mjo2138

Yes that confirms what I was thinking about MC rogue builds- resetting the difficult encounters is the way to go - especially I see there are good builds about using SC Assassin (i think you made it) AH I was not aware you cannot reset encounters Ultimate - which is okay because I have happy with regular solo runs for now . I forgot about using Arcana- that would help my finish my current run (devoted/streetfighter) I do appreciate the simplicity in solo play. It really lets you focus on the items and skills in a unique way. Honestly, I was thinking of SC Bloodmage first, but I decided to be a Swashbuckler. In RPGs , I am always partial to wizards/mages haha. In my other genre of games (FPS) I do not have that luxury. I will have to check out your Bloodmage guide. Nice Taken reference LOL. That is a great point about using withdraw- a really great spell. I will think about using the scrolls in my current run to make it through some difficult encounters with mages- Arcane Dampener is a really party pooper. May I ask which class you did for the ultimate? i am always curious about people's approaches. That sounds like fun for an assassin class. The alpha strike strategy sounds like a really satisfying , stealthy approach. SC FF monk is so fun too! WoTW is a real treat haha. Monks are just great overall. Swasbuckler has not been too bad thus far, but late game I am going to need to reset encounters or use Arcana, both of which are viable strats. Honestly, however, the encounters are a bit boring lol, but I guess that is to be expected when you are just one character. oh that sounds like a fun build. What weapons would you use for a devoted helwalker? Hand Mortars? Does unbending always stay up? I will have to check out this build, too!

That is is very interesting; it seems like an Ironman run / or Triple Crown is about studying each encounter carefully, beating it, and then doing an actual 'run' It is quite a challenge indeed. By the way, were you the 12th Ultimate person listed (Psion/Troubadour)? If not that is okay haha. I have a lot of work to do before I even can do an Ironman run , yet alone a game with those challenges enabled. I think you have a YT channel right? If not, I know the person who did this run had playlist of tests.

I really think deadfire is a more polished version of the Baldur gate series from my childhood. There is AI scripting, so you don’t have to micro so much which is huge. Aside from that the party management is easier, and the revamped spell system as per encounter is great

Honey wine hen food has like plus 4 might right? If you use that , along with equipment and might buffs , I think you can reach 25. The initial food bonus is very good which gives you more wiggle room

Hello Everyone, I am trying my first solo run (POTD-upscaled all) and I decided to do a swashbuckler. It is very strange to not have the usual banter of the party, and I am not sure I enjoyed the 'powerleveling' aspect of early game, where I basically had to level up doing menial quests and ship exploring to become a more powerful character. It was a bit of a grind, compared to a 5 man party, in which you are really playing the game from the inception. I really become more powerful around level 12-14, and now at level 20 I can handle many encounters, but a lack of healing and ability refresh is a bit of an issue. I am doing Nemnok now, and I think I will need to use invis to reset battles after killing the mobs one by one. Is is just me, or is that the 'Meta' for solo play for swashbuckers or rogue types? I dont want to do it every time, but it seems like certain encounter leave little other option. I imagine a monk would just be able to use WoTW to eradicate mobs. In sum it feels like a Swashbuckler loses its utility in the late game. I guess I can spam healing potions, but even then it is not enough depending on the mobs (esp. Arcane dampener!) Other than that, I guess blood mage or priest of skaen are good choices, as I have seen on the Ultimate list! Why do most people choose priest of skaen - to reset battles using Invis? I think I will try to do a monk solo for the next round. What has your recent solo experiences been like? Which classes have you enjoyed? And, what have been some of your successes ,challenges, or anecdotes?

I played Arcane Knight , and ended up burning out. Now that I think about it, I should have played it as a DEF stacking tank with WoTEP w/ Offensive Parry, and casting spells. On the other hand , I agree that Battlemage is more overall 'fun'!

In addition to what is already mentioned about frontliners, I agree that often times 1 is enough. That means the rest of the party has two important functions (hard CCing and AOEs on the mobs) - a good offense is the best defense! For buffs, I would prioritize Armor Reduction Buffs, accuracy, or perception, with armor being the most important. What's more, make sure you have 1-2 flankers who are actively destroying mages and archers in mobs' backlines. When tough mobs rush you, your best friend is often Resolve afflictions (frightened is good, terrify even better) , as many mobs do not have resistances (I am thinking of Fampyrs!) As for Fire godlike, that is a good question. I am not sure how long the racial +AR buff is, and it could be fun if it lasts forever. On the other hand, having access to the +10 percent crit chance/dmg hat is nice, but so are the racial bonuses for Firegodlike. Thantanos headress is amazing, too, as it provides +5 accuracy +5 % dmg to flanked targets. Once your Swashbucker has persistent distraction, this is guaranteed. I am playing a Death Godlike swashbuckler now, (POTD Solo), but I honestly miss the versatility of having helmet options. In, sum, these are all minor bonuses, so I wouldn't over think it haha

Ah I forgot about the +PL from Sun and Moon - that is a really good bonus, especially combined with other +PL equipment. That gives me ideas for more builds!

Once you get greater maelstrom, I would suggest using Crusted Swordfish for the +2 PEN for the spell. usually this will be enough +PEN to win encounter. If it isn't you can stack a fully upgraded lord darryon's plys Deltro's cage, for +5 powerlevel for greater mealstrom. However, that is usually overkill. If you have another melee character using 2h, I would dedicate lord darroy's to him/her. For druids, I prefer the staff that boosts +3 Beast/ Plant, so I can really get mileage out of druid's defensive spells , as well as insect spells.

Stats focused on INT PER and DEX, while CON and MIG were 8, and resolve dumped. In hindsight, I didn't need to use Bloodmage going the combat route, since most fights would finish in one 'round' of buffs. PER was not too bad, since I negated the debuff using Xoti's Dire blessing, or Aware from Witch Serafen.

You should go the side quests and explore all parts of the map (that you are able to). You can get better equipment. Scoredo's edge comes later in the game, but I think if you finish the associated quests (Hansongo, then Ashen maw) you can unlock the quest to get Scorede's edge. Pretty sure it aligns you with the Principi, however.

Nice ! I am actually trying the same class build in my first POTD solo run! Honestly, I just focused on buffing up with wizard spells, and then shooting everything. In harder fights, I would use terrify or shadowflame for CC, but I found that the most efficent way was to just blast everything. That being said, you bring up a great point - use Heating up to chain spell casts quickly together. On another note, I used high DEX for this playthrough, but I regret it, because with Heating up, high DEX is not as important. I don't understand how inversions work in this game LOL

Hello everyone, I just finished my POTD Upscaled (all) run as MC streetfighter/bloodmage - I really was able to 'discover' the power of dual wielding hand mortars, and I spend a lot of the game switching between melee and mortars, only to realize that dual mortars seems to be a better 'choice' for several reasons. Some reflections 1. Pro: Aoe attacks means you can hit 2-3 enemies each time 2. Pro: By using hand mortars, you do not have to micro switching between weapons all the time to to trigger 'heating up', Never found a consistent way to stay flanked or bloodied with this build without being in too much danger. Perhaps a streetfighter/paladin or fighter would give me the 'tools'. Idk. 3. Con: Using hand mortars you will affect allies with powder burns, which is annoying, forcing allies to eat Captians Banquet, therefore losing the +2 PEN for Hot Razor Skewers food (can be negated with abilities, but still) I want to try a melee streetfighter again, and it seems like zealot would be the best choice. Still, there will be a lot of micro involved in order to stay flanked. By the way . Pale Hide Armor offers + DEF when flanked.... that gets me thinking! The other option is making a zerker/cipher to constantly keep phantom foes up on me; however, this would affect all my party too... not sure if the trade off is worth it! (unless I counter it with 'immune to flanking' weapons for frontliners.....

Good to know, I always avoided Fassina, but you are right that a SC Conjurer does have a lot of good spells. Also transmutation is open, so she could even use Nissana's (sp) Cobra Strikes!

Those all sound like good ideas. It is a really powerful weapon due to its shock/slash damage - lots of enemies are weak to Shock (valians, constructs), so it is really powerful against them.

I am playing Xoti know with a 2h Morningstar, so she can debuff fortitude and land Blessed Harvests more easily. I always give Eder or a similar character 2 sabres.

There have been a lot of posts about this, so I would try 'searching' for POTD solo builds, and see what turns up first. Chanter/Paladin MC is a popular choice . They can heal, summon, and whittle down mobs with Essence Interrupter (very good bow!)

Make sure you are using armor reduction boosting skills , even food that does it too. For example, druid has some good AR boosting skills, and so does chanter (but you cannot cast it on yourself, I believe) . If you have a druid and a chanter, you can get excellent AR bonuses early game even, and it only gets better as you progress. Get the really good equipment quickly, and you will stay alive longer - Devil of Caroc Breastplate in Nekataka, and the Painted Plate in Crookspur's merchant camp, bot have really high AR. Also, make sure the damage type mobs are using is not the 'weak spot' for your armor. For example, some armors have high AR against slash, but not pierce. find a Blunting Belt early on (random loot) and the Dragon's Pendant (rare loot in shipwrecks / burial sites)

I usually do it this way, as the skills are beneficial for not only battles, but also scripted encounters. 1) Mechanics, almost always , my MC focuses on mechanics, (alongside Berath's Blessings for +2 stats) so I acquire the good equipment early on. Namely, in Nekataka you can steal some nice stuff very early on 2) Stealth - this goes hand in hand with mechanics, is useful for rogue types, as well as scripted encounters. Usually, my "mechanics' character will open stuff, then the stealth character will loot it 3) Athletics - give this to at least one person, does not have to be the tank even. Useful all around for scripted events , and certain equipment benefits 4) Alchemy / Arcana, - Honestly, i rarely use scrolls, potions, or drugs, but they are very good. For example, scroll of maelstrom lets you win almost any encounter. Scroll of avenging storm is equally fun. I would experiment with these and find which you like. Arcana is the safer choice because drug crash time is really annoying (albeit potions do not have this side effect) 5) I never use explosives, and there are few scripted encounters that require it, to the best of my knowledge. Some players like them. In terms of skills and equipment, find the ones you like and max them. Do check the wikis , because at a certain point, skill boosts max out or become negligible for items such as the Cladu -whatever large shield that uses Athletics.

Yes , of course all subclasses are good in their owns. I just found the Beguiler to be my personal 'best' for the base game. Honestly, I don't really like the DLC content, where there are very long battles, not in the base game, are to be found. That being said, I do enjoy the Mega boss fights! I think Beguiler works well for a caster/support type character. For a Main Character Witch, you can go in a lot of directions. I think soul blade is an excellent choice. Barbarians run out of 'rage' rather quickly, so I would learn into some key cipher skills.

I second @Elric Galad above -Beguiler is the better subclass for me. You generate focus so quickly from casting deception spells, even as a multiclass character, that you always have focus. I found myself having more focus than I needed, so I think beguiler is the best choice. BTW - this is good witch guide for Serafen https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1399216139

Just an update- I am running the streetfighter/blood mage build, but honestly I am getting tired of the micro required to keep 'heating up' , since I want to run it as a melee rogue, not a blunderbass main. While a chanter could keep me distracted with wisps, I don't want to dedicate another character to only do this. Also, I don't want to use sparkcrackers or another method each and every fight. Therefore, time to change. I think a streetfighter/priest would be easier , or a pukestabber rogue/barb. I will sleep on it!

I always ran Maia as a scout , and if you are playing POTD for the first time, this is a good choice. I followed Sin lee's guides on steam / YT. That being said, I have not ran her as Geomancer, but I plan to this time around. You could use the gun Blightheart which is a popular build in these forums.

Thank you! I This looks like a great build; I always enjoy reading Thelee's guides! Thank you for the tip! I forgot that hand mortars are separate from blunderbasses in that way. I will make sure to pick up blinding smoke. If you don't mind, can you share the preferred upgrades for Fire in the hole and hand mortar. I know you really enjoy the aoe features of these weapons. Yes, Arkemy's is excellent. That would be a fun direction to go with a spellblade assassain. Let me ask you: 1. Do you use empower much often , or do you focus on stacking rest bonuses . I end up not using empower later game once I start stacking up the Boons, +2 stat bonuses from the alchemy pool, Luminous bathhouse, etc. I do still rest, but I always end up 'saving' my empowers. 2. Do you use drugs and potions during difficult fights? I honesty use neither, mostly because I am too lazy to turn of AI and manually drink potions

Thanks everyone for the tips : Here is what I am thinking. If you have any insights, I would welcome them. 1) Streetfighter/Bloodmage - trying this one out now, only lvl2 so really hard to judge it. I figure I will play it as a 'rogue' who gets super buffed from wizard spells. I will then use Cobra Strike as my main attack, but I might also switch to daggers for a 'speed demon' build once I get Pukestabber. Honestly, it is kind of annoying having to 'switch' Heating Up on every 15 seconds, so I am going to explore having a Chanter's wisps do the job. 2) Helwalker/Streetfighter - by using Blunderbasses (Fire in the Hole, Hand Mortar) I will achieve heating up at all times with the modal. Then, I can really go to town with AOE attacks from Stunning Surge/ Rogue Attacks. This has potential, and I am trying it out on the 'newbie' island. I could use 'Long Pain' against piece immune mobs. Would you suggest using a Pistol and Blunderbass instead? 3) Assassin/Bloodmage - this would focus more on alpha strike casting, but I could still do the same things as a streetfighter without having to always worry about triggering heating up. 4) Streetfighter/Priest (Wael, Skaen?) Once I get BDD and SoT, I could keep myself 'alive', albeit it would be micro heavy . I think with the right combination of items, I could stay at bloodied (Bloody Links, other -DR items) but on POTD I could still get killed very quickly. What do you think?