what class should a moron like me take to have any chance of soloing straight through the entire series (BG1 seems fighter heavy, BG2 seems mage heavy)

ive done it with a gnome Illusionist/Thief.

yup, both games.

in BG I, stealth was the key. my first goal was to get the mage robe of your alignment. after that the game was fairly simple until it came to the last chapter.

BG II wasnt all that difficult if you casted protection from normal weapons, mirror image, and fire shield (i prefer blue)

once you get mislead, you can backstab over and over and over again...

[This message has been edited by Captain Spud (edited June 01, 2001).]

To keep in charcater Ironbeard, how about a dwarven barbarian. I know people are going to say I'm mad but you just won't believe how tough mine is. You'd have to be careful about the order you did quests in (to get equipement and expereince) but that applies to all classes. The main worries are lack of theif skills and no magic. However, as has been posted before, there are no traps that a tough fighter can't survive and no important locks that can't be bashed open. As to lack of magic pah!

Anyway, read my Possible Journey post to get a feel for things (though of course it's a full party not solo).

To summarise:
- levels up quickly
- can have 21 constitution so massive hit points and resistance (he will also regenerate naturally so heal over night)
- great saving throws against magic
- gets protection form most damage types at later levels
- can do fantastic amounts of damage quickly dual weilding (he gets a speed bounus too)
can rage to protect from level drain and maze among others


of course you'd be advised to max his stats in strength, dex and const (and any spare into wisdom). You'd also be advised to use invisiablity for scouting and get used to using temples and scrolls.

Oh well thinking about it, maybe some of the other options you are going to get will be easier (if solo is ever easy).

now that i think about it, you may just want to play a dwarf. i remember going through the first game with a Dwarven Fighter/Cleric (didnt quite make it to BG II).

worked quite nicely if i casted sanctuary when i walked into an area

Yeah, a fighter/cleric would be pretty effective. Sturdy, can heal, can detect traps, can disrupt mages, can wear armor and cast spells. Can use the dwarven thrower. Not a bad character to use. And with solo exp points, who cares if he's multi-classed.

Yes yes you must be a dwarf whatever the class may be. Anything else would be blasphemous ehh Ironbeard? ;)

a fighter thief should make it... decent fighting skills and a thief to take care of well... the thieving...

How do you get 21 constitution. Are there any items that raise that stat and if so where will I find it?

SPOILER
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there is a book of constitution in a cave to the northwest area of the map one screen west of High Hedge. its the one with a lighthouse. thats my two cents...

Haven't you missed the version of BG? :D

I thought dwarfs can only start with 19 cons.
There is only one tome.
So how do you explain that then Spud?

Hey, you've got me confused now. I had always assumed that the 21 was a result of him being a barbarian as they get the hit point bonus. I just thought the manual failed to mention it (like so many other things). However, I've just been back to test this and the game seems willing to allow me a 21 constitution for any class as long as the race is Dwarven. I haven't found any reference to this in the manual or charcater creation part of the game. I thought it migh be part of the fixes patch that I have installed but there is no reference of it there either.

Has anyone tried to max their constitution with a dwarf? If so what is it?

Thanks guys, I'll give it a shot with Paul, when I've played about with other stuff like an all shorties party, just wanted to get some opinions in advance so I wouldn't be playing through twice with the same guy or anything.

i cant explain it. never played a dwarf, never care to.

i beleive the best solo character would be a swashbuckler dualed at lvl 12 to a cleric.

i chose cleric and not fighter because i love clerics spells and thief /fighter combination is too common :P

you should put 3 points to dual wielding style and all the other points as you wish, but remember that priests can't use edged weapons

now whhen you dual to priest you should level up very quickly...
put your points to hammer(crom faeyr)
flail(flail of the ages)
mace(mace of disruption- but you won't need it for long since once you got the cleric at level 15 the turn undead ability rocks!!!)

now after you get actived the swashbuckler everything should be easy (since you open chests, disarm traps and of course the weapon style which you'll use)

now you can dual any of the three weapons i mentioned in any combination proper for the circumstances(ex. if you are attacked by golems use the crom main hand.. etc)

I'm playing this character now aand i've never felt that i can't win some fights (even the firkaarg once my cleric got lvl 13 i beat him to the ground!!!)

NOTE: find some amulets and/or rings to decrease casting time to be a war machine...

ios:
Your latest post is good and makes perfect sense for BG2. The swashy/cleric is a very strong soloist.
But what about soloing through BG1 as a thief? The question stated that this is what was being planned.

A good choice would be to play BG/TotSC as a Fighter or Ranger and dual to Cleric in BG2.

sh** sorry guys

sorry again

i must know how to read propably.. :)

Hey, I'm not saying that soloing BG1 as a thief is a bad idea! Perhaps you can give some tips on how to play BG/TotSC as a solo thief? :)

I have never solo'd BG/TOtSC so I don't know how important it is to disarm traps there. In BG2 I know disarming traps is a luxury you don't need.

solo in bg is difficult if you don't remove the xp cap(really can you???)

otherwise i would play a thief dc at lvl 6 or 7 to mage for the summonings.. but there are still those wands of summoning so .. bumple bumple hmmm i don't know .. :)

edited: looks i've been promoted now i'm a mighty and fearsome goblin urgh!!! aware

[This message has been edited by ios (edited June 04, 2001).]

this whole thing is a spoiler so dont read if you dont want to...


I have solo'd in BG with a thief before and STEALTH is the key, max it out as soon as possible, use shadow armor and boots of stealth. backstab is your friend, use it to your advantage. dont worry too much about traps in the beginning but be sure to give it plenty of points, im talking 80% or so or else you cant disarm alot of the traps in the candlekeep catacombs...

have fun, solos with thieves rock.

Bards are definetly the best. They can fight reasinably well, cast spells, and pick pockets.

Bards are the best?? Umm... not to insult all the bard players but they aren't the best. They suck at fighting with only 1 attack, have mediocre spell casting abilities, and pick pockets is an unecessary ability. If you needed someone that could fight and cast spells then go for cleric. They can fight better.

And Earl, disarming traps is a luxury? There are loads and loads of traps in bg2. I don't know where you've been but theres several traps in most levels. The first dungeon is loaded with traps!

and the best of part of all those traps... you get ex from disarming them!!! Yea!!!

sorry, just no one has mention that point yet. you can go up levels alot quicker if you disarm traps and pick locks...

[This message has been edited by Captain Spud (edited June 04, 2001).]

To Tyresian:
I have experience from soloing without thief skills through BG2. I maintain that Disarming Traps is a luxury you can do without. As with all luxuries it's more comfortable to have it, but not necessary.
Ask the other veteran BG2 players who have solo'd without thief skills and you get the same answer.


1. Extremely few traps in BG2 are truly lethal.
2. Many traps you do not need to disarm or set off at all. You can avoid them.
3. If you have to set off a trap you can protect against it's effect.
4. Traps that only deal damage - and there are many of those - pose no real problem. Just take the damage and move on.

To Captain Spud:
Yep, getting xp from traps and locks is very nice. But a soloist will end up with an incredible amount of xp - my latest soloist had almost 10 million xp at the end and as you know he's "capped" at 2.95 million - so gaining levels comes very fast anyway.

[This message has been edited by Earl Grey (edited June 04, 2001).]

Ironbeard, if you're still reading this, how about you post a regular journal of your exploits once you start the game. Ironbeard's Solo Journal could be an ammusing read I think.

to gnoff hey man you say bards are the best.. for solo???? think abou it, it is of no point to use hte song... and what makes a bard good i beleive it's his song, he isn't very good magic user (but since it is solo your memorization ability will go up fast )and at a tough battle he won't do much damage(I play now a mp game with main char a scald and i had the dream where you must kill bhaal , and i almost died there he took damage to fast and i couldn't response)

what i say is that bards( especially scalds -my favourite) rock on parties of 5-6 alone imho you will be tyo situations you van't surpass