BGEE & BG2EE no reloads solo run

Klorox

One character, to go from Candlekeep to the end of TOB. What are you making? How do you outfit this character?

Gotural

Half-Elf F/M/T

biffyclanger

Un-nerfed R/C still a favourite.

Klorox

biffyclanger said:

Un-nerfed R/C still a favourite.

Un-nerfed?

biffyclanger

Yeah i think 1.3 took away the druidic spells other than the ones rangers would get. Some see it as a fix however R/C without Iron Skin is no R/C in my book XD.

biffyclanger

Oh forgot to mention you can re-initialize the original R/C spells by changing the Baldur.ini Cleric Ranger value from 0 to 1.

Klorox

I didn't know that. I haven't played a C/R since getting EE.

Klorox

I had been playing a half elf FMT, but I got Mazed on spellhold.

I really like the berserker (fighters really are the easiest single class solo through BGI, and the berserker rage stops so many things), but for power I want to dual class him.

I don't know if I'm best off with a staff and dual classing into a mage (so many good staves), or a greatsword and dual classing into a thief (***** in greatswords with Carsomyr).

Klorox

I hadn't considered a berserker > cleric or druid.

Although I still think the mage or thief would be a better option.

Jaheiras_Witness

To get the most out of a dual from berserker, you really want to get to level 13 - that's as much for saving throws as the extra 0.5 attack, fighter saving throws improve massively between level 9 and 13. If you dual at 9 unfortunately you are stuck with a save vs death of 8, which is just asking for trouble.

So the real difficulty is getting to level 14 in the second class. Thief is not too bad - just 880k XP. But there's not many quests that are easy for a thief to complete - thief guild possibly the easiest - Potion of Absorption for the golems, take Rayic out with Firebreath, Mae'Var is not too hard. But that will only get you around a third of the way at most, so you need to find some others. Mage 14 requires a rather hefty 1.5m XP (almost double the thief!). You can probably get a headstart of around 200k by scribing a bunch of scrolls, but then you'll need to complete several quests to do the rest. Still, should be doable by taking 1 battle at a time and resting between each one to ensure you have all your best spells available at all times.

Once you're a Berserker 13/Thief or Mage 14 you can have the time of your life.

Klorox

While you are correct about getting more out of the berserker class, the "down time" without fighter levels is just too long for me if I go to 13 as a fighter.

If I ever fail a death saving throw, it's because I was too stupid to not use a rage.

Jaheiras_Witness

Yes, downtime is not fun. Just bear in mind that rage will not always protect you from death saving throw effects (e.g. poison, some vorpal hits require a save vs death to avoid) and even where they do, are you really going to have rage running at all times when you fight Shadow Fiends, Mummies, and many other minor creatures which can require you to save? What about battles that last longer than 10 rounds?

In my experience, no matter how well you prep or know the game, having to make (crucial) saving throws is inevitable, so you need to remove as much chance from the equation as possible.

Klorox

Jaheiras_Witness said:

Yes, downtime is not fun. Just bear in mind that rage will not always protect you from death saving throw effects (e.g. poison, some vorpal hits require a save vs death to avoid) and even where they do, are you really going to have rage running at all times when you fight Shadow Fiends, Mummies, and many other minor creatures which can require you to save? What about battles that last longer than 10 rounds?

In my experience, no matter how well you prep or know the game, having to make (crucial) saving throws is inevitable, so you need to remove as much chance from the equation as possible.

I wholeheartedly agree. The question (for me) boils down to: am I more likely to pass saving throws with rage or with higher base saves (from being one of the shorter races)?

That being said, people have soloed with single class mages many times. I like my chances of doing basically the same thing, with many more HP and 3 rages per rest to save my butt.

ifupauline

Klorox said:

I hadn't considered a berserker > cleric or druid.

Although I still think the mage or thief would be a better option.

I think the berzek dual druid is a very interesting charac for a solo run. Druid lvl up quickly so the downtime is very short if you dual at 9. It is easy to gain back your level without teaming up with a npc (dryads, trademeet, circus...)
It is not as strong as a berze cleric, but much funnier and challenging to play in my opinion. It can summon, tank, buff, shape-shift have offensive and disabling spell (insect plague is your friend). And from a rp perspective druid are cool because of their neutral alignment.

Bigfish

This is the only way I play Baldur's Gate any more. Coincidentally, I never get past Baldur's Gate 1 because I don't avoid things I should, I love getting in the thick of things too much, and get sloppy with level 1 characters who are much too squishy.