With the release being so close I am going to be playing a lot more of this game again.

I will update this guide with some other characters that I have been messing around with, none of which have gotten to the end yet, but are pretty fun.

Thanks for all the comments and love since I made this guide, really happy to still be in the top 10!

A brief list of things about this guide:

• This strategy will VERY LIKELY be patched out the game
  
• This strategy requires plenty of save scumming
  
• This may not be the only way to beat Act 1 with a single character
  
• Classic mode only. (For now)

I originally started upon this quest to make the current version of D:OS2 as hard as possible. It worked. Many failed characters and theorycrafting hours later I have found a way to beat Act 1 solo.

The basic idea is to abuse the way stealth works in combat currently to never be seen by enemies. You then only pop out of stealth to shoot them with your bow, and then immediately restealth in place. This build also abuses how guerrila and high ground advantage damage bonuses stack.

Enjoy.

The idea is pretty straightforward. Use the best race (Elf) along with the best (IMO) spell school (Huntsman). Stealth is what makes us survivable.

The Start
Pick Elf and Ranger, base stats are fine, base talents are fine.

General Goals
Get a bow with a very high maximum damage as fast as possible. Save up gold to buy the Snipe ability ASAP.

Leveling Strategy
Every level you want to put points into the following:
1. Huntsman
2. Stealth
3. Finesse

Once you get to around 20 finesse (without item buffs) then you can start to put points into either Con or Wits depending on what you prefer.

Note
I have yet to find a use for any other school of spells with this character. I tried Scoundrel for Vault, except Tactical Retreat is strictly better. Other potential schools needs are solved by the OP items you get in Act 1.

FOREWARD: Some of the item names will be simply how I remember them in my head as I'm sure some of them are bound to change / be renamed / etc.

OP Items
Ring of Restoration
- Migu questline, either don't turn it in, or kill the lady at the end to get it. I killed her, you get max EXP that way

Gloves of Teleport
- Required storyline item. Too powerful not to use for the entirety of Act 1.

Other Item Goals
You want a good mix of Physical and Magical armor, this is to prevent statuses from ending your life when you eventually get Phoenix Dive'd later into the act.

Other than that, you are looking for Finesse on as many items as possible. A touch of Con isn't so bad either, and I ended up keeping the Helm of Braccus later because the ability is so good.

Recommended Yellows
Cape from the Meat Golem guy
- Huge amount of magic armor at that point in the act, extremely vital IMO.

Platemail from mysterious cave
- Best armor in the current game.


I don't like the cursed ring, most of the yellow rings are pretty terrible IMO, I use RNG'd blue ones with +2 Finesse.

It is very easy to get 25 or more Finesse with this type of singular focus, and we will need all of that damage at the end of the game.

Keep the 3 default Ranger Talents, Arrow Refund is your best friend.

In order for levels:
1. The Pawn
2. Guerilla
3. Flavor of Choice
4. One Man Army

Pretty straight forward.

For flavor you can take basically anything you want. EXCEPT GLASS CANNON

I call this the Kappa Strat because it is pretty hilarious to watch, and to play.

I will give you a basic breakdown in text, and then later I will add images to explain some of what I am talking about.

The basic idea is to exploit the fact that, when you shoot someone from inside stealth, they do NOT turn to look at your character.

This means that you can simply re-stealth (1AP) in the exact same spot and the enemies will not find you. Yes, even on Classic Mode.

This is the reason we take Guerilla over Warlord. In order to maximize Warlord you need to kill more than one enemy each turn, this refunds you 4-6AP a turn, giving you multiple turns each round. However to achieve this sort of AoE damage, in general, you need to be in melee range. This is not sustainable for solo play.

To solve this we go with stealth. This is where Guerilla really shines over Warlord. Since we are hitting from stealth at least once a turn, every turn, the bonus 50% damage, on top of the bonus 24 (or more)% high ground advantage damage, as well as the 25% elf damage buff, PLUS the 200% snipe damage bonus means that we will be one shotting the vast majority of enemies before fights can even start.

A great example of this strategy in effect is the Silent Monks in the torture chamber. These guys have no vision range, so you can stealth anyhwere you want. SImply setup with the elf racial, stealth, and snipe. You will kill them all before a fight can break out, netting what is essentially a free level.

Inside of actual combat, the strategy also requires another talent, The Pawn. The Pawn is more valuable than Guerilla. Having 1AP worth of movement for free each turn ensures that you can usually get out of vision range and stealth up if you need to. Mix this with the inexplicably priced 1AP teleport spell, and you will always be able to stealth in combat.

Once in a good spot to stealth, shoot enemies on the low ground, and re-stealth, you simply go in rotation:

4AP - 1 shot, stealth, pass
5AP - 2 shot, stealth, pass
5AP with snipe - snipe, stealth, pass

Easy right?

I am already in love with this game. I am going to be trying out more solo character strategies, especially once they (presumably) fix the way that stealth currently works.

I am writing this guide in part to shine light on what I believe to be a bug, and also to share a way of approaching the game that many players do not consider.

Big shoutout to Gramps. He helped me find the true strategy.

You can check me out on twitch[www.twitch.tv], I'll be streaming a lot of D:OS2 ^_^.

Leave comments and the like! I will be updating this with images and potentially some videos soon!