Neera as well.
Imoen if you dual her in bg1.
Xan via his own mod.
Dynaheir I think in tortured souls.
Wasn't there a larger mod that also let Xzar join? Questpack at least allows him to survive the bird thing.
The alignment can change quite dynamic throughout the game. However, only rangers and paladins will suffer from the alignment changes. It is a very nice flavour mod.
I have entered Dragonspear from below, defeated Hephernan who ran away. Aquired the crown of lies, Robe of the Netheril and the armour hidden under the stone. I have set the necromancer free and he seemed to think that I should be able to open the door. The only problem is that I can't.
I tried to save the game whereupon it crashed. What next?
Last save is when I went up the lift.
PS I haven't been to Dragonspear exterior. I haven't used BWOOSH either. Do I need to?
Virtue is likely to severely conflict with mod added npcs. If you want to use it then I suggest you do so on the original engine with very few other mods.
I have started a new game with three Tiefling who are all Lawful Good followers of Kelemvor.
I looked up stats on Google and discovered that they should have +1 Intelligence and +2 Charisma and that there were various spells that they should also have. Am I correct in this?
I then rolled the stats as a half-elf and used EE-Keeper to alter race and attributes.
I would have thought that there should be some drawbacks. Can anyone enlighten me?
I don't know how to give the innate spells that they should have for being Tiefling.
If anyone has any information to help me get it right before I start, I would be grateful.
In the information for a new Subrace mod I find this information:
Tiefling - Infernal
Bonuses:
15% Cold Resistance
15% Electricity Resistance
15% Fire Resistance
10% Hide in Shadow
Infravision
1/day May cast "Blindness" (70% chance to blind target)
(Change skin color to Brown)
Penalties:
-1 Reputation
-10% XP
However in the old FinnJO mod I find this information:
TIEFLING: The infernal counterpart to aasimar, tieflings are humans with a hint of the
diabolical in their bloodline. Though their appearance is mostly human, they often have
telltale signs that belie their ancestry. Tieflings usually have dusky skin and dark or
reddish hair. Though many sport small horns, cat eyes, or other bizarre features, most
tieflings try to hide their abnormalities from humans.
- ADVANTAGES: +1 to Intelligence, +10 Stealth, +1 to Dexterity, 25% to Cold, Fire, and
Electrical Resistances, can cast Blindness 1/Day and Infravision.
- DISADVANTAGES: -1 to Charisma, and -10% experience modifier.
Tieflings didn't appear in the core 2nd edition reference books, so it's not surprising that there is no agreement on how they should be implemented. How about taking Haer'Dalis as a model given that shows the game designers' intention for tieflings within Baldur's Gate, i.e. 50% cold resistance, 25% fire and electricity and 15% physical?
If you'd prefer to use 3rd edition as a base, then you could use the implementation from IWD2 - see here for a summary.
@Grond0 Thanks for quick reply. I was thinking of editing the Sirene chr files in Keeper but using Haer'Dalis as a model could be better. Only problem is knowing whether or not to change the starting stats.
I am wondering to what extent the Indira mod is compatible with a SoD installation.
I presume that there will be no Indira banters in the SoD section, but is she playable?
I think custom NPCs always stick around in SoD unless the modder gave them scripts or something to make them leave like BG1 NPCs after the first dungeon. I remember one NPC mod persisting into SoD.
By the way, does anyone ever lose no-reload runs in their dreams? I had several chunkings in a recent run and I just woke up from a dream where two different party members got chunked at full HP by simultaneous critical hits in the same fight. I scrolled up the dialog box and found that a couple of ogres rolled 20's at the same time.
How do you people usually beat Firkraag?
Or do you avoid fighting him in a no-reload run?
I'm doing a casual run with a full party (with reloads for charname death, trying some mods, and started in BG2) and find that he absolutely would have ended a no-reload. Maybe my mistake was just trying to fight him before spellhold. I don't remember him being *that* difficult! He just kills my people too quickly. But most of us are only level 10, maybe that's the problem?
I also wait until later: the dungeon itself is really, really unfriendly to lower leveled and underequipped people, with the vampire room itself being terrifying without permanent NPP from either the Amulet of Power or the Improved Mace of Disruption.
For Firkraag himself, and all dragons really, the key element is spacing and appropriate buffs. For Firkraag, defensively you need Remove Fear, Chaotic Commands on every key member to avoid Wing Buffet, Protection from fire (arcane lasts significantly longer). Mages can buff with Mass Invisibility, but not 100% necessary. Offensively, Improved Haste and whichever damage boosters you have are nice, but unnecessary. Now, make sure your people aren’t clumped up! A single Dispel could otherwise be problematic, or his lowering of fire resistance innate ability: I forget if that’s just SCS. If any members lose their fire resistance, drink a potion of fire resistance instantly, or if it’s way too low, a potion of icedust.
I also tend to use summons as meat shields for his melee damage. Fire Elementals from Druids or Skeleton Warriors do decently, though be careful about sending them clumped into a single Death Spell. And if I recall correctly, I generally use an Arrow of Dispelling here to get rid of his Haste effect, which is kinda terrifying.
The dungeon itself was okay, with me being an undead hunter.
I think it was really a question of low level. My cleric didn't have enough spell slots yet to have Chaotic Commands more than twice, and although I had my people fan out, he dispelled some of them, and then it's actually a matter of how much damage you can deal and take at the same time...
The Shadow Dragon was no problem, but next time I'll leave Firkraag until chapter 6, also better because I'll have Imoen back. Two mages are better than one. I just wanted Carsomyr and the scales so badly .
I also wait until later: the dungeon itself is really, really unfriendly to lower leveled and underequipped people, with the vampire room itself being terrifying without permanent NPP from either the Amulet of Power or the Improved Mace of Disruption.
For Firkraag himself, and all dragons really, the key element is spacing and appropriate buffs. For Firkraag, defensively you need Remove Fear, Chaotic Commands on every key member to avoid Wing Buffet, Protection from fire (arcane lasts significantly longer). Mages can buff with Mass Invisibility, but not 100% necessary. Offensively, Improved Haste and whichever damage boosters you have are nice, but unnecessary. Now, make sure your people aren’t clumped up! A single Dispel could otherwise be problematic, or his lowering of fire resistance innate ability: I forget if that’s just SCS. If any members lose their fire resistance, drink a potion of fire resistance instantly, or if it’s way too low, a potion of icedust.
I also tend to use summons as meat shields for his melee damage. Fire Elementals from Druids or Skeleton Warriors do decently, though be careful about sending them clumped into a single Death Spell. And if I recall correctly, I generally use an Arrow of Dispelling here to get rid of his Haste effect, which is kinda terrifying.
About the bolded: Does Firkraag really use Death Spell? I always handle him with a bunch of Fire Elementals to take pressure off my frontliners, and I can't recall him ever casting Death Spell, though I may just have been lucky.
He doesn't use death spell in the unmodded game. If you have a thief in the party then traps work well on him (though note the lower level poison is much more effective than the higher level fire traps). If you can get high fire resistance or immunity, you could consider dragging him upstairs. The restricted space there means it's possible to attack him without him being able to retaliate physically (though he can still do some damage with wing buffets, as well as his breath and the odd spell).
Mages make the fight vs dragons much easier. Stoneskin/Mirror Image, Breach and fire protections (though I usually rely on divine casters/pots for that) might be obvious, but a key spell is Spell Immunity:Abj to insure mages' buffs aren't lost to Remove Magic. A couple of Lower Resistances will make Firk vulnerable to spells. Or a protected Aerie can walk up to cast Magic Resistance on a Dragon while it's distracted, which will LOWER it's MR significantly at chapter 2 levels - follow up with a single Lower Resistance - the net effect lowers MR much more than 2 LR's. Follow up with spells that aren't reliant on saving throws being fumbled (magic missile, Acid arrow, etc. Cold based spells would be very damaging but aren't party friendly and very difficulty to aim vs hasted dragons). Before chapter 6, no save spells will have a much better chance of landing and doing harm (once the dragon's MR is lowered) than physical attacks; mix these in with physical attacks from heavily buffed and carefully deployed warrior types (not just to avoid damage but to avoid getting dispelled, i.e. hold them back until dragon wastes Remove Magic on SI:Abj protected mages). Summons help as distractions, effectively battlefield control; this can be critical in avoiding dispels/lower fire resistance, as well as positioning the party for key moves without getting the dragon's attention. A summon getting dispelled/fire resistance lowered is acceptable; a party member getting hit by such is not.
If you're skilled enough/like to lean on RNG you can start to lower it's saves and hope a Save or Else spell mixed in with all the above lands and ends the fight early, though this isn't as reliable/efficient. Most of my dragon battles pre ch6 end up with Aerie or Nalia getting the kill with MM.
Among the tougher foes, I no longer find dragons all that daunting even in ch2 with SCS installed; 6 vs 1 makes things much more manageable than some other fights for me (the triple Rakshasi with SCS is a nightmare in ch.2, not to mention liches and twisted rune, etc). Dragons are much more predictable than SCS enemy casters - fittingly so perhaps, given their arrogance and the relatively low Wisdom of SoA dragons.
The key is protecting the party and keeping them from getting dispelled, while taking down the dragon's protections. Bottom line, fundamentals of warfare hold true like most difficult fights: attack the enemy's weaknesses while protecting yours, avoid their strengths while maximizing yours. Dragons have 1. strong AC, 2. defenses vs Magic, 3. hps, 4. a devastating artillery effect, and 5. melee power. Their one 'weakness': they cannot match a party's magical arsenal if spells are used intelligently i.e. handle 4 and 5, then 2. There's no way a ch.2 party can neutralize 1 normally (getting lucky with Celestial Fury or other game over effect might be the only route), hence physical attacks being the least effective/efficient option until higher levels.
Or cheese traps I suppose if you're playing an unmodded game. That's some really stanky stuff though imo.
I also wait until later: the dungeon itself is really, really unfriendly to lower leveled and underequipped people, with the vampire room itself being terrifying without permanent NPP from either the Amulet of Power or the Improved Mace of Disruption.
You can avoid spawning the vampires by dodging the spawn trigger. You know that narrow hallway, usually filled with orcs, right before the vampire area? Hug the right wall, the southeastern wall, and you won't step on the spawn trigger. You can use CTRL-4 with the console to see the boundaries directly.
Is it cheating if, in a no or minimal reload, I summon an NPC in the Pocket Plane who got chunked during the game?
Not asking for headcanon justifications, I can come up with a few myself, I'd just like to know how those of you who don't use every exploit see the matter.
Frankly, I don't even know if it's possible, because I've never tried it, but now I've lost Jaheira and Mazzy in SoA (both to vampires) and I'm wondering. (Doing minimal, not no reload, but the idea is still the same).
Personally, I wouldn't do it. For me, if an NPC is gone, they're gone. There are others, though, that feel chunkings to be immersion breaking or consider them to be a bug if they have anti-chunking mods installed (those didn't really work in the past, maybe they still don't) and will either allow a direct reload or a recreation of the lost character.
I don't consider it as cheating all by itself but just like @Enuhal I wouldn't do it as well (and I don't seek an excuse for reload). But, if I really like an NPC (and I only take with me those I really like) I usually abandon the run and start another one instead.
I don't think you even can use the Fate Spirit to recall chunked characters.
I do have my own question: Death Spell isn't supposed to affect neutral characters/turn neutral characters hostile if cast near them, is it? Death Spell's been a known tactic vs the Umber Hulks and Mind Flayers while saving Phaere, but this time it had the very weird effect of 1) affecting my main character (there was a line in the log that said spell ineffective, but I have a Death Ward on Jehu, so...) and 2) turning Phaere and Soulafein hostile.
The only mods I have that should affect anything is SCS: is Death Spell now coded to affect all creatures, and not only hostile? Is this a side effect of allowing Death Spell to kill Insect Plagues? Now that I think about it, this is almost certainly what's allowing Death Spell to target friendlies and neutrals, checking for insects to clean up.
It didn't have a fatal consequence, though obviously it broke the Ust Natha questline. Would this unintended spell behavior based off a mod that didn't intend for this to happen be grounds for a reload? I'll throw down a save after killing Phaere and Soulafein, but I'll also reload a prior quicksave to replay the encounter without using Death Spell until a verdict is reached.
Oh well, thanks for the ideas, but it was all hypothetical. They can't be summoned back. That's pretty tough, because Irenicus chunked Anomen in Hell, too. That means I'll have to summon Cernd or Aerie if I want a healer (and someone for Chaotic Commands!). I've never used any of them. So that's going to be interesting.
I wouldn't restart in a no-reload for an NPC death. Except Imoen in BG1, because it would break the story. Everything else? Even your beloved partner can become a casualty of war...
hello everyone, although I've been playing the game since I was a kid, and doing a lot of solo runs, I am a newcomer to the no-reload community.
Obviously, in no-reload runs, survivability and avoiding nasty spell effects takes precedence over raw damage.
And I was wondering how "safe" good saving throws are against insta-death effects (charms, petrify, but also confusions, fear, stun, webs and the like).
My question is: if I manage to get really good negative saving throws (as a shorty with good gear for example), can I assume that I won't be affected by any such spells ?
I already know a few exceptions, like Maze and Imprisonment allowing no save, but these two spells are very rare. On the top of my head, except for one maze trap in the Thieve's Guild if you join Bodhi, I can't recall any enemies except liches casting maze/imprisonment spells in non-SCS BG2/ToB. Am I wrong ? Maybe a few late-game mages have such spells, I wouldn't be surprised if some Elder Orbs/special Beholders had similar attacks, but I can't remember if they do.
I also know that Power Word:Stun & Power Word:Kill allow no save, but since they are based on (current) HP, a high level warrior should not be affected if HP is managed carefully.
Am I missing other spells ? Are there other traps/enemies using spells allowing no save that could insta-kill a solo run ?
Safely negative saving throws will do the job in most instances. Tbh without SCS you are under little threat. It's only with SCS that you are walking the tightrope, where enemies recognise what you are vulnerable to and cast that.
Gaius (mage in the sewers) casts Maze in unmodded BG2. I seem to recall there's another mage in one if the new areas when you come out of Underdark (the one with the genie tomb and the adventuring party) who also uses Maze. Any lich is dying to cast Imprisonment. There might be some other high level mages as well (in Suldanesselar? There's the drow mage and Suneer). Can't remember for ToB, too long since I played unmodded BG2.
The defences against Maze are Spell Deflection/Turning, Spell Immunity (whichever school Maze is, Conjuration or Enchantment I would guess) or plain magic resistance. Maybe Improved Invisibility as well so they can't target you. Berserker rage works, and maybe Chaotic Commands from memory. So not too difficult to defend against.
Imprisonment is best defended by SI Abjuration, Berserker rage or Protection from Magic scrolls (but there's only 2 of those unless you cheese with Simulacrum).
I agree that saving throws will do the job against most spells, though there are a number of exceptions. Probably the biggest is maze that has already been mentioned, but there are significantly more threats from that than have been referred to. Quite a few mages will cast it given the chance. One quite nasty one is the party that ambushes you on the way out from the drow city. The mage there uses mislead to try and get close to you without you realizing (a good means for any character to protect against maze is to never get close to an attacker even for an instant). Abazigal is another one that needs different tactics as he has a ranged maze attack. One emergency tactic you should be aware of for maze is that you have time to activate a PFM scroll between the maze affecting you and sending you into oblivion (the scroll dispels all existing magical effects).
An easy spell to get caught out by is earthquake which has a saving throw adjustment of -6. One of Mel's incarnations in the unmodded game spams that, so if you're using a war of movement and attrition on her, you definitely need saves of at least -5.
Remember that malison is common (and doom occasional), which can nerf your saving throws. Another real killer is level drain. That not only adjusts saving throws to your new level, but also entirely discounts any equipment you're wearing with saving throw bonuses - meaning even extremely tough characters are almost bound to become vulnerable to status effects if drained.
One oddity easy to forget is that specialist mages apply a penalty of -2 to saves vs their specialist spells. A lich that is coded as a conjurer for instance would have an adjustment of -6 to a symbol stun spell.
There's the odd succubus dotted around. I'm not entirely sure what saving throw adjustment they have though. I've seen both -8 and -10 quoted for older versions of the game, but those only applied to male characters. The EE now applies the adjustment to all characters, but it's possible the adjustment itself has changed as well.
All the PW spells have no save and the fact they cast so quickly and without the normal animations means it is quite possible to get caught out when your HPs dip unexpectedly. Fortunately I'm not aware of any enemies that use PW silence or blind in the unmodded game.
If you're fighting a wild mage, be aware of the possibility of a no-save surge .
Death spell offers no save, but it would be rare for that to catch a PC of under 9th level.
Bigby's Clenched Fist and Implosion also offer no save against hold, though they're both rare. I think Balthazar also has another no-save hold special ability, so you definitely need some form of immunity against him.
It's not really a status effect, but harm is another spell worth a mention that can be painful ...
Edit: there's also a no-save fear effect during the hell trials that can catch you out.
Comments
Have mods introduced other mages who are there from start to finish? (More or less)
I think that there is a Xan mod for BG2. Any others?
Imoen if you dual her in bg1.
Xan via his own mod.
Dynaheir I think in tortured souls.
Wasn't there a larger mod that also let Xzar join? Questpack at least allows him to survive the bird thing.
I read that if this mod is installed, doing evil things will affect your alignment adversely. Does doing good things similarly affect alignment?
The alignment can change quite dynamic throughout the game. However, only rangers and paladins will suffer from the alignment changes. It is a very nice flavour mod.
I tried to save the game whereupon it crashed. What next?
Last save is when I went up the lift.
PS I haven't been to Dragonspear exterior. I haven't used BWOOSH either. Do I need to?
The read-me isn't clear on that one.
I looked up stats on Google and discovered that they should have +1 Intelligence and +2 Charisma and that there were various spells that they should also have. Am I correct in this?
I then rolled the stats as a half-elf and used EE-Keeper to alter race and attributes.
I would have thought that there should be some drawbacks. Can anyone enlighten me?
I don't know how to give the innate spells that they should have for being Tiefling.
If anyone has any information to help me get it right before I start, I would be grateful.
In the information for a new Subrace mod I find this information:
Tiefling - Infernal
Bonuses:
15% Cold Resistance
15% Electricity Resistance
15% Fire Resistance
10% Hide in Shadow
Infravision
1/day May cast "Blindness" (70% chance to blind target)
(Change skin color to Brown)
Penalties:
-1 Reputation
-10% XP
However in the old FinnJO mod I find this information:
TIEFLING: The infernal counterpart to aasimar, tieflings are humans with a hint of the
diabolical in their bloodline. Though their appearance is mostly human, they often have
telltale signs that belie their ancestry. Tieflings usually have dusky skin and dark or
reddish hair. Though many sport small horns, cat eyes, or other bizarre features, most
tieflings try to hide their abnormalities from humans.
- ADVANTAGES: +1 to Intelligence, +10 Stealth, +1 to Dexterity, 25% to Cold, Fire, and
Electrical Resistances, can cast Blindness 1/Day and Infravision.
- DISADVANTAGES: -1 to Charisma, and -10% experience modifier.
And elsewhere in Planescape I find this:
Tiefling +1 Int and Cha; -1 Str and Wis
Which is correct if any for BG1/BG2 EE?
If you'd prefer to use 3rd edition as a base, then you could use the implementation from IWD2 - see here for a summary.
I presume that there will be no Indira banters in the SoD section, but is she playable?
By the way, does anyone ever lose no-reload runs in their dreams? I had several chunkings in a recent run and I just woke up from a dream where two different party members got chunked at full HP by simultaneous critical hits in the same fight. I scrolled up the dialog box and found that a couple of ogres rolled 20's at the same time.
Or do you avoid fighting him in a no-reload run?
I'm doing a casual run with a full party (with reloads for charname death, trying some mods, and started in BG2) and find that he absolutely would have ended a no-reload. Maybe my mistake was just trying to fight him before spellhold. I don't remember him being *that* difficult! He just kills my people too quickly. But most of us are only level 10, maybe that's the problem?
For Firkraag himself, and all dragons really, the key element is spacing and appropriate buffs. For Firkraag, defensively you need Remove Fear, Chaotic Commands on every key member to avoid Wing Buffet, Protection from fire (arcane lasts significantly longer). Mages can buff with Mass Invisibility, but not 100% necessary. Offensively, Improved Haste and whichever damage boosters you have are nice, but unnecessary. Now, make sure your people aren’t clumped up! A single Dispel could otherwise be problematic, or his lowering of fire resistance innate ability: I forget if that’s just SCS. If any members lose their fire resistance, drink a potion of fire resistance instantly, or if it’s way too low, a potion of icedust.
I also tend to use summons as meat shields for his melee damage. Fire Elementals from Druids or Skeleton Warriors do decently, though be careful about sending them clumped into a single Death Spell. And if I recall correctly, I generally use an Arrow of Dispelling here to get rid of his Haste effect, which is kinda terrifying.
The dungeon itself was okay, with me being an undead hunter.
I think it was really a question of low level. My cleric didn't have enough spell slots yet to have Chaotic Commands more than twice, and although I had my people fan out, he dispelled some of them, and then it's actually a matter of how much damage you can deal and take at the same time...
The Shadow Dragon was no problem, but next time I'll leave Firkraag until chapter 6, also better because I'll have Imoen back. Two mages are better than one. I just wanted Carsomyr and the scales so badly
About the bolded: Does Firkraag really use Death Spell? I always handle him with a bunch of Fire Elementals to take pressure off my frontliners, and I can't recall him ever casting Death Spell, though I may just have been lucky.
If you're skilled enough/like to lean on RNG you can start to lower it's saves and hope a Save or Else spell mixed in with all the above lands and ends the fight early, though this isn't as reliable/efficient. Most of my dragon battles pre ch6 end up with Aerie or Nalia getting the kill with MM.
Among the tougher foes, I no longer find dragons all that daunting even in ch2 with SCS installed; 6 vs 1 makes things much more manageable than some other fights for me (the triple Rakshasi with SCS is a nightmare in ch.2, not to mention liches and twisted rune, etc). Dragons are much more predictable than SCS enemy casters - fittingly so perhaps, given their arrogance and the relatively low Wisdom of SoA dragons.
The key is protecting the party and keeping them from getting dispelled, while taking down the dragon's protections. Bottom line, fundamentals of warfare hold true like most difficult fights: attack the enemy's weaknesses while protecting yours, avoid their strengths while maximizing yours. Dragons have 1. strong AC, 2. defenses vs Magic, 3. hps, 4. a devastating artillery effect, and 5. melee power. Their one 'weakness': they cannot match a party's magical arsenal if spells are used intelligently i.e. handle 4 and 5, then 2. There's no way a ch.2 party can neutralize 1 normally (getting lucky with Celestial Fury or other game over effect might be the only route), hence physical attacks being the least effective/efficient option until higher levels.
Or cheese traps I suppose if you're playing an unmodded game. That's some really stanky stuff though imo.
Not asking for headcanon justifications, I can come up with a few myself, I'd just like to know how those of you who don't use every exploit see the matter.
Frankly, I don't even know if it's possible, because I've never tried it, but now I've lost Jaheira and Mazzy in SoA (both to vampires) and I'm wondering. (Doing minimal, not no reload, but the idea is still the same).
I do have my own question: Death Spell isn't supposed to affect neutral characters/turn neutral characters hostile if cast near them, is it? Death Spell's been a known tactic vs the Umber Hulks and Mind Flayers while saving Phaere, but this time it had the very weird effect of 1) affecting my main character (there was a line in the log that said spell ineffective, but I have a Death Ward on Jehu, so...) and 2) turning Phaere and Soulafein hostile.
The only mods I have that should affect anything is SCS: is Death Spell now coded to affect all creatures, and not only hostile? Is this a side effect of allowing Death Spell to kill Insect Plagues? Now that I think about it, this is almost certainly what's allowing Death Spell to target friendlies and neutrals, checking for insects to clean up.
It didn't have a fatal consequence, though obviously it broke the Ust Natha questline. Would this unintended spell behavior based off a mod that didn't intend for this to happen be grounds for a reload? I'll throw down a save after killing Phaere and Soulafein, but I'll also reload a prior quicksave to replay the encounter without using Death Spell until a verdict is reached.
I wouldn't restart in a no-reload for an NPC death. Except Imoen in BG1, because it would break the story. Everything else? Even your beloved partner can become a casualty of war...
Obviously, in no-reload runs, survivability and avoiding nasty spell effects takes precedence over raw damage.
And I was wondering how "safe" good saving throws are against insta-death effects (charms, petrify, but also confusions, fear, stun, webs and the like).
My question is: if I manage to get really good negative saving throws (as a shorty with good gear for example), can I assume that I won't be affected by any such spells ?
I already know a few exceptions, like Maze and Imprisonment allowing no save, but these two spells are very rare. On the top of my head, except for one maze trap in the Thieve's Guild if you join Bodhi, I can't recall any enemies except liches casting maze/imprisonment spells in non-SCS BG2/ToB. Am I wrong ? Maybe a few late-game mages have such spells, I wouldn't be surprised if some Elder Orbs/special Beholders had similar attacks, but I can't remember if they do.
I also know that Power Word:Stun & Power Word:Kill allow no save, but since they are based on (current) HP, a high level warrior should not be affected if HP is managed carefully.
Am I missing other spells ? Are there other traps/enemies using spells allowing no save that could insta-kill a solo run ?
Gaius (mage in the sewers) casts Maze in unmodded BG2. I seem to recall there's another mage in one if the new areas when you come out of Underdark (the one with the genie tomb and the adventuring party) who also uses Maze. Any lich is dying to cast Imprisonment. There might be some other high level mages as well (in Suldanesselar? There's the drow mage and Suneer). Can't remember for ToB, too long since I played unmodded BG2.
The defences against Maze are Spell Deflection/Turning, Spell Immunity (whichever school Maze is, Conjuration or Enchantment I would guess) or plain magic resistance. Maybe Improved Invisibility as well so they can't target you. Berserker rage works, and maybe Chaotic Commands from memory. So not too difficult to defend against.
Imprisonment is best defended by SI Abjuration, Berserker rage or Protection from Magic scrolls (but there's only 2 of those unless you cheese with Simulacrum).
An easy spell to get caught out by is earthquake which has a saving throw adjustment of -6. One of Mel's incarnations in the unmodded game spams that, so if you're using a war of movement and attrition on her, you definitely need saves of at least -5.
Remember that malison is common (and doom occasional), which can nerf your saving throws. Another real killer is level drain. That not only adjusts saving throws to your new level, but also entirely discounts any equipment you're wearing with saving throw bonuses - meaning even extremely tough characters are almost bound to become vulnerable to status effects if drained.
One oddity easy to forget is that specialist mages apply a penalty of -2 to saves vs their specialist spells. A lich that is coded as a conjurer for instance would have an adjustment of -6 to a symbol stun spell.
There's the odd succubus dotted around. I'm not entirely sure what saving throw adjustment they have though. I've seen both -8 and -10 quoted for older versions of the game, but those only applied to male characters. The EE now applies the adjustment to all characters, but it's possible the adjustment itself has changed as well.
All the PW spells have no save and the fact they cast so quickly and without the normal animations means it is quite possible to get caught out when your HPs dip unexpectedly. Fortunately I'm not aware of any enemies that use PW silence or blind in the unmodded game.
If you're fighting a wild mage, be aware of the possibility of a no-save surge
Death spell offers no save, but it would be rare for that to catch a PC of under 9th level.
Bigby's Clenched Fist and Implosion also offer no save against hold, though they're both rare. I think Balthazar also has another no-save hold special ability, so you definitely need some form of immunity against him.
It's not really a status effect, but harm is another spell worth a mention that can be painful ...
Edit: there's also a no-save fear effect during the hell trials that can catch you out.