155 replies to this topic

[IN1]

Basheda wrote...

You have 13+ skillpoints at Lvl10 and 20+ skillpoints at Lvl14. This 13 skillpoints at Lvl10 are only possible if you buy Tome + Elixir which alone counts for 48g. Add Fallen Star (48g), Bow (8g) and Belt (6g) and you are at 110g at Lvl10. And this is not legit.

Maybe your 13 skillpoints (or 20@lvl14) comes from several bugged respecs using Makers Sight Potion. But than its still not legit to use an bugged item over and over. This posting is no troll, I'm playing also an Nightmare as an Solo player. Make an new character whithout moneycheat and play him up to Deep Roads. You will see the difference.

(1) It's all very interesting, but it doesn't change the simple fact: the crucial part of my gear is either freebie or costs 13 g (Arlathan + Bonny Lem's Belt). Once again, do you mean to imply Fallen Star makes a huge difference? A bit ridiculous, don't you think?

(2) At these levels, I have more talent points than I really need (or can use), so your talent point argument can be disregarded. I ended up investing points in talents I never use. And yes, it probably comes from Maker's Sigh respecs. 

(3) Luke Barrett tells us in this thread we can hit 50 g (!!!) by level 6. You'll understand me if I trust a Bioware insider a bit more than I trust some random guy (no offense) providing absolutely no proof of his claims. 

(4) Look, I'm really trying to be restrained and, erm, politically correct here, but let's make it straight: I don't give a damn about what you consider legit. You can play by your own homegrown rules... at your own home. Don't force me to play by them, please. You can start your own thread (=do something potentially useful instead of nitpicking here) and do there whatever you wish. My thread is about optimizing an archer rogue's performance, not about showing off or proving I'm legit: in all honesty, even an idiot can solo this game as a naked archer with low-quality bow, provided he has Stealth, patience and lots of spare time. I'm not exaggerating. I don't tell people to cheat and I don't use cheats in my vids, which is, once again, easily verifiable, so stop this, please.

[Ruben Thomas]

I was impressed

[TeamLexana]

So you are doing Assassin/Duelist? Hmm, wouldn't Shadow offer more overall surviability then Duelist due to inconspicous, decoy, and increased damage from passive pinpoint precision?

I don't care about op cheating for gear, it's all crap in the first act anyways and only a handful is worth anything in act 2. Nothing compared to getting The Rose's Thorn/Lifegiver/Andruils Blessing/Warden Commander Armor etc, etc, right at the jump like I could and would in DAO, hehehe. Loot is pretty annoying actually. I hate only being decked out nice for the last few quests in the game. Grrr. >.>

[IN1]

I use the mabari, so Decoy is somewhat redundant. Inconspicous is nearly useless solo (no one to redirect threat to). Getting the second best single target nuke in the game (Vendetta) is better than +25 CriticalRange passive (tested, verified). Parry is also a good sustainable, greatly increasing your failure tolerance, saving you from arrow-locks and Stone Golems' ranged attacks, to name a few instances. Also, please note Duelist is cheap as far as talent point investment is concerned: you need only 3 points in Duelist, while Shadow requires quite an investment to be effective. I still think Shadow is better for a party formation, but solo -- Duelist is the way to go.

[TeamLexana]

But doesn't inconspicous toss the threat back onto the dog and the decoy? Not impressed with the sustain Parry, I just don't see 20% more defense doing much good when your glass.

[Basheda]

Sustained parry is very nice at later levels if you get both upgrades. You only need the dex to wear the best bow availailable and dump all remaining points to cunning or constitution (if you realy want the hp boost).
Around 40 dex are enough for 100% crit-rate and 100% attack against bosses at lvl25 and you are near 80% dodge (cap) against bosses if you start dumping points in cunning.

You can get another 20% attack and defense from 2 passiv duelist talents but they are not nessesary to reach the cap iirc.

Dog isn't bad but he wont last long if an complete group goes after your little friend. So I prefer the 80% avoidance much more to prevent an stun lock and use stealth to get out of the trouble.
You can snipe at the enemy archers and dog charges into the group to bind their melee fighters for some seconds. Than you can pick up the melee fighters until dog vanishes and you will use stealth soon to back off.

[IN1]

TeamLexana wrote...

But doesn't inconspicous toss the threat back onto the dog and the decoy? Not impressed with the sustain Parry, I just don't see 20% more defense doing much good when your glass.

It's very good at 14+ (when you get Duelist), as your Cun (and, consequently, Defense) is already very high.

Always prioritize Cun. The optimum for Dex is 1.25 pts per level invested (that's the sweet spot), so you get another 1.75 pts per level to invest in Cun. 5:4 (Dex) vs 7:4 (Cun) ratio is optimal, in other words.

[cloudwalker]

Honestly, the strange homegrown 'rules' people invent (and, apparently, somehow convince themselves those are widely accepted) are quite amusing. Do not try to out-maneuver the boss -- stand your ground and fight like a man! Do not pause the game -- pause function is for ******, son! Well, I'm exaggerating a bit, but really...

IN1: totally agree with you :lol::lol:
ps. you're a nutter, all power to you!

[FrozenDawn]

well dude impressive I'm playing a rogue and I would like to try that but as it is all the fights make the game very long on nightmare, even witrh a party.
I feel like I would need WEEKs of playtime to complete the million fights against 5000 hp+ enemies with hit and run tactics....

[IN1]

Recently completed Sundermount quests and encounters (to get resources and Potion of Mighty Offense Design) and Blackpowder Courtesy. The final battle of the latter was quite challenging (did not want to record a video, since its length is epic). Sundermount was a bit underwhelming. Those Revenants need their Mass Pull working badly...

[IN1]

A very short update.

[TeamLexana]

IN1 wrote...

TeamLexana wrote...

But doesn't inconspicous toss the threat back onto the dog and the decoy? Not impressed with the sustain Parry, I just don't see 20% more defense doing much good when your glass.

It's very good at 14+ (when you get Duelist), as your Cun (and, consequently, Defense) is already very high.

Always prioritize Cun. The optimum for Dex is 1.25 pts per level invested (that's the sweet spot), so you get another 1.75 pts per level to invest in Cun. 5:4 (Dex) vs 7:4 (Cun) ratio is optimal, in other words.

Yeah but remember cunning ups defense so if your training like you should, you will reach the 80% mark and that nulls out Parry's defense because you cannot go over 80%. I tried, lol. It doesn't work. All those points you invensted in Parry are null and void. Even the up'd attack isn't that good because your dex is gonna raise attack as well as equips if you really want high attack. It seems to be the safer bet to just go.. no.. don't hit me, don't hit me at all. Don't fire that special attack this way that will still hit me no matter my defense score, fire that crap over there towards the dog or the decoy.

If you could put Parry on something like a warrior, that'd be a different story since a warrior really wouldn't be training cunning and dex like a rogue would so the defense bonuses would be much more welcome. Warriors can also soak the damage much more effectively so getting hit is what they do while if done right, not getting at all is what the rogue does.

[IN1]

TeamLexana wrote...

IN1 wrote...

TeamLexana wrote...

But doesn't inconspicous toss the threat back onto the dog and the decoy? Not impressed with the sustain Parry, I just don't see 20% more defense doing much good when your glass.

It's very good at 14+ (when you get Duelist), as your Cun (and, consequently, Defense) is already very high.

Always prioritize Cun. The optimum for Dex is 1.25 pts per level invested (that's the sweet spot), so you get another 1.75 pts per level to invest in Cun. 5:4 (Dex) vs 7:4 (Cun) ratio is optimal, in other words.

Yeah but remember cunning ups defense so if your training like you should, you will reach the 80% mark and that nulls out Parry's defense because you cannot go over 80%. I tried, lol. It doesn't work. All those points you invensted in Parry are null and void. Even the up'd attack isn't that good because your dex is gonna raise attack as well as equips if you really want high attack. It seems to be the safer bet to just go.. no.. don't hit me, don't hit me at all. Don't fire that special attack this way that will still hit me no matter my defense score, fire that crap over there towards the dog or the decoy.

If you could put Parry on something like a warrior, that'd be a different story since a warrior really wouldn't be training cunning and dex like a rogue would so the defense bonuses would be much more welcome. Warriors can also soak the damage much more effectively so getting hit is what they do while if done right, not getting at all is what the rogue does.

I get Parry and Throw the Gauntlet only because those are pre-requisites for Vendetta, so their being occasionally useful is a bonus thingie, anyway. By level 14, one doesn't hit any caps with a reasonably balanced stat distribution, especially when playing solo. Also, please remember defense is decreased by 20% vs lieutenant rank enemies and by a whopping 40% vs bosses.

Edited by IN1, 23 March 2011 - 03:24 AM.

[IN1]

Okay, Act II completed. Updating the walkthrough, adding Alrik et al. and Arishok vids.

Edited by IN1, 24 March 2011 - 06:30 AM.

[Ruben Thomas]

I just watched some of your Arishok video, man you do so much damage! It's really impressive, I've never played an archer or had an archer in my party (not paying for Sebastian), but you make it look really enticing.

Very nicely done

[IN1]

A tiny, yet important, update.

[IN1]

Another tiny update to the guide. After I finish Act III, I'll write a detailed analysis of elemental archer build with statistics and comparisons. It will include a mini-guide to equipping Robes of Cleanliness with minimum attribute investment

Edited by IN1, 24 March 2011 - 07:51 PM.

[IN1]

Incorporated the post about elemental archer build into the walkthrough. Will get to practical aspects of the build shortly.

[cloudblade70]

Thanks for the thread IN1, very educational.

I have a question regarding the Vendetta glitch. For solo purposes, you've obviously shown that leaving it vanilla is optimal. However, if I have a cross class combo, will that extra 300% damage CCC outperform leaving it unupgraded, despite the bug?

[IN1]

Yes, sure, in a party formation it's still worth upgrading.

[cephasjames]

Wow! Cool thanks for sharing. You have done something I will never do.

Question though, Is it really soloing if you use the mabari?

[Basheda]

You can also play without the mabari. Sometimes its better not to use him if you are fight on close quarter and can't hide around an corner. Any fight can be done without the mabari and its not realy harder.

[IN1]

cephasjames wrote...

Wow! Cool thanks for sharing. You have done something I will never do.

Question though, Is it really soloing if you use the mabari?

Since there are no official rules for soloing DA2, each player can decide for himself. Since my main purpose wasn't to show off, but to make the game challenging and to test certain ideas in process, I have decided using a fully AI-controlled summoned creature is legitimate (after all, no one objected to using Skeletons as a Mage in DAO when soloing). I'm sure some people will disagree, but then they are welcome to solo without the mabari, without Assassinate, without Stealth, without the armor, without the bow, and so forth. 

The bottom line is: play by whatever rules you like, really -- it's all right unless you try to enforce your little homegrown laws on other players (you can see some people that do it on a regular basis in this, and other soloing threads) 

[B3taMaxxx]

Yes, you're still soloing the game even with a summon. It is an ability/buff, but there's no rules so...............................

You have incredible patience IN1 to solo this one.

Edited by B3taMaxxx, 25 March 2011 - 03:34 PM.

[IN1]

'Incredible patience' is, errr... incredibly helpful during Act I Act II you are much stronger and the game becomes a bit more than a kiting fest. Act III with efficient build/setup is relatively easy, on par with early parts of DAO, if you do them solo (you won't crush everything in your path and you'll need to be cautious, but it's nowhere as hardcore as the early phase). Oh, well, you can see for yourself: compare vids from different game Acts. By the way, I'll upload a Second Aspect vid now.

Edited by IN1, 25 March 2011 - 03:45 PM.