. . . finally [img]smile.gif[/img]
not for want of trying but my serial restarting has extended the project a little - games abandoned along the way include:
ranger/cleric & party (ch 3)
solo FMT (ch 2)
gnomish kensai & party of 6 (underdark)
assassin & the evil party of 4 (chapter 3)
solo kensai -> thief (spellhold)
FMT (again) & Viconia (ch 3)
solo swashbuckler -> mage (ch 2)
(i can't quite believe it myself now i think about it . . .)
the magic formula turned out to be a human swashbuckler dualled to fighter with the starting dungeon pary of minsc, jahiera & imoen
i had TOB installed so the final battles were maybe a bit less tactical then they might have needed to be (we had about 5 HLAs each apart from imoen) but it was all good
i've learned:
the wisdom of racing for imoen if you're going to use her (she only had one
level 9 spell slot)
spell protection removers are our friends
high-level arcane magic really is that strong and (a related point)
i need a faster PC
(it slowed down so much that it was hard to tell what was happening sometimes - makes me wonder about how well ToB might work)
thanks to the IWorkers for broadening and enhancing my experience of this game (probably worth the inevitable spoilage i'd say)
BGtutu awaits . . .