I didn't read after the topic devolved into an argument over what experienced players know vs. what is strong for a new player. This is not irrelevant, but not what was asked in the OP.
The answer is absolutely, bar none, in no other terms, a Sorcerer. Sorcs are stupid OP due to the iffy way they were implemented into BG2's 2nd Ed ruleset. They require no ability scores to do anything (unless you count casting from scrolls) and are not penalized for having low scores. Since magic does everything for them physical ability scores cease to matter like STR, DEX, CON and are only for the sake of convenience for giving you slightly better performance when you CHOOSE to melee, used ranged or get hit (and believe me, it's your choice).
In any scenario (party or solo) a Sorcerer cannot be stopped except in the anti-magic rooms in Watcher's Keep (which you can just run through, using items to kill the Baatezu that you HAVE to kill). Sorcs can cast their entire spell book minus level 7 for free up to 6 times by abusing Project Image, Wish to be restored as if rested, and do it all over again. In battle, if they so choose. Nothing can stand up to your onslaught of infinite spells, and physical combat is never really going to be needed except when soloing BG1. In BG1 or BG2 you have the option of a party, and if you solo BG2 you'll quickly level to a level where you can get decent summons. Resting between every fight in the early stages is always on the table too, so it's not like your spells are going to be exhausted that easily.
Surely a Mage that can cast lvl 9 spells is comparable, or better, no? Not really. Even the original, nerfed tables that vanilla BG2 uses the sorc cast as a specialist wizard with no school restrictions, 6 castings per level (unnerfed tables they get 9 per level; 8 lvl 9 casting by the level cap at 31!). A multiclassed or normal Mage only gets 5. A specialist Mage can also get 6 slots a level, but at the cost of a school (arguably Divination loss as a Conjurerer isn't bad, until you try to solo one and can't dispel Mislead off nasty things like Liches!) This is only half the argument though. A sorcerer can cast ANY COMBINATION of their spells on that level up 6 times, on the fly, with no prep. This kind of reactionary capability far outweighs the Mage's preparatory flexibility, as while Mage could handle any situation too, they could not cast these chosen spells more times than they prepped even if they needed to.
The ultimate conclusion is that the sorceror, *with proper spell picks*, is the strongest Mage in the game due to the "mana-like" way they cast their spells instead of prepping. And since magic is so stupidly powerful in the game (and D&D in general), that makes them by far the best character choice in the right hands. Even if you knew exactly what you'd need for every encounter in the game with a Mage, the Sorc's ability to react to the battle as need be and change plans on the fly puts them above, not just the "any combination of spell casting per level" thing.. With a Mage if your battle plan doesn't work and you don't have enough fallback planned into your spell prep well...you're boned :P Power Word: Reload and try again.
Multiclasses and duals are admirable. Indeed, most duals and every multi except the triples can reach the unmodded caster level cap (20) and cast lvl 9 spells. But they will always have less overall castings, and more strain will be placed on their ability distributions depending on their classes than a Sorc. A sorcerer is easy mode: go 18 INT, 18 WIS so you can abuse Wish when you gain access to it and ignore the rest. Pick the same spells that are commonly used for a mage and cast them more often, etc. The biggest proponent of Multiclasses that makes them seem "better" is that they can fight if need, but this sidesteps the issue that once magic is powerful, it is ALL POWERFUL and you never even need to fight again if you understand the magic system. So the strongest magic users become the undisputed best characters at that point...cue Sorcerer.
just a few other things: -Kensai/mage dualled at 21/22 is patently better than 13/28. Low duals are MUCH more suited to a Berserker instead. The extra mage slots aren't as important when you have to prep them, you'll be able to cast lvl 9 and without Spell50, you hit the caster cap too (lvl 20). We aren't arguing experience amounts/ in-game viability here, it's about pure strength. And for a solo that's irrelevant anyway, if you were playing that way. If you want to argue in-game viability, the point is moot already because not only is EVERYTHING viable in-game because of the items provided (lvl 1/1/1 F/M/T games have been done), the game also provides a veritable rogue's gallery of passable excuse characters that can easily function in a party setting to cover everything the game throws at you.
-If Grandmastery isn't "fixed" back to BG1/PnP (I don't know what changes are in EE), mutliclass Fighters/other warrior classes are better than duals because of their massive amount of HLAs. Kensai duals are roughly equivalent with nerfed GM, and still powerful enough to merit using. I never understood why Bioware took away the 2nd Ed Fighter's only real advantage over the other warrior classes...Rangers and Pallys cast MAGIC for pete's sake, and they all get the same HLAs! More levels doesn't offset MAGIC after THAC0 tables max anyway. You get a whopping +1 hit, +2 damage and some speed factor but no attacks over Specialization with nerfed Grandmastery, and up to 21 HLAS instead of 17. Whoo...
-Berserker/Mage and Berserker/Cleric are fantastic choices for low duals (13 or 9). The combo of Berserk immunities and magic makes them nearly unkillable, easier to use than pure caster because they can just beat things into submission while being immune. B/Cs will still be able to GM two weapons and max their THACO at 0 even without spells! Much better with fixed GM. Not the best (Kensai/anything is better than Berserker/anything with fixed GM) but very user friendly and powerful.
-If we're talking what's the most powerful newbie friendly class, Cleric/Ranger Multi is pretty much the best example. It gets EVERY priest spell, fights and tanks well, can super-buff itself in ways that a K/M wishes it could, has access to stealth for scouting/hit and fades/dicking over magic users, and eventually gets tons of HLAs. Even soloing, you can hit for max damage at 25 STR for long time while having 65% resistance to all physical damage that manage to get past your maxed (-24) AC and Ironskins, be immune to all elemental damage except acid, and then still use GWW or Critical Strike on top of that at Fighter THAC0. Oh yeah and you can summon with the best of them, interrupt casters en masse with Insect Plague even if they're invisible by casting it on self, heal yourself fully in one spell, remove any status effect, and become immune to targeted magic including imprisonment for at least 2 castings With Shield of the Archons (Spell Trap lite). You even get Nature's Beauty, which can PERMANENTLY blind dangerous enemies like Demi-Liches with no save. I never tried that on Demogorgon but as I assume he has a Heal script (hell, most dragons do) it doesn't seem like it would stick anyway.
-Probably the only thing that rivals Sorcerer in overall power is Cleric/Mage. Specifically, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist. The massive flexibility of the class and sheer number of spells it has through access to an entire other class' casting ability. Gnome gives you bonus saves, extra specialist mage slot per level, and higher INT (more spells and better learning %, if you didn't fix that garbage with a tweak pack already) at the cost of one bonus priest spell (17 WIS max) and Skull Trap, Spirit Armor, and Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting. You can still cast Animate Dead and Finger of Death from your Cleric side, there's Barkskin and Defensive Harmony for Spirit Armor (if you care about AC at all) so the only real loss is some direct damage from ST and ADHW, which sucks, but is an easy trade for all the buffing potential and extra mage slots.
This.
Ah btw, it's so broken that it CAN use spells in dead magic zone.
How does that new draconic sorcerer (or whatever) compare to the regular one?
If you read the guy's comment, you understand that what matters is simply the number of spells you can cast (and lvls, ofc). That's why Sorc > DD. That AC bonus is basically useless, CON doesn't matter after 16 and a Sorc can reach 100% fire res with a finger snap. It has its role-play charm tho'.
Edit: later or tomorrow I'll post you a list of the spells with which you can easily solo the game.
This is a Sorcerer spell list meant to face every possible encounter, but of course there may be more suitable spells for certain situations. Anyway, here we go:
This is a Sorcerer spell list meant to face every possible encounter, but of course there may be more suitable spells for certain situations. Anyway, here we go:
First level spells: why not identify? Is blindness that good?
Identify is useful only at the very beginning, later on you can either identify with scrolls, lore score or merchants. Very few creature in the whole saga are immune to blindness and it lasts 2 hours.
Because when your projected image isn't useful anymore you make it cast a Dispel Magic and dissolve itself, you definitely don't want to wait for it to expire. In hard modes and/or solo that can be dangerous (and boring )
First level spells: why not identify? Is blindness that good?
Identify is useful only at the very beginning, later on you can either identify with scrolls, lore score or merchants. Very few creature in the whole saga are immune to blindness and it lasts 2 hours.
)
What creature types do you recommend using blindness on?
@SpaceInvader I can't argue much with your choices, even though there are some duplications at the same level (fire shields, death spell/fog, ADHW/Inc Cloud). But one you are missing that should be pointed out is Improved Invisibility (or Shadow Door). Making it so most mages cannot target you with their spells is extremely powerful.
First level spells: why not identify? Is blindness that good?
Identify is useful only at the very beginning, later on you can either identify with scrolls, lore score or merchants. Very few creature in the whole saga are immune to blindness and it lasts 2 hours.
)
What creature types do you recommend using blindness on?
Personally I use it for one on one fights in BG1 and early BG2. It especially makes ranged attackers useless.
I'd miss having neither Animate Dead, Spider Spawn or mmaayybbee Wyvern Call, but mostly the first two. Spider Spawn and a sequencer of 2 webs is pretty handy.
What creature types do you recommend using blindness on?
You should use it (especially at the beginning) on enemies you can't or don't want to waste too many spells on. Simply blind them and use them as target practice with your sling.
Side note: ideally as a Sorc you'll want Str and Dex as high as possible. If you do, you'll find out that you landing a hit with a sling or a SotM (Staff of the Magi) is not that hard.
@SpaceInvader I can't argue much with your choices, even though there are some duplications at the same level (fire shields, death spell/fog, ADHW/Inc Cloud). But one you are missing that should be pointed out is Improved Invisibility (or Shadow Door). Making it so most mages cannot target you with their spells is extremely powerful.
Now, Death Spell is used to kill instantly summons like Mordekeinen's swords, Skeleton Warriors, Elementals, etc. w/o wasting lots of spells on them, Death Fog is your high lvl acid-damage spell (it can bypass any MR if you know how), ADHW is your high lvl magic-damage spell (can't in any way bypass MR unless you lower the target resistance first), IC is your high lvl fire-damage spell (it can also bypass any MR). You could argue that later on you'll get Dragon's Breath, but 1 IC lasts for 60 seconds and you won't always have many lvl 9 spells to cast unless you invest a lot of time spamming Wish.
Improved Inv and Shadow Door are not good picks, because 1) as soon as you put your hands on the SotM you'll get permanent invisibily (and you can do it even at lvl9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJpDtUVSi0U&t=36s)
and 2) because at that point if an enemy can see you through normal invisibily, it can also cast spells against you while you're under the improved one.
@SpaceInvader while we're at it--no Mislead and Simulacrum?
These are great spells, but not for a Sorc. Mislead works wonder on a multi/dual Thief-Mage, but a good Sorc will have his SotM sooner than his Mislead anyway.
Same goes for Simulacrum: fantastic for a fighter class/Mage, but it's just the small brother of Project Image for a Sorc. It could make sense if the second, third and so on generation of clones didn't get less and less spells, but it's not the case.
Bear in mind that while Dragon Disciples don't get any more HP bonuses from CON above 16, they do roll 1d6 HP per level instead of 1d4, so effectively they do get +2 HP per level for levels 1-10.
Bear in mind that while Dragon Disciples don't get any more HP bonuses from CON above 16, they do roll 1d6 HP per level instead of 1d4, so effectively they do get +2 HP per level for levels 1-10.
And what's the point of it when you're littleraly immune to everything?
Bear in mind that while Dragon Disciples don't get any more HP bonuses from CON above 16, they do roll 1d6 HP per level instead of 1d4, so effectively they do get +2 HP per level for levels 1-10.
And what's the point of it when you're littleraly immune to everything?
Well, inevitably someone will make a mod in which a Lich uses a green Protection from Magic scroll on your caster, at which point you'd be stuck slugging it out, right?
@SpaceInvader: Sorcerers aren't always immune to everything. Certainly not from level 1 to level 6, before you get Stoneskin. Or even from 7 to 11, before you get PFMW, or even from 12 to 17, before you get Chain Contingency, or even after that. Spell Immunity won't block all spells (numerous spells have no schools, like Psionic Blast, which can come with a -4 save penalty in some cases), covering all threats can require multiple SI spells, and all mage buffs can be taken down by an SCS enemy, especially in BG1 when you can't actually get Spell Immunity without removing the XP cap.
Not to mention the existence of dead magic zones in ToB and SoD.
Or unblockable spell failure from SCS Beholders. Or Tactics Bodhi. Or near-unblockable spell failure from IWD Mega Mod Yxunomei.
Or Legacy of Bhaal mode, when fights last so long that a sorcerer might not even be able to win the fight before his or her buffs run out.
Or ambush encounters where you don't get to cast your pre-buffs in the first place.
HP is only irrelevant if the player has perfect knowledge. And as a longtime no-reloader myself, I can say that even we get caught off-guard sometimes. Even @Grond0 has seen his sorcerers die, and if that doesn't speak to the mortality of sorcerers, I don't know what does.
@SpaceInvader: Sorcerers aren't always immune to everything. Certainly not from level 1 to level 6, before you get Stoneskin. Or even from 7 to 11, before you get PFMW, or even from 12 to 17, before you get Chain Contingency, or even after that. Spell Immunity won't block all spells (numerous spells have no schools, like Psionic Blast, which can come with a -4 save penalty in some cases), covering all threats can require multiple SI spells, and all mage buffs can be taken down by an SCS enemy, especially in BG1 when you can't actually get Spell Immunity without removing the XP cap.
So, step by step. As a solo Sorcerer you will be a lot higher level than the enemies you're supposed to meet. In a party you will have other chars to tank some dangers for you. Mirror Image, Stoneskin, PfMW are a must as regards protection. But who said you have to protect yourself when in 80% of the situation the best defense is the attack? In most of the cases you can simply destroy or cc your targets beforehand.
Or unblockable spell failure from SCS Beholders. Or Tactics Bodhi. Or near-unblockable spell failure from IWD Mega Mod Yxunomei..
We're not talking about mods here. I use a lot of them but every mod may have its own strategy. Let's just say that a solo sorc in BG2 with SCS+Tactics on Insane is totally doable for an experienced player.
Or Legacy of Bhaal mode, when fights last so long that a sorcerer might not even be able to win the fight before his or her buffs run out..
I found LoB a pointless experience and it has nothing to do, like mods, with what the people checking this thread are looking for. But since we're at it: Find Familiar at lvl1 here is suddenly a good pick. Your familiar is affected by LoB's npc rules, so you'll get a huge amount of hp and a little powerhouse right at the beginning of the game.
Or ambush encounters where you don't get to cast your pre-buffs in the first place.
Come on now, you don't have to be 100% immune all the time. No class is. Either you can vanquish your enemy or you come back later to finish them. Plus, a Mirror Image/Stoneskin/whatever just takes an instant and you're ready to move.
HP is only irrelevant if the player has perfect knowledge. And as a longtime no-reloader myself, I can say that even we get caught off-guard sometimes. Even @Grond0 has seen his sorcerers die, and if that doesn't speak to the mortality of sorcerers, I don't know what does.
As in every game, metagaming helps.
I must admit I have no idea who Grond0 is or what he managed to accomplish, I was away from this forum for a while, just checking the mods update time to time.
Still, I'm pretty confident saying that I didn't leave anything unexplored as regards main mods, difficulties and classes. And Sorcerer is the one I used the most.
I must admit I have no idea who Grond0 is or what he managed to accomplish, I was away from this forum for a while, just checking the mods update time to time.
@SpaceInvader I'm just someone who's spent a lot of time playing the game - always no-reload and normally solo.
As to the original question, what's the best character build depends on what you're trying to achieve. For a new player for instance I would not recommend a sorcerer as you would be unlikely to choose good spells and not really know what to do with them even if you did.
In this case though the OP was primarily about the best character at high levels, so I wouldn't really argue with the choice of sorcerer. However, the selection will still depend on how you like to play the game. To be successful as a solo a sorcerer needs more micro-management than some other character classes, which is a potential drawback if you're playing no-reload. One embarrassing mistake I remember with a sorcerer was trying to just run past a gibberling rather than bothering to kill it - and seeing my level 9 sorcerer one-shotted by a critical. Of course that death could have been avoided in multiple ways (e.g. casting stoneskin, just killing the attackers, better pathfinding), but if you play a lot of no-reload you're unlikely to always use optimal tactics - and other classes will penalise mistakes less than a sorcerer.
In relation to appropriate spells to use for a sorcerer there's a lot of variety depending on your game style. From my perspective for instance you're handicapping yourself by not using sequencers, but that probably reflects a specific handicap you want to place on your characters - and, possibly as a result of that decision, you've got more direct damage spells than I would use. You also seem very short of summons at lower levels to play solo - it is certainly possible to rely on item-based summons, just kill things from long range, or buff up extensively to become immune to all attacks, but any of those strategies take longer to set up safely. Someone has already pointed out the lack of improved invisibility which will mean you will need to use more extensive other buffs to remain safe. In relation to dispel or remove magic I've used both, but I would tend to prefer remove magic. However, that reflects that my project images would typically produce summons - who can then kill the image in a couple of seconds. They would often be helped in doing that by being under improved haste - your not taking that is probably another reflection that you don't use summons much.
Death Fog is your high lvl acid-damage spell (it can bypass any MR if you know how), ADHW is your high lvl magic-damage spell (can't in any way bypass MR unless you lower the target resistance first), IC is your high lvl fire-damage spell (it can also bypass any MR).
The bypassing MR had me curious, and a quick search turned up targeting Chain Contingencies on yourself. Is that what you're referring to?
Improved Inv and Shadow Door are not good picks, because 1) as soon as you put your hands on the SotM you'll get permanent invisibily (and you can do it even at lvl9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJpDtUVSi0U&t=36s)
I just wanted to comment that this was very well done. I did not know you could walk around the room before triggering the confrontation.
Not to mention the existence of dead magic zones in ToB and SoD.
Are you aware that mages/sorcs can actually use spells in dead magic zones? It is an exploit of course, but magic is all about exploits
I'm guessing this is related to the Contingencies above? I'd really like to know how you prepare for these. In my latest run I bypassed the Dead/Wild zones in Watcher's Keep, and when I faced Demogorgon for the first time ever I wasn't able to figure out what to use to bring down his resistances so I left him for now. So any tips would be appreciated.
However, that reflects that my project images would typically produce summons - who can then kill the image in a couple of seconds. They would often be helped in doing that by being under improved haste - your not taking that is probably another reflection that you don't use summons much.
That is my current strategy, and I came to the same conclusion your did with SpaceInvader's list (direct damage only vs a balance of summons and damage). That's the great thing about Sorcerers, no two Sorcs play exactly the same because of spell choices and what level they're taken.
Come on now, you don't have to be 100% immune all the time. No class is.
In my first comment I was referring to a high lvl sorc. In the second I was answering you about a low level one subjected to ambushes and stuff since I thought you were talking about BG no-reload LoB run.
Also, being immune to everything doesn't mean being immune all the time.
My point is that any good high lvl Sorc can't be caught off guard, because you can simply go invisible, use CC, cast alacrity into ts or whatever fits the situation.
As a matter of fact, a lvl 31 Sorc is invincible in the vanilla game.
@Grond0 I agree with what you said and yeah, the only summons I use are Mordekeinen swords and Planetar.
@luskan yes, I was referring to the CC. Unfortunately I don't play un-modded ToB since years and my version of Demogorgon is different. There are many ways to do it depending on your lvl but keep in mind that he has no acid resistance. So either you low his MR and cast some Death Fogs or simply cast them through CC to ignore it.
Great thread. Just a quick comment so it will show up in my participated file. Gonna study this one and make some notes. Thanks for everyone's time and expertise.
You might argue LoB is pointless and I'm definitely not a fan of LoB, but Insane is just too easy with any class. The only reason Sorcerers are op on Insane is they oneshot anything and if you leave SCS out as well what's the point even thinking about the best possible character build? You will only find out which char is strongest if you actually test it's limits and without LoB that is just not possible since no class even solo will ever reach it's limit if you actually know what you are doing. Look at Belhifet you can just kill him with Melfs while on LoB it has over 1k HP and you actually have to find a solution to that instead of just using one spell till it's dead.
What would be the ultimate character? Including gear and considering max-level and lategame abilities.
Why is it so hard to understand that a Sorcerer with those premises is just the only one class or combination of classes that can face literally anything with minimum to 0 risk?
It is hard to understand because it's simply not true. But you can show me your minimum to 0 risk tactic with Sorc vs Belhifet on LoB any day I'm open to new ideas.
To be fair, 0 risk tactics have been done for essentially every character (though we don't always execute them correctly). Let's not forget that people have done no-reload runs of the entire trilogy with solo characters from Beastmasters to Wild Mages and Wizard Slayers.
In the case of Belhifet on LoB mode, the best bet for a solo sorcerer is to use a LOT of kiting with Lower Resistance and LOTS of Wand of Frost charges to gradually grind him down, probably using the Greenstone Amulet to avoid fear effects and Potions of Invisibility to buy some time from the archers (though Belhifet himself can still see through it).
The work being done in @Harpagornis' solo LoB thread has lots of excellent information for 0 risk strategies in LoB mode.
Here's one of the most powerful BG1 characters I've created which is possible to create without mods, modding tools or the console.
By exporting a character and then importing multiple copies of the character, you can duplicate items, most notably consumable items and stat-increasing tomes (which I used to get all of the character's stats to 25).
By exporting a character and then importing multiple copies of the character, you can duplicate items, most notably consumable items and stat-increasing tomes (which I used to get all of the character's stats to 25).
Wouldn't it be just faster to create them via console?
Comments
Ah btw, it's so broken that it CAN use spells in dead magic zone.
That's why Sorc > DD.
That AC bonus is basically useless, CON doesn't matter after 16 and a Sorc can reach 100% fire res with a finger snap.
It has its role-play charm tho'.
Edit: later or tomorrow I'll post you a list of the spells with which you can easily solo the game.
Anyway, here we go:
Level 1 - Blindness, Burning Hands, Magic Missile, Shield, Spook
Level 2 - Invisibility, Melf's Acid Arrow, Mirror Image, Resist Fear, Web
Level 3 - Dispel Magic, Flame Arrow, Haste, Melf's Minute Meateors, Skull Trap
Level 4 - Farsight, Fireahield Blue and Red, Greater Malison, Stoneskin
Level 5 - Breach, Cone of Cold, Lower Resistance, Spell Immunity, Spell Shield
Level 6 - Death Fog, Death Spell, Pierce Magic, Protection from Magical Weapons, True Sight
Level 7 - Finger of Death, Mordekainen's Sword, Power Word: Stun, Project Image, Ruby Ray of Reversal
Level 8 - Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Incendiary Cloud, Pierce Shield, Protection from Energy
Level 9 - Chain Contingency, Shapechange, Time Stop, Wish
If you have questions regarding why *that* spell instead of another one, ask away
Very few creature in the whole saga are immune to blindness and it lasts 2 hours. Because when your projected image isn't useful anymore you make it cast a Dispel Magic and dissolve itself, you definitely don't want to wait for it to expire.
In hard modes and/or solo that can be dangerous (and boring
Side note: ideally as a Sorc you'll want Str and Dex as high as possible.
If you do, you'll find out that you landing a hit with a sling or a SotM (Staff of the Magi) is not that hard. There are no duplications:
Fire shields are 2 distinct damage instances and sources.
This is from 5 years ago, but it should explain my point: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/13086/solo-sorcerer-vs-karoug-greater-wolfwere-co-on-insane/p1
Now, Death Spell is used to kill instantly summons like Mordekeinen's swords, Skeleton Warriors, Elementals, etc. w/o wasting lots of spells on them, Death Fog is your high lvl acid-damage spell (it can bypass any MR if you know how), ADHW is your high lvl magic-damage spell (can't in any way bypass MR unless you lower the target resistance first), IC is your high lvl fire-damage spell (it can also bypass any MR).
You could argue that later on you'll get Dragon's Breath, but 1 IC lasts for 60 seconds and you won't always have many lvl 9 spells to cast unless you invest a lot of time spamming Wish.
Improved Inv and Shadow Door are not good picks, because 1) as soon as you put your hands on the SotM you'll get permanent invisibily (and you can do it even at lvl9:
and 2) because at that point if an enemy can see you through normal invisibily, it can also cast spells against you while you're under the improved one. These are great spells, but not for a Sorc.
Mislead works wonder on a multi/dual Thief-Mage, but a good Sorc will have his SotM sooner than his Mislead anyway.
Same goes for Simulacrum: fantastic for a fighter class/Mage, but it's just the small brother of Project Image for a Sorc. It could make sense if the second, third and so on generation of clones didn't get less and less spells, but it's not the case.
Thats probably a bit of a reach though
Not to mention the existence of dead magic zones in ToB and SoD.
Or unblockable spell failure from SCS Beholders. Or Tactics Bodhi. Or near-unblockable spell failure from IWD Mega Mod Yxunomei.
Or Legacy of Bhaal mode, when fights last so long that a sorcerer might not even be able to win the fight before his or her buffs run out.
Or ambush encounters where you don't get to cast your pre-buffs in the first place.
HP is only irrelevant if the player has perfect knowledge. And as a longtime no-reloader myself, I can say that even we get caught off-guard sometimes. Even @Grond0 has seen his sorcerers die, and if that doesn't speak to the mortality of sorcerers, I don't know what does.
As a solo Sorcerer you will be a lot higher level than the enemies you're supposed to meet.
In a party you will have other chars to tank some dangers for you.
Mirror Image, Stoneskin, PfMW are a must as regards protection. But who said you have to protect yourself when in 80% of the situation the best defense is the attack?
In most of the cases you can simply destroy or cc your targets beforehand.
Are you aware that mages/sorcs can actually use spells in dead magic zones?
It is an exploit of course, but magic is all about exploits
I use a lot of them but every mod may have its own strategy.
Let's just say that a solo sorc in BG2 with SCS+Tactics on Insane is totally doable for an experienced player. I found LoB a pointless experience and it has nothing to do, like mods, with what the people checking this thread are looking for.
But since we're at it: Find Familiar at lvl1 here is suddenly a good pick. Your familiar is affected by LoB's npc rules, so you'll get a huge amount of hp and a little powerhouse right at the beginning of the game. Come on now, you don't have to be 100% immune all the time. No class is.
Either you can vanquish your enemy or you come back later to finish them.
Plus, a Mirror Image/Stoneskin/whatever just takes an instant and you're ready to move. As in every game, metagaming helps.
I must admit I have no idea who Grond0 is or what he managed to accomplish, I was away from this forum for a while, just checking the mods update time to time.
Still, I'm pretty confident saying that I didn't leave anything unexplored as regards main mods, difficulties and classes. And Sorcerer is the one I used the most.
As to the original question, what's the best character build depends on what you're trying to achieve. For a new player for instance I would not recommend a sorcerer as you would be unlikely to choose good spells and not really know what to do with them even if you did.
In this case though the OP was primarily about the best character at high levels, so I wouldn't really argue with the choice of sorcerer. However, the selection will still depend on how you like to play the game. To be successful as a solo a sorcerer needs more micro-management than some other character classes, which is a potential drawback if you're playing no-reload. One embarrassing mistake I remember with a sorcerer was trying to just run past a gibberling rather than bothering to kill it - and seeing my level 9 sorcerer one-shotted by a critical. Of course that death could have been avoided in multiple ways (e.g. casting stoneskin, just killing the attackers, better pathfinding), but if you play a lot of no-reload you're unlikely to always use optimal tactics - and other classes will penalise mistakes less than a sorcerer.
In relation to appropriate spells to use for a sorcerer there's a lot of variety depending on your game style. From my perspective for instance you're handicapping yourself by not using sequencers, but that probably reflects a specific handicap you want to place on your characters - and, possibly as a result of that decision, you've got more direct damage spells than I would use. You also seem very short of summons at lower levels to play solo - it is certainly possible to rely on item-based summons, just kill things from long range, or buff up extensively to become immune to all attacks, but any of those strategies take longer to set up safely. Someone has already pointed out the lack of improved invisibility which will mean you will need to use more extensive other buffs to remain safe. In relation to dispel or remove magic I've used both, but I would tend to prefer remove magic. However, that reflects that my project images would typically produce summons - who can then kill the image in a couple of seconds. They would often be helped in doing that by being under improved haste - your not taking that is probably another reflection that you don't use summons much.
In the second I was answering you about a low level one subjected to ambushes and stuff since I thought you were talking about BG no-reload LoB run.
Also, being immune to everything doesn't mean being immune all the time.
My point is that any good high lvl Sorc can't be caught off guard, because you can simply go invisible, use CC, cast alacrity into ts or whatever fits the situation.
As a matter of fact, a lvl 31 Sorc is invincible in the vanilla game.
@Grond0 I agree with what you said and yeah, the only summons I use are Mordekeinen swords and Planetar.
@luskan yes, I was referring to the CC.
Unfortunately I don't play un-modded ToB since years and my version of Demogorgon is different. There are many ways to do it depending on your lvl but keep in mind that he has no acid resistance.
So either you low his MR and cast some Death Fogs or simply cast them through CC to ignore it.
The only reason Sorcerers are op on Insane is they oneshot anything and if you leave SCS out as well what's the point even thinking about the best possible character build?
You will only find out which char is strongest if you actually test it's limits and without LoB that is just not possible since no class even solo will ever reach it's limit if you actually know what you are doing.
Look at Belhifet you can just kill him with Melfs while on LoB it has over 1k HP and you actually have to find a solution to that instead of just using one spell till it's dead.
The op wrote: Why is it so hard to understand that a Sorcerer with those premises is just the only one class or combination of classes that can face literally anything with minimum to 0 risk?
Same with LoB, Tactics and/or SCS installed.
But you can show me your minimum to 0 risk tactic with Sorc vs Belhifet on LoB any day I'm open to new ideas.
In the case of Belhifet on LoB mode, the best bet for a solo sorcerer is to use a LOT of kiting with Lower Resistance and LOTS of Wand of Frost charges to gradually grind him down, probably using the Greenstone Amulet to avoid fear effects and Potions of Invisibility to buy some time from the archers (though Belhifet himself can still see through it).
The work being done in @Harpagornis' solo LoB thread has lots of excellent information for 0 risk strategies in LoB mode.
By exporting a character and then importing multiple copies of the character, you can duplicate items, most notably consumable items and stat-increasing tomes (which I used to get all of the character's stats to 25).