I recently completed a solo potd run with a build that I wanted to share because I found it fun and interactive to play. You have lots of options available and can die in a couple of hits so it's quite a thrilling experience. I don't like avoiding combat because to me it's the most fun part of the game. Therefore, tried to kill everything I could just to see if it could be done and it turns out that it can be done.
This build is just my suggestion. I am sure there are other ways to build it but the core is effective and most of all fun. As with all builds you probably want to take different skills earlier so you have more options then respec later into the "final build".
tl;dr
Make the enemies attack your pet, throw bombs, kill the enemies and your own pet, make a new pet, bravely run away, shoot arrows, kill everything.
Class
Rogue (Assassin)
Ranger (Ghost Heart)
You need your pet to tank for you so I chose Bear as my animal spirit but Boar probably works too.
Race
Hearth Orlan is probably the "correct" race due to the hit to crit conversion on enemies your pet is engaged with. I went with Island Aumaua because among the waves fits the theme of this elusive character and the +2 might helps too.
Attributes to focus on
Perception
Might
Dexterity
Active skills
Explosives
Explosives
Explosives
Explosives
Explosives
Weapons
Aamiina's legacy - A high damage bow that sometimes stuns on hit and does some crush damage too. I used this one most of the time because it's a heavy hitter on a single target and your explosives mostly handle the aoe side of things. Also this is a hunting bow and therefore has the rapid shot modal. You have high accuracy so although I haven't done any actual calculations I suspect this weapon gives you the highest dps. Plus it looks cool when you fire loads of arrows one after the other like legolas.
Frostseeker - Good against groups because it does aoe on crit but everybody already knows how good this bow is so I don't need to go on about it. It also adds a different damage type
Veilpiercer - Destroys spirits and does some raw damage. There's a 50% chance to fire a second attack immediately on scoring a crit but I did some comparisons and most of the time Aamiina's legacy seems to do more reliable single target DPS. However, the purging volley upgrade strips all beneficial effects from a target so is great against highly buffed targets.
Equipment
Head - Blackblade's hood for the +perception and hit to crit conversion
Neck - Precognition for the +crit damage
Cape - Ajamuut's stalking cloak for +damage, +accuracy and stun from stealth
Armor - Fleshmender for the +1 weapon set, extra armor which regenerates, and the Health regen
Hands - Firethrower gloves for the +dexterity and +explosives
Ring 1 - Chameleon's touch for the +dexterity and +perception
Ring 2 - Ring of greater regeneration for the health regen
Belt - The maker's own power for the +might and reforge the flesh ability which is a lifesaver
Feet - Bounding boots for the leap ability which is incredibly versatile
Pet - Harley for +10% damage and +3 accuracy to ranged attacks
Skills
Rogue
Escape
Arterial Strike
Deep pockets
Adept evasion
Shadowing beyond
Deep wounds
Deathblows
Ranger
Shot on the run
Defensive bond
Stalker's link
Driving flight
Survival of the fittest
Superior camouflage
Early game
This is where you get good at kiting and pet aggro management. It's quite slow at first and you need to play it safe. It doesn't take long to become powerful though.
Explosives
This build lacks aoe and especially aoe status effects so we use explosives. We also use our pet to group up the enemies and throw explosives on top of our own pet. With a high explosives skill even cinder bomb does huge damage. Grenades do raw damage so are always useful and lightning bombs are expensive to craft but amazing in terms of Crowd control and damage. Cinder bombs give the blind and flanked status effects so trigger the death blows passive. Cinder bombs are great in all situations so if you're low on money focus on those.
Ingredients
You need to go on regular shopping runs to support your explosives addiction. Luckily you can get most of the ingredients you need from the hunter in queen's berth (specifically spices for cinder bombs), the herbalist and the dark cupboard in periki's overlook, and Una the gem merchant in Serpent's crown. Spice is also sold by Enarat in Delver's row. You do a shopping trip then wait for 24 hours and they restock their inventory. Repeat until your addiction to blowing things up is satiated. The only ingredient I couldn't find a regular supply of was oil and if anybody knows of such a merchant then please comment.
Ghost heart
Your pet gets hit a lot, and dies a lot. Luckily the ability to summon your pet has a 0.5 cast time, 0 recovery, and only costs 1 bond. Ghost heart pets are immune to engagement so can be moved around without taking extra damage. Ghost heart is probably the most reliable summon in the game and is great for solo play in my opinion. The summon skill does have a short range though, so you'll need to be careful. In fact I don't take any other ranger skills at all so I can create an endless army of ghost bears.
We often throw explosives directly on top of our pet because if you manage the aggro well he will have all the enemies crowded around him. This is why defensive bond is good, because when you move in to throw explosives, your pet gets higher aoe defense and sometimes doesn't get murdered by it's master.
Pet management
You want to stay away from your pet while it collects aggro. If an enemy looks like he is moving past the pet, quickly attack with the pet. The enemy AI seems to hate breaking engagement and often stops dead in it's tracks. Position your pet in choke points where possible and if the choke is wide then you can move your pet around a bit to try and anticipate enemies who might want to break off and go for you. Here's an example of soloing nemnok by managing the pet well and using the environment. This was honestly a really tough fight clearing this room and I don't want to talk about it because it was traumatic.
Early on your pet dies a lot so keep track of it's health and pre-emptively summon another one. You can summon directly on top of the existing pet so as not to break up the enemy deathball. Otherwise summon, then run your character away while moving your pet back in to collect aggro. Here's an example of using your pet to control the enemies and also shows the versatility of leap (from bounding boots) to avoid traps and move aggro back to your pet.
Combat
Ideally you start fights from stealth by attacking a high priority target with arterial strike. Then summon your pet before running, leaping or shadowing beyond away while collecting aggro in a chokepoint with your pet. Use of chokepoints is of utmost importance, as is messing with the enemy AI by presenting your pet as the better target. When they are grouped up you throw bombs until everything dies. For smaller groups you don't need explosives as you do a lot of single target damage with high crit chance. Explosives are expensive to craft so you need to save them where possible. Frostseeker also does decent aoe damage on crit.
You can also throw a sparkcracker from stealth, and throw a couple more explosives of your choice on the grouped enemies before stealth breaks. This is another option for starting a fight.
If you can't start a fight from stealth then it's the same principle really. Here's an example of a scripted fight where you can't initiate from stealth. It also shows how to use the pet in a chokepoint and managing aggro. Here's an example of a fight where I got spotted and had to fight while already surrounded. These two examples show how you can use chokepoints, your maneuverability, and your pet aggro management to salvage a non-perfect start to combat.
Some of the harder fights can take a long time and you run out of resources for skills. This is when we try to reset the fight by using the 3 guile points we saved for shadowing beyond. Try to kill one or two of the enemies between each reset.
How to not die
You're a total glass cannon. You don't want to get hit at all if you can help it. You definitely never want to be in melee range. Be ready to use leap or shadowing beyond to escape and try to save 3 guile just for such an emergency. You can also just run with your high stride and +defense to disengagement attacks. Most fights you can reset by shadowing beyond then running away and waiting for the enemy to go passive again. This doesn't always work so then it becomes time to kite. You can kite very well with your high stride and dexterity and your pet running interference. This is also why Arterial strike is a good skill for this build because they take damage while they chase you.
If you get hit by a ranged attack or aoe you will notice it hurts a lot. This is because you are a glass cannon. However your regen items help in longer fights by healing up after you get hit.
Feedback
If you have any feedback on how to make this build better, or any suggestions at all then let me know. I'm not really into min/maxing and basically fumbled my way through this build after chatting to a guy on twitch who suggested it was fun. I can't remember your name but you were right mate. You were right.
Next up
Currently attempting a trial of iron run as a ghost heart/transmuter wizard (with alchemy focus for poison usage and poison type spells). I've already nearly died 3 times. It's stressful but in a good way. https://www.twitch.tv/barrypickles if you want to watch.
