Delicious.

Definitely! It is a great shield, especially early in the game. I would totally use it. Though late game, I will almost always go for the Sword of Chaos over the shield.

hahah, I actually had computer issues for a few months and sort of fell off on video creation because of it. Sorry about that!

Indeed, the first several I tried to keep from overlapping too much, if you watch them you can find a few things to combine. The next several will also have new items as well, though I will also start repeating some that were used in earlier builds (Like Bhaalist armor) so people can try those sorts of things without resorting to using my Thief build if they don't like Rogue. :)

Yeah I am setting up doing all the easy combats to hit level 5 as we speak. :) And yeah, I usually use Mage Hand, I just didn't have it on this particular char, so wanted to try something else, and failed! But that's just fine hahah.

Indeed, but since it requires Deluxe Edition and is a thing that some people don't like to use, I don't show that off in the video. However, the Minotaur 75 exp thing is nice, someone else mentioned that too, will have to do that in the future if it's easy enough heh (or at least try!). And yeah the bandits are REALLY easy, but the point is to do almost 0 combats if possible here. The next thing I was going to show in a video (going from 4-5) is going to be doing all those easy, easy ass encounters, now that you are level 4. ;)

I prefer this way, usually I get past the Devourers with no issue and it takes me right to the Flayer real easy, but even if that fails as you see it's pretty much assured you can get away if you are leaping. And yes, there are a NUMBER of ways to save Baelen, I just happened to fail trying this one on the run I was doing, but left it in, to show you still get exp from failing it, and that it doesn't REALLY matter.

​@@robertplaysvideogamesI assumed it was clear that by 'you' I mean 'you the viewer', not 'you the content creator'. My intent is to make some things clearer and potentially easier for anyone looking to level up efficiently and risk free.

Yeah it helps a lot of people, especially if you are using a whole party, and double especially if you have someone who is using Tavern Brawler, which is just SO good early in the game.

Agreed, but the real turning point in this game is lvl 5. Every class gets a huge power spike in various ways, which is something you will find out for yourself if you try to fight the Gith patrol being below lvl 5. To reach that level efficiently, you want to start hopping between maps to take on fights according to their level of difficulty.

@@Mike-r4h I wouldn't say it's the 'Real turning point'. But yes, I agree, Pathing the fights based on difficulty after hitting 4 is smart, and what my next video on this subject will be about. (I have a specific order I do those fights, too!)

Lvl 5 is a benchmark in tabletop, and the game mimics that well. As I said, the difference between 'gith patrol fight at lvl3 versus lvl4' is significant, but not encounter defining. The difference between 'gith patrol fight at lvl4' versus lvl5' is enormous.

It...is a video about how to do this very fast? Thus, I am hurrying!! I also generally do this through the start of the game regardless. I've beaten the game around 20 times now, and it really helps to do this so the entire run is faster. (Gets you to the next run, even faster!) Act 2 by under 8 hours is usually my goal.

@@robertplaysvideogames I still do notunderstand the need to rush. I play video games for fun and to waste time, so I really do not understand the mindset to fast track any game.

@@christinehede7578 I agree in general, on the first few runs at least. My first several runs were much, much longer! And I didn't skip all the Dialogue. But there are some people who who want to get through it faster so they can start testing builds that come online a little bit afterward. And it's also meant as assistance for people who might have trouble with the earliest levels. You don't even have to go about this fast - but the pathing itself would still be very helpful to anyone. It's smart to get high level as soon as you can, before doing many combats so you have a higher chance of winning said combats. That's all. :)

@@robertplaysvideogames absolutely it us smart to level up as much as possible before combat, especially in honour mode

If you check out my Shove/Throw Rogue build, it uses Render combined with a few other things to get some REALLY high Psychic damage numbers. Maybe you could combine some of the ideas I have from there, with your ideas above. It could work really well, I would use Resonance Stone + Bhaalist now if I were remaking that build, as I didn't learn about Resonance stone until afterward heh

Yes, I would, it applies just to flurries, but it is a huge amount. And it applies hit, and damage, which makes you able to Topple guys who you can't hit with the Shadowblade itself, to give you Advantage, giving you a much better chance to hit.

Basically, it goes like this: You take damage (We'll say, 40!) You halve it (Resistance from Gaseous Form, 20 damage now) Now, you subtract your Arcane Ward TOTAL charges from this damage, and lower your total remaining charges by 1 (We'll say we had 20, so you take 20 damage, -20 from charges, for 0 damage, with 19 Arcane Charges remaining afterward) Then, it checks 'Did this monster hit you?' for AoA, and it did, even though it did 0, so it takes 30-60 (Depends if Wet or not ;) )

@@robertplaysvideogames but how come sometimes you still may take damage even if you have had wards? I remember at lvl 5 (1 cleric, 1 sorcerer 3 wizard) I would still actually take damage even if you have multiple ward charges.

@@auomi8762 It depends on the grand total you are taking. Arcane Ward will only reduce it by the number of Charges, in value. So if you have only 5 Charges, you will only reduce 5 damage from said attack. Early game, you often are taking damage still.

I actually ran this in the very last encounter still, on Honour Mode, and he destroyed all of the Illithid Arcanists for me :P As well as did most of the damage on the brain!

@@robertplaysvideogames nice glad to hear it. I’m running around with mods again and I want to add a psychic blade character to my current playthrough

Yeah, he's a good boy, but he likes to whine hahah

It does work, but I wanted to be able to use a Maneuver for both attacks, since the helmet is only once a turn. So with 4 dice, you are only using 1 a turn, or 3 on the turn you Action Surge. I did consider doing 9 Monk instead, which is still totally viable, but I wanted to focus more on the Shadowblade, itself. It is also to show the synergy of both Battlemaster Dice, and Ki Points being short rest-based. But so is Shadowblade!

Also yeah in my Honour run I used this build in, I used the Invis Cloak too. But I was also kind of noticing late game since I had so many attacks, I would kill one guy, and lose the invis on the next - but it was at least a way to get Advantage for Sneak Attack

I will! Thanks for the support <3

Yeah I have a bad habit of talking during loading screens, but I do eventually plan to stop that xD

@@robertplaysvideogames I’d imagine you have somethings you want to say written down you might benefit from doing a bit more of that. Even a small storyboard like oh I need this shot or this shot. It’s easy enough to just leave gaps in the audio or move audio in the timeline when editing. The actual information in the videos is fantastic but most RU-vid viewers have a short attention spans as I’m sure you can see in the analytics. You can definitely get more out of each video with a bit more pre/post production. Again this is unsolicited advice lol but long comments are good for the engagement so I guess you’re welcome? Anyway love the content! You’re awesome keep grinding!

@@bjohnston91 Yeah currently I just kind of 'practice' what I am going to say once, then go off and do it all in a single take. My computer isn't the BEST, and I am terrible at editing, it is definitely on my list of things to do though ;)

It's quite easy to mitigate. Githzerai Mind Barrier and Heroes' Feast give you advantage on Int and Wis saves respectively so you end up rolling a regular d20, and resistance to psychic damage is something you can get via elixir of universal resistance, warding bond or gear. I was expecting immunity to emotion-altering conditions to negate it completely but it doesn't seem to be working. Sent Larian a bug report, perhaps they'll fix that bit :D

Yeah it almost never came up for me, especially because in my Honour Mode run I was wearing the Durge cloak, and after killing guys would just become invis, and stay that way, if I happened to have an enemy I wanted to avoid. The whole run only took 30 hours, and that is with doing every encounter. This build definitely contributed toward that.

Sounds awesome I can’t wait to try! I was almost more worried about instances of dialogue where you have to make mental saves, but I’m realizing now that once you get the stone, the majority of these saves have already occurred in the story (zathisk, thay) the only exception is the astral but as you say in the vid that actually kinda synergizes well with this build so who cares lol

Immediately after you mentioned it 😅😂 good job 👍

Good!

Some of the ways things stack won't work fully, but it WILL still do a ton of damage. All the Willing Whip procs still go off, and those all still receive buffs from different items afaik. But, perhaps I will do a Loviatar's Scourge build for my next honour run, just to test ;)

I am pretty happy about it too ngl, thanks for the kind words!

@@robertplaysvideogames just keep hustling and we’ll keep watching

What?

​@@robertplaysvideogamesnormally you can't use twinned meta magic on spells that target more than once. Such as your enchantment power word kill. Eldritch blast at character level 5 or higher also targets two things.

@@O_RLY This is because of the nature of how Split Enchantment works. It still counts as a 'base 1 target' thing. Neither work if I cast the spells at a higher level for ones that give extra targets.

This is absolutely an unintended interaction, and will get fixed as it becomes more well known. If you've paid any attention to Larians patch cadence, they're absolutely nuking exploits as they get found. This isn't like DSO2 which is their IP which they're happy to leave things in that break the game as a reward for breaking the game. @@robertplaysvideogames

Glad you enjoy it :) These are the kinds of builds I live for! Crazy combinations optimized.

It...could be PRETTY dangerous early because of Shattered Flail, or on the otherhand..maybe that makes it even better? Lol. I would totally try it/use it. This build was so sweet during my Honour Mode Run, but I think it might also have some problems with certain bosses/fights. So you may have to resort to some barrelmancy

@@robertplaysvideogames which boss fight are you worried about ? Those undead in act 2 that are immune to bleed ? I could see this build struggling all through act 2. I've just started a solo run with Shattered Flail + Tiger and for now in act 1 it's holding up !

W‘wargaz could be a hard no. Doesn’t look like enough burst to get him down, before he has too many blades.

@@Lukashoffmann94 Actually doing a solo honor playthrough with this build. W'Wargaz was fine, the blade all miss you because of radiating orb and they guarantee you 3 targets so you heal massively. I feel like this build doesn't fear anything that's melee since you're just going to incapacitate them so much. Ethel on the other hand I had to get away from ...

@@mdrlolcat kinda expected w‘wargaz to just be too high in ac to hit and drain you to death with his link. Ethel shouldn’t be too hard, if you get some magic missile scrolls.

If you are talking about Robe of Uninhibited Kushigo I believe that is only if you are using Patient Defense, so you would need to put Monk levels in, but I don't see why not if that was your goal.

@@robertplaysvideogames Yeah there is that early game and then act 3 you get the Vest of Soul Rejuvenation, which is even better, free healing every turn and free AoO with a +2 to armour. Might try both options, your build and the altered version with monk.

The playthrough in the video is NOT on Honour Mode, but I DID play this build in my first Honour Mode run, all of this works exactly the same in Honour Mode.

Love the build, the only downside that I see is that it takes some items away from a radiant orb light cleric which is also a beast in honor mode.

On my honor moder chapter 2 lawn mower shadowheart carries hard so many fights

@@victoru92 Yeah unfortunately you only get 1 char who can REALLY lean into the Reverb+Orbs business, so far though, this has been my favorite version :) But I also LOVE martial classes.

This is what I have been running in Honor mode, but in my run, reverberation only applies on one target, not all hit by the cleave. In other modes, is the condition applied to everyone hit?

Tavern brawler gives +1 to con

@@cthulhuwu_he took an ASI at level 4 to get CON to 18 and INT to 16. Tavern Brawler was later. I think it’s about also getting DEX to 16. Can’t have 3 ability scores at 16+ in character creation

His suggested stats are probably optimal in a vacuum, but I personally don't like builds that assume you can use the hag hair because you have 4 party members to think about. I especially hesitate to use the hag hair here because dex gets more and more irrelevant as you spend more and more time in gas cloud form. You could go 17 CON, 16 INT, 14 Dex with I think 2 more points to put in some random place for skill checks? Another thing you can do for early game is use the int hat you get off the ogre to give you the ability to put more points in dex.