Overview
A step-by-step walkthrough as well as some general advice on the first half of the game on TC mode. From there on you should have no problem finishing if you follow the advice contained within.
Introduction
Recently I played tons of PoTD, especially early to midgame. Thanks to that I came up with an optimised, foolproof way to beat the first half of the game. I think that as the first one third – one half is actually the hardest part of the game (due to the party being overleveled and over- geared for the second half) I am positive that this also means a kind-of foolproof way to beat PoTD, or Triple Crown and Frozen Crown even. Following the steps outlined, I managed to do just that: Beat Frozen Crown without any difficulties.
I hope this guide/walkthrough will help others who struggle with the earlygame. Even if you don’t want to play on TC, you might still learn a couple useful tricks from this guide.
General Advice
Before you start, a couple general things:
– First things first. You should complete the game AT LEAST ONCE, preferably on PoTD before you attempt this. You should be familiar with the approx. level and difficulty of every major area as well as the best tactics for various fights. I won’t explain the basics here. It is up to you to catch my meaning and make the builds, grab the gear and manage the fights.
– You can try this going in completely blind to the game, if you read around a bit about builds and gear this will definitely help, but your success rate will be lower, so don’t blame me if your TC run fails. As I said, I managed to provide a foolproof way of going through TC provided you have the required knoweledge.
– To avoid any confusion, from this point on I’ll be referring to anything as if you were playing TC or FC (means Trial of Iron, Expert and PoTD modes combined). Obviously if you leave one or more of those challenge modes out you’ll experience a much easier run.
– This is not at all a complete walkthrough. I’ll only provide a step-by-step walkthrough for the early and midgame. Once the game really opens up (aka. you can comfortably do quests in Stalwart) and you start to be overpowered, I’ll leave you on your own, with some general advice for the later stages. I’m pretty sure that if you managed that far you’ll be okay till the end.
– You will be playing a good guy. One, this is easier than being a villain. Good dispositions will make for better dialouge checks and quest rewards. Two, it will help with the paladin Faith and Conviction. Keep this in mind! You should be at least vaugely familiar with which dialouge option affects which disposition.
– To give a general idea about PoTD: Enemies are 2 levels over their normal state, which means they have higher stats, Acc and defenses most importantly. Also mobs are bigger. All this means the fights are longer, so what you will need above all else is sustain: Sustainable damage (burst builds like glass cannon rouges won’t do), sustainable CC (wizards are not that good here) and sustainable support/healing (this is why Kind Wayfayers shine).
– Accuracy stacking is your friend. There’s no such thing as too much ACC. Understanding this concept will essentially make the game (all game, every difficulty) a walk int he park.
– This is achievement hunting. Meaning we will not fight fair. Some cheese involved. Also we will not upscale. (BTW if you want a great challange from the game try upscaled PoTD, it is really fun, but even this gets easy towards the end).
– Some synonyms I’ll be using: Main=PC= Your main character. Naked=1 handed weapon without a shield.
With all that, let’s get into the game, shall we. I’ll explain everything else on the fly. Okay here we go.
From start to Maerwald
– First create a fighter as the PC. He’s useful all game, no sense in waiting. High MIG, PER, some CON RES base DEX dump INT. I roll with Deathlike from Rautai, Slave (slave is the ultimate frontliner background now, with bonus to both atheltics and survival). Use the heaviest armor on him.
– Grab calisca, grab her good stuff, outfit your fighter, get all the stuff from starting area, DO NOT GET BERRIES, find dead adventurers, kill wolves, get the Disappointer, loot everything but the berries.
– Sell all your unneeded stuff to Heodan he has really good prices, you can easily make 500 cash, dont bother with locked chest; lockpicks are more valuable than the stuff inside.
– Go on with the story, loot the ambushers and grab a hunting bow for the fighter, fights should be easy, go naked 1hander or a 2H sword.
– During the fight with the raider boss, as soon as the last raider is about to die switch to bow on PC, for the free kill during the following interactive script (your DEX might not be high enough to toss a rock and you DEFINITELY don’t want to toss your weapon.), Heodan must live, boot Calisca if you have to choose.
– As soon as in ruins, grab camping supplies, gem, kill skuldr, get meat from it, give it to xaurip, then kill it anyways for 2 spears. Naked xaurip spears is the best early game weapon due to huge + ACC bonus.
– Disarm every trap with Heodan in the trap room this gives tons of free XP, light pillars anyways, go into room with face, get cloak of protection, equip on main.
– Kill spiders, loot dungeon, go out.
– Go to Gilded Vale, dont fight nobody, sneak if u must, there is 1 young wolf on path u can kill it maybe. Don’t rest here if you can avoid it, camping supplies are valuable now.
– When in GV, go through the dialouge, go to inn, get Aloth, and recruit your best companion: Wood Elf ranger, full DPS build, max MIG DEX PER base INT dump rest (yea CON too), companion is bear, you will go with hunting bows then full Stormcaller DPS build.
– Aloth’s important spells: Slicken, Dazzlying Lights, on LVL2 Blindness is MVP!!!
– If you sold things to Heodan you should have money for a second companion, create a Paladin, moonlike Kind Wayfayer, get Lay on Hands, Flames of Devotion is crap. The build will be tank/passive heal with Strange Mercy/ active heal-resurrect. High DPS stats (MIG PER DEX), high CON, at least base INT, RES can be base or lower even (dont dump to min tho). Faith&conviction will help with defenses. Lategame Sacred Immolation MVP.
– I hope you are familiar with building paladins because this will be a hard one. A couple missteps and he will feel outright useless. The trick is to have enough of a DPS build to trigger Strange Mercy consistently while not going too low on defenses.
– PC weapon class: Adventurer (pollaxe/ estoc for 2H, naked Starcaller for CC), Paladin weapon class: Soldier (Greatsword (Redeeemer, Tidefall) for 2H, Shatterstar/ Goadshuntyr for CC)
– For now, grab Xaurip/normal spears on all melee chars, either naked or with shield (on pally, Outworn Buckler / Lil Saviour later)
– You need a total of 500 cash for all this, hope you sold stuff to Heodan at a profit.
– Talk with innkeeper about porridge, rest, sleep, go to the tree, talk to dwarf woman, get Edair, get him (or PC) to 5 athletics ASAP. Outfit PC with Edair’s armor.
– Go Valevoods, talk with Nonton, kill Outlaws, kill Wolfes, grab Fulvano’s gloves (goes on ranger), free the cook, kill xaurips, kill bears in cave (Blindness MVP), talk with dead guy’s spirit.
– Go home, finish Nonton quest (let them go), do mill task, speak with Anurfa, speak with smith, activate quests, go into all the houses for exploration XP and free loot (don’t steal tho)
– Go to Magran’s Fork, get Durance (he’ll be the only premade in party), kill wolves on the north, go south, grab fine pollaxe/greatsword from dead guy (it varies), go more south, kill the troll, get Fulvano amulet, it goes on Edair
– Durance will be the healer / stats booster, plain and simple. Ranged weapons (crossbow, arquebus) / biggest shield and a wpn (hathcet/sword). I hope you are familiar with the kickass priest spells. He is also the Mechanics guy of the party.
– Repulsing Seal is seriously OP. You spam that every fight for free AoE prones. If you buff Mechanics on him your Seals will crit for 10-20 second prones. You might even consider mastering it later, LVL2 buff spells are weak for mastery anyways.
– Go east till road then north, kill the mage with the pallys, explore house, there’s a free campfire inside. If you feel strong on your party kill wolves, but stay clear of boars!!
– Go Black Meadow, you can kill single trolls for XP but not groups. Go on road, turn north at intersection, kill bandits (tank the leader and leave him for last, kill the rouges first, especially the ranged ones at the back). Blindness will help a TON.
– Go home, finish smith quest, buy outworn buckler (sell stuff if u have to), really good shield, lasts until endgame on your pally if u upgrade it.
– Go Anshlog Compass, you should be able to finish quest here. Go west kill xaurips then south to potion maker. Go back north, get Fulvano items, kill more xaurips. Champions are the strongest ones here, blind them. Set the ranger on the priests.
– Go into cave, place one Repulsing Seal on ground and lure ONE sporeling to it. There’s one running around, it should be easy. If you aggro all of them and the spores you are likely dead, they are way too strong at this point.
– Go back, finish quests, go Caed Nua, kill Kana for his stuff (arquebus for Durance, Estoc for PC), go back to Maedmir Bridge, explore some, kill xaurips, do the merchant’s task, kill the robbers, get shipment.
– Go back to CN, you should be LVL4, courtyard is hard though. Have to be careful, don’t aggro too many enemies at once. Lure if possible. Remember that you don’t have to clear the courtyard just get to the keep. My preferred route is through the entrance then north (big mob here), then more north till the hedge maze then hug the northern boundary (hedge maze/brighthollow) until the keep entrance. My advise is to practice this part on simple PoTD before.
– Go into main hall, get sword, use it on main, naked. Kill enemies, there are annoying phantoms, use Blindness on them, luckily no Shades here. You can utilize Fan of Flames here for great effect, if you feel confident at guessing it’s AoE.
– Go down a level, you can chokepoint fight the spiders.
– Do Maerwald, should be easy, the fight is not balanced against a full party.
– Do not explore here for more, a couple fights are pretty hard and the level is cramped with enemies so you might accidentally aggro more than one mob so be careful.
From Maerwald to the end of the first half
– Go to Raedric Hold, infiltrate upstairs via north, explore some, kill some paladins for plate mails. Stay the heck out of the throne room, always scout ahead, use Repulsing Seal at chokepoints a lot.
– The goal is to grab lots of loot, not to kill everyone. Some fights here are more than capable of ending your run so be careful.
– On the other hand, if you can make it to the catacombs (should be easy if you know the layout), it should be easy to clear, (careful with oozes though, avoid them unless you are confident) including Orysa. She is friendly first (go thorugh the dialouge in a friendly manner so she doesnt attack you outright) so position your party first then force attack her. Finish the quest with the priest upstairs, but DONT go to the throne room.
– Go Woodend Plains, get Sagani’s bow for your ranger, you have to be careful not to aggro pwigras around here. You can fight lions with ease if U use Blindness a lot. Get the unique hatchet in the northwest corner. This is a hard fight though, Edair died on me here. Be sure that you have full health before doing this fight.
– As a side note, If someone dies on you, no biggie, go to an inn and grab another companion. You might lose some XP on them though.
– You can clear the Eothas temple upper level at this point, or even lower level if u know your way around Shades. (Pretty clutch fights tho, you might wanna skip this for a bit for comfort. Or practice on regular PoTD beforehand)
– Go Defiance Bay, you can do the Svef Dealer quest with ease. Just like with Orysa, position your party beforehand in the room with the wizard, block the entrance with a tank+ repulsing seal then initiate the converstaion.
– Do the Gordy knife quest, get figurine, explore every area, check the Woedica temple for free XP, accept every quest&task you know of, do the Salty Mast bandits quest. You can let the bandits go or kill them. Letting them go is good for your disposition but the loot they have is valuable at this point.
– As soon as you have access to mechanics 7, grab the djinni lamp from the Valian Embassy. Use Brighthollow resting bonus if needed. Considered stealing so be careful.
– Stuff to stay away from at this point: Clandestine Cargo, Lighthouse, any main quest.
– You should be LVL5, do the Pallegrina intro quest, get her, take her to the embassy to get the Forgotten quest, then grab her stuff and let her go
– You can do the Wael scroll quest then deal with Raedric at this point to get Justice for your pally, you should be LVL5 definitely now. You will find a couple Berath robes, keep 2 make them fine. They go on the ranger +barbarian later.
– Back in Defiance Bay, go catacombs, don’t go near spores to the south (or lure sporelings), do locket quest, do Woedica quest for free XP (no fighting here)
– At this point you shuold sneak your way to Dryford, sell the loot from Raedric Hold, buy Tall grass and recruit your CC barbarian. Boot Aloth.
– Barb: Hearth Orlan, max DEX PER INT base MIG dump rest, make him proficient with pikes. Use a Berath robe or simple clothing on him and ranger.
– Wizards are unreliable forms of CC on TC mode (per-rest sucks and you cannot clearly see the AoE of the spells), so you’ll be using the ProneBarb build as a form of consistent, permanent CC. This is why you don’t need max MÍG on him. Damage is not the name of the game here.
– You can recruit a chanter in place of Edair at this point if u want to (or if he died on you like he did on me.) Max MIG PER CON if you can, base RES INT dump DEX. Keep in mind though that chanters are not terribly good until LVL9.
– The chanter will be geared towards extreme tanking, wpn& shield style, with the biggest shield& a hatchet and the heaviset armor you can find. Also Cautious Attack modal. He doesnt need to ever land a hit with his weapon. All he needs to do is stand in the middle of a fight and chant ”The Dragon Trashed The Dragon Wailed”. This is a REALLY efficient source of permanent, sustainable AoE damage. Also a couple invocations and 2 situational chants are really useful.
– You can do Dryford crossing at this point, careful in spider cave, use corpse explosion with chanter, it works wonders here. Kill ogre, be careful this one is tricky. Consider grabbing Aloth here for the Blindness, both the bears and the ogre is very sensitive to it (boot Edair). Dont do Skaen dungeon for now.
– Outside grab dragon egg, intimidate the enemy adventuring party so 2 of them escape the fight.
– Go Dyrford, finish quests, go back Defiance bay, do a couple easy quests (Final Act, Forgotten, Serel, Brave Derrin etc.), do the Sir Cydel bounty (the estoc is pretty good btw). Do The Asylum. LVL to 7-8. Careful at Magran’s Fork, the Bleak Walker party is more powerful than Cydel.
– At this point I did a risky thing and went for the Stormcaller bow. Go Stalwart and do the introducing fights/quests. Go around town, grab the quests. Go Russetwood. At the south find the wounded wolf. Go to the middle of the area where the iced lake is, progress with the Ondra quest. Explore the area (There is a Boots of Speed here, really good footwear), kill the ogres, DONT go into cave. The Donner Party won’t attack you if you are Deathlike. Go back town, get the White Crest Mail. Finally, go Durgan’s battery, fight or sneak your way to the west tower. This is RISKY, you are about LVL8 the enemies are sometimes as high as LVL11. Definitely practice this on vanilla PoTD.
– You might wanna leave this for a bit later if you are unconfident. If you do this however, with the Stormcaller in your posession the game switches to easymode.
– Go back to Dyrford and do the Skaen temple quest and the Leaden Key quest.
General advice for the second half
– Basically, at this point, you are set. The map is open to you, you should go anywhere, do a couple levels of Od Nua, proceed with main quests, finish WM1, do bounties. From this point on you will be overleveled relative to the content unless you upscale or do stupid things like take bossfights too early.
– Things to be wary of: Lighthouse, Ogre Mages anywhere, Adragans ,Galvino’s shack, Any Vithrack mobs, Narlend the Wise, WM bounties (especially Asca ones), WM Pt2 (high level content, do this one last), Master Below. Only do those when you are positive you are well overleveled and geared up.
– Things to probably skip: Asca bounties, Alpine Dragon, whole Concelhaut line, Lengrath, Stalwart mines.
– Order I did the game from here: All the trivial quests in Defiance Bay (side with Kights), first half of WM1 (cleared Russetwood and DB outskirts except Galvino), Searing Falls, Od Nua until LVL6, finished ActII, did WM1 until Durgan’s Battery LVL2, did early bounties and some ActIII stuff, then I finished Warden bounties, WM1 and Od Nua simultaneously (went back-and-forth here to level/gear up, leave the bottom level of the Battery and the Master last).
– After this, I went and did the remaining of ActIII (turning in the god quests will give a huge XP boost, one and a half level easily) then did WM2 (you *can* do the new bounties as well as the Asca ones just be REALLY careful. Asca bounties feature enemies up to LVL25 so no such thing as overleveled here.) and finally Act IV. I never scaled the game, this is achievement hunting not thrill seeking.
– One last thing tho: At the Ondra temple, the sensible approach is either to release the prisoners or just kill everybody outright. DO NOT follow through with the ritual. Doing so will make the Kaoto fight happen in a very confined area which makes it much more dangerous.
Places where various TC runs of mine ended (means probably be extra careful with these fights):
– Bandit Leader in Black Meadow; Eothas temple lower level; Od Nua ogre level; Battery LVL2.