Noobers Revenge: A Level 1 Solo Challenge

[Harpagornis]

Everyone in town used to throw rocks at me and tell me I was annoying. I once knew this guy named Dilby. He threw rocks at me too. Are you gonna throw rocks at me? What about now?

 

 

After countless deaths caused by impatient adventures Noobers soul vanished from the realms of Baldurs Gate only to appear in Pillars of Eternity. How this could happen is still a mystery but Noobers current aims are clear and simple: He wants to be an adventurer too - help him to survive!

 

Noober – as the name already indicates – is a noob in its truest form. This means:

1. He is stuck at Level 1 forever and will never go up.

2. All monsters he faces will get furious so PotD only.

3. Because of his nerve-racking personality he has to play solo.

 

Before the adventure starts Noober has some questions to the dear community:

1. Which class should he pick?

2. Which race would help him most?

3. What stats should he push?

4. Which background is helpful?

5. Which items are essential?

6. Will you throw rocks at him?

 

Noober loves cheese so any kind of cheesy tactic is allowed. Everything like Console etc. is no go. What tips and tricks can you give him for his journey?

 

And the ultimate question: When and where will he fail?

 

Gee, you sure are patient.I´ve run out of things to say.

[MaxQuest]

That's... gonna be painful.

 

Which class should he pick?

Huh, Paladin could be a choice because of built-in tankiness plus Lay on Hands.

Cipher, because of Tenuous Grasp and Whispers of Treason.

Maybe chanter? running around with winds of death, and engaging once he has enough phrases to summon the skellies.

Ranger, because of pet tanking.

 

And the ultimate question: When and where will he fail?

You might get to Defiance Bay. But won't pass Maerwald, Raedric...

Edited March 1, 2016 by MaxQuest

[Braven]

Race and class don't matter since you would just need to avoid every fight anyways. I guess rogue for the stealth and + stealth rogue item (whole faction can be done without fighting for 10,000 gold). Also, figurines to fight for you for unavoidable fights. Also, hit/run with a cross bow and a giant pile of traps.

 

I am assuming this is not triple crown solo.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Braven

[Harpagornis]

As stated above: Noober loves cheese so any kind of cheesy tactic is allowed. Everything like Console etc. is no go.

 

Yeah, avoiding fights will be key - or at least minimizing them. At the moment Ranger seems my favourite thanks to his pet. Difficult decisions...

[Braven]

True, you could just send wolfie in to die over and over again. If you can draw them out, after they kill wolfie, I think they wander back and the pet can be revived. Whittle them slowly away.

 

He could also draw them into giant piles of traps. Though, that would cost a lot of gold so you would need to slaughter some helpless villagers to fund your adventure. Also the accuracy would be so bad they they would probably always miss.

 

Highest accuracy pet might be best to avoid a 100% miss situation. Or maybe the one that roars.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Braven

[Reent]

i dont see the rogue getting past chaed nua, maybe he can use scrolls to kill the phantoms, but the spiders? I dont see that happening.

[Braven]

Is exploiting known bugs acceptable? Bugs of Eternity must have something completely game breaking to exploit.

[Harpagornis]

Gamebreaking bugs should be avoided or not?!

 

But its a good question where "cheese" ends and "gamebreaking bugs" begin...

 

In case of doubt i would claim: Play it legit.

[Braven]

For stats, I suggest max everything (Perception the most) and leave Con and Resolve at 3, Int can be 15 in case he wants to cast a level zero scroll or something.  It is not like he can actually close into melee anyways and his defenses / health will quickly become meaningless.  His best chance is to keep accuracy as high as possible so he doesn't reach the point where it is impossible to land a grazing hit.  Dex is good for attacking quicker so he can run away.

[Harpagornis]

Yeah, Perception maybe the most important stat regardless of class. Dex and Might will also be nice.

Hhhhmmm... not sure about Con. You will get hurt later on. Would be bad to get one shotted no?

Res we can drop and Int.... hhmmmm... would depend on the class. More opinions?

Edited March 1, 2016 by Harpagornis

[Braven]

With hundreds of trips back to the free inn (to save money), and the figurine you can buy in the first village, I think you could get to Act 2 with any class in which many more figurines become available; most without any fighting at all required.  To get the one in the locked chest, you could gather a plus lore item (one easy to get under stronghold), the +2 mechanics glove, the +2 strong hold rest bonus, and the scroll of +3 mechanics.  If you have a year to spend slowing grinding away enemies (and waiting for a lucky string of crits) and running back to the free inn, I think you could eventually win the game.

 

For race, maybe the wood elf would be best for ranged accuracy.  I don't think you want a godlike because you would lose the ability to wear the hats with status immunities.  Also, maybe it would be better to use a class that starts with +2 lore.  That would make scrolls more accessible, since you can get to +4 with an item and then be able to cast a lot of immunity spells.  You could even get to +6 with the stronghold bonus and enchantment.  Chanter could be good for that since you can eventually kill anything with that death chant and phantom summon as long as you can bug the AI into not attacking you, which should be possible with positioning.  For that class, you want max intelligence and kill Aloth for his armor.

 

Side Note:  If you want to be a "true" solo, you can also just kill the entire prologue encampment by yourself, thus never having the fighter companion (well, I guess you would have her for a few seconds until you murder her)  (Strategy Tip: This is a great way to get a quick "cruel" reputation point as a bleak walker paladin, or as a priest, not to mention more cruelty later due to additional, funny conversation options you open up with gilded vale villagers, bragging about having murdered everyone)

Edited March 1, 2016 by Braven

[Harpagornis]

Thats great info Braven. Totally forgot about the "Rite of Hidden Wonders"-Scroll. Together with the Resting Bonus this will open the path to the "Gloves of Manipulation" in Readrics Keep for even more Mechanic-Skill - say hello Shadow Figurine!

 

Is it  possible to beat the whole game.... well, we will see. There will be some tight spots to get through. Its all about cheesing the AI and the "strange" engagement system. Oh, and many, many running and resting for sure. But i know what patience is. Beating Wasteland 2 with a naked level 1 solo ranger on SJ was such a pain in the ass - it cant get worse.

 

So Ranger is the number 1 choice so far? Anyone else? Boeroer we need your help!

Edited March 1, 2016 by Harpagornis

[Reent]

you cant solo the game with a lvl 1 character, thaos...
 you dont have the acc to hit him?

 

ranger pet is nice since he has enough aggro to defend you and enough speed to kite most stuff... but... i dont see you getting past most stuff, since your acc is too low later on... and the figurines stop getting kills in the later parts of act 2 - its a game of figurines +scrolls (without acc) vs mobs... not seeing it.

[Braven]

I think I am convinced that chanter is the best.  The ability to cheese by endlessly summoning the phantom invocation (which has high accuracy), or one of the other level one invocations, during a single battle seems too good to pass up.  The trick is just to get the AI stuck on something, or run around in circles, or hide behind a door or wall and you should be able to kill almost anything.  Who knows, maybe the death chant can travel through walls and closed doors.  The cheese is just too good to pass up.  You could even push might down to 3 if you want.  It doesn't matter, because eventually you will kill them since DR can only block up to 80% of damage; it will just take a little longer but the idea is that you put your self in a location where you can't get hit.  Probably better to get the INT, DEX, PER, and CON just in case you get hit while positioning.

 

Also, chanter is thematically the best for Noober.  He sure likes to talk, as I recall.  This is the profession I best envision him taking.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Braven

[Harpagornis]

Hmmmm... never played Chanter... should check this out maybe.

 

The Rites Scroll needs Lore 4 as i can see. Damn. And: Where can you buy it?

 

I pushed Surival to 3 right from the start with my Ranger. Lore is at 0. I am doomed.

[Braven]

I always found those as random loot.  I am not sure that they can be crafted or bought.  If studying one of those random loot calendar day charts is not considered cheating, you could do that to obtain one.  Just need to rest your character until the correct day of the month.

 

Also, don't forget about the cheese of abusing retraining at inns.  Even though you can't go past level 1, you could change your stat distribution or, more importantly, the chants and invocations you know to best handle a specific situation.  At least I assume you can retrain at level 1; I have always been at least level 2 before reaching the inn.

 

Also, there is a +2 lore background.  That could be a way to cast even higher level spells.  Chanter would start out with 4 lore with a possible lore of at least 11 with buffs.  I think that is enough to cast every scroll in the game, unless they added higher level ones in the expansion.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Braven

[Harpagornis]

Hmmmm.... cant find the scroll in the daily loot list. Seems its just totally random loot as you stated. And the big question is: When does it start dropping. Act 2? Earlier? Later?

 

I will try to get my Ranger rolling. If it fails i maybe should fall back to the Lore Skill and a Chanter. We will see!

[Braven]

I think I usually find at least one in Act 2, but it might be available earlier.  I think I got one in the catacombs under Defiance Bay before.  An easy area for figurines to clear out.  It is a great way to get Tidefall even earlier since that requires a mechanical skill of 10 to locate.

 

If save and reloading is not considered cheating, you could just keep trying until you eventually found one.

 

You could also check and see if the scroll seller at the stronghold sells them.  I don't remember what he sells.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Braven

[Reent]

I think I am convinced that chanter is the best.  The ability to cheese by endlessly summoning the phantom invocation (which has high accuracy), or one of the other level one invocations, during a single battle seems too good to pass up.  The trick is just to get the AI stuck on something, or run around in circles, or hide behind a door or wall and you should be able to kill almost anything.  Who knows, maybe the death chant can travel through walls and closed doors.  The cheese is just too good to pass up.  You could even push might down to 3 if you want.  It doesn't matter, because eventually you will kill them since DR can only block up to 80% of damage; it will just take a little longer but the idea is that you put your self in a location where you can't get hit.  Probably better to get the INT, DEX, PER, and CON just in case you get hit while positioning.

 

Also, chanter is thematically the best for Noober.  He sure likes to talk, as I recall.  This is the profession I best envision him taking.

 

Have you played enough solo yet? You have problems keeping the fight going (you dont use targeted spells/actions on enemys (charmed enemys dont count) and the enemy isnt targeting you=fight stopps, even summoning or AOE damage spells stop the fight), thats why its impossible to use the "hide and let the chant kill" strat, of course, you can use summons to keep the aggro, however - the moment you summon can stop the fight (really, happened to me over and over again - you have to either be lucky enough to get it out in a good timespot or they have to aggro you)

The next problem, your summon isnt up all the time, phantom needs 3 stacks, lasts 12 secs - thats theoretical even, however the cast puts your chanting into a long recovery - thats why there is a pause, can be quite some time with low dex+heavy armor.

 

The Figurines have the problem that you cant summon them while you have a summon out - leads to spots where the aggro can drop...

 

The "fight" mechanics of Pillars are even worse (for solo and pure spellcaster groups) then the log...  Chanter may look good for solo, but i am not convinced that lvl 1 chanter mechanics are that good.

 

And now lets speak about the Powerlevel... phantoms are pure Power lvl 1, however it drops hard - enemys kill it fast in act 2 - sometimes you get only about 1 hit out of your phantom. The Death Chant is really great for a lvl 1 ability, you can get it to around maybe 60 acc vs fort - not many classes can get that high, however... we havent looked at enemy abilities, the moment they use something other then "charge at you" you cant do anything... you simply die

 

The Chanter has great solo mechanics, however without level - its useless

Edited March 1, 2016 by Reent

[Harpagornis]

Okay, things for the Ranger are going well so far.

 

Phantoms in Caed Nua are cleared thanks to the Animat (+ Bear Pet). While they got punched i had enough time two shotting Phantoms with a "Good Arbalest" i found earlier. Took several - okay many - rests to get through. The spiders are waiting... have not time atm...   

[Harpagornis]

The spiders in the jail are tough. Took me several hours to find a way through.

 

To survive the waves the Ranger used Food Buffs, 5x Endurance Potions, 5x Potions of Eldrich Aim. To surive the damage he weared Plate Armor + Blunting Belt.

First Wave: Tanked by the bear while the ranger one shotted the spiders with Wounding Shot thanks to the good Arbalest. The bear has to survive at all costs.

Second Wave: Tanked by the Animat that used Heal on the Bear to max his Endurance again. Killed the Spiders with Arbalest + Wounding Shots.

Third Wave: Tanked by the bear again while the ranger killed the spiders with Arbalest + Wounding Shot. Up to this point no healing potion should be required.

Fourth Wave: This is the most dangerous part because your bear is dead. Used a door so the Ranger only has to tank one small spider. Killed the big one first

with Potion of Eldrich Aim. After using Wounding Shot with the Arbalest he switched to Hunting Bow as the interrupts of the spider attacks are very annoying.

Once the big one falls it will get a race of who dies faster. Even with Endurance Potions your Health Bar will get critical at some point. Its just a matter of dice luck.

 

Maerwald was a joke. Cleared the spider room first using the "Summon Animat" while killing one or two spiders with Wounding Shot. The retreat and rest game took

some while. After the spider room is cleared you have enough room for running out of Maerwalds Engegament Range (+Movement Resting Bonus works great here).

Killed Maerwald thanks to the engagement cheese. Once he was dead the ranger switched to a wand (damn piercing immunity) and killed one Blight after another.

 

Defiance Bay i am coming!

[Reent]

The Spiders would be easier with a Chanter - the first few fights you can take in parts with the Animat, after that the game doesnt stop the combat - you can just wait and summon, makes it much easier.

 

Defiance Bay has some Quests you will be able to do with time, some i am quite interested in if you manage them. ? The man who waits ? - the main quest where you go to the Sanitarium.

I dont think there is enough room to kite and i dont think you can take the fight in parts, but its been a long time since i did the quest...

[Braven]

The Spiders would be easier with a Chanter - the first few fights you can take in parts with the Animat, after that the game doesnt stop the combat - you can just wait and summon, makes it much easier.

 

Defiance Bay has some Quests you will be able to do with time, some i am quite interested in if you manage them. ? The man who waits ? - the main quest where you go to the Sanitarium.

I dont think there is enough room to kite and i dont think you can take the fight in parts, but its been a long time since i did the quest...

I think the Sanitarium is doable.  Maybe plant dozens of traps right outside the prisoner's cells which will immediately go off at the start of combat?  You have all day to completely setup that room.  Also, you can hide in one of the cell door ways to create a choke point.  By then, you could have a total of 6 figurines, if needed.  None of them require fighting to get (though you only have quick item slots for 4).

 

Likely, you will need to slaughter some helpless people for gold at some point.

 

There is also that one hat item that can be obtained from a store allowing 3 uses of whispers of treason.  I believe there are other items that also allow charming and target will.  Most enemies have a low will defense, and as a non-caster, you have the around a level 4ish accuracy with spells.  Should be good enough with high Perception.  A strategy could be hiding behind a door, using figurines as meat shields, and then charming enemies such that they just kill each other.  

 

One big advantage you have, that other players don't, is lots and lots of time on your hands.  If you load up with items that provide powerful per-rest abilities, you can just unload the whole arsenal every battle and then rest to use them all again in the next battle.  Figurines can be the meat shields that give you time to use them.  For speed unloading those abilities, you can use a potion, or to save a quick item slot, use that armor in Dyford that increases action speed by 50%.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Braven

[Reent]

6 Figurines? have i been gone for too long? i know only 5 you can have at that point and more than 1 trap? I thought you could place only one?

[Braven]

6 Figurines? have i been gone for too long? i know only 5 you can have at that point and more than 1 trap? I thought you could place only one?

 

You can only place one trap?  I never really used traps; you are probably right.

 

As for figurines, I think I did miscount.  Only 5 can be gathered without any combat.  The easiest bounty quest has a 6th, but that is the worst one anyways, so I wouldn't bother since you can only hold a max of 4 and can always rest after combat.

 

Is it possible for wolfie to start dialog?  In that case, your PC could just be in a whole different room, far away and kite them out.  I don't think I have ever tried to start a dialog with my animal companion.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Braven