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I've decided to undertake somewhat of a research mission:

To discover how different classes / kits fare while soloing while attempting to RP as much as possible.

I've decided on the following exceptions:

1) Permission to 'hire' a thief to deal with traps. A non-thief would consider himself nuts to try and navigate a trapped dungeon on his own. To this end, Yoshi will accompany me (unless my character IS a thief).

2) No Cleric or Mage. The PC has no reason to trust anyone else with such a vital mission to rescue his sister.

3) Will acquire the best gear available before setting off after Imoen. PC wants to be as prepared as possible to deal with Irenicus. The better stuff he/she has, the higher his chances of success. Will acquire different weapons / items to deal with potential difficulties along the way, as permitted by his proficiencies. The stereotypical fighter would go out of his way to acquire anti-undead weaponry (Daystar), the highest enchanted weapon available to him (Sword of Roses), special weapons needed for specific enemies (Fire Sword for trolls for example), and special armor to protect him from nasty nasties (beholders).

4) Will acquire the best gear for Imoen. PC knows that she is a mage, and will attempt to bring the best stuff he can find for her in order to protect her (ie. Robe of Vecna, loads of scrolls, ammies/rings/bracers).

5) Will only choose weapons that are 'associated' with his class. In other words, a stereotypical fighter would have a sword and shield. A Berserker would dual wield with hammers / axes. A Barbarian would high damage (2 handed) weapons. A thief would use short swords, etc.

I will update as my game(s) progress.

[ 11-04-2004, 01:21 PM: Message edited by: Riftmaker ]

Currently running a straight Fighter.

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Just finished Nalia's castle. Was easier than I expected. Golems were a pain in the ass though. Vampires are beginning to annoy me. I'm worried about the lack of immunity to level drain for my character. Hopefully my AC will be low enough that they won't be able to even touch me. Currently doing the Mae'Var guildhall. Looking forward to raping the entire guild and taking practically no damage.

Current equipment:
Main hand: Sword of Balduran
Off hand: Fortress Shield
Head: Helm of Balduran
Armor: Full Plate
Rings: Ring of Human Influence, Ring of Protection + 1

On a side note, I recovered a suit of Chain Mail +1 in the Irenicus Dungeon off of the bookcase in the far west corner of Khalid's death chamber. That is the first time I've gotten that ever. The only other item I've ever gotten off of that bookcase was a Laereal's Tear Necklace.

That particular container holds a Random Treasure, one of he few in Jon's dungeon. You can find pretty much anything there: Once I even found an Arrow of Detonation.

Ahhh, cool, thanks Six.

*** Update ***

Having a horrible time fighting priests / wizards. Hold Person is really beginning to bug me.

Cleared out the Guildhall without too much trouble. Went on and cleared out the slavers as well. Stupid hobgoblins kept holding me. As long as I can save vs. the hold spells, I'm doing fine. Everything falls very quickly...and my AC of -10 basically prohibits anything from hitting me.

Current Equipment:
Main Hand: Sword of Roses
Off Hand: Fortress Shield (also purchased Balduran's Shield for the damn Beholders)
Head: Helm of Balduran
Armor: Full Plate
Rings: Ring of Human Influence, Ring of Protection +1
Gaunts/Bracers: None
Belt: None
Cloak: Cloak of Protection +1.

I also bought a bunch of scrolls for Immy. Where else can I get a scroll case? I bought the one off of the scroll merchant in the Adventurer's Mart, and the one off the scroll merchant in Waukeen's Promenade...anywhere else I can get one?

Shield of Harmony is a must for a solo fighter. You can also equip the Arbane's Sword to counter Hold spells.

You can buy scroll case from Bernard before doing the Copper Coronet quest. Also from one of the merchants in Trademeet.

and IIRC the mercant who sells you the glasses of identification above galeyan bale (sp?) has one.

Ah, sweet. I forgot to check Bernard's invnentory before doing the quest. Ah well, I'll go look at those other merchants you mentioned. Thanks for the help guys, I was starting to get worried about carrying all these spell scrolls and having nowhere to put anything else.

think i'm inspired to start a new solo-show myself. recently finished ToB with a solo fighter/thief. pretty sure that's one of the easiest to solo. with a ac of -20, thaco of -14 and resistance to allmost everything, he had small difficulties. i think it would be more interesting to play with a more strict course, as you described. though it will probably be tempting to do cheesy things when the going gets tough.

[ 11-03-2004, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: nashriel ]

The only thing I do is reload if I or my thief croak. That isn't too often either. I don't even let Yoshi engage in combat, if possible, I just keep him in another area entirely.

I'm starting to get very worried about vampires though....I'll just have to hope they can't hit me. It's quite fun though, and I'm sure it'll be even more fun with tactics installed. You end up keeping large amounts of healing / speed potions on hand. I think I'll do the planar sphere next, and see how I stack up against demons.

I look at all the weapons that my current character can't use, and realize I'm gonna have so much fun with my dwarven berserker. However, does anyone know of an axe / hammer that deals fire / acid damage? Azuredge is gonna rape undead, I know that already, but I can't find a weapon to kill trolls with. I'm still toting the flail of the ages around (mostly because I can't sell it), and use it against the occasional troll.

Battle Axe +3, Stonefire deals 2 fire damage. i wouldn't worry about the vamps though, just stack up with scrolls of restoration and you'll be fine.