Finally Got My Frozen Crown

[OCapn]

This may not be a big achievement by the standards of this forum but I'm pretty proud of myself after trying for this for several years. My personal rules included 1) no watching YouTube videos for cheese tactics, and no direct copying of builds from this forum or elsewhere; 2) using only story characters in the party (apart from hiring one mercenary in Gilded Vale to get through Act I); 3) no using a backup save file without Trial of Iron enabled to test combat tactics; 4) no force-quitting or other obvious cheating. However, I did allow myself to consult the wiki for certain stat checks and so on. After so many failed attempts, this became a necessary time-saver.

I'd come close to getting Triple Crown several times before but failed in the usual spots (Lagufaeth, dragons, Kaoto, Thaos). Eventually I realized that the best strategy, given my rules, was to be at the maximum possible level for every difficult encounter. Which meant that as cautiously as I thought I'd been playing, it wasn't cautiously enough -- for example, delving deeply into the Endless Paths at a low level just to grab Persistence, etc., is a bad strategy for getting the Triple Crown and Frozen Crown achievements. I also had better results rotating characters through my party as opposed to focusing on six characters exclusively; in my failed attempts, I tended to over-rely on Eder and certain other characters I realized I was bringing along mostly out of habit. Some classes are just better suited to certain encounters than others. And I did have luck on my side once or twice with this successful run -- especially when I made it through the Abbey of the Fallen moon without having to confront the High Abbot at all. I really had thought that was impossible, but this game continues to surprise after so many hours.

My endgame party was:

1) PC: Human monk built for speed with turning wheel and iron wheel as the bread and butter damage skills, Maneha's armor, Shod-in-Faith, Drawn in Spring and Bittercut, and Scon Mica's Roar.

2) Zahua built to tank and wielding two stunning Cladhalíaths.

3) Pallegina built for fire damage (especially Firebrand) and a little support.

4) Grieving Mother with the Lead Splitter doing crowd control.

5) Durance with an arquebus doing buffs and heals.

6) Aloth with Gyrd Háewanes Sténes and Abydon's Hammer doing damage or whatever else is needed.

As frustrating as it could be to lose again and again at this challenge, finally beating it made for some extremely satisfying gaming. I think I'm going to import this character into Deadfire for a trial of iron run on normal difficulty, because Deadfire's PotD is much harder.

Thanks to everyone here for all your helpful posts!

[Chaospread]

Kudos to you! Great job!

[OCapn]

Thanks

29 minutes ago, Chaospread said:

Kudos to you! Great job!

 

Thanks! Maybe in another decade or so I'll get my ultimate badge.