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Solo playthrough help/advice needed

Hey, I have BG:EE and IWD:EE and I'm considering solo'ing one or both of them (or making a duo run), and I'm wondering what classes would be easy to do that with. I remember in BG2/ToB that Sorc was good, especially since you exceeded the XP cap in SoA.

So far I've read that either Blackguard, Berserker og Barbarian should be easy to solo BG:EE with. As for IWD I've read that one of the druid kits is the way to go.

I might consider bringing Imoen in BG:EE and dual her to mage, just to have a little more interesting gameplay.

Comments

  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    The F/M/T is arguably the best adventurer you could create to solo an IE game like IWD:EE or BG:EE. It has all the skills you need to complete the game alone, and quite easily.
    JuliusBorisovjesterdesuBlackraven
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    edited April 2015
    Any class can solo the game, however some are essier. My friend who was a total noob to the series, played with a half orc barbarian with a party. Then, for the second playthrough he began as nearly the same character (only differing on weapon proficiencies, as he knew what to expect) and went solo this time. Last time he said he had finished many of the areas and was going strong in bg1. (He was gloating, btw, I plan to install scs on his game to see him suffer. Yeah I am eeeevil :D)

    So yes, a half orc barbarian should be easy. Fast movement, able to rage for immunity vs various disablers, able to utilise longbows with skill as they are the king in bg1, starting out with 19 str and con also makes things easier when you are lvl 1c
    JuliusBorisovGoturalBlackraven
  • FlaboereFlaboere Member Posts: 7
    Thanks for the reply, should help a lot. Just one last thing, did your friend say which weapon set up he went with? It seems like the general idea is to go dual wield for damage?
  • ZalsonZalson Member Posts: 103
    Dual-wielding gets really powerful in BG2. Fighter classes gain an extra attack per round, gain additional attacks per round for weapon specialization, and can wield certain enchanted weapons in their off hand which allow them another attack with their main hand. So, instead of one attack per round, you have 5 (1 base, 1 off hand, 1 from fighter levels, 1 from specialization, 1 from a special weapon). That's where the damage comes from.

    In BG 1, Longswords are a good dual-wielding choice, as are maces--there are two powerful items available early in the game.

    In BG2, longsword remains a decent choice. Scimitars, katanas, and flails are also quite powerful, too.
    JuliusBorisov
  • Jaheiras_WitnessJaheiras_Witness Member Posts: 614
    Berserker is an excellent solo class as Enrage will protect you from pretty much all disabling effects (it won't protect you from petrification and slow...but everything else it will).

    Best race is dwarves for the +5 to saving throw bonuses.

    Dual wielding or two handed swords are the way to go; the latter is easier to get going and you can great magical weapons pretty easily in both games. The former is ultimately more powerful but harder to get going, as the top one handed weapons in each game vary...in BG1 longswords are probably the best choice but in BG2 they are mediocre, and katanas or flails are the kings (but there are no good katanas and flails in BG1). So think about that for your character.
    JuliusBorisovjesterdesu
  • jesterdesujesterdesu Member Posts: 373
    Soloing is possible with all - what's your favourite character?
  • GodGod Member Posts: 1,150
    Druids rocked in IWD and rock in IWDEE.
    Especially kitted or dual classed from fighters.
  • SouthpawSouthpaw Member Posts: 2,026
    For easy BGEE solo run - Barbarian/Berserker is nice and easy. Go dual-wielding long swords or maces.
    Another easier option would be Fighter/Cleric multiclass (adds healing) or Fighter/Thief (locks, traps, backstabs).

    Soloing is possible with all though. Try any other class that you liked. I soloed BG1 with a Conjurer mage (long time ago), 3 Thief kits (Assassin, Swashbuckler and Bounty Hunter), the Monk and Barbarian. Barbarian was the easiest, but the most dull (you basically hack everything to pieces, whereas with other classes, you actually have to use tactic and preparation.
  • FlaboereFlaboere Member Posts: 7
    Thanks for the good replys! I ended up starting a dual run with a dual wielding half-orc berserker and immoen (gonna dual her to mage around 5 i think) and using longswords so far. So far been fairly easy, with a couple of reloads necessary.
  • jesterdesujesterdesu Member Posts: 373
    edited April 2015
    You can't go far wrong with a brute like that :)

    Remember that you can still grand master in hammers, axes or daggers if you want a more potent ranged option.
    Blackraven
  • wraith5641wraith5641 Member Posts: 500
    @Flaboere So it's more of a duo run than a solo run? It's probably for the best. I'm on my first 100% solo run, and it's pretty tough. You have to take into consideration every little weakness that your character has and thoroughly plan every battle that they get into. If you bring a mage along, they can compensate for those weaknesses and you don't have to fight the same battle several times to think of a way to win it.

    What difficulty do you play on?
  • SouthpawSouthpaw Member Posts: 2,026
    Dual-run with Immy is great. Done that several times - the utility she brings as a thief/mage is great.
    One of the most bloody runs I did was a Barbarian + Dorn. Clad in steel, we just slaughtered our way through Sword Coast and nothing could stand in our way!
    jesterdesu
  • MalacPokMalacPok Member Posts: 96
    I'm also considering my first BGEE run, but since I never played the game before, the solo mode might be a bit too risky. Depending on my class, I might pick up some other NPCs along the way, but not too many, because sharing XP is not fun.

    How does the assassin fare in BG?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    @MalacPok You definitely should make a BG1(EE) run if you haven't done it before. You'll start to like the low-level challenge.

    Personally, an assassin is one of my favourite characters ever, and in BG1 it can shine. It won't be OP such as a F/M/T due to a low amount of thieving ability points, but you'll love his Poison weapon.

    Choose a ranged weapon, activate the Poison weapon and then watch how your enemies quickly die. I advice to concentrate on HiS/MS and take another thief for open locks and disarm traps skills. Montaron can be a fine choice and his pal Xzar is one of the best voiced NPCs in the series. You can even dual-class Xzar into a cleric when you find a manual of WIS later. Take Dorn, and you'll be awesome.
    MalacPokjesterdesuGoturalBlackraven
  • jesterdesujesterdesu Member Posts: 373
    Assassin poison breaks BGEE somewhat! Very strong class imo.
    GoturalsemiticgoddessBlackraven
  • MalacPokMalacPok Member Posts: 96
    I always wanted to play the assassin, because the name sounds cool. :D
    I'd also like to continue solo once I hit BG2, but I'm worried about his chances in ToB. Most of the bosses there will be immune to assassination and poison while his face-to-face fighter skills will stay close to null.

    What's the best ranged weapons for a BG1 assassin?
    GoturaljesterdesuBlackraven
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    MalacPok said:

    I always wanted to play the assassin, because the name sounds cool. :D
    I'd also like to continue solo once I hit BG2, but I'm worried about his chances in ToB. Most of the bosses there will be immune to assassination and poison while his face-to-face fighter skills will stay close to null.

    What's the best ranged weapons for a BG1 assassin?

    I wouldn't worry for ToB, really. A thief as a rogue gets somewhat OP HLAs that can safe him in any late-game encounter, and an assassin can use them as well.

    Spike Traps can help you. UAI and tons of magical scrolls. Also, Poison Weapon is still as effective as it is on the previous stages. Yes, it cannot kill an enemy with lots of HPs right away but you'll have a lot of uses for this ability by the time you reach ToB.

    As for the best ranged weapons for BG1, I'd go for darts - because of their APR and the fact the EE gives you tons of darts of wounding and stunning that can be bought from different merchants (stolen from some of them). Combine the poison from the darts themselves and your own poison.

    Also, I would put one pip into crossbow and a short bow still: there's a crossbow with 2 APR and possible poisonous bolts which can be bought; also, there're arrows of detonation that you combine with your Poison ability to poison packs of enemies (yes, it works this way).
    GoturalMalacPok
  • MalacPokMalacPok Member Posts: 96
    The only ToB fight I'm worried about is the first part of the Amelyssan battle. Even with Tenser & IH scrolls it seems like a very hard challenge.
    JuliusBorisovBlackravenGotural
  • jesterdesujesterdesu Member Posts: 373
    For ranged weapons shortbows, darts as Ben said can be used to stack different poisons as 3 apr and can be truly evil.

    When backstabbing/ poison fails (mainly boss fights) you will mostly rely on spike traps, but with UAI you can just do things such as summoning a silmacuralum using Valihors whilst holding level 9 scrolls...
    JuliusBorisov
  • MalacPokMalacPok Member Posts: 96
    Yeah, the Vhailor simulacrum + high level scroll combo was very useful when I played with the jester. It should work for the assassin too.
    JuliusBorisov
  • MalacPokMalacPok Member Posts: 96
    After Xzar and Montaron ditched me for not getting my arse to Nashkel in a timely manner, I decided to go alone. Are there any tips for a first-timer solo assassin in BG1? The poison seems to deal easily with enemies so far.
  • jesterdesujesterdesu Member Posts: 373
    Get dagger & darts of venom, kill everything you see.

    Anything which improves thac0 is good.

    Levelling stealth skills early really helps too, the only other thing you need is 60 or so in detect traps. Don't worry about set trap until bg2.

    Wand of sleep (high hedge) makes many fights much easier.
    GoturalMalacPokJuliusBorisov
  • MalacPokMalacPok Member Posts: 96
    I picked up Dorn because having him around makes things much easier. The game is very different compared to BG2. There are much more outdoor locations.
    JuliusBorisov
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