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Warlawk
05-09-2010, 12:53 AM
Well, I'm fairly new to the game having started a few weeks ago. I am a P2P player though so I've got WF and monks, as well as Drow.

Now, I have a lot of familial duties that can call me away at any time (5 kids around the house) so I pretty much exclusively solo. Currently I've got a drow monk/cleric based on the 1rog/2monk/17 cleric build except I skipped the rogue level and went monk 3 for the fists of light stuff. Little did I know how painful soloing without find traps was when I started this. I'm now cresting 3monk/7cleric and it feels like I'm just battering my head against a wall sometimes. Traps are painful, dps is mediocre and sometimes feels lacking and it seems like my ac is just not advancing fast enough to keep up with mobs AB up around level 10... don't get me wrong, it's a fun build and there are a lot of things I do enjoy about it. Good saves, evasion, light path buffs, cleric buffs and on demand healing.

I was trying to use this as a favor farmer to grab 1750 and unlock 32 point builds, but sitting just over 500 favor now that's looking like a really long journey. Is this build going to start to shine as I grab some higher level cleric gear, or am I just going to feel gimp with no higher level toons twinking out my build?

It seems like you pretty much must have high ac and evasion, or a pocket healer to effectively solo. Now, keeping in mind that I lack effective twinking, would I be better off rebuilding this character with a rogue level and with items I can hand down, or starting something else from scratch? Tried some arcane, but for soloing the SP pool just doesn't seem to stretch far enough for most quests. Perhaps a 2 rog/18 barb build or something similar that is a DPS machine while still maintaining trapmonkey viability, and then just keep pikes of cleric hirelings around? They're cheap enough that shouldn't be an issue, I haven't tried a 2HF character yet, so I'm not sure if the DPS is enough to make this a viable approach or not.

It just seems like leaving out that rogue level totally shot myself in the foot. I was wanting to just keep going and finish the 1750 grind before rerolling, but with so many quests being ridiculously hard on elite strictly because of traps that is not feeling viable at the moment. Any opinions or help would be much appreciated!

(First thought is 1rog/monk since light path gives great heal over time solo viability. Go halfling and grab dragon marks for a little on demand healing as I need it. The perfectionist in me however just cringes at knowing that I am creating a substand character without the 32 point builds.)

Calebro
05-09-2010, 01:28 AM
The problems with that toon as your first solo build are many:
1) It's a late bloomer on caster power, so you'll spend the majority of your time in melee for the first 75% of leveling.
2) It's a Dex based build, and most good solo builds are Str based. This is a bigger problem because of number 1 above.
3) You've just hit the weak spot for Clerics to solo, and it's even more pronounced because you're a multiclass on top of it. It will become a cakewalk for you once you get Blade Barrier and Heal, but with 3 monk levels, this won't happen until level 14.
4) It may not seem like it at a glance, but that's a pretty gear intensive build to use for solo'ing, especially at lower levels when your healing is lacking due to not having Heal yet. The difference between Cure Crit and Heal is HUGE. As I said, most Clerics are in a slump at that point in time. The fact that you're 3 levels behind means that you have to kill things extra fast in order to have a chance here. Now comes a combination of numbers 1, 2 & 3 above to create the gear issue. Since all of that is true, you need the absolute best gear you can possibly have at this point.... but you (probably) don't have it.

A better suggestion would be a WF arcane. Or an 18/2 rogue splash since you're worried about traps.
I know it sounds cliche, but they really do level up THAT fast and THAT easily if you play smart. You'll get your 1750 favor.
Remember to go back and grind all those quests that you don't have finished up to elite. Even if you're not getting any XP from them because you're so far over level. They're EASY favor at that point to get you closer to your goal of 1750.

*edit:
About the SP not stretching far enough: Just melee the low levels. Use your SP to buff and heal. That's it. When you hit 7th level wiz (or 8th sorc, or 8th-9th wiz/rogue splash) you'll have plenty of SP to kite and cast. It just takes a little practice.
If you were running out of SP too fast, I'd guess you were primarily casting those early levels when it's more cost effective in most cases to use that SP to buff/heal while in melee.

As far as a melee toon solo'd to 1750.... if you don't have the twink for your cleric to solo, you DEFINITELY don't have the twink to melee to 1750.

Warlawk
05-09-2010, 01:45 AM
A better suggestion would be a WF arcane. Or an 18/2 rogue splash since you're worried about traps.
I know it sounds cliche, but they really do level up THAT fast and THAT easily if you play smart. You'll get your 1750 favor.
Remember to go back and grind all those quests that you don't have finished up to elite. Even if you're not getting any XP from them because you're so far over level. They're EASY favor at that point to get you closer to your goal of 1750.

I really appreciate the feedback here. However... I have tinkered with a WF wiz and a Drow Sorc (both low level but pure) and they both have serious issues with keeping enough SP to get through a quest solo. It seems like the wiz would have this problem even more so due to having a lower pool than sorc. I think I stopped the wiz at 3 and the sorc at 4 because they just didn't seem to have what it took to actually get through a quest.

Calebro
05-09-2010, 01:49 AM
see my edit

Phidius
05-09-2010, 02:00 AM
/agreed with Calebro.

My first toon on a new server is always the WF Wiz/Rog... not only are they fun to play, they're also very effective as a 28-pt build.

Calebro
05-09-2010, 02:03 AM
If you're set on melee'ing your way there, another cliche build to consider is the Exploiter.
Good melee, decent AC, trap skills, wand whipping your health back up, etc.
It's only real downfall in solo ability is it's Will save. A Hold Person will kill you almost every time playing solo. That and it's ability so solo grows weaker as you get to around where you are now, whereas a caster's ability to solo grows stronger right about then.

Warlawk
05-09-2010, 02:47 AM
Yeah, I've looked over the exploiter, but it looked like the lack of twink and 32 point build combined could hurt the effectiveness a lot.

Maybe I'll just have to suck it up and work through the early pain with a WF Rog/Wiz. Go Rog1, then into wiz. Grab Masters Touch with a greataxe and then heal myself... hmmm, just might work I guess.

The feedback is much appreciated guys, thanks a bunch. The perfectionist in me just cringes at rolling something without the 32 point build, and I'm just not a fan of throwing cash at it. Always feels better when you earn it anyways.

Calebro
05-09-2010, 03:19 AM
nevermind

hockeyrama
05-09-2010, 03:48 AM
you can do the cleric but I would say just go more pure. If you set him as a variable cleric (not just heals but balanced ok, str as well as con and wis then you can pull it off very well if you play it right. The goal for a cleric on solo is to use his summon creature to pull aggro and his sp to buff. It hard until much later to use the sp for a cleric to cast well offensively. He much better to boost himself with tons of spells. Remember many can be done over and over. Example a simple aid can be very effective low level. It gives HP above your max so say adds 14 (depends on level). Now you buff ahead give yourself bulls strenght (+4 str), Bears endurance (+4 con) and the resist for the traps (sonic traps, fire, cold; whatever the trap is). This way you take less damage form traps. The level 3 resist can absorb most traps so after you run through it then recast it back to full (if still needed). Now so your stronger and have more hp with those buffs and can avaoid most damage. Now you ready to fight most things. Truth is I even buff my dogs when soloing. Now here is how the aid really helps. With good armor and shield/wep build your ac can be high. So you run into a couple of enemies. Take say 30 HP of damage (14 comes off the aid). So one CLW and then aid again and you back above your hit points. Even better is if you can time it so you hit the aid just as they about to go into your real (not boosted) HP. This way you always have more for every fight.


The idea is by buffing and casting after fights (usually) you can be an effective fighter. With your dog trippping some of the enemies and you hard to hit you can buff and fight then heal most of the stuff till you around level 7 without too much trouble on solo (certain missions will be hard so skip them). Come back and do the hard ones when you later level.

Without the correct buffs you won't need to worry about traps, or most damage from casters so just have to make sure your gear is good enough to fight without taking alot of damage.


All that aside I still think it better to try the level 2r/18 wiz WF. You may have trouble earlier but once you get fw you shoud be fine. Two things. 1. remember you don't have to do elite while leveling as it is hard to complete sometimes and you can come back and do later. 2. once you get firewall you can be very deadly by just learning how to position it to kill them while you run around the FW. You may have trouble early but can be great for solo later. The straight wiz or sorc is also good I like you though like to do traps.

Early level strategies for a wf sorc or wiz.
1. Learn hypno. FOr many creatures this is a great area effect spell. YOu walk into a group cast this then they al stand around with red halos on thier head. YOu then can fight one on one against each of them. A really nice thing a wiz can do (sorcs not usually) is to cast hypno *they all stand around) then cast charm on a few and have themn kill off the party. So with the right style sorcs and wiz can avoid most fights.
2. remember that range can be your friend. Many of the monsters can be hit with range attacks and they won't even respond to them. So if you can find a good spot then pick off a few creatures.
3. you can't handle aggro so don't get any. Expedious (angers wrath gives 2x expedious per rest instead of casting grab a few of these). combined with run and gun tactics can help in many situations. So run up to enemy get off a few nice spells then retreat with expedious. Then as the melee coming at you one at a time cast away.
4. use the terrain to your advantage. How many times you see a kobold shaman jump on a box and other area. Try to find your own perches to cast away unhindered.

With effective tactics many builds are possible solo gods. All depends on the players tactics.

Aschbart
05-09-2010, 04:23 AM
I really appreciate the feedback here. However... I have tinkered with a WF wiz and a Drow Sorc (both low level but pure) and they both have serious issues with keeping enough SP to get through a quest solo. It seems like the wiz would have this problem even more so due to having a lower pool than sorc. I think I stopped the wiz at 3 and the sorc at 4 because they just didn't seem to have what it took to actually get through a quest.

I soloed a drow wiz (pure) to almost level 4 and had no problems at all, in spite of the lack of self healing. The trick? I packed a level 1 WF pocket barbarian (even through WW!) and spent my SPs to just buff and heal him up. Sometimes conjured a monster buddy, but since I couldn't heal that one it wasn't all that useful. So you can efficiently melee through low levels without ever grabbing those crude bashing tools yourself, and you don't need any physical stats to make it work. This character is level 7 now, but didn't solo for the last part, allthough I'm convinced she could have. Drow are squishy, even when starting at 14 Con (which I have), so even a mediocre PUG will help you levelup faster than trying to solo. Now that I got firewall I should be good killing stuff, but my inability to heal myself means it's still going to be hard for me to solo - at this point I'd love to have a WF instead of a drow.

In short: WF Wiz should be good to solo from level 7 onward, and to get there you can pack WF melee hirelings, or just grab a weapon yourself. Another option is to heavily utilize charming spells of all types (Charm Person, Command Undead, Ooze Puppet, Suggestion) and let the critters beat each other up. Use wands to even the odds (eternal ones, if you have them) and otherwise stand back and save your SPs.

Bart_D
05-09-2010, 04:54 AM
I only bought WF recently so im fairly new to arcane self healing. One of the reasons i got it was to make a rogue2/wizard to try out soloing, and im wondering what stat spread (28pts) you guys would recommend?
Then one i have rolled up (level 4 only) started with str14 dex8 con16 int18 wis6 cha6 ... does that sound reasonable? Or will i need a better will save? Reasoning behind str/dex: I will take insightful refelxes and should never need a strength item to avoid enfeeblement. Plus greataxing with an 18 str wizard is fun :)

Arctigis
05-09-2010, 05:03 AM
I only bought WF recently so im fairly new to arcane self healing. One of the reasons i got it was to make a rogue2/wizard to try out soloing, and im wondering what stat spread (28pts) you guys would recommend?
Then one i have rolled up (level 4 only) started with str14 dex8 con16 int18 wis6 cha6 ... does that sound reasonable? Or will i need a better will save? Reasoning behind str/dex: I will take insightful refelxes and should never need a strength item to avoid enfeeblement. Plus greataxing with an 18 str wizard is fun :)

Those stats are spot on IMO. You can get by without a will save, just make sure you have plenty of remove
curse pots/wands :)

Warlawk
05-10-2010, 03:35 PM
Well, I am trying out the WF 1 rog/Wiz build, will grab another rogue level later to bump trap skills up and grab evasion. Good lord but this thing is painful to level.

So far I've been using WF melee hirelings and sticking to Masters touch, buffs and just meleeing everything down while healing myself and my hireling. It's... painful. It works, and better than trying to actually get anything done on the ****poor tiny SP pool that low level wizards have but good lord it's like slamming my head in a car door. The people in the wiz forum saying that there is not much difference between a melee class and a wiz with masters touch at low levels have obviously not ever played a melee class.

On top of all that... Masters touch seems to just **** all over the client. It generates a lag spike every time it is cast or wears off when the client loads that HUGE list of feats it grants, and it seems to screw up other timers. When my buffs wear off, half the time the icon remains at the top of the screen with a 0 time left on it. I got feared and the fear image above my head remained until I logged out. When using this spell my targeting orb no longer autotargets things around me, for instance I have to manually click every collectible treasure bag that drops on the ground instead of just getting close and clicking the orb... and we all know how well direct clicking things tends to work in this game. Granted... my pc and fx card aren't cutting edge, but I've never had any issues up to and including running WoW raids on max FX settings. Very annoying.

Trying to stick with it and get through, but it just feels so painfully gimp right now that I am drifting to other lowbie characters I shouldn't really be playing just to escape the suck for a few minutes.

Phidius
05-10-2010, 03:55 PM
Well, I am trying out the WF 1 rog/Wiz build, will grab another rogue level later to bump trap skills up and grab evasion. Good lord but this thing is painful to level.

So far I've been using WF melee hirelings and sticking to Masters touch, buffs and just meleeing everything down while healing myself and my hireling. It's... painful. It works, and better than trying to actually get anything done on the ****poor tiny SP pool that low level wizards have but good lord it's like slamming my head in a car door. The people in the wiz forum saying that there is not much difference between a melee class and a wiz with masters touch at low levels have obviously not ever played a melee class.


Normally, people are refering to the very low levels - say, Korthos Island.

I would imagine leveling would be a pain if you are using a WF melee hireling - frankly, the only hireling I use is a cleric with Divine Vitality.

I've leveled melee toons, and to be honest I feel like it's easier to level the wizard.



On top of all that... Masters touch seems to just **** all over the client. It generates a lag spike every time it is cast or wears off when the client loads that HUGE list of feats it grants, and it seems to screw up other timers. When my buffs wear off, half the time the icon remains at the top of the screen with a 0 time left on it. I got feared and the fear image above my head remained until I logged out. When using this spell my targeting orb no longer autotargets things around me, for instance I have to manually click every collectible treasure bag that drops on the ground instead of just getting close and clicking the orb... and we all know how well direct clicking things tends to work in this game. Granted... my pc and fx card aren't cutting edge, but I've never had any issues up to and including running WoW raids on max FX settings. Very annoying...

Yeah, I've taken to splashing a melee class on my wizzie rogues just so I don't have to use Master's Touch. Barbarian on my 28-pt builds, and Fighter on my TR'ed builds (to get back the feat I use on the Wizard's past life feat).

Warlawk
05-10-2010, 04:18 PM
Normally, people are refering to the very low levels - say, Korthos Island.

I would imagine leveling would be a pain if you are using a WF melee hireling - frankly, the only hireling I use is a cleric with Divine Vitality.

I've leveled melee toons, and to be honest I feel like it's easier to level the wizard.

No, there are a number of posts I've read talking about soloing using masters touch and a two hander until you get firewall. To my experience an untwinked Sorcerer does not have enough SP to solo anything around level 4, how could a wizard possibly have the SP pool to do so?

Calebro
05-10-2010, 06:43 PM
You've got the Rogue level. Use a rapier for the time being. ;)

Warlawk
05-10-2010, 06:51 PM
You've got the Rogue level. Use a rapier for the time being. ;)

That avoids the issue with Masters Touch... but doesn't really make the whole thing any less painful, heh. Just needed to vent though, determined to stick it through at least until firewall. It just requires an adjustment of thinking. With the monk/cleric I pretty much just started out on hard and cruised through. On this I am needing to crank it down to casual sometimes and just run it more frequently instead.

hockeyrama
05-10-2010, 06:59 PM
hireling is part of the problem not the solution.

He adds a .5 to the dungeon scaling so it like having one and a half players.

You would do better to just solo yourself.

Also, remember that you only need to get xp and the best way to do that is to leave the elite runs to later. Do norm and hard and one of them a couple of times for xp. So n/n/n/h and then if it is easy enough to do elite then do it if not then skip it till later if you need favor just come back with fw and clear then.

The problme is that many elite runs are way higher then posted. Example level 4 elite says it a level 6 quest but it is actually like a level 9 quest on norm (been discussed on many forums). So it easier to di everything on norm and then hard to get your xp. later if you do them on elite you won't get the xp but if you need the favor you can get it.

This way you should be able to solo with no problem. Aslo, when you do normal it allows you to see what types of damage they are using (pierce, bludgeon, slash) and what type of resists you need (fire, lightning). So this way when you repeat you can be setup with the right spells for the quest as a wizard you can get a good selection so knowing the best spell for the situation is key. Only problem is some wizards change the spells they cast so you may get messed on elite. Example Kobolds in harbor cast scorching ray on hard and lightning on elite (depending on level of quest) so you may have the wrong resists ready.

Remember as well a few failed quests is not the worst thing in the world. If done right you will get a good handle on a quest before you even do it on hard and then you might be able to handle elite as you will know it well. I still recommend leaving elite alone on most. Example: elite STK boss is hard, and the wight at the end of catacombs can be hard if you not have the right spells. Solo requires you to use your extensive list of spells. With the right spells prepared your sp pool will last longer as it will be used more effectively.

Calebro
05-10-2010, 07:02 PM
Spells to keep prepped at low levels:
Mage Armor, Shield, Summon Monster, Expeditious Retreat, Repair Light, Blur, Invisibility, Repair Mod, Resist Energy, Haste, Displacement, Rage, Repair Serious.
These spells will get you to Wall of Fire, and then it's smooth sailing.

English_Warrior
05-10-2010, 07:02 PM
Well, I am trying out the WF 1 rog/Wiz build, will grab another rogue level later to bump trap skills up and grab evasion. Good lord but this thing is painful to level.

So far I've been using WF melee hirelings and sticking to Masters touch, buffs and just meleeing everything down while healing myself and my hireling. It's... painful. It works, and better than trying to actually get anything done on the ****poor tiny SP pool that low level wizards have but good lord it's like slamming my head in a car door. The people in the wiz forum saying that there is not much difference between a melee class and a wiz with masters touch at low levels have obviously not ever played a melee class.



What!! You must be doing something wrong...I have levelled a bunch of pure characters (rogues/wiz/sorc/fighter/cleric) to lvl 12 and beyond...and I can say without a doubt the WF arcane was the easiest to solo....and thats without even using hirelings (the only time I used a hireling was to duo Deleras part 2 and I got another WF Wiz for that job).


You just melee to level 7....you extend use masters touch, blur, nightshield, shield, bulls str, heroism, mage armor....and grab a flaming pure good blunt weapon to really dominate those annoying skelies. A wand of false life is good.

Cast haste on yourself often.
Until you get Wall of Fire I use acid blast as my round them up and AoE spell.

You do have to be conservative with the SP but there are enough shrines around and often its better to spend another 10-20 seconds beating on something thats tough rather than waste SP to cast a spell on it.....with the right buffs your HP will go along way.

Edit: almost forgot: always use the highest repair spell you can and only heal up when you are very low on HP....its more efficeint that way.

Warlawk
05-10-2010, 08:59 PM
I was completely unaware of the issue of hireling raising the difficulty of the mission. Good to know, will try it just buffed and solo, see how it goes.

How well does invisibility work for this? Are you able to effectively sneak past and just fight at places where there is an objective you need for the quest completion or do you still trigger dungeon alert and just get screwed by that and a zerg chasing you when you do pop out of invis?

Calebro
05-10-2010, 09:06 PM
While invisible, but not sneaking, mobs can hear you as you run past, but as they don't know exactly where you are and don't follow, it isn't an issue unless you break invisibility.
They'll search for you temporarily, but lose interest quickly because you're soon gone from the area.
DA isn't an issue because they haven't aggro'd on you, and therefore their AI goes inert once they stop searching.

But I'll repeat, this all ends if you break invisibility while mobs are in your area and searching for you. Knowing when to break invis and when to wait before doing so is something that you'll learn as you go.

To amend the spell list above:
Web, Charm Person, Niac's, etc. can be useful situationally, but really the list made above will hold you until you get FW.
Charm Person can be particularly effective for a solo'ist, but you'll be giving up one of your buffs for it.... and if you plan on melee'ing the early levels those buffs really help.
It's a judgment call depending on your playstyle.

hockeyrama
05-10-2010, 09:09 PM
you can sneak by alot of used well. However, remember the invisibility does not make you silent so they can hear your footsteps if you get too close unless you have move silent skill.

however, you still going to have a problem in many quests as many quests require mosnters to be cleared (killed off ) before it allows you to open a door or section.

Calebro
05-10-2010, 09:15 PM
however, you still going to have a problem in many quests as many quests require mosnters to be cleared (killed off ) before it allows you to open a door or section.
To help in these situations, learn to "body pull" your enemies.
Attacking at a distance or charging into melee will bring all the mobs in the area down upon you.

Staying back and slowly inching forward without attacking until only 1 or 2 mobs see you will bring only those to you and allow you to fight a few at a time instead of all of them. Once they charge you, back off immediately so that no others see the fight. Lather rinse repeat.
This is another trick that takes a little practice to perform properly.

Phidius
05-10-2010, 09:21 PM
No, there are a number of posts I've read talking about soloing using masters touch and a two hander until you get firewall. To my experience an untwinked Sorcerer does not have enough SP to solo anything around level 4, how could a wizard possibly have the SP pool to do so?

Yeah, but once you leave Korthos you really should start using your spells to influence the battle rather than killing. Crowd Control, buffs, and self healing (although I normally use wands to conserve SP) are the best use of spell points.

Use Charm Person on the mobs that aren't immune, but don't charm them all... I normally charm 1 out of 3-4 just to even the odds. Normally, the warrior types are easily charmed, and help you by taking the aggro of the casters.

Once you get level 3 spells, switch to Suggestion (fewer things are immune).

With the rogue levels, you'll also get some use out of Glitterdust for automatic backstabs.

Now that I think about it, I pretty much use this technique all the way up to level 20 - just using different spells :D

hockeyrama
05-11-2010, 01:59 AM
I took a low level character I have not used in awhile he is 2 rogue and 2 wizard just to show you what we are discussing. I like hypno instead of charm with that character as he then can gang up (gets the backstab bonus against the dazed) with his summoned creature and take out things one at a time. The red halo means they hypno and until you hit them they not moving (unless they make another save later but still more then enough time). So the idea is walk into the room, target one of them with a hypno and then follow around your mutt and kill them off. Note: I know this guy not the best build was my first ever build and I left him but just wanted to show you what i mean.

http://my.ddo.com/hockeyrama/wp-content/blogs.dir/89750/files/wizard/screenshot00003.jpg

GeneralDiomedes
05-11-2010, 02:16 AM
Having a hireling cleric with DVs will still outweigh any dungeon scaling IMO. The melee hirelings are allright I guess, but are a bit difficult to use with tactics.

Some other tactics to consider
- charm a few mobs in a group, melee the rest and take advantage of the lack of aggro while it lasts
- find some perches (there are plenty) and range the mobs with your eternal wands of fire/acid. If you can't find a perch, then just kite it
- invis past enemies that don't need to be killed
- sight pull - it's faster than body pulling when those buffs are ticking. You just need some of the mobs to look at you. Use geometry to get the angle on them, or fire range weapons near them to get them to move
- summoned monsters. Scrolls are very cheap, and the dogs make decent tanks. Sneak up with your dog, and let it get first aggro.
- when attacking multiple mobs, move around and keep the mob you are attacking between you and the others
- bluff pulling works quite well, although this may be subject to developer whim, and is another skill you probably can't afford

Some other things to consider
- Repeat the good xp/minute quests (i.e. Information is Key) to speed your ascent
- IMO the straight +2/+3/etc. weapons are the best bang for buck at the auction house if you don't have a lot of cash. Get the best for your level ASAP.
- get the DR items from Korthos .. they really help for a 2 hander arcane with low AC
- don't use a buff unless it's actually helping. I'm mostly thinking of the AC buffs if your AC sucks anyhow.
- turn off auto-attack, auto-target. learn how to manually target
- hotkey everything

Aschbart
05-11-2010, 02:58 AM
@dungeon scaling:
I wasn't aware a hireling changes this. Has anyone got an idea about the effects of this scaling? Only thing I know is that when I do low level dungeons with a toon that has the DR 1/- gloves from Korthos, the glancing blows deal no damage, whereas in a full group they do deal quite a few points, and that adds up to uncomfortable levels. So I often need more self-healing (or require help from the party healer) in a group than when soloing!

But honestly, my (low level) experience with melee hirelings was pretty good. With him I was taking no damage at all and always able to cast because the hireling aggroed everything. Without him I was taking lots of damage and losing spells due to failed concentration checks. Of course, I still needed to repair that hireling constantly, and it's quite possible he took even more damage than me. But he finished off the mobs much more effectively than I could, so I'm fine with that.

I like cleric hirelings with DV as well, but mostly with toons who are actually melee builds (with some casting ability), such as my battle cleric or warchanter. Don't see that much of a use for a WF arcane.

Warlawk
05-11-2010, 04:09 AM
The responses and suggestions in here are great. The hireling most certainly did jack up the level. I went to strictly solo and now after a couple levels with toughness and the racial enhancement under my belt, as well as level two buffs things went much smoother. I'm yet a little gunshy of running hards just because I'm pretty squishy still, but with a +3 docent and shield I do alright. Using invis cost me Blur from my lineup, but I think it's worth it for a lot of quests. Can just cut out so many fights by cruising on past.

Thanks for all the help guys. Grabbed myself a nice keen falchion to replace the Nicked Greatsword I was using, and looking forward to some havoc with that before I pass it on down to a lowbie 1rog/barb that might be my next project. With a pocket healer hench he is a pretty nice wrecking ball.

Thanks for all the help and ideas up in here.

Shadeslay7
05-21-2010, 11:04 AM
The class I've had the easiest time soloing with is just a pure monk "rockin robbin build". Has tons of AC, his reflex saves are so high I just run through traps "they seldom hit me" and he has unlimited healing "at level 7" even if they do. Granted I'm only level 10, but I've had no issues and every other class I've tried so far has left me a bit disappointed starting out, when I compare it to the pure monk.

The only real draw back I've found with this build. Is when ray of enfeeblement hits him, he's crippled if he's carrying anything. Because it will take him off center, then it's run for life time.

aristarchus1000
05-29-2010, 08:52 AM
The only real draw back I've found with this build. Is when ray of enfeeblement hits him, he's crippled if he's carrying anything. Because it will take him off center, then it's run for life time.

You should pick up lesser restoration potions, they should be pretty cheap for you by level 10.