regen, and 2-3 Scrolls of Fan of Flames with the stuff picked up in the Ruins? Not a guarantee...but really, REALLY, helps. Note though...on the main, and relatively safe, route through the Valewood, you get warned, in strong terms, "Don't go in the Bear Cave."

Boeroer, What do you like better on a "something like" of this build: - Blood Testament - Gauntlets of Swift Action ('cause I found a pair) and what are the Mourning Gloves (they aren't in the wiki)? Also, are the Rabbitskin Gloves (+10% to Crit Camage) anywhere in the running?

VERY, VERY potent soulbound items. Worth buying one (probably the belt, it probably levels faster) as soon as you can scrape the money together. Don't be crazy, keep some operating capital / lunch money (1,000 - 1,500 cp?). But the sooner you buy a soulbound item and start using it, the sooner it starts leveling up. Then, when you are comfortable on money again, get the other item and start building that one up. I don't imagine you will be able to afford the 2nd item til Act II, though. The 3 uniforms and Fulvano's Blunderbus are also quite good, if they fit for your character. Also, Sabre of the Seas, if you do not already have Retribution (from Caed Nua), or if you want / need two primo sabres. Now, it should be said that this stuff is about as expensive as any useful store bought items you will find throughout Acts I & II. But fairly priced, I think.

Try this. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/75905-ultimate-build-highest-dps-and-tankines-in-1-char/ It is old, but there is a lot of good cipher stuff in there. It isn't specifically gun focused, but a gun works, especially for the veil piercing.

Haven't worked thru Grieving Mother yet. But for Durance, just talk to him after each rest. You don't even have to add him to the current party. However, somewhere in there, at least two of the rests-before-talking need to be camps, with Durance along. Warning: Be prepared for a LOT of talking / dialogue interactions. That guy likes to talk. The whole Durance thing won't finish up until after you start Act 3, or maybe its just Dyrford / Cilant Rilag. There some bits of outside information that you must acquire to allow the Durance quest to finish. But you DO have to exhaust his dialogues, so start talking. When trying to solo / keep the party small for xp efficiency, I just talk to him a Brighthollow mostly. Oh. Yeah. After about 6-8 questions Durance gets tired of talking, until the next Rest. You end up having to have about 4 separate jaw session with him.

@hansvedic, The upgrade levels for Transcendent Suffering are 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and presumably for PoEII:DF, 19. The above observation attempting to determine if Turning Wheel was operating with The Long Pain occurred at character Level 11.

The Obsidian Boards' Build List - Last modified: 25-Feb-17 This pinned thread has a list and links to all the most current builds, including authors/others evals of suitability for solo, and whether the build has been tested for solo.

Also, each Companion Quest provides a nice benefit in xp, and some loot, as well.

In so far as the Character Screen indicating that Turning Wheel was Active simultaneously with The Long Pain, "No, not just luck". Yes, I did consider the possibility. Checked Active Effects list before activating TLP, and while TLP was hot, and after TLP was ended, multiple times, probably a dozen, in as many separate encounters. Admittedly the particularly high damage numbers when I had 8 Wounds showing could have been a spectacular set of die rolls, I guess. I just haven't been getting in the situation of a big pile of standing Wounds very much. However, in that encounter I had 2-3 targets at range, with several strikes at each, maybe a total string of 8-9 TLP strikes. When I saw the initial high hit value or two, I deliberately refrained from using Torment's Reach so I would not pull down the Wound pool. The numbers on all strikes were quite high, 40-70. I don't have the Blood Testament gloves. I don't even know what they do. I have recently been switching to my melee set (fist & shieldd) only rarely, only when pinned by a group. So most of the fights I am talking about would have been with TLP overlaid on the hunting bow Persistance. Which shouldn't have any impact on TLP results, since the Long Pain Fists have their own stats. Armor: Dywoodan clothing, enchanted to +4 DR (I did this for the 0 Recovery time) Head: Company Captain's Cap - this is a soulbound heavy benefit item, but it was only at 2nd level: 1xConfuse on Crit, Confuse Immunity, & +1 DEX (suppressed), +1 RES Neck: Spellward Amulet - +10 Def vs any spell, whatever Defense it takes. Random cache item. Hands: Spiderfingers - +1 PER, and a minor END spellbind (that I have never used). Waist: (This is the big item.) Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer - +3 MIG, +3 DEX, +2 INT, plus a couple nice fire spellbinds. Fully bound. Ring: R. of Deflection - +9 DEF Ring: R. of Eternal Funding - 5 cp every payday, or every payment, not sure. MC wasn't taking enough hits to make it worthwhile to swap back to Gaun's Pledge. Feet: Fenwalkers - +20 vs Stuck, Paralyzed, Hobbled. The only one of those that would make a diff to TLP hit results is the Belt. However, I had the Belt at this level before I took Turning Wheel, and did not notice such notably large hits. And of course, none of the above touches on the fact that Character Screen / Active Effects list was showing Turning Wheel as Active simultaneously with The Long Pain.

On my last several combats, dancing my way delicately and gracefully through every room of the Temple of Skaen at Dyrford, leaving the occasional...well, OK...every...initiate in a glowing pile of loot, I paid particular attention to the Active Effects portion of my Character Screen. Before combat was joined, and after the music stopped, neither The Long Pain nor Turning Wheel were shown among active effects. On a couple of occasions, combat was technically in progress (the music was playing, I was hearing enemy sound effects) but my character had nothing in sight and was not taking action yet. Neither TLP nor TW was shown as Active. On other occasions, my first offensive action was to activate TLP after a spell-hit. Upon viewing the Active Effects immediately after starting up TLP, with the Long Pain Fists as the equipped weapon, BOTH The Long Pain AND Turning Wheel were shown as Active. During one such bout, the MC had had to Disengage and separate before activating TLP. As a result, even after bringing up TLP, the Monk was carrying about 8-9 Wounds. The TLP strikes were distinctly heavier (pretty awesome, actually) than in the more usual combats where the MC was only wearing 0-3 Wounds. My conclusion is, Boeroer's testing of 2+ years ago notwithstanding, in v.3.07 Turning Wheel DOES work with The Long Pain. Yeah!

You don't really NEED to "fill party at the beginning". 2 of your most basic Companions become available the same time you reach somewhere to recruit. More than 3 party members on those first few maps would almost be overkill, and awkward to manage. You ARE gonna have to solo 1.5 maps, however, no choice. You can, however, take a least risk run sticking to the road, miss the local encounters, and come back later. Oh, wait … I think there is one outlaw that you run into if you take that approach.

Not correct. There are occasional caches (somehow, usually ones under a loose stone somewhere) that have a random gear or weapon. Mostly gear, like gloves or amulets. (Now some of these may be among the most excellent gloves, amulets, etc, in the game.) The keynote items are all in their original spots / shops.

Be warned. It takes a while to get to those new companions. 2 of the 3 are WM2 material, albeit in relatively safe areas. So I guess you could get to them fairly early in Act 2, if you focused on only doing that, then returning to Caed Nua and Act II stuff.

I also came back after messing with PoE in the 1.0x range. Still in my playthrough, and I haven't played wizard, but here are my impressions: Hard is just a little harder than it was. The addition of +Accuracy to Perception, and +Deflection to Resolve, does go a long way toward spreading the value of attributes. Might and Dex are still king and queen (well, maybe not for a wizard), but each of the others has its place. That being said, if you plan to run full party, Min/Max build works well, but don't dump more than one attrib, and have in mind how you will / which character will compensate. However, you cannot fully insulate your 'squishies' in PoE. Think about survivability while building, even within the game. If you are thinking of running solo, or a party of 4 or less, be more well rounded in your build. Food seems to be more helpful. (However, I am a big PoE 'foodie', so that may just be my narrow focus.) Keep in mind that there are a few side quests that you cannot finish if you get to far on the main story line. In general, you'll want to finish all the side quests associated with an Act before you move to the next act. However, there are also some Tasks / Side Quests that you will want to pass by, and come back after a level or two. Early: the Bear Cave (unless you build yourself a real badass), Later: Yenwood Field (leave this until you have done virtually EVERYTHING else; there a 'helper' events available.) The Concelhaut quest is also available early...but leave it until later. I don't think that either Yenwood or Concelhaut were available in the early versions of the game. Read up in the wiki or somewhere about how the Survival Skill works now. Also Athletics & the derivative Ability Second Wind. These are totally different from the early versions, and will color your build decisions throughout the game. Finally, some of the gear from the most recent Deadfire Pack DLC, which basically adds a shipwrecked vendor that you meet during Act 1, is AWESOME. Expensive, but generally worth getting early, binding, and working up throughout the balance of Act 1 and all of Act 2. Also Veteran level doesn't exist any more. Difficulty levels are Story Mode, for those who want to focus on experiencing the stories, and be sure of getting through without hitting 'roadblock' situations (in other words, Easy, AND mechanics have been tweaked to aid player), Easy (standard mechanics, less opposition), Normal (standard mechanics, 'standard' opposition), Hard (standard mechanics, a little extra opposition), and Path of the Damned (all enemies enabled for each encounter, and their stats are tweaked up something like +15%). I think the Veteran difficulty your remember was the equivalent of Hard, but it might have been similar to Normal. There are two additional challenge Modes you can set. They can be set along with any difficulty setting. These may be just the same as in earlier versions. Expert Mode turns off all the in-game help features, like those journal entries that hint at the next step to take on a Quest, and spell range fans, etc. Trial of Iron limits your playthrough to ONE save file, which may be an autosave, such as when you enter a new map, or a save that you make while adventuring. When you die, that save file is erased - start over. You can preempt this by recognizing that you are about to die and re-loading the one save state, often at the beginning of the current map or another 'safe' moment, but you will never have the opportunity to revert to a previous map and progression state.

Be sure to consider that if you don't go the Companion route, you miss out on a bunch of content, to include xp awards, that is wrapped up in the Companion Quests. Also, you don't pay them. Also, most Companions have a bit of special gear or a unique ability. Of course, you could collect all the Companions back to Brighthollow, and eventually include them one at a time to chase down their quests. I'd say, if you ARE NOT min/max optimizing for every single damage point and every single defense edge for PotD, include the scripted Companions in some fashion. (Except maybe Durance - talking - and talking and talking and talking - to him gets old. ;-) ) AFAIK (I could be wrong; will bow to any other experienced opinion), you cannot change the camera angle in the PC version either. Just zoom.

How can a Monk tank not get hit? Are you talking about high deflection? Quite frankly, a Monk whose deflection is that high will slowly totally dominate. The enormous damage potential of fist strikes that builds up due to the progression of the passive ability Transendant Suffering virtually guarantees it. That being said, tanking without at least one Fighter in the tank crew is hard to justify, given that Fighters are the only class that can deliberately Engage more than one opponent.

As I recall, there is a lot of this sort of stuff in the wiki, on both the character and the location pages.

Here I am (recently) at Lvl 11 with my derivative of your WD ranged monk disabler)… ...and I have made what I consider my 2nd major deviation. I'd like your reaction / opinion. (The first major deviation was setting the MC up with even stats across the board - I just saw a reason in every attribute to be a bit above average. But we've already discussed that - and it is working out OK.) As I've mentioned, I'm playing this MC (semi-)solo, that is solo in at least the first two Acts, to build xp fast. However, I have collected the Companions to Brighthollow, and used them for Stronghold sidebar Adventures, escorts, etc, to gain extra xp. I'm also working the Companion Quests when appropriate, in duo with each Companion in turn. Because MC is solo a lot, I have followed all you general and specific suggestions to make the build a safer solo. Looking for early self-heal enhancements like Veteran's Recovery, obviously not min-maxing, staying fast, taking some of the defensive Talents. Bear's Fortitude, so far. Now the latest deviation: At Lvl 11, I have all the essential monk damage abilities: Swift Strikes, Torment's Reach, Force of Anguish, The Long Pain, along with Long Stride. The 6th Ability choice was going to be an enhancement, in my view, rather than an essential. Then while studying the Ability choices, I found myself considering that I had had to dismiss using the "hater" talents (except possibly Beast Slayer), since there would not be room for those + the prudent defensives for the solo adventuring. I kinda hated cutting all that damage potential out. Then I considered that you said the constraints on Abilities for this build were a bit looser than the really tight situation of NEEDING every single Talent slot. So I started looking through the remaining Abilites for something that might partially compensate for the missing "hater" hits. I decided to take Turning Wheel. I have the impression that you don't generally favor it because it is so variable in effect. I know it is dependent on having a stack of (or at least a couple) Wounds in queue. However, I figured that to keep the Long Pain active you also need to accumulate a few Wounds, probably a couple of times across a major fight. Also, its a Passive, like the "haters". A very good thing when you are having to run around to stay alive as a solo, and manage The Long Pain, which takes some timing attention. So far it seems to be working nicely. The additions are minor, but then a kite solo is a matter of pick-pick-pick anyway. At a guess, I am getting may half the addition that an appropriate "hater" Talent would give me. One small benne is that I am getting the addition on every target (when I have Wounds), from the moment Leveled up to 11. For the "hater" Talents, the build up of the Talents would be spread across many level-ups. So, comments? Logical fallacies? Laughter? Also, re Talents, for later: I've been running with Persistance (such a nice girl !) in Set I, and Ilfan Byrngar's Solace + fist in Set II. I have two weapon style, which is just fine since it affects TLP whenever it is active, regardless of having the real hands behind the Long Pain Fists filled with something else. Since I am not taking all the "hater" Talents in order to fit in some defensives, do you recommend taking Weapon + Shield in addition to the Two-Weapon Style that I already have? Is that even allowed? Does it work? 'Cause if it DOES work, even at my current defense levels that would make my Deflection and Reflex around 90+; with Mirrored Image about 115; with Wizard's Double about 130. And there are probably a few more minor bumps I could add. The MC would be VERY hard to hit. Though I don't know what kind of Accuracy the dragons hit at.

I am mystified by what you said about playing the early maps of the game. "Played till gilded Vale as monk and barb, they seem to ignore me and go for the other char(can't remember her name)." The only other character that you CAN have before Gilded Vale is the fighter Calisca. Calisca CANNOT be with you "til Gilded Vale". You are forced to go through at least one full map alone. (BTW, if you want more xp, get Calisca killed at the encampment.) Re the critters zeroing in on Calisca. Compared to most freshly minted MCs, Calisca IS the more dangerous, better armored target. If she is ahead of you, or even more or less even with the MC, yes, the critters in the Ruins WILL focus on her first. I'm not sure that is deliberate, just a function of the critter AI threat evaluation. The other thing is: Calisca's combat AI is ON by default; your MCs may not be. Possibly it is not that THEY are going for HER, but rather the other way around.

Remember that low RES lowers your Deflection, a prime tank feature. You might actually be better off lowering MIG or DEX or PER. Personally, I don't really believe in EXTREME min maxing. After all, the character has to survive long enough to meet some Companions, and I will spoiler to this extent: that takes more than one map / area. But review several of the builds in the build index. Those folks have far more experience than I.

The problem with the Yenwood Field quest is that the opportunity to try it comes quite early, less than half-way through Act 2, maybe only about a quarter way through. However, the sensible & appropriate time to do it is between Act 2 & 3, or even later, and certainly after you have done several of the White March quests. This seems to be one of those cases where the developers didn't really expect any/many players to leap right in to PotD, or, especially ToI. A player in that position, who hasn't read a little bit of meta info in the wiki or elsewhere, is going to get REALLY hacked off about what that quest is (though I do believe it is called The Battle of Yenwood Field in the Quest list), and how hard (or impossible) it is to get through with a Lvl 4-5 party. Or Solo. Players beginning with an easier level of the game will get spanked a little, realize they can't tackle that yet, load an earlier save, and avoid it for quite a while. There is NO penalty for postponing The Battle of Yenwood Field. IMHO, the party should be AT LEAST Lvl 10 across the board before they go there, and they should line up every mercenary and allied force they can. Allies. That is why you want to be at least near the end of Act II, and complete portions of WM, before commiting to Yenwood. There are some major forces that may ally with you when you call, depending on some White March events. In addition, the faction (not always the same one; one of several possible) that you are more or less forced to ally with along the main story line in Defiance Bay can be convinced to send some troops to help. Finally, the rather massive money you can make by near completion of Act II (at least) can be used to hire more mercenaries. The Marshal guy can help with this; that is why he hangs around at the Stronghold for days and days. (Oh - be sure to sell off all your collected excess weapons, armor, and mundane clothing, etc, to one or more of the vendors. Maybe some excess ingredients (who needs 80 xaurip tongues?) This can net you many thousands more cp.) Those forces can do preliminary, scripted battle that whittles the opposition down a bit. Then you take your party of Heroes All, and the remaining forces assembled, to do the one thing that most fantasy RPGs weave into their histories but never show - a big murherin' field fight. But I'm not sure you EVER are really forced to do it. I think that if you avoid it via adventuring an scripted choices, you just end up losing Caed Nua at the end of the game. Which, of course, makes the start of PoE II: DF problematical, story-wise … but you can probably rationalize that away pretty easily. In the meantime, by holding Caed Nua, with at least Brighthold restored (and maybe the Barracks), you can score some very significant money & xp awards & items out of the side Adventures of currently unemployed Companions. I'm currently at Lvl 10 of this run (mostly solo), and I believe that I have received something like 6-7,000 xp (out of ~50,000+ so far) from Companions sidebar adventures, a couple of pretty OK items, one of them a limited use summons, and one Absolutely Extraordinary Item ! Also, the Resting bonuses from Brighthollow, for various completed Caed Nua features, are better than the resting bonuses anywhere else. They last through 3 Rests, and generally involve at least +3 attribute bumps, or the equivalent. So, as others have said, by using the Stronghold scripts mostly, you can avoid most of the Stronghold management parts of gameplay. But some of them can have worthwhile impacts on your characters story/abilities. BTW. VERY IMPORTANT if you don't want to be disappointed again. White March I & II are designed to occur BEFORE the conclusion of the main story line. They are somewhat massive side quest areas. If you finish the original content (and it IS possible) before going off to those areas, you will never get the chance to go to the White March. Opinions differ as to the best time to do White March content. Some folks say as soon as you are offered the opportunity, for the challenge. (The town of Stalwart will send you a message via the Steward after you have started Act II.) Others say do about half of Act II, then some bounties (careful; they are tough), then White March stuff. Others like to near finish Act II before going to White March - though a number of folks say this runs the risk of over leveling for that area. In fact, the White March content gives you the option to upscale the difficulty of the opposition in White March if you find yourself in that position. Finally, opinions are also pretty evenly divided over whether to do all WM content in one push, or do it in two pieces, with more Act II, maybe some early Act III, in between. There are a number of discussions of this in the forums. I recommend you review some of the discussions.