@IN1 - but there's no good reason why not to let them dual class. I am pretty positive they are going to keep it, if they changed it in the first place.
>I consider videoing playthroughs in general the province of those with excessive time, low self-esteem >or something to prove.
Had no doubt, somehow. End of discussion with you, then, and good riddance!
Only unemployed, low self-esteem freaks suffering from impotence and trying to compensate for having a very short, Halfling-like, penis are welcome to comment here. You don't want to look like one of those, correct?
>I am merely pointing out your inaccuracies
Well, poor job doing that, then. I have to see a single valid point in your posts yet. You present some irrelevant arguments, pretending they are insightful observations (while usually they just fall into the category of the ages-old BG2 common knowledge).
>Feigning ignorance does not strengthen your position
Yet it seems to me that _you_ never feign ignorance, indeed
As a matter of fact, you can always tell people that actually have some hardcore soloing experience under their belt from those who don't. For example, I have no doubt Ignatius does have that experience, even if we disagree on so many matters. The devil is in the details: it's small things, basic understanding of mechanics crucial to any no-reload solo player. You, on the other hand, focus your attention on abilities essentially irrelevant for a solo run, so it's not difficult to comprehend you have zero (or close to zero) experience in this area.
Anyway, it's very hard to discuss anything seriously with a person that is theorycrafting non-stop and bringing up non-hardcore full party experiences from his BG2 days in hopes that these will strengthen his position, so let's wrap it up, please.
They didn't change it, technically. It's just that they are using SoA rules for Ranger kits, for some reason. I suppose we can ask directly in a bug thread whether it is an intended feature.
Watch the prologue+first 2 minutes of chapter I. If my goal was to reach 35,000 xp ASAP, I would pay a visit (hehe) to Thalantyr and Keldath Ormlyr immediately after Elminster for additional 8,000 xp. No reputation loss and no critical items these guys sell, either.
I wasn't looking for a fight, it was just bugging me and I had to get it out
Also, bear in mind that the idea behind using these potions is to get through the tougher fights, not to slaughter gnolls and gibberlings. You don't even have to fight them in melee - the kensai can use throwing axes.
And just to show that AC isn't really that much of an issue anyway:
Kensai Bonus: +2AC Dex Bonus: +4AC Single Weapon Style Bonus: +2AC Cloak of Balduran: +1AC Ring of Protection: +2AC Claw of Kazgaroth: +1AC Boots of Avoidance: +5AC vs ranged Girdles: +3AC/+4AC vs ranged Total: +15AC/+21AC vs ranged = -5AC/-11AC vs ranged
That's good enough for most fights Throw in some buffs and only Drizzt and Sarevok will ever hit you
I'm not looking for a fight, either. Peace. Hope I made my point concerning limited PoD clear.
Now, concerning your AC calculations: 1. Cloak of Balduran and Ring of Protection +2 are only accessible after you reach Chapter V. 2. Single-weapon style? Really? You aren't going to use the Chesley Crusher on your Kensai? :-O Then why play him in the first place? Please, let's keep it real. 3. Girdles. Often inapplicable. I assume you mean getting all three and switching in combat? Well, that's not always possible. What if you fight, say, a Flaming Fist patrol, and they use slashing, piercing and blunt? Besides, it's +3 vs. piercing, not +4. 4. What buffs do you suggest to throw in with a Kensai?
If we rule out the SW style, the Cloak, and the Ring of Protection +2, we already have it at 4 AC higher value than stated. Plus girdle switching won't work if there are at least two different types of damage. Thus, a much more objective evaluation will be: -1 AC at best for the major part of the game; 2 or 3 AC in many fights. Doesn't sound that sweet anymore, right?
1.There aren't many tough fights before that. And you can still use +1 protection item for them, so you only lose 2AC
2.Why would I use the crusher when I have already invested into axes?
3.As I said, Kensai can use throwing axes So in your hypothetical scenario throw on the girdle of piercing, kite around until you snipe of the archer and one of the others then throw the appropriate girdle and slaughter the other guy. As for the girdle of piercing - I stand corrected, it's the girdle of bluntness that's +4. I always mix those up. Doesn't really matter though
4.Potions defense and invulnerability, scrolls of protection from evil and the amulet of shield come to mind
So we're not ruling anything out and the girdles work when combined with kiting That's still -3/-8 ranged at worst (if you insist on not counting the cloak and ring) before buffs
That's the problem. All of this stuff feels really hypothetical. Throwing axes are so ridiculously bad per se, plus really weak from a meta-game point of view (almost no magical versions exist). It might give Kensai at least some degree of viability, but I don't envy a player undertaking a solo run with a throwing axe Kensai He will have to work five times as hard as plain Fighter to attain the same level of viability, and that's not that Fighters are soloing kings exactly.
I'm fine with this copy of the thread standing for now. I've spirited away the other one. Just want to echo the request to treat others with respect and decency - even if you disagree with their opinion.
That's the problem. All of this stuff feels really hypothetical. Throwing axes are so ridiculously bad per se, plus really weak from a meta-game point of view (almost no magical versions exist). It might give Kensai at least some degree of viability, but I don't envy a player undertaking a solo run with a throwing axe Kensai He will have to work five times as hard as plain Fighter to attain the same level of viability, and that's not that Fighters are soloing kings exactly.
Beruel's Retort should do well enough until Prat drops the throwing axe +2 which is quite nice And besides, hardcore runs are not supposed to be easy anyway I'm not saying it's the best option, just that it's viable
1.There aren't many tough fights before that. And you can still use +1 protection item for them, so you only lose 2AC
2.Why would I use the crusher when I have already invested into axes?
3.As I said, Kensai can use throwing axes So in your hypothetical scenario throw on the girdle of piercing, kite around until you snipe of the archer and one of the others then throw the appropriate girdle and slaughter the other guy. As for the girdle of piercing - I stand corrected, it's the girdle of bluntness that's +4. I always mix those up. Doesn't really matter though
4.Potions defense and invulnerability, scrolls of protection from evil and the amulet of shield come to mind
So we're not ruling anything out and the girdles work when combined with kiting That's still -3/-8 ranged at worst (if you insist on not counting the cloak and ring) before buffs
The amulet of shield is the one being missed. Why wouldn't a kensai run around with that pretty much always on if he didn't have to split the GP spent on recharging it with other party members?
I would assume a base AC for a solo kensai of:
10 AC 8 AC - +2 kensai bonus 4 AC - 18 Dex 3 AC - +1 ring of protection -1 AC / -3 AC versus missiles - shield amulet -1 AC / -6 AC versus missiles - girdle of piercing -1 AC / -11 AC versus missiles - boots of avoidance
Then for late game: -2 AC / -7 AC versus missiles (+2 ring of protection / boots of cheetah / shield amulet / girdle) -3 AC / -8 AC versus missiels (Cloak of Balderan)
For tougher fights: -7 AC / -10 AC versus missiles (potion of defense or invulnerability)
If you are dual classing the kensai to mage, then you also can get stoneskin, ghost armor, etc. if you can survive the transition (saving some easy XP would be a good idea but with 6 or 7 fighter levels and a wide choice of things to buy, your "mage" will not be so fragile anyway).
Not easy but not impossible compared to other fighter classes.
I am also going to add that F/M/T is extremely viable as a solo class. I have run that more than any other and note that I just finished a F/M/C insane solo no reload run for the first time ever and found that combo was pretty interesting and viable, particularly with the Faerie Dragon familiar and a healthy dose of ghasts.
@IN1 I watched parts of your Blackguard playthrough, and I enjoyed watching you kill Elminster (I had never thought about killing him before, but he provides quite a hefty amount of experience). I am curious as to what your favorite class is for this challenge. The tier list provides what you find performs the best, but which do you enjoy playing the most? (Or are they one and the same?) Just curious. I don't think I have the skill to play this type of playthrough, and I would be far too frustrated if I messed up or died (rage-quit runs in my genes), but I do enjoy reading about these playthroughs. EDIT: Hmmmm I got a like from a moderator for being civil in a very harsh environment...perhaps I should continue this trend so that I am appreciated further
I don't like playing Bards/Mages, so our winner, Blade, is out of question I do like Blackguard a lot, since you can basically act in a manner that makes sense from a RP point of view and still be maximally efficient. I also enjoy the deceptively primitive class Barbarian is. Close third will be Cleric of Talos: first of all, he's the only _other_ evil kit in BG:EE (I like playing evil, as noted); secondly, his abilities are multi-functional and flexible, with great synergy between them -- that really encourages creative use.
I don't like playing Bards/Mages, so our winner, Blade, is out of question I do like Blackguard a lot, since you can basically act in a manner that makes sense from a RP point of view and still be maximally efficient. I also enjoy the deceptively primitive class Barbarian is. Close third will be Cleric of Talos: first of all, he's the only _other_ evil kit in BG:EE (I like playing evil, as noted); secondly, his abilities are multi-functional and flexible, with great synergy between them -- that really encourages creative use.
Interesting choices. What I find most interesting is that your top 3 are all classes that I am currently playing in non-solo games (chaotic neutral half Orc barbarian, neutral evil half Orc priest of Talos, and neutral evil blackguard). I think in the solo style, I agree that evil makes the game make sense if you are chopping things down left and right for exp (be them monsters, firebearded wizards or strange old men) from the rp perspective. Also, i agree that the blackguard is very very fun to play, and if I ever do try a solo no reload game, it will be either with a blackguard or a ranger.
Okay, finished my playthrough, didn't take out Aec'Lectec or visit the werewolf island but did make it to the 4th floor of Durlag's for the +3 Sling, +2 Large Shield and the third tome. I could probably have taken the demon knight and the Tanarri with Summons/potions of Magic Shield respectively, but I chickened out.
So yeah, like I was saying the Cleric/Ranger is a stupendous solo character.
1: Helmets.
Having a helmet means no spike damage to watch out for, removing the vast proportion of risk from melee.
2: Heavy Armour.
Getting the Ankheg Plate and Large Shield early on sets up for moving into Full Plate, and then, once you get the boots of Speed, into +4 Mithril Chainmail to take advantage of the 87% Ranger Stealth skill.
3: Sanctuary.
Sanctuary lets you walk through entire maps with no threat whatsoever. The moment you hit 7/7 there's no reason to fight any combat that isn't plot essential or doesn't have loot you need. Unlike invisibility, Sanctuary doesn't deactivate when the Ranger/Cleric: Opens chests, opens doors, turns undead or casts self-targeted spells.
This culminated in my going through Durlag's tower for the Sling killing the four Wardens, two dopplegangers who always know where you are, the elemental guardians and the non-Queen denizens of the chess board, and nothing else.
Yeah, Sanctuary's pretty badass. It also means you can rest anywhere without caring about random spawns, they can't see you with Sanctuary, and when you move away and rest successfully (even if it takes ten times, leaving a trail of Phase Spiders behind you), the random encounters disappear.
4: Stealth.
The moment that you're out of view of an enemy, you can enter stealth; the moment you enter stealth, you're safe to reposition just out of visual range, leave the area, or rest. Likewise, since you'll succeed in stealth nine times out of ten, and get advance notice of stealth failing, you can follow your summons in stealth in order to command them.
Unlike Sanctuary, stealth can be done the instant you step out of a door, leaving you safe and sound when the enemies follow.
5: Summons.
Combined with Sanctuary allowing them to pick fights on their own terms, Animate Dead brings out magic resistant, petrification immune, poison immune, charm immune skeleton warriors, which can easily take on Sirines and Basilisks as soon as the R/C hits level 5. Once they hit level 7 then they can summon Nymphs, each one of which is sporting a mountain of crowd control spells and in outdoors spots the not-too-shabby Call Lightning. Together with skeletons tanking for them, Nymphs can handle a lot of the nastier encounters without you ever needing to approach the front line, allowing you time to debuff with Insects or just use your sling.
Since there's a maximum number of five monsters summoned at a time, you'll probably be able to field two full or almost full squads of summons each time you rest.
You cannot be safer than when you don't participate in combat at all; I took out Mulahey without ever even seeing him.
6: Command and Entangle
Early game, an entangled enemy is pretty easily taken care of (works wonders for handling starting out Watchers), and it's simple to kite around the field to make sure that the enemy is constantly having to make saves.
Likewise, Command simply disables any target for long enough to hit them at least once each with your dual wielded weaponry (+2 Hammer and 25% stun chance overpowered +1 mace), giving you that 25% chance to put them into a stun lock as well as guaranteeing a goodly amount of damage for the beginning of the game.
7: Slings.
Slings are fantastic weapons. Not only do they allow you to use a Large Shield, but for an 18/XX fighter class each bullet is dealing 7-11 damage per hit, increase your strength with potions and Holy Might and you're dealing Acid Arrow level damage with non-magical rocks, all whilst rocking a -20 AC against missile weapons.
8: Silence 15 ft.
Silence does not turn enemies hostile. It does not cause the victims to attack the caster when cast just outside the fog of war. It has a -5 save penalty, lasts over a turn when you've capped, and when silenced, enemy mages are reduced to sad, stick wielding mimes.
9: Wisdom bonus spells.
By the time you're sitting on 21 wisdom, you've enough spells to dump the holy finger occupier into your jewel pouch and slip on a ring of free action without feeling gimped, a nice bonus in the final stages, especially since the book in Durlag's level 2 is easy to get early game (as soon as you get the Greenstone amulet).
10: Wands of Flame Strike
The Ranger/Cleric only gets Insect Swarm (a great DoT anti-caster debuff, but not much damage), Glyph of Warding/Poison (a save or take damage is not getting a spell slot in favour of a no-save, suck on Summons), and Holy Smite, which only targets evil creatures (and a surprising number of opponents seem to be neutral, whilst your own Animated Dead are most definitely evil.
Fortunately Wands of Flame Strike are awesome, hitting for more damage than a Wand of Fire without the dangerous splash effects (which can be emulated with potions anyway).
If it wasn't, this information should be posted in another thread.
If it was, several points are so doubtful and contradict my own experience so much (first and foremost, you rely waaaaaay too much on stochastic processes, which is impossible under hardcore rules) that I request a video. Recording with fraps is very simple. If you had enough time to produce this amount of text, you will surely find enough time to fraps your run and post a video to back up your claims.
Otherwise, I will ask you kindly to remove this post as irrelevant to this thread.
Yes, as stated, I have completed a no-reloads run of the Cleric/Ranger. I've little interest in playing the exact same character from start to finish yet again (I am not made of weekends after all), though if you like I just went and saved a backup on my autosave for you which I could use to demonstrate the simple tactics involved by getting out of the Thief Warrens and taking out the Demon Knight or something like that if you can't be bothered to simply try it yourself using the techniques I've highlighted. Alternatively I suppose I could reach level 5 with a new ranger/cleric, at which point virtually no combat carries any risk whatsoever, as you can just throw skeletons at it ad nauseam.
If you'd care to say what, specifically, you consider to be random processes of those mentioned, however, I'll be happy to save time and disabuse you, there are exactly three abilities which are not 100% reliable in the above list.
First is Stealth, which can be repeated in safety until successful, and has a warning when you fail the roll to remain hidden. It doesn't require an action, so it can be performed whilst kiting if required, so long as you have a handy wall. Second is Entangle, which is a save repeated enough times against a single target that the odds are in your favour, and as you are not in melee with the target, you are in no more risk in the unlikely event it fails than if you simply kited the target normally. Third is Silence, and as stated, Silence can be cast out of visual range and does not trigger enemies to respond; this means in the case of failure there is nothing preventing a quick Sanctuary/Rest to keep trying until it works.
Command, when it is at its most useful, is guaranteed to succeed. Slings and kiting, providing you have the wherewithal to outmanoeuvre a wolf or other slightly-faster-than-you enemy as long as necessary to keep getting shots off, is risk free. Sanctuary is flat out better than invisibility. Summons are also risk free, since you can always move out of visual range just before the last summon falls, Sanctuary and Rest for more summons.
There is potential, and then there is consistency. A R/C surely has a high potential, but allow me to doubt his consistency, especially early game, very much.
No, I am not interested in a 'demonstration of simple tactics'. That way, you are going to demonstrate the 'burst' potential of a high-level (for BG:EE) character. Thanks, but no, thanks. As noted, what I doubt is R/C's early/mid game consistency -- i. e., his ability to survive without depending on reloads for a long time.
That's what I'm going to do, since you appear to switch to the extremely busy person mode whenever convenient: your post will remain untouched, and will enjoy a full benefit of the doubt until after I complete a BG2 rush-through with a Blackguard, requested by several people in my solo hardcore Blackguard run thread.
Afterwards, I will try out the R/C sticking to the principles you list, and post some conclusions/videos. Needless to say, my evaluation will strive to be as academically objective as possible (= detached from my personal opinions/preferences).
Yes, remarkably, my "very busy" switch occurs on Sunday evening and conveniently extends until the next Friday, such is the way of employment. However you will note that I did offer to spend the time getting Fraps and getting yet another Cleric/Ranger up to level 5. Considering I'm running through games to create a full party of six and a redundant Cleric/Ranger is a waste of my time, I consider this to be more than reasonable.
However, given your attitude, I assume you are disinterested in this and would prefer to do it yourself, which is fine by me if so, it gives me more time to play other characters.
In regards to doing a no reload how do you guys handle Durlags Tower if you don't pick Thief or a multi Thief?
Some of the traps you have to walk through and some of them hit reaaaaaaaaallllllllly hard.
Save it for very last and try to get tons of electrical and fire resistance?
Edit: To expand on that question the class I've had the best luck soloing with without reloading was Ranger / Cleric. I got up to the cloakwood mines, but I never really had a plan for Durlags Tower because of traps, or the werewolf island because of the greater werewolf (to my knowledge there are no weapons a R/C can use that can hurt him.)
Comments
>I consider videoing playthroughs in general the province of those with excessive time, low self-esteem >or something to prove.
Had no doubt, somehow. End of discussion with you, then, and good riddance!
Only unemployed, low self-esteem freaks suffering from impotence and trying to compensate for having a very short, Halfling-like, penis are welcome to comment here. You don't want to look like one of those, correct?
>I am merely pointing out your inaccuracies
Well, poor job doing that, then. I have to see a single valid point in your posts yet. You present some irrelevant arguments, pretending they are insightful observations (while usually they just fall into the category of the ages-old BG2 common knowledge).
>Feigning ignorance does not strengthen your position
Yet it seems to me that _you_ never feign ignorance, indeed
As a matter of fact, you can always tell people that actually have some hardcore soloing experience under their belt from those who don't. For example, I have no doubt Ignatius does have that experience, even if we disagree on so many matters. The devil is in the details: it's small things, basic understanding of mechanics crucial to any no-reload solo player. You, on the other hand, focus your attention on abilities essentially irrelevant for a solo run, so it's not difficult to comprehend you have zero (or close to zero) experience in this area.
Anyway, it's very hard to discuss anything seriously with a person that is theorycrafting non-stop and bringing up non-hardcore full party experiences from his BG2 days in hopes that these will strengthen his position, so let's wrap it up, please.
They didn't change it, technically. It's just that they are using SoA rules for Ranger kits, for some reason. I suppose we can ask directly in a bug thread whether it is an intended feature.
@Darigaaz87
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/12027/solo-hardcore-blackguard-run
Watch the prologue+first 2 minutes of chapter I. If my goal was to reach 35,000 xp ASAP, I would pay a visit (hehe) to Thalantyr and Keldath Ormlyr immediately after Elminster for additional 8,000 xp. No reputation loss and no critical items these guys sell, either.
I wasn't looking for a fight, it was just bugging me and I had to get it out
Also, bear in mind that the idea behind using these potions is to get through the tougher fights, not to slaughter gnolls and gibberlings. You don't even have to fight them in melee - the kensai can use throwing axes.
And just to show that AC isn't really that much of an issue anyway:
Kensai Bonus: +2AC
Dex Bonus: +4AC
Single Weapon Style Bonus: +2AC
Cloak of Balduran: +1AC
Ring of Protection: +2AC
Claw of Kazgaroth: +1AC
Boots of Avoidance: +5AC vs ranged
Girdles: +3AC/+4AC vs ranged
Total: +15AC/+21AC vs ranged = -5AC/-11AC vs ranged
That's good enough for most fights
Throw in some buffs and only Drizzt and Sarevok will ever hit you
I'm not looking for a fight, either. Peace. Hope I made my point concerning limited PoD clear.
Now, concerning your AC calculations:
1. Cloak of Balduran and Ring of Protection +2 are only accessible after you reach Chapter V.
2. Single-weapon style? Really? You aren't going to use the Chesley Crusher on your Kensai? :-O Then why play him in the first place? Please, let's keep it real.
3. Girdles. Often inapplicable. I assume you mean getting all three and switching in combat? Well, that's not always possible. What if you fight, say, a Flaming Fist patrol, and they use slashing, piercing and blunt? Besides, it's +3 vs. piercing, not +4.
4. What buffs do you suggest to throw in with a Kensai?
If we rule out the SW style, the Cloak, and the Ring of Protection +2, we already have it at 4 AC higher value than stated. Plus girdle switching won't work if there are at least two different types of damage. Thus, a much more objective evaluation will be: -1 AC at best for the major part of the game; 2 or 3 AC in many fights. Doesn't sound that sweet anymore, right?
2.Why would I use the crusher when I have already invested into axes?
3.As I said, Kensai can use throwing axes
So in your hypothetical scenario throw on the girdle of piercing, kite around until you snipe of the archer and one of the others then throw the appropriate girdle and slaughter the other guy.
As for the girdle of piercing - I stand corrected, it's the girdle of bluntness that's +4. I always mix those up. Doesn't really matter though
4.Potions defense and invulnerability, scrolls of protection from evil and the amulet of shield come to mind
So we're not ruling anything out and the girdles work when combined with kiting
That's still -3/-8 ranged at worst (if you insist on not counting the cloak and ring) before buffs
>So in your hypothetical scenario
That's the problem. All of this stuff feels really hypothetical. Throwing axes are so ridiculously bad per se, plus really weak from a meta-game point of view (almost no magical versions exist). It might give Kensai at least some degree of viability, but I don't envy a player undertaking a solo run with a throwing axe Kensai
Consider this thread being watched closely.
I think we are having a pretty civil discussion with Silchas here.
SandmanCCL's veiled threats are completely out of place, IMHO.
And besides, hardcore runs are not supposed to be easy anyway
I'm not saying it's the best option, just that it's viable Apart from the initial salvo, I concur
Besides, I think we're just about done with it
I would assume a base AC for a solo kensai of:
10 AC
8 AC - +2 kensai bonus
4 AC - 18 Dex
3 AC - +1 ring of protection
-1 AC / -3 AC versus missiles - shield amulet
-1 AC / -6 AC versus missiles - girdle of piercing
-1 AC / -11 AC versus missiles - boots of avoidance
Then for late game:
-2 AC / -7 AC versus missiles (+2 ring of protection / boots of cheetah / shield amulet / girdle)
-3 AC / -8 AC versus missiels (Cloak of Balderan)
For tougher fights:
-7 AC / -10 AC versus missiles (potion of defense or invulnerability)
If you are dual classing the kensai to mage, then you also can get stoneskin, ghost armor, etc. if you can survive the transition (saving some easy XP would be a good idea but with 6 or 7 fighter levels and a wide choice of things to buy, your "mage" will not be so fragile anyway).
Not easy but not impossible compared to other fighter classes.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/10057/playing-solo-without-reloading-is-impossible#latest
Yes, the Faerie Dragon makes early game a cakewalk.
I watched parts of your Blackguard playthrough, and I enjoyed watching you kill Elminster (I had never thought about killing him before, but he provides quite a hefty amount of experience).
I am curious as to what your favorite class is for this challenge. The tier list provides what you find performs the best, but which do you enjoy playing the most? (Or are they one and the same?) Just curious. I don't think I have the skill to play this type of playthrough, and I would be far too frustrated if I messed up or died (rage-quit runs in my genes), but I do enjoy reading about these playthroughs.
EDIT: Hmmmm I got a like from a moderator for being civil in a very harsh environment...perhaps I should continue this trend so that I am appreciated further
An interesting question.
I don't like playing Bards/Mages, so our winner, Blade, is out of question
Also, i agree that the blackguard is very very fun to play, and if I ever do try a solo no reload game, it will be either with a blackguard or a ranger.
>Also, i agree that the blackguard is very very fun to play
Yeah? Well, you might potentially enjoy a simple kit transfer mod for BG2 I've made, then: http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/1024-bgeeblk-bgee-blackguard-kit-for-bg2/
So yeah, like I was saying the Cleric/Ranger is a stupendous solo character.
1: Helmets.
Having a helmet means no spike damage to watch out for, removing the vast proportion of risk from melee.
2: Heavy Armour.
Getting the Ankheg Plate and Large Shield early on sets up for moving into Full Plate, and then, once you get the boots of Speed, into +4 Mithril Chainmail to take advantage of the 87% Ranger Stealth skill.
3: Sanctuary.
Sanctuary lets you walk through entire maps with no threat whatsoever. The moment you hit 7/7 there's no reason to fight any combat that isn't plot essential or doesn't have loot you need. Unlike invisibility, Sanctuary doesn't deactivate when the Ranger/Cleric: Opens chests, opens doors, turns undead or casts self-targeted spells.
This culminated in my going through Durlag's tower for the Sling killing the four Wardens, two dopplegangers who always know where you are, the elemental guardians and the non-Queen denizens of the chess board, and nothing else.
Yeah, Sanctuary's pretty badass. It also means you can rest anywhere without caring about random spawns, they can't see you with Sanctuary, and when you move away and rest successfully (even if it takes ten times, leaving a trail of Phase Spiders behind you), the random encounters disappear.
4: Stealth.
The moment that you're out of view of an enemy, you can enter stealth; the moment you enter stealth, you're safe to reposition just out of visual range, leave the area, or rest. Likewise, since you'll succeed in stealth nine times out of ten, and get advance notice of stealth failing, you can follow your summons in stealth in order to command them.
Unlike Sanctuary, stealth can be done the instant you step out of a door, leaving you safe and sound when the enemies follow.
5: Summons.
Combined with Sanctuary allowing them to pick fights on their own terms, Animate Dead brings out magic resistant, petrification immune, poison immune, charm immune skeleton warriors, which can easily take on Sirines and Basilisks as soon as the R/C hits level 5. Once they hit level 7 then they can summon Nymphs, each one of which is sporting a mountain of crowd control spells and in outdoors spots the not-too-shabby Call Lightning. Together with skeletons tanking for them, Nymphs can handle a lot of the nastier encounters without you ever needing to approach the front line, allowing you time to debuff with Insects or just use your sling.
Since there's a maximum number of five monsters summoned at a time, you'll probably be able to field two full or almost full squads of summons each time you rest.
You cannot be safer than when you don't participate in combat at all; I took out Mulahey without ever even seeing him.
6: Command and Entangle
Early game, an entangled enemy is pretty easily taken care of (works wonders for handling starting out Watchers), and it's simple to kite around the field to make sure that the enemy is constantly having to make saves.
Likewise, Command simply disables any target for long enough to hit them at least once each with your dual wielded weaponry (+2 Hammer and 25% stun chance overpowered +1 mace), giving you that 25% chance to put them into a stun lock as well as guaranteeing a goodly amount of damage for the beginning of the game.
7: Slings.
Slings are fantastic weapons. Not only do they allow you to use a Large Shield, but for an 18/XX fighter class each bullet is dealing 7-11 damage per hit, increase your strength with potions and Holy Might and you're dealing Acid Arrow level damage with non-magical rocks, all whilst rocking a -20 AC against missile weapons.
8: Silence 15 ft.
Silence does not turn enemies hostile. It does not cause the victims to attack the caster when cast just outside the fog of war. It has a -5 save penalty, lasts over a turn when you've capped, and when silenced, enemy mages are reduced to sad, stick wielding mimes.
9: Wisdom bonus spells.
By the time you're sitting on 21 wisdom, you've enough spells to dump the holy finger occupier into your jewel pouch and slip on a ring of free action without feeling gimped, a nice bonus in the final stages, especially since the book in Durlag's level 2 is easy to get early game (as soon as you get the Greenstone amulet).
10: Wands of Flame Strike
The Ranger/Cleric only gets Insect Swarm (a great DoT anti-caster debuff, but not much damage), Glyph of Warding/Poison (a save or take damage is not getting a spell slot in favour of a no-save, suck on Summons), and Holy Smite, which only targets evil creatures (and a surprising number of opponents seem to be neutral, whilst your own Animated Dead are most definitely evil.
Fortunately Wands of Flame Strike are awesome, hitting for more damage than a Wand of Fire without the dangerous splash effects (which can be emulated with potions anyway).
Only one question: was it a no-reloads run?
If it wasn't, this information should be posted in another thread.
If it was, several points are so doubtful and contradict my own experience so much (first and foremost, you rely waaaaaay too much on stochastic processes, which is impossible under hardcore rules) that I request a video. Recording with fraps is very simple. If you had enough time to produce this amount of text, you will surely find enough time to fraps your run and post a video to back up your claims.
Otherwise, I will ask you kindly to remove this post as irrelevant to this thread.
If you'd care to say what, specifically, you consider to be random processes of those mentioned, however, I'll be happy to save time and disabuse you, there are exactly three abilities which are not 100% reliable in the above list.
First is Stealth, which can be repeated in safety until successful, and has a warning when you fail the roll to remain hidden. It doesn't require an action, so it can be performed whilst kiting if required, so long as you have a handy wall.
Second is Entangle, which is a save repeated enough times against a single target that the odds are in your favour, and as you are not in melee with the target, you are in no more risk in the unlikely event it fails than if you simply kited the target normally.
Third is Silence, and as stated, Silence can be cast out of visual range and does not trigger enemies to respond; this means in the case of failure there is nothing preventing a quick Sanctuary/Rest to keep trying until it works.
Command, when it is at its most useful, is guaranteed to succeed. Slings and kiting, providing you have the wherewithal to outmanoeuvre a wolf or other slightly-faster-than-you enemy as long as necessary to keep getting shots off, is risk free. Sanctuary is flat out better than invisibility. Summons are also risk free, since you can always move out of visual range just before the last summon falls, Sanctuary and Rest for more summons.
There is potential, and then there is consistency. A R/C surely has a high potential, but allow me to doubt his consistency, especially early game, very much.
No, I am not interested in a 'demonstration of simple tactics'. That way, you are going to demonstrate the 'burst' potential of a high-level (for BG:EE) character. Thanks, but no, thanks. As noted, what I doubt is R/C's early/mid game consistency -- i. e., his ability to survive without depending on reloads for a long time.
That's what I'm going to do, since you appear to switch to the extremely busy person mode whenever convenient: your post will remain untouched, and will enjoy a full benefit of the doubt until after I complete a BG2 rush-through with a Blackguard, requested by several people in my solo hardcore Blackguard run thread.
Afterwards, I will try out the R/C sticking to the principles you list, and post some conclusions/videos. Needless to say, my evaluation will strive to be as academically objective as possible (= detached from my personal opinions/preferences).
However, given your attitude, I assume you are disinterested in this and would prefer to do it yourself, which is fine by me if so, it gives me more time to play other characters.
>I assume you are disinterested in this and would prefer to do it yourself
Yes, definitely.
Some of the traps you have to walk through and some of them hit reaaaaaaaaallllllllly hard.
Save it for very last and try to get tons of electrical and fire resistance?
Edit: To expand on that question the class I've had the best luck soloing with without reloading was Ranger / Cleric. I got up to the cloakwood mines, but I never really had a plan for Durlags Tower because of traps, or the werewolf island because of the greater werewolf (to my knowledge there are no weapons a R/C can use that can hurt him.)