A call to all true Ascetics or: Another Naked-Solo-Challenge

[mant2si]

Something is going wrong here...

 

After having a really easy early-game with the Devoted/Trickster things are going out of hand after he reached level 13 picking up Unbending.

 

Can it really be that this skill gets stack over stack making the char (nearly) unkillable as long as you take care of magic dampener or heavy healing reduction?

 

Most of the time i can just run into the middle of the pack with unbending + disciplined strikes spamming crippling strike and death blow or just watch how the enemies get punched down with one crit after another while my character always stays at full health? Even if i run out of resources or healing reduction ticks in: Jump and Smoke Veil always keeps me save. Reset and strike again.

 

Maybe i should switch my rules to Single-Class only. Or wait until Obsidian has released all of their own bonus challenges.

This skill work only with group of enemies, it doesn't work well with bosses / arcane dumper / constitution affliction - i.e single affliction that reduce incoming health can be deadly for you 

 

L13 fights is really easy, try to challenge fampyrs or other high level content, check ship combat, for everything else you don't need even unbending

Edited August 19, 2018 by mant2si

[Reent]

naked chanter in POE1 was easy after i knew what to do, vanilla game i could manage TCS naked chanter without problem after caed nua, the add ons i didnt play that much...

this time i am waiting for all DLCs before i really invest time into game - burned out on POE1 before really finishing the add ons, i havent killed the Archmages yet.

 

Started the game with TCS and... it wasn't fun to walk through the prologue, at least you can skip it now.

 

Chanter+Shifter is quite fun - go in for the kill or summon for the win, Chanter+Rogue was my plan for a serious TCS try... maybe i will look into monk+chanter some more... so i can try the naked run with it.

 

I still need to prepare for ship battles, i lost most chars to ship battles...

[Harpagornis]

Yeah, you are right @Reent. I am also waiting until the DLC´s and bonus challenges are out so for the moment i am mostly toying around with lots of builds not caring about items. I have done so many poverty/naked runs in other games in the meanwhile that i cannot allow myself to use all those "OP" weapons, armor etc. I restarted another Devoted/Priest of Wael using Beraths Challenge just to see how much more challenging it gets. For Chanters this one should be a dream but - yeah - i still dont like this class at all.

[Harpagornis]

Beraths Challenge is finally bringing some more fun into the naked runs!

 

While my Devoted/Priest of Wael was already strong Eklun the Elven Devoted/Shieldbearer seems even stronger. At least for the early game. So far he managed to clear all enemy groups except for the Drake and the Skeletons in the training hall in one go using Disciplined Strike + Lay on Hands whenever HP were critical. The Spirits and Adra Slime were easier than expected as long as he splitted the big group in smaller ones so Constant Recovery was keeping his HP high as long as possible before switching to Lay on Hands. Even the Crystal Spiders were much easier thanks to the Elven innate resistance to dexterity afflictions (no paralyze at all). The spiders and swarms of imps in the SE required the first Empower to regain some class powers. Still a close fight!

 

The next goal is to somehow close the gap to level 13 gaining Unbending so bigger group fights will get much easier. Neketaka is waiting...

Edited August 20, 2018 by Harpagornis

[Belegc]

I wonder if a combination of Monk (Helwalker) + Priest of Wael could work for this challenge.

Monk for the improving your fists damage (Transcendent Suffering) and the all the other monk goodies including the huge might bonus from Helwalker while the priest could supply all the defensive/buffing side.

race could be Nature Godlike but the attributes are difficult to distribute .

[Dorftek]

I wonder if a combination of Monk (Helwalker) + Priest of Wael could work for this challenge.

Monk for the improving your fists damage (Transcendent Suffering) and the all the other monk goodies including the huge might bonus from Helwalker while the priest could supply all the defensive/buffing side.

race could be Nature Godlike but the attributes are difficult to distribute .

 

Problem is that u will go down very fast with this combo, especially as a helwalker. U'd have to rely on Barring Deaths door + Salvation of time to keep u alive. It could work but it will be very difficult before lvl 16.

[mant2si]

After few tests (I done all tests with console) I don't think that this challenge is possible without chanter class (only if you want simple complete game without clearing all tough fights). I tested Troubadour/Devoted and can complete near all (High Level) fights without problems

Chanters solve summon/healing/penetration problems and has unlimited resources

The biggest problem is long fights like Ukaizo where bosses have high Armor/Life, with low deflection

Druid + Fighter/Paladin is also good, but you don't have enough penetration and invise/withdraw spells
Skaen + Fighter can done a lot of fights, but don't have enough healing for long bosses fights
Shifter + Monk can't handle boarding fights with a lot of ranger enemies

I don't like challenges where your forced to select single class You can call it Chanter Naked-Solo-Challenge :D

Edited August 21, 2018 by mant2si

[Dorftek]

After few tests I don't think that this challenge is possible without chanter class (only if you want simple complete game without clearing all tough fights). I tested Troubadour/Devoted and can complete near all (High Level) fights without problems

 

Chanters solve summon/healing/penetration problems and has unlimited resources

The biggest problem is long fights like Ukaizo where bosses have high Armor/Life, with low deflection

 

Druid + Fighter/Paladin is also good, but you don't have enough penetration and invise/withdraw spells

Skaen + Fighter can done a lot of fights, but don't have enough healing for long bosses fights

Shifter + Monk can't handle boarding fights with a lot of ranger enemies

 

 

yeah this is what i was afraid of, the AR vs Pen screw u over in this game

[Dr <3]

Yeah, but you know, the game is kind balaced for a party of 5 people, using weapons and spells with sinergic effect. Obviously if you solo you have to cover all problems ( tank, dps, buff yourself, debuff enemies) by yourself, by design every class do something better than others...

 

Surely chanter is a strong contender mainly for unlimited resources, but so are also chipers and monks more or less

[Dorftek]

not as much while naked

[Harpagornis]

In PoE 1 Chanter was the king of naked runs so i banned this class from my personal list. Druid was another strong contender that only struggled in the very-late game. Monk was also great except for the boss fights in WM 1&2. Too bad if Chanter is still THE class to go thanks to unlimited chants. Another reason to ban the class from this challenge!

 

I really do not like the AR/PEN-system in PoE 2 either. Why not using the old one? Without Devoted or Berserker most builds will lack PEN here. Devoted/Lifegiver was another idea i started some days ago but have not played further. At least it has good PEN, lots of heals and nice CC. The Devoted/Trickster was quite nice up to level 15 murdering even big groups without problems. But the lack of sustain against big bosses (Ukaizo!) hurts a lot. Sure he could just use Smoke Veil to skip it but that feels just lame.

 

But havent you said @Mant2si that your Priest of Magran/Ghostheart was able to beat the Guardian of Ukaizo? Was this without any consumables? If so we might have another contender. Chanters i do not count.

 

P.S. What about a Devoted/Shieldbearer?

He gets resistance or immunity to any affliction, can dish out quite some damage and has lots of sustain. Still not enough?

Edited August 21, 2018 by Harpagornis

[mant2si]

In PoE 1 Chanter was the king of naked runs so i banned this class from my personal list. Druid was another strong contender that only struggled in the very-late game. Monk was also great except for the boss fights in WM 1&2. Too bad if Chanter is still THE class to go thanks to unlimited chants. Another reason to ban the class from this challenge!

 

I really do not like the AR/PEN-system in PoE 2 either. Why not using the old one? Without Devoted or Berserker most builds will lack PEN here. Devoted/Lifegiver was another idea i started some days ago but have not played further. At least it has good PEN, lots of heals and nice CC. The Devoted/Trickster was quite nice up to level 15 murdering even big groups without problems. But the lack of sustain against big bosses (Ukaizo!) hurts a lot. Sure he could just use Smoke Veil to skip it but that feels just lame.

 

But havent you said @Mant2si that your Priest of Magran/Ghostheart was able to beat the Guardian of Ukaizo? Was this without any consumables? If so we might have another contender. Chanters i do not count.

 

P.S. What about a Devoted/Shieldbearer?

He gets resistance or immunity to any affliction, can dish out quite some damage and has lots of sustain. Still not enough?

> Another reason to ban the class from this challenge! 

 

Yeah you need to ban Chanters otherwise there no point for naked challenge - unlimited summons with +4 pen, more OP than any existed weapon 

 

> But havent you said @Mant2si that your Priest of Magran/Ghostheart was able to beat the Guardian of Ukaizo?

 

Yeah I killed Ukazio with Magran/Ranger -  I used withdraw to reset fight after each Ukaizo stage transition, and remove minions aggro, but I can't handle any high level boat fights

 

But I also killed Ukaizo with Skaen/Fighter - the trick to remove Energyzed inspirations with Club modal and L1 Priest Interdiction, I used withdraw to reset 2x times fight and remove minions aggro

 

I don't know how works Berath Challenge -  but without fight resetting I can't kill Ukaizo, because of 60 sec first transition

 

If there will be at least one crush immune boss or boss with 15+ crush armor and +120 deflection...

 

> What about a Devoted/Shieldbearer?

 

You don't need Paladin to resistance to all afflictions, Dwarf + Fighter + Captain Banquet enough 

 

> Devoted/Lifegiver 

 

Yeah that combination work pretty well, but without invise spell, one mistake cause you to lose your character 

 

 

[mant2si]

The simplest thing that you can do to make your challenge funnier, allow weapons (I assume Obisidian challenge also allowed weapon)

[Harpagornis]

Okay, to sum it up:

 

- Chanters should play on their own battleground but not here

 

- Without invisibility-resets boss fights seem impossible plus any mistake might cause a quick death

 

- Ship fights favour Fighter/XXX as anything else will go down too quickly

 

- Beraths Challenge will kill anyone except Chanters (who are already out)

 

There is not much room left when picking classes...

 

Devoted/Priest seems to be the hottest contender:

 

1. +2 PEN

2. Lots of Buffs

3. Resistance to Afflictions (Dwarf!)

4. AoE damage

5. Invisibilty for resets

6. Good sustain

 

I think i will have to rethink about the rule settings as well as waiting for the upcoming DLC´s until playing the game "for real". However: Its still fun toying around with all kinds of builds. Big thanks for all your input - especially to @Mant2si who has given me lots of new ideas. Great! Looks like it will still take quite some time before i will finish the game for the very first time without rerolling another char.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Harpagornis

[mant2si]

> - Chanters should play on their own battleground but not here

Yeah, single Chanter/X is like 2 - 3 character party 

> - Without invisibility-resets boss fights seem impossible plus any mistake might cause a quick death

Not all, currently only Ukaizo, but I assume that new Mega Bosses will be also multistage

> - Ship fights favour Fighter/XXX as anything else will go down too quickly

You can use Invise + Summon (for example Ranger + Rogue), but Fighter can start fight immediately

> -  Beraths Challenge will kill anyone except Chanters (who are already out)

Maybe X / Skaen can use Triumph of Crusaders to kill minions, or withdraws and shadow beyond to apply buffs, let's check first mega boss :D

> There is not much room left when picking classes...

Yeah 

But you can allow weapon and check single handed Devoted/Ghost Hear with Pistol Modal ;D There also exist Eccea's Arcane Blaster that solve any possible penetration problems, you can DW it with any melee weapon and enjoy 50% + 30% + 15% recovery reduction

Edited August 21, 2018 by mant2si

[Reent]

If Devoted worked with Shifter... i'd have my character (with Chanter banned)...

Shifter+Paladin looked like fun, but i only did a few quests in neketaka with it (and with items, but mostly used one spell before shifting, it was before items worked while shifting)

[mant2si]

If Devoted worked with Shifter... i'd have my character (with Chanter banned)...

Shifter+Paladin looked like fun, but i only did a few quests in neketaka with it (and with items, but mostly used one spell before shifting, it was before items worked while shifting)

Devoted don't work with Shifter

Shiftir + Paladin I have big problems with PEN for this combination

[Harpagornis]

If the game data is correct then using weapons would indeed be okay:

 

"Naked Run: Complete the game without wearing any armor, boots, gloves, helmets, or accessories in combat. (5 new game points)"

 

This would give the challenge new perspectives - which is good.

 

On the other hand i am wondering what we should put on top of this? TCS mandatory? No invisibility? Or at least one God Challenge? As only two of them are in the game for now i am not sure if its a good idea to put in Berath.

 

So for the moment i am updating the OP:

 

- No Chanters

- You are allowed to use weapons

 

P.S. AI scripts are also banned. Play on your own or get doomed!

Edited August 21, 2018 by Harpagornis

[1TTFFSSE]

The problem with no weapons is it basically says ok you have to do either 1.)summoned weapons (limited to a few classes) or 2.) use unarmed combat perk so basically you have to be durable ie be a fighter/x it is kinda limiting given the penetration system in potd.

 

But with weapons you can also open a new can of worms because experienced players know how to metagame a few choice weapons ie red hand damage stacking (obvious), eccea's blaster projectile splitting/spell duplication (cipher), and certain weapons with good power levels to fire etc can push an already very strong class like wizard/evoker over the top. 

not to mention you have enough weapons with special abilities that allow you to one shot groups of mobs with special attacks.

 

if you say no enchanting allowed (on weapons) it certainly improves the situation but then I will see a bunch of grave calling saber builds pop up. 

[Harpagornis]

I got your point @1TTFFSSE - and this doesnt sound okay. So What about this?

 

Cursed Stuff: You cannot unequip any weapon (or shield).

 

This would force the player to choose wisely limiting at least some abuse. Other ideas?

 

P.S. As i have no ideas about the ingame weapons other will have a better overview!

Edited August 21, 2018 by Harpagornis

[mant2si]

The problem with no weapons is it basically says ok you have to do either 1.)summoned weapons (limited to a few classes) or 2.) use unarmed combat perk so basically you have to be durable ie be a fighter/x it is kinda limiting given the penetration system in potd.

 

But with weapons you can also open a new can of worms because experienced players know how to metagame a few choice weapons ie red hand damage stacking (obvious), eccea's blaster projectile splitting/spell duplication (cipher), and certain weapons with good power levels to fire etc can push an already very strong class like wizard/evoker over the top. 

not to mention you have enough weapons with special abilities that allow you to one shot groups of mobs with special attacks.

 

if you say no enchanting allowed (on weapons) it certainly improves the situation but then I will see a bunch of grave calling saber builds pop up. 

I don't think this is problem :D

 

Grave calling saber builds - without chanter ? 

Rccea's blaster projectile splitting/spell duplication - Solo ? 

Red hand damage stacking (obvious) - I believe this will be fixed 

Fire PL - This doesn't help you with boarding fights or magma dragon 

Edited August 21, 2018 by mant2si

[Harpagornis]

Question: Is there any weapon or shield that grants abilities like Withdraw or Shadowing Beyond? Would make any naked non Priest or Rogue much more survivable in TCS!

Edited August 21, 2018 by Harpagornis

[Harpagornis]

Just thinking about the ingame data again:

 

"Complete the game without wearing any armor, boots, gloves, helmets, or accessories in combat"

 

This also means you can use consumables - right???

 

This would open up even more builds - no?

Edited August 21, 2018 by Harpagornis

[Reent]

If the game data is correct then using weapons would indeed be okay:

 

"Naked Run: Complete the game without wearing any armor, boots, gloves, helmets, or accessories in combat. (5 new game points)"

 

This would give the challenge new perspectives - which is good.

 

On the other hand i am wondering what we should put on top of this? TCS mandatory? No invisibility? Or at least one God Challenge? As only two of them are in the game for now i am not sure if its a good idea to put in Berath.

 

So for the moment i am updating the OP:

 

- No Chanters

- You are allowed to use weapons

 

P.S. AI scripts are also banned. Play on your own or get doomed!

The no Pause Mode without AI is really stupid, i just tried a 3 con helwalker/devoted (tcs everything active) and died to a young boar because i missed him 3 times with the mouse, no pause no AI is just... not a mode i would ever try.

[mant2si]

^ ^ ^ 

This challenge introduced special for chanters, summon minions with AI on and relax :D I don't even try to play with it