Great video. As for Broodmother's Revenge and Whispering Promise, there's a way to enable on-heal effects without using action/bonus actions. Pick raspberries around blighted village and "suspicious meats" in the goblin camp. For some reasons, eating those in fight doesn't cost any actions/bonus actions. So you can get 1d6 poison damage and a bless on demand.
Pinning this for people to see! I had heard of a free way to heal but it slipped my mind while making the video. Great tidbit, makes the build that much stronger. Thank you for the reminder!
Good guide! From what I've heard people say, the Craterflesh gloves are supposedly the only remaining DRS left on Honour Mode, so the extra damage from the Dolor daggers should be triggered twice on a crit. Might be worth it given the emphasis on critical hits.
@@ComfortableTool86 You can keep some members out of the myrkul fight in case you die, but then they'll have to beat myrkul if you do, since you can't go back to camp to rez. Also that kinda negates the sudden death tension of a solo honor run.
Worth noting: if you go with the Grymskull Helm, you can respec or otherwise choose a different favored terrain so you're not doubling up on Fire Res if you chose desert at level 1.
27:45 - You are getting stormy clamour activations every turn because of your ability drain Ilithid power. This combo is the first early game power spike for this build and I think these are the best boots for most of the game, especially if you are solo. You can often attack from outside vision range a couple of times, and if they fall down you can basically stunlock them without triggering combat. It's cheezy, but it works.
Take athlete instead of ASI at lvl 9 if you aren't going to use hag's hair, you end up at 18 dex regardless but with some slight bonuses. There's some other feats that give +1 dex too but athlete I think is the best all around "always is pretty helpful" one.
Actually not a bad idea if you aren't giving this character the Hag's Hair - in which case you can do this and the Mirror of Loss to set your Dex to 20.
Becoming an unholy assassin have little to no consequences for an "evil" choice. Yeah you kill and innocent celestial, but you get great gear out of it and whats better is that the companions get a bit upset and then forget about it.
Great guide, the drain ability illithid power “inflicts a condition” which allows you to easily use gear that benefits from inflicting a condition 27:36
Just wanted to drop a line here. I used this build in tandem with the Bardadin. (Was playing elf Durge, and Astardion as the Bardadin) And, just demolished my honour mode playthrough, total time start to finish was less than 34 hours for the run. Picking up my final three achievements (Two related to Durge, and the evil storyline), and of course Honour mode. Will saying, having Astarion in Melee with the Bhaalist Armor, for your Ranger resulted in many 100+ damage hit criticals. Was just in awe whenever the damage landed. Thanks for the easy to follow guides on Both this and the Bardadin, looking forward to your other guides, and no doubt and "Full Parties" you do, to cover some spellcasters you could run along with these two.
Hey, I'm trying to do my first honour mode run now. WHat were the last 2 charcters in your party? SHadowheart for heals and lae'zel/karlach for tanks. Or did you use sorcerer or somehthing else?
@@lortrix9952 Generally I think that having a build entirely dedicated to healing or "tanking" is a waste in turn based combat - you want to be aggressive and translate most if not all of your action points into damage or crowd control. With that in mind my party comp was: - Gloomstalker Assassin (Astarion) - Bardadin (Face Character/Tav) - Open Hand Monk (Karlach) - Tempest Cleric Wizard (Shadowheart)
Now, 1 - Did I just get to the part of the video where you say to save Barcus? 2 - Did I fling him off the windmill? 3 - Do I now regret this? Yes to 1 and 2. No to 3, flyyyy Barcus! Flyyyyyy!
This is a group build lets be honest - if its a solo build, the last thing you're looking for is crit fishing gear (tbh its suboptimal in group playthroughs too but especially solo) as Assassin does the crit job for you - in solo runs, you're staying at max range and spamming attacks with a high stealth proficiency to avoid being caught. When you do get caught, you're trying to hide/reset/get back to camp so you can reopen with guaranteed crits again. Titanstring bow is the best throughout (even better than gontr mael) because in solo runs you're trying to avoid short/long rests like the plague so you can keep up as many 'until long rest' buffs as humanly possible, thus making the guiding bolt action super sub-optimal as a means of activating a measly 1d4 radiant buff - there's a better argument to be made for vicious shortbow however. Not recommending bhaalist armor as the go-to choice for solo runs is just insane, honestly - your attack roll is going to be so high that even in threatened range, youre practically guaranteed to hit, there's also a sweetspot range where you dont get disadvantage at all . The craterflesh gloves is by far the best option for this build, the damage it pushes out is INSANE - you could interchange with martial exertion gloves but for general playthrough outside of key boss fights (Ansur etc) its a no-brainer. Mask of soul perception really should've got a shoutout in this, in fact, I would make an argument for it being the best helm for this build. While I recognize there's a lot of room for subjectivity when discussing core builds, I think this build fundamentally misses the mark as 'the best solo build'. Also a 1 level dip in War Cleric at level 12 will make a world of difference when you need it most. Imo your act 3 SOLO RUN build should look more like this: Helm - Mask of Soul Perception Cloak - Cloak of Displacement / Durge cloak Chest - Bhaalist armor Gloves - Craterflesh Gloves / Bonespike gloves on specific fights Boots - Boots of Stormy Clamour (its primarily activated by your ability drain amongst other things btw) Neck - Amulet of Greater Health Ring 1 - Risky Ring Ring 2 - Shadow-cloaked ring (has no reliance on concentration but this is interchangeable) Melee weps - 2x Dolor Amarus Ranged wep - Titanstring Bow (with cloud giant strength elixirs) // Vicious Shortbow (stacks nicely with 2x Dolor Amarus)
Lots to unpack here. I want to preface that the title suggests that this build (class combination) is the best, not necessarily that this exact gear lineup is. I also want to mention that not every decision in this video is made with a solo playthrough in mind. I try to account for both whenever I can but wanted to be as all encompassing as possible. I've finished a solo run with the exact build in this video, and can say that the emphasis is on strategy and "pathing" more than it is on gear. I don't mean to undermine how people play the game, but abusing stealth mechanics like you mentioned is (in my opinion) akin to using barrelmancy, scrolls, bag exploits, hide/reset/camp etc. I try not to play that way, that is to say there is no correct way to play this game, solo or not. Even without doing what you are suggesting, if you take the path of least resistance to the most xp and pick your fights carefully, this build (or most any coherent build, for that matter) can easily solo the game "naturally". I addressed the counterintuitive nature of crit fishing in the video - yes, Assassin grants you guaranteed crits, but surprise is extremely inconsistent and it seems that there are "scripted" encounters in the game that you cannot surprise. Since you cannot 'redo' in honor mode, including not always being able to reset at camp, it is a contingent measure to remedy such mistakes. Even then, I seldom recommend crit fishing - there is quite literally one gear piece (equipped on my character) dedicated to crit fishing at any point in the video (Sarevok's Helmet/Dark Justiciar Helm), which you can even argue has equal value in its Dauntless effect. The Titanstring is undoubtedly the best in the first two acts, but in Act 3, it's requirement costs you an Elixir slot and therefore, the elixir of bloodlust. Judging by your perspective on solo playthroughs, I'm inclined to believe that you also value an extra action per turn much higher than +4 damage, especially in the late game. Additionally, in the late game, there are a noticeable lack of one-time long rest buffs that you cannot reapply per long rest, so I disagree that you are incentivized not to long rest as much as possible, especially late game. I explicitly state that it is better to put the Bhaalist armor "on a melee party member" if and when possible. If you're playing solo, and have no other party members, deductively, it becomes of higher priority since there are no alternative options. Many of the solo clips I use in the video include me wearing it as a demonstration. But again, I made it a point to mention that I am not necessarily advocating that one gear piece is objectively better than another and "any and all combinations of gear pieces shown in this section are viable". The Craterflesh gloves are definitely the best option upon reading another users comment on its application of DRS - but again, as I know that there are combinations I could be unaware of, I preface the Act III recommendations by recommending any combination of the suggested gear pieces. Absolutely not to the Mask of Soul Perception. I don't want to come across as condescending but its effect is practically worthless whether or not you are playing Solo. +2 to Attack Rolls are negligible due to the multitude of bonuses you have to attack rolls at that point (risky ring, perma bless statue, mirror of loss dex, oils, weapon enchant, etc.), +2 initiative is insignificant as the only times I have ever lost initiative with this build has been to enemies with Alert (even then, it is still a dice roll), and wearing a helmet in Act III for a bonus to your perception and detect thoughts is not even worthy of consideration. Although I think that there are fair criticisms to be made, I tried to be considerate of as many playstyles and applications of the build as I could be, which is why I often made it a point to put a disclaimer that there will inevitably be deviation that you can justify. Side note, although you say I fundamentally missed the mark, your final recommendation of gear pieces is quite literally virtually identical to what I am wearing in the end with 2/3 differences of which are all covered in the gear alternatives :P
@@searching4god - Tbh, detect thoughts is a great way to maintain concentration for strange conduit ring (on those 'in between' fights), also it's a ritual spell so doesnt cost a spell slot and can be recast consistently, without having a turn drop-off like pre-casting with haste bow which is super rest-intensive, and yes, while we have plenty of initiative, can you ever REALLY have too much, especially as you go into act 3 where some of those initiatives rolls get pretty wild. If the option was between a crit fishing helm and something that improves accuracy, chance to hit first, as well as giving you advantage on perception checks (very important in a solo run) then yeah, I'd say its the better of the two - and as you mentioned, you only have 1 slot of crit gear, it borders on redundant anyway. Also, you've multiclassed 2x stealth specs but don't want to 'abuse stealth'? It's just playing towards the strengths of your kit, there's no abuse there - hence why you have to roll a stealth check after every attack, it's intended game design and generally the best way to play this specific build if you want to actually succeed your solo honor run - stay out of sight, pick off key targets, clean up with arrow of many targets after, if it gets dicey, use shroud/hide/mobility and gtfo for a reset, do it again. I mean sure, going back to camp can feel cheesy, but we have a lot of invisibility in our kit to achieve the same kinda resets. Regarding blood lust elixir, yeah it's definitely great and you're right, the extra action will definitely outweigh the +4 strength from titanstring, if I was playing the game like I would with a party to keep me alive for more than 2 rounds - this again comes down to playstyle I suppose - If I'm spamming shots from stealth, I'm not worried about action economy, I'm trying to frontload my damage as much as humanly possible, which is why I stand by titanstring remaining superior for an ambush build - I supplement the extra action with a dip in war cleric at 12 so I have the best of both worlds. I think it's great that you talked through different variables - in fact its a very informative video with a lot of really useful considerations in there and I'm really not trying to take away from that - my gripe is simply that you've titled this 'the best build to solo honor mode' and practically every clip is in group mode and your final loadout recommendations is better suited for having a party. It stops becoming about semantics when you're not putting the proof in your pudding. Would love to see you cook up some serious solo content though and show us how it's done
@@XeroQT Hahaha I am just as guilty of meta-gaming myself, I've definitely made remarks to my friends about how there isn't a right way to play but there is a BETTER way to play x) Thank you regardless for all the suggestions from what is evidently a careful viewing of my video! I'm a bit stuck on what to do for content and want to get significantly better at editing but posting solo gameplay doesn't sound bad!
@@searching4god stressful, very stressful hahahaha. Lost SO MANY honor modes playing solo. One blunder, unlucky spell save, random crit, whatever and its all over - especially if you go full sadist and do a pure run without hireling buffs etc. I'm really not convinced its possible to actually succeed without scrolls though, at least without missing giant gapes of content and xp. The Halsin portal for example? There's no resetting opportunity and you will VERY quickly get overrun. Scroll of fire wall + darkness arrow and TOO MANY arrows of many targets was the only way I managed it - definitely adds a seriously fun level of difficulty though.
@@XeroQT Late to the debate but I have to agree with searching4god that mask of soul perception isnt worth it. There is such a thing as too much of anything in the game if you're needlessly piling onto a stat you dont need more of. You shouldnt have any initiative issues with this build. And if you're playing it right (using Duergar invisibility cantrip to trigger surprise attacks most of the game), it's not even coming into play often because you dont even need it in surprise rounds. There is something to be said for boosting your natural crit rate for this build given that you're spending both melee slots and your gloves on items that are worthless if you arent critting. Personally I run the crit helm, the crit bow (deadshot) and champion fighter class to make mine 17/20 (which, with risky ring, crits over a third of the time). A non-titanstring bow also allows for boodlust elixir which is easily the best elixir in the game and you should be running it as early as level 5 once youve got extra attack and can reliably kill at least one enemy in a turn (and you should have a transmutation wizard camp hireling to ensure you never run out). War cleric charges suck. The game often forces you to use them when you dont want to, and you only get three per long rest. You're better off going 5 ranger, 4 rogue, 3 fighter. The crit items also make the build viable as a durge in endgame (you should not be playing anything other than durge due to the deathstalker mantle being vital), where they stack with bloody inheritence to bring your natural rate to 15/20, causing crits 50% of the time with risky ring/advantage. Since you cant surprise enemies in the final fights, this preserves the build/items even then.
One thing you did not mentioned on the video (or i didn't saw, if that's the case, i'm sorry): Assassin's Alacrity won't give you a free shot to initiate attack, no. It will give two. If you have extra attack, by initiating combat with a regular shot (or a special arrow), you'll deal your damage, start combat and refresh your action, BUT your attack will be highlighted as a 'extra attack'. Using that second arrow will not consume any action or anything. So, at level 8, you can: go invisible. get haste from either potions or a party member. Start fight with a shot, proccing sneak attack. Cast hunter's mark (if you want to concentrate on that, that is.) use your free extra attack. Use your action to attack. Use the extra attack from the action. Use your second action. Use the possible third action from elixir of bloodlust. Use Dread ambusher. for seven~nine attacks, 6~8 that will be guaranteed criticals. If you kill anything, u'll have one extra action, and since enemies will be surprised, u'll have the next turn to again. And, if you by any means are solo, you can use either deathstalker mantle or duergar invisibility, drink a invisibility potion, hide, use gloomstalker invisibility action, or any other thing like that to 'finish' combat by making enemies look for you and fail. With that, you can repeat the cycle by starting fight again, regaining all of your buffs.
For disadvantage, it only kicks in when ur 5ft from target while bhaalist armor effect kicks in at 7 ft so you can use with it in a bow build to full effect if you’re willing to put up with the frustration of having to constantly adjust for the range
Just did this recently in a 2 man honor mode run, 1 turned raphael lmfao, friend stacked helmet of arcane acuity which made hold monster 100% chance and i just dumped arrows of fiend slaying into raphaels skull
Thank you for great video! A lot of work and so many details!!! Qq: What do you think about merge hunter/Fighter(5/3) with x8 Eldrich Knight and use Range attacks with some buffs/spells. Thanks for your work!
I used the 'click heels' boots throughout my run. They are invaluable for hitting enemies then dashing away out of their range so they have to waste their turn dashing to find you.
Fun (and useful) fact: The Helldusk Gloves also grant +1 to you weapon attack rolls, not only to spell save DC and spell attack rolls. Either the they are bugged, or the tooltip is wrong.
Bard is a really strong option too, lets you shoot double arrows that with assassin will crit, so you just double up your dmg. Pretty busted but you have to choose to give up something
Hey recommendation for the last 1 level dip. GOO warlock. Gives another spell slot and whenever you crit it has a good chance to frighten the target any nearby enemies. This makes going in an out of combat easier as they won’t be able to chase you as easily And with the “diadem of arcane synergy” you can now add your charisma modifier to dmg after the first creature is frightend. Best early-ish boots would be stormy clamor. My stat split was 8 STR, 17 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 10 WIS, 16 CHA. Auntie Ethel DEX to 18. Cats grace to 20. Also later game swap cats grace for yuan ti scale mail for good armor class. This allows you to drop the Adamantine shield and so you can now have the club of hill giants and knife of the under mountain for an even better crit chance after round 1. Or keep the shield if you want Use cindersnap gloves cause they do an extra 1d6 force dmg on a crit (which we do a bunch)
if you have someone with Mage Armour in your group (of even use a hirling that can still stay at the camp) you can have them cast it on The Graceful Cloth for a much higher AC. Also Good Berry which is a ranger spell works well with Broodmothers Revenge as you don't have to use all your health potions to get the extra poison damage.
From both what I've seen and experienced I thought dual hand crossbows do more damage than normal bows with these kinds of builds, especially if you're post-ascension Astarion with a +1d10 necrotic damage to all attacks. Is titanstring better because of the +4 dmg to arrow of many targets? If so then why switch off titanstring when you can get a +8 damage with elixers of cloud giant strength? I guess celestial haste is nuts
Very nice! I soled honor mode with a similar build, but playing as swords bard 6 / assassin rogue 3 / battle master fighter 3. I think the bard does more damage using ranged slashing flourish than dread ambusher. Additionally, it's possible to use bonus action to cast control spells with the band of the mystic scoundrel.
Hard to beat the arcane synergy Bard, that build border's on broken - although that is more of a variation of my Bardadin build (check out the guide :) )
Before 5th level I often play rogue assassin or thief because of expertise in stealth and lock-picking. If you can get the speedy light-feet thief is best cause you get lightning charges when you dash on bonus action. Then at five I would respec to Ranger. but assassin gloom stalker is great too for the early levels.
I like to respec at level 11 to go 3 Ranger, 3 rogue, 5 Battle Master fighter. I still get the 2nd attack, but I have 5 levels of fighter for Trip/Disarm/Precision attacks. level 12 is either another feat (@fighter 6), or War Cleric for the bonus attack. Either way this class is seriously OP.
I used to do this until I realized you aren’t gaining any extra superiority dice for those special shots going from fighter 3 to 5, so going 5 ranger is the better play as you’re gaining a spell and more spell slots. 5 gloom / 3 assassin (or thief if you play DW hand xbows) / 4 BM is the min/max best, and start with Rogue at lvl 1 during you respec to have the best access to the most skills.
I love this I had made a Deurgar rogue cause of invisibility and he is dark urge this here takes advantage and exploits invisibility to a way that blew my mind I barely dipped a toe you sir jumoed in head first. Please keep updating if possible I want this. I playee Dark urge resist monk tavern brawler this is an amazing change of pace.
I have used your sorouflock and Bardin build. My question is, how do you theory craft? Do you just pick a theme and build around that? I.e crit fishing… how do you reduce crit chance? Dark justiciar helmet, undermountain king etc.
Just a note at 26:45, you wont get 18 AC until you take the Defense fighting style with your fighter levels. So in Act 1 & 2 with The Graceful Cloth AC will be 17. Doesnt make much difference though, great guide!
In the early game it is unequivocally the Titanstring - in Act III I think that the Deadshot has the least applications, even with the emphasis on critical hits and crit reduction. The Titanstring is still extremely competitive and can be seen as a better Vicious Shortbow, but activating it requires some form of sacrifice - either spending a weapon slot on the Club, a glove slot on the HoH gloves, or an Elixir slot on Cloud Giant Strength (+8 modifier). I think Gontr is the safest pick because it allows you to drink Bloodlust, dual wield Dolor Amarus, and gives a bunch of useful benefits outside of damage (guiding bolt, celestial haste, bolt of celestial light).
Mage equivalents to this would be like; minor illusion + hunger of hadar + goo champion combo + stacking reverberation from spineshudder amulet and stormy clamor boots making the game a joke for solo honor lol. For some reason hunger of hadar and a few other spells like create water or icestorm also consume no actions to start combat with them. And bosses like ansur and raphael cant reactionary charm or lightning you while blinded inside of it. You can also starting act 3 spam black holes to suck enemies back into it to quarter their movement from the double movement reduction sources so sentinels can't even really get out after dashing lol. Similarly building around magic missiles with boots of stormy clamor, belligerent sky gloves, radiating orb ring, callous glow ring, dual wielded phalar aluve + sparkler staff eventually replaced by marko, physic spark amulet is pretty busted basically right out the gate. Can dump out up to around 45 damage I think with a lvl 1 cast of magic missiles while debuffing the crap out of enemies you hit. Taking 1-2 levels of tempest cleric also lets you be an ac tank monster while later on getting things like permanent blade ward from persistence armor. Taking a hit to spell save dc by doing that doesn't really matter either as magc missiles and artistry of war are guaranteed to hit.
Awesome build. I love the Gloomstalker in this game and AOMT are S-tier for sure. One thing you mentioned, that I have experienced as well, is the inconsistency of the surprise mechanic. You said the most reliable way of triggering it is invis?
Without a doubt it seems to be initiating combat out of invisibility - EVEN then there seem to be encounters that are just hard scripted to nullify surprised but they are few and far in between and you should get it consistently enough using invisibility... I hope :P
I fused this build with the sorlock of your other video. Managed to solo act 1 and 2 and I'm finishing act 3 as a Durge tiefling! Basically you have at level 12: Respect into: 4 sorcerer for constitution proficiency, sorcery points for twinned and quickened + 3th lvl spells and lots of lesser slots. 3 rogue assassin for the reload of actions and crit if surprised on first round, the bonus dash and hide for mobility 3 gloom ranger for +3 initiative, 3 lvl 1 spell slots, longstrider, shield proficiency if not from race, umbral shroud for combat that are becoming sketchy and defense at level 2 for AC. Dread ambusher is useful for applying bow effects 2 goo warlock for eldritch blast and agonizing blast + fear on crit. Last for the charisma spell on items like gear and scrolls. I won't explain the lvl progression in details but full warlock until lvl 5 and respect into 2 warlock and 3 rogue gets you the burst damage on first 2 rounds and with the durge's deathstalker mantle you are safe as soon as you kill someone and leave the last location you were in. It's doable to reach lvl 4-5 with minimal combat just by exploring. Underdark does not lock you out of most important quest progression if any at all, so feel free to get easy XP there too. The creche makes the tiefling quit the grove. I don't recommend exploring there before the quest with the grove and goblin is completed. I'm too lazy for gear.
Your archer should be wearing clothing all game with the cats grace and throw mage armor on him 10+3+5=18, camp cleric damage ward = 19, shield 21. Advantage on all dex checks is too good
Thanks for this vid I’ve loved this build and similar ones for a while now. Is there any reason maybe at level 10 11 or 12 whatever level is the first level you’d have all 3 classes mixed would there be any advantage to respecing to do fighter first for the con save proficiency? Or another thing I mean is there any advantage to taking ranger first besides getting extra attack as fast as possible
To answer both questions: 1) You can absolutely respec at level 10/11/12 to start with Fighter for saving throws and proficiencies, I would recommend it too as "starting" fighter has better benefits 2) Yes, essentially. We start with ranger to get gloomstalker and extra attack as fast as physically possible as they are huge powerspikes. After you've gotten them however (reached level 5), feel free to respec to start anything else.
As Solo Dark Urge I will play Gloomstalker 5 + Rogue 1, but at LV7, I will respec to this: 17Dex, 16Con, 15Cha Starterclass: Paladin - LV1: Oath of Vanchens (10 Rounds Advantage) - LV2: Fighting Style, *Divine Smite* - LV3: Hunters Mark (BA) - LV4: +1Dex / +1Cha - LV5: Extra-Attack Rogue: - LV6 (R1): Sneak Attack - LV7 (R2): Hide & Dash as BA - LV8 (R3): Assassin (Auto Crit Strat) - LV9 (R4): Alert (be first, every Fight) Paladin: - LV10 (P6): Aura of Successful Saving Throws - LV11 (P7): Aura of Hate (at that Point) - LV12 (P8): +2 Dex Because you don’t overlap hide as BA with your Gloomstalker and with Finess you can do your Auto-Crit-Smite rather than Sharpshooter Crit. How to Play: - Suprise enemy with a Crit-Smite - Gain your Action Back and Auto Crit round 1 again - Hide BA + run away or End fight by invisibility (Urge Gear) - Repeat
With the sharpshooter, if you have a minus 5 is that applied after the roll? Like does it make it harder to crit? Crits are determined by rolling a 20 on the attack roll right?
Crits are only on a nat 20. So if you roll 19 +15 to hit, it's just a normal hit. With sharp shooter, you'll still crit on nat 20. So if you roll 20 + 15 to hit or 20 -50 to hit, it's still a crit and hits no matter what. A roll of 20 is always a hit and a crit. A roll of 1 is always a miss. So sharpshooter has no effect on frequency of crits. It just makes you miss more often on non crit hits.
Did you do your solo honor mode with companions in group but in camp? I'm asking because I want to know what to do for mine. On one hand, I'm excited for the possibility I'll die alone but on the other...some of those fights...if other people are doing solo with some backups, I might as well
damn missed the club, me and my friend kinda went a bit wild in act 2 which accidently fuck up my chance to get potent robe for my sorlock so looking to switch but seem like we miss the club for this build. Definitely want to try this build in the future though.
Never too late, I would argue that this build truly comes online in Act III anyway, but the earlier acts can be remedied with an elixir of hill giant strength in place of the club! (Bloodlust elixirs are super rare anyway)
Yes, absolutely! I think there is also a ring sold in Sorcerer's Sundries that also passively activates the "heal" requirement, but the helm is definitely the best standalone piece of gear that synergizes with the "heal" pieces
tavern brawler pickpocket is still the most broken build, 21str 18dex 21ac 5attacks early game and 27str 24dex 28ac 11attacks late game is just silly for a dnd world with a level cap of 12
To be quite honest Favoured Enemy is relatively inconsequential in the early game and completely insignificant in the late game but I recommend Ranger Knight for Heavy Armor proficiency at least until I introduce Fighter into the build - Ranger Knight will mean higher AC and (usually) more defensive bonuses from my armor in the early game. Mage Breaker gives you the notoriously worst spell in the game in True Strike x) I'd steer clear, you can make cases for the other's if you don't find the heavy armor proficiency to be important.
I'm having a problem with my Astarion companion build at level 4. I always play him as a rouge from the start because of his lockpicking and assassin trait. I always sneak everyone into a fight and let Astarion to initiate it so that the rest of the team may join from any location. Now i will respec to ranger at level 4; perhaps It was better to start as ranger, but I'm not sure. If you have any suggestions, that would be great.
Don't worry about the order in which you take the classes - it makes no difference at all! Companions must start with their origin classes anyway as there would be no way to change them :) respec him freely!
@@searching4god No, I know that. I'm wondering which is a better place to start: 4 in Rouge or 5 in Ranger. Rogue's Sneak Attack is just too good. And I don't mean for the final build, but for level 4/5, what is better?
@@searching4god I tested everything, I just can't see myself playing the first five levels as a ranger over a rouge. I believe selecting Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master at level 4 is a mistake. Taking the ability feat for companions will increase their stats to 18 16 16 888.
@@SageofShadowdale I would urge you to watch the video again, delaying your extra attack is undoubtedly a mistake, much less taking Rogue first and skipping it all together. I go over why Sharpshooter at 4 is completely viable. Had you taken Ranger you get a +2 to ranged attack rolls with Archery FS, Astarion gives +1 with Happy, and with literally no other buffs whatsoever Sharpshooter becomes a flat +10 dmg for a -2 penalty to attack rolls, EXPONENTIALLY better than an ability improvement would be.
@@searching4god Level 3 Rouge - Assassinate: Initiative, Assassinate: Ambush ,Assassin's Alacrity vs Level 3 Ranger 2+ archery and dread ambusher. Playing the first four levels as a rouge feels far better.2 sneak attacks, all crits, and every fight begins with surprise. Sharpshooter is reasonable. That is correct, but in my experience, even with happy and oil of accuracy and +2 archery, you will still get 70/80% versus 16 dex. With risky rings, it is a different situation, but you usually obtain ring at level 7/8. So, at level 5, I can respec to ranger from the start, but before that, I am fairly convinced that rouge is better. Just can't see it, man.
Absolutely, there could be other things you want to do with your bonus action (psionic overload, black hole, etc.), but an extra attack is definitely worth considering over the champion subclass
From purely a min-maxing perspective that would be the best way to play this build, yes! Especially when you Ascend Astarion, it is the strongest combination of "race" and gear
@@crazyhawk201ad No, in fact I would recommend going about it this way so that you can make your Dark Urge/Tav a charisma based character (Warlock, Bard, Paladin, Sorcerer) so that they can fulfill the face role
@@searching4god Ok I am old so maybe I am not understanding very well. What I did was make dark urge/dragon guy LOL and just made him a sor. Once I get Astarion, is that who I use from then on because this is a solo build correct? Sorry I am just not use to texting about thing, I understand better verbally.
@@crazyhawk201ad If you're up for the challenge ahaha but you don't have to just use Astarion, this build works really well in any team comp. It's just a matter of making this build ON Astarion as well as giving him the cape for the reasons mentioned in the video
Whatever you have, really. In Act III it can be the Displacement Cloak or Shade-Slayer Cloak - Act I doesn't have any available and Act II has a few good options in the AC cloak that Quartmaster Talli sells or that one cloak that retaliates on melee hits with poison damage
i accidentally killed the windmill guy because i didn’t realize there were two buttons and just clicked the first one i saw. so i guess no arrows for me
Deathstalker mantle is more of playstyle choice, not really the best choice imho because you already have invisibility traits and can use better options out there..
Yeah unfortunately the DnD ruleset is limiting in a way a 'conventional' RPG is not - crafting and enchanting would have been a great inclusion. Instead we just get alchemy -_-
@@searching4god even the alchemy feels limited. Kinda wish they put an option like POE where you can select turn-based or real-time but you had to choose between classic or homebrew instead where we could choose a feature to be turned on or off 🥰
Naturally, although I can personally never get that to work - whenever I knock Alfira it never gives me the Urge scene, and the one long rest I don't knock her out immediately she shows up
Tell your friend I agree that they are perfect :) If by form you mean the robes it is from Scantily Camp Clothes on the Nexus Otherwise if you mean my Tav character it's Vemperen's Other Heads on Nexus
Good catch! The purpose of the video is to showcase a build that is capable of doing so, many of the videos in the clips are solo. Many videos in my channel are of this build solo.
Great video.
As for Broodmother's Revenge and Whispering Promise, there's a way to enable on-heal effects without using action/bonus actions.
Pick raspberries around blighted village and "suspicious meats" in the goblin camp.
For some reasons, eating those in fight doesn't cost any actions/bonus actions. So you can get 1d6 poison damage and a bless on demand.
Pinning this for people to see! I had heard of a free way to heal but it slipped my mind while making the video. Great tidbit, makes the build that much stronger. Thank you for the reminder!
There’s the ring that heals you 1-4 go every turn also gives you dipped in poison from the amulet
i started game 5 days ago with this build and its over now. Thank you for recording this video. Gameplay was pretty fun
Good guide! From what I've heard people say, the Craterflesh gloves are supposedly the only remaining DRS left on Honour Mode, so the extra damage from the Dolor daggers should be triggered twice on a crit. Might be worth it given the emphasis on critical hits.
Didn't know that, but absolutely - the glove slot is quite variable anyway so switching out isn't a problem
Yep can confirm craterflesh gloves are absolutely busted ~ Eldritch Blast spammer.
This is a banger, and I know bangers
No mash ?
Girl this build slays I use it everytime fr fr sometimes for fun I give it to my durge AND Astarion and making them fight for gear !!!!!!!!!
reported
Great builds ! I used your Gloomstalker and Bardadin builds in my first ever honour mode playthrough and it was fun as hell. Need more your builds :)
Wow, your build videos are reallly good. Hoping to see more :)
Thank you so much
Solo Honour Mode sounds fun, until one lousy cast of 'Hold Person' from an enemy hits you, and you lose your entire run automatically.
Point of this build is to never be in combat to begin with
@@Katalmach11b And Ring of Free Action makes that impossible anyway.
Can't you just have party members in camp, and then you can literally never actually wipe?
@@ComfortableTool86 You can keep some members out of the myrkul fight in case you die, but then they'll have to beat myrkul if you do, since you can't go back to camp to rez. Also that kinda negates the sudden death tension of a solo honor run.
@walrusiam6233 true but I also want the achievement and don't want to erase 40 hours of a run sometimes
Worth noting: if you go with the Grymskull Helm, you can respec or otherwise choose a different favored terrain so you're not doubling up on Fire Res if you chose desert at level 1.
27:45 - You are getting stormy clamour activations every turn because of your ability drain Ilithid power. This combo is the first early game power spike for this build and I think these are the best boots for most of the game, especially if you are solo. You can often attack from outside vision range a couple of times, and if they fall down you can basically stunlock them without triggering combat. It's cheezy, but it works.
Love the way this Video is set up especially the separation of gear by act❤🎉
Take athlete instead of ASI at lvl 9 if you aren't going to use hag's hair, you end up at 18 dex regardless but with some slight bonuses. There's some other feats that give +1 dex too but athlete I think is the best all around "always is pretty helpful" one.
Actually not a bad idea if you aren't giving this character the Hag's Hair - in which case you can do this and the Mirror of Loss to set your Dex to 20.
Good looking out
This is one of the most fun build's i have ever played, this build makes Honor Mode look incredible easy
Becoming an unholy assassin have little to no consequences for an "evil" choice. Yeah you kill and innocent celestial, but you get great gear out of it and whats better is that the companions get a bit upset and then forget about it.
this is still the weirdest thing for me in act 3, everyone moves on like "oh, you're the unholy assassin? cool but these boots have seen everything"
I'm inclined to agree - the "evil" playthrough does feel a little lackluster in terms of roleplaying :/
Great guide, the drain ability illithid power “inflicts a condition” which allows you to easily use gear that benefits from inflicting a condition 27:36
Just finished Solo Honour Mode with this awesome build! Great video!
Came back to this video to say I love my ranger now. Great build thanks for the share 👍
Great video man i love that you go over items based on each act and explain everything very well including thr showcase
great item reccs! after you pick up the amulet of greater health, you could def distribute the points to charisma or wisdom too
Thank you! For sure, maybe even strength after all for carry weight
Wow what a thorough guide with gear breakdowns. Subscribed and liked! ❤
Just wanted to drop a line here. I used this build in tandem with the Bardadin. (Was playing elf Durge, and Astardion as the Bardadin)
And, just demolished my honour mode playthrough, total time start to finish was less than 34 hours for the run. Picking up my final three achievements (Two related to Durge, and the evil storyline), and of course Honour mode.
Will saying, having Astarion in Melee with the Bhaalist Armor, for your Ranger resulted in many 100+ damage hit criticals. Was just in awe whenever the damage landed.
Thanks for the easy to follow guides on Both this and the Bardadin, looking forward to your other guides, and no doubt and "Full Parties" you do, to cover some spellcasters you could run along with these two.
Thank you so much
Hey, I'm trying to do my first honour mode run now. WHat were the last 2 charcters in your party? SHadowheart for heals and lae'zel/karlach for tanks. Or did you use sorcerer or somehthing else?
@@lortrix9952 Generally I think that having a build entirely dedicated to healing or "tanking" is a waste in turn based combat - you want to be aggressive and translate most if not all of your action points into damage or crowd control.
With that in mind my party comp was:
- Gloomstalker Assassin (Astarion)
- Bardadin (Face Character/Tav)
- Open Hand Monk (Karlach)
- Tempest Cleric Wizard (Shadowheart)
Now,
1 - Did I just get to the part of the video where you say to save Barcus?
2 - Did I fling him off the windmill? 3 - Do I now regret this?
Yes to 1 and 2. No to 3, flyyyy Barcus! Flyyyyyy!
Sharpshooter at 4 makes sense due to the reliance on attacking from hide/advantage. Also spike growth under Hunger of Hagar is just devastating.
This is a group build lets be honest - if its a solo build, the last thing you're looking for is crit fishing gear (tbh its suboptimal in group playthroughs too but especially solo) as Assassin does the crit job for you - in solo runs, you're staying at max range and spamming attacks with a high stealth proficiency to avoid being caught. When you do get caught, you're trying to hide/reset/get back to camp so you can reopen with guaranteed crits again. Titanstring bow is the best throughout (even better than gontr mael) because in solo runs you're trying to avoid short/long rests like the plague so you can keep up as many 'until long rest' buffs as humanly possible, thus making the guiding bolt action super sub-optimal as a means of activating a measly 1d4 radiant buff - there's a better argument to be made for vicious shortbow however. Not recommending bhaalist armor as the go-to choice for solo runs is just insane, honestly - your attack roll is going to be so high that even in threatened range, youre practically guaranteed to hit, there's also a sweetspot range where you dont get disadvantage at all . The craterflesh gloves is by far the best option for this build, the damage it pushes out is INSANE - you could interchange with martial exertion gloves but for general playthrough outside of key boss fights (Ansur etc) its a no-brainer. Mask of soul perception really should've got a shoutout in this, in fact, I would make an argument for it being the best helm for this build. While I recognize there's a lot of room for subjectivity when discussing core builds, I think this build fundamentally misses the mark as 'the best solo build'. Also a 1 level dip in War Cleric at level 12 will make a world of difference when you need it most.
Imo your act 3 SOLO RUN build should look more like this:
Helm - Mask of Soul Perception
Cloak - Cloak of Displacement / Durge cloak
Chest - Bhaalist armor
Gloves - Craterflesh Gloves / Bonespike gloves on specific fights
Boots - Boots of Stormy Clamour (its primarily activated by your ability drain amongst other things btw)
Neck - Amulet of Greater Health
Ring 1 - Risky Ring
Ring 2 - Shadow-cloaked ring (has no reliance on concentration but this is interchangeable)
Melee weps - 2x Dolor Amarus
Ranged wep - Titanstring Bow (with cloud giant strength elixirs) // Vicious Shortbow (stacks nicely with 2x Dolor Amarus)
Lots to unpack here. I want to preface that the title suggests that this build (class combination) is the best, not necessarily that this exact gear lineup is. I also want to mention that not every decision in this video is made with a solo playthrough in mind. I try to account for both whenever I can but wanted to be as all encompassing as possible. I've finished a solo run with the exact build in this video, and can say that the emphasis is on strategy and "pathing" more than it is on gear.
I don't mean to undermine how people play the game, but abusing stealth mechanics like you mentioned is (in my opinion) akin to using barrelmancy, scrolls, bag exploits, hide/reset/camp etc. I try not to play that way, that is to say there is no correct way to play this game, solo or not. Even without doing what you are suggesting, if you take the path of least resistance to the most xp and pick your fights carefully, this build (or most any coherent build, for that matter) can easily solo the game "naturally".
I addressed the counterintuitive nature of crit fishing in the video - yes, Assassin grants you guaranteed crits, but surprise is extremely inconsistent and it seems that there are "scripted" encounters in the game that you cannot surprise. Since you cannot 'redo' in honor mode, including not always being able to reset at camp, it is a contingent measure to remedy such mistakes. Even then, I seldom recommend crit fishing - there is quite literally one gear piece (equipped on my character) dedicated to crit fishing at any point in the video (Sarevok's Helmet/Dark Justiciar Helm), which you can even argue has equal value in its Dauntless effect.
The Titanstring is undoubtedly the best in the first two acts, but in Act 3, it's requirement costs you an Elixir slot and therefore, the elixir of bloodlust. Judging by your perspective on solo playthroughs, I'm inclined to believe that you also value an extra action per turn much higher than +4 damage, especially in the late game. Additionally, in the late game, there are a noticeable lack of one-time long rest buffs that you cannot reapply per long rest, so I disagree that you are incentivized not to long rest as much as possible, especially late game.
I explicitly state that it is better to put the Bhaalist armor "on a melee party member" if and when possible. If you're playing solo, and have no other party members, deductively, it becomes of higher priority since there are no alternative options. Many of the solo clips I use in the video include me wearing it as a demonstration. But again, I made it a point to mention that I am not necessarily advocating that one gear piece is objectively better than another and "any and all combinations of gear pieces shown in this section are viable".
The Craterflesh gloves are definitely the best option upon reading another users comment on its application of DRS - but again, as I know that there are combinations I could be unaware of, I preface the Act III recommendations by recommending any combination of the suggested gear pieces.
Absolutely not to the Mask of Soul Perception. I don't want to come across as condescending but its effect is practically worthless whether or not you are playing Solo. +2 to Attack Rolls are negligible due to the multitude of bonuses you have to attack rolls at that point (risky ring, perma bless statue, mirror of loss dex, oils, weapon enchant, etc.), +2 initiative is insignificant as the only times I have ever lost initiative with this build has been to enemies with Alert (even then, it is still a dice roll), and wearing a helmet in Act III for a bonus to your perception and detect thoughts is not even worthy of consideration.
Although I think that there are fair criticisms to be made, I tried to be considerate of as many playstyles and applications of the build as I could be, which is why I often made it a point to put a disclaimer that there will inevitably be deviation that you can justify. Side note, although you say I fundamentally missed the mark, your final recommendation of gear pieces is quite literally virtually identical to what I am wearing in the end with 2/3 differences of which are all covered in the gear alternatives :P
@@searching4god - Tbh, detect thoughts is a great way to maintain concentration for strange conduit ring (on those 'in between' fights), also it's a ritual spell so doesnt cost a spell slot and can be recast consistently, without having a turn drop-off like pre-casting with haste bow which is super rest-intensive, and yes, while we have plenty of initiative, can you ever REALLY have too much, especially as you go into act 3 where some of those initiatives rolls get pretty wild. If the option was between a crit fishing helm and something that improves accuracy, chance to hit first, as well as giving you advantage on perception checks (very important in a solo run) then yeah, I'd say its the better of the two - and as you mentioned, you only have 1 slot of crit gear, it borders on redundant anyway.
Also, you've multiclassed 2x stealth specs but don't want to 'abuse stealth'? It's just playing towards the strengths of your kit, there's no abuse there - hence why you have to roll a stealth check after every attack, it's intended game design and generally the best way to play this specific build if you want to actually succeed your solo honor run - stay out of sight, pick off key targets, clean up with arrow of many targets after, if it gets dicey, use shroud/hide/mobility and gtfo for a reset, do it again. I mean sure, going back to camp can feel cheesy, but we have a lot of invisibility in our kit to achieve the same kinda resets.
Regarding blood lust elixir, yeah it's definitely great and you're right, the extra action will definitely outweigh the +4 strength from titanstring, if I was playing the game like I would with a party to keep me alive for more than 2 rounds - this again comes down to playstyle I suppose - If I'm spamming shots from stealth, I'm not worried about action economy, I'm trying to frontload my damage as much as humanly possible, which is why I stand by titanstring remaining superior for an ambush build - I supplement the extra action with a dip in war cleric at 12 so I have the best of both worlds.
I think it's great that you talked through different variables - in fact its a very informative video with a lot of really useful considerations in there and I'm really not trying to take away from that - my gripe is simply that you've titled this 'the best build to solo honor mode' and practically every clip is in group mode and your final loadout recommendations is better suited for having a party. It stops becoming about semantics when you're not putting the proof in your pudding. Would love to see you cook up some serious solo content though and show us how it's done
@@XeroQT Hahaha I am just as guilty of meta-gaming myself, I've definitely made remarks to my friends about how there isn't a right way to play but there is a BETTER way to play x) Thank you regardless for all the suggestions from what is evidently a careful viewing of my video! I'm a bit stuck on what to do for content and want to get significantly better at editing but posting solo gameplay doesn't sound bad!
@@searching4god stressful, very stressful hahahaha. Lost SO MANY honor modes playing solo. One blunder, unlucky spell save, random crit, whatever and its all over - especially if you go full sadist and do a pure run without hireling buffs etc. I'm really not convinced its possible to actually succeed without scrolls though, at least without missing giant gapes of content and xp. The Halsin portal for example? There's no resetting opportunity and you will VERY quickly get overrun. Scroll of fire wall + darkness arrow and TOO MANY arrows of many targets was the only way I managed it - definitely adds a seriously fun level of difficulty though.
@@XeroQT Late to the debate but I have to agree with searching4god that mask of soul perception isnt worth it. There is such a thing as too much of anything in the game if you're needlessly piling onto a stat you dont need more of. You shouldnt have any initiative issues with this build. And if you're playing it right (using Duergar invisibility cantrip to trigger surprise attacks most of the game), it's not even coming into play often because you dont even need it in surprise rounds.
There is something to be said for boosting your natural crit rate for this build given that you're spending both melee slots and your gloves on items that are worthless if you arent critting. Personally I run the crit helm, the crit bow (deadshot) and champion fighter class to make mine 17/20 (which, with risky ring, crits over a third of the time).
A non-titanstring bow also allows for boodlust elixir which is easily the best elixir in the game and you should be running it as early as level 5 once youve got extra attack and can reliably kill at least one enemy in a turn (and you should have a transmutation wizard camp hireling to ensure you never run out). War cleric charges suck. The game often forces you to use them when you dont want to, and you only get three per long rest. You're better off going 5 ranger, 4 rogue, 3 fighter.
The crit items also make the build viable as a durge in endgame (you should not be playing anything other than durge due to the deathstalker mantle being vital), where they stack with bloody inheritence to bring your natural rate to 15/20, causing crits 50% of the time with risky ring/advantage. Since you cant surprise enemies in the final fights, this preserves the build/items even then.
Nice thumbnail choice! My Dark Urge is an in-game Sylvanas recreation as a drow… and is a gloomstalker assassin with fighter levels 😂
It was between her, Legolas and Robin Hood :)
@@searching4god you made the right choice
One thing you did not mentioned on the video (or i didn't saw, if that's the case, i'm sorry):
Assassin's Alacrity won't give you a free shot to initiate attack, no. It will give two. If you have extra attack, by initiating combat with a regular shot (or a special arrow), you'll deal your damage, start combat and refresh your action, BUT your attack will be highlighted as a 'extra attack'. Using that second arrow will not consume any action or anything. So, at level 8, you can:
go invisible.
get haste from either potions or a party member.
Start fight with a shot, proccing sneak attack.
Cast hunter's mark (if you want to concentrate on that, that is.)
use your free extra attack.
Use your action to attack.
Use the extra attack from the action.
Use your second action.
Use the possible third action from elixir of bloodlust.
Use Dread ambusher.
for seven~nine attacks, 6~8 that will be guaranteed criticals. If you kill anything, u'll have one extra action, and since enemies will be surprised, u'll have the next turn to again. And, if you by any means are solo, you can use either deathstalker mantle or duergar invisibility, drink a invisibility potion, hide, use gloomstalker invisibility action, or any other thing like that to 'finish' combat by making enemies look for you and fail. With that, you can repeat the cycle by starting fight again, regaining all of your buffs.
Great overview of gear for the build in all acts, thanks!
That last level you could dip into war cleric for extra attacks on bonus actions.
You'd be trading a feat for like 3 extra bonus action attacks per long rest.
It's not really worth it imo.
@@jotarokujo3603wdym ur not trading a feat ur trading champion fighter
1 more in Rogue would give Uncanny Dodge and an extra Sneak Attack die, or Battlemaster gives Disarm, Push, and Trip ranged attacks
@@KaneA87the extra attack really be that good. also you get sanctuary and guidance
For disadvantage, it only kicks in when ur 5ft from target while bhaalist armor effect kicks in at 7 ft so you can use with it in a bow build to full effect if you’re willing to put up with the frustration of having to constantly adjust for the range
Just did this recently in a 2 man honor mode run, 1 turned raphael lmfao, friend stacked helmet of arcane acuity which made hold monster 100% chance and i just dumped arrows of fiend slaying into raphaels skull
Thank you for great video! A lot of work and so many details!!!
Qq: What do you think about merge hunter/Fighter(5/3) with x8 Eldrich Knight and use Range attacks with some buffs/spells.
Thanks for your work!
I used the 'click heels' boots throughout my run.
They are invaluable for hitting enemies then dashing away out of their range so they have to waste their turn dashing to find you.
Fun (and useful) fact: The Helldusk Gloves also grant +1 to you weapon attack rolls, not only to spell save DC and spell attack rolls. Either the they are bugged, or the tooltip is wrong.
Bard is a really strong option too, lets you shoot double arrows that with assassin will crit, so you just double up your dmg. Pretty busted but you have to choose to give up something
Hey recommendation for the last 1 level dip. GOO warlock. Gives another spell slot and whenever you crit it has a good chance to frighten the target any nearby enemies. This makes going in an out of combat easier as they won’t be able to chase you as easily
And with the “diadem of arcane synergy” you can now add your charisma modifier to dmg after the first creature is frightend. Best early-ish boots would be stormy clamor.
My stat split was 8 STR, 17 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 10 WIS, 16 CHA. Auntie Ethel DEX to 18. Cats grace to 20.
Also later game swap cats grace for yuan ti scale mail for good armor class. This allows you to drop the Adamantine shield and so you can now have the club of hill giants and knife of the under mountain for an even better crit chance after round 1. Or keep the shield if you want
Use cindersnap gloves cause they do an extra 1d6 force dmg on a crit (which we do a bunch)
Not a bad inclusion to be sure - your point about the scale mail is absolutely true, forgot to mention it in the video.
if you have someone with Mage Armour in your group (of even use a hirling that can still stay at the camp) you can have them cast it on The Graceful Cloth for a much higher AC.
Also Good Berry which is a ranger spell works well with Broodmothers Revenge as you don't have to use all your health potions to get the extra poison damage.
True true, I always have about 15 scrolls of Mage Armor too many in my campaigns so its a good dump for them too
From both what I've seen and experienced I thought dual hand crossbows do more damage than normal bows with these kinds of builds, especially if you're post-ascension Astarion with a +1d10 necrotic damage to all attacks. Is titanstring better because of the +4 dmg to arrow of many targets? If so then why switch off titanstring when you can get a +8 damage with elixers of cloud giant strength? I guess celestial haste is nuts
Superb guide ser!
Thank thee!
Very nice! I soled honor mode with a similar build, but playing as swords bard 6 / assassin rogue 3 / battle master fighter 3. I think the bard does more damage using ranged slashing flourish than dread ambusher. Additionally, it's possible to use bonus action to cast control spells with the band of the mystic scoundrel.
Hard to beat the arcane synergy Bard, that build border's on broken - although that is more of a variation of my Bardadin build (check out the guide :) )
Before 5th level I often play rogue assassin or thief because of expertise in stealth and lock-picking. If you can get the speedy light-feet thief is best cause you get lightning charges when you dash on bonus action. Then at five I would respec to Ranger. but assassin gloom stalker is great too for the early levels.
I like to respec at level 11 to go 3 Ranger, 3 rogue, 5 Battle Master fighter. I still get the 2nd attack, but I have 5 levels of fighter for Trip/Disarm/Precision attacks. level 12 is either another feat (@fighter 6), or War Cleric for the bonus attack. Either way this class is seriously OP.
Still works, I would say that might even have better group utility because of the BM maneuvers!
I used to do this until I realized you aren’t gaining any extra superiority dice for those special shots going from fighter 3 to 5, so going 5 ranger is the better play as you’re gaining a spell and more spell slots. 5 gloom / 3 assassin (or thief if you play DW hand xbows) / 4 BM is the min/max best, and start with Rogue at lvl 1 during you respec to have the best access to the most skills.
I love this I had made a Deurgar rogue cause of invisibility and he is dark urge this here takes advantage and exploits invisibility to a way that blew my mind I barely dipped a toe you sir jumoed in head first. Please keep updating if possible I want this. I playee Dark urge resist monk tavern brawler this is an amazing change of pace.
I respected immedietly
I have used your sorouflock and Bardin build. My question is, how do you theory craft? Do you just pick a theme and build around that? I.e crit fishing… how do you reduce crit chance? Dark justiciar helmet, undermountain king etc.
Just a note at 26:45, you wont get 18 AC until you take the Defense fighting style with your fighter levels. So in Act 1 & 2 with The Graceful Cloth AC will be 17. Doesnt make much difference though, great guide!
Nice spot, serves me right for making the gearing section after reaching act 3 😭Thank you!
@@searching4god running this build along with your bardadin build. Some of the most fun ive had in a playthrough. Look forward to more content. (:
Liked the oblivion music on the character selection, I see you fam 😘
Come on og you know I had to throw in some classics
How big a difference do you find between Deadshot, Titan, and Gontr? Is Titan in Honour mode worse now?
In the early game it is unequivocally the Titanstring - in Act III I think that the Deadshot has the least applications, even with the emphasis on critical hits and crit reduction. The Titanstring is still extremely competitive and can be seen as a better Vicious Shortbow, but activating it requires some form of sacrifice - either spending a weapon slot on the Club, a glove slot on the HoH gloves, or an Elixir slot on Cloud Giant Strength (+8 modifier). I think Gontr is the safest pick because it allows you to drink Bloodlust, dual wield Dolor Amarus, and gives a bunch of useful benefits outside of damage (guiding bolt, celestial haste, bolt of celestial light).
@@searching4god Great! Thx!
Mage equivalents to this would be like; minor illusion + hunger of hadar + goo champion combo + stacking reverberation from spineshudder amulet and stormy clamor boots making the game a joke for solo honor lol. For some reason hunger of hadar and a few other spells like create water or icestorm also consume no actions to start combat with them. And bosses like ansur and raphael cant reactionary charm or lightning you while blinded inside of it. You can also starting act 3 spam black holes to suck enemies back into it to quarter their movement from the double movement reduction sources so sentinels can't even really get out after dashing lol.
Similarly building around magic missiles with boots of stormy clamor, belligerent sky gloves, radiating orb ring, callous glow ring, dual wielded phalar aluve + sparkler staff eventually replaced by marko, physic spark amulet is pretty busted basically right out the gate. Can dump out up to around 45 damage I think with a lvl 1 cast of magic missiles while debuffing the crap out of enemies you hit. Taking 1-2 levels of tempest cleric also lets you be an ac tank monster while later on getting things like permanent blade ward from persistence armor. Taking a hit to spell save dc by doing that doesn't really matter either as magc missiles and artistry of war are guaranteed to hit.
Planning on making a caster guide soon, you might see some of these inclusions 👀
Awesome build. I love the Gloomstalker in this game and AOMT are S-tier for sure. One thing you mentioned, that I have experienced as well, is the inconsistency of the surprise mechanic. You said the most reliable way of triggering it is invis?
Without a doubt it seems to be initiating combat out of invisibility - EVEN then there seem to be encounters that are just hard scripted to nullify surprised but they are few and far in between and you should get it consistently enough using invisibility... I hope :P
I fused this build with the sorlock of your other video. Managed to solo act 1 and 2 and I'm finishing act 3 as a Durge tiefling!
Basically you have at level 12:
Respect into:
4 sorcerer for constitution proficiency, sorcery points for twinned and quickened + 3th lvl spells and lots of lesser slots.
3 rogue assassin for the reload of actions and crit if surprised on first round, the bonus dash and hide for mobility
3 gloom ranger for +3 initiative, 3 lvl 1 spell slots, longstrider, shield proficiency if not from race, umbral shroud for combat that are becoming sketchy and defense at level 2 for AC. Dread ambusher is useful for applying bow effects
2 goo warlock for eldritch blast and agonizing blast + fear on crit. Last for the charisma spell on items like gear and scrolls.
I won't explain the lvl progression in details but full warlock until lvl 5 and respect into 2 warlock and 3 rogue gets you the burst damage on first 2 rounds and with the durge's deathstalker mantle you are safe as soon as you kill someone and leave the last location you were in. It's doable to reach lvl 4-5 with minimal combat just by exploring. Underdark does not lock you out of most important quest progression if any at all, so feel free to get easy XP there too.
The creche makes the tiefling quit the grove. I don't recommend exploring there before the quest with the grove and goblin is completed.
I'm too lazy for gear.
Your archer should be wearing clothing all game with the cats grace and throw mage armor on him 10+3+5=18, camp cleric damage ward = 19, shield 21.
Advantage on all dex checks is too good
The deus ex music is so on point.
The entire resson I like this game is that "immersive sim" style emergent gameplay.
Nice choice
Knew there would be some overlap between people who enjoy this game and Deus Ex. We don’t have a remaster but close enough :P
Thanks for this vid I’ve loved this build and similar ones for a while now. Is there any reason maybe at level 10 11 or 12 whatever level is the first level you’d have all 3 classes mixed would there be any advantage to respecing to do fighter first for the con save proficiency? Or another thing I mean is there any advantage to taking ranger first besides getting extra attack as fast as possible
To answer both questions:
1) You can absolutely respec at level 10/11/12 to start with Fighter for saving throws and proficiencies, I would recommend it too as "starting" fighter has better benefits
2) Yes, essentially. We start with ranger to get gloomstalker and extra attack as fast as physically possible as they are huge powerspikes. After you've gotten them however (reached level 5), feel free to respec to start anything else.
As Solo Dark Urge I will play Gloomstalker 5 + Rogue 1, but at LV7, I will respec to this:
17Dex, 16Con, 15Cha Starterclass: Paladin
- LV1: Oath of Vanchens (10 Rounds Advantage)
- LV2: Fighting Style, *Divine Smite*
- LV3: Hunters Mark (BA)
- LV4: +1Dex / +1Cha
- LV5: Extra-Attack
Rogue:
- LV6 (R1): Sneak Attack
- LV7 (R2): Hide & Dash as BA
- LV8 (R3): Assassin (Auto Crit Strat)
- LV9 (R4): Alert (be first, every Fight)
Paladin:
- LV10 (P6): Aura of Successful Saving Throws
- LV11 (P7): Aura of Hate (at that Point)
- LV12 (P8): +2 Dex
Because you don’t overlap hide as BA with your Gloomstalker and with Finess you can do your Auto-Crit-Smite rather than Sharpshooter Crit.
How to Play:
- Suprise enemy with a Crit-Smite
- Gain your Action Back and Auto Crit round 1 again
- Hide BA + run away or End fight by invisibility (Urge Gear)
- Repeat
Thx for build!!! Cyberpunk theme 👍👍👍
With the sharpshooter, if you have a minus 5 is that applied after the roll? Like does it make it harder to crit? Crits are determined by rolling a 20 on the attack roll right?
Crits are only on a nat 20. So if you roll 19 +15 to hit, it's just a normal hit. With sharp shooter, you'll still crit on nat 20. So if you roll 20 + 15 to hit or 20 -50 to hit, it's still a crit and hits no matter what.
A roll of 20 is always a hit and a crit. A roll of 1 is always a miss.
So sharpshooter has no effect on frequency of crits. It just makes you miss more often on non crit hits.
I have finished the game twice already, and i am thinking of playing a honor mode run but not solo class , any good team composition to use ?
Did you do your solo honor mode with companions in group but in camp? I'm asking because I want to know what to do for mine. On one hand, I'm excited for the possibility I'll die alone but on the other...some of those fights...if other people are doing solo with some backups, I might as well
Yes, most of the time yes. There is no shame in giving yourself a mulligan :) solo honor mode is impressive regardless
True solo is brutal, 1 misclick and you're done.
need more videos man this was great
Really appreciate it
Hey would one war cleric be OK instead of 3 level of fighter
Hey there do you mind sharing what mod the hair is from on the first character in the build showcase at the very start of the video?
Tav's Hair Salon
look at unc man, so inspirational
My only question is where do you find that robes for your Tav?
Great guide btw
Thank you! The robes, as well as my Tav, are both mods from Nexus:
Scantily Camp Clothes for the Robes
Vemperens Other Head's for my Tav
Can we build Karlach in this build? Does her soul coin fire attack adds to the bow?
damn missed the club, me and my friend kinda went a bit wild in act 2 which accidently fuck up my chance to get potent robe for my sorlock so looking to switch but seem like we miss the club for this build. Definitely want to try this build in the future though.
Never too late, I would argue that this build truly comes online in Act III anyway, but the earlier acts can be remedied with an elixir of hill giant strength in place of the club! (Bloodlust elixirs are super rare anyway)
Would Helm of Balduran, Broodmother's Revenge and The Whispering Promise be any good for healing to make the poison damage? Might have to try it.
Yes, absolutely! I think there is also a ring sold in Sorcerer's Sundries that also passively activates the "heal" requirement, but the helm is definitely the best standalone piece of gear that synergizes with the "heal" pieces
Is there any particular reason to go that far into wisdom? I don't see any real heavy usage of spells here. Is it for scrolls?
What outfit is it that you have on in the video? I love it and I would like to get it on my character
It's from a mod on Nexusmods called "Scantily Camp Outfits"!
tavern brawler pickpocket is still the most broken build, 21str 18dex 21ac 5attacks early game and 27str 24dex 28ac 11attacks late game is just silly for a dnd world with a level cap of 12
Just a question. Why Ranger Knight ? I don't understand the utility. Mage Breaker seems to be better, no ?
To be quite honest Favoured Enemy is relatively inconsequential in the early game and completely insignificant in the late game but I recommend Ranger Knight for Heavy Armor proficiency at least until I introduce Fighter into the build - Ranger Knight will mean higher AC and (usually) more defensive bonuses from my armor in the early game.
Mage Breaker gives you the notoriously worst spell in the game in True Strike x) I'd steer clear, you can make cases for the other's if you don't find the heavy armor proficiency to be important.
@@searching4god Thx a lot ! Go for Ranger Knight, so !
Just made another playthrough lol have 4 ongoing now but love this build
Is it possible to run this build without using Illithid powers?
Of course, I honestly think this build is one of the most forgiving in terms of illithid powers (or lack thereof)
Gloomstalker is the best🙌
Subscribed because build reasons. 👍 😊
I think the last level into war cleric would be pretty good too
I just built a Drow Dark urge gloomstalker...She's pretty tough.
I think the Ability Drain power counts as a condition for the purposes of Stormy Clamor
That would echo another commenters suggestion - no wonder I apply reverberation on normal attacks... never knew!
I'm having a problem with my Astarion companion build at level 4. I always play him as a rouge from the start because of his lockpicking and assassin trait. I always sneak everyone into a fight and let Astarion to initiate it so that the rest of the team may join from any location. Now i will respec to ranger at level 4; perhaps It was better to start as ranger, but I'm not sure. If you have any suggestions, that would be great.
Don't worry about the order in which you take the classes - it makes no difference at all! Companions must start with their origin classes anyway as there would be no way to change them :) respec him freely!
@@searching4god No, I know that. I'm wondering which is a better place to start: 4 in Rouge or 5 in Ranger. Rogue's Sneak Attack is just too good. And I don't mean for the final build, but for level 4/5, what is better?
@@searching4god I tested everything, I just can't see myself playing the first five levels as a ranger over a rouge. I believe selecting Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master at level 4 is a mistake. Taking the ability feat for companions will increase their stats to 18 16 16 888.
@@SageofShadowdale I would urge you to watch the video again, delaying your extra attack is undoubtedly a mistake, much less taking Rogue first and skipping it all together.
I go over why Sharpshooter at 4 is completely viable. Had you taken Ranger you get a +2 to ranged attack rolls with Archery FS, Astarion gives +1 with Happy, and with literally no other buffs whatsoever Sharpshooter becomes a flat +10 dmg for a -2 penalty to attack rolls, EXPONENTIALLY better than an ability improvement would be.
@@searching4god Level 3 Rouge - Assassinate: Initiative, Assassinate: Ambush ,Assassin's Alacrity vs Level 3 Ranger 2+ archery and dread ambusher. Playing the first four levels as a rouge feels far better.2 sneak attacks, all crits, and every fight begins with surprise.
Sharpshooter is reasonable. That is correct, but in my experience, even with happy and oil of accuracy and +2 archery, you will still get 70/80% versus 16 dex. With risky rings, it is a different situation, but you usually obtain ring at level 7/8.
So, at level 5, I can respec to ranger from the start, but before that, I am fairly convinced that rouge is better. Just can't see it, man.
Would war cleric extra attack as bonus action work for the last level here?
Absolutely, there could be other things you want to do with your bonus action (psionic overload, black hole, etc.), but an extra attack is definitely worth considering over the champion subclass
I’m so bummer the gnomes aggroed me for some reason in my honour play through. I’m having to struggle bus my many targets until act 3
So you're saying the character you create should be the dark urge sp that you can get the cap and give it to astrion?
From purely a min-maxing perspective that would be the best way to play this build, yes! Especially when you Ascend Astarion, it is the strongest combination of "race" and gear
@searching4god so if I start off with a dark urge, does it matter the class and such?
@@crazyhawk201ad No, in fact I would recommend going about it this way so that you can make your Dark Urge/Tav a charisma based character (Warlock, Bard, Paladin, Sorcerer) so that they can fulfill the face role
@@searching4god Ok I am old so maybe I am not understanding very well. What I did was make dark urge/dragon guy LOL and just made him a sor. Once I get Astarion, is that who I use from then on because this is a solo build correct? Sorry I am just not use to texting about thing, I understand better verbally.
@@crazyhawk201ad If you're up for the challenge ahaha but you don't have to just use Astarion, this build works really well in any team comp. It's just a matter of making this build ON Astarion as well as giving him the cape for the reasons mentioned in the video
Did they fix the bug where if something is killed by Cull the Weak, it doesn't activate Deathstalkers Mantle?
No. You’ll randomly not go invis after a kill all the time still
"he boy who cried best build" that was funny
So if we don't want to play dark urge at all what do we do for the cloak and stuff?
Whatever you have, really. In Act III it can be the Displacement Cloak or Shade-Slayer Cloak - Act I doesn't have any available and Act II has a few good options in the AC cloak that Quartmaster Talli sells or that one cloak that retaliates on melee hits with poison damage
How can i get a cape ? And still play my own character ?
Dolor amarus does not plus crit dmg on bow attacks anymore, does it ?
Happy to report it does, it reads "When you land a Critical Hit with any weapon attack, it deals an additional 7 damage". Not too good to be true :)
i accidentally killed the windmill guy because i didn’t realize there were two buttons and just clicked the first one i saw. so i guess no arrows for me
Deathstalker mantle is more of playstyle choice, not really the best choice imho because you already have invisibility traits and can use better options out there..
Ah Rebel path. Miss Cyberpunk 2077
Just about stopped working on this video to play it when I first played the track
That Cyberpunk intro music gonna have me acting up. 🤌
It had me all sorts of dancing during editing
y-.... you can buy things from Volo????
I really wish we could craft our own arrow like divinity, but i guess its not the DnD way?
Yeah unfortunately the DnD ruleset is limiting in a way a 'conventional' RPG is not - crafting and enchanting would have been a great inclusion. Instead we just get alchemy -_-
@@searching4god even the alchemy feels limited. Kinda wish they put an option like POE where you can select turn-based or real-time but you had to choose between classic or homebrew instead where we could choose a feature to be turned on or off 🥰
I didn't watche the whole guide, ended up slaughtering all the zentarim merchants, didn't get the titanstring bow
I would trade 3rd lvl fighter for 1 lvl of war cleric for extra bonus actions that's the build I use plus I use half orc lol
Definitely a strong alternative! Half-orcs are so strong too but I just cannot get over how they look 😭
Ya drow are my favorite race
I HEAR MUSIC FROM DEUS EX!! I UPVOTE!
You mean kill Alfira or Quill if Alfira was only knocked out
Naturally, although I can personally never get that to work - whenever I knock Alfira it never gives me the Urge scene, and the one long rest I don't knock her out immediately she shows up
ARMOR = Bhaalist , Headgear = Grit
Ok but.. Hear me out. I asking this for a friend, what mod is that for that Perfect form???
Tell your friend I agree that they are perfect :)
If by form you mean the robes it is from Scantily Camp Clothes on the Nexus
Otherwise if you mean my Tav character it's Vemperen's Other Heads on Nexus
👍👍👍👍
I do like how the title is "to Solo honor mode" but you have 3 party members..... that isnt solo
Good catch!
The purpose of the video is to showcase a build that is capable of doing so, many of the videos in the clips are solo. Many videos in my channel are of this build solo.
imagine if you used a good bow. like the best bow in bg3 Titanstring.
Only in acts 1-2. It's not worth having to run strength elixir in Act 3. The extra attack(s) you get from bloodlust will outpace it.
Soundtrack 25:26?
Fortress Europe - Dan Bodan
@@searching4god thx bro, I was searching for a while on Baldur's soundtracks hahaha