Interesting enough, I've been getting Pillars of Eternity vives recently and might try again!
A paladin is a very good choice (my first documented fail in this thread is with a paladin). During character creation, you can read about each of their orders. Kind Wayfarers sound like good types (their favoured disposition is Benevolent and Passionate, disfavoured - Deceptive and Cruel).
Till many later levels, I recommend going with a sword and board for any melee character. A hatchet can provide additional +5 to deflection even while it's a weapon.
You can pick disarming traps for any character (just as any other skill) - no need to save it for a "rogue" type. Usually, disarming traps takes about 8/10 of your skill distribution, so think about a suitable character.
The Temple of Eothas is a bane of no-reload runs, it's recommended to go and explore a few outside areas first. Don't hesitate to retreat from the area if a battle which you have just won seemed too hard for you, enemies looked scary, etc. I recommend finding at least one other companion.
The game looks interesting (if a bit creepy), it's just totally different rules that need some practice.
Why creepy? I'd be really interested to hear more on this.
And yes, if you're coming from an angle that has anything to do with D&D, paladin is going to be different this time. I wasn't interested in paladins in PoE, but I wouldn't discourage you from trying.
"Creepy" as in "there's a wind that eats your soul" like the Mashin Shin that scared me when I was 14 and reading The Wheel of Time, then you enter a village where people around behave like it's completely normal to have 18 corpses hanging from a tree, and there are children born without souls.
I'm a very immersive player with vivid imagination. I find that a bit creepy .
I tried again with another paladin and avoided the Temple of Eothas for the moment. I solved the windmill issue, got the "cure" from Ranga (avoided the supposedly undead-infested part of the map for now), went to the Black Meadow, fought the bandits who had stolen the shipment, successfully killed some trolls, but then my party was wiped out by two... what was the name again?
"Forest Lurker" I think.
Aloth had used his best spells before, Durance didn't have much on the offensive side and stuck to buffing us and throwing his rod from a distance, and Eder and me tried to tank them. He had a Fine greatsword and died (not enough deflection with a two-hander) and I had a flail (for the extra chance to convert graze to hit) enchanted with accuracy 1, and a large shield. I died, too, because their blows dealt damage like taking a third of my endurance on a single hit.
I couldn't disengage, either, it said "Stuck" when I tried, same happened with Eder earlier, although there were only two opponents. We weren't physically stuck, must be some game mechanic.
Anyway, I've come to two conclusions: First, if every second map contains potentially lethal enemies to a noob like me, even on "normal" difficulty and with "maim before death" enabled, I won't try to no-reload. I will reload on party death only, of course, and keep a counter for knockdowns, too. I can't spam rest after every fight, especially considering the limited camping supplies.
Second, I need to read about cleric spells, because Durance can certainly do better.
Third, I've decided to build a barbarian with high health and endurance who can hit hard. She can try to do damage more quickly while Eder can be the tank. Someone must be able to kill the guys who hit too hard for tanking.
She's a Coastal Aumaua (the blue ones), her name is Zarafil, she's currently in the starting "dungeon" with Heodan, dual-wielding a mace (for the bypass of DR) and a hatchet for the extra deflection. I'm undecided what will be her weapons in the future, but since she lacks accuracy, that will certainly be a priority.
I'm going to introduce her properly once I see she gets further than my poor paladins.
She will be roleplayed as a good-aligned character, of course.
Forest Lurkers are tough hitters in melee and hard to crowd-control. Don't be shy to change "natural" armor and weapons on your characters. For starters, I recommend giving the heaviest available armour to your main character, Eder and Durance (Durance can cast his spells when needed even standing right in the heat of the battle). Give all of them shields and hatchets. This way you get the best possible Deflection which should help tanking enemies. Always try to flank enemies (let one of your characters attack from behind the target). Never be afraid or shy using spells - while you will need to camp, you won't need to reload. Lurkers are hard to CC, but they are not immune to Prone. Aloth can learn Slicken when you meet him - use this spell a lot.
Don't worry about any talents involving this or that weapon - to decide on which weapons to use you'd need to progress in the game to get good unique items first.
I found impossible to play the game with only 1 tank, so I try to make as many characters tanks as possible. Now when your main is a barbarian she should be a damage-dealer, of course. You still can give her a good armor and equip shields on Eder and Durance.
Cleric spells - use all the spells affecting your party and impoving them. Increasing Deflection and Damage Reduction is always a plus. CC with Aloth. 2nd level spells include a spell to paralyze your enemy and another to confuse them (these won't work on Lurkers but Slicken will). Also, have a Fan of Flames ready - Aloth can inflict good damage. Later you will find another character - I recommend giving him Durance's Staff (especially since weapons and armor can be upgraded in this game) - the staff has a long reach and he can stand right behind your tanks inflicting huge damage. But that requires tanks in the first place.
About no-reloading with the first attempt - yes, I won't recommend that, even on Normal. My feedback to the game (and its main criticism) still stands: there are difficulty peaks in the game, which you can't know about in advance and which lead to situations like with these Lurkers.
Increase Accuracy with other options: Durance's aura upgrade & flanking enemies is a good start.
Thank you for the good advice. I've noticed already that it's not a good idea to focus on a certain type of weapon this early in the game. I don't even know if it's worth enchanting them, or if I'd rather hoard ingredients to upgrade an already good weapon in the future.
The problem with the CC and AoE spells is that it's difficult to see which of them are party friendly (it seems like most aren't).
Resting more frequently is certainly better than dying, true.
Also, I've seen that food greatly boosts Endurance, but for a very limited time. And since I can't eat it once a battle has started, it means I'd either need to know in advance what expects me (and scouting is a lot worse than in BG), or to eat all the time, just in case.
@Arvia: Ok, thanks for the explanation for "creepy". I agree that the environment you describe is decidedly dark and unfriendly. Could be called creepy, too.
As for the forest lurkers: as JuliusBorisov intimates, they are definitely a notch above what you've encountered so far, in terms of difficulty.
I wouldn't try no-reload in PoE, to be quite honest with you. I agree that completing it would feel like an achievement, but given the likelihood of early death, I wouldn't take the chance.
I've noticed already that it's not a good idea to focus on a certain type of weapon this early in the game. I don't even know if it's worth enchanting them, or if I'd rather hoard ingredients to upgrade an already good weapon in the future.
This is a question of temperament, of course, but from where I'm coming from, I would say this: don't Google this (or ask around). You are almost certain to find out, via trial and error if nothing else, and that's more rewarding than having someone spell it out for you.
While it's indeed good to upgrade later weapons and armour, feel free to upgrade anything you want to Fine at least. This makes a lot of difference (and it's the cheapest upgrade, available at level 4). Eg. you have Durance's staff which has a wider reach and inflicts Fire damage. This makes the item a good candidate. Another good candidate is Aloth's armour which has a unique property, +10% larger AoE.
Even if you later sell the item, consider upgrading its quality to Fine if you like the item.
You can aim CC spells the way they won't harm your party members - the game provides good AoE markers.
This game doesn't have a difficulty curve, it's rather a difficulty staircase.
I'm in the Endless Paths of Od Nua and have 11 reloads. I think I'm going to stop counting and continue to play for fun only.
One reload was stupid, because I foolishly went solo into the bear cave at level 2. Then, one reload because I walked into the main entrance of Raedric's keep, two reloads fighting Raedric (found out then that I'd better agree to help him, position my party and then attack. It's out of character, but since he triggers the dialogue, I had no way to talk to him and position my boys to avoid being mobbed to death), one reload because of a horde of little creatures, don't remember what, probably Xaurip, who were blocking our access to the damage shooting wurm things behind them.
Tactical positioning or drawing enemies out is very difficult with the combat mechanics of this game.
And then, of course, the ogres. Sigh.
It took me several attempts and then I solved them by creeping forward, letting one see me, then run like hell until I'm sure there's only two following me, then fight them, rest, and go back for the next pair. If three attacked and one of them was a druid, we were lost.
I did the same in the ogre queen's room. Unfortunately, sometimes you become visible to just one person at the edge of the fog, and then still the whole room comes after you.
That's more like real life, of course, but it's really, really difficult.
Durance is dead and gone. He got maimed in one fight, we went back upstairs to rest, the pathfinding took us through a little piece that we had forgotten to clear, and of course there was a trap.
Can't say that I miss him, but it won't be easier without him. But I've heard that I can find a paladin and a druid later.
As I said, I still like the game and will still reload on party death only, but I'm going to stop counting or it will get too frustrating.
When it comes to pathfinding, by the way, I found out on my last playthrough that the most dangerous opponent in the game, by far, is pathfinding. Outside combat it's fine, but in combat it causes you no end of trouble. In Deadfire, luckily enough, the problem has disappeared.
It lists monsters' level. Trying to fight them at lower levels - if you're doing it for the first time - can lead to reloads quickly.
Ogre druids are lvl 8. Your party is not there yet. A few levels make A LOT of difference since you get new spells and abilities.
And btw, from the table I've learned that the boss that ended 2 my no-reload attemps IS the hardest monster in the list. My gripe now is much smaller.
Me, - I've returned to PoE and reached lvl 8 not long ago. Have only 1 knockout so far, with Cail the Silent one-shotting my cipher (I was lvl 6 then, wanted to challenge it), - just like he one-shotted one of the party members of @Serg_BlackStrider . I actually liked that challenge, it was nice to kill that drake while still being so low-level (not even lvl 4 spells). I more or less repeat party characters and abilities from the last run, but with certain exclusions: Eder now is wielding Tidefall and I didn't pick Defender for him - instead, I took Guardian Stance and +2 INT item + the Ring of Overseeing - this way Deflection of my cipher, Durance, Kana and Pallegina go up!
Eder now is wielding Tidefall and I didn't pick Defender for him - instead, I took Guardian Stance and +2 INT item + the Ring of Overseeing - this way Deflection of my cipher, Durance, Kana and Pallegina go up!
Powergaming wise it is better for a Tidefall's wielder to have a low INT. If you have a high INT then this will extend the 'over time period' the wounding effect is applying: Wounding: 25% Damage inflicted over time (5 seconds) - i.e. with high INT the very same 25% damage inflicted lash will apply over more than 5 seconds. In my opinion for high INT fighter The Hours of St. Rumbalt is better - high INT will extend the Prone duration. Anyway, since the only two-hander of my Crew is Pallegina I'm always torn between this two great weapons.
@JuliusBorisov , I've finished the ogre level already, but I'm probably really leaving this dungeon soon. "Endless", really.
It just seemed to make sense to continue there, because it's under my stronghold. I wouldn't go traveling if I had monsters in the basement.
My party is level 5. That table you linked is a huge help, thank you!
I thought I could use the dungeon to gain a few levels, until I noticed that killing doesn't give XP as in other games.
@xzar_monty , the pathfinding is the enemy outside of combat, too.
I only used it to get back upstairs, but it led me through black area that I hadn't explored yet. I did *not* expect that!
Eder now is wielding Tidefall and I didn't pick Defender for him - instead, I took Guardian Stance and +2 INT item + the Ring of Overseeing - this way Deflection of my cipher, Durance, Kana and Pallegina go up!
Powergaming wise it is better for a Tidefall's wielder to have a low INT. If you have a high INT then this will extend the 'over time period' the wounding effect is applying: Wounding: 25% Damage inflicted over time (5 seconds) - i.e. with high INT the very same 25% damage inflicted lash will apply over more than 5 seconds. In my opinion for high INT fighter The Hours of St. Rumbalt is better - high INT will extend the Prone duration. Anyway, since the only two-hander of my Crew is Pallegina I'm always torn between this two great weapons.
INT is for Guardian Stance AOE. And really, that hat giving +2 INT is essential on my main fighter as it also provides immunity to Confusion. So can't do otherwise.
I don't think about powergaming, more about surviving. I also haven't visited Dyrford yet. Prone won't help against bosses, though.
Hey, after I had got PoE vibes in October, my new cipher finally made her way to the point where I had suffered during the previous attempts.
I waited till level 11 before handling the dragon. And let me tell you, everything I have been doing during this run has been to prepare for the dragon. Buying and crafting scrolls of revive and paralysis, getting all the weapons and armor upgraded to exceptional and even extra enchanting them, such as adding +2 Perception on armor (it took dozens of precious gems and plants and tons of money). Getting all possible random loot in a correct way, including gauntlets of accuracy. Upping the lore skill of all 5 my characters (except for the cipher who had 11 points in Mechanics) so that they could use the scrolls.
Actually, this preparation took more than the current run. All my 350+ hours in PoE were for this moment, all the years of failed attempts.
AND NOW THEN.
Kana killed Adra Dragon.
How was it possible?
1. Summons ate the first (and in my opinion, the most dangerous) attack of the dragon, while the rest of the party was not in his reach. Durance casted Prayer against Fear on everyone.
2. Scale-breaker by my cipher on the dragon to decrease its defenses. The first scroll of paralysis.
3. A miracle happened. Aloth dominated the dragon thanks to his scepter.
4. All dragon helpers suffered from the absolutely devastating attack.
5. Eder paralyzed the dragon again. Durance made sure we had Devotions for the faithful, Dire Blessing, and other buffs active.
6. Eder kept paralyzing the dragon.
7. Pallegina paralyzed the dragon.
8. When the aura of my lore characters was clouded, Aloth grazed the dragon with Fetid Caress.
9. Durance paralyzed the dragon.
10. Mental Binding by my cipher paralyzed the dragon. I made sure not to spend focus points on anything just to be able to spam Mental Binding when other characters' aura was clouded.
11. A sweet, sweet moment.
Since I didn't spoil myself, I was happy to find all that sweet loot after the dragon and I like almost all of it.
This is how the hardest boss for me (in the games I've played) has been finally defeated. I'm now looking forward to other bosses in PoE (I see that adra dragon scales can be used to upgrade armor to superb (lvl 12), but there is one extra upgrade possible, at lvl 16 (legendary) - and it will require scales of another dragon).
Hello, everyone! As some of you know, I've decided to start playing again- at least for a couple months. I chose to go with Pillars of Eternity instead of BG because I've basically forgotten how to play either game and it's less embarrassing for me to suck at PoE than BG, since I was never really good at PoE. So without further adieu, here's my character:
Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)
Game Version: 3.7.0.1318 with White March I & II, Difficulty: Normal, Settings: Maim Before Death: On; Injuries: On; Expert Mode: OFF, Mods: None
Character Description: Born in the White that Wends but uninspired by the dreary ways of her people, a teenaged Astrid set off for the Deadfire Archipelago, harboring dreams of gold and glory. The Deadfire had something else in store for her, however: instead of a swashbuckling adventure novel, Astrid's life became a rise and fall tragicomedy of epic proportions.
After rapidly ascending to the rank of quartermaster aboard a pirate ship, The Reticent Squid, Astrid found herself accused of treason by her captain, Rai Nui- an Aumaua who had trusted and admired her until he lost his mind to syphilis. When The Reticent Squid was captured -due in no small part to the captain's compromised decision making- Astrid suddenly found herself on the gun barrel end of both pirate law and the law of the authorities. That she is alive today and free is a miracle. If she successfully returns to the Deadfire as she intends it will be a greater miracle still.
Gaming Notes: When I started playing PoE last winter, I had virtually no clue how to play. In the two month that followed I became marginally proficient, completing full party no reloads on normal, hard and potd respectively. After a one year break, I've decided to get back in the action, this time tackling solo play, starting at normal and, hopefully, culminating in a potd no reload run. Having practiced a bit over the last week, I'm confident that I'll have a first success soon. Hopefully Astrid will be the one.
My intention is to cover this run in significant detail, partly for my own reference, but mostly in the interest of soliciting feedback (I'm still learning!). Please do feel free to chime in with an advice! Astrid needs your help!
Astrid's run is off to a promising start. She's completed her early item collection tasks and is now ready to begin her first significant quest, Buried Secrets. Entry 1 will cover caravan camp through the Gilded Vale minor side quests. That may not sound like much, but there's a lot that matters here.
Before I continue: a note. I think I warned everyone that I'm going to cover this run in excruciating detail. That was no lie. My intention is to post in such a way that I and others will be able to replicate. That requires a lot of detail, at least for me. If the minutiae gets boring for y'all, let me know. I'll tone it down and just keep copious off-line notes.
Ok! Let's begin! Astrid's run got off to an auspicious start when she crit-chunked her first foe with her opening swing. May those wolfine chunky-wunks be like the ceremonial broken wine glass at a Jewish wedding and may this run not end in divorce. Mazel tov!
I'll spare you the details of the rest of the tutorial. On her first level up Astrid took:
Gasps from the audience, right? Why one handed? Astrid doesn't fight in melee much. She uses scrolls and item based abilities whenever possible. When she does fight in melee, she's either: 1) mowing down hapless tools; 2) landing an opportunistic Shocking Grasp via Azureith; or 3) crit stun/prone locking big bad bady-waddies. In the first case, weapon style doesn't matter. In the second two, one-handed is actually better, at least within the levels that Astrid will be playing (she'll be finishing at 9 or 10). What about the late game? Say if Astrid did White March and lots of side-quest? Well, interestingly, in the late-late game there is an argument that one handed is better than two handed, since you can get recovery down to zero either way and one-handed gets the acc bonus. Ok, but what about those great rogue full attack special abilities? Got me there. That's an argument for two-handed style: no doubt. But tradeoffs in all things, strengths and weaknesses on all sides. I'm not saying that one handed style is better than two weapon in the general case: I'm merely saying that it has merits at certain stages of the adventure and I'm fair convinced that it makes sense for Astrid. Protest if you must. I'll fight you on this with one hand tied behind my back: One hand is enough.
With that out of the way...
Skill points went to stealth and Astrid went to Gilded Vale.
Leveling up again post tree-talk, we took Dirty Fighting. Skill points were allocated to stealth and lore (5pts and 1pt respectively)
Her she is: At level 3, fresh off a Mechanics skill boosting Laborer's Rest- equipped and ready for an item raid on Raedric Hold. She's sexy and she knows it.
Fine weapons courtesy of the graveyard in Esternwood; Ring and cloak from the Ruins and Hound. Note that there's a crushing weapon in the inventory in addition to the slasher in hand.
Time for some shameless meta-gaming!
No seriously: I'm embarassed about this. My early route through the game involves random loot table use. That's stupid and I intend to cut it out eventually. But for now: Have you seen my shame? Because I don't: I've lost it all...
Right, well...With a non-offset table, opening the roof bin on the 20th gets you boots of stealth. The third bin down in the Sanctuary entrance hall on the 1rst yields a fine brigandine. Locked chest in the bedroom on the 2nd offers Gloves of Manipulations; Loose stone in the jail cell on the 2nd, a Ring of Searing Flames.
So how do we do all that? By being sneaky-sneaky. To enter the Sanctuary via the ramparts, wait for the patrolling guard to head away from you and then follow him- just don't follow too closely. Stay away from the stationary guard and you're good. All the world is blind to your passing. You can dance on the head of a pin as well.
Into the Sanctuary! The Berath robes look awesome on Astrid. They match her portrait super well. If I weren't adverse to kiting (in PoE) and fog of war play (any game), she'd rock those from here 'till next Christmas.
Using the robes and Int >12 gets us to Nedmar. Then it's down, down, down.
We rest to dispel our fatigue, and then get to work. Astrid waited for the first patrolling revenant to pass going east and then took the second patrolling revenant down in the corner:
Slashing weapons for the revenants; Crushing for the skellies to come.
We let ooze #1 pass heading west, disarmed the trap, and then headed down the hall, hugging the north wall to stay clear of ooze #2.
We lured skelly #1 into the cell and took him down with our crushing weapon. We got him into the cell by letting him soft detect us (when the circle thingy turns red- you know what I mean) and search. It really is advisable to pull this guy because you can end up with up to five enemies on you otherwise. I lost a character to that in my first unposted solo attempt.
Skelly #2 was lured into the same cell using the same method. He was dispatched with the mace. Revenant #2, the stationary one, was drawn away to the south just as the patrolling revenant passed heading west. We intercepted the patrolling revenant at the western end of his route. We've switched back to the fine dagger for the revenants.
Last Aumaua skeleton: Crossbow bullet to the face, followed by the mace. You know the Olivia Newton John song (Let's Get) Physical? I'm singing Let's Get Critical in my head now because I'm a dork. (Remember what I said about loosing my shame?)
Footnote: The Youtube video for (Let's Get) Physical is fracking hilarious. Por ejemplo...
So: We free Giacco, grab the fine brigandine and then detrap -but not open- the chest in the bedroom. What's the logic there? We need our Laborer's Rest bonus to disarm the trap, but its the 1rst now and the Gloves of Manipulation won't show up until the 2nd.
We rest three times in Nedmar's room and then claim our prize. Next, it's the Ring of Searing Flames down in the dungeon. With that, we're outy- like those ugly belly buttons (Apologies if you have an outie but outies are objectively less attractive than inies. Don't blame me: Blame your obstetrician.)
Like the undead that hopefully haunt you obstetrician's dreams, there are revenants and guls near the exit. We let the patrolling bloke pass the stairs going east, break down the middle, and veer north to avoid the oncoming revenant. Surely there are other ways but this is the one I know works.
Ok. I'm hungry now so I'm going to take a break. I'll be back with the end on Entry 1 soon. Toodle-doodles!
Note to everyone else: I've eaten and I'm ready to resume.
So, where were we? Right: minor quests in Guilded Vale, post Raedric Hold: Smith's Shipment and Late for Dinner. (Against the Grain, too, natch, but we don't need to talk about that.)
Smith's Shipment can be done with stealth using the boots of stealth. Astrid waited at the edge of the scout's detection range, in the position seen below, and then broke when he went back to the campfire. We opened the southerly lootable box first.
Stealth will also allow you to loot the Shrine of Galawain and the drake skull. The drake skull find is skiddly-diddly because it lets you add burning lashes.
After returning the crate, we bought a Blunting Belt and Azureith's. Azureith's got a burning lash immediately.
With our loot table, visiting the loose rock over by the wolves in Valewood on the 4th yields a Torc of the Falcon Eyes. Consequently, we chilled at the Hound for a while before setting off.
When completing super-easy quests like Late for Dinner, I like to build in mini-challenges. In this case we tried to minimize attacks. That went pretty well, given that Astrid is a low level rogue.
One hit nixed the first outlaw with the fine crossbow.
By range targeting the melee bandit with the crossbow and placing an arrow trap along his attack vector, north of the outlaw's attack route, we effectively one hit the bandit.
The second outlaw falls in one hit, courtesy of Azureith's, aided by Dirty Fighting. That's three enemies with three strikes.
Crippling Strike let's us take down the last bandit in two (possibly three- I'm not sure). In any case, we did pretty well. Astrid was pleased. She and I are starting to build trust. She knows I'm only moderately proficient at PoE -and thus semi-likely to get her killed- but she thinks I'm beginning to get the hang of it.
Onto the wolves! The Torc of the Falcon Eyes can be looted with stealth, but Fulvano's Gloves can't be, as far as I know. The wolves were dropped quickly thanks to an Azureith's Jolting Touch. In game weapon damage is a function of usage: There are no absolutes. For Astrid -who has a high crit percentage and takes very few melee swings per battle- Azureith's is a top tier weapon for a long, long time.
We have the Torc. We have the gloves. Astrid is ready to enter the Temple. Wish her luck!
Astrid is currently at the Goose and Fox- resting and relaxing after a fetch questing binge in Defiance Bay. This post will cover the Temple of Eothas and Caed Nua. Both quests were uneventful- uneventful by design, that is. Astrid fought Maerwald, his blights and no one else. The rest was handled with stealth.
To the action (or lack there of...)
For a stealth maxed drifter wearing boots of stealth, stealthing through the Temple of Eothas is a breeze. There are, however, a few tricky moves, which I'll cover here.
The spider group encountered en route to the bells can be passed to the north. Click carefully, keep moving, and its all good.
The shades downstairs are no problem at all. They're slow, their detection radii aren't great, and the hallways they inhabit are large.
The ooze room is harder. It's difficult to see an opening at first, but you can pass the top ooze to the north.
Then you can go in between the final two.
The tricky part occurs when, like Missy Elliot, you flip it and reverse it. If you carefully compare the screenshot below to the screenshot above, you'll see that the eastern ooze has moved slightly: it's closer to the western one now. So, on the way back we go over the top.
Upstairs, on the return, we went straight through the middle. That worked fine.
Completing Buried Secrets brought Astrid to L4. We took Shadowing Beyond, on rank in lore and another in stealth. We forged some Fan of Flame scrolls, some Bulwarks and then headed to Caed Nua.
The main hall can be stealthed even without Shadowing Beyond. Just hug the north wall and make your way to the door. In my head I'm singing Walk On By by Dionne Warwick because I'm still a dork but my musical taste is getting better.
The fight with Maerwald went smoothly. We gulped our Bulwark and evaded some spells. Nexted, we duped Maerwald into killing his wind blights and injuring his flame blight, later finished in melee.
Maerwald was killed with Fan of Flames->Melee finish. Melee alone would have worked but staying ranged facilitates spell evasion, just like in BG. The melee finish was for style points.
I remember when PoE was released, I played a thief, it was my first character. I got a lot of questions on how playing a thief can be fun in that game. Well, I definitely had fun, but eventually (since I prefer parties) I switched to first a paladin and then a cipher. But you are showing how a thief can be a solution for a solo play! You know, for me the Temple of Eothas and Caed Nua are associated with dangerous spirits and phantoms (which are a real threat to a no-reload run, and I rarely attempt going against them without gathering all possible party members). You just breezed through without fighting.
Also, I see you're really killing it with food. Even on the PotD difficulty, I still haven't managed myself to use food. The reasons, I guess, are a few, from not feeling ok to meta (as food can only be used before fights) to actual laziness: in PoE I just prefer to rely on skills/abilities and scrolls/per-rest/per-battle items maximum - all of them can be used in battle.
PoE rogues are often critiqued as underpowered and undistinctive. When I first started playing I sympathized with that view but I see it differently now. PoE got a lot right about rogues. They're uniquely skilled at stealth, thanks to Shadowing Beyond; they're expert item users, thank to their high accuracy. In combat, they're deadly with preparation, fighting on their own terms, but they can be easily overwhelmed when not. That's pretty much exactly right. This skill set is relatively difficult to leverage in party play, as opposed to solo, but that's kind of right, too. Shouldn't the rogue skill set be biased towards independent operation?
Played solo, rogues are a lot of fun- largely because of PoE's stealth mechanic. In some ways, stealth is more powerful in PoE than in BG, since most experience comes from quest completion, not monster killing. But while stealth is powerful, it isn't always easy. There is an art to stealthing, just as there is to combat. That's neat.
In any case, I do look forward to continuing my exploration of the class. And I hope others will enjoy following along, too.
Best,
A.
NW: Credit where it is due, Astrid's early game route comes from The Ultimate Rogue, found on Youtube and referred to me by Enuhal.
@Arvia , It just occurred to me that you might enjoy this game if you're looking for any new D&D style games besides BG and NWN. I can't remember if we ever mentioned it before.
It's got a really good paladin class with lots of chances to roleplay appropriately. Paladins in the PoE setting serve more of a cause than a god, and what gods there are in the setting wind up being, ... well, it could be a massive spoiler if I say any more about that, so I won't.
The gameplay is very similar to BG. The rules are different from D&D, but anybody who knows D&D will usually master the differences pretty quickly.
Anyway, just a thought.
EDIT: Oh, never mind, then; I reviewed older posts after I wrote this one, and I see you already tried it. My bad.
@BelgarathMTH , I haven't given up on the game yet, although my first attempts have been frustrating, to say the least. Character building is very different from the games I know, and the combat system (especially the engagement mechanics and the fact that you quickly aggro a whole mob of enemies who will gang up on you) is a bit unforgiving for beginners.
My latest attempt was with a barbarian, but I didn't even make it to Defiance Bay, and I think I'm going to restart with a paladin again. I made too many mistakes, and it's not fun if I can't identify with my character and tried to build it just for strength. (Besides, I chose Aumaua for the Might bonus, and she's blue-skinned)
I have another undead hunter on a no-reload run in BG:EE right now, but I was playing PoE occasionally when I didn't feel focused enough for an all-or-nothing game.
After completing Act I main quests for the first time (yay, only 5 years later...), my cipher reached Elmshore. I found the end of Act I really refreshing and probably for the first time since the start of the game's story, I found it intriguing and interesting.
Here we faced the ogres @BelgarathMTH mentioned once as a difficulty spike. I upscaled the content, so the enemies here were 5 levels higher than they can be (+2 from the PotD, +3 from upscaling).
I can say that yes, the fights in Elmshore felt a lot more challenging than anything before (except for the Adra Dragon, of course). I can imagine how parties could be obliterated by Elmshore groups of druids or adragans.
And I - really enjoyed them. I was looking for fights which made me use spells and not only rely on per-battle abilities. I got them.
I approached the group of druids outside the cave without any preparation, and my party members were a bit exhausted after the end of Act I events and groups from the Stormwall Gorge. I wouldn't have done that if I targeted a no-knockout run, but hey, I'm playing all this content for the first time and just go with the flow.
It was far from optimal, I guess I wanted to test how my party could cope even in case of using not the best of approaches towards the fight. This was the first time where I tried using Infuse With Vital Essense potions.
The druids killed Aloth (Durance raised him), Kana and Durance reached 1 hp and thus I didn't raise them. Confusion, Domination, Tentacles, and buffs - this is how we dealt with them.
Inside the cave, I found Nalrend the Wise (one of the bounty quests). I decided to approach these druids by a completely different way and see if I could beat them safely.
Spamming Confusion by Aloth and making the druids fight each other. Killing the lone druids when we got the chance. Beating the group of these high-level enemies without risks was possible.
I enjoyed both approaches. The rest of the fights in that area were fun too. When we reported to Warden Fyrgen and brought him Nalrend's head, our party reached lvl 12.
I heard players should do the White March I content before going to Elmshore but I guess for my first real shot at beating PoE I won't do the DLC as I don't want to be over-levelled.
Difficulty: Path of the Damned, Upscaled
Settings: Maim Before Death: On; Injuries: On; Expert Mode: OFF; AoE Highlighting: On; Show Personality/Reputation: On
Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)- Entry 3: Defiance Bay- Part 1
Defiance Bay is great. It's a super easy place to accumulate experience. It's fetch quests and cakewalks galore.
First we did all the fetch quests then we did the rest, starting with Helig.
We began with beetles and a salvo from Forgiveness.
And that was all it took. After that we just had to stab some dead people in the kidneys.
(Oh. I almost forgot: we got to Helig by steathing and we reached the Temple of Woedica through stealth, too. But you probably guessed that, right? We got our hood from the practice guy. Scored a rugged wilderness cap from the catacombs altar and something useless from the other.)
By now we had enough coppers to buy a very important item: the Rotfinger Gloves. These things are stupid- seriously overpowered when you find them. They let you cast Touch of Rot three times per rest and Touch of Rot three times per rest basically wins all the kith fights in Defiance Bay. Here's an example: Supply and Demand.
First, we dropped our beetles.
Next, Combusting Wounds via Ring of Searing Flames followed by Touch of Rot, via the Rotfinger Gloves.
Not much left to do other than accelerate the thugs' demise with a Jolting Touch. Astrid uses melee mostly for the procs. In my head I'm singing "I Wanna Proc" because I'm team dork for life and the 80's were hilarious.
All Hands on Deck was basically the same.
If you're wondering what Astrid's been doing with her coin these days, the answer is not much, although somehow she's broke most the time anyways (Sound familiar anybody? I mean in real life...). She buys lots of crafting bits because she likes to keep a spread of single use items available at all times. She prefers Fan of Flames scrolls, Jolting Touch scrolls, potions of Infuse With Vital Essence, potions of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion and potions of Merciless Gaze (mostly because the animation looks cool). She's been upgrading her items, too. I'll give you a rundown in the next post.
It was time for some new armor, so we got the Crucible Knights their stolen-soul, mechanical-monster death squadron.
Standard start here: Beetles->Combusting Wounds->Touch of Rot
We took some early damage from Barbs of Condemnation. That was quickly healed with Second Wind, acquired via resting bonus.
We finished up the fight by shooting this guy in the face.
The Parable of Wael was a familiar tale. We started over on the right side so the casters and ranged fighters would see the beetles first, targeting them instead of Astrid.
And done.
Astrid's physical weapon strikes are almost always Azureith Jolting Touch crits or Forgiveness Finish Blows. The logic being that if it's just a regular strike, she can get more done with a scroll or an item charge. Why poke someone with a needle when you can burn them to a crisp?
By now Astrid was at level 6. And that means new friends. I'm talking shades. We put a pip in mechanics to bring us to 4 and selected Deep Pockets as our talent. We then took a snoozy-woozy in the Fletcher's Stay room of the Goose and Fox for the mechanics bonus. Base 4 + Fletcher's Stay + Gloves of Manipulation yields 7, which means we can open that chest over at the Valian Embassy, granting us the Obsidian Lamp. Here's the new inventory. It's shaping up. We need Shod in Faith and the Ring of Wonder, but we're pretty much where we intend to be from here to Twin Elms.
The shades made their first showing at Purnisc's place. We had fun here.
Forced to trigger the encounter in a disadvantageous position, Astrid opened with Shadowing Beyond.
She headed south, and the shades joined the party.
With the shades in place, we had no trouble dropping the rot.
Nyrid was ended with an 80hp shot from Forgiveness and we moved on.
We had to kill a couple of straggler mercenaries before heading upstairs. These were fun and roguey. The first guy took two swings. We opened with a crit our of stealth from Azureith's, triggering Jolting Touch. We followed with a Finishing Blow.
Same start for mercenary 2. These Jolting Touch strikes out of stealth almost feel like backstabs.
With Jolting Touch spent, we switched to scrolls. An un-proc-able weapon can't compare at this stage of the game. All it took was a nudge after that.
On the second floor we used stealth- which will work, even with the locked door, sans Shadowing Beyond.
Ok. Let's stop there for now. In our next post we'll cover the Doemenal questline. After that, it's time to face Irenicus in Spellhold Thaos in the Sanitarium.
Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)- Entry 4: Defiance Bay- Part 2
By now Astrid had completed all the Defiance Bay side quests she intends to- with the exception of the Final Act. It was time to secure her place at the Duchal Palace. The easiest and best route for her is the Doemenel path.
We entered the quest by killing the goons. This was a standard summons/Touch of Rot based kill. The only real drama here was the size of the Finishing Blow. She got a pretty good one.
The Wenfeld assassination went well. Wenfeld uses Shinning Beacon so it's a good idea to maintain distance. We started off with a Forgiveness Crippling Strike.
We followed with shades. Wenfeld went with Barbs of Condemnation, which triggered our new item, Shod in Faith.
All we had to do then was dump our spells on him while he dumped his spells on the shades.
Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)- Entry 5: Defiance Bay Part 3 and Cliaban Rilag
Is there Instagram in Eora? If so, Astrid's feed would be all:
#estramore #elmlife #glanfabulous
So: How did she get there? Through stealth, mostly.
This post will cover The Man Who Waits, Undying Heritage and Through Death's Gate. And it will cover, I don't know one battle? No two, actually. There were two. We slinked by everything else. Let's start with The Man Who Waits.
This one is super easy- no risk at all. If you activate Shadowing Beyond immediately, all the baddies will walk away.
They go far enough away to end combat and far enough away to let you activate stealth here: in the corner of Uscgrim's cell
So that was easy. And there are no difficult moves on the way out. It's clear sailing. This is the closest anyone gets, and that's not near close enough, if you've invested heavily in stealth.
Undying Heritage is easy, too. Unlike Undying Gate, there are no challenging moves. There are a couple of patrolling critters that can cause difficulty, but they're easy enough to avoid. Here's Astrid entering the tower.
And here she is fighting her one fight of the quest. Shocky-Shocky.
Hardest move of the quest was this one. And that one was easy-peasy:
Astrid completed Through Death's Gate just like Undying Heritage: with stealth and a single minor fight. There were, however, two tough moves, one of which was dangerous.
Astrid prepped by taking Hedge Maze and Iquali bonuses, bringing her stealth score to fourteen. The quest can be completed with a smaller number, but it's good to have extra.
The early moves are simple. You walk around some trolls and oozes and then you go straight down the middle.
Things don't get tricky till the shroom room. The top half of the room is fine. It's the exit that's a problem. Do you see those sporelings at the bottom of the screenie? They move back and forth really, really quick, east to west. The best practice is to pass them to the east just as they start running west. What happened here, though, is that Astrid pulled a sporeling from the top of the room.
That forced her to pass to the west of the sporeling while they were to the east. Not good. Fortunately, Astrid made it. Shadowing Beyond is a great fail-safe, but it's less dependable when disablers are in play. You don't want to be seen in this room at all although, yes, the Hermit Hat helps and Astrid was wearing it.
Onto level two. Astrid walked into the central chamber, went through the western door, and picked up the exit key. The only tricky part was the room with the key. There are a lot of spirits there and some are in awkward positions. A use of Shadowing Beyond is required here, in my experience.
You go up the middle, through the will o' wisps.
Then you pick up the key. Believe it or not, this guy won't notice you if your stealth score is high enough.
He will, however, soft detect and follow. And when the wisps soft detect, you're pinned: enemies approaching from both sides. Eventually you get seen. Just use Shadowing Beyond, though and you're good. Note that there is a risk of pulling an animat.
And that brings us to the battle. Astrid chose to fight the blights at the upper end of the central chamber- mostly because she wanted some primal wind for DoAM potions. With shades at her side and Fan of Flames scrolls in hand, it was a breeze (pun intended).
I'll cover the Dyrford sidequests next, then we're off to Twin Elms.
What impresses me the most is the speed with which you go through the game. I still haven't reached Teir Evron. Hell, getting through the dialogues in Twin Elms, talking about tribes, animals, and culture is a challenge!
I understand, though, that on your Xth playthrough you just follow the path. "This is the way", Astrid. Your run can be a great illustration of a stealthy way. If I ever try soloing the game, I'd most likely pick someone who would still fight here and there. Your story is very entertaining and full of tips.
Comments
A paladin is a very good choice (my first documented fail in this thread is with a paladin). During character creation, you can read about each of their orders. Kind Wayfarers sound like good types (their favoured disposition is Benevolent and Passionate, disfavoured - Deceptive and Cruel).
Till many later levels, I recommend going with a sword and board for any melee character. A hatchet can provide additional +5 to deflection even while it's a weapon.
You can pick disarming traps for any character (just as any other skill) - no need to save it for a "rogue" type. Usually, disarming traps takes about 8/10 of your skill distribution, so think about a suitable character.
The Temple of Eothas is a bane of no-reload runs, it's recommended to go and explore a few outside areas first. Don't hesitate to retreat from the area if a battle which you have just won seemed too hard for you, enemies looked scary, etc. I recommend finding at least one other companion.
Why creepy? I'd be really interested to hear more on this.
And yes, if you're coming from an angle that has anything to do with D&D, paladin is going to be different this time. I wasn't interested in paladins in PoE, but I wouldn't discourage you from trying.
I'm a very immersive player with vivid imagination. I find that a bit creepy
I tried again with another paladin and avoided the Temple of Eothas for the moment. I solved the windmill issue, got the "cure" from Ranga (avoided the supposedly undead-infested part of the map for now), went to the Black Meadow, fought the bandits who had stolen the shipment, successfully killed some trolls, but then my party was wiped out by two... what was the name again?
"Forest Lurker" I think.
Aloth had used his best spells before, Durance didn't have much on the offensive side and stuck to buffing us and throwing his rod from a distance, and Eder and me tried to tank them. He had a Fine greatsword and died (not enough deflection with a two-hander) and I had a flail (for the extra chance to convert graze to hit) enchanted with accuracy 1, and a large shield. I died, too, because their blows dealt damage like taking a third of my endurance on a single hit.
I couldn't disengage, either, it said "Stuck" when I tried, same happened with Eder earlier, although there were only two opponents. We weren't physically stuck, must be some game mechanic.
Anyway, I've come to two conclusions: First, if every second map contains potentially lethal enemies to a noob like me, even on "normal" difficulty and with "maim before death" enabled, I won't try to no-reload. I will reload on party death only, of course, and keep a counter for knockdowns, too. I can't spam rest after every fight, especially considering the limited camping supplies.
Second, I need to read about cleric spells, because Durance can certainly do better.
Third, I've decided to build a barbarian with high health and endurance who can hit hard. She can try to do damage more quickly while Eder can be the tank. Someone must be able to kill the guys who hit too hard for tanking.
She's a Coastal Aumaua (the blue ones), her name is Zarafil, she's currently in the starting "dungeon" with Heodan, dual-wielding a mace (for the bypass of DR) and a hatchet for the extra deflection. I'm undecided what will be her weapons in the future, but since she lacks accuracy, that will certainly be a priority.
I'm going to introduce her properly once I see she gets further than my poor paladins.
She will be roleplayed as a good-aligned character, of course.
Don't worry about any talents involving this or that weapon - to decide on which weapons to use you'd need to progress in the game to get good unique items first.
I found impossible to play the game with only 1 tank, so I try to make as many characters tanks as possible. Now when your main is a barbarian she should be a damage-dealer, of course. You still can give her a good armor and equip shields on Eder and Durance.
Cleric spells - use all the spells affecting your party and impoving them. Increasing Deflection and Damage Reduction is always a plus. CC with Aloth. 2nd level spells include a spell to paralyze your enemy and another to confuse them (these won't work on Lurkers but Slicken will). Also, have a Fan of Flames ready - Aloth can inflict good damage. Later you will find another character - I recommend giving him Durance's Staff (especially since weapons and armor can be upgraded in this game) - the staff has a long reach and he can stand right behind your tanks inflicting huge damage. But that requires tanks in the first place.
About no-reloading with the first attempt - yes, I won't recommend that, even on Normal. My feedback to the game (and its main criticism) still stands: there are difficulty peaks in the game, which you can't know about in advance and which lead to situations like with these Lurkers.
Increase Accuracy with other options: Durance's aura upgrade & flanking enemies is a good start.
The problem with the CC and AoE spells is that it's difficult to see which of them are party friendly (it seems like most aren't).
Resting more frequently is certainly better than dying, true.
Also, I've seen that food greatly boosts Endurance, but for a very limited time. And since I can't eat it once a battle has started, it means I'd either need to know in advance what expects me (and scouting is a lot worse than in BG), or to eat all the time, just in case.
As for the forest lurkers: as JuliusBorisov intimates, they are definitely a notch above what you've encountered so far, in terms of difficulty.
I wouldn't try no-reload in PoE, to be quite honest with you. I agree that completing it would feel like an achievement, but given the likelihood of early death, I wouldn't take the chance.
This is a question of temperament, of course, but from where I'm coming from, I would say this: don't Google this (or ask around). You are almost certain to find out, via trial and error if nothing else, and that's more rewarding than having someone spell it out for you.
Even if you later sell the item, consider upgrading its quality to Fine if you like the item.
You can aim CC spells the way they won't harm your party members - the game provides good AoE markers.
This game doesn't have a difficulty curve, it's rather a difficulty staircase.
I'm in the Endless Paths of Od Nua and have 11 reloads. I think I'm going to stop counting and continue to play for fun only.
One reload was stupid, because I foolishly went solo into the bear cave at level 2. Then, one reload because I walked into the main entrance of Raedric's keep, two reloads fighting Raedric (found out then that I'd better agree to help him, position my party and then attack. It's out of character, but since he triggers the dialogue, I had no way to talk to him and position my boys to avoid being mobbed to death), one reload because of a horde of little creatures, don't remember what, probably Xaurip, who were blocking our access to the damage shooting wurm things behind them.
Tactical positioning or drawing enemies out is very difficult with the combat mechanics of this game.
And then, of course, the ogres. Sigh.
It took me several attempts and then I solved them by creeping forward, letting one see me, then run like hell until I'm sure there's only two following me, then fight them, rest, and go back for the next pair. If three attacked and one of them was a druid, we were lost.
I did the same in the ogre queen's room. Unfortunately, sometimes you become visible to just one person at the edge of the fog, and then still the whole room comes after you.
That's more like real life, of course, but it's really, really difficult.
Durance is dead and gone. He got maimed in one fight, we went back upstairs to rest, the pathfinding took us through a little piece that we had forgotten to clear, and of course there was a trap.
Can't say that I miss him, but it won't be easier without him. But I've heard that I can find a paladin and a druid later.
As I said, I still like the game and will still reload on party death only, but I'm going to stop counting or it will get too frustrating.
The ogres are very difficult. Better to return to them later - since there will be a boss fight there as well.
Check out this table:
http://orcz.com/Pillars_of_Eternity:_Monster_Strengths_and_Weaknesses
It lists monsters' level. Trying to fight them at lower levels - if you're doing it for the first time - can lead to reloads quickly.
Ogre druids are lvl 8. Your party is not there yet. A few levels make A LOT of difference since you get new spells and abilities.
And btw, from the table I've learned that the boss that ended 2 my no-reload attemps IS the hardest monster in the list. My gripe now is much smaller.
Me, - I've returned to PoE and reached lvl 8 not long ago. Have only 1 knockout so far, with Cail the Silent one-shotting my cipher (I was lvl 6 then, wanted to challenge it), - just like he one-shotted one of the party members of @Serg_BlackStrider . I actually liked that challenge, it was nice to kill that drake while still being so low-level (not even lvl 4 spells). I more or less repeat party characters and abilities from the last run, but with certain exclusions: Eder now is wielding Tidefall and I didn't pick Defender for him - instead, I took Guardian Stance and +2 INT item + the Ring of Overseeing - this way Deflection of my cipher, Durance, Kana and Pallegina go up!
Powergaming wise it is better for a Tidefall's wielder to have a low INT. If you have a high INT then this will extend the 'over time period' the wounding effect is applying: Wounding: 25% Damage inflicted over time (5 seconds) - i.e. with high INT the very same 25% damage inflicted lash will apply over more than 5 seconds. In my opinion for high INT fighter The Hours of St. Rumbalt is better - high INT will extend the Prone duration. Anyway, since the only two-hander of my Crew is Pallegina I'm always torn between this two great weapons.
It just seemed to make sense to continue there, because it's under my stronghold. I wouldn't go traveling if I had monsters in the basement.
My party is level 5. That table you linked is a huge help, thank you!
I thought I could use the dungeon to gain a few levels, until I noticed that killing doesn't give XP as in other games.
@xzar_monty , the pathfinding is the enemy outside of combat, too.
I only used it to get back upstairs, but it led me through black area that I hadn't explored yet. I did *not* expect that!
INT is for Guardian Stance AOE. And really, that hat giving +2 INT is essential on my main fighter as it also provides immunity to Confusion. So can't do otherwise.
I don't think about powergaming, more about surviving. I also haven't visited Dyrford yet. Prone won't help against bosses, though.
I won't spoil, and you probably shouldn't spoil it for yourself, but the dungeon is much, much deeper than the level with ogres.
Killing doesn't give XP per se, but killing new monsters and filling the bestiary does. However, usual quests bring much more XP.
I waited till level 11 before handling the dragon. And let me tell you, everything I have been doing during this run has been to prepare for the dragon. Buying and crafting scrolls of revive and paralysis, getting all the weapons and armor upgraded to exceptional and even extra enchanting them, such as adding +2 Perception on armor (it took dozens of precious gems and plants and tons of money). Getting all possible random loot in a correct way, including gauntlets of accuracy. Upping the lore skill of all 5 my characters (except for the cipher who had 11 points in Mechanics) so that they could use the scrolls.
Actually, this preparation took more than the current run. All my 350+ hours in PoE were for this moment, all the years of failed attempts.
AND NOW THEN.
Kana killed Adra Dragon.
How was it possible?
1. Summons ate the first (and in my opinion, the most dangerous) attack of the dragon, while the rest of the party was not in his reach. Durance casted Prayer against Fear on everyone.
2. Scale-breaker by my cipher on the dragon to decrease its defenses. The first scroll of paralysis.
3. A miracle happened. Aloth dominated the dragon thanks to his scepter.
4. All dragon helpers suffered from the absolutely devastating attack.
5. Eder paralyzed the dragon again. Durance made sure we had Devotions for the faithful, Dire Blessing, and other buffs active.
6. Eder kept paralyzing the dragon.
7. Pallegina paralyzed the dragon.
8. When the aura of my lore characters was clouded, Aloth grazed the dragon with Fetid Caress.
9. Durance paralyzed the dragon.
10. Mental Binding by my cipher paralyzed the dragon. I made sure not to spend focus points on anything just to be able to spam Mental Binding when other characters' aura was clouded.
11. A sweet, sweet moment.
Since I didn't spoil myself, I was happy to find all that sweet loot after the dragon and I like almost all of it.
This is how the hardest boss for me (in the games I've played) has been finally defeated. I'm now looking forward to other bosses in PoE (I see that adra dragon scales can be used to upgrade armor to superb (lvl 12), but there is one extra upgrade possible, at lvl 16 (legendary) - and it will require scales of another dragon).
Now, party screenshots:
Cipher
Aloth
Eder
Durance
Kana
Pallegina
Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)
Game Version: 3.7.0.1318 with White March I & II, Difficulty: Normal, Settings: Maim Before Death: On; Injuries: On; Expert Mode: OFF, Mods: None
Character Description: Born in the White that Wends but uninspired by the dreary ways of her people, a teenaged Astrid set off for the Deadfire Archipelago, harboring dreams of gold and glory. The Deadfire had something else in store for her, however: instead of a swashbuckling adventure novel, Astrid's life became a rise and fall tragicomedy of epic proportions.
After rapidly ascending to the rank of quartermaster aboard a pirate ship, The Reticent Squid, Astrid found herself accused of treason by her captain, Rai Nui- an Aumaua who had trusted and admired her until he lost his mind to syphilis. When The Reticent Squid was captured -due in no small part to the captain's compromised decision making- Astrid suddenly found herself on the gun barrel end of both pirate law and the law of the authorities. That she is alive today and free is a miracle. If she successfully returns to the Deadfire as she intends it will be a greater miracle still.
Gaming Notes: When I started playing PoE last winter, I had virtually no clue how to play. In the two month that followed I became marginally proficient, completing full party no reloads on normal, hard and potd respectively. After a one year break, I've decided to get back in the action, this time tackling solo play, starting at normal and, hopefully, culminating in a potd no reload run. Having practiced a bit over the last week, I'm confident that I'll have a first success soon. Hopefully Astrid will be the one.
My intention is to cover this run in significant detail, partly for my own reference, but mostly in the interest of soliciting feedback (I'm still learning!). Please do feel free to chime in with an advice! Astrid needs your help!
Astrid's run is off to a promising start. She's completed her early item collection tasks and is now ready to begin her first significant quest, Buried Secrets. Entry 1 will cover caravan camp through the Gilded Vale minor side quests. That may not sound like much, but there's a lot that matters here.
Before I continue: a note. I think I warned everyone that I'm going to cover this run in excruciating detail. That was no lie. My intention is to post in such a way that I and others will be able to replicate. That requires a lot of detail, at least for me. If the minutiae gets boring for y'all, let me know. I'll tone it down and just keep copious off-line notes.
Ok! Let's begin! Astrid's run got off to an auspicious start when she crit-chunked her first foe with her opening swing. May those wolfine chunky-wunks be like the ceremonial broken wine glass at a Jewish wedding and may this run not end in divorce. Mazel tov!
I'll spare you the details of the rest of the tutorial. On her first level up Astrid took:
Gasps from the audience, right? Why one handed? Astrid doesn't fight in melee much. She uses scrolls and item based abilities whenever possible. When she does fight in melee, she's either: 1) mowing down hapless tools; 2) landing an opportunistic Shocking Grasp via Azureith; or 3) crit stun/prone locking big bad bady-waddies. In the first case, weapon style doesn't matter. In the second two, one-handed is actually better, at least within the levels that Astrid will be playing (she'll be finishing at 9 or 10). What about the late game? Say if Astrid did White March and lots of side-quest? Well, interestingly, in the late-late game there is an argument that one handed is better than two handed, since you can get recovery down to zero either way and one-handed gets the acc bonus. Ok, but what about those great rogue full attack special abilities? Got me there. That's an argument for two-handed style: no doubt. But tradeoffs in all things, strengths and weaknesses on all sides. I'm not saying that one handed style is better than two weapon in the general case: I'm merely saying that it has merits at certain stages of the adventure and I'm fair convinced that it makes sense for Astrid. Protest if you must. I'll fight you on this with one hand tied behind my back: One hand is enough.
With that out of the way...
Skill points went to stealth and Astrid went to Gilded Vale.
Leveling up again post tree-talk, we took Dirty Fighting. Skill points were allocated to stealth and lore (5pts and 1pt respectively)
Her she is: At level 3, fresh off a Mechanics skill boosting Laborer's Rest- equipped and ready for an item raid on Raedric Hold. She's sexy and she knows it.
Fine weapons courtesy of the graveyard in Esternwood; Ring and cloak from the Ruins and Hound. Note that there's a crushing weapon in the inventory in addition to the slasher in hand.
Time for some shameless meta-gaming!
No seriously: I'm embarassed about this. My early route through the game involves random loot table use. That's stupid and I intend to cut it out eventually. But for now: Have you seen my shame? Because I don't: I've lost it all...
Right, well...With a non-offset table, opening the roof bin on the 20th gets you boots of stealth. The third bin down in the Sanctuary entrance hall on the 1rst yields a fine brigandine. Locked chest in the bedroom on the 2nd offers Gloves of Manipulations; Loose stone in the jail cell on the 2nd, a Ring of Searing Flames.
So how do we do all that? By being sneaky-sneaky. To enter the Sanctuary via the ramparts, wait for the patrolling guard to head away from you and then follow him- just don't follow too closely. Stay away from the stationary guard and you're good. All the world is blind to your passing. You can dance on the head of a pin as well.
Into the Sanctuary! The Berath robes look awesome on Astrid. They match her portrait super well. If I weren't adverse to kiting (in PoE) and fog of war play (any game), she'd rock those from here 'till next Christmas.
Using the robes and Int >12 gets us to Nedmar. Then it's down, down, down.
We rest to dispel our fatigue, and then get to work. Astrid waited for the first patrolling revenant to pass going east and then took the second patrolling revenant down in the corner:
Slashing weapons for the revenants; Crushing for the skellies to come.
We let ooze #1 pass heading west, disarmed the trap, and then headed down the hall, hugging the north wall to stay clear of ooze #2.
We lured skelly #1 into the cell and took him down with our crushing weapon. We got him into the cell by letting him soft detect us (when the circle thingy turns red- you know what I mean) and search. It really is advisable to pull this guy because you can end up with up to five enemies on you otherwise. I lost a character to that in my first unposted solo attempt.
Skelly #2 was lured into the same cell using the same method. He was dispatched with the mace. Revenant #2, the stationary one, was drawn away to the south just as the patrolling revenant passed heading west. We intercepted the patrolling revenant at the western end of his route. We've switched back to the fine dagger for the revenants.
Last Aumaua skeleton: Crossbow bullet to the face, followed by the mace. You know the Olivia Newton John song (Let's Get) Physical? I'm singing Let's Get Critical in my head now because I'm a dork. (Remember what I said about loosing my shame?)
Footnote: The Youtube video for (Let's Get) Physical is fracking hilarious. Por ejemplo...
So: We free Giacco, grab the fine brigandine and then detrap -but not open- the chest in the bedroom. What's the logic there? We need our Laborer's Rest bonus to disarm the trap, but its the 1rst now and the Gloves of Manipulation won't show up until the 2nd.
We rest three times in Nedmar's room and then claim our prize. Next, it's the Ring of Searing Flames down in the dungeon. With that, we're outy- like those ugly belly buttons (Apologies if you have an outie but outies are objectively less attractive than inies. Don't blame me: Blame your obstetrician.)
Like the undead that hopefully haunt you obstetrician's dreams, there are revenants and guls near the exit. We let the patrolling bloke pass the stairs going east, break down the middle, and veer north to avoid the oncoming revenant. Surely there are other ways but this is the one I know works.
Ok. I'm hungry now so I'm going to take a break. I'll be back with the end on Entry 1 soon. Toodle-doodles!
Best,
A.
Note to self: key lime pie is not dinner.
Note to everyone else: I've eaten and I'm ready to resume.
So, where were we? Right: minor quests in Guilded Vale, post Raedric Hold: Smith's Shipment and Late for Dinner. (Against the Grain, too, natch, but we don't need to talk about that.)
Smith's Shipment can be done with stealth using the boots of stealth. Astrid waited at the edge of the scout's detection range, in the position seen below, and then broke when he went back to the campfire. We opened the southerly lootable box first.
Stealth will also allow you to loot the Shrine of Galawain and the drake skull. The drake skull find is skiddly-diddly because it lets you add burning lashes.
After returning the crate, we bought a Blunting Belt and Azureith's. Azureith's got a burning lash immediately.
With our loot table, visiting the loose rock over by the wolves in Valewood on the 4th yields a Torc of the Falcon Eyes. Consequently, we chilled at the Hound for a while before setting off.
When completing super-easy quests like Late for Dinner, I like to build in mini-challenges. In this case we tried to minimize attacks. That went pretty well, given that Astrid is a low level rogue.
One hit nixed the first outlaw with the fine crossbow.
By range targeting the melee bandit with the crossbow and placing an arrow trap along his attack vector, north of the outlaw's attack route, we effectively one hit the bandit.
The second outlaw falls in one hit, courtesy of Azureith's, aided by Dirty Fighting. That's three enemies with three strikes.
Crippling Strike let's us take down the last bandit in two (possibly three- I'm not sure). In any case, we did pretty well. Astrid was pleased. She and I are starting to build trust. She knows I'm only moderately proficient at PoE -and thus semi-likely to get her killed- but she thinks I'm beginning to get the hang of it.
Onto the wolves! The Torc of the Falcon Eyes can be looted with stealth, but Fulvano's Gloves can't be, as far as I know. The wolves were dropped quickly thanks to an Azureith's Jolting Touch. In game weapon damage is a function of usage: There are no absolutes. For Astrid -who has a high crit percentage and takes very few melee swings per battle- Azureith's is a top tier weapon for a long, long time.
We have the Torc. We have the gloves. Astrid is ready to enter the Temple. Wish her luck!
Best,
A.
Let's continue, shall we?
Astrid is currently at the Goose and Fox- resting and relaxing after a fetch questing binge in Defiance Bay. This post will cover the Temple of Eothas and Caed Nua. Both quests were uneventful- uneventful by design, that is. Astrid fought Maerwald, his blights and no one else. The rest was handled with stealth.
To the action (or lack there of...)
For a stealth maxed drifter wearing boots of stealth, stealthing through the Temple of Eothas is a breeze. There are, however, a few tricky moves, which I'll cover here.
The spider group encountered en route to the bells can be passed to the north. Click carefully, keep moving, and its all good.
The shades downstairs are no problem at all. They're slow, their detection radii aren't great, and the hallways they inhabit are large.
The ooze room is harder. It's difficult to see an opening at first, but you can pass the top ooze to the north.
Then you can go in between the final two.
The tricky part occurs when, like Missy Elliot, you flip it and reverse it. If you carefully compare the screenshot below to the screenshot above, you'll see that the eastern ooze has moved slightly: it's closer to the western one now. So, on the way back we go over the top.
Upstairs, on the return, we went straight through the middle. That worked fine.
Completing Buried Secrets brought Astrid to L4. We took Shadowing Beyond, on rank in lore and another in stealth. We forged some Fan of Flame scrolls, some Bulwarks and then headed to Caed Nua.
The main hall can be stealthed even without Shadowing Beyond. Just hug the north wall and make your way to the door. In my head I'm singing Walk On By by Dionne Warwick because I'm still a dork but my musical taste is getting better.
The fight with Maerwald went smoothly. We gulped our Bulwark and evaded some spells. Nexted, we duped Maerwald into killing his wind blights and injuring his flame blight, later finished in melee.
Maerwald was killed with Fan of Flames->Melee finish. Melee alone would have worked but staying ranged facilitates spell evasion, just like in BG. The melee finish was for style points.
And that's that: We're off to Defiance Bay!
Best,
A.
Also, I see you're really killing it with food. Even on the PotD difficulty, I still haven't managed myself to use food. The reasons, I guess, are a few, from not feeling ok to meta (as food can only be used before fights) to actual laziness: in PoE I just prefer to rely on skills/abilities and scrolls/per-rest/per-battle items maximum - all of them can be used in battle.
Played solo, rogues are a lot of fun- largely because of PoE's stealth mechanic. In some ways, stealth is more powerful in PoE than in BG, since most experience comes from quest completion, not monster killing. But while stealth is powerful, it isn't always easy. There is an art to stealthing, just as there is to combat. That's neat.
In any case, I do look forward to continuing my exploration of the class. And I hope others will enjoy following along, too.
Best,
A.
NW: Credit where it is due, Astrid's early game route comes from The Ultimate Rogue, found on Youtube and referred to me by Enuhal.
It's got a really good paladin class with lots of chances to roleplay appropriately. Paladins in the PoE setting serve more of a cause than a god, and what gods there are in the setting wind up being, ... well, it could be a massive spoiler if I say any more about that, so I won't.
The gameplay is very similar to BG. The rules are different from D&D, but anybody who knows D&D will usually master the differences pretty quickly.
Anyway, just a thought.
EDIT: Oh, never mind, then; I reviewed older posts after I wrote this one, and I see you already tried it. My bad.
My latest attempt was with a barbarian, but I didn't even make it to Defiance Bay, and I think I'm going to restart with a paladin again. I made too many mistakes, and it's not fun if I can't identify with my character and tried to build it just for strength. (Besides, I chose Aumaua for the Might bonus, and she's blue-skinned)
I have another undead hunter on a no-reload run in BG:EE right now, but I was playing PoE occasionally when I didn't feel focused enough for an all-or-nothing game.
After completing Act I main quests for the first time (yay, only 5 years later...), my cipher reached Elmshore. I found the end of Act I really refreshing and probably for the first time since the start of the game's story, I found it intriguing and interesting.
Here we faced the ogres @BelgarathMTH mentioned once as a difficulty spike. I upscaled the content, so the enemies here were 5 levels higher than they can be (+2 from the PotD, +3 from upscaling).
I can say that yes, the fights in Elmshore felt a lot more challenging than anything before (except for the Adra Dragon, of course). I can imagine how parties could be obliterated by Elmshore groups of druids or adragans.
And I - really enjoyed them. I was looking for fights which made me use spells and not only rely on per-battle abilities. I got them.
I approached the group of druids outside the cave without any preparation, and my party members were a bit exhausted after the end of Act I events and groups from the Stormwall Gorge. I wouldn't have done that if I targeted a no-knockout run, but hey, I'm playing all this content for the first time and just go with the flow.
It was far from optimal, I guess I wanted to test how my party could cope even in case of using not the best of approaches towards the fight. This was the first time where I tried using Infuse With Vital Essense potions.
The druids killed Aloth (Durance raised him), Kana and Durance reached 1 hp and thus I didn't raise them. Confusion, Domination, Tentacles, and buffs - this is how we dealt with them.
Inside the cave, I found Nalrend the Wise (one of the bounty quests). I decided to approach these druids by a completely different way and see if I could beat them safely.
Spamming Confusion by Aloth and making the druids fight each other. Killing the lone druids when we got the chance. Beating the group of these high-level enemies without risks was possible.
I enjoyed both approaches. The rest of the fights in that area were fun too. When we reported to Warden Fyrgen and brought him Nalrend's head, our party reached lvl 12.
I heard players should do the White March I content before going to Elmshore but I guess for my first real shot at beating PoE I won't do the DLC as I don't want to be over-levelled.
Difficulty: Path of the Damned, Upscaled
Settings: Maim Before Death: On; Injuries: On; Expert Mode: OFF; AoE Highlighting: On; Show Personality/Reputation: On
Reloads: 0
Knockouts: 5 Lucia, 3 Aloth & Kana, 2 Eder & Durance, 0 Pallegina
Defiance Bay is great. It's a super easy place to accumulate experience. It's fetch quests and cakewalks galore.
First we did all the fetch quests then we did the rest, starting with Helig.
We began with beetles and a salvo from Forgiveness.
And that was all it took. After that we just had to stab some dead people in the kidneys.
(Oh. I almost forgot: we got to Helig by steathing and we reached the Temple of Woedica through stealth, too. But you probably guessed that, right? We got our hood from the practice guy. Scored a rugged wilderness cap from the catacombs altar and something useless from the other.)
By now we had enough coppers to buy a very important item: the Rotfinger Gloves. These things are stupid- seriously overpowered when you find them. They let you cast Touch of Rot three times per rest and Touch of Rot three times per rest basically wins all the kith fights in Defiance Bay. Here's an example: Supply and Demand.
First, we dropped our beetles.
Next, Combusting Wounds via Ring of Searing Flames followed by Touch of Rot, via the Rotfinger Gloves.
Not much left to do other than accelerate the thugs' demise with a Jolting Touch. Astrid uses melee mostly for the procs. In my head I'm singing "I Wanna Proc" because I'm team dork for life and the 80's were hilarious.
All Hands on Deck was basically the same.
If you're wondering what Astrid's been doing with her coin these days, the answer is not much, although somehow she's broke most the time anyways (Sound familiar anybody? I mean in real life...). She buys lots of crafting bits because she likes to keep a spread of single use items available at all times. She prefers Fan of Flames scrolls, Jolting Touch scrolls, potions of Infuse With Vital Essence, potions of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion and potions of Merciless Gaze (mostly because the animation looks cool). She's been upgrading her items, too. I'll give you a rundown in the next post.
It was time for some new armor, so we got the Crucible Knights their stolen-soul, mechanical-monster death squadron.
Standard start here: Beetles->Combusting Wounds->Touch of Rot
We took some early damage from Barbs of Condemnation. That was quickly healed with Second Wind, acquired via resting bonus.
We finished up the fight by shooting this guy in the face.
The Parable of Wael was a familiar tale. We started over on the right side so the casters and ranged fighters would see the beetles first, targeting them instead of Astrid.
And done.
Astrid's physical weapon strikes are almost always Azureith Jolting Touch crits or Forgiveness Finish Blows. The logic being that if it's just a regular strike, she can get more done with a scroll or an item charge. Why poke someone with a needle when you can burn them to a crisp?
By now Astrid was at level 6. And that means new friends. I'm talking shades. We put a pip in mechanics to bring us to 4 and selected Deep Pockets as our talent. We then took a snoozy-woozy in the Fletcher's Stay room of the Goose and Fox for the mechanics bonus. Base 4 + Fletcher's Stay + Gloves of Manipulation yields 7, which means we can open that chest over at the Valian Embassy, granting us the Obsidian Lamp. Here's the new inventory. It's shaping up. We need Shod in Faith and the Ring of Wonder, but we're pretty much where we intend to be from here to Twin Elms.
The shades made their first showing at Purnisc's place. We had fun here.
Forced to trigger the encounter in a disadvantageous position, Astrid opened with Shadowing Beyond.
She headed south, and the shades joined the party.
With the shades in place, we had no trouble dropping the rot.
Nyrid was ended with an 80hp shot from Forgiveness and we moved on.
We had to kill a couple of straggler mercenaries before heading upstairs. These were fun and roguey. The first guy took two swings. We opened with a crit our of stealth from Azureith's, triggering Jolting Touch. We followed with a Finishing Blow.
Same start for mercenary 2. These Jolting Touch strikes out of stealth almost feel like backstabs.
With Jolting Touch spent, we switched to scrolls. An un-proc-able weapon can't compare at this stage of the game. All it took was a nudge after that.
On the second floor we used stealth- which will work, even with the locked door, sans Shadowing Beyond.
Ok. Let's stop there for now. In our next post we'll cover the Doemenal questline. After that, it's time to face Irenicus in Spellhold Thaos in the Sanitarium.
Best,
A.
By now Astrid had completed all the Defiance Bay side quests she intends to- with the exception of the Final Act. It was time to secure her place at the Duchal Palace. The easiest and best route for her is the Doemenel path.
We entered the quest by killing the goons. This was a standard summons/Touch of Rot based kill. The only real drama here was the size of the Finishing Blow. She got a pretty good one.
The Wenfeld assassination went well. Wenfeld uses Shinning Beacon so it's a good idea to maintain distance. We started off with a Forgiveness Crippling Strike.
We followed with shades. Wenfeld went with Barbs of Condemnation, which triggered our new item, Shod in Faith.
All we had to do then was dump our spells on him while he dumped his spells on the shades.
Solid Finishing Blow
Best,
A.
Is there Instagram in Eora? If so, Astrid's feed would be all:
#estramore #elmlife #glanfabulous
So: How did she get there? Through stealth, mostly.
This post will cover The Man Who Waits, Undying Heritage and Through Death's Gate. And it will cover, I don't know one battle? No two, actually. There were two. We slinked by everything else. Let's start with The Man Who Waits.
This one is super easy- no risk at all. If you activate Shadowing Beyond immediately, all the baddies will walk away.
They go far enough away to end combat and far enough away to let you activate stealth here: in the corner of Uscgrim's cell
So that was easy. And there are no difficult moves on the way out. It's clear sailing. This is the closest anyone gets, and that's not near close enough, if you've invested heavily in stealth.
Undying Heritage is easy, too. Unlike Undying Gate, there are no challenging moves. There are a couple of patrolling critters that can cause difficulty, but they're easy enough to avoid. Here's Astrid entering the tower.
And here she is fighting her one fight of the quest. Shocky-Shocky.
Hardest move of the quest was this one. And that one was easy-peasy:
Astrid completed Through Death's Gate just like Undying Heritage: with stealth and a single minor fight. There were, however, two tough moves, one of which was dangerous.
Astrid prepped by taking Hedge Maze and Iquali bonuses, bringing her stealth score to fourteen. The quest can be completed with a smaller number, but it's good to have extra.
The early moves are simple. You walk around some trolls and oozes and then you go straight down the middle.
Things don't get tricky till the shroom room. The top half of the room is fine. It's the exit that's a problem. Do you see those sporelings at the bottom of the screenie? They move back and forth really, really quick, east to west. The best practice is to pass them to the east just as they start running west. What happened here, though, is that Astrid pulled a sporeling from the top of the room.
That forced her to pass to the west of the sporeling while they were to the east. Not good. Fortunately, Astrid made it. Shadowing Beyond is a great fail-safe, but it's less dependable when disablers are in play. You don't want to be seen in this room at all although, yes, the Hermit Hat helps and Astrid was wearing it.
Onto level two. Astrid walked into the central chamber, went through the western door, and picked up the exit key. The only tricky part was the room with the key. There are a lot of spirits there and some are in awkward positions. A use of Shadowing Beyond is required here, in my experience.
You go up the middle, through the will o' wisps.
Then you pick up the key. Believe it or not, this guy won't notice you if your stealth score is high enough.
He will, however, soft detect and follow. And when the wisps soft detect, you're pinned: enemies approaching from both sides. Eventually you get seen. Just use Shadowing Beyond, though and you're good. Note that there is a risk of pulling an animat.
And that brings us to the battle. Astrid chose to fight the blights at the upper end of the central chamber- mostly because she wanted some primal wind for DoAM potions. With shades at her side and Fan of Flames scrolls in hand, it was a breeze (pun intended).
I'll cover the Dyrford sidequests next, then we're off to Twin Elms.
Best,
A.
I understand, though, that on your Xth playthrough you just follow the path. "This is the way", Astrid. Your run can be a great illustration of a stealthy way. If I ever try soloing the game, I'd most likely pick someone who would still fight here and there. Your story is very entertaining and full of tips.
You've taken the mastery of Stealth to a new level Alesia. Great to see you back.