Early solo: How?

[ibanix]

Having breezed through the game in a 6-person party  (on regular mode) I decided to go back and try a solo on regular mode. Went Wizard.

 

Ok, I see all these nice "solo builds" but can't figure out how to survive early on without dying constantly and/or tons of rest/agro one enemy/repeat. 

 

I went Weapon&Shield style for high deflection (plus hatchet). Chill Fog, Slicken, Wizard's Double, Breath of Flame. Hide armor (-25% speed) to not have sad spellcasting times.

 

What am I not getting?

[Heijoushin]

Solo isn't really my thing, so maybe I'm on the wrong track here, but I always figured that as a solo character, you would have to just avoid most of the combat. I mean, I think everything is optional up to Caed Nua. Are you sure you're not going in with a "murder everything!" mentality? 

[ibanix]

How do you get enough experience without taking things out?

[Heijoushin]

Well, in Pillars, the experience comes more from completing quests than from actually killing monsters (a feature that initially caused a lot of controversy around here). Try to finish quests through non-violent means or try to sneak past your adversaries. Choose your battles wisely. 

[Boeroer]

With classes that are really weak in the early levels you have to cheese a lot. Kiting, split-pulling, sneaking past enemies, resting a lot etc.

 

A wizard is one of the trickiest classes in the early game because his starting values are really low while he hasn't all the tools yet to compensate.

 

Classes like monk for example are a lot easier in thetm early game because they start with a lot higher values and with very useful abilities right from the start.

 

For a wizard there are some things that make the early game easier: Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff is great for example and so is Fleet Feet (good for kiting and split-pulling).

Weapon and shield have no big effect in the early game because the starting deflection of a wizard is so low that he still gets hit a lot - while the shield's accuracy penalty may prevent you from hitting properly. Later on you can combine a shield with all those deflection self buffs and then it really makes a difference. But until then something like the Parasitic Staff is better.

 

But still: cheesy tactics are necessary in the early game. It's the same with every class by the way, even if some are easier than others.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Yeah, when I did my solo PoftD run with a cipher I used up a whole cheese grotto. I did the start with meta knowledge from earlier games, and sold stuff with that super early camp, killed a few select single target NPCs, then sold all their stuff, bought early spider figurine, and good items, and I did all easy and "safe" quests, in order to level up faster. My main tactic was sneaking past almost everything. But I must admit that Caed Nua, already the courtyard, was very hairy stuff. But once you got your strategy working, it actually gets easier after that.

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

I'll add:

 

Survival 3 for +1 movement makes a big difference. Gold Rot Chew for +1 move on top and nothing can touch you(even hobble doesn't hurt you). 2 in sneak for some extra stolen loot. 2-3 into mechanics for even more loot. 

 

If you just explore around with sneak you will find a fine war bow, plus a few other pieces of good gear. With that one war bow, though, you can potentially defeat everything without them touching you, albeit, very slow. What you can do is pull select mobs into other things to fight each other. Spiders and Stags fight each other. Trolls and Kith fight each other. Villagers and Xaurips fight each other.

 

Arcane Veil makes everything easy. Eldrich Aim and Cancelhaut's Corrosive Siphon take care of all those packs of wild animals at once. You have an early paralyzing spell that doesn't affect you. That and the parasitic staff make any Kith easy.

 

On a general note. Early game has a very interesting balance that accommodates solo play quite well, but you need to utilize the environment a lot. With one big caveat: be very careful with things paralyzing you... that little fellow at the broken bridge... such a weird design. 

 

Other than that, embrace your new position as Sir Rests-a-lot and leave the Temple of Eothas and Caed Nua for last.  

[ibanix]

Thanks for the useful and specific info!

 

What quests can I do by sneaking by things? I managed to finish the one where you visit Anslogs Compass for the potion, as well as finding the missing cook, but fights were required for those.

 

Also, should I switch to a ranaged weapon and use that? Most enemies close to melee - even Slicken only lasts a few seconds - so fighting is all up close. Slicken seems to be *much* less useful than many guides say, did the duration get nerfed?

 

Finally: does weapon bonus acc or shield penalty acc affect spellcasting?

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Weapon bonus accuracy will not add on top of your spells. Using a shield with penalty will penalize your spells, though. Eldritch Aim will boost your spells and attacks. 

 

Sneaking in the case of early solo is used to get gear and xp, scout enemy positions and get to a quest objective without much fighting. There isn't any quest that can be completed in and by itself only by sneaking. 

 

You could go full range but it will require a lot of running. Eventually, and with little practice you will start isolating enemies like that or kill them in the fog of war without them attacking you. There are a few places where you could run around an obstacle and pelt the enemies one by one, which is funny. 

 

For most fights, personally, I think you're better off just scouting the area and looking for a spot where you can lead a large pack of enemies at once, so that fewer are attacking you at any one time, and just do the full range of AoE. If you have at least +2 move speed, nothing will catch up to you, allowing you to position well, or just run away if you don't like how it's going. 

 

Don't ignore scrolls. Simple Fan of Flames is awesome with Eldritch Aim, especially if you're herding. 

 

Slicken is nice, I think, but it may become more useful later on. You just need the damage now. 

 

You can choose to do sustained damage with a ranged weapon; it's safe alright, but rather slow. I like getting more at once... but that might not be to everyone's tastes. 

 

Also, at times you WILL have to use your ranged weapon to isolate something, so nothing is written in stone. Enjoy your run ^_^.

[Boeroer]

A shield with accuracy malus (medium & large) will lower your spells' accuracy, too.

[ibanix]

So I started over. A few things I notice:

 

* Weapon speed really matters if you're going to fire off a shot and then cast a spell. Fast weapons good.

* Draining Staff is a lot better than I expected. It hits hard for a first level spell.

* Sneaking is waaaay better than I realized. I can't believe you can sneak right up to some enemies, grab stuff, and run away before they notice.

* Luring enemies into other enemies is quite amusing. 

* Fleet Feet + Ray of Fire: run around groups of enemies and burn them while they chase you!

[AeonsLegend]

Dunno about sneaking. I never raised it above 5, but enemies spot you almost at the edge of the screen with that. I think it used to be really broken, but they patched it so it is much harder to sneak.

[ibanix]

Dunno about sneaking. I never raised it above 5, but enemies spot you almost at the edge of the screen with that. I think it used to be really broken, but they patched it so it is much harder to sneak.

 

This is like opposite of my experience. At 4 I could sneak around things damn well. Remember it's not a problem if the circles turn yellow if you get by the thing quickly enough. Even red is OK if you get away quickly enough.

 

You know the band of ruffians that have the stolen goods from the blacksmith in Gilded Vale, in the Black Meadow? If you time the approach right, you can sneak in, grab the shipment and sneak back out without having to fight a one. (It may take a few tries.)

[AeonsLegend]

 

Dunno about sneaking. I never raised it above 5, but enemies spot you almost at the edge of the screen with that. I think it used to be really broken, but they patched it so it is much harder to sneak.

 

This is like opposite of my experience. At 4 I could sneak around things damn well. Remember it's not a problem if the circles turn yellow if you get by the thing quickly enough. Even red is OK if you get away quickly enough.

 

You know the band of ruffians that have the stolen goods from the blacksmith in Gilded Vale, in the Black Meadow? If you time the approach right, you can sneak in, grab the shipment and sneak back out without having to fight a one. (It may take a few tries.)

 

Yeah I guess that can work. I've done that a couple of times. I never play a sneaking character so I don't have a whole lot of experience with it. Playing solo requires so much cheese though that the playthrough will stink for 1000 years.

[ibanix]

A shield with accuracy malus (medium & large) will lower your spells' accuracy, too.

 

Spell accuracy is actually kind of odd. I rolled a new Druid. His base (unarmed) accuracy is 28. His spell accuracy is 31. I can't quite figure where the extra +3 accuracy is coming from.

 

Edit: A ha! Wiki to the rescue.

 

"A level-dependent bonus is added to a character's Accuracy when attacking with an Ability or spell without the use of a weapon: an additional +1 per level. A first level wizard, for example, would get +1 Accuracy to all of their spells, while a wizard of 11th level would get +11 Accuracy to all spells."

 

Good stuff, I never knew this. 

Edited March 20, 2018 by ibanix

[Boeroer]

Active abilities like spells get +1 ACC per level. Most spells get a flat ACC bonus like +10 or sometimes even +15 as well.

 

At spell level 3 you might want to have a look at Kalakoth's Minor Blights. It's a summoned wand that does high AoE damage and has an ACC bonus of +20. It also works with Blast. Minor Blights will trigger a Blast for every AoE hit. So it's a Blast-fest. Hitting 5 enemies will generate 5 Blasts, so every enemy will get hit 6 times from only one shot. If you combine Binding Web, Pull of Eora and Combusting Wounds with Minor Blights + Blast you can annihilate whole groups with less risk. Combusting Wounds is also good with Chill Fog and Wall of Flame as well as Ray of Fire - everything that generates a lot of hits really quickly.

[Boeroer]

Actually you don't know a whole lot of things about the mechanics for a solo player.

 

But that might be even more fun and result in a more intense feeling of accomplishment. Just keep asking!

 

By the way: you need at least 10 mechanics to discover certain items and disarm most traps. Don't put everything in to stealth. For a solo player items with +2 to a skill are very useful.

 

Using a single one handed weapon will not raise spell accuracy.

Edited March 20, 2018 by Boeroer

[AeonsLegend]

Actually you don't know a whole lot of things about the mechanics for a solo player.

 

But that might be even more fun and result in a more intense feeling of accomplishment. Just keep asking!

 

By the way: you need at least 10 mechanics to discover certain items and disarm most traps. Don't put everything in to stealth. For a solo player items with +2 to a skill are very useful.

 

Using a single one handed weapon will not raise spell accuracy.

Whitemarch 1 has level 14+ traps. Quite annoying as without Devil of Caroc and no mechanics focussed MC, any other party member will not be able to get rid of these without a mechanics boost even at level 16. Seems like traps and such have no scaling, they are simply max level no matter what you picked.

Edited March 20, 2018 by AeonsLegend

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

So long as you notice them it should be alright... Doesn't take maximum into mechanics for that. I think. 

 

But that does raise the question in my mind--what about those people that go triple crown solo and hardcore... do they just die off a trap they can't otherwise notice if not maxed on mechanics?

[AeonsLegend]

So long as you notice them it should be alright... Doesn't take maximum into mechanics for that. I think. 

 

But that does raise the question in my mind--what about those people that go triple crown solo and hardcore... do they just die off a trap they can't otherwise notice if not maxed on mechanics?

Simple. I don't think you actually need to disarm any traps in the game and if you're playing solo you probably finished the game multiple times so you already know where those traps are.

Edited March 20, 2018 by AeonsLegend

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

 

So long as you notice them it should be alright... Doesn't take maximum into mechanics for that. I think. 

 

But that does raise the question in my mind--what about those people that go triple crown solo and hardcore... do they just die off a trap they can't otherwise notice if not maxed on mechanics?

Simple. I don't think you actually need to disarm any traps in the game and if you're playing solo you probably finished the game multiple times so you already know where those traps are.

 

 

Sketchy... ^_^ 

[Boeroer]

You have to get Gloves of Manipulation and use resting bonuses when solo. That way you can get +5 to mechanics which is enough for nearly all traps and chests (with lockpicks).

 

So putting 10 into mechanics is more than enough.

 

You'll also want at least 4 in survival and you also need some points of lore for the most important scrolls for boss fights (Moonwell and so on).

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

You have to get Gloves of Manipulation and use resting bonuses when solo. That way you can get +5 to mechanics which is enough for nearly all traps and chests (with lockpicks).

 

So putting 10 into mechanics is more than enough.

 

You'll also want at least 4 in survival and you also need some points of lore for the most important scrolls for boss fights (Moonwell and so on).

 

I don't doubt the validity and wisdom in that... it's just that it's arduously slow. 

[Boeroer]

Slow? You mean running here and there for resting bonuses? If you have meta knowledge you know exactly where high mechanics is needed and you can rest accordingly. You don't need mechanics 15 all the time.

 

There's also a rite scroll that can help from time to time with mechanics.

[AeonsLegend]

You have to get Gloves of Manipulation and use resting bonuses when solo. That way you can get +5 to mechanics which is enough for nearly all traps and chests (with lockpicks).

 

So putting 10 into mechanics is more than enough.

 

You'll also want at least 4 in survival and you also need some points of lore for the most important scrolls for boss fights (Moonwell and so on).

That's based on RNG and you'd have to know in advance where these types of gloves spawn and abuse the system to spawn them by resting until they pop up. In any "normal" playthrough the chances of getting these gloves is very low. In all my playthrough's I've found them twice.