Soloing PoE : Sucess so far ( Hard Dificulty Expert Mode )

[Lasci]

I think 16 starting int might be ideal on the barbarian. The range on 14 isn't really doing it for me.

 

Anyways, there are a variety of fine items that you can pick up in Black Meadow without engaging in any battles. You can also kill the wolves in the first area -- I did it without much of a scare as a fire godlike barbarian. You can kill the spiders by the camp by returning to the camp and hiding between the two tents, taking them on one or two at a time. And you can get the blacksmith's shipment by killing the two scouts and sneaking up to the box and snagging it before running off.

 

So, keeping +5 saves ring and cloak (in case I needed one instead of the other), the door shield from the blacksmith's quest, and selling everything (including basically going naked in the prologue by giving stuff to the rogue there), I ended up with about 6771. And I could perceivable get more if I needed to, but I don't.

 

I have to assume that all of this is going to be possible with a moon godlike in any number of classes.

 

Blunting belt + figurine with 458 gold left.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Lasci

[gogocactus]

 

 

 

 

so i have to solo a priest on potd to level 11 before i can say whether or not they should make any changes to seals?

 

EDIT: look, if i actually get something wrong, you or someone else can point it out.

 

"Hey look at me, I abused an exploit. I could spam infinite seals. Or hey my character has 300 bugstacked DR, I beat the game easily. Please make it harder." - Neither of those grant you the right to speak on balance for the rest of us. You can report the exploit, but that would be about it since you got no experience in actually playing the game on PotD but rather on how to exploit your way through it without actually dealing with the content in a reasonable way.

why are you so angry and mean?

I'm afraid that's the state of the Internet. Don't let it get you down. You make a valuable contribution to the forum.

[knownastherat]

 

 

I would suggest both the gameplay and story are good if you're playing on hard or easier difficulty.  Attempting an optional, insane challenge a developer has implied may be impossible is not a good way to judge a game.

 

Yeah, but a full party on easy/hard is not really challenging at all.  And its not like the story "changes" once you beat the game..

 

There are a variety of endings and a variety of optional stories with companions, guilds, factions, etc.  You may personally dislike the stories or feel there isn't ENOUGH change, but I think that puts you a bit in the minority.  Also, this discussion and bringing up Skyrim is pretty far afield from discussing specific tactics in this game, so we should probably end it.  If you want 100% reliable, this probably just isn't the game for you -- it's FILLED with dice rolls.  Any given enemy could theoretically crit you 10 times in a row.  Will it happen?  Probably not, but it's not 100% guaranteed as far as I know.  Anything you come up with, in a dice-roll DND-ish game, is going to be a probability and not a guarantee.

 

 

 

 

I don't know if I can be any more clear here: the door requires 5 Mechanics to unlock without using lockpicks.  Using lockpicks, it only requires 4 mechanics, which you can achieve if you build your character with 3 mechanics and purchase/loot 5 lockpicks (some NPCs in the prologue have some RNG drops of lockpicks, I think) and sleep in the room called Laborer's Rest in the Black Hound Inn.

 

You get into the next room so you can fight the NPCs one by one and not be flanked, dazed, or stunned all at once.  If you are stunned, you suffer certain defensive penalties that will make you easier to be hit by everything else.  If you are dazed, you suffer certain defensive penalties that will make you easier to hit by everything else.  If you are flanked, you suffer certain defensive penalties that will make you easier to be hit by everything else.  If you get into the secret room, you can use the door as a bottleneck so you cannot be flanked, and only have to deal with either being stunned or being dazed.  After that, it's all creative item usage whether that's using dual axes so you can still DPS with +Deflection or using 1 or 2 maces to do DR bypassing damage or however you want to tackle it at that point.

Thanks, I apologize since I didn't realize you could do 4 with lockpicks.  I might try making it to the doorway and see if I can tank through the stuns.  I'm afraid that once I hit permastun, I won't even be able to use my only regen potions, however, since it seems to be up to luck whether you get a window to use them (every 5-10 seconds a possibility of an attack/item usage).

 

 

I have said it before, but its possible and reliable to get to level 4 without setting foot in temple.

 

Also, it is possible to split enemies in the said room and kill them 1by1 or in smaller patches. Inn is close. I've done so with level 4 Wizard so it surely is possible. Cleared all rooms in the temple, for loot, except 3 filed with Shades, Shadows and Phantoms. Not sure if its worth coming back. Took me few hours to kill Shulder(?) King one on one for the helm. Interestingly enough the other one went down without much problems - to the ray spell.

 

Did not kill the bears yet though. There is no room to kite and they hit so hard. With cipher it was substantially easier because of recharging stun. I stunlocked everything. With Wizard is much more bother.

Edited April 6, 2015 by knownastherat

[Lasci]

For those of you struggling, I think I've mapped out a fairly consistent way to get through Caed Nua, which includes:

 

- killing the backer for full plate

- getting enough gold and reputation to buy the figurine and belt for ~6370

- doing the blacksmith quest by carefully pulling the mobs

- killing the spiders next to the camp in Black Meadow

- utilizing 4 fan of flames scrolls

 

This is probably harder for rogues, fighters, rangers, and paladins because of their lack of a consistent AoE, but I'm confident it should work consistently, assuming you don't have to reload for a bad accuracy roll against the phantom.

[knownastherat]

For those of you struggling, I think I've mapped out a fairly consistent way to get through Caed Nua, which includes:

 

- killing the backer for full plate

- getting enough gold and reputation to buy the figurine and belt for ~6370

- doing the blacksmith quest by carefully pulling the mobs

- killing the spiders next to the camp in Black Meadow

- utilizing 4 fan of flames scrolls

 

This is probably harder for rogues, fighters, rangers, and paladins because of their lack of a consistent AoE, but I'm confident it should work consistently, assuming you don't have to reload for a bad accuracy roll against the phantom.

 

That seems like standard to me and I've done only this part of the game so far about dozen times Also Mechanic 4 and Stealth 4?

[AgentElrond]

Two notes about that, you can do the blacksmith quest 100% combat free (just sneak in the northwest side of camp when the guard moves, should work even with stealth 2).

 

Also, you can kill both spiders for their legs in blackmeadow 100% combat free (just pull the right spider to the stag, who will then seem to charge into the woods and kill the other spider as well).  You can help him finish the spiders off if you want a chance at XP.

 

The downside of course is you get less XP and a little less gear without killing everything but that's not a showstopper.  I still managed to get to level 4 with the figurine before the temple, without killing any NPCs.  I might be able to get the blunting belt if Obsidian hotfixes the bugged doors so I can sneak into the bottom of Raedric's Keep and try to kill one or two enemies to rescue the guy there.  However, blunting belt isn't my problem since I've been failing to kill the phantom at the end of the temple with two fan of flames scrolls trying to follow that youtube video.

 

I may stop my barbarian attempt if I ever get lucky and get past temple + maerwald, since the person I'm imitating just mentioned today that the final fight(s) in the game seem impossible without using a bug.

Edited April 6, 2015 by AgentElrond

[Lasci]

 

 

For those of you struggling, I think I've mapped out a fairly consistent way to get through Caed Nua, which includes:

 

- killing the backer for full plate

- getting enough gold and reputation to buy the figurine and belt for ~6370

- doing the blacksmith quest by carefully pulling the mobs

- killing the spiders next to the camp in Black Meadow

- utilizing 4 fan of flames scrolls

 

This is probably harder for rogues, fighters, rangers, and paladins because of their lack of a consistent AoE, but I'm confident it should work consistently, assuming you don't have to reload for a bad accuracy roll against the phantom.

 

That seems like standard to me and I've done only this part of the game so far about dozen times   Also Mechanic 4 and Stealth 4?

 

 

My stealth isn't that high. What are you struggling with? What class are you playing?

 

Two notes about that, you can do the blacksmith quest 100% combat free (just sneak in the northwest side of camp when the guard moves, should work even with stealth 2).

 

Also, you can kill both spiders for their legs in blackmeadow 100% combat free (just pull the right spider to the stag, who will then seem to charge into the woods and kill the other spider as well).  You can help him finish the spiders off if you want a chance at XP.

 

The downside of course is you get less XP and a little less gear without killing everything but that's not a showstopper.  I still managed to get to level 4 with the figurine before the temple, without killing any NPCs.  I might be able to get the blunting belt if Obsidian hotfixes the bugged doors so I can sneak into the bottom of Raedric's Keep and try to kill one or two enemies to rescue the guy there.  However, blunting belt isn't my problem since I've been failing to kill the phantom at the end of the temple with two fan of flames scrolls trying to follow that youtube video.

 

I may stop my barbarian attempt if I ever get lucky and get past temple + maerwald, since the person I'm imitating just mentioned today that the final fight(s) in the game seem impossible without using a bug.

 

What are you playing? Barbarian moon godlike or fire godlike? 

 

Fire godlike is actually comparatively terrible until you get One Stands Alone or you get a few levels so that your fire damage and DR isn't abysmal. I don't think it's actually necessary to do the temple; I was able to get both the blunting belt and the figurine by selling everything I could in the prologue, killing all the NPC's, doing the blacksmith quest, killing the scavenger and scout at the camp, killing all the spiders by hiding between the two tents, killing the wolves/kobolds in the starting area, and looting everything I could from the respective areas. Don't forget the hidden loot in the altar and dragon skull of Black Meadow. There's a fine dagger in the graveyard east of Gilded Vale. There's a broken down tower & house in Magran's Fork that's protected by a will-o-wisp; if you're not on trial of iron, you can reload until you get lucky with your attacks, but that shouldn't be necessary.

 

I had the chance to make four fan of flames scrolls from all of this as well. I just needed more plants and was too lazy to run off and find them. I did do the temple, but with four fan of flames scrolls and the figurine, you should be able to beat the Caed Nua ghosts without needing temple flail. When I did the temple, I had to use three scrolls, but you could easily do it with two if you're not on trial of iron.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Lasci

[Ninjerk]

You can get blacksmith supplies with stealth 2 or 3 (i forget) without pulling anything.

[kickthezombie]

 

My tactic is to pull packs of enemies towards me and cast my aoe spells and then clean up with mele attacks in 1vs3 situations where my HoT make me very hard to be killed.

 

 

How does that work when you are facing multiple Drakes and a Dragon? Fire AoE spells barely touch them and unless you have some sort of tank they will tear you to pieces in pretty short order.  Just curious.

[knownastherat]

I do not think I am struggling, its how I play the game. I played BG2 for about year, with every class and different parties or choices, and half before deciding to finish it   It was a note whether or not those values for Stealth and Mechanic are needed or not. Mechanic is I assume. You observations about the path to take are in my experience accurate - I do it the same way.


Playing solo Wizard PoTD atm about third one. This one has no Per and Res.

[Aqvamare]

My monk is now level 11, in act 3 and has to do the god quests....he has +4 running speed, tactic against caster, let them cast there biggest spells, run out of range, than blink port to them, nuke them down before fighter can protect them, run again.

 

di it in PotD Solo run, works fine.

[Ninjerk]

My monk is now level 11, in act 3 and has to do the god quests....he has +4 running speed, tactic against caster, let them cast there biggest spells, run out of range, than blink port to them, nuke them down before fighter can protect them, run again.

 

di it in PotD Solo run, works fine.

LOL that sounds awesome.

[Lasci]

My monk is now level 11, in act 3 and has to do the god quests....he has +4 running speed, tactic against caster, let them cast there biggest spells, run out of range, than blink port to them, nuke them down before fighter can protect them, run again.

 

di it in PotD Solo run, works fine.

 

I'm balancing a run of all the classes. I'm curious, what's your talent/ability selection? Did you use Turning Fist, Rooting Pain, and retaliation?

[knownastherat]

For those of you struggling, I think I've mapped out a fairly consistent way to get through Caed Nua, which includes:

 

- killing the backer for full plate

- getting enough gold and reputation to buy the figurine and belt for ~6370

- doing the blacksmith quest by carefully pulling the mobs

- killing the spiders next to the camp in Black Meadow

- utilizing 4 fan of flames scrolls

 

This is probably harder for rogues, fighters, rangers, and paladins because of their lack of a consistent AoE, but I'm confident it should work consistently, assuming you don't have to reload for a bad accuracy roll against the phantom.

 

Apologies for quoting again, however, adding Stealth 5 and Mechanic 3 to the standard allows for hitting level 4 (5 Stealth 3 Mechanic) then heading straight to Caed Nau. Sneak through courtyard and fight Phantoms with Shadows inside. Rest. Sneak past spiders and head to the boss. Lead him to beetles and with some luck and chaos it will be over in few mins.

 

On Wizard I did not need the figurine so that speeded the process substantially together with Sneak 5. Level 5 is time for Mechanic 5.

Edited April 7, 2015 by knownastherat

[Lasci]

In a startling turn of events I managed to get the Sanguine Plate on my level 5 monk and this game has gotten significantly easier. Almost disappointingly so!

[Xionanx]

I made a Cipher that abuses charm/paralyze/confusion.  At level 4 I am not having much issue clearing Readrics, just run in confuse someone, run away while his buddies murder him.. rinse and repeat.  

 

As far as gear goes, it has become clear to me that this game is painfully gear dependent

[Ninjerk]

In a startling turn of events I managed to get the Sanguine Plate on my level 5 monk and this game has gotten significantly easier. Almost disappointingly so!

Are you the one with the zipping-around monk build?

[Lasci]

 

In a startling turn of events I managed to get the Sanguine Plate on my level 5 monk and this game has gotten significantly easier. Almost disappointingly so!

Are you the one with the zipping-around monk build?

 

 

No, but I can see how it could be very effective in several encounters where you don't have the liberty of bottlenecking enemies. Casting a summon to distract people before running away and waiting for a moment where you can lure them in smaller groups is a really potent strategy until  you get a retaliate item. Sanguine Plate (or the shield, alternatively) and Ravenwing trivializes most of the game's content.

[Ceranai]

 

 

In a startling turn of events I managed to get the Sanguine Plate on my level 5 monk and this game has gotten significantly easier. Almost disappointingly so!

Are you the one with the zipping-around monk build?

 

 

No, but I can see how it could be very effective in several encounters where you don't have the liberty of bottlenecking enemies. Casting a summon to distract people before running away and waiting for a moment where you can lure them in smaller groups is a really potent strategy until  you get a retaliate item. Sanguine Plate (or the shield, alternatively) and Ravenwing trivializes most of the game's content.

 

where do you get it? 

[Ceranai]

Two notes about that, you can do the blacksmith quest 100% combat free (just sneak in the northwest side of camp when the guard moves, should work even with stealth 2).

 

Also, you can kill both spiders for their legs in blackmeadow 100% combat free (just pull the right spider to the stag, who will then seem to charge into the woods and kill the other spider as well).  You can help him finish the spiders off if you want a chance at XP.

 

The downside of course is you get less XP and a little less gear without killing everything but that's not a showstopper.  I still managed to get to level 4 with the figurine before the temple, without killing any NPCs.  I might be able to get the blunting belt if Obsidian hotfixes the bugged doors so I can sneak into the bottom of Raedric's Keep and try to kill one or two enemies to rescue the guy there.  However, blunting belt isn't my problem since I've been failing to kill the phantom at the end of the temple with two fan of flames scrolls trying to follow that youtube video.

 

I may stop my barbarian attempt if I ever get lucky and get past temple + maerwald, since the person I'm imitating just mentioned today that the final fight(s) in the game seem impossible without using a bug.

You can very reliably lure the trolls to the west to kill the bandits for you, all you need is sugar for speed, when the two groups meet you need to get out of there until they are all engaged then you just help whichever side is losing