Solo POTD build recommendations?

[FrankFatale]

Hello folks.

 

I don't really have much experience with PoE yet other than blasting through it right now on hard with the default companions. I'm not too far into the game but so far it seems a tad too easy. I was thinking of starting an alternate playthrough with a solo character on POTD. I know there are builds out there but it kinda looks like most of them are outdated so I thought I'd ask you guys for some help / recommendations.

 

The classes I'm taking into account are rogue and chanter. Maybe ranger if you convince me but I'd really like the build to be melee. Not really a fan of wizards and such because of the ancient mechanic of rest that should die a long time ago but hey, a man's gotta be open-minded. I'm thinking both rogue and chanter should be more than doable and I could probably figure out some builds on my own but I'm very interested in what you guys think about this.

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Raven Darkholme]

If you want the best class you are in luck it's also the least tedious and rest intensive class, but some call it boring: the chanter.

Defenses almost on paladin level, but much better damage before level 13.

Max your Int and you will even be better than the level 13 paladin as soon as you stack those dragon chants.

Rogue is more about avoiding fights while chanter can do the entire content without breaking much of a sweat.

[Dr <3]

Yes Chanter is the easyest char for finish game in solo. After some distance came wizard, druid, priest, monk, paladin( but take a long time) and barbarian not necessary in that order.

But Chanter is for sure the more comfortable way to go imho.

But beware: solo is much more difficult than the "team" game. If i was in you i will go normal difficulty for the First solo run, will be challanging enough.

[Boeroer]

Make use of all the charming or dominating items you can get. Like Munacra Arret and the Ring of Changing Heart. It makes soloing a lot easier because all the mobs will attack a charmed enemy and not you. THis is extremely helpful against enemies who come in great numbers and can disable - like Lagufaeth. It's like having additional summons. If Enigma's Charm was'nt so slow I would even recommend that. The build "Drakes Ambassador" combines said chanter with those items, although for soloing you might want to be a bit more defensive than he is. I mean he already is defensive, but maybe one can allocate the stats even better.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Jojobobo]

I think any class should work if you try to build them like a tank with moderate endurance, some classes are still interesting to play as tanks (Chanters, Rogues, Wizards) while some are a little less interesting (for me, Paladins).

 

In terms of a pure tank Rogue (spoiler tags so the post isn't so lengthy)...

 

 

...I would actually go against current wisdom and dump Int, have base Dex with item boosts (so you could go Dex 6, which would be 10 end game with Viettro's Formal Footware) and then prioritise Might, Con and Res with some Per (e.g. with Aedyran Wild Orlan Might 17, Con 18, Dex 6, Per 14, Int 3, Res 19). While this does crap on your strike durations, will is a wasted save for solo more or less and you could do with all the deflection you can get, and you can use Deep Wounds, Retaliation and Riposte to overcome your enemies while you sit pretty on your high defences. In terms of your abilities because of this, you can focus of stuff that increases your damage (Reckless Assault, Finishing Blow) as well as Adept Evasion for tanking.

 

For talents, you can take all the deflection based ones (Cautious Attack, Superior Deflection, Weapon and Shield Style, Deflecting Assault) as well as Bear's Fortitude, Deep Pockets, Shadowing Beyond and then I'd recommend Body Control for the last slot. Shadowing Beyond is supremely useful on solo as you can split fights however you want by disappearing then coming back to the group, and Snake's Reflexes isn't as important on this build due to how great Adept Evasion is. For weapons, Drawn in Spring will add a lot of endurance drain when combined with Deep Wounds, and Badgradr's Barricade gives you a nice extra means of attack (plus Thrust of the Tattered Veil is cool, as is the ranged reflection).

 

For other items, I'd go with Retaliation Garodh's Chorus, Cape of the Master Mystic, He Carries Many Scars (Resolve enchanted), Ring of Protection, the Iron Circle/Gywn's Band of Union, Looped Rope, Viettro's Formal Footware and whatever gloves you want - Gauntlet's of Accuracy maybe. I guarantee that this build will work, and I've always found the combo of Deep Wounds and Retaliation extremely satisfying for taking out your enemies.

 

 

For a Chanter, you will want high Int. Just build them tanky and let the Dragon Thrashed do all the work, it really is that simple.

[Boeroer]

@rogue tank: What Jojobobo posted between spoiler tags works well. However:

 

 

I wouldn't recommend Finishing Blow (total crap in my opinion ). Note that with dumped INT Drawn in Spring works very well, because wounding gets better the more damage you do and the more MIG you have. Its damage isn't influenced by INT, so all the raw wounding damage will get applied in a very short time which makes it even more powerful.

 

For a shield I would use either use Sura's Supper Plate or Badgradr's Barricade like Jojobobo said. The first because it gives you stacked retaliation. This doesn't do anything for the Deep Wounds (other than giving you two seperate chances of hitting with it), but combined with riposte you'll do a lot of retaliation hits. This can be used with a Ring of Searing Flames: each time a foe hits you he gets two hits minimum in return, even three when riposte triggers. This will trigger 3 Combusting Wounds each time. It melts foes quickly. Besides Deep Wounds that's a nice way to make retaliation worthwhile.

Badgradr's Barricade's Thrust of Tattered Veils works with Deathblows by the way. If you do a riposte this will likely go off and do massive damage as long as you keep yaor. It's also great for your striking ablitites because of the Full Attack.

 

 

Fighter also works of course. They are really good with Disciplined Barrage + all kinds of spell bindings and scrolls - while their sturdyness is legend anyway. And once you get Clear Out and Charge (and combine that with Knockdown and maybe a diabling weapon like Cladhaliath, Godansthunyr or Starcaller or something like that) the whole gameplay gets a lot more interesting, too.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Busa27]

Are fighters a bad choice to do solo?

[Jojobobo]

No I think their fine, their defences are good so they're capable at tanking what solo PotD has to offer them. I think on the whole they can play a little bit blandly however, a lot like a Paladin, so I'd have a look at the different builds in the archive at the top of this sub-forum and select one made with a particular interesting quirk you like the sound of.

[Boeroer]

THey can be boring, but if you also use a lot of spell binding items they play more like hybrid casters and that can make them more interesting until you get those abilites that make them a bit more interesting - like Clear Out and Charge. Also, the ring of searing flames is great on a fighter with dual (or triple with postion of Flame Shield) retaliation: together with Disciplined Barrage the Combusting Wounds spell will have a bonus of +35 ACC - you'll also hit dragons easily and the retaliation will add a lot of hits to the enemies surrounding you.

Also, items with mind controll spells like Munacra Arret work very well with Disciplined Barrage: often you'll crit with the charm (+30 ACC) which leads to some buddies who stay with you for over 20 secs if you also have high INT (which I recommend). I recently charmed the upscaled Alpine Dragon for more than 20 secs and it did all the work for me.

 

By the way: Clear Out also works with ranged weapons...

Edited October 11, 2016 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

While the chanter has great AoE damage potential when he stacks his damage chant, he does it at the expense of his defenses which are just average. The chanter shines vs trash mobs however the only way he has to beat the hard encounters is to abuse summons/kite. 

[Dr <3]

I disagree with kaylon. Chanter have 25 starting deflecion (average), vs the 30 of warriors and paladin, but for sure is not this +5 def that tranformed him in a non-tank... I have beaten the whole game potd with a Chanter, and was WAY easyer than with pala, wizard, druid, chiper, Priest. Dragon trashed is for sure awesome vs "trash mobs" but imho is even better against boss. Is much more reliable than your physical attacks, and do much more damage. For sure is much better than paladin fire aura. With a full defensive Chanter your defences is at max 10-15 minor than a paladin with maximized reputations.

And you don't even need much Summons for distractions, i have beaten llengrath and his dragons without using a single one, just dragon trashed and some + attribuite invocation for boost fortitude.

[Raven Darkholme]

I disagree with kaylon. Chanter have 25 starting deflecion (average), vs the 30 of warriors and paladin, but for sure is not this +5 def that tranformed him in a non-tank... I have beaten the whole game potd with a Chanter, and was WAY easyer than with pala, wizard, druid, chiper, Priest. Dragon trashed is for sure awesome vs "trash mobs" but imho is even better against boss. Is much more reliable than your physical attacks, and do much more damage. For sure is much better than paladin fire aura. With a full defensive Chanter your defences is at max 10-15 minor than a paladin with maximized reputations.

And you don't even need much Summons for distractions, i have beaten llengrath and his dragons without using a single one, just dragon trashed and some + attribuite invocation for boost fortitude.

I agree with you I never found the chanter lacking in defense.

I have Kana right now and even he is at a certain level of tankiness with pretty trashy stats, a custom chanter is super tanky in Act 1 you don't even feel thze difference to paladin and due to  summons you kill faster anyway.

Once you get to dragon slashed the chant is great not only vs trash but almost always when a paladin would need ages to finish a fight.

[rheingold]

mmmm, I've found a chanter to be a better tank than a paladin to be honest. Just add some constitution and the saves are great. High deflection, saves and pulls some serious aggro. They make perfect tanks.

[Boeroer]

And they have some nasty summons with nasty immunities. Look at the animated weapons. They can really annoy the sky dragon.

 

With the Blackwarden's Breastplate and the best slaying chant (stacks) those summons are serious business for dragons. At level 16 you can even fit 2 Dragon Thrashed into the linger time of the beast chant - letting them hit very hard.  And I have a special weapon, enchanted for dragons. Even my weapon attacks hurt them a lot. 

 

So, even great in most boss fights.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Boeroer