Need help with the last encounter

[p0larius]

Hey guys,

 

After an unfinished playthrough after release I started playing PoE again this year. I have reached what I presume to be the last encounter (Thaos and Woedicas Judge & Headsman). I haven't had any issues with the difficulty of fights up until now.

 

After about 20 tries I can reliably make Thaos transfer his soul to the judge and beat both him and the headsman. That's when things start to turn ugly though. Thaos' domination (!) and pillar spells wreck my party pretty quickly.

 

Party consists of:

 

Main Character (Level 10 Ranger, Wolf companion, outfitted with unique blunderbuss or pistol, pretty helpful in the first stage)

Edér (Level 10, has been a pretty good tank up until now, he survives the fight the longest)

Pallegina (Level 10, regularly survives until the last stage as well)

Durance (Level 10, often dies during the fight, if he doesnt he will be mostly out of spells because of all the healing he has to do, when he's not healing he's casting buffs, shield of the faithful, etc.)

Aloth (Level 10, try to have him debuff Thaos and deal damage with wall of flame/fireballs/missiles)

Kana (Level 10, I rely on his summons of the wyrm or loads of skeletons pretty heavily)

 

Some random notes:

 

- playing on normal difficulty

- in the end stage I normally try to debuff Thaos with Arcane Dampener or that other Level 3 Wizard spell (if Aloth survives until then, that is) and whack at him with all I got.

- I also try very hard to have my wolf companion survive as the accuracy penalty of bonded grief makes my Main pretty useless

- none of the "control" spells seem to work on Thaos

- I could probably level up some more by doing side quests, but don't really feel like it as I wanted to have some content left for a second playthrough

- the main issue is the domination spell he casts, I could probably deal with the damaging spells

 

Thanks a lot,

Polarius

[Elric Galad]

Lvl 10 is a bit low. At level 11, Durance will get 2 uses of protection against Domination.

[Boeroer]

I'd also say that lvl 10 is too low.

 

Arcane Dampener is a good move. Deprive the Unworthy (paladin) against Thaos is even better (autohit).

 

The small shield "Aila Braccia" from the monks in Twin Elms is really great for that fight because it reflects all ranged grazes (also spells like cleansing flame) back to the caster. Since Thaos uses a lot of this he will fry himself from time to time.

 

Did you do all bounties? That should give you more lvls and better gear.

[Raven Darkholme]

Guys, people soloed POotD Thaos with a cipher of all chars on level 10, it is not too low.

@OP

Try to lure Thaos away from the statues with your pet.

Kill the statues and then Thaos.

If y<ou want to be super chaep, lay petrify traps before the encounter on the southwestern part of the map.

After you killed the statues lure Thaos there and kill him quickly.

[Boeroer]

Ok let's be more precise: level 10 is too low for p0larius.

 

Surely there are people who can do lots of stuff at level 10. But 90% can't, so...

Edited February 2, 2016 by Boeroer

[p0larius]

Ok let's be more precise: level 10 is too low for p0larius.

 

Surely there are people who can do lots of stuff at level 10. But 90% can't, so...

 

Telling it like it is. :D

 

After you killed the statues lure Thaos there and kill him quickly.

 

Yeah, kinda having problems with the killing quickly part due to domination/pillar spells.

[Boeroer]

As I said - the shield does wonders. Did you get it and have it in your stash? Then I would give it to somebody who has high defenses plus Weapon & Shield Sstyle and let him attack Thaos. If Thaos tries to hit him with a ranged spell and grazes, he will eat his own spell.

 

If you don't have it you're screwed! Hehe, no - I'm sure there's another way.

 

Did you use a lot of summons, scrolls and consumables? Because the can really make a difference in a tough fight. Scroll of Valor, Scroll of Defense, some distracing Wood Beetles, Scroll of Maelstrom, Potions of Alacrity and stuff like that.

[AndreaColombo]

Make sure you spam Durance's buffs too: Devotions for the Faithful, Dire Blessing, Champion's Boon, etc.. Just cast them like your life depended on it (which is virtually true, in this case.)

[p0larius]

As I said - the shield does wonders. Did you get it and have it in your stash? Then I would give it to somebody who has high defenses plus Weapon & Shield Sstyle and let him attack Thaos. If Thaos tries to hit him with a ranged spell and grazes, he will eat his own spell.

 

If you don't have it you're screwed! Hehe, no - I'm sure there's another way.

 

Did you use a lot of summons, scrolls and consumables? Because the can really make a difference in a tough fight. Scroll of Valor, Scroll of Defense, some distracing Wood Beetles, Scroll of Maelstrom, Potions of Alacrity and stuff like that.

 

I do summon the beetles using the figurine during the first stage (also I use Kana's summons heavily). Unfortunately I do not have the shield - I pretty much rushed through Twin Elms because there seemed to be a sense of urgency. The main character losing her mind and all that. I think I might just go back a few saves and do some more stuff (still have white march to go to as well).

 

Make sure you spam Durance's buffs too: Devotions for the Faithful, Dire Blessing, Champion's Boon, etc.. Just cast them like your life depended on it (which is virtually true, in this case.)

 

Not sure if I have those, Durance being only Lvl 10.

[AndreaColombo]

Make sure you spam Durance's buffs too: Devotions for the Faithful, Dire Blessing, Champion's Boon, etc.. Just cast them like your life depended on it (which is virtually true, in this case.)

 

Not sure if I have those, Durance being only Lvl 10.

 

At level 10, you're only missing spell levels 6th and 7th (and 7th doesn't really have anything great.)

 

Devotions for the Faithful is level 4, and it's amazingly good; Dire Blessing is level 3, and Champion's Boon is level 5. Pretty sure you have all of them

 

Level 5 also has Crowns for the Faithful, which does wonders for your party's survivability.

Edited February 2, 2016 by AndreaColombo

[Elric Galad]

Crown of the faithful is lvl 6.

 

At level 7, you'll have a full-life which is a life saver in this kind of battle.

 

But it's still true you have most party buff between lvl 1 and 5.

[interf]

I'd level to 11 at a minimum, personally. That's when you get your last class ability, and many of those are fantastic (you're a ranger - stunning shots is fantastic, although less against Thaos than everyone else since he seems to still move when afflicted by it. It'll still tank his defence).

 

Again, you're a ranger, so buff your accuracy and use Binding Roots to make sure you're the only person in that room who gets to stand where they want to.

 

Disorienting weapons will make Thaos die much, much faster - you may have a bow called Lenas Er (optional quest reward) which will really ruin his day. There's several other weapons sold by merchants that apply that debuff - I quite like the hammer Strike Hard from Hearthsong market.

 

Make sure you have all the figurines, and there's always a couple of summons on the field - they can draw fire. Basically every figurine is better than Kana's skeletons, and you said you're using them a lot.

 

Play on slow-motion. If Thaos starts casting, move everyone who is standing still somewhere near where he's casting. By the time you get through Sun in Shadow, you might have a couple of pairs of Boots of Speed - they can help you dodge stuff.

Edited February 2, 2016 by interf

[AndreaColombo]

By the way, do you own the expansion?

 

There's a sword in it that can one-shot Thaos's minions.

[p0larius]

Allright, thanks for all the tips guys!

 

What I will try to do:

 

- go back to an earlier save and level up some more for better priest spells, the petrify spell for aloth and deprive the unworthy for pallegina

- try to get my hands on some better equipment (figurines, aila braccia, weapons that disorient, more potions and scrolls)

 

I do own the expansion, but I kinda wanted to visit the white march during a new playthrough.

 

Best regards,

Polarius

[Boeroer]

Only if your level is on par with theirs (or higher). So, not at level 10.

 

But it would do a lot of raw damage if the "destroy" gets triggered.

 

He said he has the expansion but didn't play it yet.

That's a pity because now - with level 10 - you're a bit too mighty for that content - except Crägholt of course.

[gogocactus]

If you can do some bounties from Caed Nua, maybe you can increase your party's level without doing too much further side content this run? Just a thought