potd solo wizard - the glass way (3.03)

[Sfzrx]

I've been working on a wizard solo play through as wizard is my favourite class in this game. Other classes felt quite underwhelming in comparison to the amazing amount of spells and different ways to play a wizard can offer. Solo also makes some of the "bad" skills in 6 man party suddenly good, I find this really appealing. Seeing others' solo build posts made me want to make one of my own, I'm here to share my build and some of the tricks I've found, as playing alone can feel quite lonely.

 

Before I started my own run, I tried looking for tips and tricks, I came across this ancient guide by gochargers2156

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/78467-class-build-wizard-solo-potd/

and it gave me a general idea of how he completed his run, I also managed to find some 3.03 end game boss kills videos including Sky dragon, Adra dragon and Concelhaut by Tony Skoviak. His approach is similar, building as tanky as a wizard possibly can and face tank the bosses with plate armor and high deflection.

 

(My own boss kill combat log and strategy are in comments)

 

I wasn't too interested in this super tank approach as I was used to playing a pure glass wizard in my older 6 man party runs. So I used my old glass build and wanted to see how far I could go with it and turned out to be better than I expected.

 

 

Race

 

Wood elf, I hesitated when I first picked this race for solo, but it turns out to the best race, accuracy is king.

 

Stat

 

The white that wends - Drifter

 

MIG 18

CON 3

DEX 16

PER 20

INT 18

RES 3

 

Stat spread fits the name, glass.

I value perception more than the other stats, as it's basically hit chance and crit chance, and I like it when hits are consistant, no grazes or misses. Crits also help one break through enemy high DR, especially with Domenel faction talent and the act 3 talent boosting crit multplier to 1.9. Another overlooked aspect of perception is interrupt, with +4 per cloak and +3 per from resting and +2 per from Hylea and birds quest, the interrupt value should be quite high.

 

If one's attack accuracy is 15 points higher than enemy defense, it will never miss.

If one's attack accuacy is 35 points higher than enemy defense, it will never graze or miss.

If one's attack accuracy is 100 points higher than enemy defense, it will 100% crit, this happens very often when using reflex targeting skills on paralyzed/unconcious/petrified/hobbled enemies.

 

If one's Defense is 85 points higher than an enemy's attack accuracy, enemy will always miss.

If one's Deflection is 50 points higher than an enemy's ranged deflection targeting attack accuracy wearing Aila Braccia, enemy will always miss or hit themselves.

 

Despite the 3 resolve, wizards can achieve insane amount of deflection with Arcane Veil and Wizard's Double, 115 deflection bonus just from spells, or WIzard's Double + Llengrath spell for 80 deflection bonus that lasts longer, the buffs along with Aila Braccia/Little Savior, allows one to cast spells freely without having to worry about being interrupted in some situations while avoiding all deflection targeting hits.

 

The core idea of this build, is to CC enemies with high accuracy so that they cannot retaliate, then use reflex targeting strong aoe spells to finish them off while they are paralyzed/unconcious/petrified, because these debuffs reduces reflex stat dramatically, the reflex targeting spells will almost always crit. Chain stunning with Cladhaliath is another strat when fighting single target foes.

 

So far I feels like I'd rather spend points into dex than con, as faster actions means enemies die faster and I take less damage.

 

Skills wise I've spent my points evenly into mechanics and stealth, mechanics to open doors/traps for extra exp, detect hidden items, stealth to avoid certain tough encounters so you can come back later or to position yourself in a better location before fights.

 

*** SURVIVAL ACCURACY  BONUS DOESN'T WORK WITH SPELLS.***

 

I was wondering why my accuracy wasn't as high as I expected, did not realize this until upscaled Thaos attempt and posting a bug though, so forget about survival in most cases, really confusing wording on survival.

 

Survival is useful in fights where I go into melee, quite useful in the final Upscaled Thaos fight where I melee the two Vessels down.

 

 

Lore is very good, at 8 lore one can use paralyze scrolls, +15 accuracy and targets will, very useful when fighting low will, high fortitude enemies that are immune to Call to slumber, like Adra Dragon, Sky Dragon, Undead Raedric,  Eyeless, Tentacles and Woedica's Headsman, It's also got an insane 20m range, can land it before enemies get anywhere close, at lore 10 one can use maelstrom scrolls, for when some extra damage is needed.

 

 

Talents early on

 

Arcane Veil

Hardened Veil

Secrets of Rime

Gallant's Focus

 

 

Talents at level 16

 

Gallant's Focus

Secrets of Rime

Scion of Flame

Heart of the Storm

Bonus 4th Level Spell

Fast Runner

Interrupting Blows

Sanctifier/Beast slayer/etc

 

Talents can be swaped around for different fights.

 

For example, secrets of rime, interrupting blows, bonus 4th level spell, faster runner, can be swaped with sword and shield style, superior deflection, Arcane Veil, Hardened Veil, during Alpine dragon fight because it's immune to cold damage, and I need the deflection to make sure the blights can zone the dragon for me while missing me completely with their attacks.

 

 

 

 

Item choices

 

#1 Boots of Speed

This is the core item for this build, earliest you can get this is right after Maerwald.

Strategy to get this early at level 6 is in comments.

 

The +4 dex +3 lore boots is useful for fights like Alpine dragon where I don't move much.

 

#2 Gauntlets of Accuracy

I favour accuracy over the other stats, so this one is the top pick, earliest one you can get is in Raedric's Hold, one is in roof stash on day 9.

 

#3 Cloak

+3 per cloak, Upgrades into +4 per cloak, and +6 accuracy to beast for dragon slaying.

 

 

#4 Belt

+2 dex, or +3 might, or +1 dex + 15 trap accuracy -1 weapon switch recovery.There is also the + interrupt belt, not that useful though.

 

 

#5 Helmet

+ 2 int, + 3 int, +3 might, then +4 might, The anti stuck stag helm useful when fighting kith rangers to avoid getting binding rooted for 30 seconds.

 

 

#6 Chest

Any enchanted clothing is fine, usually + 2 dex, or +2 per for dragons, the +2 lore one can be useful if I wanna do 8 lore + 16 survival while keeping ms boots.

 

Heard there is a +15 accuracy to beast chest by killing the commander of iron flail fort, i'm restarting a run to see this for myself, if it works the way i think it works, 15 + 4 would have 11 extra accuracy compare to 6 + 2, would be quite helpful on some dragon fights to ensure 100% graze + or 100% hit +.

 

 

#7 Rings

Bartender's ring, +20% damage to vessels and spirits

Amazing ring.

 

+9 deflection from the hidden stash outside spider cave in dyrwood crossing(fixed loot)

 

10% area of effect radius

 

+3 dex ring

 

+4 int ring

 

+ level 3 spell ring

 

+ level 4 spell ring

 

 

 

Weapons

 

Early game hatchet and small shield  will do for one set, and a ranged weapon in the other.

 

Soulbound Sceptre - Very useful per encounter will target stun with +20 accuracy bonus, I slicken into this stun when fighting single eyeless to start off combat, very useful to prolong CC on low will enemies because it's per encounter and very accurate, you can upgrade this by hitting the forest troll and reset in black meadow with Boots of Speed.

 

Steadfast - Terrify immune, make sure to leave some trash early on to upgrade this, the last stage can be upgraded with Citzal's Martial Power.

 

Forgotten tear of the beloved - allows one to cast charm/dominate immume, useful when fighting mind control enemies.

 

Fellstroke - This pistol gives +2 stealth, stacking ontop of the +2 stealth from helmet, I had 16 stealth and sneaked through the entire iron flail fort, almost got caught though, it's probably a lot safer with 18 stealth or so.

 

Godansthunyr - Dual wield along with Steadfast when fighting dragons for the might bonus. (Llengrath fight only, need Forgotten tear for Adra and Aila Braccia for Alpine) Also good for Concelhaut and other enemies that causes frighten/terrify effects.

 

Aila Braccia - Useful when doing bounties and during Alpine dragon fight, with Arcane veil/Wizard's double and other items/talents, you get 30 seconds of insane deflection, reflecting/avoiding pretty much all Ranged attacks aimed at you, mostly used to deflect the 15m range sunlances during bounties and the ooze spit/spectre stun during Alpine dragon. Having high deflection also makes ranged kith enemies in bounties unlikely to target you in general, and instead target the figurine creature.

 

Little Savior - For when one wants to get 100% avoidance on melee as well as ranged.

 

Abydon's hammer - Really good might bonus and a decent per encounter long duration fortitude targeting aoe stun, the vessel only prone on hit for some reason is currently working on all enemies.

 

Cladhaliath - I used this one to stunlock upscaled Thaos. Strategy is in comments.

 

 

 

 

 

Spell choices

 

Level 1

 

*Chill fog* - This is the bread and butter, good damage with high might/int, causes blind, reduces accuracy, deflection and reflex, making other skills and attacks much easier to land, can stack for tough encounters early, at level 9 you can mastery it and stack like 7 before you start any fight, mostly to clear trash, not as useful on bosses.

 

Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff - Despite being a wood elf, I actually use this a lot early on, the weapon has surprisingly high damage, higher than regular quarterstaffs it seems, and comes with leech, the early few levels usually involves chill fog + staff + arcane veil to kill some tougher mobs, it's also my main source of damage fighting Maerwald, useful until spirit lance is learned.

 

*Eldritch Aim* - Good to cast before CC.

 

Slicken - Good starter spell on stationary Spores, Eyeless, and Kraken/Tentacle, as well as any other low reflex enemies, or high reflex enemies that got all reflex debuffed down, currently bugged atm when trying to connect it with paralyze and petrified though.

 

Fleet Feet - I use this to kite trolls into bandits for the smith shipment quest.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Dr <3 I found that Wizard's Double actually stacks with Arcane Veil, resulting in a funny 115 deflection bonus just from buffs, very funny. I was at 210 + deflection with 3 resolve at level 16, this kind of deflection is probably enough to make all ranged deflection targeting attacks gets reflected back with Aila braccia, and most, or all melee attacks will miss, depending on the monster type, Buying a lot of time, wizards can probably achieve the highest deflection stat in the game, not even fighters or paladins can get this high.

 

 

 

Level 2

 

Infuse with Vital Essence- Useful early, useless later.

 

Bulwark Against the Elements - This spell along with other dr items makes you exteremely tanky to oozes early, very useful in Maerwald fight and lighthouse ghost fights as well.

 

Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon - Very effective at fighting blights, mostly the blights during Maerwald's fight, and brings some endurance back, not very useful beyond that because most enemies' fortitude are quite high, short range average cast speed and later u get better aoe.

 

*Rolling Flame*- Pretty useful early on, not for the damage, but for pulling enemies from insane range.

 

"Binding web" - Very useful to cast along with Chill fog before starting combat, can stack like 7 then start the combat with crackling bolt, enemies will all become stuck, I use this method during Concelhaut fight and kith bounties.

 

 

Level 3

 

*Crackling bolt* - Surprisingly fast, and surprisingly effective, thanks to it's long range you can snipe enemies from range they simply cannot retaliate. I use this to snipe druids, wizards, archers,  tree women, animats, low endurance eneminies in general, you can often get 2 casts off before they get close, run further away with boots of speed and keep sniping.

 

 

Fireball - Very fast fire aoe spell, good for fighting enemies grouped under your Chill Fog, I spam this on large zombie packs or large ghost packs, or when I need damage and the situation isn't good for Crackling Bolt.

 

Deleterious Alarcrity of Motion - +50% attack speed and 2 ms, will make your auto attacks with staff/spirit lance go a lot faster. Heard this spell reduces spellcasting

recovery too, I didn't know when I played, would be a great spell to cast before unleashing combos.

 

 

 

 

Level 4

 

Minor Arcane Reflection - I find this very useful against enemy casters, mostly priests' single target spells, and wizard's paralyze, especially during the leaden key attacks where they use it almost immediately.

 

Maura's Writhing Tentacle - Very useful early on fighting single dargul, lurker and troll, basically you run some distance with boots of speed and cast the spell, despite the cast speed being slow it should pop before they get to you, they stuck on hit, doing decent damage, with some arcane assaults and weapon attacks they should go down, useless later.

 

Minoletta's Concussive Missles - This will one shot skeleton wizards/archers and some kith casters, can be used for hit and run style, pop arcane veil cast this in stealth and run out with boots of speed, useless later.

 

 

***Shadowflame***

"OPAF"

 

Level 5

 

Malignant Cloud - Upgraded version of chill fog, still targets fortitude which kinda sucks but the damage is raw, ignoring DR, very powerful, a few stacks of this will rip things apart, sadly a lot of the stronger foes are immune to poison, not as useful end game.

 

Citzal's Spirit Lance - 29-44 damage, +20% attack speed, extra reach, built in blast and bloody + 27 accuracy. Good weapon mid game, useless later when you have stronger aoe spells.

 

**Call to Slumber** - This is probably the best spell to use on drakes, or any enemy with high deflection fortitude, and reflex but low will, good cc duration and strong debuff, downside is that a lot of the stronger enemies are immune to unconcious.

 

Ninagauth's Bitter Mooring - I don't use this very often but it's good when I do use it.

 

Torrent of Flame - Good for when you need fast damage and enemies are paralyzed/unconcious.

 

 

Level 6

 

Arcane Reflection - Useful against higher level enemy casters.

 

Gaze of the Adragan - Offers one of the strongest debuffs in the game. Alpine dragon have high resistance to prone,  is immune to stun, paralyze, stuck and unconcious, but not this, although it's base fortitude stat isn't low.

 

Citzal's Martial Power - Use this to upgrade steadfast, and the 20 accuracy bonus is huge, applies to items like Berath's kiss , paralysis scrolls and maelstrom scrolls.

 

Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst - Very useful when fighting crowed controled enemies, amazing damage after enemies are paralyzed/unconcious/petrified, especially when enemies are immune to cold damage, like Concelhaut and Alpine Dragon.

 

 

 

Level 7

**Delayed fireball"

Very useful, can stack chill fog, then throw a delayed fireball and crackling bolt to pull, as you run back watch the landmine trigger, or cast it just out of combat starting range and then cast Call to Slumber, and watch it crit on unconcious enemies at the beginning of the fight.

 

Concelhaut's Crushing Doom - Very useful on Tentacles/Kraken because their reflex and deflection are both low, also good in situations when one needs good single target damage.

 

Substantial Phantom - The phantom runs extremely fast with +3 speed boots, can kite enemies very easily, as well as soak damage, proc the +4 int ring's daze trigger, lasts 30 seconds, only downside is that it takes longer to summon compare to using an adra beetle figurine.

 

Level 8

 

**Freezing Rake**

Fast cast +15 accuracy aoe spell that hits extremely hard, as well as applying 2 strong debuffs, weaken and hobbled, weakened reduces fortitude by 28 and will by 20, making shadowflame's paralyze much easier to land on end game bosses, hobbled reduces reflex stat, stacking ontop of paralyze/unconcious/petrified, increases the crit chance of reflex targeting spells further.

 

 

Finally, how to play this build.

 

Start the game selling everything on you including the ring, regents, armor, lock picks, weapons, the terrible gun, everything but an axe for Calisca, this should give you around 2900 coin right off the bat. During water skin fight, Calisca knockdown melee dude on the top and hold while wizard  cast staff and kill the archer, and come back to  kill the melee, equip Calisca with hide armor and wizard with bow, kill the next pack, then use chill fog on the last fight, I left the rogue by himself for extra exp, then reaches town, do main quest, go back and disarm traps in dungeon, should hit 3 before you head out.

 

Early on do bandit quest and disarm every trap, unlock every door possible, sneak around maps for hidden stashes, sell everything, and you should hit 5k coin really early, buy the figurine, loot secret stashes, 10% aoe ring, +5 accuracy gloves and +2 per amulet can all be obtained on certain days, with the figurine you can easily do the bear cave, throwing Chill Fog and smack with staff behind the animat,

 

I did Maerwald at level 4, sneak in Caed Nua hugging right wall, then you will encounter a wisp,  kill it, and also kill the fire blight pack with Chill Fog.

 

Phantom fight strategy in comments below.

 

Sneak past all the spiders to Maerwald directly.

 

Maerwald fight combat log and strategy is in comments.

 

After Maerwald one can do simple quests for exp in Defiance Bay, getting Boots of Speed from Skaen temple.

 

I hit level 11 in act 2 before any choices to upscale content, did all 3 bounties and pretty much all side quests.

 

A few strategies I figured out that i find very useful for this play style

 

#1 Stacking Chill Fog pre fight, then cast Rolling Flame from long range, because the ball is somewhat slow, by the time it hits you'll be able to position yourself and have no recovery pending, so you can either cast tentacles or summon 3 wood beatle/shades immediately circling the Chill Fog, or just fully buff up, I find this Rolling Flame strat very useful because it gives time to cast tentacle and gives time to cast buffs, or just simply allows you to avoid getting sniped by enemy ranged and instead let the figurine creatures take the hits. Later one can stack Chill Fog/Malignant Cloud and Binding Web, then Delayed Fireball, pull with Crackling Bolt to make this strategy even stronger.

 

 

#2 Corner yourself against wall and summone 3 shades or 3 beetles to surround you, this way, shadows can't teleport to attack you because theres no room, and enemy smart AI kith melee enemies won't be able to reach you either. Enemy ranged can but you have Minor Arcane Reflection and Arcane Veil, can fully buff up yourself and drop Chill Fog pre pull, then stab enemies with Spirit Lance behind summoned creatures after fully buffed. I killed the light house ghosts and the cean gwla in Heritage Hill with this method,

 

 

#3 Crackling Bolt long range snipe, the range on this spell is so high that you can outrange pretty much all enemies, usually killing them before they can get to you since you out run them with boots of speed. If the enemy is standing next to a wall then the first Crackling Bolt will also likely to bounce and hit a 2nd time.

 

 

 

Mastery spells

 

Chill Fog

Binding Web

Crackling Bolt

Shadowflame

 

 

General pull strategy

 

Chill Fog x 7

Binding Web x 1

(Delayed Fireball)

Cracking Bolt x 1

 

run

 

(Figurine)

Shadowflame x ?

Arcane Assault x 2

 

or

 

Binding Web x 7

Crackling Bolt x 1

 

run

 

(Figurine)

Eldritch Aim

Shadowflame/Call to Slumber

Freezing Rake

Shadowflame

Freezing Rake

 

Sky Dragon and Adra Dragon combat log in comments, strategy is basically getting accuracy as high as possible, then use paralyze scroll, because both dragons have will as their weakest stat, it will 100% land, and then one can follow up with Freezing rake to weaken them, and then spam Freezing Rake/Shadowflame.

 

Rest of the boss combat log/strategy are in comments as well.

Edited August 22, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #1

 

Crackling bolt.

 

http://imgur.com/a/ni5F7

Edited July 29, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Raven Darkholme]

looking good mate

[Sfzrx]

Update #2

 

Sky dragon fight combat log showing skill uses.

 

http://imgur.com/a/RTi3S

 

Adra dragon fight combat log showing skill uses.

 

http://imgur.com/a/KiLoO

Edited July 28, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #3

 

General strategy against kith groups:

 

Binding Web x7

Crackling Bolt

Figurine

Eldritch Aim

Call to Slumber

Freezing Rake

Shadowflame

Freezing Rake

 

 

 

Concelhaut fight combat log showing skill uses and strategy.

 

http://imgur.com/a/JQAs6

 

 

Let me know if anyone have any questions about certain encounters.

Edited November 9, 2016 by Sfzrx

[bigwillystyle]

I learned a thing or two from the Adra Dragon combat logs - thank you for sharing.  

[Dr <3]

Actually i never thought you can cast so many spell pre combat. Cheesy as hell but huber effective! Good guide

[Sfzrx]

Update #4

 

Alpine dragon combat log showing skill uses and strategy.

 

http://imgur.com/a/q3D99

 

This fight is a lot harder than the other ones, mostly because the spectres and oozes stun on hit from range, the wraith also casts abduction to stun, and Alpine dragon itself being immune to many crowed control effects and cold damage, have high fortitude plus blinds the player almost immediately.

 

I tried many different methods, some were able to kill the boss but wasn't consistent enough to be put in a guide, finally got tired of getting stunlocked and speced into Weapon and Shield Style, Superior Deflection and 2 ranks of Arcane Veil, also equiped a +9 deflection ring, and superb enchanted Aila Braccia. Because the blights have pretty bad accuracy I was able to tank them while casting petrify on the dragon, pulling from this location also avoids all the ghosts.

 

Had to respec into max resolve to get through the dialogue check with the dragon to turn it friendly, then I respeced back, the reason for this is to place the trap right next to the dragon, this Wilting Wind trap here is very important as it removes the dragon's fortitude stat by like 28, on top of scalebreaker's 12, making Gaze of the Adragan much easier to land. I had 114 accuracy despite being blinded.

 

For this fight I speced 5 survival, 4 lore and 13 mechanics, with copperlane fletcher's stay resting bonus, items and survival/lore scrolls, I had 10 survival, 10 lore and 15 mechanics. +15 accuracy to beasts and +45 accuracy with traps, plus the 15 accuracy with traps belt, which is why the accuracy on the trap is so high. Wanted to use maelstrom scrolls for damage while spamming petrify on the dragon, but in this case it wasn't needed.

 

**SURVIVAL ACCURACY BONUS DOESN'T APPLY TO SPELLS** Explains the 114 accuracy, which isn't as high as I expected, it's best to do this fight after Llengrath, as one of her spells gives blind immunity, offering 29 bonus accuracy and 20 extra deflection. Can throw all the survival skill points into mechanic for even higher trap accuracy.

 

With the Llengrath blind immune spell, 65 base accuracy at level 16,  Blacsonn +3 per, fletcher resting bonus +5, gloves +5, 10 accuracy from 20 base perception, enchanted clothing or helmet +2, 16 from non weapon attack bonus accuracy, 15 from Eldritch AIm, 6 from cloak, 10 from Gaze of the Adragan bonus, 2 from Hylea quest and Birds quest, 5 from wood elf racial, one should have 144 accuracy with Gaze of the Adragan, exactly 50 points higher than Alpine dragon's fortitude stat after scalebreaker and wilting wind trap, it should be 100% hit or crit, no miss or graze. last a very long duration, however I'm not sure if Alpine dragon's stat gets upscaled if one chooses to upscale white march 1.

 

I also just learned that fast cast wizard's double adds 40 deflection and stacks on top of Arcane Veil, very strong, although Arcane Veil is probably enough to get 100% miss on those blights, as their accuracy is only 55 on non upscaled content.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Kaylon]

If you cast confusion at the start of the fight you can avoid being targeted and you have the time to cast all your spells without being interrupted.

[Sfzrx]

If you cast confusion at the start of the fight you can avoid being targeted and you have the time to cast all your spells without being interrupted.

I've seen your level 14 ranger solo Alpine dragon with confusion scrolls, it is quite impressive. However, because of the change to confuse working only 75% of the times, I'm avoiding confusion related spells on purpose now, there is a chance of it failing, despite the chance being ridiculously low.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #5

 

Kraken fight combat log showing skill uses and strategy.

 

http://imgur.com/a/YulSO

 

I actually attempted this before Alpine dragon, and was super annoyed by the fact that the tentacles' skill uses are completely random, they may suddenly feel like throwing 3 rocks or they may feel like using abduction to stun, so I decided to come back for it after getting the Withdraw shield from Alpine dragon, and after hours of trying, I finally figured out how to force all tentacles to use burrow and group them together, without the rng bull ****.

 

As soon as game auto pause on "detect enemy in range" , immediately stealth and run southeast, the tentacle on the far left will likely spot you and throw a rock at you, keep running after you get hit, then use withdraw asap, before the other tentacles have a chance to react, then after withdraw ends, all 4 tentacles should burrow to your location, use Eldritch Aim and paralyze scrolls on them while they are in recovery state, should all hit because their will is low, then spam aoe to kill them. Sometimes the tentacle on the left won't spot you and you can stealth down without getting hit, you can just pop Eldritch Aim in the same spot and all 4 tentacles will burrow towards you in the same fashion.

 

Then buff up, summon a phantom to lure eyeless, and Slicken into Concelhaut's hammer on Kraken, it's reflex is extremely low so it'll be perma prone. Elditch Aim and paralyze scroll on eyeless as soon as they show up, again, because their will is low, this should 100% hit. Finish up Kraken, then paralyze again, and take them out one by one with Abydon's hammer.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #6

 

I saw dambros mentioning reloading 30 times on the phantoms of caed nua in another thread, so I decided to load an earlier save to show how to do this fight as painless as possible.

 

http://imgur.com/a/d2nXn

 

Level 4, Ate food for better aoe and damage, plus one or two fan of flame scroll, 3 Chill Fog + Eldritch Aim, dropping 4 Chill Fog and use an Elditch Aim potion probably works too.

 

Talents are Arcane Veil and Scion of Flame.

 

Arcane Veil and +25 damage to ghost is probably better, or even +25 damage to ghost + Scion of Flame.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #7

 

Maerwald fight combat log and strategy.

 

http://imgur.com/a/6kks6

 

The important thing here is to not get hit by Maerwald's Corrosive Siphon, both the player and the animat, start running when you see him cast it, and avoid his Chill fog, Blights have 0 movement speed when blinded and have low fortitude, so Corrosive siphon and Chill fog are good choices here, can kite blights into Maerwald's Chill fog if they got through, but usually if you run further they'd return to their original location and then you can deal with Maerwald only. Flank Maerwald with the animat to lower his deflection, animat has a heal, use it if you need it.

 

Talents here are Weapon Mastery - Peasant and Two Handed Style.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Dr <3]

Very nice guides

[Sfzrx]

I actually somehow managed to beat Llengrath, did not expect that, thought i won't be able to get her spells, probably just pure luck though, gonna see if i can figure out a strat to make the chance better.

 

http://imgur.com/a/dJ3xT

[Sfzrx]

Update #8

 

Llengrath fight combat log and strategy.

 

http://imgur.com/a/LvXGi

 

Took me a while to figure out this strat, because of Boots of Speed and Fast Runner talent, the Substancial Phantom actually runs extremely fast, and is immune to paralyze, can pretty much kite all the mobs except for the apprentice to the top left corner. the other monsters and Llengrath return to their locations, but the two dragons stay, try to let the phantom run from left side through the mobs and avoid getting into Llengrath's Chaotic Orb range, can probably run to the end even if she gets it off though. The beastmaster apparently casts chaotic orb as well, so just run through asap I guess, the orbs fly in the air for a while.

 

Usually the player character will get stunned/paralyzed by the apprentice's Chaotic Orb, but he'll be busy casting buffs after that so it's fine to just wait it out, I casted Arcane Reflection here to reflect the apprentice's polymorph, but he didn't cast it. Then it's trash clearing.

After trash it's Llengrath, wait out her buffs if she still has any up, pull with rolling flame, buff up, then use the poison you looted from the scout she sent, should 100% hit, since her fortitude is low, another one of those can be looted from the bleak walker quest, use it if you feels like it's needed, I figured I should save one for Thaos. Take her out.

 

Switch to Steadfast + Godansthunyr, Eldritch Aim, abuse paralyze scroll's 20m range, and hit both the dragons and the archer, if it grazed on one of the dragons then keep casting until it hits.

 

65 base accuracy at level 16,  Blacsonn +3 per, fletcher resting bonus +5, gloves +5, 10 accuracy from 20 base perception, enchanted clothing or helmet +2, 16 from non weapon attack bonus accuracy, 15 from Eldritch AIm, 6 from cloak, 15 from scroll accuracy bonus, 2 from Hylea quest and Birds quest, 5 from wood elf racial, one should have 149 accuracy with the paralyze scroll, there is a small chance it will miss on the 140 will dragon.

 

 

UPDATE*** SURVIVAL ACCURACY  BONUS DOESN'T WORK WITH SPELLS.***

 

so yea, better summon a phantom to lure in case the paralyze scroll miss.

 

After they are both paralyzed, use scalebreaker on the 122 will dragon, because it's fortitude is 148, while the other dragon's fortitude is 130. Then spam Freezing Rake until both of them are weakened and hobbled, and finally spam all the Shadowflame you have left along with Freezing Rakes in between.

 

Talents I have here are

 

Secrets of Rime

Beast slayer

Fast Runner

Deep Pocket (can probably swap for + wilder damage to kill the xaurips faster)

Bonus 4th level spell

Scion of Flame

Weapon Focus: Soldier

Bonus 1th level spell (not a good choice, should be swaped for + primordial damage to kill the lurker faster or something else)

 

 

It might be a good idea to kill this boss before Alpine dragon, because one of Llengrath's spells gives blind immunity. gives extra 29 accuracy during the Alpine dragon fight, making it much easier. That's pretty much it, good luck and have fun everyone.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #9

 

Upscaled Thaos fight combat log and strategy.

 

http://imgur.com/a/SEo8Q

 

This wasn't a perfect run through, because I made a mistake and my duplicate lost aggro on the Judge towards the end there, had to reaggro and circle around, normally the duplicate would be able to kite the Judge all the way to the machine, I was too frustraited to redo this again for a perfect run as I've already restarted many times because of these tiny little mistakes I made while screenshoting.

 

Thaos' deflection isn't as high as wiki suggests, the wiki probably was uploaded a buffed version, I was distracted by the mistake on the Judge so I forgot to screenshot his stats and my accuracy on weapon attacks there.

 

I used Chill Fog to damage myself to trigger the 10 accuracy bonus while below 50% endurance effect on Cladhaliath, and don't forget to use Concelhaut's Draining Missles before you kill the Judge, the explosion damage from his death actually directly hits the endurance, ignoring the elemental shield if you leave him for last to end combat, I died like that in my previous run and had to screenshot all over again.

 

Cladhaliath's stun effect is wierd, it's not affected by the +10 resistance to stun on Thaos, and hits his fortitude directly, also graze and crits doesn't affect it's duration, 4.8 seconds every time.

 

Best talents for this fight using this method are probably

 

 

Fast Runner

Weapon Focus: Peasant

One handed Style

Sneak attack

Sanctifier

 

 

Rest can be talents that make trash clearing easier.

 

 

This strategy probably works with every class, just need 3 movement speed boots, Faster Runner talent and +1 movement speed food to outrun rhe Judge at the beginning. Thaos will always start with Interdiction then cast Cleansing Flame on the beetle with this method. Other crowed control effects aren't as effective as unconcious and stun here because Thaos has pretty ridiculous defenses to them.

 

That's pretty much all the bosses in this game, maybe in the future I'll redo this with upscaled act 3 and white march, wasn't sure if I could do it as this was my first solo run, but it was a really fun experience, taking down all these tough bosses with a single character, using wizard spells that I never bothered with in 6 man parties, wizards just feels so much cooler than other classes, taking down archmages and learning spells from their grimoire, using them to fight other strong enemies. Wizard also has a lot of flexibility, can cast spells from afar, can melee, can even equip Alica Braccia and tank with Arcane Veil while casting.

 

I hope you all enjoyed this guide, or at least learned something from it, I look forward to seeing more people trying out solo wizard, as well as playing Obsidian's next game Tyranny.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Boeroer]

With Spelltongue and Alacrity plus Draining Wall you can prolong your buffs like Arcane Veil and stuff for a long time - enough for most encounters. Spelltongue has no stun, but it steals enemies' buff durations for your own buffs, which is cool against bosses, and it gives you +15% speed (which also works for spells).

I tried a mage with all the self-buffs like Eldritch Aim, Lenggraths stuff and whatnot - even Fighting Spirit (human racial) gets prolonged. Veteran's Recovery also. It's a nice weapon for a solo mage.

[Dr <3]

Yes when i discovered the power of draining Wall i was amazed too. +75 def prolonged for huge time is nuts. If you cast wiz double on the top, and wear a good shield and mantle of comfort you fly to godmode.

[Ulundor]

This seems like something for me. Been looking for really good DPS/CC focused builds for solo. For some reason I prefer just going solo and harder difficulties, since I've completed the game once with a party and once on Hard with a Rogue (which was way too easy back pre-WM).

 

Thanks for posting, I will be trying out something very similar myself.

[Sfzrx]

Update #10

 

Couldn't find anything better to play so I decided to play this again with upscaled act 3 and white march 1, 2.

 

These screenshots show how to do the very first few fights in the game naked at level 1,  entering town with 2907 coin and items.

 

http://imgur.com/a/UXMWs

 

I used to do the water pouch fight by casting staff and directly going for the archer, but after reloading a few times I realized the archer can kill if he crits 3 times in a row, this new method is better, by running up, the archer will attack Calisca if he did not interrupt, if he did interrupt then he'll chase but ends up turning to Calisca anyway. Chill fog to kill the melee, then go for the archer, or Chill fog to kill them both at once.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #11

 

A simple method to do the bandit quest at level 3 that seems to work everytime...just need to wait for a while. (troll pulling, no damage taken)

 

Can also kill the bandit patrol without using figurine like me if one learned Arcane Veil at level 2, cast Chill Fog, Arcane Veil, start combat, Spirit Shield, Wizard's Double, Infused with Vital Essence, Staff, or Arcane veil, start combat, Spirit Shield, WIzard's Double, Infused with Vital Essence, Staff, Eldritch Aim.

 

http://imgur.com/a/haJNf

 

Entry to Raedric's Hold

 

http://imgur.com/a/G3Ybg

 

I used 3 Chill fog here because I was 1 spell charge short, after this fight, one can kill the ooze with the help of animat and loot the +5 accuracy gloves  and a fan of flame scroll on the roof on day on day 9, as well as +2 stealth boots, in the trapped chest by the ladder on day 17, and gloves of manipulation in the chest by bed on day 2.

In order to get the maximum exp here, one should have 6 ranks in mechanic at level 3, then sleep at inn for 7 mechanic, or wait for level 4, this gives exp for opening 2x level 7 doors, and with gloves of manipulation one can open the level 9 door in temple of eothas for more exp.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Sfzrx]

Update #12

 

Bear cave at level 4, probably doable at level 3, pretty easy once figurine is obtained.

 

https://imgur.com/a/PLjMn

 

Temple of Eothas final fight at level 4.

 

https://imgur.com/a/qGSd8

 

This one is trickier, have to position the animat close to the stairs so the lesser ooze doesn't directly spit at you while you are casting the second Chill Fog, and have to stay a healthy distance away from the shadow so it can't teleport, after the ghosts are dead can reposition the animat so the last lesser ooze walk into the Chill Fog, position the Chill Fog carefully so when you go into melee you don't get hit by it.

 

Can also run away after killing the ghosts and reset combat, come back after resting.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Sfzrx

[Raven Darkholme]

I did the bear at level 3 even before 2.0.^^

(After that too but it was easier.)

Not to brag just to confirm what you said.

edit oh I didn't even have figurine.^^

I love the wizard a lot in PoE thanks for doing all these awesome screenshots motivates me to play my wiz again.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Raven Darkholme

[Sfzrx]

I did the bear at level 3 even before 2.0.^^

(After that too but it was easier.)

Not to brag just to confirm what you said.

edit oh I didn't even have figurine.^^

I love the wizard a lot in PoE thanks for doing all these awesome screenshots motivates me to play my wiz again.

Yea, I did almost every single fight with the figurine to make things as clean as possible, probably wasn't neccesary, and probably because I decided to ditch the Arcane Veil level 2 start and went for Fast Runner instead, bought the figurine for 6k currency before the bandit quest.

 

The figurine is obtainable right after one arrives in town, before any fight, with rank 2 stealth, just loot around secret stashes in every zone, as well as going into raedric's hold and loot the currency in the tomb room without monsters, there are fine weapons scattered around, a 2handed sword by the adra pillar in magran's fork, a warbow in southern black meadow, a fine wand by the two lurkers, and a fine crossbow in anslog's compass.

 

Note：

#1 Turn on half speed when looting the stash by the 2 lurkers from north, then head right back up so one doesn't get detected, or just run away.

#2 Do not go into the bridge zone from the north, there will be a xaurip that paralyze immediately as one zones in, instead, after learning it's location, travel from gilded vale or anslog's compass, one will arrive on the left side of the zone.

 

Act 1 items

 

Torc of the Falcon Eye +2 per

Stealth and loot the secret stash in graveyard of esternwood on day 6 or 13.

 

Ring of Overseering +10% aoe radius

Valewood wolves stash on day 19.

 

Gauntlet of accuracy +5 accuracy

Raedric's Hold roof stash on day 9.

 

Hermit's hat +2 int

Quest in bridge zone.

 

Boots of stealth +2 stealth

Raedric's Hold ladder chest on day 17.

 

Gloves of manipulation + 2 mechanic

Raedric's hold chest by bed on day 2 or 5.

 

Black Cat

Osrya's room in Raedric's Hold.

 

My current talents are Fast Runner and Ghost Hunter, may change as I go, playing this at early levels is a bit dull because one has to rest very often, almost after every single fight, it gets better later on though.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Sfzrx