whimper

As baldurs_gate_2 says, it's definitely doable. There are lots of Aggressive check opportunities, and enough (though fewer) Cruel opportunities. But if you prioritize Cruel responses over Aggressive ones, and generally choose one or the other of those options when available, you should be fine. Two warnings: 1. First, some Aggressive options will throw you into fights you don't want to get into. It's generally OK to skip those options; there will be enough Aggressive conversation opportunities to max you out without them. 2. Second, you have to be careful to not get things like bits of benevolent dispositions -- one benevolent choice is enough to give you a bar of it if you're a Bleak Walker, permanently lowering your Deep Faith bonus. And (more frustratingly) some quest choices/conversation options will leave you with a benevolent disposition even though the dialog checks themselves don't warn you of this. (For example, if when talking to the Prince in Neketaka you suggest that he leave the black market working, you'll end up with a benevolent disposition, even though none of the dialog checks indicate this beforehand.) So you'll want to save before dialogs, and before accepting quests, to ensure this doesn't happen.

Have you tried single class druids? Tekehu in particular is great here, with his foe-only versions of various wizard spells.

The answer to #2 is “yes” — you can benefit from both styles. Haven’t looked at #1, but I’d expect the shield to count as weapons for the purpose of full attacks.

I’ve done 4 solo PotD runs, one with max Resolve (20) and low Con (6), one with middling Con (12) and low Res (6), and two with flat Res and Con (10). All of them have worked. So both kinds of builds are viable.

Soul Mirror is pretty great on solo runs, for the same reason that Riposte is pretty great on solo runs. Hard to pass up, even with a relatively low deflection build, I think. I’m inclined to think Adept Evasion is in second place, though also very good. Might be worth switching something out for. I’m inclined to think Fast Runner is a distant third, compared to those two.

Very interesting and very helpful. Thanks for sharing your results!

Re deflection: That's a fair point; that is pretty low deflection. The cloak of the falling star might help mitigate the number of times you get critted (which will make them go through your armor like butter), but deflection does have increasing returns, so it's not as nearly as helpful when you start low. So maybe Giftbearer's is better for this build, as you say. Re regeneration and AR: Yeah, I'm curious to see what ends up working for you here. Bloody Links and Reckless Brigandine are great for Streetfighters, but you'll probably also want some pierce-resistant armor for some fights (probably some form of plate). Or maybe you'll be able to kill things fast enough to survive with low AR? (I'd be a little worried about having a low AR, because your deflection is so low. But who knows!) Also curious to see how much of a difference you notice with high AR set-ups with and without regeneration. I think the SSS fights are actually nice tests for all of this. They made me get really creative with equipment and tactics in a way that earlier fights had not. So it'll be a good testing ground for various ways of running this build: high AR vs low AR, regeneration vs defense-boosting, and so on. I'm curious to hear what ends up working best!

Sweet. I'll have to check that out!

? I don't think I've heard any "gospel" along these lines. I've just found that stacking AR is an effective way of surviving solo PotD runs through trial and error... : P But in any case, if you have a build that can solo SSS on upscaled PotD, and do so quickly, I'm definitely (sincerely!) interested in hearing what it is!

Yeah, I completely agree with all of this.

--Re Giftbearer's Cloak: Yeah, you certainly lose more net points in defenses if you wear the Cape of the Falling Star. But the designers, anyway, take deflection to be much more important than the other defenses. One point of comparison: The Cloak of Greater Deflection and the Cloak of Greater Resistance are supposed to be comparable, one which provides +7 deflection, the other which provides +10 to each of your other three saves (so +30). That suggests that +1 deflection is supposed to be worth about +4.3 points of one of the other defenses (refl, fort, will). So that would make the Cape of the Falling Star worth about +50.1 "generic" defense points, as compared to the Giftbearer's Cloak which is worth around +45/46 "generic" defense points, and only if you devote all of your skill points to History. Another point of comparison: a 3rd level feat available to all classes increases refl or fort or will by +10, while a 5th level feat that only fighters can take increases defl by +4. The fighter-only restriction, and higher level requirement, make it clear that the +4 deflection boost is supposed to be a considerably better deal than the +10 boost to one defense. Again, something like a +1/+4 or +1/+5 tradeoff sounds about right, which again puts the Cape of the Falling Star ahead, value-wise. But, of course, what the designers think and what's actually best in the game are two different things! And there's no denying that the Giftbearer's Cloak is very good. --Re Ring of Greater Regeneration: Yeah, the value of the ring is roughly determined by (1) what percentage of the damage you take it heals, and (2) how many other sources of healing you have to rely on. The build I tend to run with has very high AR, which slows down damage enough such that a Ring of Greater Regeneration goes a fair way toward healing me as quickly as I get damaged. And in upscaled solo PotD, I find that a lot of fights (especially in the SSS DLC) tend to take forever, meaning that consumable healing runs out too quickly to rely on. If you're finding that you get damaged much more quickly than the ring heals you, and/or you find that you can get through upscaled PotD fights relatively quickly, then the ring will probably be of less value to you. (I'm genuinely curious about the latter question, by the way -- do you find you can get through solo upscaled PotD fights in SSS pretty quickly? Cuz if so, I definitely should try this out -- my SSS fights seem to last forever!)

RE1 - Agreed, that's why I originally choose it. I figured in the end it would be giving more more than improved crit "overall". What skill is worth getting rid of for blade turning? I'm worried about not being tanky enough. This character can certainly handle its own RE3 - I feel like in the end, Flagellant’s Path is the better of the choices. However escape is only one guile. Again what skill is worth getting rid of for one of these choices? RE4 - Yea the description seems promising. That makes 2 maybe 3 to swap skills out on. RE20/22 - if we take a regen ring we will lose out defenses, which i'm thinking we may lose also on skill choices as well. I feel like this may cripple the build a bit. You aren't wrong, I'm just worried. Yeah, I understand your concern! Though I suspect a ring of greater regeneration will generally do more to add to your survivability (given this build) than the Signet Ring. As far as cloaks go, the cape of the falling star might be better for solo runs (since it adds the deflection as well as your other defenses). It also frees up a lot of skill points, and can be obtained as soon as you leave the first island.

Yes, my Goldpact/Devoted basically needs 0 consumables. This build also does enough damage that it shouldn’t need more than the drugs for wound generation, healing pots and food. Avenging storm is just fun, try the helm out. I would say my streetfighter/goldpact can solo every fight in the game on upscaled PotD without non-healing consumables, but there’s one exception: I’ve needed other consumables — and luck! — to get through the Contest of the Seeker fight in SSS. I've yet to try the last DLC except the first few fights. It’s pretty tough. Some fights (like the contest of the Seeker, and some of the fights with really fast regenerators) strike me as fights that are probably easier than some of the other fights with a party (since with a party you can focus fire, and aren’t screwed if one party member goes down), but are really hard on solo.

Yes, my Goldpact/Devoted basically needs 0 consumables. This build also does enough damage that it shouldn’t need more than the drugs for wound generation, healing pots and food. Avenging storm is just fun, try the helm out. I would say my streetfighter/goldpact can solo every fight in the game on upscaled PotD without non-healing consumables, but there’s one exception: I’ve needed other consumables — and luck! — to get through the Contest of the Seeker fight in SSS.

A couple thoughts: Re 1. I think Rippste is definitely worth it on solo runs, even if you aren’t focusing on a high deflection. It’ll add more DPS than most other passives (certainly more than Improved Crit, for ex). Which is not to say you can’t also get Blade Turning if you’d like... Re 3. I’d definitely want one of these (your choice), given how useful it can be to change positioning. Re 4. I think Rooting Pain is probably worth it on solo melee builds, even post nerf, because the occasional interrupt they can cause is pretty good. Not a must-have, though. Re 20/22. I think it’s probably worth it to have at least one source of regeneration, given that you have no other abilities that heal you. A ring of greater regeneration is probably the best choice here.

I got the +7 deflection bracers as reward for the lone survivor quest in the tunnels under the gullet when you take the lift down. If you help him escape you will find him in port maje. I talked to him twice and got the bracers Interesting - I've only gotten cloaks of protection from that quest. Maybe there's a variable reward?

Happily, there is now a place you can reliably buy them: one of the merchants in the crucible (in the SSS DLC) sells them. Ah, excellent. I haven't done the SSS DLC yet. Can you go into the area, just buy stuff, and back out? Well, there is one tough-ish fight (which you can avoid with the right mix of skills/backgrounds/reputations), and a follow up skill/attribute challenge to get into the crucible itself. But those are the only obstacles.

Happily, there is now a place you can reliably buy them: one of the merchants in the crucible (in the SSS DLC) sells them.

For solo runs I’d be inclined to go for streetfighter — when you’re the only target, it’s relatively easy to get flanked fo get the main streetfighter benefit. And for the really long fights (and the already long fights will run even longer without the streetfighter offensive buffs), your trickster guile can run out. And if you’re relying on it for defense, and you run out halfway through the fight, things can go south pretty quickly. But in group play both are great. And since it’s pretty clear you prefer the trickster experience, go with that!

afaict from my attempts, it only uses it a few times early on... i think it must be triggered by specific (high) health thresholds, because in my several attempts it had the same usage pattern each time, and after the few early uses I never saw it use it again later into the fight (even as i dropped it into bloodied/near death territory). Interesting — so maybe the gouging strike tactic might work after all. Or, if the healing re-triggers when they hit a certain health threshold, it might be immune to the tactic unless you first get it below those health levels before you run off and hide.

OK, I just managed to finish the SSS DLC with my goldpact/streetfighter (upscaled PotD solo). So, despite my earlier skepticism, it is doable. Just really, really hard (at least for me!). The hardest fight for me was the Contest of the Seeker fight, described above. The other really hard fight was the last fight. I'll admit that I was exhausted enough at this point to cheese the final fight a bit; I ended up hiding on one side of the arena, and then luring them over to get killed one or two at a time. Anyway, in case anyone else also finds themselves trying to solo this fight, here are a couple comments: The little Ps have a nasty attack that inflicts a significant amount of raw damage over time (targeting fort save). And they use it pretty frequently. Things that boost fort save, reduce raw damage (Voidward ring), and reduce affliction duration effects (Ring of the Solitary Wanderer, Strand of Favor, Mohara Wraps) are really helpful here. Armor is important, and the Ps seem to change what kind of damage they do to target your weak armor. (When I wore armor weak to piercing their physical attacks were piercing, when I wore armor weak to bludgeoning, their physical attacks were bludgeoning.) So it's harder to get a high enough armor to completely ignore their physical attacks... The big P has a nasty grab attack, which inflicts a quick sequence of separate bludgeoning attacks that can add up to a lot of damage real quick. Fortunately, like many of the worst big boss attacks, it has limited range, and if you time it right, you can run away when you see them using it, and have them all miss. (Have to time this carefully though, sometimes when I ran away as soon as I saw it starting the ability, it just followed me and then hit me with it.) If you want to be a little cheesy, you can run turn invisible, run to the side of the arena, and then slowly venture back toward them. At some point one or two will sense you and run over to you, but the rest will stay there. Then you can dispatch those ones, and then start stepping toward the rest again... and so on. Unsurprisingly, this makes the fight a lot easier. If you want to be really cheesy, and hit the big P with a gouging strike and then hide... I'm pretty sure it won't work. The big P has an ability which allows them regenerate a bunch of damage. And while it doesn't seem to use it that frequently, it uses it frequently enough to make up for the damage a gouging strike inflicts.EDIT: Though thelee’s remarks, below, suggests that a version of this may be doable after all.

An update on the difficulty this build can handle: I just finished the SSS DLC on solo upscaled PotD. I won’t say it was easy, though; and two of the fights were excruciatingly difficult. But doable...

On solo runs, I think Riposte is fantastic, even if you’re not running a super high deflection build. So many things attack you that a fair number will miss, and if a reasonable number of those lead to ripostes you can significantly increase how much damage you dish out...

The voidward ring reduces raw damage by 25%, so that helps a bit. And sources of regeneration (ring of greater regeneration, three troll-stitched cape, flashmender armor, exalted endurance, ancient memory, etc) can offset it. Other than that, as Hulk says, just try to end the fight quickly...

Yeah, I’ve come to a similar conclusion about FoD in solo runs. In the toughest fights I never use it because I need to save Zeal for LoH. And the fights in which I do use it are fights that I know I’m going to win already, and am just using them to speed things up. So FoD doesn’t really add much, on solo, regarding what fights I can handle. I think there’s a difference between solo and group play here. With group play you generally have other potential sources of healing, and a less dire outcome if one particular character goes down (cuz you have four more!). In those cases the FoD vs LoH tradeoff looks a lot better.