Solo barbarian through bgt

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

Ok, instead of taking over Black Baron's thread, Il create my own. I was gona start an F/T or something along those lines, but havent got round to it yet as been busy and also had to reinstall xp etc. So anyway, this would be my first solo, I would be playing bgt, possibly with the big picture or something (although probably unlikely for this one as broadband still doesnt come for just under a month) and I will be playing on insane and with any other mods which are suggested, IIRC bgt also has Tactics installed and I think one other thing, but I cant remember what.

So anyway what do you think? Baring in mind this is my first solo, I will be going form bg1 through to bg ToB. Has anyone done it before, is it possible, what should I keep in mind etc?

[Raistlin Majere]

A fighter class might be pretty hard to solo on your first try, especially through BG1(low saves+many disabling spellcasters=the classic head-banging-on-keyboard phenomenon). I played through with C/R, and it worked like a charm. He's able to hide(even in full plate, with a little cheesing), so you can get the bonus attack that comes from the attack, which can be very useful against spellcaster. Then theres the spellcasting ability(with druid AND cleric domain spells), out of which command, hold person and healing spells are the most useful.

tactics doesnt come with BGT, ascension does

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

ah, ok. Well maybe bg1 would be quite hard, but I think bg2 would be the harder. I mean barbarians have very high hit points, and that would be a sort of cusion. But obviously Im not so sure, although a barbarian starts with around 40 hp in bg1, which is a lot for the start.

[True_Moose]

Why does he start with 40 hps? Is that a bug, or a feature of BGT? Cuz as far as I can tell, he should get there by level 2.

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

well maybe it wasnt 40 then, but it was close to that. What should it have been? + any other advice?

[Black Baron]

40 hp on level 2 is a curiosity. (12 hp+ 5 from 19 constitution) *2=34. Where another 6 hp come from?

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

I dunno, Im sure it was around 34 at least anyway. But anyway, any other suggestions? Lets not worry about hp for now, just give me some ideas.

[True_Moose]

Well, you'll want to go one of three ways. There is the idea of using a bow. Problem is barbs, aren't exactly sharpshooters. But bows are really important at low levels. Another way would be sling/sword and shield. I really think this is the most preferable way to combine punch with defense. Even though there are better bows than slings, the extra AC from a quality shield is worth it. Last way is dual-wielding. I suspect you should move to that in BG2, because your AC will be more important in BG1. Finally, go for either longswords, or be cheesy, kill Drizzt and go scimitars.

[Nerull]

Barbarians are just as good as paladins and (non-archer) rangers with bows. They can put the same two slots they can and get the same THACO. And with BGT installed, when you go to the inventory screen it pauses (i.e. uses the BG2 engine), so if you have to melee just go to inventory and switch your weapons. I would argue for bows just because of the extra attack each round. And you can honestly outrun many of the creatures in the game, so a "run and shoot" mentality works great through much of BG1. If you were using true BG1 engine (i.e. going to inventory unpaused the game), then yes, sling and shield would be good. I thrashed a good portion of the game soloing a berserker (one slot in missile weapons) using the run and shoot method with bows. And since you are playing at Insane difficulty, I would highly recommend staying at a distance.

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

I could use the shoot and run tactic, but i cant see the point in playing a whole game like that, I think it would get very boring very quickly, and then that would just destroy the point in the game. So I might try another tactic, i wouldnt mind dual wielding, it seems like a good option, although maybe at the start I might need to do some hit and run. What about bg2? whats it like with solo barb?