BEST solo CHARACTER??

[The Eye]

All of us who have played this gane in the past have been able to beat the game using a full party, but I am wondering about Solo games as I personaly have never been able to defeat the game this way without "cheating".

So I would like to know what people think is the best Character to use to finish a solo game. please also add why you think it the best one. I am sure I am not the only one wondering

[Dustpuppy]

mage variants, fighter/mage, thief/mage, cleric/mage.

Buffs from spells, the ability to read scrolls, & use wands. Thief/Mage is probably going to be the easiest of the three since once you get the tome of strength you're rocking 19 str for +6 damage which once mixed with backstab is silly. After that fighter mage for the extra APR and HP.

Cleric/Mage is fun but takes awhile to bring all your power to bear since you can only cast one spell at a time. You lose backstab vs the thief, and APR/HP/onepip in dualwield vs the warrior. However, sanctuary is nice and doom applies a -2 to enemy saving throws which lets some spells like blind hit better.

FMC & FMT are a pita unless you remove the XP cap.

As for race, gnome all the way unless you're importing to BG2 inwhich case you will lose Horrid Wilting which some people are addicted to. However, the xtra spell per level is worthwhile imo, but to each their own. The saving throw bonus is the biggie, many people even experiencd players underestimate how nice that bonus is.

[DnD Detective]

Any multiclass would be good. A FMT/FMC work well when soloing because you'll get experience fairly quickly (and at least in BGEE you'll be only about a level away from what you would be in a 2 class multiclass). Personally I'd probably go with a fighter/mage.

[Hentaru]

Pretty much any multi-class or dual class should be capable but you have to take everything very slowly. Most people will recommend some type of magic (either Cleric/something or something/Mage), Fighter/Mage/Thief is the jack of all trades but each section is so weak and slow (improving) compared to pure classes that its often best to do a two class split in early levels... at higher levels a F/M/T(C) starts rounding out so it is a good long-term choice. Dual classes can often be more powerful than multi-classes but to gain the most benefit (by leveling as high as possible in the first class) you subject yourself to massive downtown and releveling with a super weak character toward the end of the game (when everything is harder).

I personally love Fighter/Thief. I've played solo (with an awesome stat roll) for large a chunk of the game this way without any real problems beyond identifying items, lack of instant healing and occasionally dying because I couldn't cure poisons, etc. I split between swords and bow so there was a lot of ranged combat and kiting involved. I maxed DEX and wore the best possible armor at any time, only taking it off to use thief skills... so my survival heavily relied on having an awesome armor class that most enemies couldn't hit (magic using enemies were much harder... mage fights were a lot of "switch to leather > hide > backstab > rely on a good weapon against their poor AC... get iin close and keep swinging so they can't or don't cast"). Again, this is just my experience. Lack of magic/healing does severely complicate a number of situations though.

I have read that Kensai/Mage dual class (and similar) can wreck the game, no cheating involved. I personally hate not having theif skills though (unlock/find trap).

EDIT: I also want to acknowledge what Dustpuppy said above: Don't underestimate the power of racial bonuses (Such as higher STR, higher DEX or higher saving throws, etc). Also remember (unless you consider it "cheating") that the ingame stat raising tomes can make a big difference (such as 19 STR or allowing you to redistribute points from one stats to another without permanently sacrificing bonuses).

[Dustpuppy]

^ one thing about the FMC and FMT , importing them to BG2 the mage won't be able to make use of level 9 spells. No improved alacrity with multiple chain contengencies, no timestop, no dragons breath, no meteor, no infinite spells from wish abuse.

With regards to healing, I forgot to add earlier that characters should keep 12ish reputation through the first chapter for 2x light healing innate, then murder somebody to go to 6 reputation for horror and vampiric touch innates. This provides some healing as vampiric touch can hit for quite a bit while healing you. Vampiric touch is an awesome innate for a solo character.

[Khulod]

I completed the entire series solo with a Fighter/Mage/Thief using BGTutu to play BG in the BGII engine. It was fun and challenging and the ability to be an entire party in one person helped. The leveling is not so bad, remember that you advance 6x as fast as a full party. In retrospect.... you could probably do without the fighter aspect. Spells are what dominates the field, stealth is what gets you by some nasties. The fighter bit was nice for hp but in the end it was spells that won the day. But to be able to solo dragons was very, very cool. Fond memories.

My second solo playthrough was with a pure sorcerer. It was very hard due to extreme squishyness (summons become mandatory at some fights) but I made it (last fight in ToB was a pain due to the length of the battle though, so stock up on wands). Now with the Dragon Disciple added in EE I think it would be a lot more doable. But it still won't be easy. for this character it's a lot more important to beeline to key items to improve your oomph and survivability.

In both cases the only cheating I did was do 1000 rerolls to get a super stat array at character creation.

[kaiyl_kariashi]

F/C MC is the safest.

But you can solo as anything. I've soloed the whole series as a true-class bard without issue. The only class that gave me any trouble was a beastmaster since they're completely incapable of killing Loup Garou solo since the Root of the Problem club isn't implemented (it's in the game files, but was part of the cut content so it's not available without mods), so I had to skipped that quest.

[ThatRadgerKid18]

no matter what you go youre going to have a very difficult time going solo because the problem that you will have with enemy mages casting hold, sleep, petrification, fear, and any other spells that can stop a character in their tracks because solo characters have no way to defend themselves once they are hit by these spells

[Matuse]

The game has been solod by all class/kit possibilities. Game knowledge and tactics mean at least as much as your class combo.

Easiest would be covering the most possible bases - Thief/Mage, Thief/Cleric, Cleric/Ranger, Blade.

[kaiyl_kariashi]

Technically the Skald is better then the Blade, even taking into account of the over-sight that allows the Blade to get Epic Bard Song at 24+. While complicated, it's possible to song-twist your way into keeping the Skald-song benefits active at all times. And the Skald is always at full strength, while the Blade is only useful in brief spurts until you've burned your handful of OS uses.


And that's not even covering the terrible implementation of bards in general.

Stuff they're supposed to be have/be.

All Bards/theives - Able to master two-weapon style just as much as a fighter can.

Use Any Item -

Thief version - Allows using scrolls up to 6th level with no chance of failure. (Vanilla thieves can cast spells from scrolls at lvl 10+, but there's a failure chance. Thief kits cannot, and are unable to get this ability.)

Bard version - Allows the use of any items available to mages (wands, mage staves, mage robes). Requires the lvl 10 scroll use ability, so only True Bards, Skalds and Loremasters can get it.

Grand Bard Song - Increases the duration of Bard/Skald song by 3 rounds + an additional 1 round per 2 levels.

Bard spell progression is supposed to continue all the up to 8th level, with 2 8th level slots at lvl 30.

Bard - Their song is supposed to last 1 round per level after they stop singing, allowing them to do other stuff once they stop singing. Also get another song (Counter-Song) that each round allows allies under the effects of most enchantment spells to attempt a save to remove the effects (Counter song is extremely tiring and deals 1 temporary Con damage per activation, but can be maintained as long as they like). Can cast spells from scrolls after lvl 10.

Skald are supposed to be the 2nd strongest melee bard after the Gallant (which is basically a Paladin on the bard table), with the ability to wear up to plate mail and use any shield (still can't cast while wearing armor though), and are able to Sing while engaging in battle (but are supposed to be 1 level behind in spell progression), and only get half their lore ability. Also gets the Counter song above. Cannot cast spells from scrolls until lvl 10.

Blades are supposed to a support bard built-around causing a no-save fear in the enemy (offensive spin, only lasts for 1 attack or until damaged) or inspiring allies/demoralizing enemies (weapon display, +1 hit/-1 hit for as long as they maintain the display, interuppted by damage, only works once per battle), or tying up enemies with their defensive spin manuever (which is supposed to have a chance to deal weapon damage anytime an opponent attempts to strike the blade while in thier spin), with their main combat perks being starting with ** Two weapon style and the ability to make called shots with thrown weapons at no penalty. (unable to sing at all, can't cast spells from scrolls, and gets no lore bonus at all).

And jesters have the permament effects of a luck spell, +1 AC, immunity to confusion/instantity, anyone attempting to charm/dominate a jester must save or become confused themselves, their "song" is a taunt that forces enemies that fail the save to attack the jester ignoring the rest the of the battle or tactics, or they get another song that can attempt to remove confusion from allies. Is limited only to daggers, clubs, quarterstaves, slings, and leather armor and gets no lore bonus nor can they cast spells from scrolls.

[Matuse]

It's nice and all to talk about how things COULD be, and to bring up a bunch of irrelevant kits and ability that do not and have never existed in BG, but instead how about actually bothering with what is really in the game?

Bardsong is garbage to a solo character. Period. Blades can 3-star in Two Weapon style. Bard UAI works just like Rogue UAI (at least, it does in the normal game, maybe EE screwed it up, I haven't tried Haer'Dalis yet).

[kaiyl_kariashi]

Ok. The Skald is better, even in it's current, horribly gimped form.

Any bard song can, by careful timing, be kept up at all times on a solo character, even when taking other actions, allowing the Skald for 95+% of the game to be better then the Blade. And for that last 5%, they're equal.

The Blade can't even get *** until the end of BG1 (and that assumes you only focus on a single weapon type) meaning they are absolutely $^#^ when dual-wielding for most of the game, and only gets a tiny handful of OS uses till mid-way through BG2.

The Skald on the other hand can take a weapon and Two-weapon fighting, and immediately negate the thac0 penalty through Song-twisting, while also doing 2 more damage per hit then a blade, even using OS (this damage difference goes even higher till 24+ when the Blade can finally get the same song). I'm not sure if they've fixed OS erronously stacking with haste or not yet, but on the odd chance they did, under haste, they have identical APR, and even if they didn't, in BG2, BOTH can hit the APR cap as soon as they get access to Improved Haste, which means the Skald's slightly more damage gives them an edge. Even if you factor in the maximized damage rolls, the limited up-time means the Blade can never catch-up in the potential damage they could have been doing.

And never...is a strong word....not officially, because Beamdog wasn't allowed to change any existing kits (and yet they still managed to nerf the bounty hunter), but mods have had the kits much closer to PnP for years, and given how badly gimped thievies/bards/druids are in BG's version, those mods are pretty much required installation for anyone wanting to the experience the game as it should've been adapted in the first place.

[Matuse]

Sorry, I didn't realize that english wasn't your native language. "Have never" does not refer to possible future events.

And if you're spending every other round toggling your song, then that's every other round where you're not actually doing anything. The boost from running a song is not a 101+% improvement in combat ability, which is what it would need to be in order to justify doing it. Plus the level of micromanaging required would redefine tedious.

[joe.c.boltoniii]

Single class? Dual? Or multi? Single I would say Thief, maybe Sorc. The first time I did a single class solo it was a thief and I've loved it ever since. When I play Dungeons and Dragons I am always a Tank so this was weird at first for me but a good weird.

[imtheedi]

I'm currently doing a berseker/mage (i cheated in the beserker kit into a fighter mage) and this makes you an absolute powerhouse, i play without locks and traps though.

I have done quite a lot of sorcerer solo runs in the past with locks and traps and that was quite doable but that was when mirror image was bonkers (it absorbed every trap for me), now that is patched.

Still i think with all the protection you can cast from scrolls, traps are not that big of a thread (i know most of them by heart though).

After you acquire robes of vecna, amulet of power and improved alacity you can basically unload your entire spellbook within a second to protect yourself from yourself and obliterate any opposition (protection from enemies is no longer an issue because they just die).

In a solo run this state occurs in the underdark if you are pretty completionist about everything before so still relatively late into the game.

Before improved alacity youll still be a powerhouse, the death spell will kill a lot of nasties (umber hulks, trolls (dunno if they still bug out and need a fire finisher though), for you pretty much after you clear the tent in waukeens promenade.

Skulltrap will also scale pretty well (it does not cap out at 10d6 at least it didnt back then).

Maybe ill start a new run as a wild sorcerer (cheat in the wild mage kit into sorcerer) because i never player WM in the past.