No Reload Trilogy Survivable PC - What Kit?
Matteo12345
Member Posts: 19
Hey all,
I have been playing this game for about 20 years on and off and have posted a couple of times on these forums and received some great advice, so I am hoping for some more advice.
I have always been a bit lazy with the game, not really worrying about dying. I also find prebuffing after each rest to be a bit of a chore. To try to "up my game," I am now trying noreload with SCS (only intermediate difficulty changes to make the game harder without guaranteeing death).
I want to play with a 5-6 party.
Both of my two runs so far have ended before I even hit level 2 so I am now turning to ya'll for some advice as to the most durable PC I can use for a no-reload challenge. I figure that thief/scout PC isn't a good idea as I don't want to miss a trap and get zapped. While an arcane caster might work, a pure mage is likely a bad idea because of the low HP and the fact that I hate prebuffing before every fight.
My current thought is a dwarf fighter/cleric with me EE keepering some kit on top. As I want to ensure survivability, I was thinking of throwing dwarven defender on top but am open to another kit if someone has recommendations. This would give me shorty saving throws and the ability to sanctuary. I had also thought about a R/C, but I have played one before and I can never get into RPing such an odd class combo.
Another thought is paladin (likely cavalier) as I always seem to take Keldorn in BG2, but the thought of having my PC be a frontline tank makes me nervous.
I am, however, open to other ideas.
Also, if anyone has any weapon recommendations for the series, let me know. For the F/C, I'm thinking warhammer and then flail (and I guess slings for ranged?).
Also, if this is in the wrong forum, please move it.
Thanks.
I have been playing this game for about 20 years on and off and have posted a couple of times on these forums and received some great advice, so I am hoping for some more advice.
I have always been a bit lazy with the game, not really worrying about dying. I also find prebuffing after each rest to be a bit of a chore. To try to "up my game," I am now trying noreload with SCS (only intermediate difficulty changes to make the game harder without guaranteeing death).
I want to play with a 5-6 party.
Both of my two runs so far have ended before I even hit level 2 so I am now turning to ya'll for some advice as to the most durable PC I can use for a no-reload challenge. I figure that thief/scout PC isn't a good idea as I don't want to miss a trap and get zapped. While an arcane caster might work, a pure mage is likely a bad idea because of the low HP and the fact that I hate prebuffing before every fight.
My current thought is a dwarf fighter/cleric with me EE keepering some kit on top. As I want to ensure survivability, I was thinking of throwing dwarven defender on top but am open to another kit if someone has recommendations. This would give me shorty saving throws and the ability to sanctuary. I had also thought about a R/C, but I have played one before and I can never get into RPing such an odd class combo.
Another thought is paladin (likely cavalier) as I always seem to take Keldorn in BG2, but the thought of having my PC be a frontline tank makes me nervous.
I am, however, open to other ideas.
Also, if anyone has any weapon recommendations for the series, let me know. For the F/C, I'm thinking warhammer and then flail (and I guess slings for ranged?).
Also, if this is in the wrong forum, please move it.
Thanks.
1
Comments
Edit: Oops, forgot in vanilla game Gnomes can't triple class. Gnome Illusionist/Thief is solid but Elf or Half-elf F/M/T is probably better, even without the shorty save bonuses...
You could make the Gnome neutral and try both ways. Evil path allows you take Hexxat who can do all the traps and locks, freeing you to focus on setting traps and detecting illusion. The good path doesn't have any pure-class thieves but you could always take Jan for some extra Gnome hilarity. Heck, take Mazzy too for even more shorty fun!
Assuming endgame levels and gear:
Levels: 20% resistance to slashing/piercing/crushing/missile.
Head: Helm of the Rock, 25% resistance to fire/cold/electric/acid/poison.
Body: Black Dragon Scale, 50% resistance to acid.
Cloak: Cloak of the Lich, 50% resistance to cold/electricity.
Weapon: Defender of Easthaven, 20% resistance to slashing/piercing/crushing.
Ring: Ring of Fire Control, 50% resistance to fire.
Ring: Ring of Gaxx, 100% resistance to poison.
Belt: Belt of Inertial Barrier, 25% resistance to missile/50% resistance to magic damage.
Buff: Armor of Faith, 25% resistance to everything (can be dispelled and Breached).
and one of these two:
Buff: Defensive Stance, 50% resistance to slashing/piercing/crushing/missile.
Buff: Hardiness, 40% resistance to slashing/piercing/crushing/missile (can be Breached).
Combined: Immune to slashing, piercing, crushing, missile, fire, cold, electric, acid, and poison damage. Only 75% resistant to magic damage; that's your weak spot. An allied mage can cast Protection from Magic Energy on you, or you can use the Cloak of the Dark Moon for the same.
Your boots, amulet, and the shield or second weapon slot are free. If you need some status protections like level drain, you can add those in too.
If you want to stick to rule, then human berserker leveled at level 9 to mage is probably the best variant. At BG 1 playing the berserker is like playing in easy mode, even if you are playing SCS on insane. You can wear full plate, helmet and rage makes you immune to everything enemies can throw at you. If you ended BG1 with 161 000 exp, than you will reach level 9 at the end of chapter 8 or at the beginnig of chapter 9 of SoD (at least on isane difficulty with huge mass of enemies in SoD). Then you will be lousy level 1 mage but you can still use wands and you will level up very quickly and reach experience cap somewhere around Coalition Camp battles (if you do all quest/kill all enemies). After that you can enjoy the full power of berserker mage. Rage gives you immunities to almost all negative effects, you have hit points of fighter, grandmastery in one weapon and defences of mage. If you play carefully almost nothing can kill you.
For weapon I would choose hammers. Base THACO of level 9 berserker is 12, with Crom as your main weapon it would -7 strength, -5 Crom, -3 grandmastery, -1 some gauntlet, -1 Helm of Balduran = - 5.
This will sufficient for most fights. In off hand Belm/Kundane for 9 attacks per round with Improved Haste.
Yup, I was precisely going to talk about that.
I've once played a solo Dwarven Defender/Cleric in LoB. Damn that was an awesome run. I did cheat even more though by adding an effect that cleric buffs have double duration (to counterbalance the longer fights under LoB).
In the end, you have absolute immunity to all disablers/damages, apart from:
- pure magical damage
- imprisonment
Sure, it's cheaty. But damn was it satisfying
I have three suggestions for a full trilogy no reload, highly survivable main character. Single class cleric. Single class berserker (ranged). Single class ranger archer.
Some caveats: One thing I'll say is that some of the suggestions for F/C are good and those classes are probably better from a power game perspective, but if you're trying to play through the game without reloading it is actually better to have a backline main character instead of someone on the frontlines. The game ends when the main character dies, every other outcome can be overcome. Best to have a character that doesn't tend to take hits in that case.
For the single class cleric, focus on slings, equip a shield. Any of the subkits are fine. The books of wisdom in BG1 will turn you into a beast if you start off with 18 wisdom. Your initial stat requirements will be low. Dwarf is probably the best race to take, even with the dexterity hit. Play this class the same way you would Viconia. The beauty of this class, especially in BG2 is that it's often key to keep your cleric *and* your main character alive after each fight, because of raise dead, etc. So you can double up, making your overall party less fragile against various tough outcomes should a fight not work out optimally.
Ranged berseker focusing on axes. Also best if a Dwarf. Half orc can work too. Again, not a stat heavy class, can focus on just three stats. Use throwing axes. You wont be the highest DPS fighter possible, but you'll more than carry your weight. In BG2 there are a number of solid enchanted throwing axes that will seriously upgrade your power.
Ranger Archer. The highest stat requirement but also the higher DPS character, especially in BG1. Elf is best here. Focus on longbows, altho you will have plenty of weapon pips for both short and long bows in BG2. You will suffer a little in armor class, but have the added benefit of the stealth skill. Straightforward class. Will have access to a wide variety of damage types coupled with a high (but not the highest) DPS.
Again, it's very very helpful imo to use NPCs and not your main character as the frontline if you havent done no reload or limited reload previously. You can afford to lose Kagain, Khalid, Ajantis, Anomen or Korgan in the process of completing the trilogy, but not yourself. It's somewhat underrated how easy it is to die in the early stages of BG1, especially if you stick with a maximum party and thus aren't bending the XP system to your advantage. Ranger also arguably gets the optimal gear rewards from the stronghold BG2 quests.
Lastly, single class works out a little better than multiclass when you're not experienced at this. Especially with Cleric, as you hit key benchmarks (Raise Dead for example) much earlier. This is just my experience, and won't work for all playstyles. For what it's worth, I most enjoy the games unmodded and sticking with a six person party for the maximum amount of time possible. I play no reload/only reloading at inns,etc. I try to minimize rest spamming. I try to take on encounters in their full instead of trying aggro and bait tactics or similar stuff. However, I do heavily use things like stealth or invisibility for scouting ahead. I'm not a huge fan of massively pre-buffing before every fight, but I do regularly use the game's long term buffs for dungeon/wilderness sections with chains of encounters.
Pretty straightforward and slightly OP class
As mentioned before, cleric, archer and ranged fighters are easy way, but fighter/mages and bards can be useful characters in the back as well. Use melf minute meteors, wands and support spells. Thats all.