Mini-Forum for going solo

[SixOfSpades]

Right now I'm running 2 solo games: One with my Level 8 Fighter that was my main character in my last game, and one where I'm starting out as a Human Thief. I'm cheating with the Thief: I gave myself 50 extra HP (which I'll give back if I ever put him in a party), and I'm wearing the Mask of Shadows, which is a hacked helm that Thieves can wear. It gives +1 bonuses to AC and DEX, and it casts Knock. A cool item, sure, but not obscenely powerful, considering I'm going solo. (Well, almost; I'm going to have Safana initiate conversation with Shoal the Nereid, and Tiax will be in my party just long enough to summon some skeletons at the Duchal Palace.)

What I want to know is, who else out there has beaten the game alone, and with what kinds of characters? Have you noticed any drastic changes? For instance, I notice that the NPCs I could have on my team seem to be more powerful than usual, the groups of enemies are much smaller (remember those big groups of gnolls? Now there's just 1 or 2), and Carrion Crawlers have taken on a WHOLE new layer of difficulty. If it makes a difference, my stats are 17/17/18/13/10/17. Any thoughts on this?

[Chris77Se]

I made the experience, that the NPCs get mightier if your main character isn´t a fighter type charakter. I once started with a mage and Imoen was on Lvl 2, if I remember right. Jah and Kal had also more xp.

[Radagast]

I started playing solo with a fighter...and cheated just the tiniest of bits (raised HP) but I didn't enjoy it so much and just stopped. The only thing I noticed is that the groups of Kobolds aren't as big and don't piss me off nearly as much. Peace.

[Lemernis]

The game's AI adjusts difficulty according to the party's level, which is why you'll see smaller numbers of the enemy.

Never tried soloing it. For most classes you'd be stocking up all the time with tons of healing potions...

The ability to summon monsters would really help, because beyond using them as fodder/protective barriers in battles you could use them to trip traps.

Stats-wise, regardless of class, to set four abilities at 18 and two abilities at 10 would be reasonable because 1) you're going it solo, and 2) you're Bhaalspawn.

I would want to use a multiclass character with thieving skills... I'd want the ability to stealth/scout and to increase my loot from all those locked chests. (Also, I'm trying to remember.. aren't quite a few of the tomes in locked containers?)

An elven Fighter/Mage/Thief would be my first choice. A cleric-thief would also be fun to try, although I would cheat slightly by changing the race from gnome to halfling in order to get the bonus with the sling.

Hmm. Whereas I normally never play a bard, this is one case where I would consider it!

I would think using a pure fighter might be pretty tough going. He would have to trip all the traps by himself... The best weapon you could have would be a +2 something-or-other, depending on weapons profs. Obviously a fighter can't pickpocket Drizzt for his +3 scrimitar; nor all by himself could he defeat Drizzt to get the +5. There is a two-handed sword +3 located somewhere in the Durlag's catacombs levels 2-4, I forget exactly where. But other than that you'll be using +2 weapons. I guess I would go with Greywolf's +2 longsword (you can get that early) and shield to start with. (I suppose if you could live with Brage's cursed two-handed +3 berserker sword you could do that, at least for a while. You could eventually have it removed at a temple. But it's not worth the bother for what you would get.)

Anyway, I don't think I would try it with a pure fighter. I enjoy spellcasting and would find it frustrating (and probably boring) not to wield any magic for an entire game.

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Lemernis: For most classes you'd be stocking up all the time with tons of healing potions... The ability to summon monsters would really help, because beyond using them as fodder/protective barriers in battles you could use them to trip traps. Stats-wise, regardless of class, to set four abilities at 18 and two abilities at 10 would be reasonable because 1) you're going it solo, and 2) you're Bhaalspawn. I would want to use a multiclass character with thieving skills... I'd want the ability to stealth/scout and to increase my loot from all those locked chests. (Also, I'm trying to remember.. aren't quite a few of the tomes in locked containers?) An elven Fighter/Mage/Thief would be my first choice. A cleric-thief would also be fun to try, although I would cheat slightly by changing the race from gnome to halfling in order to get the bonus with the sling. Hmm. Whereas I normally never play a bard, this is one case where I would consider it! I would think using a pure fighter might be pretty tough going. He would have to trip all the traps by himself... The best weapon you could have would be a +2 something-or-other. Anyway, I don't think I would try it with a pure fighter. I enjoy spellcasting and would find it frustrating (and probably boring) not to wield any magic for an entire game.

I quite agree with most of those points. I've pretty much abandoned the solo Fighter, as the Thief is more intersting--but neither of them ever leaves town without at least 10 Healing Potions.

You know, I tried using Monsters/Skeletons to trip the traps, but it NEVER worked! Maybe my version just doesn't like me--it won't let me pickpocket Drizzt, either. I think I could probably survive all of the fights by myself--I just don't think the two Dukes could.

I gave the Thief those stats because I want to Solo the game with him TWICE--at the end of which, his stats will be 19/19/20/15/14/19, a much rounder character than one having 21 DEX and 6 INT.

Yeah, I would never start out with a Solo character who couldn't Stealth--which means either Thief or Ranger. And you're right, it is absolutely REQUIRED that you have either 100% Pick Locks or Knock to get 2 of the Tomes.

Fighter/Mage/Thieves are indeed the most versatile in the game, but their hitpoints SUCK, and you CAN'T win the tough fights without hitpoints. Halfling Clerics (Or Cleric/Thieves) are good, but for some annoying reason they can only get 17 WIS. Grrrr. (I find that the best Thief combos are Mage/Thief and Cleric/Thief as a MULTI, and Fighter/Thief as a DUAL.)

I would NEVER play a Bard, solo or not.

Starting out with a Fighter would indeed be tough, as almost everything depends on your hitpoints. Carry enough Potions, though, and you should be fine. Actually, quite a lot of the traps in the game are avoidable--either by tiptoeing around them, or by running like hell after you spring them. I got through the Thieves' Maze once without ANY trap detection, and only sprang one trap. (It was Lightning, of course, but oh well.) It'd be wise for a solo Fighter to put points into Small Sword instead of Large--the Short Sword+2 is tougher to get, but you'll be happier by the end of the game. Also, be an Elf, Dwarf, or Gnome....unless you're going for a Dual-Class.

Not wielding magic is indeed frustrating....but then again, we play this game solo for the challenge, right?

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Boots of Stealth: 1125 gp
Shadow Armor: 7875 gp
Slipping an Oil of Firey Burning down the back of Sarevok's armor: Priceless

[Morgan_Corbesant]

try to solo with a druid, THAT is a challenge and a half.heh heh





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Morgan Corbesant, Elven BladeSinger, Captain of the army of the Seldarine

[Lemernis]

Thanks for pointing those things out Six.

Monsters or skellies won't trip traps, hmm. That sucks. Forgot all about the low HP factor for a F/M/T. So I agree, on second thought I wouldn't use one either. If above and beyond the ceiling of 17 at character creation, a gnome or halfling can't raise the score any higher with tomes then I would probably not pick them either.

Ahem, upon further review my own first choice to try this out would be a cleric-thief then. Using Character Control or Gatekeeper I would change the race to half-elf and set wisdom to 18 (there are no ability bonuses or penalties to that race). Second choice would be elf. Now that I think about it, a dwarf might actually be a great choice for this multi too. Elves and dwarves have their various penalties and/or bonuses to abilities of course, but it might be worth it.

I would think a dwarven fighter-thief should work out pretty good. Or just a plain old dwarven tank.

[This message has been edited by Lemernis (edited 10-26-2001).]

[SixOfSpades]

Oh, don't get me wrong, the Tomes always work to raise your stats, no matter what you're playing. Halflings still make great Clerics, and with a little Gatekeeper action, excellent Cleric/Thieves as well. Sure, they can only roll up to 17 WIS, but that only costs you 1 4th-level spell, and you're pretty much bound to get the first Tome of Wisdom before you can cast 4th-level spells anyway. This is true for Gnomes as well as Halflings, but in my opinion Halflings should make better Clerics, as they have that +1 bonus with the sling. Sure, they can't roll 18 STR, but so what? Gauntlets of Ogre Power.

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Boots of Stealth: 1125 gp
Shadow Armor: 7875 gp
Slipping an Oil of Firey Burning down the back of Sarevok's armor: Priceless

[Drifter]

I soloed through BG with a mage. I initially kicked him off at level 5 when I started off, and, with the exception of Sarevok, it was easy enough. I found that my most-used spell was Minor Globe of Invulnerability. That prevented you from most stuff. You did a Mirror Image, Minor GLobe, and then popped a fireball or something. THat would kill most things. SArevoks magic resistance was a real bummer, though, I think I ended up killing him with the Dagger of Venom. Just got lucky, I think.

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The meek shall inherit the Earth. But the strong shall reclaim it as their own.

[The_ Fur_Cough]

I went through BG1 & ToTSC (and later also DSotSC the unoficial add-on) with a multi-classed fighter/thief. I like to reap the benefits of both classes upon level up and for my money this is probably the best type of character to solo with (I'm possibly biased as I haven't solo'd with many classes.) There's nothing like stealthing your way through the game, finding and disarming traps, sneaking up on an enemy and hitting him in the back. You've got to have the fighter attributes too. If you hit an enemy in the back you don't want to be running away, no, no, nooo. Bring it on bruvver, let's go toe to toe.

I guess for me at least, this is the kind of character I can most relate to. Because I can't do magic I like the idea of not doing it in the game. I love to outwit or defend against (or not as the case may be) the magical elements in the game. I like having to take a different approach to things and this kind of character keeps you involved all the way, whether it be scouting around in an unknown area or lifting things from people, houses and shops in town. If you play this kind of PC, try to stick to the rules. If you get caught in a house and the owner catches you, and you waste him, take the rep drop on the chin. Remember, it's you who were being naughty, and you were caught. If you play this way it increases the adrenalin rush and really makes you think twice before taking risks in the thieving department. Potions, not forgetting those that increse dexterity and thieving abilities, the best of armour and the very best of weapons that you can find/use are the order of the day, ranged weapons being a must. All in all a very satisfying PC to solo with imho.
My character (as I remember)

The Dark

Str 19 (tome)
Dex 20 ( " )
Con 18 ( " )
Int 15
Wis 15
Cha 15

(I know the first three are right)

Anyway, a good PC, try it...enjoy.

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Aaahh.... Fur Cough.