Avenger: Solo No-Reload Guide & Video Walkthrough
IN2
Member Posts: 2
Pros:
- Spell selection vastly superior to other Druids.
- Improved Invisibility and innate Haste accessible early.
- Resistance-ignoring 2d6 Breathe Fireball ability in Fire Salamander form.
- 4 ApR in Sword Spider form.
- Ability to use scimitars.
- Nearly complete gear independence.
- Early power peak (35,000 xp).
Cons:
- Low defense capability in humanoid form.
- Extreme dependence upon magic and shapeshifting.
- Cannot dual-class into Fighter in BG:EE.
* Recommended starting ability scores:
Str 16
Dex 18
Con 16
Int 4
Wis 18
Cha 15
* Recommended weapon proficiencies:
Level 1: + Scimitar, + Single-Weapon Style.
Level 4: + Spear.
Level 8: + Two-Handed Weapon Style.
* Desirable gear:
Icingdeath +3 (Drizzt, ch. I): A strong boost (-3 THAC0, -1 AC, +5% crit, +3 avg dmg for Brown Bear/+0.5 avg dmg for Sword Spider) to the combat ability of fighter forms. Shapeshift->Dispel Magic will do the trick.
Ring of Holiness (Mulahey, ch. II): An additional spell slot on every level. Self-explanatory.
Boots of Grounding (Mulahey, ch. II): In combination with Protection from Lightning, turns Lightning Bolt from the best damage source in the game into the best damage source + one of the best healing sources in the game. Highly recommended.
* Form analysis:
Wolf, Black Bear, Baby Wyvern: These forms are bad. Wolf is marginally useful for increased movement rate, but both Black Bear and Baby Wyvern have no raison d'être whatsoever. Black Bear is just a nerfed form of Brown Bear. Baby Wyvern form has a superficially good poisoning capability (with -4 save), marred by its being mediocre (or worse) in every other respect: it's unsafe, unable to hit reliably, and has only 2 ApR.
Sword Spider and Brown Bear: AKA fighter forms. Relative to each other, in a nutshell: Brown Bear has +5 damage per attack, and +14 hp; Sword Spider has +1 ApR, and -5 AC. Overall, I find Sword Spider a preferable form due to its considerably lower AC (in later chapters, a Vampiric Touch will negate the hp difference anyway), though Brown Bear is generally viable as well, being, in fact, the best form with undispelled paws.
Fire Salamander: Probably the most versatile form. Respectable stats, innate Haste, and a wonderful Breathe Fireball ability. Your perfect Drizzt slayer and a fantastic travel form.
* Spell rundown:
Chromatic Orb (1): The level 1 spell. Scales to your level, has a casting time of 1, deals pure magic damage with no save, plus some really nasty (albeit unlikely to happen) disabling effects.
Resist Fire and Cold (2): Somewhat useful vs some traps.
Dispel Magic (3): Makes it possible to use weapons in fighter forms by dispelling paws. Enough said.
Lightning Bolt (3): The best damage source in BG:EE. A skillfully aimed Lightning Bolt will deal tremendous damage and also heal you in the process, if you use Protection from Lightning + Boots of Grounding combo.
Animal Summoning I (4): Four of these at level 8 produce a good reliable meat shield, especially if you get more Dire Wolves (33 hp) than Wild Dogs (17 hp) out of 5 summonable monsters. Crucial vs Sarevok, not of much use elsewhere.
Call Woodland Beings (4): The most powerful summoned creature in BG:EE. Loads of crowd control and mass heal. Only essential in 2 battles during chapter VII, but that's a very serious 'only'. [For a nymph to become adequately controllable, disable her buggy override script NYMPH.BCS in Near Infinity; otherwise, she will be worse than useless during combat sequences, consistently ignoring any orders. Oh, and watch out for her weird last-resort option with that script enabled: continuous Dimension Doors (!!!) cast on the enemy!]
Farsight (4): Valuable in conjunction with summons/very long range spells. There is only one battle it must be used during chapter VII.
Improved Invisibility (4): Bread-and-butter. Great for travel, great for combat. Induces shimmering after you attack, making you untargetable by spells/abilities until it wears off.
Protection from Lightning (4): Notable not only for a full protection it confers (electrical damage is pretty common), but also for its amazing synergy with Boots of Grounding and Lightning Bolt.
* Full critical path hardcore run - videos:
Disclaimer: There is a lot of cheese/exploits taking prominent place in these videos, as well as zero role-playing. If you are a purist offended by such an approach, or happen to be convinced that this is an improper way to undertake a hardcore solo run, your time is probably better invested elsewhere.
Critical path run duration: 1:56
The general plan is to reach 35,000 xp as soon as possible (Shandalar + Hurgan + Kelddath Ormlyr = 36,000 xp). Level 7 grants access to shapeshifting, as well as to Improved Invisibility. There is only one item one has to collect as Avenger (not a must, but a good thing to have), namely, Icingdeath +3 from Drizzt. Both of these goals are attained in chapter I, after which, experience is only gained from critical path quests/enemies. That way, level 8 will be gained at the very end of chapter V, and level 9 - after defeating Sarevok.
Prologue:
http://youtu.be/s--yOK93gOk
Chapter I:
http://youtu.be/cjg4wvWFXTU
Chapter II:
http://youtu.be/bXBNzxnNReY
Chapter III:
http://youtu.be/bFlKXWhVNlI
Chapter IV:
http://youtu.be/UE48B7K_1NQ
Chapter V:
http://youtu.be/ZJEBt7UkaXg
Chapter VI:
http://youtu.be/AZqv-VC22io
Chapter VII:
http://youtu.be/8ck00Cpw5kM
- Spell selection vastly superior to other Druids.
- Improved Invisibility and innate Haste accessible early.
- Resistance-ignoring 2d6 Breathe Fireball ability in Fire Salamander form.
- 4 ApR in Sword Spider form.
- Ability to use scimitars.
- Nearly complete gear independence.
- Early power peak (35,000 xp).
Cons:
- Low defense capability in humanoid form.
- Extreme dependence upon magic and shapeshifting.
- Cannot dual-class into Fighter in BG:EE.
* Recommended starting ability scores:
Str 16
Dex 18
Con 16
Int 4
Wis 18
Cha 15
* Recommended weapon proficiencies:
Level 1: + Scimitar, + Single-Weapon Style.
Level 4: + Spear.
Level 8: + Two-Handed Weapon Style.
* Desirable gear:
Icingdeath +3 (Drizzt, ch. I): A strong boost (-3 THAC0, -1 AC, +5% crit, +3 avg dmg for Brown Bear/+0.5 avg dmg for Sword Spider) to the combat ability of fighter forms. Shapeshift->Dispel Magic will do the trick.
Ring of Holiness (Mulahey, ch. II): An additional spell slot on every level. Self-explanatory.
Boots of Grounding (Mulahey, ch. II): In combination with Protection from Lightning, turns Lightning Bolt from the best damage source in the game into the best damage source + one of the best healing sources in the game. Highly recommended.
* Form analysis:
Wolf, Black Bear, Baby Wyvern: These forms are bad. Wolf is marginally useful for increased movement rate, but both Black Bear and Baby Wyvern have no raison d'être whatsoever. Black Bear is just a nerfed form of Brown Bear. Baby Wyvern form has a superficially good poisoning capability (with -4 save), marred by its being mediocre (or worse) in every other respect: it's unsafe, unable to hit reliably, and has only 2 ApR.
Sword Spider and Brown Bear: AKA fighter forms. Relative to each other, in a nutshell: Brown Bear has +5 damage per attack, and +14 hp; Sword Spider has +1 ApR, and -5 AC. Overall, I find Sword Spider a preferable form due to its considerably lower AC (in later chapters, a Vampiric Touch will negate the hp difference anyway), though Brown Bear is generally viable as well, being, in fact, the best form with undispelled paws.
Fire Salamander: Probably the most versatile form. Respectable stats, innate Haste, and a wonderful Breathe Fireball ability. Your perfect Drizzt slayer and a fantastic travel form.
* Spell rundown:
Chromatic Orb (1): The level 1 spell. Scales to your level, has a casting time of 1, deals pure magic damage with no save, plus some really nasty (albeit unlikely to happen) disabling effects.
Resist Fire and Cold (2): Somewhat useful vs some traps.
Dispel Magic (3): Makes it possible to use weapons in fighter forms by dispelling paws. Enough said.
Lightning Bolt (3): The best damage source in BG:EE. A skillfully aimed Lightning Bolt will deal tremendous damage and also heal you in the process, if you use Protection from Lightning + Boots of Grounding combo.
Animal Summoning I (4): Four of these at level 8 produce a good reliable meat shield, especially if you get more Dire Wolves (33 hp) than Wild Dogs (17 hp) out of 5 summonable monsters. Crucial vs Sarevok, not of much use elsewhere.
Call Woodland Beings (4): The most powerful summoned creature in BG:EE. Loads of crowd control and mass heal. Only essential in 2 battles during chapter VII, but that's a very serious 'only'. [For a nymph to become adequately controllable, disable her buggy override script NYMPH.BCS in Near Infinity; otherwise, she will be worse than useless during combat sequences, consistently ignoring any orders. Oh, and watch out for her weird last-resort option with that script enabled: continuous Dimension Doors (!!!) cast on the enemy!]
Farsight (4): Valuable in conjunction with summons/very long range spells. There is only one battle it must be used during chapter VII.
Improved Invisibility (4): Bread-and-butter. Great for travel, great for combat. Induces shimmering after you attack, making you untargetable by spells/abilities until it wears off.
Protection from Lightning (4): Notable not only for a full protection it confers (electrical damage is pretty common), but also for its amazing synergy with Boots of Grounding and Lightning Bolt.
* Full critical path hardcore run - videos:
Disclaimer: There is a lot of cheese/exploits taking prominent place in these videos, as well as zero role-playing. If you are a purist offended by such an approach, or happen to be convinced that this is an improper way to undertake a hardcore solo run, your time is probably better invested elsewhere.
Critical path run duration: 1:56
The general plan is to reach 35,000 xp as soon as possible (Shandalar + Hurgan + Kelddath Ormlyr = 36,000 xp). Level 7 grants access to shapeshifting, as well as to Improved Invisibility. There is only one item one has to collect as Avenger (not a must, but a good thing to have), namely, Icingdeath +3 from Drizzt. Both of these goals are attained in chapter I, after which, experience is only gained from critical path quests/enemies. That way, level 8 will be gained at the very end of chapter V, and level 9 - after defeating Sarevok.
Prologue:
http://youtu.be/s--yOK93gOkChapter I:
http://youtu.be/cjg4wvWFXTUChapter II:
http://youtu.be/bXBNzxnNReYChapter III:
http://youtu.be/bFlKXWhVNlIChapter IV:
http://youtu.be/UE48B7K_1NQChapter V:
http://youtu.be/ZJEBt7UkaXgChapter VI:
http://youtu.be/AZqv-VC22ioChapter VII:
http://youtu.be/8ck00Cpw5kM Post edited by IN2 on
1
Comments
Fake talking is a common place in IE games. In BG:EE, it's actually not that bad (i. e., Drizzt can't be fake-talked to, neither can any of the major critical path NPCs). In BG2, you could do that to any 'talkable' enemy. Remember those Firkraag kills with solo naked level 9 Paladins?
Hehe, I think the most creative part of chapter VII is actually the Slythe fight