What Are The Best/Easy Solo Classes/Races For BGEII?
BGEFanatic
Member Posts: 67
I want to start a new game (again) solo in BGEII Throne of Bhaal. What you guys think or has experienced playing the game in solo and what classes do you think is easy?
Does alignment also affect the stats? Then what you think is the best alignment for the said solo class?
Yeah I know...plenty of this same question but am not satisfied. Better to get the ideas from recently but experienced players.
Does alignment also affect the stats? Then what you think is the best alignment for the said solo class?
Yeah I know...plenty of this same question but am not satisfied. Better to get the ideas from recently but experienced players.
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I've only done solo no reloads, and I found sorcerer the easiest for me. Lots of people like adding fighter in there, but I found if something was hitting me (and it wasn't, say, a random kobold), then I had generally messed up- usually I was so well protected that nothing touched me. Any combination with mage in it is generally going to be the best soloer, though. It's extremely hard to get through some tough mage fights without having the ability to take down their spell protections. Of course, you can skip as many fights as you can, but I personally like to see as much of the game as possible.
Of course any charname with any alignment and any class can get the +2 strenght, but it would not be the same thing.
No, he won't be able to open all locks.
Is it them worth it to play solo with a different character? E.g. can you get the best equipment on a Berserker or Blade, even though u cannot lockpick?
I just finished my first solo run with a Sorcerer, and I am looking for the next char to try out: at this moment I am considering the Berserker, but I am not sure right now when it comes to the lockpicking issue.
You can solo with nearly every possible character. The question is if you're willing to metagame or not.
If you're not metagaming you will inevitably one day die as a result of a save-or-die trap. Participants in the discussion here (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32489/best-defensive-character-class-for-a-non-metagamed-run-through-the-entire-trilogy#latest) have more or less come to the conclusion that for a non-metagamed run you need a thief part.
As for the lockpickting - you'll get all the essential stuff from enemies and stores. The locked chests actually don't give unique things that are essential to continue your run and be powerful. Of course, there're some exceptions, see http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/31270/interesting-discovery-it-s-not-possible-to-get-the-str-and-wis-tomes-from-catacombs#latest . But in general, you'll be fine even without items in locked containers. So, for a Berserker it would be positively possible to solo the game but some containers will stay locked.
By the way, Blades, as well as other casters, are able to cast the Knock spell to open any lock available.
The point of view that a Berserker is a strong candidate for a solo run is based upon his immunities from the Rage ability - this ability gives an option to overcome nearly any dangerous effect in the game in a matter of seconds.
Thanks a lot for the info, things are a lot clearer now. I am probably not going for the metagame - Im going for more of a "load anytime you want/fun play"
I also am not as experienced when it comes to all the classes in BG, so Blade can knock that's great
Right now I am really torn between: Berserker, Blade or Inquisitor (NO dual).
Which do you think is the most "fun" for a solo run?
On the other hand, a Berserker and an Inquisitor are basically fighters so won't have a chance of combining physical power with spells.
To me, the funniest would be the Blade.
Therefore, Blade and Berserker are so appealing to me.
In most fights I find it way harder to survive when using my full party than when I leave them behind and just go ahead with only my PC.
Which Kit do you think would do best? I really like the Assassin with the backstab multiplier, but their are probably quite fragile?
Playing as an Assassin can be fun but needs a lot of meta-knowledge. A small amount of thieving points leads you to a narrow choice what thieving skill to choose first.
Poison weapon can be a solution to ANY fight in the game but overall it would be hard to solo if you have only soloed once.
An Assassin is my favourite thief kit but I play him because I know precisely what number of points I want to put into and what skill I want to develop and when.
If a multiclass is not your cup of tea ( @elminster 's idea is a good one, fighter/thief is also solid) and you still want to solo as a thief, I'd choose a Swashbuckler. He is not limited in any way, he can still scout invisible, he only lacks backstabs but in a solo game relying on a backstab is not a good idea anyway. Swashbuckler's bonuses are what makes him a good variant for a solo game.
Once I get more experience with the game I will try others (e.g. Assassin) which are a bit more challenging.
Sorcerer is the most veeatile and tactical character that benefits a lot from 6x XP for being a solo; but some fights take a looong time of throwing spells around; battling dragons, for instance, is pretty RNG-based (did he save vs my Finger of Death? Did he use Wing Buffet on me before I cast my second spell?), though killing largest beasts with a level 1 spell is hilarious (Chromatic Orb is neat). Very interesting combat and very powerful character overall.
Inquisitor is my second best char overall. There are several chests and doors that are closed to you, but they add almost nothing to your char; most other locked doors can be forced with your STR boosted by innate ability buff (that you get as LG), using Crom Faeyr or, in rare cases, slayer form - not the subtlest of lockpicks, but does the job. You might want to use scrolls of protection in early game, such as PFUndead to fight liches/demiliches or PFMagic for beholders (if you don't have the shield, which you should), but overall, you won't have a lot of problems. Wizards, who are a major PITA for others, are a joke to an Inquisitor - Dispel, True See and whack them with Carsomyr. Gear is very easy to get, you start with a Sword of Chaos +2, helm of balduran and that armor off Ilyich, change it to Lilarcor +3 and Full Plate +1, get Carsomyr, get Ioun Stone from spider lair (in graveyard tombs) and you're set. As always, Lens of Identification (from upper floor in gaelan's house) and Boots of Speed make your life so much easier, as does Bag of Holding (which is kinda easier to get with BG2EE if you can beat Dragomir). In ToB you have a plethora of awesome two-handers like that instadeath Axe. The only real problem was the final fight of ToB, as your AC is meaningless and your HP ends much faster than hers. A very straightforward and high-damage character that has no problems with casters.
Blade is awesome, but a bit of a late bloomer. He's basically a fighter/mage while being worse fighter and worse mage, but he has one GIANT advantage that is 'Use Any Item' HLA. With it your possibilities become endless. Spins are nice, even Defensive (did you know that Free Movement allows you to move in Defensive Spin?) - Offensive one is good for all fights.
Assassin is nice, but tough. You need to get boots of speed ASAP, because they allow you to run behind corners and activate stealth to backstab more. Fighting wizards is tough, though your poison ability is godsent vs both arcane and divine casters, interrupting their casts: if you can get a drop on a wizard, you win, if he activates his defensive spells, he wins. Uphill battle, especially before getting UAI; on the other habd, you get levels faster than anyone else.
Shadowdancer is much better than Assassin as you don't need to run around corners, but worse backstab number hurts vs heavy fighters. They play similarly, but also a bit different. Dancer has less risk less reward in comparison to Assassin.
Swashbuckler is basically a Fi/Thief without backstab. He's faster progressing in levels (like all rogues), but nothing special. If you don't want to backstab, why play a rogue?
Ranger/Cleric is a very potent character. I don't like that you have to recast your buffs a lot, but overall in the fight with dual maces/flails (Defender of Easthaven + Flail of Ages is a good couple for SoA), buffed, having tons of self-healing, throwing offensive divine spells lategame, you're akin to Kensai/Mage with less damage but way more defense. Limits to weapons are the only serious drawback.
Kensai/Mage dual-class is a powerhouse; a bit harder to get his levels of mage, but overall doable if you bank easy XP rewards and get spell scrolls. Tenser Transformed, with Stoneskin and Armor, dualwielding katanas or longswords, you bash through anything.
Monks are decent, but kinda boring, and have a lot of problems with wizards. They are also late bloomers, and can't really take advantage of awesome weapons you get.
Druids are the worst class to solo, IMO. Fighter/Druid is your best choice, but it's still inferior to Fi/Cler and especially to Ran/Cler. Of all druid kits Avenger is the best choice (Extra spells help a lot, spider form is good early game and 16 con/str is not a drawback at all - only warriors get anything from 17+ con and str is easy to boost with an early belt), and totemic druid gets free extra summons to distract your enemies. Pure druid and shifter are worse; greater wolf form is potent, but you don't get too many casts per day and your spellcasting (which becomes more important and and potent after level 16) is disabled in the form. The biggest problem for melee druids is very poor weapon choice (you are barred from the best weapons), and spellcasting druid has to wait for 2mil XP mark to get any meaningful spell slots. Still possible, but harder than anything else.
There are many classes I wanted to try, but really, you can only run BG2 so many times before being burnt out. Archer and Stalker look good as options; Archer has a TON of damage (I think he has the highest sustained damage out of all non-Arcane characters), and Stalker has good damage and backstabs, so might be better than Assassin due to higher damage bonuses on poorer backstabs (i.e. 10x7 is worse than 20x4) and much better HP.