Soloing...Fighter/Mage

[theholyavenger]

I just have a question for you people who are/have solo through BGII: how do you disarm those traps laying around in the game? Do you bring a theif along or do you just walk through them and pray for the best? I know some traps can be triggered by sacrificing a summoned monster...but what about traps on doors(especially those death traps and the ones that turns you into stone...)?

[Stratos]

There are not that many traps around that causes some major problem. A spellcaster will have some protection up to absorb ill effects and a warrior has enough HP to absorb damage. Besides all charcters can save against some effect ( just Quickload if it doesn´t work.) It´s finding answer to these kind of problems that makes soloing quite fascinating. I can just think of one trap that imprisons you which is bad if you soloing.

[ 05-22-2003, 06:34 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]

[Iceblizz]

Wizard's best friends: Mirror Image and Stoneskin.
And, of course, knowing the location of every trap ...

Traps firing a bolt or all attacking traps in general will be absorbed by your stoneskins. The biggest problem are the acid-killer-traps (like in Neb's house), they deal brutal damage. At higher difficulty they mean instant death. Here Mirror Image comes into play, but it's not absolutely secure. Some effects seem to ignore your mirror images as well (e.g. level drain, petrification/disintegration, maze-traps), so good saving throws are also a must. Maze traps can only be countered with Spell Immunity (or magical resistance), there are some of them at the Shadow Thieves' Guild, and in ToB in Yaga Shura's Lair. They also immediately end the game, like enchantment (even though you would regain control when hit). The only thing you can really rely on is saving.

As you mentioned, some can be triggered by summoned creatures, but they're not many (e.g. at Spellhold).

[ 05-22-2003, 07:02 PM: Message edited by: Iceblizz ]

[Olorin]

I forget who it was, but someone soloing a ranger->cleric used a tactic that would help against some of the enchantment/maze type traps.

What they did is use the Cntrl-Q trick with their summoned skeletons. They wouldn't take the skelies along on any trips that lasted longer than the normal spell duration, but they thought, and I agree that just because you change areas as defined in the game--which may be simply a staircase above or through a door, your summons cannot follow. So when soloing, they would recruit their skelies as party members for up to 8 hours.

This strategy would help with traps like maze, since you wouldn't immediately lose if you had another party member there...after the maze wore off, you would return as normal and continue on. This would also help for situations where you get charmed in combat, even though your summons could have finished off the last of the enemies. If you're solo, the game sees all party members out of commission and ends the game, even though the charm would eventually wear off.

If you use this, you may want to be strict with yourself about what you allow your skelies to do for you--summoned creatures can't normally scout for you, or open doors after all. I don't know how skeletons were controlled in PnP, but be careful you don't end up sitting in a corner while your summons go off and do all the work.

[Merlin from Amber]

Possible solution:

For those that turn you into stone use Protection from Petrification lvl 1 mage spell

For those that instantly kill you Spell Immunity-->necromancy is the lowest lvl spell that I can remember - there is Dead Ward priest spell, but you can't use it.

There is also a magor solution - it is called as higher magic resistance as possible.

[ 05-23-2003, 02:23 AM: Message edited by: Merlin from Amber ]

[LennonCook]

Mirror Image + Stoneskin + SI: Abjuration will protect you from most traps. Knock will disarm traps on openable doors.

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Olorin: What they did is use the Cntrl-Q trick with their summoned skeletons.... allowed summons to travel between areas.... would help with traps like maze, since you wouldn't immediately lose if you had another party member there... also help for situations where you get charmed in combat..... If you use this, you may want to be strict with yourself about what you allow your skelies to do for you--summoned creatures can't normally scout for you, or open doors after all.

That makes perfect sense. As long as the player adheres to the rules about what Summons can and cannot do (such as help lug your Inventory around), I don't see a single reason why this should not be considered a legitimate tactic for avoiding Soloing problems, except for the Selfish Test.

Other people's opinions?

[Iceblizz]

Mh... no way to patch it somehow? Because the condition isn't just control over every party member - the error doesn't concern confusion or fear. But if the killer-effects are hardcoded, the skeleton trick would be the most elegant way. Since it's an obvious programming/design flaw, I wouldn't think of it as cheating.

[LennonCook]

Originally posted by SixOfSpades: That makes perfect sense. As long as the player adheres to the rules about what Summons can and cannot do (such as help lug your Inventory around), I don't see a single reason why this should not be considered a legitimate tactic for avoiding Soloing problems, except for the Selfish Test. Other people's opinions?

I agree... except for the fact that summons cannot normally move between areas. Now, if familiars were a little more useful than backpack fillers...

[SixOfSpades]

I see nothing wrong with Summons traveling between map areas. What kind of sense does it make to say that you can summon a pack of Kobolds in the Umar Hills, but they can't follow you into the cave? Is there some Anti-Kobold Field protecting the entrance? On long-range journeys (such as the trek to Windspear), they'd just be Unsummoned anyway.

No, I think as long as the player observes the rules and only lets them do what Summons should be able to do (imagine Ctrl-Qing a Glabrezu and having it enter stores & do your shopping for you!), everything should be perfectly fair.

Drawback: While Summons are in your party, they suck up your EXP.