This sounds very interesting, I might as well start a parallel game like that. Although I dislike setting traps very much. I'm thinking about soloing with a Fighter/Thief but no traps. How do you guys feel about that?
Well, you should always consider the meta-game if you are trying to solo on highest difficulty (even with reloads). The best weapons for a solo character in BG:EE are: Twinkle +5, Icingdeath +3, Stupefier +1. Without traps, Twinkle and Icingdeath are not really accessible (unless you wish to pump your Pick Pockets to the extreme and steal the scimitars from Drizzt -- a possible solution with reloads), so only Stupefier remains. While you can achieve Grandmastery in maces with dual-classed Fighter/Thief, you are not going to benefit from the backstab multiplier (maces cannot backstab); the best Thief kit in your case (no traps, no backstab) would be Swashbuckler.
Starting as Fighter, then dual-classing into Thief is an option, albeit not a very good one After all, you won't get much mileage from many Thief levels, if you aren't going to set traps and backstab. That said, I do see some interesting possibilities about playing Kensai/Thief, if you are a risky type. Berserker is a consistently great kit, so perhaps a Berserker/Thief will fare reasonably well, too.
On the other hand, your early game won't be nearly as demanding, since with reloads, the Hold/Charm/Fear spells are not that fatal. In other words, no need to rush for a Greenstone Amulet ASAP.
@Ossory MM is clearly << to Sleep. Unconsciousness lasts at least 5 rounds with granted hits and no riposte.
@IN1 Interesting guide. I like how you achieved the Grand Mastery and found a way to kill Drizzt early. I think a Fighter/Mage would be able to slay him but he would need potions and Mirror Images. The Purifier would be a must then. I take it you don't reload, even when HD are bad?
@Abel Technically, the answer to your question is simple: 'No, I never reload, except occasionally loading a latest auto-save if the game crashes' (BG:EE has yet to crash, but that's my usual policy with other IE games). However, since there is a totally legit in-game possibility to always get maximum hp/level that doesn't involve reloading, I don't ever need to consider that possibility Of course, it might be justified to say that lowering the difficulty slider for a second on level-up is a bit of cheating: an unlucky 19 Con Half-Orc Barbarian will only have 59 hp out of the possible maximum of 136 by level 8 -- the difference is enormous. There is no "Max HP per level" option like in IWD here, after all.
Concerning Drizzt: I highly doubt it is possible for a low-level Fighter/Mage, however potioned, to defeat a 98% MR, 30% all physical damage resistance monster with 92 hp, -10 AC, and 10 ApR (split into 2 rounds of 5). The only way is to land a crazy lucky hit with Stupefier, let it trigger (25%), and then - less problematic, but still an issue - pray that it continues to stun Drizzt indefinitely. It is possible, I have done it while testing various low-level methods to kill Drizzt, but it took a huge number of attempts to finally get it right.
Something to note - if dualing from a swashbuckler at level 6 to a mage, you wont get enough proficiency points for two weapon fighting, or at least its very hard to build towards that, unless you want to endure leveling up your thief levels with Two weapon fighting, and taking daggers from your mage levels. You might want to consider putting 1 pip in 2 handed weapon fighting, 2 pips in Quarterstaff, and 1 pip in shortbows instead.
I've found it much more preferable in past playthroughs to use the Quarterstaff +3 and Staff of striking plus the Eagle bow on a Thief / Mage instead of Scimitars.
Drizzt is doable. Just load up on invisibility potions.
The problem with Drizzt is that it is hard to get your thaco low enough to hit him on low rolls, and you need to do that because yo are up against the clock (he will kill you quickly). Invisibility solves this.
Drizzt is doable. Just load up on invisibility potions.
The problem with Drizzt is that it is hard to get your thaco low enough to hit him on low rolls, and you need to do that because yo are up against the clock (he will kill you quickly). Invisibility solves this.
"It is hard to get your thaco low enough to hit him on low rolls"? Ugh. That's an extremely understated way to put it. As a low-level F/M you will only hit him on natural 20, since there is little doubt your THAC0 will be 9 or higher. If it is lower, you are either not low-level, or not a F/M (a Half-Orc Barbarian and a Human Cleric/Mage have somewhat better odds, comparatively speaking).
Now, if you hit him only on natural 20 (=miss 95% of your hits), how many Invisibility Potions do you suppose you will spend during the fight, exactly? Show me the way to that unlimited Invisibility Potions stash, please!
Also if you plan on taking your mage into BG2, you should never dump stat wisdom.
Why?
Yes I wondered that, apart from for the "Wish" spell (for which you really need 18 Wisdom to get good results), is there *any* reason to need high Wisdom as a mage (apart from for Lore)?
You can easily boost Wisdom to 18 (and for a long time) with potions in any case. My current fighter/mage in BGEE only has 6 Wisdom, though I might boost it with some tomes to reduce the lore penalty a little and because I think she should gain a little Wisdom from an RP point of view after going through BGEE...
They've actually been nerfed too, they had sword spider form removed which was more powerful than black bear, and the jelly has had its haste removed, but it wan still tank casters, but has low HP. Its still good enough until you can cast polymorph yourself.
Wow, I have never considered a solo mage--definitely solo Kensai/Mage, and definitely solo F/M/T, but never just mage. I am not really amazing at the game, and I have never played a mage that wasn't dualed from Fighter, so I am definitely considering trying it; therefore, I will almost certainly use a familiar to help me through it. Now I have to decide between which familiar. Anyone have any suggestions for which alignment familiar (most likely going evil) is the best for a solo mage?
EDIT: While I have used Kensai/Mage before, I have only ever considered a solo F/M/T--the only time I ever used one of these was in my party of 3 in Icewind Dale.
+25 thief points, and you still have enough XP left to reach level 9 mage.
Yes, but are those 25 points really worth the hassle? Depends on your playstyle, I guess. If you tend to play it thief-skills heavy, then yes, it is worth it, definitely. But if you are a Mage (Knock, Invisibility), only Pick Pockets and Set Traps are really useful, and you don't need to put too much into Set Traps due to the nature of the skill.
Wow, I have never considered a solo mage--definitely solo Kensai/Mage, and definitely solo F/M/T, but never just mage. I am not really amazing at the game, and I have never played a mage that wasn't dualed from Fighter, so I am definitely considering trying it; therefore, I will almost certainly use a familiar to help me through it. Now I have to decide between which familiar. Anyone have any suggestions for which alignment familiar (most likely going evil) is the best for a solo mage?
EDIT: While I have used Kensai/Mage before, I have only ever considered a solo F/M/T--the only time I ever used one of these was in my party of 3 in Icewind Dale.
From already having played both solo throughout BG1+2, I am 100% certain that a swashbuckler / mage is much better than a kensai / mage, unless you are removing traps via mods. For BG2 though you would dual at level 9 or 13 kensai, or level 10 swashbuckler. You rarely need to melee, and when you do polymorph or quarterstaffs are good enough.
@IN1 Actually, there are two potions that can increase your THAC0: the Purple and the Power ones. They can both be found pretty early. My Fighter/Cleric who is 5/5 reached THAC0 2 with main hand weapon (Purifier, specialised). With 2 Summon I and 3 Mirror Image I think a hasted Fighter/Illusionist of the same level would be able to hit and stun. I didn't try but I think there's quite a high chance of success provided you tread carefully. There may also be something to do with Melf's Meteors but I don't know how they would behave as regards to attributes and proficiencies.
Wow, I have never considered a solo mage--definitely solo Kensai/Mage, and definitely solo F/M/T, but never just mage. I am not really amazing at the game, and I have never played a mage that wasn't dualed from Fighter, so I am definitely considering trying it; therefore, I will almost certainly use a familiar to help me through it. Now I have to decide between which familiar. Anyone have any suggestions for which alignment familiar (most likely going evil) is the best for a solo mage?
EDIT: While I have used Kensai/Mage before, I have only ever considered a solo F/M/T--the only time I ever used one of these was in my party of 3 in Icewind Dale.
From already having played both solo throughout BG1+2, I am 100% certain that a swashbuckler / mage is much better than a kensai / mage, unless you are removing traps via mods. For BG2 though you would dual at level 9 or 13 kensai, or level 10 swashbuckler. You rarely need to melee, and when you do polymorph or quarterstaffs are good enough.
Oh I just summoned monsters to walk over traps. When in a dungeon, there was almost always a gnoll, kobold, or ogrillon as my escort. And I ended up doing quite a bit of melee with Celestial Fury, and stunned anything that annoyed me. I never did finish that game though, got glitched in the Underdark in about 4 different places...:(
@IN1 Actually, there are two potions that can increase your THAC0: the Purple and the Power ones. They can both be found pretty early. My Fighter/Cleric who is 5/5 reached THAC0 2 with main hand weapon (Purifier, specialised). With 2 Summon I and 3 Mirror Image I think a hasted Fighter/Illusionist of the same level would be able to hit and stun. I didn't try but I think there's quite a high chance of success provided you tread carefully. There may also be something to do with Melf's Meteors but I don't know how they would behave as regards to attributes and proficiencies.
1. In all honesty, F/C 5/5 is hardly a low-level character in BG:EE. By low-level I meant: able to reliably kill Drizzt immediately (or very shortly) after leaving Candlekeep. 2. A hasted Fighter/Illusionist is not a good idea at all in BG:EE http://www.wikihost.org/w/inassorted/aprbgee I have already reported the bug in the relevant forum section. 3. THAC0 2 means a 45% chance to hit Drizzt, then you need to roll the upper 25% to stun and pray the stun lasts for more than one round. Possible, sure enough, but quite risky and inconsistent. Statistically, it's only viable if you reload: the chance to screw up is just way too high.
@IN1 1. Yeah, you're right. Right after Candlekeep nothing but snares can kill Drizzt. 2. Are you sure about this? It may simply be that Haste sets the round duration to 3 seconds. 3. Average damage was 15, so it would take 6/7 hits to kill him which is more likely than stunning him under these circumstances.
@IN1 1. Yeah, you're right. Right after Candlekeep nothing but snares can kill Drizzt. 2. Are you sure about this? It may simply be that Haste sets the round duration to 3 seconds. 3. Average damage was 15, so it would take 6/7 hits to kill him which is more likely than stunning him under these circumstances.
2. After some testing: turns out you are right. It never worked this way in IE games. ApR buffs were adding attacks at the end of round, and that's it. BG:EE solution is quite elegant, and probably will serve as a workaround for 5 ApR hard cap imposed by IE. I'm removing my post. 3. Well, he sort of one or two-hits you on Insane, so that's statistically... meh
3. Yeah, hence the need of Mirror Image/Summon. Anyway, I'll try the traps sometime. Just for the fun of watching him being pierced from all sides at once.
The mage outside the Friendly Arm Inn drops a Magic Missile scroll, doesn't he?
Oh... and according to Trent Oster via twitter, they added elven chain mail to the game but its currently bugged (the enemy doesn't drop it when he dies).
Yes. It's CHAN12, and theoretically should be obtained during Dorn's quest (to give general direction, avoiding spoilers). It's erroneously flagged as "not stealable" and "undroppable" for some reason
The mage outside the Friendly Arm Inn drops a Magic Missile scroll, doesn't he?
Oh... and according to Trent Oster via twitter, they added elven chain mail to the game but its currently bugged (the enemy doesn't drop it when he dies).
And I presume If this does get fixed, then you still won't get it, if you've already had that encounter :-(
Is there any way to add it into the game manually?
Should've ditched charisma...only need 13 for the maximum shop discount after the manual and a friends spell, which is just as easy as the con manual to get, and the 6 quests that reward better for 18 charisma aren't worth sacrificing 19 str for it.
He's also gonna suck horribly in BG2, if you plan to make this a full saga run.
and yeah, several times, plain mage, sorcerer, and wild mage. Not really fond of the other specialists, since you don't really appreciate how powerful that other school is till you can't use it.
Actually, now that I think about it, they need to fix mage spell progression. Bioware F'd it up in BG2 to keep mages from getting 9th level spell slots under the SoA xp cap. Starting at lvl 12 for 6th level, mages and sorcs gain spells levels at the same rate. Also sorcerers do have a slight advantage in not having to look for spells......especially glaringly for anyone who's played Icewind Dale 2... It must've been made by sorcerer lovers because mages SUCK in that game (They don't even get their 2 new learned spells per level as appropriate for 3rd edition, they make them learn them ONLY from scrolls, which...simply don't exist save for a few useless ulility spells or crap buffs no one ever uses).
Comments
Starting as Fighter, then dual-classing into Thief is an option, albeit not a very good one
On the other hand, your early game won't be nearly as demanding, since with reloads, the Hold/Charm/Fear spells are not that fatal. In other words, no need to rush for a Greenstone Amulet ASAP.
@IN1 Interesting guide. I like how you achieved the Grand Mastery and found a way to kill Drizzt early. I think a Fighter/Mage would be able to slay him but he would need potions and Mirror Images. The Purifier would be a must then.
I take it you don't reload, even when HD are bad?
Concerning Drizzt: I highly doubt it is possible for a low-level Fighter/Mage, however potioned, to defeat a 98% MR, 30% all physical damage resistance monster with 92 hp, -10 AC, and 10 ApR (split into 2 rounds of 5). The only way is to land a crazy lucky hit with Stupefier, let it trigger (25%), and then - less problematic, but still an issue - pray that it continues to stun Drizzt indefinitely. It is possible, I have done it while testing various low-level methods to kill Drizzt, but it took a huge number of attempts to finally get it right.
Watch my BG:EE solo:
Something to note - if dualing from a swashbuckler at level 6 to a mage, you wont get enough proficiency points for two weapon fighting, or at least its very hard to build towards that, unless you want to endure leveling up your thief levels with Two weapon fighting, and taking daggers from your mage levels. You might want to consider putting 1 pip in 2 handed weapon fighting, 2 pips in Quarterstaff, and 1 pip in shortbows instead.
I've found it much more preferable in past playthroughs to use the Quarterstaff +3 and Staff of striking plus the Eagle bow on a Thief / Mage instead of Scimitars.
Drizzt is doable. Just load up on invisibility potions.
The problem with Drizzt is that it is hard to get your thaco low enough to hit him on low rolls, and you need to do that because yo are up against the clock (he will kill you quickly). Invisibility solves this.
Now, if you hit him only on natural 20 (=miss 95% of your hits), how many Invisibility Potions do you suppose you will spend during the fight, exactly?
You can easily boost Wisdom to 18 (and for a long time) with potions in any case. My current fighter/mage in BGEE only has 6 Wisdom, though I might boost it with some tomes to reduce the lore penalty a little and because I think she should gain a little Wisdom from an RP point of view after going through BGEE...
But why 6?
EDIT: While I have used Kensai/Mage before, I have only ever considered a solo F/M/T--the only time I ever used one of these was in my party of 3 in Icewind Dale.
60 open locks
95 find traps
20 hide
20 move silently
45 find traps
Then +5 to each when I get the tome of dexterity.
There may also be something to do with Melf's Meteors but I don't know how they would behave as regards to attributes and proficiencies.
2. A hasted Fighter/Illusionist is not a good idea at all in BG:EE
I have already reported the bug in the relevant forum section.
3. THAC0 2 means a 45% chance to hit Drizzt, then you need to roll the upper 25% to stun and pray the stun lasts for more than one round. Possible, sure enough, but quite risky and inconsistent. Statistically, it's only viable if you reload: the chance to screw up is just way too high.
1. Yeah, you're right. Right after Candlekeep nothing but snares can kill Drizzt.
2. Are you sure about this? It may simply be that Haste sets the round duration to 3 seconds.
3. Average damage was 15, so it would take 6/7 hits to kill him which is more likely than stunning him under these circumstances.
3. Well, he sort of one or two-hits you on Insane, so that's statistically... meh
Anyway, I'll try the traps sometime. Just for the fun of watching him being pierced from all sides at once.
Oh... and according to Trent Oster via twitter, they added elven chain mail to the game but its currently bugged (the enemy doesn't drop it when he dies).
Unless you can produce 10+ Summons and Mirror Images per double round, Drizzt will still hit. His 10 ApR rate actually works in BG:EE.
@Elendar
Yes. It's CHAN12, and theoretically should be obtained during Dorn's quest (to give general direction, avoiding spoilers). It's erroneously flagged as "not stealable" and "undroppable" for some reason
Is there any way to add it into the game manually?
Erm. CreateItem("CHAN12"), obviously.
He's also gonna suck horribly in BG2, if you plan to make this a full saga run.
and yeah, several times, plain mage, sorcerer, and wild mage. Not really fond of the other specialists, since you don't really appreciate how powerful that other school is till you can't use it.
Actually, now that I think about it, they need to fix mage spell progression. Bioware F'd it up in BG2 to keep mages from getting 9th level spell slots under the SoA xp cap. Starting at lvl 12 for 6th level, mages and sorcs gain spells levels at the same rate. Also sorcerers do have a slight advantage in not having to look for spells......especially glaringly for anyone who's played Icewind Dale 2... It must've been made by sorcerer lovers because mages SUCK in that game (They don't even get their 2 new learned spells per level as appropriate for 3rd edition, they make them learn them ONLY from scrolls, which...simply don't exist save for a few useless ulility spells or crap buffs no one ever uses).