Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Help/Tips/Tricks Fane The Death Knight (Solo Lone Wolf)

Hello!

I came across this video from a guy who plays a solo lone wolf Fane in a Death Knight esque style.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMBbsCodFKk)

So after seeing this video I thought well this seems fun lets try it out. Already in Fort Joy im encountering some issues that I can't seem to get past the boss camp Griff for instance completely solo being level 3.

How does this guy manage to fight Mordus (where I'm at on my main save with 4 people) and I'm already struggeling at Fort Joy on a classic mode instead of tactician.

Also he seems to have insane gear on all the YT videos he's in.

Any help or tips would be lovely.

Cheers!

I am doing a solo run myself that so far I am almost 22hrs into so I may be able to offer some help.

I closely watched his or her video of the fight with Bishop Alexander and I gather that the person just has good knowledge of game mechanics and synergies and also makes good strategic choices and good use of skills at critical moments (eg. saving rage to guarantee criticals to leech to full health when health is critically low instead of using it asap for damage). If you watch these videos carefully and analyze both the skill usage and the attribute/combat/civil/talent stat allocations you will learn quite a bit on how to successfully mimic the character build.

I believe that early on for any solo tactician build will test the limits of your patience and strategy (which can be very rewarding) because you are severely limited in both your skills available and gear available.

I don't believe you should be taking on Griff and his cronies so early in the game. In another thread I gave some general tips for any solo tactician and one of the tips was that early on you should be at least 1 level higher than someone you want to fight (it helps greatly to even the odds when you have so little skills and inferior gear). However, Griff has a semi well rounded group of friends at his aid and so personally I would recommend trying the fight at level 4-6 (I did it at 6 and it was trivial so level 5 may be more challenging - with more strategic choices level 4 may even be possible).

Also, it would appear for the particular build that the YouTuber and you are playing, that points in Necromancer are critical for success. I surmise that you simply don't have enough points in Necromancer (or bonuses from equipment) to leech back more damage than what is incoming. Gather more gear with + to Necromancer levels and use the most damaging 2-hander that you can will help you achieve this as early as possible.

By the time the YouTuber gets to Mordus the full build is well past up and running. Even in the fight with Alexander the build is already up and running because two hits with the rage buff nearly fills the character from empty to full health. So the skills and stat allocations after that point are icing on the cake assuming you continue to upgrade your gear.

A note about your last comment about the youtuber's "insane" gear. The gear he or she is wearing can easily be obtained just through normal play. If you go to 14:28 on the Alexander fight video you can see under the Talents tab that they chose to have 0 points into lucky charm but 2 points to thievery. Level 2 thievery would allow the character to steal from anyone in Act 1 and choosing carefully would quickly boost gear and money gain. I can also tell you from going with lucky charm and bartering instead of thievery (early on) that you can also easily obtain very good gear and any skill book that you want if you are patient and choose carefully.

You just have to be very patient in the beginning because you won't be well rounded until near the end of Act 1.

Thanks alot!

This will help alot I´ll study the Alexander fight a bit more. Only watched the Mordus fight to be fair.

As for skills I mainly tried it went for what I thought he would have gone for.

Indeed I should put some points in thievery and probably get Executioner but I took Pet Pal at level 3 as the Youtuber suggested himself in one of the comments.

Thanks anyways!

I´ll put some more hours in ^.^

I'm curious, why pet pal ? More xp ? I found executioner better

Cuz some quests cant be done without petpal, so he maximise his experience income.


I also play solo Lone Wolf Fane Shadowblade and as long as you're familiar with mechanics and skills its pretty easy, Lone Wolf is powerful perk.
I manage to kill 1 (sometimes 2) enemies without taking ANY damage cause of using Invisibility (chameleon cloak) and playing dead (Fane special ability) and when i got source to use Time Warp (free tour right after yours, which means you got 2 tours before enemy can do anything) i can kill up to 3 or Boss before enemies can even move

Im wondering why I´m actuelly going solo lone wolf.

Is it not easier to make for instance a custom undead and ask fane to join u?

And go double Death Knight?

I'm still very new to this game and I simply struggle to play it solo as Fane Death knight on normal difficulty.

There is nothing stopping you from running a duo lone wolf party. In fact, it is a very strong option.

You can play with up to two characters and the bonus from lone wolf for either of them or both of them will still apply. You can even have three or four characters but then the character(s) with lone wolf will lose the lone wolf bonuses temporarily until you reduce the party size.

Some people, myself included, just want the game to be more challenging and by running solo it forces you to think more carefully and more strategically. Also, in a new fight you may die a lot but as long as you keep learning and adapting you will eventually overcome the challenge. And it will feel that much more gratifying if it was difficult to overcome. In my case I am currently playing with Sebille. So playing solo also suits her persona and I typically like to role play decisions in game not as myself but how I think the avatar I am controlling would think and feel. For example, I may play duo when I play Beast (and his friend will have to be a dwarf), because he seems like the type that knows how to lead and delegate (but more of an outlaw type versus The Red Prince who might have a concubine or servant accompany him).

Have you tried a 4 character non-lone wolf party? You can get some hilarious combinations going after you respec in Act 2, or if you do the 4-client custom party from the get go. 4 death knights? Pain train! 4 Summoners? They won't know who to hit! Etc.

I am not trying to deter you from doing a solo or duo lone wolf run. I am just throwing out ideas. I encourage you to experiment and find which setup is the most fun for you. I can nearly guarantee that there will be several if not many. Have fun!

Death Knight is quite hard thats why it might be not that easy for you. (but if you master the game mechanics and skills, its easy).

You can try my way, Go for Shadowblade solo Lone Wolf Fane, you cant imagine how much fun it gives.
You go Finesse/Wits build with full Scoundrel (and 1 Polymorph for Cloak) and then some Warfare/Dual Wielding (You can swap warfare with Necromancer for healing)
Pick Lone Wolf and The Pawn perks (pawn is very impotant)
Playing Fane gives you 2 very good special abilities, Time Warp (2 tours instead of 1) and Playing Dead (another free tour)
The amount of movement from maxing Scoundrel and The Pawn is insane, you actually dance in the fight places.
Playing with enemies with Invisibility (Chameleon Cloak) and Playing Dead (special skill) is so damn effective, before enemies can even hit you you already did 3 full tours (4 if got source for Time Warp).
Remember about picking everything thats worth any gold, selling it and buying good items, this is essential as Lone Wolf since you need the best equipment you can get.

Insanely good, i recommend it

Why going solo you ask ? Well, for the challenge, nothing more. A full team of 4 is "divine" if builded well, 2 lone wolves too. The more the better.

So I find it pretty paradoxal : you want to solo and you want to make it easier ?

If you understand the game and even abuse some mechanics, you will find soloing easy. Try duo deathknights, follow your heart !

Thanks everyone for the replies.

On my main save (where I just reached act 2) I got a party of 4 but it felt a bit meh as I think I made some bad spec decisions. Then I found on youtube this DK guy. But since I'm still exploring how the game works etc I guess going 2 DK's might be more suited for me at the moment.

As for the shadowblade build. In my main save of the party of 4 i got Fane as a rogue which was very fun but I probably played it wrong cause he died all the time ^.^.

Also regarding gear do you guys buy alot of gear or mostly find it in chests etc.

Got a feeling that on my main save my 4 heroes are just very weak and die super easily. Perhaps I'm rushing it too much in fights.

Well playing solo or 2x Lone Wolf makes your gear better, beacuse u're using gear for 2 characters, not 4. Thats means you got powerful Lone Wolf perk and better gear.
I mostly find my gear, but always look at merchrants, sometimes they sell very, very powerful items.

Rogue and Shadowblade is kinda diffrent, shadowblade starts with Polymorph which allows him to use Invisibility
I going like that:
Backlash>hit>all in>invisibility>
1 free tour
Haste>Throwing knife>hit>Time warp
2 free tour
Hit>hit>hit>playing dead
3 free tour
again Backlash>Throwing Knife>hit

And if someone is still alive, he can do any damage to me after 3 tours
Its overpowered, even at Tactican Mode

That sounds indeed very strong ^.^

Gotta try that out later.

What do you mean by "one free tour"?
And do you do enough damage with the lone wolf perk to drop physical/magical shields with backlash, and all in? (First combo). In my experience you are usually facing off against 4 to 5 enemies.

Invisibility gives you a free turn because the enemy can't see youuntil you decide to attack again.
Time Warp gives you a second turn just after your first.
Playing dead makes you go "out of combat" : if you are solo, the fight will reset, if you have a team, your character will just "go invisible", except he can't move and he can't recharge the cooldowns of his spells.

You can solo the entier game with a solo lone wolf dude, be it a rogue or a warrior, or even a mage I guess (never tried a magic solo build)

The trick is simple in solo (at least for me). Maybe it's not the best method but it works : you focus 1 guy and combo him to destroy his shield THEN you end the turn by stunning him. The other enemies will come closer (try to select isolated targets, teleport is the spell for it). Then on your second turn, finish off the main target OR stun it again. Final blows at the third turn at worst.

My solo experience is not a team battle game, more like an assassination game.

Exactly what guy above said.
After first combo i use Chameleon Cloak (invisibility) means enemy cant see me so they cant do anything, they pass. Its my turn again so i attack from stealth, then using Time Warp (Time Warp gives you second tour just after you finish it) that means i got third tour without enemy doing anything. Next i use Playing Death, if you're alone it completely resets the fight (you're going out of combat) so you attack, combat starts and its again your tour.
That means 4 tours of your attacks without Enemy doing any damage to you.

Playing Tactican mode and actually if there are 3 enemies, i can kill them without making them even more. If 4 or more then they actually can attack me.

And about your question, most of the times backlash>all in destroys enemy psychical shield, but to do that you must always look what merchrants selling to get best daggers you actually can.

I like the idea of playing the game solo in the future (I'll take a break and let some patches roll in) but I don't really get the point of doing with invis / play dead. I mean I want the game to be more challenging, not more boring. It just seems way too strong to offer any challenge. (shrug) Just my opinion.

You dont heal like Death Knight build, you dont have 10k HP and huge amount of psyhical armor.

Trust me, it might seems easy and abusing, but its a huge challenge which requires complete strategy knownledge, 1 tour of enemies can kill you easly

I played last fight for 7 times, so it is challenging Its mind game.