Completed Solo Berserker Run

[The Asciiman]

I just finished BG1 EE and BG2 EE as a solo class berserker. This is my third time soloing the Trilogy. The following are my thoughts and warnings for any who are thinking of attempting this.

1. Overall, the game is stupidly easy. There are really only a handful of places where you will not completely dominate anything that comes your way. This includes almost all boss fights.

2. I went with a half orc and maxed his strength, dexterity, and constitution. I also got as much intelligence as I could simply to deal with mind flayers. By the end of the series, due to Tomes, Machine of Lum the Mad, Tears of Bhaal and the Deck of Many Things, I had STR 23, DEX 19 and CON 21. Needless to say, I pursued STR increases with more effort than I truly needed to, but I just wanted to try and see how high I could get it.

3. In BG1 at the very beginning you'll be fragile and severely limited in ability. At least until you find that first quest that gives you loads of experience to level you up. I recommend either basilisk hunting with Korax or Ankhegs north of the Friendly Arm Inn. Either one will give you loads of XP to vastly over level you for a while.

4. Eventually you'll find almost all quests are easily steamrolled and it is at that point you should start being selective about what quests you do. The reason for this is two fold; first off, you'll be wasting your time. By the end of BG1 you'd be about level 10 and vastly over leveled. Spending time on quests that only give about 500 xp is a waste of time.

This continues into Shadows of Amn. By the end of Chapter 2, you'll max out at 8 million XP, and not even finished all the quests available. Further to this, it will be completely unnecessary, there will be no challenge at max level or well before it. Save your time and focus on quests that give rewards for what you'll need or is useful.

5. Equipment. Starting in Shadows of Amn, I never sold a single weapon/armor/item that I could actually use. By that I mean, if the item had interesting properties, and could do something that can't be replicated by brute force, I kept it. The reason is simple, as a single class Fighter(berserker), no one can compete with you in open combat, but the more options the enemy has the harder it will be for you. So if you find Valhinor's Helm, and it creates a simulacrum you save it, as it is your most powerful summon.

I held onto Book of Many Spells, Horn's of Valhalla, Roranach's Horn, Staff of Fire, Staff of Air, Psion's Blade, Shield of Balduran, Bracers of Blinding Strike and so many more items. Most of the time I didn't need it but more than anything, this provides you OPTIONS. Which you desperately need. Until you get a Bag of Holding just store the stuff you are unlikely to regularly use in a barrel in the Adventurer's Mart for a central place you'll return to.

6. Boots of Speed, should be obvious but needs to be said. Every time I've soloed, this is the most useful item by far. That doesn't mean I had no other boots that I used, but this will get you out of fights and into them at a moments notice, and that is imperative.

7. Traps. You're a Berserker, who cares about traps, just run through them.

8. Enrage. It is your "Bread and Butter" skill. And the number of times it will completely change a battle from stupidly hard to totally forgettable is uncountable. This ability makes you virtually invulnerable to all mages in the first game, period. The extra to hit and 15 HP is massive in the first five levels. By the time Shadows of Amn arrives, you'll have enough uses to make this even a regularly used ability and mages will still be almost as useless when this is on.

This has the ability to negate ALL mind effects(charm, sleep, stun, hold, psionics) and even some status effects like level drain. Ironically, it becomes less necessary by the end of Throne of Bhaal as many of the bosses only throw out magic that won't beat your massive saving throws, completely invalidating any need for Enrage. But you'll still have it if you need it.

9. Durlag's Tower and Watcher's Keep. Both are totally able to be finished but not worth it. Heck, you can even take on Demogorgon if you are stubborn enough(don't.... just save yourself the head ache). And that is the lesson, anything seems do able if you're willing to vary your tactics but often it is best to let it go unless you are required to do it.

10. BG1 final fight with Sarevok surprised me more than any other fight. I steam rolled Sarevok on my first try. I just wanted to see how close I was to beating him when I got there. So with 90% HP and no buffing up I engaged him. When I threw on Enrage it was us trading blows and even with his minions I still had more gas than he did.

Your mileage on my tactics may vary.

[The Asciiman]

11. Shadows of Amn was never really a challenge once I got Lalicor. I didn't take out all the dragons until I was at level 20 and I still got them all on the first try. The Planar Prison caused minor difficulties but only because I was limited in my options of where I could maneuver to engage as few enemies at a time as possible. Vampires were only a challenge if I ran out of enrages, but by then I had about four or more. Mind Flayers required that you be aware of your INT but by then you might have High Level Abilities and Deathblow 'one shots' just about everything. Beholders have been less of a problem then simple goblins since I discovered the Shield of Balduran and this was no different.

Irenicus was only a problem once you realize that it is best to run from him in the start, wait until Mantle and other protections have expired then commit to battle. And use your HLA to knock him around.

Adamantine Golems were a difficulty but only because they have such high damage resistance to physical attacks. Avoid them if you can, if not use Whirlwind Attack and hunker down. Your AC is likely to be pretty high as you're only kitting out one fighter.

12. Throne of Bhaal brought a definite increase in challenge. Starting with Yaga-Shura you'll have to engage what might be the ONLY fighter that can stand toe to toe with you. And it is starting here where your storage of equipment will make the difference. Yaga Shura hits hard, but he can't use Rods of Resurrection to be fully healed, or potions that haste.

Sendai was a challenge because the fight goes on for a while, however it was still manageable if you chose two things, first was the Bhaal Tear that makes you invulnerable to +1 Weapons or less. This was where it really makes a difference. You kind of need this ability or the rest of the run will be next to impossible. Enemies in the final battle are vulnerable to this.

Abazigal was a brute, but once again with the right equipment like a good melee weapon(more on that in a moment, and the Rod of Resurrection), you'll be able to hit, run and heal before re-engaging. It was Draconis that was a challenge, Draconis is a mage/cleric dragon that likes to go invisible, before healing or spitting about fifty or more HP damage of Acid at you. It was at this fight that I truly began to hit the wall. Scrolls of Acid protection made a tremendous difference here.

Melissan was clearly the hardest fight, and it was only on her third form that I made me wonder if this was even going to be possible. Sorry to say that this is the fight you'll have to be prepared for the reality of trying at least a dozen times till you find that combination that works for you. The good news is that her fourth fight with you is no where nearly as hard, and as such it would be a good idea if you went all out on your HLAs, just save one Greater Whirlwind and two Hardiness'. Summons will help to delay the enemy here, nothing more, but even that matters.

13. Finally the kit that makes the most difference.

The weapon matters most, and in this case it was not the Crom Fayer(although I did duel it for a while with The Axe of Unyeilding for the regeneration), but was a two handed sword I got in Shadows of Amn.

The Soul Reaver.

It was the best weapon in the game. Now hold on, let me explain. The Soul Reaver has two properties that matter, first off it is a +4 weapon which means all boses(aside from Demogorgon, I think) are vulnerable to it. And the second, each hit inflicts a cumulative penalty to the targets THACO.

I can't overstate this; it simply rules.

Melissan could only hit me on a crit once I got a whirlwind going. This ability even works if your opponent has stoneskin on because you are still hitting them. Abazigal, Draconis, Yaga-Shura, Balthizar, Adalon and each form of Melissan went down because of this. Add in a helmet and hardiness and you'll only get hit for twenty or so damage every few rounds.

Spectral Blade will offer about your only summon that won't be quickly killed.

Cloak of Mirroring makes you almost invulnerable to mages and requires that you just beat down their stone skin to wear them down. Add in a moderate MR and you can out last almost all mages. Only Imprisonment/Maze can be an issue and you have enrage for that.

Roranach's Horn comes late but is freaking invaluable, it halves all crushing damage, almost makes Balthizar impotent.

Ring of Regen, having a CON of 20, Axe of Unyielding, Ring of Gaxx, etc., all for the regen. Regen is often all you need as you're a fighter and this makes sleeping less important as you do not have spells to worry about.

High(Low) AC Armor and shield with Crom Fayer(Or any good one hander) will handle just about all fights. With the proper equipment you can get real great AC and only crits will hit and damage output can easily be comparable.

Silver Sword can also get crits on important bosses if you're willing to take the time to wait for them.

14. As for your high level abilities, go for 6 – 8 hardiness and about the same greater whirlwind. Critical strike has limited usefulness as all enemies will be protected by crits anyway. And the ones that aren't rarely need a series of crits to kill anyway. Other than that, get what you like.

Thanks for reading and sorry this took so long. By all means ask questions if you need help or are

[slurwin03]

wow dude crazy good read good job

[slurwin03]

Im playing Paladin any advice ?

[The Asciiman]

Carsomyr is of course your best option. And I've read that if you're playing an inquisitor the game can also be easily soloed but other Paladin classes don't lend itself to that very well. Overall, the advice is the same regardless of class, if you come across items that do things you can't replicate well(eg. Summoning, area effect damage, protections) hold onto them. This matters much, much more in BG2 than with BG1.

Other than that, by I'd need to know more specifics about your situation.

[red255]

the beserker gets 20% damage reduction class +40% damage reduction Hardiness HLA +20% damage reduction flail you buy in the copper coronet. (offhand)

For 80% reduction in damage

Both the class and the half orc race were shoe horned into BG1 and were not initially in BG1. Hell BG1 didn't even have kits.

Are you soloing on Legacy of Bhaal? I'd imagine its difficult at the start of BG1 and then snowballing downward as you go.

The paladin if you are soloing I believe you just get very high level, get Vhalior's helm from the Adventurer's guild and just spam Summon Deva.

should get you thru most of the game with little effort.

the paladin could get similiar damage reduction to the beserker with a priestly spell. at level 20.

[The Asciiman]

I played on core difficulty. Didn't even consider changing difficulty from my usual one.

[The Asciiman]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Kiryan:

Początkowo opublikowane przez red255:

the beserker gets 20% damage reduction class +40% damage reduction Hardiness HLA +20% damage reduction flail you buy in the copper coronet. (offhand)

For 80% reduction in damage

Barbarian gets the 20% damage reduction, not the berserker ;)

Yeah, I re-read what I posted and don't remember me saying anything about that 20% damage reduction. Wasn't sure it was entirely accurate either because I never saw anything about it. Ultimately I chose the berserker because I wanted a fighter kit. I did consider the Barbarian but I wanted to stay close to fighter.

[red255]

Right. Beserker rage lasts longer and is more useful at level 1 (and at high levels when you have 25 STR anyways)

I confuse the two, Beserker can dual, If I was soloing with a Beserker, I'd consider dualing to mage. not very much downtime while solo as you can get so much XP from reading scrolls.

[Grimoirian]

Roll a character that has believeable stats and gear then get back to me.
Make decisions from an RP angle and it might change the gameplay...ok, that second bit was a joke.

[Damn_Monkey]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Omega Preacher:

Roll a character that has believeable stats and gear then get back to me.
Make decisions from an RP angle and it might change the gameplay...ok, that second bit was a joke.

As the child of a god, what wold you consider to be believeable stats?

[red255]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Damn_Monkey:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Omega Preacher:

Roll a character that has believeable stats and gear then get back to me.
Make decisions from an RP angle and it might change the gameplay...ok, that second bit was a joke.

As the child of a god, what wold you consider to be believeable stats?

Yeah i always thought the ability to redistribute stats at character creation was because Bhaal was taking an active hand in your creation.

I guess 'believable' stats are stats that aren't redistributed.

how about that?

[Moon Helldiver]

And what's the charm of doing this and miss all the cool dialogues between characters and their side quests and plot lines?

[The Asciiman]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Wig Wam Bam:

And what's the charm of doing this and miss all the cool dialogues between characters and their side quests and plot lines?

You've never thought about this eh? Because quite frankly it is a very popular variant that many returning players try out. I have soloed this game about as many times as I have played it with a group. The dialogue is great, and the characters are fun, but after you've seen it all, it is so nice to be able to mix it up with a newer variant. This variance really highlights just how verstile of a game, Baldur's Gate really is.

If you haven't considered it, I suggest you do. It will cause you to see it in a whole new light and consider your tactics with a different perspective. Don't even focus on a berserker, take you favourite class and see how far you can get by doing this. Almost all classes or combinations can solo the game.

Biggest reason is that I want to see if it was possible, and see what new challenges I will have to overcome, and how to do that while keeping my character safe.

In short, I do it because I can.

[never]

I never really messed with the fighter kits, but this is really interesting. Especially with the soul reaver tip, had no idea that was a cumulative effect. Makes me want to finally finish the EE; and was a good read. Nice one!

[Syad]

bg1 level cap is 89k that's a lvl7 fighter. A lvl10 fighter is getting 2 attacks more (prof and dual wield)

bg2 lvl cap is 2.9mil, no HLA's. An uncapped fighter gets 10 attacks and 60% dr.

Essencially the difficulty in base content for both games goes bonkers if you try to solo with no level cap. This doesn't mean it's easy or anything, but it's not as difficult as it could be, if your looking for a challenge.

half-orc+lumlum+tome+tears+deck is 24 ( or even 25 str) how did you end up with 23str?

Ring of Regen, having a CON of 20, Axe of Unyielding, Ring of Gaxx, etc., all for the regen. Regen

multiple regen sources don't stack, you were only using.. not sure either the axe or the gaxx ring.