soloing a barbarian now. He has 20 in strenght and constitution, and 19 in dexterirty (he is a 1/2 orc and i have used SK on the basis that in bg1 i gave him the appropriate tomes). He uses lilacor, 5 * in 2handed sword and 2 points in 2 handed weapon style. I gave him also 1 point i short bow, because later i plan to use gesen. I have ToB, ascension+redemption, tactics and ease of use installed.

Have any comments? Like- "katanas and dual wield". Or-FoA and crom fayer+dual wield.
Any other suggestions will be appreciated.

Shadowkeepering a Barbarian to reflect the tomes & EXP he would have gained in BG1/ToSC is valid.
Shadowkeepering a Barbarian up to Grand Mastery, however, is not. (Nor is using Ease of Use's "Everybody can Grandmaster" mod. That's just my opinion, of course, but hey, you asked for opinions.)

Weapons: Since you've already invested so heavily in 2-Handed Swords, it's a little late to be asking this question now, but....Barbarians are better off not using Shields, but going 2-handed or 2-weapon instead.

Staves: I don't know why people get excited of the Staff of Rynn. So it's +4, whoop dee doo. Still, it's the only good Warrior-oriented staff until you get the Staff of the Ram (which, since you're soloing, is gonna be a pain in the ass to get).
Spears: A very solid weapon, with a nice gradation scale carrying you through ToB. Spear of the Unicorn to Impaler to Spear of Withering (if you want it) to Ixil's Spike.
Halberds: Weak in the early stages, since Blackmist and Dragon's Bane aren't exactly worth the trouble it takes to get them. Only really starts to kick in when you get the Dragon's Breath in Chapter 4, but then when you finally get the Ravager....hooo boy!
Two-Handed Swords: A highly versatile group, depending on your Alignment, which you didn't mention. Sword of Chaos goes to Lilarcor goes to Soul Reaver (if you can) goes to Gram.

Flails: The Defender of Easthaven is an obvious shoo-in for a Barbarian, but whether or not you want to invest proficiency points in your offhand weapon is another matter. Still, because of the Flail of the Ages, you might as well.
Axes: With three great +3 Axes available very early on, this category seems set in the early game. And with the Axe of Unyielding later on, it's a very solid weapon group--especially for a Barbarian.
Bastard Swords: Practically useless in the early stages--it's Chapter 5 before you can find one worth using. But once you start ToB and get Foebane upgraded, there's no stopping you--again, especially if you're a Barbarian.

hey, I was thinking on a solo barb, in bgt, going from bg1 right through to TOB, but would it be possible (note this would also be my first solo although I am very familiar with both games)

Dunno, Ross. Depending on how Trilogy is set up. In BG1, missile weapons are key, tenfold so when soloing. Unless it's been rebalanced, the beginning is going to be hellish. I went through with a F/T and a F/M/C, and let me tell you, especially with the F/T (Sleep and Command rock for the FMC), the bow was critical. Plus you can't use barbarian rage with missile weapons, which leaves you SOL for a large part of the beginning. To be honest, I can't see you getting incredibly far with what will (essentially) be a vanilla fighter in the BG1 part, with some notable disadvantages (armor, less specialization in missile weapons.)

NOTE: Doesn't mean it can't be done. Show me up! [img]tongue.gif[/img] ;)

well I took a barbarian through bgt before, but with a party, and I thought bg1 was reasonably easy with my barb doing most of the work, the reason for this is their incredibly high hitpoints, by the end of bg1 I think I had about 150, which is quite a lot for bg1!

no big suprises from me here but i read somewhere that FoA & Belm was the ideal barbarian dual-wielding combo and i wouldn't argue much with that both from a power and a looks perspective

i also like the sound of axes and would be tempted by shields too

ooh - your negative plane protection options are going to be severely limited to juts that one thing (although i think i've read here that tactics allows an axe upgrade)

anyhoo - just some thoughts - happy hacking [img]smile.gif[/img]

Ok, thanks for the ideas Sixofspades, and every one else. The axe's idea looks promising, since that i will probably go with bodhi (i am CE). Strength bonus will be very nice. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

<font color=deepskyblue>In my last trip through BGII, I used Shadowkeeper to change Minsc from a 2-hand sword fighter to dual-wielding warhammers. He had Crom Fryaer and I used SK to cheat in a second Hammer of T-Bolts.

HOLY MOLY....Minsc started doing some SERIOUS BUTT-KICKING FOR GOODNESS after that. [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] He literally became a tank that would walk right over the top of most opponents from there on out (I made the change at Spellhold).

Of course, he wasn't going solo and the protections offered against undead by other weapons IS something to think about. </font>