What's the best solo build?

[WindBlownLeaf]

I usually enjoy playing CRPGs solo, not having to micromanage so much, share gear and all that. I've been trying to make the 'best' build, looking through all the classes and trying to see what they have to offer. So far, getting to either level 2 or 3 for paladin seems pretty much essential for the charisma bonus to all save rolls and fear immunity. Is there anything else that's just really, really good?

[Demosthenes424]

1 level of Monk is not exactly a requirement, but it'll make your life a lot simpler. Scaled Fist synergizes better with maxing Persuasion, which is also a no-brainer if you're soloing. 1 level of Sword Scion will add another 1 AC from int along with Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus. If you're gonna be soloing, you'll need lots of skill points and class skills. Best I've found so far is 18 Vivi/1 Scaled Fist/1 Sword Saint, this build hit 100+ AC on my last run through the endless dungeon. It would probably work just as well with 2 Paladin levels in there as well, 16 Vivi loses only 1 SA die and 3 AC for CHA to saves - saves aren't really lacking in the first place, but having them in the 50s rather than mid-30s doesn't hurt any and lowering your AC to 98 probably won't kill you.

[WindBlownLeaf]

Escrito originalmente por Demosthenes424:

1 level of Monk is not exactly a requirement, but it'll make your life a lot simpler. Scaled Fist synergizes better with maxing Persuasion, which is also a no-brainer if you're soloing. 1 level of Sword Scion will add another 1 AC from int along with Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus. If you're gonna be soloing, you'll need lots of skill points and class skills. Best I've found so far is 18 Vivi/1 Scaled Fist/1 Sword Saint, this build hit 100+ AC on my last run through the endless dungeon. It would probably work just as well with 2 Paladin levels in there as well, 16 Vivi loses only 1 SA die and 3 AC for CHA to saves - saves aren't really lacking in the first place, but having them in the 50s rather than mid-30s doesn't hurt any and lowering your AC to 98 probably won't kill you.

I haven't gotten very far, not even to the kingdom management part honestly. What would you recommend for the first zone after leaving the aldori mansion?

[Demosthenes424]

As far as character building? I like to start with the Monk level first, since that gives you quite a few useful potions and lets you take Crane Style at level 1. Go into Vivi after that so you can start dealing with traps and locked chests. Sword Saint is probably most useful at level 9+ since that's when you start getting two attacks per round with your weapon, before that stick with unarmed strikes. Not sure where the Paladin levels fit in best, I'd probably take them after you get access to level 2 spells since those give you the stat boosts.

As for specific hints on how to handle the early game in general, I'd check a walkthrough. :) Here's[www.neoseeker.com] one that seems pretty solid to me, though I haven't read through the whole thing to be sure. There's also a section full of alternatives on character builds with stat and feat selection covered, if you want to explore other options...

[WindBlownLeaf]

Escrito originalmente por Demosthenes424:

As far as character building? I like to start with the Monk level first, since that gives you quite a few useful potions and lets you take Crane Style at level 1. Go into Vivi after that so you can start dealing with traps and locked chests. Sword Saint is probably most useful at level 9+ since that's when you start getting two attacks per round with your weapon, before that stick with unarmed strikes. Not sure where the Paladin levels fit in best, I'd probably take them after you get access to level 2 spells since those give you the stat boosts.

As for specific hints on how to handle the early game in general, I'd check a walkthrough. :) Here's[www.neoseeker.com] one that seems pretty solid to me, though I haven't read through the whole thing to be sure. There's also a section full of alternatives on character builds with stat and feat selection covered, if you want to explore other options...

I can't imagine not getting paladin to 2 or 3 asap as solo. How do you deal with all the spellcasters tossing around fear 24/7?

[Demosthenes424]

The game isn't really built for solo. Remove Fear is readily available, if you have a way to use it that's the low-level solution to fear; Unbreakable Heart also works. Usually my advice would be to just keep those on, and have one of your party members able to cast those in case you fail your save. Having a cleric is ideal for that reason, since Remove Fear lasts so much longer. If you're determined to stay solo, I guess you could change your strategy and take Paladin levels first. It makes very little difference in the long run what order your levels are taken, as long as you don't lock yourself out of feat choices.

[Immortal Reaver]

Easiest is Kinecist with Deadly Earth.

You also need to avoid optinal bosses until you are overleveled for them.

[Baldurs_Gate_2]

The easiest throughout the game is definitely Sylvan Sorcerer with Smilodon. The majority of enemies aren't immune to stinking cloud (not even the final boss) and your pet just gets buffed up and hits like a truck while enemies standing there and do nothing.

With invis you can ignore the majority of chapter 1 mobs and only do the quests and traps for easy free xp.

That's basically the strategy, with the Temple of the Elk the hardest part, because you have to kill every monster there:

Be friendly to Kressle and ally with him.
Ally with the Mites at Sycamore and let your companions (that are prisoners there) kill the kobold chieftain, they can't die there.
At the Stag Lord, make a diplomatic check with the guy at the cliffs so he allies with you and calm down the owlbear so he helps as well.

Afther chapter 1, you travel to Varnhold, get the Heart of Ira necklace, then to silverlake and kll the Nymph and Frogs in the east to get a dimension door scroll. Next to Lonely Barrow basement, dimension door over the blue barrier and kill Farnirras with heart of ira while invisible and you are lvl 14 before even starting chapter 2. You have to skill dimension door tho to get back out of the room. There is pretty strong valuable loot there as well.

My Vivi run showcases what you should do in chapter 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdXksoMnnLA&t=4319s

[WindBlownLeaf]

Escrito originalmente por Baldurs_Gate_2:

The easiest throughout the game is definitely Sylvan Sorcerer with Smilodon. The majority of enemies aren't immune to stinking cloud (not even the final boss) and your pet just gets buffed up and hits like a truck while enemies standing there and do nothing.

With invis you can ignore the majority of chapter 1 mobs and only do the quests and traps for easy free xp.

That's basically the strategy, with the Temple of the Elk the hardest part, because you have to kill every monster there:

Be friendly to Kressle and ally with him.
Ally with the Mites at Sycamore and let your companions (that are prisoners there) kill the kobold chieftain, they can't die there.
At the Stag Lord, make a diplomatic check with the guy at the cliffs so he allies with you and calm down the owlbear so he helps as well.

Afther chapter 1, you travel to Varnhold, get the Heart of Ira necklace, then to silverlake and kll the Nymph and Frogs in the east to get a dimension door scroll. Next to Lonely Barrow basement, dimension door over the blue barrier and kill Farnirras with heart of ira while invisible and you are lvl 14 before even starting chapter 2. You have to skill dimension door tho to get back out of the room. There is pretty strong valuable loot there as well.

My Vivi run showcases what you should do in chapter 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdXksoMnnLA&t=4319s

Alright thanks man. I dunno why, but your brightness seems very high to me?

[Baldurs_Gate_2]

Escrito originalmente por WindBlownLeaf:

Escrito originalmente por Baldurs_Gate_2:

The easiest throughout the game is definitely Sylvan Sorcerer with Smilodon. The majority of enemies aren't immune to stinking cloud (not even the final boss) and your pet just gets buffed up and hits like a truck while enemies standing there and do nothing.

With invis you can ignore the majority of chapter 1 mobs and only do the quests and traps for easy free xp.

That's basically the strategy, with the Temple of the Elk the hardest part, because you have to kill every monster there:

Be friendly to Kressle and ally with him.
Ally with the Mites at Sycamore and let your companions (that are prisoners there) kill the kobold chieftain, they can't die there.
At the Stag Lord, make a diplomatic check with the guy at the cliffs so he allies with you and calm down the owlbear so he helps as well.

Afther chapter 1, you travel to Varnhold, get the Heart of Ira necklace, then to silverlake and kll the Nymph and Frogs in the east to get a dimension door scroll. Next to Lonely Barrow basement, dimension door over the blue barrier and kill Farnirras with heart of ira while invisible and you are lvl 14 before even starting chapter 2. You have to skill dimension door tho to get back out of the room. There is pretty strong valuable loot there as well.

My Vivi run showcases what you should do in chapter 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdXksoMnnLA&t=4319s

Alright thanks man. I dunno why, but your brightness seems very high to me?

Could be. Can't remember if i changed the default setting.

[Frostfeather]

Group or solo, Invisibility can be pretty broken as it often means combat doesn't start after cutscenes. This allows you to reposition yourself in a better way and surprise enemies on top of that. It makes what would be some of the more challenging fights much more doable.

And it's just an observation, but much of what's been suggested in this thread is just abusing buggy abilities. I know there's often some inevitable cheese when playing a CRPG solo. But you may want to decide ahead of time if taking advantage of Owlcat's inability to properly code will affect your fun and sense of accomplishment. There's no judgment there, just a warning in case it matters to you.

[legion11]

Escrito originalmente por Baldurs_Gate_2:

The easiest throughout the game is definitely Sylvan Sorcerer with Smilodon. The majority of enemies aren't immune to stinking cloud (not even the final boss) and your pet just gets buffed up and hits like a truck while enemies standing there and do nothing.

With invis you can ignore the majority of chapter 1 mobs and only do the quests and traps for easy free xp.

That's basically the strategy, with the Temple of the Elk the hardest part, because you have to kill every monster there:

Be friendly to Kressle and ally with him.
Ally with the Mites at Sycamore and let your companions (that are prisoners there) kill the kobold chieftain, they can't die there.
At the Stag Lord, make a diplomatic check with the guy at the cliffs so he allies with you and calm down the owlbear so he helps as well.

Afther chapter 1, you travel to Varnhold, get the Heart of Ira necklace, then to silverlake and kll the Nymph and Frogs in the east to get a dimension door scroll. Next to Lonely Barrow basement, dimension door over the blue barrier and kill Farnirras with heart of ira while invisible and you are lvl 14 before even starting chapter 2. You have to skill dimension door tho to get back out of the room. There is pretty strong valuable loot there as well.

My Vivi run showcases what you should do in chapter 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdXksoMnnLA&t=4319s

Do you have a rough idea of what time in that video you go to Lonely Barrow? I'm well beyond that point (ch6, level 16) so the exploit won't help me, but I am curious to see it. I tried clicking around hoping to get lucky but didn't spot it. Thanks!

[WindBlownLeaf]

Escrito originalmente por night4:

Group or solo, Invisibility can be pretty broken as it often means combat doesn't start after cutscenes. This allows you to reposition yourself in a better way and surprise enemies on top of that. It makes what would be some of the more challenging fights much more doable.

And it's just an observation, but much of what's been suggested in this thread is just abusing buggy abilities. I know there's often some inevitable cheese when playing a CRPG solo. But you may want to decide ahead of time if taking advantage of Owlcat's inability to properly code will affect your fun and sense of accomplishment. There's no judgment there, just a warning in case it matters to you.

I have noticed the amazingness of invisibility, one of the reasons why I almost always go Aasimar (Garuda Blooded). I do prefer not to cheese or glitch, although I guess that's not always the case. I abused the hell out of the dupe glitch in DA:O.

[Frostfeather]

Escrito originalmente por WindBlownLeaf:

I have noticed the amazingness of invisibility, one of the reasons why I almost always go Aasimar (Garuda Blooded). I do prefer not to cheese or glitch, although I guess that's not always the case. I abused the hell out of the dupe glitch in DA:O.

Well, it's challenging to avoid any bugs or glitches or anything in Kingmaker because there's so much of these things. The kinds of things I might recommend avoiding would be those that completely remove all challenge, like Invisible + Heart of Ira (maybe not technically a "bug", but really really cheesy) or Deadly Earth/Cloud (bugged in the player's favor in multiple ways and can "oneshot" almost any encounter).

Stinking Cloud takes affect twice when you cast it, but there will be enemies that are immune and there will be enemies with really high Fort, so... this one isn't quite as bad. It wouldn't remove all challenge from the game like the other things would.

[Baldurs_Gate_2]

Escrito originalmente por legion11:

Escrito originalmente por Baldurs_Gate_2:

The easiest throughout the game is definitely Sylvan Sorcerer with Smilodon. The majority of enemies aren't immune to stinking cloud (not even the final boss) and your pet just gets buffed up and hits like a truck while enemies standing there and do nothing.

With invis you can ignore the majority of chapter 1 mobs and only do the quests and traps for easy free xp.

That's basically the strategy, with the Temple of the Elk the hardest part, because you have to kill every monster there:

Be friendly to Kressle and ally with him.
Ally with the Mites at Sycamore and let your companions (that are prisoners there) kill the kobold chieftain, they can't die there.
At the Stag Lord, make a diplomatic check with the guy at the cliffs so he allies with you and calm down the owlbear so he helps as well.

Afther chapter 1, you travel to Varnhold, get the Heart of Ira necklace, then to silverlake and kll the Nymph and Frogs in the east to get a dimension door scroll. Next to Lonely Barrow basement, dimension door over the blue barrier and kill Farnirras with heart of ira while invisible and you are lvl 14 before even starting chapter 2. You have to skill dimension door tho to get back out of the room. There is pretty strong valuable loot there as well.

My Vivi run showcases what you should do in chapter 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdXksoMnnLA&t=4319s

Do you have a rough idea of what time in that video you go to Lonely Barrow? I'm well beyond that point (ch6, level 16) so the exploit won't help me, but I am curious to see it. I tried clicking around hoping to get lucky but didn't spot it. Thanks!

That's a different run. There is only one dimension door scroll in chapter 2 and only a arcane caster that levels up to 14 can get back out with skilling dimension door. All others have to do chapter 2 and get divine to 3, so the scroll merchant sells DD scrolls. That is finished before chapter 3 starts. Lonely Barrow = Farnirras. The Lich you have to kill.