[Cerek the Barbaric]

Inspired partially by the "Who killed whom" thread, I have finally begun my first attempt at a solo trip through Chateau Irenicus. If that goes well, I may or may not continue with the solo adventure afterwards.

I say it was inspired by the "Who killed whom" thread, because my goal is to defeat Improved Ilyich 20 with a solo character.

I actually created TWO separate characters to try out. The first is a Skald (Bard kit). I chose the Skald because they get +1 to hit and damage with ALL weapons, so that gives me a combat bonus. I chose a Bard (in general) because they get decent fighting skills, a good amount of magic spells, and the ability to Identify darn near anything they pick up without using a spell or scroll. So this means my Skald should be able to Identify (and potentially use) ANY item or weapon he comes across immediately after picking it up rather than waiting until after his next rest to cast a spell for Identifying it.

So far, things have gone fair. The ever popular Duergar Duo proved especially difficult to defeat the first time I encountered them, so I reloaded from the start and chose a different series of spells to memorize. That helped tremendously. Once again, I'm relying heavily on Dire Charm.

My best accomplishment so far was defeating THREE Duergar Proletariats at one time. After leaving the Sewer Golem's room, I went in search of Reliev. Along the way, I heard some noise in a side corridor ahead of me. I paused long enough to cast Draw Upon Holy Might followed by Mirror Image, then peered around the corner into the adjoining corridor. I saw two dwarven fighters advancing quickly with hammers and immediately cast Dire Charm in thier direction. Fortunately, the spell affected the second dwarf. I retreated back down the hallway to avoid the spellcasters I knew were still lying in wait for me, then I turned on the first dwarf who was still following me intently. I attacked him from the front while his former colleague attacked him from behind. Suddenly, I noticed a THIRD dwarven fighter attacking my new comrade from behind. We managed to kill the first dwarf, then turned on the other that had shown up. The Charmed dwarf obviously didn't appreciate being attacked from behind, as he kept hammering on his former friend even after my Dire Charm spell expired. Alas, his injuries were too greivous and his friend killed him, but not before he had been taken to Near Death himself by our combined attacks. He landed a couple of solid blows with his hammer before I finally managed to put him out of my misery. Now I was left with the prospect of facing the 3 spellcasters that would most likely have accompanied the fighters.

I snuck back to the corner of the adjoining corridor, but did NOT move far enough to see (or be SEEN) around the corner. I then cast my Stinking Cloud into the corridor where I expected the spellcasters to be waiting. I was partially correct - I did find ONE spellcaster there. The Stinking Cloud prevented him from casting any spells himself (except for one Acid Arrow) and I used my Magic Missiles and arrows to finish him off. I never did see his two cohorts, although I assume they were waiting for me just a bit further down the corridor, or perhaps down another side passage. But since I was completely out of spells, I decided NOT to go looking for them (at least not yet ).

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My second solo character is a female elf fighter/mage. She has better physical stats than the Bard and should be MUCH better in combat. The one big disadvantage to the Bard class is that their physical combat skills are comparable to those of a thief, but without the benefit of a Backstab attack. When I fought the very first imp (in the Lightning Room), I was beginning to wonder if I would EVER hit him at all. I must have missed with 10 or more consecutive attacks. The elven fighter mage won't have THAT problem. I gave her "**" proficiency with the long sword and long bow, which should be cumulative with the natural +1 she receives for these weapons due to her elven heritage. She also got to choose more spells per level, although she actually memorizes one 2nd-level spell LESS than the bard. Fortunately, this is compensated by one MORE 3rd-level spell. Still, I was surprised the Bard actually got more spells than a mage on ANY level.

All in all, I expect the female figter mage should handle the encounters much more easily than the Bard. Of course, she won't have his ability to Identify all the nifty items she finds - so this could present a problem if she finds an item she wants to use right away. Unlike the Bard, she will have to wait until she rests again and memorizes the Identify spell before she can learn what the item does.