Triple Crown Solo - Fighter

[DeN_DarK]

After some trials and errors I made it. Triple Crown Solo finished. I think this was most hardcore gaming experience in my live. Anyway it was fun.

Strange but I don't feel very satisfied, maybe because after all it was pretty hard and I personally think it is unreal to do without save/load at all (pure Trial of Iron). Another reason - I wasn't able to kill anything in game. But manage to finish game without using bugs and exploits.

 

It was my third run. First fighter died because of my mistake. Second fighter still was ok, but difficulty changed to easy in the middle of act 2 =\

 

My build was:

Moon Godlike, - fast healing is very useful in solo run.

Fighter, -  I always wanted to do it like this class.

Old Vailia. - you have Estoc with -5DR from the start. 

 

Might 16, Con 16, Dex 16, Per 6, Int 8, Res 15.

Just wanted to have good stats without making Int and Per = 3. )

 

Weapon Focus - and all bonuses - for Adventure Class weapons (or simply for Estoc)

 

Most difficult part of the game it is Act I. Before Caed Nua you must have belt fpr defence + Full Plate + Figurine + XP for lvl 4 or, better, 5. Last thing is possible but hard. Anyway if you have all of that + few scrolls fan of fire => you can go through Caed Nua without any problems.

 

After most needed items in Act 2 is Rotfinger Gloves, Sanguine Plate, Ring of Wander and Cloak of Tireless Defender + all figurines you can get. After you have that - you can finish all the main and side quests in Act 2 without problems. 

 

In Act 3 actually was 2 quests I skipped. First was return of undead Roderick. I can kill him but cannot defeat bunch of Fampyres. It was't possible for me because I just run out of Health in the end. Same with Dragon in Hylea temple. Too hard (and not really needed for XP).

 

Final boss wasn't easy and I needed to try different approaches to Thaos. Most of problems I had with Woedica Judje because of stunning but with figurines and some luck I manage to beat him, then another statue. After that Thaos was easy target. I just run my summoned monsters around him while he spent his spells and then attacked him. Still for Mage he have too much Deflection on him I think. But... It is PotD, and maybe it is ok.

[Raven Darkholme]

So what do you think about the ongoing discussion, where almost everybody claims paladin has inferior or at least the same defenses as to the fighter?

Paladin easily kills undead raedric and the sky dragon, and somebody even tanked the adra dragon with paladin.

[DeN_DarK]

So what do you think about the ongoing discussion, where almost everybody claims paladin has inferior or at least the same defenses as to the fighter?

Paladin easily kills undead raedric and the sky dragon, and somebody even tanked the adra dragon with paladin.

 

I think it is not matter what class to choose. But it is matter who is playing. ) 

I personally don't try hard to kill Sky Dragon or Raedrick. Just few times.

+ I don't sure how good my build is. Maybe with some traps + potions it is doable or even easy with my char.

But I already was lvl 12 and wanted to kill boss today. 

[knownastherat]

From my experience, and I spent 100s hours in Act I, if you are having problems there you are not doing it right as there is no need to fight any risky battles during Act I. Good job anyway, I would not even attempt ironman.

[DeN_DarK]

From my experience, and I spent 100s hours in Act I, if you are having problems there you are not doing it right as there is no need to fight any risky battles during Act I. Good job anyway, I would not even attempt ironman.

 

Thank you. 

It was my third attempt. And I don't have too much difficulties in Act I cause I know what to do already ) But if you compare Acts - then definitely Act I have most difficulties. You still don't have good equipment, your lvl is low and quests are few. Still it is just like good puzzle.  

[drunkenvash]

so now with all the new expansions and updates... Who's done Triple Crown Solo?

[Odd Hermit]

So what do you think about the ongoing discussion, where almost everybody claims paladin has inferior or at least the same defenses as to the fighter?

Paladin easily kills undead raedric and the sky dragon, and somebody even tanked the adra dragon with paladin.

 

Uh, how does Fighter compete with Faith and Conviction?

 

Vigorous Defense temporarily is all I can see that could bring them over Paladin defenses but it's not long enough duration for solo.

[bigwillystyle]

 

So what do you think about the ongoing discussion, where almost everybody claims paladin has inferior or at least the same defenses as to the fighter?

Paladin easily kills undead raedric and the sky dragon, and somebody even tanked the adra dragon with paladin.

 

Uh, how does Fighter compete with Faith and Conviction?

 

Vigorous Defense temporarily is all I can see that could bring them over Paladin defenses but it's not long enough duration for solo.

 

 

Check the date.  In May of 2015, there was a legitimate debate on the topic.  

[Kaylon]

so now with all the new expansions and updates... Who's done Triple Crown Solo?

I know about two people who did the Ultimate achievement - one with a paladin and the other with a chanter.

 

In fact you can solve 90% of the quests (maybe even more) in a pacifist way - either through dialogue, either using stealth and sometimes you can even let enemies kill themselves (kiths are aggroed by other monsters if they come close enough to each other). Also a big part of the unavoidable encounters can be solved using hit and run. Some of the encounters where you can't hit and run become easy if your level is high enough. For the hardest fights you have to tank, use figurines, confusion... but I think all classes can beat them with some creativity.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Kaylon

[Odd Hermit]

 

 

So what do you think about the ongoing discussion, where almost everybody claims paladin has inferior or at least the same defenses as to the fighter?

Paladin easily kills undead raedric and the sky dragon, and somebody even tanked the adra dragon with paladin.

 

Uh, how does Fighter compete with Faith and Conviction?

 

Vigorous Defense temporarily is all I can see that could bring them over Paladin defenses but it's not long enough duration for solo.

 

 

Check the date.  In May of 2015, there was a legitimate debate on the topic.  

 

 

 

D'oh!

[Kaylon]

 

 

So what do you think about the ongoing discussion, where almost everybody claims paladin has inferior or at least the same defenses as to the fighter?

Paladin easily kills undead raedric and the sky dragon, and somebody even tanked the adra dragon with paladin.

 

Uh, how does Fighter compete with Faith and Conviction?

 

Vigorous Defense temporarily is all I can see that could bring them over Paladin defenses but it's not long enough duration for solo.

 

 

Check the date.  In May of 2015, there was a legitimate debate on the topic.  

 

Well, the situation hasn't changed very much defensively. The fighter lost +5 all defenses with the nerf of Wary Defender while the paladin lost +7 all defenses with the nerfs of Faith and Conviction.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Kaylon

[Braven]

Defenses don't really matter that much because the best equipment currently benefits from low defenses. Also a little higher saving throw defenses is not going to save you from stun-lock. Instead you need to use distractions, like summons, or specific equipment.

 

Fighter is great because most of their abilities are passive (and improved in recent patches). Even though accuracy and defense boosts are temporary, it turns out that doesn't matter and is actually kind of helpful because of this. You can start with lower defenses in order to trigger on-crit items, and then activate the buffs afterwards. By the time they expire with a high INT fighter, the hardest part of the battle has already ended and it is just cleanup. High accuracy is only needed early on to get knockdowns and scrolls to crit for 50% longer duration. The fact fighter abilities are passive or instant cast is great since action time with soloing is the most valuable resource. You can't lay on hands while prone, but you do get constant recovery and shod-in-faith healing, for example.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Braven

[Kaylon]

Defenses don't really matter that much because the best equipment currently benefits from low defenses. Also a little higher saving throw defenses is not going to save you from stun-lock. Instead you need to use distractions, like summons, or specific equipment.

 

Fighter is great because most of their abilities are passive (and improved in recent patches). Even though accuracy and defense boosts are temporary, it turns out that doesn't matter and is actually kind of helpful because of this. You can start with lower defenses in order to trigger on-crit items, and then activate the buffs afterwards. By the time they expire with a high INT fighter, the hardest part of the battle has already ended and it is just cleanup. High accuracy is only needed early on to get knockdowns and scrolls to crit for 50% longer duration. The fact fighter abilities are passive or instant cast is great since action time with soloing is the most valuable resource. You can't lay on hands while prone, but you do get constant recovery and shod-in-faith healing, for example.

If your strategy would work then rogues, barbarians and monks would breeze solo in potd - which isn't really the case.

[Boeroer]

It seems to work because he did a (triple crown) solo run like that if I'm not mistaken. The two mentioned triggered abilities (+20 to all defenses, +20 to ACC) are indeed very helpful if you focus on spell holding and spell striking.

[Kaylon]

It seems to work because he did a (triple crown) solo run like that if I'm not mistaken. The two mentioned triggered abilities (+20 to all defenses, +20 to ACC) are indeed very helpful if you focus on spell holding and spell striking.

You can do a TCS with any class if you skip the hard encounters. The discussion however was about defense. WM2 bounties are a good test to verify if a spec works.

[Boeroer]

That's true. Bounties are best for verifying if your build will work in a solo run I guess. And I also think that high defenses are very valuable if you do solo runs. I test all of my studier builds solo against all sorts of bounties to see how they perform. It's like a lot of mini solo runs.

 

But as far as I remember Braven did not skip hard encounters. He just relied on maximum regeneration, 0 recovery, high DR and spell holding items. I think he even only had 3 CON and 3 RES when he wrote about his playthrough. So there might be a way to do a solo game where you fight all the foes without raising defenses to the sky.

 

I really can't tell because I don't do solo runs. But I guess it can work without having superhigh defenses. You just have to make sure you don't go down.

I just happend to test a sort of "Wolverine" regenerating chanter build with +45% healing done and +185% healing received. He can't go KO as long as there's still health in him. His endurance jumps up from mid to full in seconds. And he does good AoE damage. I can't tell about dragons (didn't test that - maybe he will have a hard time), but he did the upscaled Nalrend bounty solo with good (but not excellent) defenses. No problems there - it was almost too easy. You just have to make sure your fights don't last forever. If regeneration time is up, you will die eventually.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Boeroer

[Braven]

The hardest part of POTD is ACT 1. At that point you don't have many sources of easy quests to level up before choosing to attempt harder encounters and also lack good items. I have had the most success with fighter because they are very hardy right from the very start with constant recovery and immediate access to healing multipliers. They can take a real beating and start off with the best accuracy and deflection too. Everything else they need is available right at the start of ACT 2 so their midgame is also good. With 6 item slots, a bunch of figurines, shod-in-faith, and double speed weapons, it doesn't really matter if there are more enemies per-encounter; you will still chop them up quick enough.

 

The barrage ability is really helpful for landing Fire scrolls for encounters with phantoms and lighting ones for spiders. I found those the hardest since you can't attack them directly (phantoms because of stun and spiders because of their insane DR-bypass)

 

Wizards are also good but requires spamming that +50/75 deflection talent every battle and using all spells.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Braven

[Reent]

if its only TCS every class can do it, easily (ok, priests are a real pain early levels^^... they were so much better when figurines had no timelimit)... the real challenge is ultimate... with chanter i could do it atm (if i didnt hope that they fix the bugs around the fire chant i would have done it already), with other classes... not so much - would need to prepare much much more for them, honestly, i dont think i would manage it in a month xD (maybe monk or wizard... but i dislike wizard for ironman). (i dont like paladin/fighter so i dont play them... sure, i understand how they can do stuff but i dont want to play them)

 

low resistance builds work quite well, you need to know the enemies so you dont get perma CCd but thats about it... the game is... honestly... too easy if you use all tricks

[fiddlesticks]

Paladin is the best class for The Ultimate achievement in my opinion, though I haven't experimented with Chanters all that much. Being able to outlast just about anything is a great asset in a run where you can't mess up at any point.

 

I'm not sure if other classes can do The Ultimate reliably, mostly because Llengrath is an extremely unforgiving fight. Maybe Rangers can pull it off with heavy pet-abuse?