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Soloing with a Bounty Hunter

Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
Title pretty much covers it, I want to solo my way through the trilogy with a sneaky guy, but I'm concerned about the fact that once they hit ToB, there's a load of backstabbing-immune creatures making them largely redundant leaving you with a rubbish THAC0. Suggestions please!
Post edited by Lil2Wkd on

Comments

  • mjsmjs Member Posts: 742
    I'll go bounty hunter. Any of the thief kits can do bgee but bounty hunter with those special thrown traps should be best for soa and tob. By the time you get the maze trap you can maze multiple enemies and set spike traps for when they reappear
    Demonoid_LimewireQuartz
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    Shadowdancer is quite invulnerable if used right. Bounty hunter is pretty good if you love traps, but I think their special traps aren't that great come epic levels.
    Quartz
  • SwordsNotWordsSwordsNotWords Member Posts: 147
    edited February 2014
    I'd go Swashbuckler, the first class I completed the game with, but I'm lazy and don't take advantage of traps. With this said, I've never solo'd as I love the RP factor of a party too much, so my opinion might be worth diddly squat.
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited February 2014
    It's been ages since I played BG2, but I'm recalling that Thieves get the extremely powerful Use Any Item HLA which really helps.

    I'd probably go with Swashbuckler, I think. But that said, I've yet to try Shadowdancer.
    JuliusBorisovT2av
  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    Swashbucklers are pretty versatile. You lose backstab but gain the ability to compete in melee. As the OP says, there are a lot of backstab immune monsters late on and by this point a Swashy is a powerhouse.
    CrevsDaak
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    I'd go Swashbuckler and dual-class to Mage at level 16 or 10 if you want to do it in BG:EE and not in BG2:EE (you can take out the BG:EE XP cap and do it in BG:EE).
    SCARY_WIZARDJuliusBorisov
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Swashbuckler would be good given the damage output it can get to. Assassin would be great because of its poison weapon and backstab (which would reach improved levels a lot sooner). Shadowdancer would have probably the most trouble. Mostly because of the number of outdoor areas in BG1 and because of the lack of trap use against bosses in BG2. For the Shadowdancer the most important HLA's to gain would probably be UAI and Shadow Twin. With those and the Vhailor's helmet you can have basically 3 of you running around. Lots of wand and item use potential there. Still, because of their access to double the number of traps in BGEE and the value of traps in BG2EE I kind of feel like the bounty hunter would probably be the best solo class.
    SCARY_WIZARDQuartzJuliusBorisov
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    This has been a hell of a lot of help, I'm playing BG:EE on the iPad. I eventually settled on the bounty hunter, going with daggers and bows, with most of the kills so far being from the bow. I'm around 1.5k off level 7, I'd hit level 4 pretty quickly as I skipped the Friendly Arm straight up for a few of the basic quests first. Managed to get a level or so farming Ankhegs then accidentally wasted my Wand of Sleep. All my points have gone into Find Traps and Set Traps, with levels 8, 9, and 10 having them go into enough sneak skills to make my way to level 4 of Durlag's Tower to get the Staff of Striking. Currently with the +1 Shortbow, Dagger of Venom, and Shadow Armor/Worn Whispers, but about to switch for the +5 vs Missiles boots as I enter the Bandit Camp. No difficulties so far as such, any deaths have been down to stupidity as opposed to being unable to deal with anything-dropping traps at my feet and then starting conversations with people who are gonna be hostile is hilarious.
    elminsterjackjackCrevsDaakJuliusBorisov
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Hey you're doing great! And I see you've been making good money as well :) Congrats. I would like to read more about your progress, as I'm likely going to play a Bounty Hunter myself. Be it in BGT with the trap revisions mod.

  • mumumomomumumomo Member Posts: 635
    In bgee, the assassin is godly due to poison weapon. Not so great in tob

    For the whole trilogy, i'd go Swashbuckler without a doubt. It start slowly (still manageable) but from level 15-16 it starts to shine and to be on par with a fighter/thief multi
    You have enough traps to play with that when you need (veryr arely since you will slaughter most foes with your blades)
    The only problem it doesn't feel like a thief.

    To be efficient the Bounty hunter has to use traps often which means resting often which i strongly dislike (breaks the immersion, often completely unrealistic)
    rickcr
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    I gave Swashbuckler a quick go, but it really did feel just like a normal fighter with a few tweaks. Made my way through the bandit camp, mostly with traps and regretting picking up Daggers as my first weapon due to the small damage it gives out right now, though I'm just farming five more Ankhegs to get me to Level 8 then taking on Quarterstaff now so I can hammer at Saverok with the Staff of Striking (assuming I can solo my way through Durlags Keep) and debating where to put my twenty points as I've got 100 Set Traps and 100 Find Traps. Hide in Shadows is at 60 and Move Silently are at fifty with no points other than starter and equipment.

    Incidentally sorry to mods if this has gone off topic by discussing how it's going.
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    If I were you I would reconsider specializing in quarterstaff. Yes the staff of striking does good damage, but you'll have only one attack per round and no backstab modifier... Considering that you intend to take your character all the way through the trilogy I'd focus on APR, i.e. dualwielding blades. Already in early SOA you'll be dealing more damage that way.
    BTW Sarevok will deal serious damage to you if you fight him face to face, despite your probably great armor class. So I think the best way for you do hurt him will be through attacks from stealth (even though you have no backstab modifier) and maybe combining boots of speed and potion of speed so that you can easily outrun him after every attack in order to hide again. Therefore it might be useful to further enhance your stealth skills. An other great skill later on (in SOA) is detect illusion: maybe you can start developing that one.
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    Bounty Hunter has a x3 BS multiplier... I eventually went with Scimitar as This gives me access to IcingDeath (sadly as True Neutral I can't use Twinkle) and means that pretty early into BG 2 I should be able to get the Scarlet Ninja-To. Made it to Baldur's Gate and picked up the Sandthief's Ring, which I've yet to use, with my first points once I get to the sequel going into Dual Wielding. Having a day off though as I've been grinding through two days in a row.
  • mumumomomumumomo Member Posts: 635
    scimitar is indeed the way to go :
    - in BGEE you get the drizzt weapons but also 2 +2 scimitars
    - in BG2, you get belm and the +4 wakizachi from the start and scarlet ninja to with UAI.
    Speed weapons are mandatory with a thief since using 2 of them will double your damage output.
    CorvinoQuartzAerakar
  • BlucherBlucher Member Posts: 110

    If I were you I would reconsider specializing in quarterstaff. Yes the staff of striking does good damage, but you'll have only one attack per round and no backstab modifier...

    Staff of Striking is an awesome backstab (sneak attack) weapon; in fact probably the best until the Staff of the Ram in ToB.
    QuartzCrevsDaak
  • Demonoid_LimewireDemonoid_Limewire Member Posts: 424
    If you play a race other than human, or plan to never dual anyway, it is always good to use a bounty hunter. They keep backstab and their unique traps are somewhat overpowered.

    If you play a human, though, you can try a Swashbuckler dualled to mage, at such a level of a swashbuckler, that you will still be able to hit 28 mage (maximum spell slots). You loose backstab, but you practically/effectively get a hybrid, watered down, fighter/mage/thief (due to specializations and whirlwinds).
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Ah ok @Lil2Wkd, @Blucher my mistake, I misread Li2Wkd's words. I somehow thought he was still playing a swashy. Yes, for a bounty hunter a quarter staff can be a good backstab option (if somewhat difficult to reconcile with the nimble/sneaky typo of character he was looking to play).
    Nevertheless scimitar is a fine choice. I'm running a bounty huntress through BGT, with specs in dagger, darts and single weapon, ans so far my damage output is laughable (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/474416 if you're interested).
    I might not opt for scimitar later on, simply becasue I almost always end up using them (be it as a swashmage, a fighter/thief, a ranger etc), but you have many good options yes. You could even dualwield two speed scimitars, as @mumumomo correctly pints out.
  • BlucherBlucher Member Posts: 110
    @Blackraven‌ Ah, my mistake there as well. You mentioned "specialization" which should have tipped me off that you were talking about the Swashbuckler kit.
    Blackraven
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    No update on this, took some personal time and such and dabbled with my evil party in BG2. Because I'm playing the naughty side of rep 9, I'm hitting a lot of downtime resting. I've entered Candlekeep which should get me to level 10 by the time I'm out. I've still a fair few quest chains to do before endgame, but I'm pretty much gonna look and see what quests have the best financial gain to gear up for the final fights with invisibility potions and so on.

    This is probably the most frustrating of my three runthroughs that I've done, I think due to the aforementioned absence of heal spells, though things got easier once I picked up the Boots of Speed. I am toying with picking up another companion to use as bait and dispells during the final fight, but the plan for that is exploding potions in the dark, try and pull what npcs I can, then invis/backstab then break out the boots and bow till Saverok is dead. Then for the first dungeon of BG2 use the team to get through and as mules, then start part two properly, starting with the Stronghold chain and taking it from there.
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    Made it through to the final chapter with no difficulties as such, some traps in the Undercellar two chapters previous made short work of the assassins found there, and now I'm just meandering my way through the city before heading towards the Ducal Castle. Just gearing up now, trying to decide which arrows/potions etc I need for the final fights.
    Danacm
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Ok, well done so far!
    Be very very careful in the Duchal Palace. This might well be the most difficult part, because as you surely know, you're going to have to keep either Belt or Liia Janneth (or both) alive, against a multitude of dopplegangers.... (You might even want to recruit some people.) Best of luck.
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    The Duchal Palace was the first place that I died more than twice, but I did manage it solo in the end. Dropped traps at the near end of the room, got buffed up with pretty much everything including a holy might, and triggered the conversation. As soon as the fight triggered I ran round the corner and stealthed, and I *think* at least one doppelgänger died whilst another two or three panicked. Arrows of Dispelling on the ones who went for Belt first, then kited the others and Dispelled till they were no longer hasted, then switched to Arrows of Piercing, which despite the same save as Arrows of Biting, actually caused damage, but for the most part let the Flaming Fist finish them off as I'm no longer gaining XP. I've snuck through the Thieve's Maze and disarmed the trap, snuck past the mercs in the undercity, and convinced Tamoko not to kill me. I've no snuck back out, and picking up one or two bits and pieces before the final fight. Of note are the Golden Girdle on the hopefully unlikely situation that I have to hit Sarevok head on, and the Ring from High Hedge, as whilst I'm only on 16 Con, I'd rather take that through into BG2 as opposed to the Helm. I also bought my rep up to 17 as well. Now as the last fight, it's a matter of working out which arrows I want (I suspect normal +2s and Dispelling), and then it's on to the final fight. Plan is thrown potions from afar, snipe the mage, and then kite Sarevok.
    Quartz
  • mumumomomumumomo Member Posts: 635
    Easiest way to deal with the final fight is :
    - take 2 MR potions (be careful sometimes it get dispelled. So get 4 potions) + 1 potion of defense (AC = -10/12)
    - use invis/backstab/invis/... to kill sarevok
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    Other than the first time when I accidentally triggered everything off a touch to early, no problems at all. Dealt with the mage with arrows of dispelling, and then back stabbed away, took 4 or so hits with a Scimitar. Now to import...
    CrevsDaakQuartz
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Good job, congratulations!
    CrevsDaak
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    Having to plan a little ahead now as the path goes decidedly non-linear up until Chapter 3. The absence of the Boots of Speed is more than a little frustrating, however they're still a few quests away., meaning I'm loving the potions right now. I've done a few of the fetch quests and dealt with the back rooms of the Copper Coronet, and I'm just waiting to make level thirteen before trying to tackle the slavers. I've a suspicion I might be shelling out on the anti-confusion armor in Adventurers Mart beforehand, but I'm currently sitting quite happily on around 15000 gold, or possibly doing the Speed Potion/backstab/run to the sewers combo. I teamed up with Hexxat for her quest due to the pseudo-bag of holding you get, and dismissed her from the party. If I recall there's a lot of loot in there that I might not be able to hold on my own, or there's a possibility that I might bring her with me due to her high Lockpicking. I have three-manned it before with my monk, Yoshi, and the guy you need to enter, so I'm hoping it shouldn't be too much of a problem, if I recall there isn't a huge amount of combat if I sneak around carefully, it's just a few fights that are annoying.
    Blackraven
  • Lil2WkdLil2Wkd Member Posts: 50
    Playing cat and mouse with the slavers means I can now never go in the sewers again as a large number of them are now in there, but the leader is dead and the children have been freed.
    QuartzjackjackBlackravenCrevsDaak
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