THE hardest solo

[Butterfingers]

Well, I don't have ToB, and, I find soloing rather boring, (I like the party interactions for now) but I could bet dollars to donuts that I could get a Diviner through BG1 to ToB, all solo.

If I can get a solo Bard through BG1, by golly I bet I could get a Diviner to whoop ass on most anything.

[Dar'tanian]

I would have to say Wizard slayer is much weaker than a beast master. Ecspecially if you arent going to save because they can not use potions! I would never put a WS in even a six person party! Somebody point ut there qualities because i dont see any!?!?

[SixOfSpades]

If you have ToB installed, Wizard Slayers can drink all types of Healing Potions, as well as Antidotes and Elixirs of Health. They may not drink Potions of Regeneration, or anything else--not even Potions of Magic Protection, which boost the drinker's Magic Resistance! Outrageous!

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally posted by Butterfingers: Well, I don't have ToB, and, I find soloing rather boring, (I like the party interactions for now) but I could bet dollars to donuts that I could get a Diviner through BG1 to ToB, all solo. If I can get a solo Bard through BG1, by golly I bet I could get a Diviner to whoop ass on most anything.

The thing is, Butterfingers. There is a very special reason why I singled out the Diviner. Those who have played through ToB( default) all the way should be able to figure out why after some thinking.

[ADD] Upon further reflection, it came to my attention that I was wrong. It is possible for the Diviner to solo ToB easily as well. I forgot a particular spell tactic that is not commonly used.

I eat my words and change my option to the Enchanter.

[ 02-24-2003, 10:35 PM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[Butterfingers]

Eat those words!

I took an Enchanter through SoA. Not hard at all. It can't be that bad for ToB either.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Soloing any class through SoA is easy enough, as SoA was never really designed to handle high-level characters. It is a whole different ballgame in ToB though, where I swear even the cats have +3 enchanted claws. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Whereas you out-level everybody in SoA, everybody out-levels you in ToB. Very different situation. You are Elminister in SoA, and Rincewind in ToB( comments about the brutality of Mages in ToB will be ignored. Bear with me for a while, I am trying to make an analogy here).

That said and done, I did further, further comtemplation and came to the conclusion that none of the Wizard-types are particularly hard to solo. For every roadblock I thought of, I eventually realised that there was a detour around it.

Ergo, I must eat more words and put forth my next suggestion. A pureclassed, non-kit Cleric. This is seriously one kit I have never heard of anybody even attempting to solo ToB with.

[Butterfingers]

As soon as there is a ToB for the Mac, and, I get it, I think I could do it.

Clerics hold just as good of a chance as a Mage I think. Not everybody could do it, it would probably take a great understanding of Divine Spells.

As for the Kits, well, Kits should be allowed. Even with out a kit, I still think it could be done. A careful mix of melee and magic, a Cleric stands a good chance. A fairly powerful Dispel Magic, Holy Smite, summons, Earthquakes, defensive spells up the ying yang, Death Ward, Doom, every situation could easily be met with some sort of counter. Heck, Sanctuary and Blades could chew through quite a few things. Maybe everything.

Clerics are largely misunderstood as I have stated many times. They can be insanely powerful, but, only if you really know what you are doing. They are capable of incredible cheese.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally posted by Butterfingers: As soon as there is a ToB for the Mac, and, I get it, I think I could do it. Clerics hold just as good of a chance as a Mage I think. Not everybody could do it, it would probably take a great understanding of Divine Spells. As for the Kits, well, Kits should be allowed. Even with out a kit, I still think it could be done. A careful mix of melee and magic, a Cleric stands a good chance. A fairly powerful Dispel Magic, Holy Smite, summons, Earthquakes, defensive spells up the ying yang, Death Ward, Doom, every situation could easily be met with some sort of counter. Heck, Sanctuary and Blades could chew through quite a few things. Maybe everything. Clerics are largely misunderstood as I have stated many times. They can be insanely powerful, but, only if you really know what you are doing. They are capable of incredible cheese.

Almost every single spell you mentioned will be for naught in the final battle. Dispel Magic is laughable against what you are facing( unless you are an Inquisitor), Holy Smite/Earthquake/Doom will be shrugged off.

You may think your Blade Barrier rocks the house, but that is because you have not suffered the PAIN of the Final Boss' own special Blade Barrier( did I mention that Blade Barrier's damage is doubled on Insane? Happy, happy, happy...). It would not be so bad if you had Ironskins or Stoneskins, but you will have neither. The best you can do is to hold your Defender of Easthaven in a deathgrip and cast Armour of Faith.

Sanctuary is USELESS( as are any invisibility methods). Death Ward will protect you against the vorpal hits, that much I will give you, and an advantage point to the Cleric.

Then there is the problem of... beyond resting, a Cleric cannot restore his/her spells. A very HUGE problem if you do not ration their usage. Unless you are very confident in your melee abilities... ...

I will not say that it is impossible, since it is technically possible for the Bosses to always fail their saves, swing a Critical Miss and such, but it will be a horrific nightmare for a Cleric to try and solo the Final Battle.

Clerics can be powerful, but I personally feel that they are not powerful enough to solo with all the way through. Heck, I am playing a Cleric in BG1 and even though I gave him 18 in STR/DEX/WIS, 16 in CON, 10 in INT and 8 in CHA, IMOEN kills more than him, and Khalid runs circles around him with more than double the kill percentage. Minsc being a demi-god archer and having more than triple Kryjack's kill percentage. Heck... even Dynaheir is catching up now that she got Fireball.

Frell, at level 6 and with an AC of -6, he had difficulty killing a Doppelganger. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Khalid liked sneezed and killed more than 4 in the time it took my Cleric to kill one( Khalid 'only' had -4 AC by the way). I gave my Cleric Full Plate Mail, some holy ring, a Ring of Protection +1, War Hammer +2, Boots of Speed, etc... and he still lags far behind.

A Cleric is a godsend for parties, that I will heartily agree, but as soloists, they are not really that good.

[Butterfingers]

Not only can Clerics restore their spells, they can learn NEW spells with out resting. Wonderous Recall. Don't need that Dispel Magic for this fight? Remove it, maybe something else as well, add two new spells, cast Wonderous Recall, and, presto! Two new spells, no resting. I see you are not intimately familiar with the Cleric's casting system. Being so good with Sorcerers and the like, I would have figured you would have had better ideas of how to handle Clerics.

All I can say is, try one. Solo. Does not have to be on Insane for the first time. Really sit down and look at the spells, try out all of the spells, and, try to think of situations where the spell can be applied. Clerics really do have a spell for every situation. Melee or magic, there is a spell for it.

As for ToB, having never played it, but, from what I have read, I would have to say a Stormlord would be the best bet. Being 100% immune to all forms of elemental damage, and, better yet, having any elemental damage heal you would be fantastic. The Lightning Bolt they get seems to have no cap for damage. My Stormlord got crazy damage in the end. I don't know just how powerful it would be, but, I think you could get a fighting chance. As for other kits, well, they have their perks. The lack of Holy Smite with a Stormlord hurts a bit. Well, quite a bit. It's practically the Cleric's best spell. It's like ADHW with a chance to blind the target. It makes fighting dragons a hell of a lot easier. Or demons for that matter. A high level Cleric can pretty much make undead and demons explode just by looking at them funny.

Speaking of undead, a Blessed, Chanted army of Skeleton Warriors with Defensive Harmony are pretty darn good shock troops, all things considered.

[BlackJack21]

Wondrous Recall can only bring back spells of 5th level or lower. I do not believe you could complete some of the extended battles in ToB with this being your only method of reloading your spell arsenal. Once you use up all your Quest spells, there really aren't too many that are going to do much of anything against some of the ToB baddies. I'm sure that we all agree that a cleric doesn't clean much house in melee against these guys, and without being able to replenish his more potent spells... It would be very difficult indeed for a solo cleric to complete ToB on Insane.