Concrete Monster

Something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while (and this is probably as good a place as any to get an answer): does anyone have a copy of TheTodWilkinson’s run from before he pulled it down? I deliberately never watched the whole way through to avoid spoilers, but once I’d finished the game and wanted to try a solo Wizard run (inspired by this guide, that video, and a little splash of Jon Irenicus) it was gone. BTW, Grausch, thanks very much for the guide. Very we written, and like I said, helped me greatly in my own solo attempt. Cheers.

Very impressive! I love the use of stealth and the clearly very well-planned routes and options. Down to the very point of stealth for intimidation etc. Can't wait to see how she goes! BTW, Serg. Thanks for the advice regarding scrolls. I have actually finished Elanna's run, and her and Eder will shortly be parting ways, but it's good advice for Kana who will replace him and just in general. In that group I didn't focus on lore with any of my spell casters really, figuring that they had enough of their own stuff to throw without resorting to scrolls. I'd be interested in everyone's general scroll(/consumables) thoughts and strategies. Cheers, CM

Elanna: Party update Eder Aloth Elanna Grieving Mother

Elanna Part V; Having been foiled in their pursuit, next up for Elanna and her friends was a swathe of questing through Defiance Bay. The team completed A Call to Court, Supply and Demand, At All Costs, The Man Who Waits, His Old Self, Built to Last, A Return to Court; and began The Hermit of Hadret House; all with fairly little incident. The only point the team was given pause was against the thugs threatening the Salty Mast. Poor positioning on the engagement there resulted in two knockouts early on, but the two Eothosian devotees carried the team to victory. After this was done it was finally time to deal with Readric. With an extra level or two and a fairly standard choke-point there were no issues grinding the priest-killer into the dust. Osrya was also given a taste of justice for her part in harming innocents. Following this Elanna decided it was time to discover what was happening in Heritage Hill. Once again the area was cleared with no significant issues, even completing Missing Sentries. In this fight both the newly acquired Adra Beetle figurine and the Shades were put to good use buying time for the team. After discovering the mystery of the Engwithan machine Elanna decided to switch it off, hoping to preserve as much of the city as possible while preventing the interruption to the Wheel. With this done the party has garnered sufficient reputation to gain entry to the archives in order to help Eder find out the truth about what happened to his brother. Before leaving the city the party completed a few more tasks. Taking care of The Forgotten on behalf of the Vailian Embassy, investigating the Banshee at the Lighthouse, and clearing out Crucible Keep of its malfunctioning Animat soldiers. These battles took a heavier toll on Elanna and her team with Grieving Mother often bearing the brunt of the hurt. Finally, on their way to investigate Eder’s past and hopefully gain entry to the Engwithan ruins north of Dyrford village the Elanna and co successfully talked down a dangerous Ogre and convinced him to join them at Caed Nua.

Hey Serg, I really love the way you've formatted your team updates, both within your text and with the edited images. I'll certainly be trying to steal some of your ideas in the future! Good luck with the rest of the play-through! Cheers, CM

Thanks Alesia. It’s quite hard for me to post or play with my work, but I have to say that putting in the extra effort to engage with the community rather than just playing alone is well worth it.

Elanna: Party Update So this is where I felt the party was really complete. I started this run with the intention of playing a party similar to what I would have called the 'standard' from when I was first introduced to DND3.5 Edition: Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Rouge. Partly due to mechanics and partly due to style I intended to modify this trope a little, I really wanted to include a Cipher instead of Rogue given the setting, and the plan was to cycle through Chanter and Paladin for the Fighter slot as I progressed. Compared to BG, I think solos, and especially smaller parties gain much less advantage as the experience gain isn't as noticeable compared to a full party, but I liked the idea of slightly more powerful characters, and less micro than having to look after all six (or seven with a ranger) party members. A mistake? Maybe. But a fun one.

Elanna Part IV In the morning, their search for Woedica led them to the ruins of a temple in the center of the city where a long-lost spirit provided the next clue on an increasingly difficult trail to follow. Following this trail took them to the catacombs, where the newly-departed soul of a Woedican acolyte led them through the winding tunnels with very little incident on their way to the hidden Temple of Woedica far below ground. Once inside the temple the party met a new initiate rehearsing their lines for the upcoming ceremony. Having seem how well-armed the mercenaries guarding the temple were Elanna decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and took the initiate’s hood, along with her well-rehearsed catechisms. Elanna’s fiery temper proved useful once again in securing both the hood, and the silence of their unwilling accomplice. Elanna’s disguise was a resounding success and infiltrating the ceremony was as smooth as could be hoped for. From her meeting with the mysterious Woedican cypher Elanna managed to find three promising leads, but the foremost of them looked to take the trio out of the city to the nearby township of Dyrford. On their way out of the city the band chased up a lead on an old family heirloom that they had been asked to retrieve from the Knights Crucible, however their inquiries stopped at a dead-end requiring a visit to Hadret House, which could be ill afforded with their journey to Dyrford such a priority. In Dyrford the group quickly discovered the temple of Berath, and between the kinship of clergy, and Elanna’s growing reputation for complete honesty, they were able to convince the Priest there to provide them with the information they needed. The information was less than ideal, however; the group they were following had headed to Engwithan ruins, which would be dangerous enough on their own, but completely untenable with their ferocious Glanfalthan guardians. The pursuit would have to wait. Fortunately, the journey was not for naught. While in Dyrford Elanna and company happened upon a very particular woman who, as it happened, was a cypher of some skill and who held a great interest for the new watcher. Her assistance was freely offered and greatly appreciated and so the three became four.

Well done Alesia! What great achievement, and trying for the POTD solo as well. I think once I’ve done with Elanna’s story I’ll be following you for the same. It will be great to watch a pro do it before / while I make my attempt. P.S. 1000 comments, what a great thread and a great community.

So excited to have a few active runs going again! Good luck to you both, and hopefully (work allowing) I'll be joining you with a new run soon! P.S. Astrid looks especially cool. Looking forward to seeing another solo run.

Party Update:

Elanna Part III Note: This is where my coverage goes out-of-sync with my game-play, and as such it's even lighter on in the detail than before. I've found screenshotting and writing much more difficult than I expected, but I look forward to improving in the future. Having resolved most of the immediate issues plaguing Gilded Vale, Elanna decided it was high time to seek out what information she could from the mysterious Maerwald, the one who could hopefully help cure her of her disturbing visions. The party headed off to his castle, and after a mishap with some blights outside, managed to make it into the keep. I totally missed my chance for screenshots in this fight, but you can see my positioning. A well-documented spot by now, but it meant that only Eder could be targeted. A huge mass of spirits filled the main hall, but with Eder holding fast the two magic users were able to hurl enough firepower across the great hall that the spirits never stood a chance. Descending into the first level below ground, Elanna and her companions were able to quickly find Maerwald. What they found was not what they expected, however. The old man had lost his mind from time and isolation and tried his best to kill them. Once again, with Eder holding the strong point, Elanna and Aloth were able to bring their full might to bear and the fight was won with little issue. Despite Maerwald’s madness, their search was not in vain. Before his death Maerwald gave them one clue to continue. The City of Defiance, searching for the Queen. Elanna and her friends set off. Having made an uneventful journey to the city, the party took a well-deserved rest. Their search would commence again in earnest in the morning.

Thanks Alesia! It's no trouble at all, it's great to finally meet you and become part of the team with you all after lurking for so long. Full disclosure, Ellana's run is over. I work away a lot and have quite intermittent internet access, so for most of the run I wasn't able to post at all, but I tried to keep up with my drafted posts as best as I could. I would still like to post the run, since it was my first honest attempt and I learned a lot from it. Hopefully there's something to learn for others as well. Can't wait to see your solo run, it will be great to see things keep rolling here!

Is anyone else having problems seeing my images? I followed the instructions posted by Serg back a ways in the thread and it worked fine for the first post, but my last two don't seem to have worked for some reason... Edit: Fixed!

Team update:

The first matter to attend to was to show a local strongarm that that kind of behaviour would not be tolerated. From there, a mother-to-be seemed to have a pressing concern which Elanna felt indebted to resolve. On the way to find Ranga, the trio managed to get slightly lost, and ended up helping cover up for a group of townsfolk down on their luck, being harassed by a bourgeoisie merchant. She hated to tell a lie, but couldn’t stand to see people run into the ground. The trio had no problems in completing Ranga’s requests and returned successfully to Aufra to give her the placebo potion. This time Elanna couldn’t abide a lie, even in good cause. Aufra took the news well and thanked them nonetheless. The trio then proceeded north to Valewood to investigate reports of some dangerous animal activity. It was here they discovered Nonton’s treachery. When confronted, the couple admitted all, and were thus granted redemption. The last small task remaining outstanding was the matter of a smith’s missing shipment somewhere on the road. Elanna and her friends managed to track it down to a bandit group in Black Meadow. Sneaking upon them in the dead of night the party judged them too dangerous to take head on, but vowed to return and mete out justice once they were able. It would have to be enough just to get the smith his supplies for now. Finally, feeling slightly more accomplished and worldly (and felling the good will of Gilded Vale on their side) Elanna and Eder decided it was time to pay homage to their god. Descending into the Temple of Eothas Elanna was aghast. The temple had been overrun by foul creatures and spirits. A man at the entrance claimed that the priests of the temple remained trapped below in need of a proper burial. The upper levels were cleared without incident and Elanna and her company proceeded to the lower levels with confidence. Such confidence soon proved to be unwarranted as the small band was accosted by a large group of spirits and oozes, and nearly met their demise. Eder was the first to fall, being laid low by a spirit with an icy touch who slowed his movement almost to a standstill. Aloth was the next to succumb when all attention was focused on him. It was only after making a tactical retreat that Elanna was able to finish off the monster piecemeal and revive her two new friends. In return for their sacrifices the party were rewarded with an artefact of Eothas himself, which Elanna looked forward to carrying into battle. Just as rewarding was collecting the defiled remains of her fellow priests and consecrating providing them with a proper burial, and hopefully a final rest.

Welcome back Alesia! I'm glad to see there's still some activity here, I was beginning to think I was on my own. I am a bit behind on updates from where I would like to be, and I think my quality leaves a lot to be desired too; but, the only way to improve is to practice right? Should have another update out soon, and can't wait to see some more runs from the pros!

Meet Elanna. Moon Godlike Priestess of Eothas Deadfire Slave Difficulty: POTD Maim before death: Off. Knockout injuries: On. Expert mode: Off. You’d be forgiven in thinking that being born in the Deadfire Archipelago would be the perfect start for one blessed by Ondra, but fate was to play out differently. Elanna was abandoned by superstitious parents and found herself sold off as a good luck charm to a pirate crew. It was here she spent all of her formative years, until by good fortune she found her chance to escape in a boarding-gone-wrong for her captors. Tasting the free air for the first time in her memory she devoted herself to the god of redemption. When she heard that the god himself had manifested, and supposedly been killed, she set out immediately to investigate the events unfolding in the Dyrwood. Elanna has fully embraced the teachings of Eothas, wishing to impart onto the world all of the kindness that she was not shown in her early life. She does, however, still bear the scars of that life, making her sometimes quick to anger when she sees would-be oppressors. Having survived the deadly biawic Elanna quickly made her way to the Gilded Vale to find a less than warm welcome. She found comfort in finding a fellow Eothosian, and agreed to try to help him in a search for answers that looked to mirror hers. Likewise Aloth seemed to be a fish out of water in this cold and inhospitable town, so together they set out to help who they could, and find what answers were there to be found. Out intrepid adventurer and her new friends.

Hi all! I know it’s been a while since there’s been a lot of activity on the thread, but I’m keen to get involved if anyone is still around. As a bit of background I’ve been addicted to no reload play since I first started with it on X-COM. I’ve read through pretty much the whole thread with great interest, and appreciate all the stories and advice that have been shared. For myself I’ve just finished my first full play through of POE with a barbarian Watcher and had a blast. Kinda rushed through from the end of act 2, so there’s still a fair bit I haven’t seen. I’ve just started my first honest NR run, which I’ll post about shortly. Until then hello and good luck to all on their runs.