Sorc solo. BG1 any problem?
Shire
Member Posts: 58
Ive done most of BG2 solo as sorc long long ago. Such a fun class to play so gonna make a new one soon, and this time do the whole saga.
Is there any issues running a lone mage in the first game and being weak like a kitten? Or is it just a matter about using invisibility and sleep alot?
Also, best race? Should be Elf?
Is there any issues running a lone mage in the first game and being weak like a kitten? Or is it just a matter about using invisibility and sleep alot?
Also, best race? Should be Elf?
0
Comments
Anyway yes, elf is obviously the best race for sorc.
Ill probably play chaotic neutral so I get a kitty. Nothing to do with skills, i just love cats! Might consider my usual chaotic good for the invisibility dragon though.
The only part where it'll be difficult is :
- At the beginning (low HP / few spells / spells that don't last)
- Fighting against boss (Sarevok, Karoug, Demon)
I did manage a solo wizard run in Baldur's Gate without the XP cap back then in 2003. I went to level 11 (instead of level 9) but without knowledge about some of the cheesiest items (Wand of Paralysis) and without having access to Baldur's Gate 2 spell goodies (Stoneskin, Fireshield... )
Here's what I wrote 10 years ago :
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, since i already managed to go through BG2 & ToB as a Wild mage, i was wondering if it was possible to do the same in BG1 & ToSC.
Sooooo...
I did it !
You do need some tricks, but if you know how to make a good use of the BG1 spells, some fights are just well.. easy !
In order to "power-up" my char a bit, i played without the Xp cap.
When killing Sarevok, i was lvl 11 with ~700,000 xp, so not THAT high level.
Spells that you will definatly use :
- Mirror Image :
Your best friend.
It protects you from traps, most damaging spells (Fireball, Flame arrow, Melf's acide arrow..) and is even better then "stoneskin" is in BG2, protecting you from both magic and physical damage.
- Summon spells :
A must have.
Always had 1 memmed (unless planning on a very difficult fight)
Especially Summon Monsters III.
Get Ghouls, Haste them, enjoy..
Summon Monsters II is a great spell too (Especially when summoning hobgoblins.. hasted, they do fire a TON of arrows..)
- Greater Malision :
If you fight a TOUGH ennemy, always cast this spell 1rst.
You may think -2 to all saves ain't that much, but trust me, it is !
Especially used in conjonction with disabling spells, like Hold Monster, Confusion ...
- Lightning bolt :
Best BG1 damage spell EVER.
Here's how you kill a big bad monster :
1°)Cast Greater Malision
2°)Cast Hold Monster
3°)Stand in front of him
4°)Cast Lightning bolt, and watch your ennemy take 100's damage from the bouncing bolt of death.
Great when used with Minor Globe of Invulnerability, but the big disavantage is that you can't cast Mirror Image while you have the Globe on.. so you have to be sure you won't need it.
- Confusing Spells :
Omg.. i was such a fool to think they were crap..
Check the "Hard Fights" part of the post to understand why..
- Charm Spells :
Great at the beginning (Charm a bear, kill anything, finish it with a single magic missile when charm wears off).
There are a few monsters that you must "charm on sight".
- Greater invisibility spells :
Improved invisibility and Shadow door..
-4 to Ac, can't be the target of spells.. do i need to say anything else ?
Playing as a solo Mage:
My starting stats:
An Elf with
18 str
19 dex
17 con
18 int
10 wis
10 cha
My Equip when beating Sarevok :
- Cloak of Balduran
- Ring of Protection +2
- Robe of the good archmagi
- Staff +3
- Sling +3, +2 bullets
- Ring of Wizardry
- Amulet of metaspell influence (+1 lvl 2 spell)
- Boots of speed
- Gauntlets of Weapon Skill
- Girdle of Piercing
@ lvl 11, i had 63 hp, -2 AC (-6 with the level 4 spell spirit armor)
Tips :
Believe me when i tell you the beginning is HARD !
Slings are you best friends, just hit and run monsters..
Pick every scroll you come across.
Trust me, you'll need those extra magic missile/Agannazar's Scorcher/Melf's acide arrows spells..
Rest whenever it's possible
Make a good use of wands.
Important :When you're not casting a spell, you're either attacking with your sling, or running.
Always attack with your sling right after casting a spell.
While dongeon crawling, have Mirror Image up at all times to avoid traps..
If you're facing a big bunch of low level monsters, either cast a Fireball, or a Cloudkill spell to avoid them from swarming you.
You have 3 ways to fight casters :
- Swarm them with summons
- Let them deplete their spells on you, recast Mirror image as needed then finish them while they're tring to punch you..
- Disturb their spell casting using magic missile.. you need to time your casting right..
Melee ennemies are much more dangerous.
Usually 4 ways to deal with them :
- Swarm them with summons. Only work if you're only facing one or two ennemies, or a bunch of low level ones..
- Confuse / Paralize them.
Works great ! an ennemy attacked by another confused ennemy WILL fight back...
If an ennemy is paralized, just summon a bunch of creatures to kill them.
It's the only way i managed to kill the most dangerous ennemies...
- Direct damage.
Works great for low/mid level ennemies.
I found that a good use of Lightning bolt was much more damaging than using Fireball.
- Charm them.
That's what i would do when facing 2 powerfull ennemies (like Werewolves..)
Charm one, let him beat on the other, then finish it.
HARD FIGHTS:
- Durlag's tower 1rst floor last fight.
Make sure to separate the 4 midgets, or you'll be in great trouble..
Then, just use the same methods as above.
- Facing the Tanaari after the Durlag's tower :
You'll need to kill all the cult adept before trying to kill the demon.
Best way is to summon a LOT of monsters (Cast 2-3 Summon monster II-III spells), then just Bolt adepts to death (The room is perfect for casting some lightning bolt of death...)
When you run out of spells, just run out, sleep then do it again.
Once all Adepts are dead.. just cast Cloud Kill.. for some weird reasons, the Tanaari directly dies from it (Like a low level ennemy.. weird isn'it ?)
- Balduran's Ship, facing Werwolves
Only one method : CONFUSE THEM !
When they're all together beating on you, you'll hit the ground in a heartbeat.
But if you manage to run amok amongst them, those fight willbe much easier.
The only way i found to kill the "Werewolf boss" was to paralize him then Bolt.
You won't be able to sustain enough damage otherwise..
- The last fight against Sarevok.
Well.. once again..
- cast Greater Malision (before even starting the fight)
- cast 2 or 3 times chaos, hope that sarevok gets confused (Just reload if he isn't .. there is no way you can let him beat on you..) (same as above, before starting the fight, when they don't see you..)
then ..
- cast all the skulltrap spells you've got (he's got no "magic damage" resists..), and all the magic missile spells you've got.
If you're lucky, and his allies do damage him a lot, you should be able to kill him with 2-3 spells left..
That's it
And actually, you don't even need to pick Fireball.
Also, you can buy something like 20 Greater Malison scrolls in Sorcerous Sundries- more than enough to get you through the tough fights in the game, so no need to take that either. You can also get 20 Chaos scrolls in here, which are very nice.
I've never done a solo run with Sorcerer (or anything else) but I figured those are worth mentioning.
I picked this spells:
Level 1)
— Sleep: very useful specially against Kobolds, Hobgoblins and other minor enemies. Cast sleep and attack them with quarterstaff
— Blindness: This is a powerful spell in BG 1. You can blind a important number of enemies like Ogres, Ogre Mages, bandits, etc
— Protection from evil and Shield to have some Protection spells
— Magic Missile
Maybe you can pick chromatic orb instead Shield spell.
Level 2)
— Knock: Or.... you can pick another spell and use a scroll of Knock to replace it
— Melf's Acid Arrow
— Mirror Image: one of the best spells in BG1. Cast this spell always, specially when you explore outdoor areas and during battles
— Web: To paralyze enemies
Level 3)
— Haste: nice spell. Cast it always, you can use it to escape when you have serious problems, or to attack very fast. Combined with boots of speed is simply crazy. You will get an awesome speed for explore, escape or fight. And the most important point: Haste works with summonings
— Skull Trap: this is the best spell to attack. Nice Damage, you can kill lots of enemies casting one Skull Trap or to do serious damage to a great enemy.
— Melf Minute Meteors: Must have. 9 Meteors to use when you need. You can cast this spell before sleep and still have the Meteors to use after wake up.
Level 4)
— Stoneskin: No words needed. The best protection spell in BG 1. And yes, it can be casted before sleep
— Spider Spawn: your personal guard. You can clean whole areas combining Spider spawn + Haste + Web
Also you may need Greater Malison. Unfortunadely Sorcerer cant learn more spells with xp cap but I always have scrolls of Greater Malison in my scroll case.
Probably, the weak point of this build is fighting against Arachnids (specially sword & phase spiders). I think it’s better to avoid this encounters. Also if you plan to kill Drizzt, it can be the most difficult battle of the game. It’s easier kill Drizzt with a single Thief/Assassin using Hide in Shadows + Backstab than using the full potential of this Sorcerer
My equip at the end of game:
Quarterstaff +2
Robe of Neutral Archimagi
Gaunlets of weapon Expertise “Legacy of the Master”
Amulet of Spell Warning
Ring of Wizardry: Evermemory (Most important one. Specially at the beginning of the game)
The Guard’s Ring +2
Girdle of Bluntness: Destroyer of the Hills
Boots of Speed: The Paws of the Cheetah
Cloak of Balduran
Wands of Lightning, Fire, Paralysis, Summoning Monsters….
A Scroll case full of scrolls
Potions of Healing
Stats:
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 19
Wisdom: 20
Charisma: 10
Here is a couple of videos i uploaded using this build, both in insane difficult
Run to Davaeorn:
Run to Sarevok:
What max wisdom i need to make wish good enough? Considering there are 3 tomes.
DEX as high as possible for slings and dart (MMM count as darts) and AC at lower levels helps.
CON 16 at start. Because yes, you'll get a tome, but
INT w/e you want. Mindflyers won't hit you anyway with PfMW, if they do, it means you have to use a better tactic
WIS 18 is ok for Wish, more is superfluous.
CHA I'd say 16 to have access to certain banters, but it's not a "must".
What about starting with 17con and use the Claw?
In BG2:EE is definetely not needed.
You're already looking for a really high roll (18+19+16+11?+15+15 = 94)
PS. just to clarify, you can solo the game with a non min-max Sorc. I'm just telling you what the "perfect" should be.
Ill go 10int so I got 11 for BG2.
Gonna take some rolling but if needed ill gimp charisma a tad more. Its solo afterall and i can always buy a friendsscroll. In BG2 we all know how easily fixed it is.
Couldnt be arsed to reroll for ages so i stopped on 90.
Str 18 -> 19 after tome.
Dex 19 -> 20
Con 15 -> 16
Int 10 -> 11
Wis 15 -> 18
Car 13 -> 14 (20 with friends)
Should be decent enough.
Hardest part was palace, but that went better after trying Malison -> Confusion.
Sarevok fight was messy and fun! Dispells, Malison, 2 scroll of cloudkill, minute meteors and alot of magic missile and wand of animal summoning. All 4 of them ended up on the floor.
Solo sorc is actually very easy in BG1.
They are IMO the most powerful class when dealing with the hard fights of the game. They are not so great for the easy fights (although they pose no threat) : killing a dire wolf is painful with a sorceror...
The key spells for me are (the other spells are barely used)
- level 1 : magic missile (damage, casting interruptions), shield (although the shielding amulet can be used for the same effect).
- level 2 : web (ridiculously OP, especially with the ring of free action), invisibility (no fear of ambush and random encounters, allows you to skip the non essential fights)
- level 3 : MMM (great damage output)
- level 4 : stoneskin
As for the items. The essential are for me :
- wands gives you all the area of effect damage you need
- ring of free action (or potions)
General strategy :
Get easy xp to get to invisibility, web and MMM. You can do that without any challenging fighting.
Once you have that the game is basically over.
You use invisibility all the time to scout. When you need to fight, you open with 2-3 webs. This will ensure all your opponents to be paralyzed while you slaughter them using MMM, wands and magic missiles.
If you use spiderspawns/haste it's even easier.
A few notes on some notable spells :
level 1 :
- identify is useless. It makes you save a few thousands over the course of the game. In solo, money is never a problem anyway.
- friends is useless for the same reason
- sleep is not needed at all if you know which parts of the game to do first. You can also buy a wand for that.
Level 2 :
- knock is not needed at all. There is very few important locked doors/chests which cannot be forced. You get at least 4 knock scrolls (1 at davaevorn, 2 in sorcerous sundries, 1 in candlekeep) which is more than sufficient if you know what to open.
- resist fear, although nice, can be skipped since you will use the greenstone amulet
level 3 :
avoid anything that can be duplicated by a wand (fireball, summon, ...)