I'm looking for opinions on a good solo PC for NWN+SoU. I ask because I really, really hate the hench(wo)men. Thusly, I'll need to be a thief of some kind and a healer.

How badly would a cleric/thief get whooped? I've played a F/T and a R/T and enjoyed sneaking around and luring enemies to be dealt with singly.

How good are cleric summons? Or should I go with a druid instead of a cleric?

To be honest with all the potions I found I didnt really need a healer. Also there a few regeneration items and with those you dont need a lot of cleric action (if any). However if you really want to play as a cleric thief then I suggest adding a fighting class as well (standard or prestige) and primarily melee and use the cleric levels to buff/heal yourself. the thief levels will take care of traps and gives you sneak attack which is usefull for a melee guy.

Cleric summuns for all intents and purposes are the same as wizard summons (as far as I know) and are ok though not steller. Some are ok as meat shields but they are always good for low level characters. Druids limit you in a few ways and prevent spontanous healing which for this character is preety necessary.

My oppinion start thief and mix cleric as needed and near the end add a fighting type class so that you can get up to 4 attacks per found and you will be amazing (or go palidan thief)!

It is reasonably easy to have a rogue multi-class in NWN because of the ability to store up skill points at level up. If you start with one level of rogue and put your skill points into the vital skills of traps and locks - then level up in your chosen class (e.g. cleric or fighter) but don't use up all your skill points each level up. Eventually you will have a few stored up and when you reach a point where you can no longer disarm traps regularly, make your next level up in rogue and apply all your spare skill points accordingly.

Of course, this only works with Humans and Halflings.

How many thief levels would be good? You know, to get by in the game.

I don't want to add any fighter class. Even with a human or halfling, I'd prefer to keep to 2 classes if I can.

Not less than 2 levels. Start as a rogue for the skill points. The second level you can take in either class but that would be a choice between Evasion and the perks of the Cleric class. Either way, you'd really better be a Rogue(2)/Cleric(1) at level 3. I suppose you could combine some clerical domain powers with the Rogue class, as well, so maybe you won't need so many Rogue levels. Take a look at the Harper Scout prestige class, as well. Especially if you're into roleplaying. However, I'm not suggesting taking it. Just take a look, maybe you'll like it. ;)

Myself, I soloed SoU with a single class paladin (14-10-10-14-14-15 at start IIRC), relying on spells and CHA-based buffs later on.

I'd say go with rogue 3/cleric x with animal and trickery domains. Also, go dex based with weapon finesse and either light armour or the stealth chainmail you can get from Torias early on. rogue 3 will get you the most out of your decent dex as it gives you both evasion and the first level of uncanny dodge, as well as 2d6 sneak attack, which along with cleric damage buffs should give you a decent damage output. The Animal Domain will help you a lot as you're going solo and will probably be needing your summons. Powerful monster summons earlier along with cat's grace will help no end. Trickery is also handy as it will give you invisibility spells and the ability to increase your already decent rogue skills when necessary.

I'd recommend starting with dex 16-18, wisdom 16, levelling everything else off at 10 and putting whatever is left into intelligence. Level up stat increases can go to wisdom. You could go strength based, take heavy armour and not bother with stealth, but sneaking is going to be pretty useful going solo. Finally, if you ever take this guy beyond SOU, Shadowdancer levels would help no end, greatly increasing stealth abilities and gaining some of the cooler rogue feats that you're going to miss out on with low rogue levels.

So you don't need much from a thief in this game? I'll be holding onto the lockpicks I find. ;)

I'd suggest a Cleric/Monk/Assasin. Cleric17/Monk1/Assasin2, more exactly. Also, a Cleric16/Monk1/Rogue3 is quite effective.

For the later combination, start with a level of Rogue, add in a level of Monk, and then take seven levels of cleric, saving your skillpoints, and taking a rogue level at 10th and 20th levels.

Cleric/Monk/Assasin is more effective and without a XP penalty if you go with human, but trickier to build.

Cleric X/Rogue 2 with Trickery domain would be a good start. I would add a level or two of fighter (for access to martial weapons, as well as extra feats). Should take Expertise, for that +5 to AC in tough fights.

As about stats: of course, you want some Dex to make proper use of the Rogue levels. But 14 is enough (you'll want to wear at least chain mail, which allows a max +2 to AC from dexterity). Finesse is useless, IMHO, since you need to be able to deal lots of damage. I'd put 14 in Str too; with Str enhancing items and buffs, you can deal some respectable damage. Int 12, Wis 16, what's left for Charisma.

As about tactics, I don't see the use for sneak attack (hence no 3rd level of rogue); that would work best when in a group, where you can try to flank opponents. Cleric can use enough buffs to be a devastating melee fighter). No need to worry too much about healing powers; there are enough potions in the game. Maybe take the Magic domain too, for stoneskin. Otherwise, just concentrate on melee and spell damage (I think Hammer of the Gods is great, since it comes with a chance of stunning opponents).

I find the barbarian to, for me, the perfect solo insturment in NWN, all those hit points, damage reduction, trust me, this character has absolutely no problem eating up traps and any weapon that deals elemental damage gets you right through locked chests. Because of how weak magic is in NWN, the barbarian soloer has almost no penalties for not being able to cast arcane.

My barbarian ends up having to pick up the slack of all henchmen that join him (save Valen, who I recomend you taking with if you want someone to interject in conversations, disarm traps and generally deal out ridiculous amounts of damage) and almost never dies on his own (most of my reloads have come of N thinking she's a berserker) save when I'm unwilling to allow him to use any health potions or buff potions. Only thing bad about the barbarian is that his rage quickly becomes useless with all the stat boosting items in NWN (too many if you ask me, Nasher's set anyone?).

1. I'm not using henchpeople. Sorry. :)

2. Who is Valen? :confused:

Valen Shadowbreath is a Tiefling Fighter/Weaponmaster in HotU. The only henchie, aside from Aribeth that can take care of himself (can critical hit for well into the seventies and has a critical hit range of something like 13-20). Valen is living proof of why in NWN melee beats the living crap out of magic users.

I cant take this NwN magic-bashing anymore! :p

While it's true that NPC spellcasters are often, if not always sucky, that does not mean magic is secondary to bashing things with various metal sticks.
Every class has a weak save, or even two. Fighter has two. Weapon master makes up for Reflex, but Will still stays low. Some multiclasses make up for it, but most of the time, a save is left lower than other. Monk is an exception, but he's bane to all spellcasters with Improved Spell Resistance feats.
Then there's also all sorts of Damage reduction spells. How are you going to prevent a mage unleashing a few spells at you, while you're hacking at his 50/+20 DR that takes 2000 damage?

I think mostly why spellcasters are underrated(NPCs) is becase there are SO many powerful items lying around that help against them. You cant help but meet Boots of Reflexes, Rings of Fortitude, Amulets of Will, Cloaks of Fortification, Cloaks of Resistance,...
Far too many, in any case.

Well, if you're a paladin with lots of CHA, decent WIS and CoT levels, you don't really have a sucky save. Fort is good, helped also by CHA... Ref is is helped by CoT levels and CHA, Will by CHA (and you need at least +2 from WIS for a normal high-level paladin).

And of course, spellcasting is underrated because of all the powerful items. In a low magic world, I can imagine how paladins and rangers shine, compared to fighters. In turn, a fighter's +2 from specialisation, as well as his many more feats than other warriors have, also plays a bigger role when you don't have an Item of Uberness +75 for everything.