Playing alone (no companions) at least for awhile.

Aleque

Hi

I just just completed the game with my paladin and focused primarily on the main quest.
I just started another char - a chaotic neutral dwarven fighter (with 18/00 STR) and decided to solo for awhile, leaving all of the potential companions at the Friendly Arm Inn. I sold all of the unnecessary items, bought myself some decent items and headed north - a farm surrounded by ankhegs. After killing a few ankhegs, I quickly gained a few levels and realized how much more effective it is, rather than splitting the XP with the teammates that not necessarily contribute as much to the killing.

I decided to keep farming ankhegs and thus gaining some xp, while stockpiling their heads for a profit. Later I drank a potion to increase my strenght, so I could carry all the heads to the shop in Beregost and sell for 500g each. I then used my fortune to upgrade my gear (I also bought a +1 axe from Feldpost Inn) and healing potions + antidotes. Then I went to the Pirate's Cave (the coast area west of Beregost) and acquired the Tome of Constitution. Now I have 20 CON and can regenerate health.

So far it's going pretty well playing alone, but I realize that this game is designed to be played with other characters, hence the dialogue options as "we" and "us". I'm wondering how many people out there tried soloing and have some interesting stories to tell. I was considering to get some party members and have their levels automatically increased due to my own level, but so far it seems unnecessesary, especially when the party members in BG1 don't have so much to say or do. They don't seem to react alot to my actions (other than my reputation status or the area that we're in), nor are they romanceable.

Can someone explain a little about this aspect of game mechanics?

DJKajuru

You know, you could solo till you reach level 6 (which will be quite fast), and then anyone that you add to the party will adjust to your level .

LazyVulpes

I've soloed countless of times, you really don't need a party at all.. When you come to the catacombs be sure to have a 24 str potion on you or something like that. The tombs down there is hard to break open, and there's a strength tome down there.

Also, save any potions of magic blocking you come across, they will most likely come in handy.

ZanathKariashi

Any companions you haven't talked to yet will scale to your approximate level (based on your total xp) up to level 6. This is actually not a bad deal, save for part thieves who tend to throw their points in largely useless crap. And warriors will sometimes have less then their potential HP then if you leveled them up manual under normal difficulty.


I personally solo all the time these days, unless I just decide to take a party for the hell of it. It's been years since the last I used an actual party for a whole playthrough. I've been duoing with the new NPCs just to see how their quests go.

The core game can be soloed in it's entirity by any class, without cheese or exploits. Some side areas aren't really possible (trying to killing loup garou as a single class druid is just an effort in futility, and Durlag's is a nightmare for a non-part thief or part mage, unless you like reloading..A LOT.

On the other hand, BG2 is much more forgiving due to being able to off-set a lot of short coming with gear...I even managed a non-modded Shapeshifter solo, despite their main draw being completely worthless shortly after acquiring it and being unable to wear armor (not a huge deal, since unlike a Kensai they can wear bracers). Was it fun? Hell no...that was quite possibly the most annoying solo I've ever done...only a wizard slayer comes close, and at least they can kill stuff easily in melee even if spell casters tend to rape them...ironically......


Though it should be noted, both the shapeshifter and wizard slayer are the two most horribly screwed classes in the game, getting literally none of the benefits they're supposed have. The PnP Wizard Slayer is actually pretty bad ass, and the shapeshifter's werewolf and greater werewolf forms are supposed significantly stronger then they are in game.

They're getting screwed worse then Bards and to a lesser extent thieves are...and that's saying a lot.

Pantalion

Minor spoilers abound.

I routinely solo all the way to the Basilisk map, solo all the basilisks and the Caster with them (depending on the PC, sometimes the NPC adventuring party as well) then go down to Nashkel, up to High Hedge and only then pick up NPCs at their new, higher, levels, which saves an awful lot of time overall - though Imoen will remain level 1, alas, because the first time you see a character locks what level they are.

By that time you're typically around level 4-5 at worst, and there are several no-fighty quests you can do to boost your level even further. Then once your Clerics can be recruited with level 3 spells to start out, you can cast animate dead to clear out the West Coast of its Sirenes for another 18,000 Exp minimum, more with Spawns, and another 6,000 with the Golem cave.

After that point you're probably tough enough to solo 90% of the game's content without difficulty regardless of class, or have fleshed out the start of an awesome party ready to cap well before you've covered all the content.

Aleque

Oh I thought that characters scaled in level with me whether I talked to them or not. So far I talked to: Khalid, Jaheira, Xzar, Montharon, Imoen and Safana.

moopy

@Pantalion

I avoided talking to Imoen by running away and came back at level 6 and found her and she was leveled up like other npcs. I think it is the first time you talk to them.

Pantalion

Interesting, I must have not run fast enough last time, since she definitely didn't catch me before I slipped off South.

Aleque

Isn't there a mod that forces the characters to share level regardless of whether I spoke with them or not?