[Build] Paladin solo PotD (Video of the Last Boss included!)

[I am Catharsis]

Hi mighty adventurers!

 

Today's another great day of victory, Thaos died once again, but this time by the hand of a cruel and merciless Bleak Walker!

 

This time I'm going to go a bit more in the details of the build that I used for my hero.

 

 

 

0. Introduction: Why a Paladin? Why a Bleak walker?

 

Pros:

- It's a good challenge to play a bad and mean character in a rpg

- Paladins get bonus stats if you roleplay, and I was intrested in that kind of gameplay

- Not the most common class used to solo the game, and I love new challenges

 

Cons:

- Not so many active and offensive skills, so a bit annoying the early levels

- Extremely gear dependant

- No shadowing beyond

 

 

1. Attributes

- Might 18+

- Constitution 18+

- Rest of the stats 10

 

Constitution is the best stat to solo the game in my opinion. Some fights are really long (especially the last one) and without enough of Cons, you will not survive.

Might is great, but I guess you can balance it with some Dex if you want to attack faster.

 

 

2. Skills

Key points:

- Athletics 2/3 (80/90% Combat fatigue reduction, essential imo)

- Lore 2: You will need it the first part of the game to use flame fan scrolls for Caed Nua

- Mechanics 10+ : OverPowered. Free traps, Free loot, Free XP all along the game. A Must have

- Stealth: Optionnal, but still good to take when the rest is maxed out

 

 

3. Abilities & Talents

Key points:

- Faith and Conviction + Deep Faith: a must have to solo the game. Free defensive points

- Lay on Hands: Free heal once per encounter

- Cautious Attack (+10 Deflection)

- Superior Deflection (+5 Deflection)

- Unstoppable (+10 Defense against Blind, Daze, Hobble, Prone, Stuck)

- Mental Fortress (+10 Defense against Charm, Confusion, Domination, Fear, Terror)

- Zealous Endurance (+3 RD)

- Sworn Enemy (Nice damage boost for single target)

 

 

4. Gear

Those are Core Items, the rest of the gear is up to what you will find.

 

Act1.

- Outworn Buckler (Merchant Gilded Vale)

- Gaun's Share (First dungeon, Gilded Vale)

- Blunting Belt (Merchant, Gilded Vale)

- Ring of Minor Deflection (Merchant/chest)

- Plate Armor (Backer next to the tree, Gilded Vale)

- Fire fan scrolls (Crafting + Chest)

 

Act2. 

- Oaken Scarab Figurine (Hidden cache, Copperlane close to the comedians)

- Iridescent Scarab Figurine (Heritage Hill)

- Obsidian Lamp Figurine (First Fire)

- Rotfinger Gloves (Merchant in Ondra's Gift)

- Sanguine Plate (Task: The Forgotten)

- Ring of Deflection (Merchant in Copperlane)

- Gaze of the Adragan's Trap (Merchant, Copperlane)

 

Act3.

- Blesca's Labor (Merchant, Hearthsong)

- Purgatory (On the way from Stormwall Gorge to Elmshore, group from the Key)

- Animancer's Boots (on a corpse during the riot, end of act 2)

- Bartender's ring (Locked chest, Copperlane)

- Boots of Speed (Random loot)

- Health potions (Craft)

 

 

 

Screens of the Stats of my character here:

- Attributes: http://i.imgur.com/1EfSeLU.jpg

- Gear Bonuses: http://i.imgur.com/d2bAMEj.jpg

- Abilities and Talent: http://i.imgur.com/yaHjino.jpg

 

 

Final Boss Video: http://youtu.be/8GkU_V3gKVM

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the video and the Build, if you need more explanations, feel free to ask as always

Edited April 12, 2015 by I am Catharsis

[Odd Hermit]

- Paladins get bonus stats if you roleplay, and I was intrested in that kind of gameplay

 

They get bonus stats if you click the dialogue options labeled as your order's favored behavior.

 

Which can be RP, or it can simply be "I'll take this 'cause it'll give me stat bonuses", which discourages some players from selecting choices that might be their "RP choice" otherwise.

[redneckdevil]

Mmmm I view it as something more forgiving and a bit more favorable than table top Paladins who are forced into only LG in terms of roleplay.

Instead of "no evil or great amount of chaotic acts or else u lose all ur paladin abilities", we get what they are doing here which not only is the game nudging us with the info of what kind of people are in this order, but also imho gave me the impression that this is the state of mind that these orders teach to use these abilities to their fullest.

The orders almost give a wheel of time feel. Like bleak walkers to the males where to use their power they have to be aggressive and overwhelm to control their powers while the kind wayfarers are like the women who have to be calm and surrender to control their power. So to use their powers the order teaches them, they have to be in a state of mind frame to be effecient, so when u start being in the mind frame that's opposite than what they teach, they start becoming less effecient.

Wow, so sorry for the rant lol.

 

By the way, any advice on creating a bleak walker that try's to tank while doing damage? I guess to be a doable tank while maximizing his what little damage output by chance?

[mazeltov]

Dat Cruel/Agg playthrough with friend, friend, hero, defender, champion, hero, hero, friend, etc. reputations 

 

How did you like the "evil" dialogues and NPC reactions? Did they feel as rich and/or well-written as the dialogue responses on other playthroughs?

[cameron9428]

This is awesome, congrats

[Vasya]

- Plate Armor (Backer next to the tree, Gilded Vale)

 

His creator must be happy. Im sure, this guy gets much more attention from players, than any other backer npc.

[I am Catharsis]

They get bonus stats if you click the dialogue options labeled as your order's favored behavior.

 

Which can be RP, or it can simply be "I'll take this 'cause it'll give me stat bonuses", which discourages some players from selecting choices that might be their "RP choice" otherwise.

Well yeah, that's a way of seeing things. After playing a nice Rogue, I was still intrested to see more a darker side of the adventure.

 

 

By the way, any advice on creating a bleak walker that try's to tank while doing damage? I guess to be a doable tank while maximizing his what little damage output by chance?

 

Well I explained in detail the build that I used all along my adventure. This is the "core" build, but I know that I also used a 2 handed sword for some fights when I felt like I didn't need a shield to survive. As wrote also, some items like the Rotfinger Gloves gives you spells to deal nice AoE damages. I think I found a good balance between a tank and a damage dealer, but if you find something different, I would be intrested

 

 

Dat Cruel/Agg playthrough with friend, friend, hero, defender, champion, hero, hero, friend, etc. reputations 

 

How did you like the "evil" dialogues and NPC reactions? Did they feel as rich and/or well-written as the dialogue responses on other playthroughs?

 

To be honest.. Really fun! I even discovered thanks to this that you can actually massacre the expedition at the very begining of the game for your first Crualty point! Which is just awesome. There are some inconsistences still, some dialongue (especially for the main quest) are not so much made for a 100% evil hero. But yeah overall it was really fun ^^

 

 

This is awesome, congrats

Thank you very much ! :D

[Ceranai]

Where is your damage coming from if i may ask? You beat me to it, ive been trying to solo my way through the endless paths the last couple of days but i was gonna do a paldin run what classes are still untaken maybe we can divide them up between us dont think anyone has done a ranger, havnt seen a druid PoTD either. maybe we should write a list and have a race

[I am Catharsis]

Where is your damage coming from if i may ask? You beat me to it, ive been trying to solo my way through the endless paths the last couple of days but i was gonna do a paldin run what classes are still untaken maybe we can divide them up between us dont think anyone has done a ranger, havnt seen a druid PoTD either. maybe we should write a list and have a race

Well, as I explained above, the true lack of damages concerns the early game overall. You have to be very patient, try to find a good quality dagger or sword before the flail of Gaun, use the few traps and scrolls that you can find or craft. It's not the funniest part I have to say. Once you can reach the bay, things get easier: You have access to the 3 obsidian scarabs item as soon as you enter the city and you can also directly buy the Rotfinger Gloves, and that will bring you a lot of dps as well in AoE that on single mobs. If you feel you're getting tanky enough, you can even use a 2h sword for some fights (Raedric gives a good one, later on you can get Tidefall on Cain). Then the Blood plate is the ultimate item to get rid if the big packs of mobs.

It's not the easiest class to deal damages to be honest, and every pack of mob is kind of a challenge, but it was worth the try.

 

And don't worry, I leave you the rest of the classes, I think i'm gonna have a small break for now, I need to sleep

Edited April 12, 2015 by I am Catharsis

[MadDemiurg]

Wow, thats quite impressive.

 

If it's doable with a paladin, I'd say it's probably doable with all classes.

[Ceranai]

 

Where is your damage coming from if i may ask? You beat me to it, ive been trying to solo my way through the endless paths the last couple of days but i was gonna do a paldin run what classes are still untaken maybe we can divide them up between us dont think anyone has done a ranger, havnt seen a druid PoTD either. maybe we should write a list and have a race

Well, as I explained above, the true lack of damages concerns the early game overall. You have to be very patient, try to find a good quality dagger or sword before the flail of Gaun, use the few traps and scrolls that you can find or craft. It's not the funniest part I have to say. Once you can reach the bay, things get easier: You have access to the 3 obsidian scarabs item as soon as you enter the city and you can also directly buy the Rotfinger Gloves, and that will bring you a lot of dps as well in AoE that on single mobs. If you feel you're getting tanky enough, you can even use a 2h sword for some fights (Raedric gives a good one, later on you can get Tidefall on Cain). Then the Blood plate is the ultimate item to get rid if the big packs of mobs.

It's not the easiest class to deal damages to be honest, and every pack of mob is kind of a challenge, but it was worth the try.

 

And don't worry, I leave you the rest of the classes, I think i'm gonna have a small break for now, I need to sleep

 

Ah ok, I saw your posts above I was just a bit confused hwo that was enough. So basically all your DPS is coming from items and better gear

[rjomario]

Nice achievement.

Interesting that you decided to stack Con instead of defenses.

 

Also was there any merit to going human over fire/moon? or just the +1 Resolve

[I am Catharsis]

Wow, thats quite impressive.

 

If it's doable with a paladin, I'd say it's probably doable with all classes.

 

Thank you very much! And yes this is also what i think. At least it means that it's doable for all the Melee classes.

 

 

Ah ok, I saw your posts above I was just a bit confused hwo that was enough. So basically all your DPS is coming from items and better gear

Well that's more or less the same kind of strat that I used with my characters, the good part is that when you're used to those items, you can do the same run with different classes. But it might be different with a Cypher or a Druid for example. No idea, I didn't try.

[Ahzrab]

Played my Bleakwalker Paladin to mid act II but tbh I found the combat with him way too boring.

[I am Catharsis]

Nice achievement.

Interesting that you decided to stack Con instead of defenses.

 

Also was there any merit to going human over fire/moon? or just the +1 Resolve

 

Sorry for the late answer, I hadn't seen

You can stack easily the defenses like Deflection through Items and talents, but nothing is as good as Cons to stack your Health and Resistance. The last fight lasts around 7 - 10 minutes, and you can't survive that long without a high Cons.

Not good advantage by playing a Human, i did it for the roleplay, nothing more i think that moon is super strong for solo runs.

 

 

@Ahzab: Yeah, they are not the best class in terms of gameplay. I agree with you on this

[drumther]

 

 

- Sanguine Plate (Task: The Forgotten)

 

Don't you need Pallegrina to get access to that quest?

 

Also, Act 1 is a lot of trouble against spirits. Sure, you can use scrolls to shoot them down with 'Fan of Flames', you could get some cool rings, maybe help with the Bronce Horne figurine and what not. Thats ok, but the thing is you need a lot of copper to get your hands in the propper stuff.

 

I've found my self getting around 1.1k by the time I get to Gilded Vale. After a few easy quests (like the guy in the mill and the blacksmith crate), after picking up every possible loot (by killing everything I can kill and stealing everything without pissing anyone off) and after selling everything I had, I always end up with around 3.5k

 

On my two PotD runs I had to sneak into Raedric's hold to keep stealing stuff and getting xp from disarming traps.

 

I'm wondering, what's your strategy early on?

[Ceranai]

 

 

 

- Sanguine Plate (Task: The Forgotten)

 

Don't you need Pallegrina to get access to that quest?

 

Also, Act 1 is a lot of trouble against spirits. Sure, you can use scrolls to shoot them down with 'Fan of Flames', you could get some cool rings, maybe help with the Bronce Horne figurine and what not. Thats ok, but the thing is you need a lot of copper to get your hands in the propper stuff.

 

I've found my self getting around 1.1k by the time I get to Gilded Vale. After a few easy quests (like the guy in the mill and the blacksmith crate), after picking up every possible loot (by killing everything I can kill and stealing everything without pissing anyone off) and after selling everything I had, I always end up with around 3.5k

 

On my two PotD runs I had to sneak into Raedric's hold to keep stealing stuff and getting xp from disarming traps.

 

I'm wondering, what's your strategy early on?

 

you need to talk to her, you dont have to take her on as a companion

[Doug]

I think you need to get out more.

 

You're playing far too much PoE

[I am Catharsis]

I think you need to get out more.

 

You're playing far too much PoE

 

I agree 100% time for a break for some days haha

[revjwh]

I hope you'll try as a wizard!

[Ninjerk]

I got bored with my non-iron solo PotD paladin game, but on my playthrough an Aumaua paladin with Bull's Fortitude (and similar things like Deep Faith that OP took) can just pull the Great Hall spirits to the corner and alt+tab.  I think my defense against phantom stun was like 122 or something.

[I am Catharsis]

I'm not sure I understood exactly what you meant. Did you manage to empty the great hall without scroll?

[Ceranai]

I got bored with my non-iron solo PotD paladin game, but on my playthrough an Aumaua paladin with Bull's Fortitude (and similar things like Deep Faith that OP took) can just pull the Great Hall spirits to the corner and alt+tab.  I think my defense against phantom stun was like 122 or something.

122 sounds unlikely, as i had something like 108 level 12 with full gear and bulls fortitude. Granted i was playing chanter but still.

[Raven Darkholme]

Paladins have insane high fortitude early on. Even with a 10 CO pala without fortitude talent you get 80 at level 4, 122 seems very possible to me with level 5 which you can reach pre Caed.