Twilight Forge Solo Build - 1st Life Iconic, No Leveling or Named Gear Required

[axel15810]

This character was designed by @Aldbar DDO for me, and he gave me the OK to share it. This character's sole purpose is to solo Twilight Forge on Normal as a level 15 iconic, first life, with no gearing or leveling required. And I have done it on this build, twice. There are many ways you could build a Twilight Forge solo'er, this is just based on my personal preferences - which is Two Handed Fighting characters. The only thing he and I forgot with this build was balance - which will only matter if you also want to solo Titan Awakes. If you want to solo Titan Awakes as well you'll want to build in balance (you need 35 balance to be immune to the Titan's knockdown). Here's two videos I made. The first video explains the build and the hows of solo'ing the raid, and the second video is the full video of my first successful run on this build. Enjoy. Anyone can solo Twlight Forge. It just takes a little practice and learning. Give it a try. If you've ever wanted to really learn this raid, rolling up a Twilight Forge solo'er so you can take the time to learn all the parts of it yourself is the best way.

Classes: 8 Artificer, 6 Monk, 6 Paladin
Race: Bladeforged · · · · ·Alignment: Lawful Good

· · ·Start Tome Final · · ·
Str:· · 16· · 0 · ·24 · · ·
Dex:· · 13· · 0 · ·13 · · ·
Con:· · 16· · 0 · ·19 · · ·
Int:· · 14· · 0 · ·14 · · ·
Wis:· · ·6· · 0 · · 6 · · ·
Cha:· · 10· · 0 · ·10 · · ·
DR:
Immunities: Sleep, Energy Drain, Nausea, Sickness, Exhaustion, Paralysis, Disease, Natural Disease, Magical Disease, Super-Natural Disease, Fear

Class and Feat Selection
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level Class · · · · · ·Feats
1 · · Paladin(1)· · · ·Standard: Mithral Body
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Follower of Faith: Follower of the Lord of Blades
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(4), Repair(4), Tumble(4), Use Magic Device(4)
2 · · Artificer(1)· · ·
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(5), Use Magic Device(1)
3 · · Monk(1) · · · · ·Standard: Two Handed Fighting
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Monk Bonus: Dodge
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Open Lock(2), Use Magic Device(4)
4 · · Monk(2) · · · · ·Monk Bonus: Mobility
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Strength: +1 Level up
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Open Lock(2), Use Magic Device(4)
5 · · Monk(3) · · · · ·Monk Philosophy: Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Jump(2)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Open Lock(2), Use Magic Device(2)
6 · · Monk(4) · · · · ·Standard: Whirlwind Attack
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Jump(2)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Open Lock(2), Use Magic Device(2)
7 · · Monk(5) · · · · ·
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Jump(2)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Open Lock(2), Use Magic Device(2)
8 · · Monk(6) · · · · ·Monk Bonus: Spring Attack
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Strength: +1 Level up
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Jump(2)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Open Lock(2), Use Magic Device(2)
9 · · Artificer(2)· · ·Standard: Improved Two Handed Fighting
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(1), Use Magic Device(1)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(4)
10· · Artificer(3)· · ·
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(1), Repair(2), Use Magic Device(1)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(2)
11· · Artificer(4)· · ·Artificer Bonus: Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons Alternate: Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(1), Repair(2), Use Magic Device(1)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(2)
12· · Artificer(5)· · ·Standard: Power Attack
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Strength: +1 Level up
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(1), Repair(2), Use Magic Device(1)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(2)
13· · Artificer(6)· · ·
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(1), Repair(2), Use Magic Device(1)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(2)
14· · Artificer(7)· · ·
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(1), Repair(2), Use Magic Device(1)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(2)
15· · Artificer(8)· · ·Standard: Greater Two Handed Fighting
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Artificer Bonus: Quicken Spell
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Class Skills: Open Lock(1), Repair(2), Use Magic Device(1)
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Cross Class Skills: Jump(2)

Enhancements: 80 APs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bladeforged - Points spent: 16
Core1 Improved Fortification I
Tier1 Inscribed Armor - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Repair Systems: Mechanist - 3 Ranks
Core2 Constitution I
Core3 Improved Fortification II
Tier2 Communion of Scribing - 3 Ranks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shintao - Points spent: 34
Core1 Bastion of Purity
Tier1 Reed in the Wind - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Exemplar - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Conditioning - 3 Ranks
Core2 Protection from Tainted Creatures
Tier2 Iron Skin - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Smite Tainted Creature
Tier3 Ability I: +1 Constitution
Core3 Iron Hand
Tier3 Jade Strike
Tier3 Dismissing Strike
Tier4 Instinctive Defense - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Ability II: +1 Constitution
Tier4 Tomb of Jade
Tier5 Empty Hand Mastery
Tier5 Rise of the Phoenix
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arcanotechnician - Points spent: 6
Core1 Arcanotechnician
Tier1 Energy of Creation - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Arcane Skills - 1 Ranks
Core2 Palliative Admixture
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Titus Ovid]

Oh sweet and here I thought they disabled the self raise under water.

Cheers,
Titus.

 

[Rhunah]

I don't think I've ever been to this dungeon before. What do you need out of here?

 

[Jeronimo]

I don't think I've ever been to this dungeon before. What do you need out of here?

Favor... you must do this quest in order to be able to reach 700 Free Agents favor, which is needed to unlock the Falconry enhancement tree for free.

It's also the pre-raid to Titan Awakes raid, which have a few nice items at-level.

 

[kmoustakas]

Is this the least run quest of all DDO I wonder?

Talk about a pack that needs help.

 

[axel15810]

Oh sweet and here I thought they disabled the self raise under water.

Cheers,
Titus.

Rise of the Phoenix works underwater. Jibbers doesn't. Here's to hoping the devs don't get any ideas of changing it after seeing this post or my YouTube video. That'd be really disappointing and very unnecessary. You already need a highly specific impractical build that doesn't make sense anywhere else in the game in order to solo Twilight Forge.

 

[axel15810]

I don't think I've ever been to this dungeon before. What do you need out of here?

The only worthwhile thing from it is favor these days. But I didn't do this for any reason other than to learn the raid and as a personal challenge.

Is this the least run quest of all DDO I wonder?

Talk about a pack that needs help.

My strong suspicion is that it is the least run content in the entire game but I don't think there is any actual data available to the players to prove that.

 

[Sophie The Cat Burglar]

I remember wanting to try this, like, 5 years ago. This is the first DDO game play video I have ever watched. It was interesting to see what lies inside the quest.

 

[Arkat]

As far as I know, there are still problems with targeting the laser at the end of the raid. That might be one of the reasons why it's so unpopular.

That's a lot of dungeoning to go through only for the laser part to bug out.

 

[axel15810]

As far as I know, there are still problems with targeting the laser at the end of the raid. That might be one of the reasons why it's so unpopular.

That's a lot of dungeoning to go through only for the laser part to bug out.

Oh, Titan Awakes didn't bug out. I just wasn't able to complete Titan on the level 15 on my first try because I didn't have the balance score requirement so got tripped in between hitting the Titan with the pillar and then the laser a few times, which meant I couldn't complete since the pillars don't respawn.

Most people one shot the Titan these days way over level but if you do it the intended way it's very easy for the raid to become incompletable since you can only mess up twice at most with the pillars. Being able to render the raid incompletable by running out of pillars has always been WAI as far as I'm aware - content design was way more cryptic back in mid 2000s DDO. I have basically solo'ed Titan Awakes before on a level 25 (technically it was two man but I did almost everything on that run) so I know I can do it on the level 15 as well, just need to build balance in the character and try again.

I think one of the reasons it's so unpopular is the flagging for it is miserable with the wilderness area having no maps for the vast majority of it which makes getting to the flagging quests very difficult. Also, unlike a raid like heroic Abbot there is no worthwhile loot in Twilight Forge or Titan by 2024 standards. So there isn't any compelling reason to run it other than favor. It's also just really difficult to know what to do. Particularly in the tile puzzle room because there's really no hints in game and it's not intuitive at all as to how you're supposed to direct the light. You really have to spend some time in there alone to learn it, if you're like me and can only really learn these things by solo'ing them. Fortunately anyone with any build can atleast go in and learn the tile puzzle room if you want to. The water maze on the other hand, is the biggest bottleneck to learning the raid, and you can't spend time in there alone to practice it without multiboxing or by rolling up a specialized build as I did here.

 

[axel15810]

Updated OP to add enhancements. Accidently left it out of the builder export.

 

[The Narc]

When this came out after VON was out and both had mechanics that prevented players from soloing then, it was such a turn off from the game that it was a long time i years before i even entered a raid.

Making it hard to solo is one thing, making it impossible simply by mechanics just makes it seem like they are desperate to force grouping(and i do lots of grouping so that is not an issue).

They should do something to both the titan and von 5 to fix that issue.

 

[axel15810]

When this came out after VON was out and both had mechanics that prevented players from soloing then, it was such a turn off from the game that it was a long time i years before i even entered a raid.

Making it hard to solo is one thing, making it impossible simply by mechanics just makes it seem like they are desperate to force grouping(and i do lots of grouping so that is not an issue).

They should do something to both the titan and von 5 to fix that issue.

Titan Awakes is solo-able currently, either with or without one shotting the Titan. Von 5 you're right does need atleast 2 characters though.

I believe Von 5/6 is the only raid that is impossible to solo. It should be difficult and extremely inconvenient to solo a raid IMO. I don't know if I really have a strong opinion about mechanics that make it impossible, since that only exists in 1 raid. I would think it should be possible to do Von 5 multiboxing with some quick keyboard/mouse skills and 2 clients up on 2 monitors. I don't know, I've never multi boxed.

 

[The Narc]

Titan Awakes is solo-able, either with or without one shotting the Titan. Von 5 you're right does need atleast 2 characters though.

I meant at an appropriate challenge level and i was referring to the titan raid but the preraid(albeit without using a death mechanic such as rising pheonix), not sure if VON 6 is soloable now with how the pillars function.

 

[axel15810]

I meant at an appropriate challenge level and i was referring to the titan raid but the preraid(albeit without using a death mechanic such as rising pheonix), not sure if VON 6 is soloable now with how the pillars function.

Oh, ok. Yeah Twilight Forge is not possible to solo without Rise of the Phoenix. It used to be possible to use Reborn in Light before it was changed.

 

[kmoustakas]

Hey, I still vote to give us flying in this pack. Why can't I bring those dumb skateboards from just business here lol They would actually be useful here.

 

[vryxnr]

.... Von 5 you're right does need atleast 2 characters though.

I believe Von 5/6 is the only raid that is impossible to solo. It should be difficult and extremely inconvenient to solo a raid IMO. I don't know if I really have a strong opinion about mechanics that make it impossible, since that only exists in 1 raid. I would think it should be possible to do Von 5 multiboxing with some quick keyboard/mouse skills and 2 clients up on 2 monitors. I don't know, I've never multi boxed.

Yes, VoN 5 can be 2 manned (it is tricky and the timing is very tight, especially the north doors). I have done it before. For the fire jet, you'll also need high move speed/wings to get to the jet after pulling the levers below. But really, the north doors is the hardest part in a 2 man run imo. The coordinated pillar smashing in VoN 6 is (last I checked) doable by one person, but also tricky due to their resistances, immunities, and DR. I have not tried this at level, but over leveled to more easily overcome the resistances and time limits.

Both parts multiboxing is doable and I have done it before. The north doors is the toughest part, as the timing is very very tight. When I boxed it, it wasn't just dual monitors, but also a nearby laptop, and putting all instances into windowed mode so I could see them all and switch between them quickly just by clicking on them, and it still took a few attempts

 

[The Narc]

Yes, VoN 5 can be 2 manned (it is tricky and the timing is very tight, especially the north doors). I have done it before. For the fire jet, you'll also need high move speed/wings to get to the jet after pulling the levers below. But really, the north doors is the hardest part in a 2 man run imo. The coordinated pillar smashing in VoN 6 is (last I checked) doable by one person, but also tricky due to their resistances, immunities, and DR. I have not tried this at level, but over leveled to more easily overcome the resistances and time limits.

Both parts multiboxing is doable and I have done it before. The north doors is the toughest part, as the timing is very very tight. When I boxed it, it wasn't just dual monitors, but also a nearby laptop, and putting all instances into windowed mode so I could see them all and switch between them quickly just by clicking on them, and it still took a few attempts

Yes Von 5 is easy to duo with classes with pets, still would like to see someone confirm the solo on the pillars in the state they are in now, but again why solo it if you have already been required to have atleast a duo in von 5.

Honestly i am not sure why they decided to not allow hirelings into raids, that would help to alleviate the issues of being able to solo these raids.

I have never been a multiboxer but i have a well set up free to play account, maybe i should do some multiboxing.

 

[vryxnr]

... but again why solo it if you have already been required to have atleast a duo in von 5.

...

There are a few reasons I can think of.

Simply to do it. There is a difference between knowing something can be done, and knowing that you can do that thing. Some (like myself) find challenges like that fun.

Your partner/team may have DCed, or fell off and gotten booted out of the instance, or simply don't want to go into part 6 (not so common anymore, but Von5 no 6 used to be a thing).

But mostly (for me at least) it's to see if you can. Someday I will have to go in again (probably boxing to not take up someone else's time, then just not use the boxes in part 6) to see if it can still be done.

 

[The Narc]

There are a few reasons I can think of.

Simply to do it. There is a difference between knowing something can be done, and knowing that you can do that thing. Some (like myself) find challenges like that fun.

Your partner/team may have DCed, or fell off and gotten booted out of the instance, or simply don't want to go into part 6 (not so common anymore, but Von5 no 6 used to be a thing).

But mostly (for me at least) it's to see if you can. Someday I will have to go in again (probably boxing to not take up someone else's time, then just not use the boxes in part 6) to see if it can still be done.

Would be interesting to know if it can still be done, so kudos if you give it a shot i would like to hear your results. For me the forced multiplayer turned me off making such attempts a long time ago.

What i can say is, i know this game is a MMO and it is mostly about grouping but i am guessing that there are players that come to the game and from day one do not join a single group or play with any other player(but they spend money on the game to keep it going). If such said player base does exist you have to wonder what happens when they get to the point of running into these mechanics and realize because they only play with themselves they are “by mechanic” locked out of this content. Do we lose paying customers because of this??