What are the easiest classes to solo this game?

Lapa

I have soloed the game with a berserker now and would like to know other cheesy soloing classes. Archer or sorcerer maybe?

ajwz

Monk

HunterOfBounty

Depends on your definition of easy. F/T, F/M/T, F/Illusionist, and Sorc should be more than powerful enough. Bounty Hunters are made of pure cheese, but they are not as straightforward as the other classes I mentioned.

szb

Sorcerer is very powerfull but somewhat boring in my opinion (because you will cast the same spells over and over again for the entire game)
I prefer mage/thieves for solo, either dual or multi classed. You can take care of traps/locks, avoid some enemies completely by stealth/invisibility if you so choose. Traps + backstab supported by mage spells is awesome. Might not be as powerfull as a sorceror, but lot more versatile and fun in my opinion.

HunterOfBounty

@szb I forgot about mage/thieves. A Gnomish Illusionist/Thief with 18 constitution is very powerful. Real traps more than make up for the loss of Skull Traps.

Pantalion

I'ma go with.... Ranger/Cleric.

You have summons to take the place of the party
Enough hitpoints to survive traps - which you can also find
Sanctuary - so you never need to worry about random encounters even at level 1
You can equip Full Plate.
You can cast in full plate.
You have most of the buff spells in the game for increasing your strength, and can use Slings, the ranged weapon that gets a Strength bonus to damage and can use a shield.
You can instantly with no save disable 90% of the enemies in the game with a level 1 spell.
You can wear a helmet.
You can use Stealth, capping at 87% chance in Mithril Chainmail.

SpaceInvader

Mages and Sorcerers are definetly not cheese compared to a Berserker, Blade, F/M, F/M/T.

paradigmofheaven

For me a Stalker is the class that I used to solo the game.
The stealth capability made many battles easier and by specializing in longbows and two handed weapons I was able to solo the game easily.

DrEast

Any arcane caster (mage multiclass, mage, sorcerer or bard) is exceptionally easy to solo with if you know how to acquire the right wands in the right order and where to maximize your XP intake.

SpaceInvader

DrEast said:

Any arcane caster (mage multiclass, mage, sorcerer or bard) is exceptionally easy to solo with if you know how to acquire the right wands in the right order and where to maximize your XP intake.

Not at all, unless you mean just "finish the game" and not "kill every enemy and exploring every map".

HunterOfBounty

Pantalion said:

I'ma go with.... Ranger/Cleric.

You have summons to take the place of the party
Enough hitpoints to survive traps - which you can also find
Sanctuary - so you never need to worry about random encounters even at level 1
You can equip Full Plate.
You can cast in full plate.
You have most of the buff spells in the game for increasing your strength, and can use Slings, the ranged weapon that gets a Strength bonus to damage and can use a shield.
You can instantly with no save disable 90% of the enemies in the game with a level 1 spell.
You can wear a helmet.
You can use Stealth, capping at 87% chance in Mithril Chainmail.

The Ranger/Cleric is very powerful in both BG games, but I think that both the F/I and the F/M/T are better. Ghost Armour compensates for most of the downsides in armour class. They have high hp and Mirror Image for traps (F/M/T could just disable them if you choose that path in skill points). Random encounters aren't a big problem for characters with low AC anyway. You can use much better wands than a R/C. You can use more weapons. Knock can open all locked containers. Mage spells are usually much better than Cleric spells at the same level. A F/M/T can set some very dangerous traps. A F/I can get two uses of Stoneskin per day. That being said, R/Cs should not have any problem completing the game.

Pantalion

@HunterofBounty

"Best" is largely irrelevant to the question I am answering Sirrah.

Lapa said:

I... would like to know other cheesy soloing classes.

PlasticGolem

Archers can deal out frightening amounts of damage at a distance and are pretty resilient. Berserkers are quite tough too.

You can also start play as a mage and dual-class to fighter at level 2. It may be a little hairy at the beginning, but it will give you a fighter that can use wands (wand of monster summoning, fire, lightning, cold) and scrolls, and you can take off your armour to cast utility spells like identify or friends when needed.

Grimo88

I have found that for BG1 soloing, Fighter Mage Thief with a bow is PEERLESS. Most encounters are completed with greater ease than a full party. I've only been stumped once; couldn't kill that damn cave o' wyverns. But I reckon if I went back now I'd get it.

HunterOfBounty

Grimo88 said:

I have found that for BG1 soloing, Fighter Mage Thief with a bow is PEERLESS. Most encounters are completed with greater ease than a full party. I've only been stumped once; couldn't kill that damn cave o' wyverns. But I reckon if I went back now I'd get it.

Wands and/or traps will let you clean that den out easily. I actually prefer the sling to the bow. You can use a shield for protection against other archers. In the sequel slings are a much more powerful missile weapon as well, but that's only relevant if you're importing.

Tresset

Monk is something to consider... for BG2 I mean! (almost could hear people calling me crazy there)
Anyway I have one o thems for my BG2 game and he has well over 100% magic resist (127% last check), 4 devastating +4 fist attacks each round (and that's unmodified by haste and such (obviously)), -15(-12 modifier vs missile) AC, -13 THAC0, virtually flawless stealth abilities(208% hide/silent), A bunch of Whirlwind Attacks, Critical Strikes, Deathblows, Hardinesses, Stunning Fists, a Quivering Palm (which 1 shots dragons, mages w/protections, undead, golems, party members...), worst saving throw at -4, runs faster than boots of speed on his own (this stacks with the boots of speed), immunity to disease, poison, slow, magic, probably a bunch of other factors I forgot, and did I mention he kicks butt (literally and figuratively)?
So basically my point is this: Laugh at Rasaad while you can... but watch your back in the future.

The_Cheeseman

Any class that can use wands should have no trouble, and any class with reliable stealth abilities should be able to handle most fights after getting the boots if speed. Ranged attackers have it easier than pure melee types, but there are plenty if potions available to make pure beat down entirely viable. I recommend a Stalker or Assassin, just because hit-and-fade backstabbing is a fun play style.

Millardkillmoore

Half-Orc Barbarian. With 19 Con and 19 STR and d12 hit points, you'll hit like a freight train, and take a staggering amount of punishment before dying. That's without factoring in the laundry list of immunites and +4 to Con and STR from Rage.

If you put points into dual-wielding, your ThAC0 will still be low enough to hit reliably from level one and your gigantic bonuses to damage from STR will apply to multiple weapons. You're on the Fighter experience table, meaning that you'll level up at a reasonable rate. Having 17 HP/level means you won't have to go through the annoying aspects of low-level BG where every enemy can one-shot you with a lucky hit.

Even into BG2, you'll be completely viable the whole way through. For a purely combat-focused character, it's hard to beat the Half-Orc Barbarian.

Lemernis

The one and only time I tried this was using a Neutral Evil multi-class Cleric-Mage. The character had no compunction about doing anything whatsoever he felt would benefit him. I found the game surprisingly easy to complete.

It was almost ten years ago that I played this solo run. The final battle required lots of summons, I do remember that. I no longer recall how I eventually vanquished Sarevok, though.

On a side note, throughout many years of playing the game, that's about the extent of my experience both for soloing and playing evil.

But anyway, hope that helps.

EnterHaerDalis

One guy posted his Solo Blackguard run..

Was pretty amazing. The poison weapon works with Bows so you just buy a bow, kill Firebead and a watcher and are level 2 with Plate Mail and tons of money within like 30 seconds

ReadingRambo

I've never been the least bit tempted to solo in baldurs gate. The appeal and joy I get from the game are mixing and matching party members and classes. That said, I would use my elven fighter Mage thief if I did solo.

kingthrall

Easiest Classes Ive played with based on Range, Melle + Magic

Ranger/Archer, shoot retreat tactics using spacebar can pretty much micro kill all enemies
Paladin/Cavalier, immune to Poison and Fear (better than fighter or any melle class I think)
Sorceror - this class is the best magic class, if built up properly you can eventually cast multiple fireballs in rooms consecutively clearing out entire dungeons for example.

Dont bother with thief type classes they are stupid and a waste of time, people always hype about backstab and all the other nonsense when you can just simply lay waste with any of the classes above and just use Imoen or Montoran to pick the traps. (OR you can just use Detect Traps/Knock Spells with your sorcerer)

Alsn

I have to disagree with @kingthrall about thieves. Sure, he's entirely right that they're not as powerful at clearing out rooms. However, the gameplay experience of playing a backstabber such as a fighter/thief or a kensai->thief or just a pure assassin can be very rewarding. To me at least it just feels really authentic and rewarding to run and hide in order to set up backstabs or lure enemies into prepared traps.

Edit: Also, the point about having Imoen or Montaron deal with traps isn't really applicable to a solo run now is it.

moopy

Wizard Slayer
/Thread

kingthrall

Alsn said:

I have to disagree with @kingthrall about thieves. Sure, he's entirely right that they're not as powerful at clearing out rooms. However, the gameplay experience of playing a backstabber such as a fighter/thief or a kensai->thief or just a pure assassin can be very rewarding. To me at least it just feels really authentic and rewarding to run and hide in order to set up backstabs or lure enemies into prepared traps.

Edit: Also, the point about having Imoen or Montaron deal with traps isn't really applicable to a solo run now is it.

True about the solo bit, though I find the whole solo experience quite distasteful for the fact that you pretty much cutting a chunk of roleplay out of the game and even though people argue it being easier, I would find the whole experience for people with Way too much time on their hands.

ZanathKariashi

He wants cheese though, and R/C is THE cheesiest class in the game.

The_Cheeseman

ZanathKariashi said:

He wants cheese though, and R/C is THE cheesiest class in the game.

How is Ranger/Cleric the cheesiest class in the game? Certainly the cheesiest class needs some Mage in it somewhere.

iKrivetko

The Blackguard seems to be quite strong for a solo playthrough.