Soloing - How to do it the proper way?

[whathuh]

No, it is not implemented.
Con generally sucks for non fighters, 16 is effective max for them (if you don't want +2 hp/level, go for like 5 or so, however much is the lowest -0).
Int is ONLY good for mages (and roleplaying/checks) and its lore bonus. If you are a non mage (this includes sorcerers--they do not need int) you only get the lore bonus.
Wis is most effective in priests/druids/rangers/paladins (though I'm not sure about the last 2) and like int, only gives lore to non-divine casters.

Dual your kensai at level 9 or 12 is my opinion. Also, if you dual at this low, you can re-activate your kensai fast, and lose absolutely no prof points by waiting til you have enough to level up to level 10 or 13 mage. The first prof point is unavoidable, so put it in like dagger.

If you are a powergamer, clua in a book of each +2 extra wisdom ones since you own bg1, or just play the game itself (to use the wis/cha ones, drink a potion and switch it with the book aka potion swap).
High wisdom helps in the wish spells, but low wisdom has more versatility. With a low wis, just drink a potion of insight if you want good results, or keep low wis. Examples are 'I want to be protected from undead right now' -> rebuke undead (control undead) -> 4 life draining tanks at your disposal! Or the ever popular pro. magic ene.->'horde to destroy enemies'->'abi-dalzim's wilting on everyone in area'-> bunny bomb!

Thieving skills
Lawful neutral = ferret familiar. Has all theiving skills, so cast lots of luck spells on it (each raises skills 5%). Note that you need a find traps of 72 to disarm all the traps in CI, but only 41 lock picks to get the pantaloons/dagger/healing pots. Bashing doors maxes at 80% (crom faeyre for this), so you will not be able to get the REALLY tough doors (no quest specific ones are this difficult).

Final note on cheating. If you can easily attain something without cheating, but a cheat makes it even easier, use it. It is impossible to get ALL the items out of CI, so a bag there would be bad. But a bag when clearing out the de'arnise would not be so bad. But then again, you have multiple gem/scroll/potn/ammo bags. Personally, I use the 25 cha glitch because with ring of human influence, sensate, blade of roses, nymph, axe of hrothgar, I can get 25 cha through jumbling of items. Though some may see this logic as skewed. Oh well.

[ 03-15-2005, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: whathuh ]

[Morgeruat]

Originally posted by whathuh: Dual your kensai at level 9 or 12 is my opinion.

Lvl 13 provides an extra 1/2APR, more than worth the extra level wait to get your fighter powers back.

[Dace De'Briago]

OK, here goes.

The bag of holding is fine from a gaming perspective. It's no fun walking a character from a dungeon back and forth to a shop just for the purpose of 'not cheating'. Its simply boring and tedious, and the bag of holding makes the game less about micromanagement and more about fun.

Secondly, I'd suggest some revised stats for your dual class character:

STR 19, DEX 19, CON 19, INT 19, WIS 21, CHA 4
(assuming you've imported from BG1)

This is based upon a realistic 93 points from your rolled dice.

Charisma is NOT an issue in BG2 because the ring of human influence can be found so close to the start of the game (as stated above). There is also the Charisma wraparound bug if you are willing to exploit game engine flaws. Strength however, IS an issue for a character (despite there being weapons that do increase Strength).

This is for the following reason:

19 Strength + 1 DOMT + 1 MOLTM + 2 SoA Tears = 23 base strength.

Additionally, a high Wisdom is very important so we can ensure good returns on casting of the Wish spell - we want a good chance of getting 'make it so the party has fully rested' so we can instantly regain all cast spells and continue mauling people.

The longsword Dundee referred to confers 22 Strength and isn't the best 'powergamed weapon' in the game.

You have already stated that you wish to dual wield and I would suggest Katana's and Flail as your weapon proficiencies. This will allow 2* dual wield and 5* in both Flails and Katana. It is irrelevant that you do not have 3* in dual weapon style because the weapons are heavily enchanted +3 THAC0 minimum, a L21 Kensai gets a +7 THAC0 bonus and you have a substantial Strength based THAC0 bonus on top of that.

The Katana will of course be Celestial Fury. The Flail of Ages is superb against mages and will provide blunt damage against resistant enemies.

You also stated that you wish to level up as a mage quickly after you dual class - this is VERY simply done. Keep ALL of the spells you collect prior to dual classing, drink a couple of potions of genius then simply scroll them all one after the other. If you have any duplicate spells left over, erase the spell from your spellbook and re-scribe them. You will hit L11 guaranteed as a soloist if you carry this out.

I usually dual class when I am in Ust Natha, just after defeating the 'monsters' and the tavern fighter quests. This lets me then challenge immediately as a L11 mage (see above for details on how to get this high instantly). Just rest, learn some spells and take the mages down - your massive HP advantage is a huge bonus.

As stated above, choose one of the Neutral Alignments to get a useful familiar, avoid Neutral Evil because the Imp only gets 18 HP (you would get 9 bonus HP) and the others get 24 HP (you would get 12 bonus HP). I did forget to mention, cast Find Familiar as soon as you dual class and keep the Familiar safely in your backpack out of harms way.

Summons are going to be your protection when you first dual class to a mage, as are protection spells. Mirror Image and Stoneskin (should always be on) are excellent. Spider Spawn and the L15 Skeleton Warrior will see you through the rest of the levelling up process more than adequately.

And finally, stick with your L21/22 dual plans. You get substantially more HP, lower saving throws as well as some cracking fighter HLAs to choose from - oh, and you get the opportunity to 5* in two weapons.

Anyone got any other ideas?

[ZFR]

Thank you all for your input.

Just to clarify a thing. I'm not importing for BG 1. I played both BGs several times but never used exported characters, instead always creating from scratch.

I will stick to weapons proficiencies as I mentioned them. I know there are very few good katanas at the beginning and that dual wielding flail of ages is a good idea. But the weapons I chose are a restriction, to make the game more difficlt (challenging)... similarly thats why I wont use throwing daggers/axes or crom fayer.

When I said im powergaming I meant that I wont be roleplaying quests alignementwise. So I will not be wondering "is it morally okay to help this evil person?" or somesuch.

I will dual at 21. I know it might be more difficult but it will be fun. Like having 3 different solos in one game. First soloing a pure kensai, then soloing a pure mage, then soloing a kensai/mage.

I will probably choose my alignement to get best familiar with thieving skills (also good special bhaal powers at the beginning).

Well, that's it for now. I will be starting the game during easter holidays in a day or two, perhaps even today. and I will probably soon have many situation specific questions.