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Old 03-14-2005, 04:36 AM   #1
ZFR
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Join Date: February 14, 2002
Location: Ireland
Age: 39
Posts: 7,367
[ADD: first of all. you can spoil as much as you can. I finished the game many times]

Hi all.

I just finished my BG1 evil party game and am about to start a solo game in BG2 (my first solo ever).

I've completeted both BGs and both IWDs several times but always with a 6 player party. So since I've never soloed before I have some questions about it.

But first some rules and restrictions.

Using SoA ToB latest patch and baldurdash. No other mods. NO xp cap remover.
Class: a kensai dualled to mage (I know you might think this too easy, but I never really played a kensai, nor a kensai-->mage, nor actually had a mage who would attack in frontlines).
Race: human of course
Name: ZFR (I'll use Yoshimo's portrait [img]tongue.gif[/img] )
Alignement: true neutral (since I won't be roleplaying quests it doresnt really matter).
Stats: I'm powergaming here. 18 for all except wisdom 10 and charisma 3. Total of 85 shouldnt take very long to roll.

I'll dual at level 21 (thats the maximum I can go right?, without cap remover).

I'll NEVER USE THE CROM FAYER (that's too powerful).
I'll be mainly dual-wielding .
All weapon proficiencies go to dualwielding first. then katana to the max, then scimitar wakizashi ninja to the max, then (if any left) to longswords. As a mage I'll take quarterstaff first then dagger.
Note that I can use sometimes other weapons (except the hammer), I simply wont take proficiencies in them.

Take fighter stronghold (I already did the mage one before).

Other than that it's mainly powergaming and not roleplaying. I'll do quests so as to maximalize gain (XP and items mainly) without regard of roleplauying aspect.

Right, now my queries

1. Managing inventory
How to manage with so little slots? I usually have trouble carrying all items even with a six party.
My idea is to CLUA some bags at the very beginning. this will be the only cheating i ever use. Are there any better ideas? If not I think I'll stick to the cheating.
WOULD CHEATING THIS WAY HAVE ANY BAD EFFECTS WHATSOEVR ON THE GAME?

2. Thieving skills
How to manage without those?
_pickpocketing? My idea is I should just forget about it (so wont have that ring of R at the beginning )
_open locks? My idea is to use potions of strength and try to bash open. When have mage use knock. Or just forget about some locked chests. Since probably I wont need the money/items inside.
_Remove traps: Here I am completely lost. Some traps cant be avoided. Should I just walk through them? Use monsters to disarm them? (though I dont know if it works and i wont be summoning any till I get mage levels).

3. leveling the weak mage
After I dual I'll end up with a level 1 mage who cant do absolutely anything. How to level him up fast to a decent level? Will writing accumulated scrolls be enough? Should I leave some quests unfinished as a kensai (only part where getting reward and xp is left) so I can finish them as a mage to get the xp? Any other ideas?

That's it basically.
Any other soloing advice would be graetly aprecciated.

Oh, and one more thing, any ill effects of having 3 CHA? or a lower-than-10 WIS? (I doubt I'll be using the ring for cha since there are so many better rings).
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Old 03-14-2005, 05:36 AM   #2
shamrock_uk
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Join Date: January 24, 2004
Location: UK
Age: 40
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Just a few comments:

If you're powergaming, then surely using CF just helps you to powergame more? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Cheating in the bag of holding will not affect your game, but don't do it twice - if you hold two bags of holding items appear in both sometimes and it all gets very confusing. Consider getting Ease of Use and installing only the 'bottomless bags of holding' component.

Keep every scroll and that'll do a fair amount of levelling, it would certainly get you to double-figures for your mage levels. Make sure you buy a top notch sling (eg. Sling of Everaad +5) before you dual - will make your mage have a much easier time.

Yes, traps you generally have to do the painful way. When you get your mage side back, mirror image will be very helpful. There is also a familiar that can handle traps and locks, although I can't remember exactly which one. Think its a neutral one.
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Old 03-14-2005, 05:48 AM   #3
Dundee Slaytern
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Join Date: June 10, 2001
Location: Pasir Ris, Singapore
Age: 41
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Regarding your character statistics, the following is a cookie-cutter template for any aspiring Kensai->Mages.

STR: 15
DEX: 18
CON: 18
INT: 18
WIS: 10 or 18
CHA: 03+

The reason why you do not need 18+ STR is because of the availability of Girdles of ~Giant Strength. IF however, you want to wear some other belt like the Belt of Inertial Barrier, then maybe, a higher base STR will be desirable. Bear in mind that a certain Long Sword in ToB will also grant you 22 STR.

As for dualing at lvl21... woah. Bear in mind that this will mean that you are going to solo with a Kensai for the first 21 levels, then solo with a Mage for 22 levels, BEFORE getting your desired dual. Standard cookie-cutter level for dualclassing a ToB Kensai->Mage is level 13, as this is considered the optimal balance between Warrior bonuses and Mage spell slots advancement.

Cheating in a bag is an ethical issue. By cheating that bag in, you can no longer say with true honesty that you soloed the game without cheating. Bear in mind that when you are soloing, about 90%+ of the items you will come across are JUNK. Found Carsomyr? So what? Throw it away, it is of no use to your Kensai->Mage, and money is rarely, if ever, an issue after Chapter 2. Touch your heart and ask yourself whether you actually need another Gem or Potion when you come across them. Most of the time, the answer will be no.

Pickpocketing is, as you can imagine, an impossibility with a solo Kensai-Mage, UNLESS, you have the familiar that can pickpocket( was it the Cat or the Ferret?). You need a Lawful Neutral alignment if I am not mistaken.

Use STR in the beginning to open locks. Knock in the later stages. If you have Draw Upon Holy Might(DUHM) as one of your Bhaalspawn powers, use it to boost your STR.

When still a Kensai, use DUHM to boost your HP for the physical traps. There is a Short Sword in Umar Hills that allows you to cast Mirror Image. It is very useful for any character, be it for combat or for avoiding traps. When a Mage, use Mirror Image, Spell Immunity and Stoneskins for traps.

As for leveling up the Mage class from level 1, you just answered yourself. Just remember that you can erase spells from your spellbook so that you can learn a spell as many times as you have scrolls.

Having a CHA of 3 will not adversely affect your game, but personally, I usually make my CHA at least 8. Unless you do not mind the thought of your Kensai->Mage making babies cry with his appearance. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
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Old 03-14-2005, 05:58 AM   #4
Armen
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Join Date: February 11, 2003
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leaving quests 'unfinished' is definitely a good idea for high-level duals - just do everything except talking to the quest giver - but getting to level 21 fighter will take you quite some time without mods, even further if you don't take the quest points - i have a feeling that if you leave the XP from quests in chapter 2 you'll be dualling after spellhold

scribing (and erasing and rescribing) scrolls will help you a lot but you can only really exploit this to it's full potential (about ~500K XP in waukeen's promenade alone) if you have some thief levels

imo a powergaming solo mage picks alignment on the basis of the familiar you want - my bard is chaotic neutral partly for character reasons but mainly because the cat gets 99% stealth - your other option iirc is the pickpocketing ferret

on the other hand alignment determines your bhall powers and you might want to make sure you get two draw upon holy mights (in my experence cure poison is useless as a solo as it always gets interrupted)

a powergaming solo kensai might want to take a point in axe or dagger to get a missile weapon (a good alignment allows you to use azuredge for cheap XP versus undead but the dragon familiars are poor imo)

you know where the shield amulet is to be found yes? you'll want that

i'd take ** 2-weapon style, ** katana, **scimitar to start with and level them up together (doing easier quests first means you'll get good scimitars before you get a good katana)

summons don't set off traps but mage protections (stoneskin, mirror image and spell protections) allow you to shrug most off as do high warrior saving throws generally - it's rare a trap will kill you outright but it's not a no-reloads game right?

ilbathra short sword allows you to cast mirror image as a warrior - veery useful, you'll want that as soon as possible

items that summon will be your frienda (spider figurine, genie bottle, staff of air) until you have mage spells

you only need to kill one troll to get the ring of earth control and a precious AC point

i'd say don't cheat in bags - you can buy a set of normal ones as soon as you leave the dungeon of course and imo hacking in a bag of holding is game unblancing but we all draw our lines of acceptability

speaking of which - the ring of air control bought from the edventurers mart casts improved invisibility once per day - again very useful (it's worth realising that in the same way that the bag of holding does, putting the used ring in a gem bag and taking it back out recharges it)

but enough from me - i've enjoyed late dual solos - it's great when you dual and have a low level character to deal with again, almost like starting a new game - the difficulty spirals down when your old class reativates though and i've tended to abandon them not long after

have fun
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Old 03-14-2005, 06:36 AM   #5
lost prophet
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Join Date: October 23, 2004
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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( i didnt read the other posts so im sorry if this has been said )

charisma wont be an issue to you IF you do the Circus Tent quest first, as the loot from the little gnome is a ring of human influence (ie charisma = 18). Ah oh wait ive just had an idea, if your soloing you might want to use some of the more powerful rings in the meagre 2 slots you have to put rings in ( you'd think you'd have 10 eh? ) so the influence ring might be a waste of a slot when you have things like the ring of gaxx. Im not sure what would take the ohter slot but i guess its up to you. The other items you have should make you tank enough without having to put another powerhouse ring on.

Prophet,
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Old 03-14-2005, 06:53 AM   #6
ElfBane
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Join Date: March 21, 2004
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I've never solo'ed before, but in BG1 if you have a small party, the charm/confusion type spells mean ... GAME OVER. So I think you will want some sort of powerfull protection from the Enchantment school.
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Old 03-14-2005, 11:31 AM   #7
Armen
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Join Date: February 11, 2003
Location: UK
Age: 53
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Quote:
Originally posted by ElfBane:
... GAME OVER.
charms spells are instant death in SoA but confusion allows your unarmoured kensai to survive long enough to watch him or her wander about getting hacked to pieces by his enemy . . .

for a kensai, a toolkit of assorted weaponry (mainly swords) will give immunity to most of these sort of spells if carefully juggled (that's one of the reasons i think an early bag of holding unblances your game)
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Old 03-15-2005, 04:03 AM   #8
ZFR
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Join Date: February 14, 2002
Location: Ireland
Age: 39
Posts: 7,367
Thank you all very very much for your replies.

Oh, yes I forgot to mention. I've decided not to use any throwing daggers/axes as that seems unfair to me since kensai is not supposed to use missile weapons (he is a sword-saint after all right?)

Dundee, you wrote wisdom 10 or 18? Is there any advantage to have that high wisdom?? other than lore I think its useless (and I wont be needing lore). I think I'll take 18 str because like you said I'll probably be using some other belts

I've decided then not to clua in bags of holdings. Only so that I can say that I've soloed without cheating. But Armen, the ptach/baldurdash fixes the multiple-bag-of-holding-item-appearing-twice-issue. It also fixes the putting-items-in-BoH-recharges-them bug. I've verified this in my previous games.

One more thing, when do you think is the best time to do stronghold? I thought leaving it till last so that I have both my mage and kensai levels active in the underdark. But maybe I should do it sooner? Especially since that will be the only place I get BoH in?

Thanks all again.

-ZFR
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Old 03-15-2005, 11:34 AM   #9
Morgeruat
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Join Date: October 16, 2001
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with a wisdom of 18 you get a +4 to saves vs mind affecting spells (charm confusion, etc)
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Old 03-15-2005, 03:03 PM   #10
ister
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Is that really implemented? I know it's true in PnP, but in BGII?
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