Ironworks Gaming Forum - Whew! SoA Solo No Reloads Rambling.

The usual "here be massive spoilers" space... (including ToB, so be warned!)

OK. Deep breath...
<center>Phew!</center>
*What* *a* *challenge*. What a sense of relief! :) This is as thrilling as BG2 gets. Honestly.

With the adrenaline still pulsing through my veins, I'll try to organize the chaos is my grey cells, and to grant some edification for the hopefully interested reader. Irenicus, The Shattered One is still a living memory from moments ago. :)

First thing's first. While planning, I reckoned I'll need just about every trick in the book to pull this one of... so I might as well pick the most versatile class. :) A Mage part is crucial, without the shadow of a doubt - Stoneskin is really all that (and a Bag of Holding), and Druids just aren't made of the right material. A Fighter part also seems important (though to a lesser extent) - for the vast power that is melee weapons in BG2, and the ability to carry the Shield of Harmony (which protects one from sooo many game-ending effects it's absurd). Finally, a Thief part may also come in handy, if for one reason: Use Any Item (and Traps, to a lesser extent). The astute reader probably already figured that one out, but since IQ varies:

Winning character is Marona, an Elven Fighter/Mage/Thief.

Whilst Marona was nothing but a gleam of an idea in my mind, I decided that I'll have to pick between two forms of defense: (1) Nigh-Absolute Magic Immunity, or (2) the best Physical Resistance I can come up with. Trying to mix the two is a no-go for me - as from my powergaming perspective, "immunity to X" is much better than "resistances to Y and Z" - too chancy. Just my quirk, though. :) Since (2) can be compensated by Stoneskins and Pro-Magical-Weapons, I went for (1), and planned my entire equipment array accordingly.

This is probably the time to give the reader a short review on my game's settings. Here goes:

Difficulty: Insane (or so they say... :D )
Cheats: A Bag of Holding in Jon-Bon's dungeon. I said it many times, and I still hold by my opinion: BG2 inventory system blows. *BLOWS*! Anyway.
Tweaks: XP Cap Remover. Some may actually consider this to be a cheat. Semanticists, all :).
Mods: If Weimer mods were sold for money, I could probably finance a few extra luxuries for dear Westley. :D Tactics (all), Item Upgrades (all), Ascension (all), Ease-of-Use (very few - mostly the "stack blah" components)... the usual.

Well, Marona was rolled, customized, and ready to go. Improved Ilyich going once... going twice... heck, the sonuvadwarf killed Marona about 5 times! :mad: I was starting to get frustrated (I'm weak :), but then came Rataxes, my saviour, with his Imp Ilyich walkthrough. Worked like a charm. :)

Marona was making her first steps through Chapter 2... and was amazed to find out that Killer Mimics can see through invisibility, and deal an outrageous amount of 70 (!) acid damage per... er... spit! There goes my first concrete effort. ******. Marona #2 had better luck, to say the least. Actually, Marona #2 just beaten SoA. Smokin'! http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/smokin.gif

Early game was a wading. I pre-organized the entire quests list from the "safest" (errands, mostly) to the "most dangerous" (namely, quests that feature powerful baddies - Beholders, Dragons, ...), so at least I know I did everything on the best side. In the eariler stages, when Marona wasn't powerful enough to hold on her own at the frontline, the Wands of Cloudkill & Monster Summoning saw much use. Once stealth was maximized, early game strategies all thrown aside in favor of one tactic: the "Backstab Galore!" modus operandi. Eventually, I did every non-stronghold quest in chapters 2-3. Oh, and I sided with the Shadow Thieves. Reason? Force of a habit, probably. Mea culpa. :)

Mid game (as in, Chapters 4-5) was a breeze. She already had The Staff o' Cheese and the Two Handed Sword of Magic Whoopin' (aka Carsomyr, the Holy Avenger), and in conjunction with Time Traps and Greater Whirlwind, Spellhold and the Underdark denizens crumbled before Marona - Balors, Beholders, Kuo Toa (blah... I was *that* close to ^Y them. Hate the little Amphibia!), you know. Here, the modus operandi was even simpler - cast Stoneskin (or Pro-Magical-Weapon if it's a major mofo), Mirror Image and Blur, and smack 'em on the head. Nothing fancy, but damn efficient. This is also a (sad?) result of the fact that the Underdark abounds in Magic Resistance creatures. Later, arcane spells became a more significant weapon in my offensive arsenal.

Late game... now, late game was all sorts of big fun. :) Let's see, we had: First, High Level scrolls everywhere. Improved Bodhilicious was an excellent battle, especially on Insane. Critical Strike does wonders, I tell you :). Then we had the Poison Encounter - which was a complete pushover with The Stuff (excuse the pun). And of course, Watchy's Keep - always a fun place! The Final Gurdians were the 2nd best battle so far (more on the 1st in a short while). As for Demobaboon - I chickened, eventually, as I was too far into the game to take unnecessary chances. I'm weak :). Spoke to Elhan, blah blah, yada yada, Improved Irenicus. Oh, how much I love thee, Improved Irenicus.

Improved Irenicus is by far the best Weimer battle. What a rumble! It's one of those rare battles - the battles that make BG2 such a great game. For me, Improved Irenicus was all about momentum. I started the battle on the wrong foot - with all those Wyverns, Liches, Fragments and whatnot all working against me and two measly Mordies, things were clearly going wrong - instead of dominating the battle scenario as I wished (and was used to!), I was struggling to stay alive. At a specific point - I think it's when I killed 3 out of 5 of the Fragments - momentum shifts. All of a sudden, *they're* stressed against the wall, being bashed by the fierce weapon that is Carsomyr. All of a sudden, their spells are disrupted. All of a sudden, it's Marona vs. Irenicus, and this time - it's final. No, FINAL. Really. I kid you not. ;) A few Greater Whirlwinds after, there're rumors about "Gorion's Ward being to powerful". I ROOL. :D

Onwards then! To ToB, the final frontier! (Half a point if you name the reference. Only half because it's really not that obscure. :)

As a side note, I'm already working on my new "Party No Reloads" project. I expect this to be even more difficult. Who knows, I might even write another such thread. Nah. :)

To conclude - a few conclusions/insights/discoveries from this little project. Just to give this thread a bit of flavor. :)

You know that awful "Magical Weapon in Use" message you get when you're using the Meteors? Well, you don't get it when placing things in the off hand. Not so obscure, but damn useful if the Shield of Harmony is your last line of defense.
Daystar's additional damage to Undead seems to bypass stoneskin. Go Daystar!
None shall withstand the fully-buffed Player1. Really. But we already knew that one. :)
It seems that the trip to Brynlaw only takes 1 hour, yet gives you a free rest. Not important, but interesting, nevertheless.
Jumping in and out of invisibility (via SoTM) is a powerful way to cause enemy spellcasters to wate their spells.

Scariest Moments: Wow, too many! Highlights of the top of my head:
1) Stupidly walked over the Green Blob trap in the Slaver's dockage. It dealt 98 damage, which left me with merely 2!! :eek: *Luckily*, it does not break invisibility.
2) The Elemental Lich. Arrogance on my side led to a successful Chaos spell on her side. Note to self: Re-equip the Greenstone Amulet after being the subject of a dispel magic spell, as it seems to be a *dispellable item effect*.
3) Pickpocketing Ribald. Phew! ;)

Dumbest mistakes:
1) Entering the Illithid city instead of the Beholder Hive. Hey, they're close! In the words of everybody's favorite cartoon... D'oh!
2) Messing up the Ust Natha plot. Sola is so powerful when he's on your side... yet he cannot slay a few pathetic Umber Hulks and some Illithids?! The guys at the Male Fighter's Society claim he was always a pansy anyway.

EDIT] /mutters about the stupid 8 smilies limit...