Solo Monk / Cleric

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I have just started an attempt to solo IWD2 with a Drow Monk / Painbearer.

She has managed to survive the Prelude so far but I was interested in any tips / tactics people might have for maximising her chances as the game goes on.

I put most of her stats into Wis, Dex, and Con in order to maximise her chances of survival in battle but without min-maxing this means she only has strength of 12 so doesn't hit very hard.

Any ideas welcome.

 

Since you're soloing, you'll probably get real rich. So make sure you buy and use lots of potions. I would also suggest that you put more levels on monk than on cleric. Get good concentration so that you can heal yourself during close combat and not have to worry that much. Can't think of anything else at the moment.

 

Weapon finesse as a lvl3 feat as your strenght isnt that great? (fists are finessable in 3ed though not in unmodded IWD2 - easy-of-use's component restores it to what it should be)

Bull's strenght as soon as you get it of course. It's nice you have cleric as a favoured class. I'm also playing a she-drow fighter/sorceress and i have to keep her levels together. Not that this is the case here, since both classes get many additional benefits with higher levels.

Other than that, try to cast some spells on you that'll increse your damage. Your AC is probably great, but with d6+1 you arent much better off than mine was at the beggining. So, heavy crossbow usage - 3-10 damage, more than you could do in melee and probably with greater attack bonus as well. Be sure to buy lots of bolts before you leave Targos, 80 of them didnt suffice for me.

When fighting, combine faery fire with attacks. Either cast first (better idea) and then attack, or the other way around. It's actualy a very good spell, considering you dont sacrifice anything and you get plenty of them. I dont know why, but i'm fighter4/sorc4 and i have 12 uses per day. I reckon it should be the same with you. It lowers their AC by 2, so basicaly it gives you +2 to attack against that enemy. Very useful early on. You could even combine it with power attack (12 strengh no-go) or expertise (13 int?).

I belive our two characters arent that much different, mostly because of the low strenght and warrior/spellcaster multiclass. Dont know who'll get through better, but i know i had a hard time with the orcs and malarites. With lvl8 attained though, i cleared the bridge easily.
Keep posting the news

 

Whatever spell adds to your damage directly should be memorised. Sometimes it can get to +4, like with Holy Power. Call upon Holy Might will do you much good on higher levels. Then you get immunities of various kinds and, if you can't do something because of your specific dexterity-based build, you can always use summons. That's what I did in the Chambers in the monastery, during the last trial. Just one fire elemental and I was set

Whenever you feel like you can't do something on your own, three or four elementals will always make it together with you.

I don't know if Spirit of Flame works on your summoned fire elementals (if someone knows for sure, pray tell), but it will help you area damage fire spells. Spell Penetration (2) will help you get past resistances and affect some tough opponents. Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus are good ways to offset lower casting level that is due to multiclassing.

 

I dont think he'd get much use from Spirit of Flame. AFAIK there arent that many offensive fire based clerical spells. Clerics are supposed to have strong defence magic, so you could save feats by not taking any spell focuses, since you dont need any for buffs. IMO this would work better, but you'd need, again, spells that augment your damage potential.
With weapon specialisation, i'm doing 4-9 damage per hit now. Nothing great, but it's enough combined with spells for malarites and goblin fortress. You will be at least lvl3 in monk level at this stage, so 2-9 is the range for you without any buffs.

What do you mean by this?
Focuses affect DC, which is independant of the caster level. If anything Spell penetration helps with this, since it's the caster level that matters when determining whether the spell breaches Spell Resistance or not.

 

Hmm, interesting advice. The crossbow tactic is working so far as it does far more damage than melee at this point. Arya's low strength means that she is pretty much running around and firing her crossbow. The only thing that is keeping her alive in Shaengarne is her good AC, high hit points, and general resistance to most of the Orc Shaman spells.

As far as her cleric spells go, ones that she can cast before engaging the enemy (i.e. buffs) are most useful because as a solo she wastes valuable fighting time if she casts too many spells in battle. I will try that Faerie Fire idea though as I have not used that before.

Summons are not so useful yet as all she can summon is that little puppy who is not much use against Orcs.

At this stage I think that saving Shaengarne Bridge will be pretty tough as I can't see how she could fight through all those enemies and get to the ogres in time. Any specific tactics for this encounter would be appreciated.

 

Arya Stark? a monk/cleric? (if you dont get it, nevermind )

Hehe, the little puppy for help o_0

For the bridge. By that time i was level 8 or 9 already, i reckon you'll be 9 or perhaps even 10 as well. Anyway, i had a potion of Invisibility saved from the orc camp (i killed the villagers ) so i drank it immediately, went straight for the ogres, smashed them with my weapon specialisation and mirror image, all in all had a really easy time already.
So, i advise the same for you, i doubt you could dispatch those 2 groups of monsters that are in your way to the bridge in time. Hide is a no-go since you're in their sight all the time and the area is near to bursting with enemies everywhere. The wizard speaks to you and thus detects you even if you're invisible. i belive it's int that gives you an automatical option of seeing through her plan. Or charisma, though i'd sooner belive it's Intelligence.
So, she speaks to you, though the other monsters remain oblivious to your presence (masterwork AI, again). Then she proceeds to cast a few spells, i belive one is hold, you shouldnt have problems with that. The next one's area of effect damaging, so by then it'd be a good idea to have baddies swarming around you and preferably be near one of the ogres (though, you shouldnt be lacking time to kill the off this way). There isnt much strategy from there on, really. Kill everything period. Got time to spare, so it shouldnt be a big problem.

 

Yes yes, Arya should really be a human monk/rogue but I didn't rate my chances with that build so she mutated into a drow monk / cleric.

The monk / cleric has to be lawful good so Arya would never abandon the villagers and will therefore not have the invisibility potion by the time she reaches the bridge. Maybe she'll just have to run really fast.

 

I tried to solo a fighter 4/monk X so my help may or may not be helpful. (I couldn't finish the last chapter but I put my ability lv ups into str instead of dex/wis so I had a low ac). These are the things that helped me:

* Weapon expertise is a must have.

* Buy the Ring of Mage Armor, it will improve your ac by 4, but only last for 1 hour. Also a must have. (any class can use it, I used it for the entire game)

* Buy exrta healing potions from the temple not Oswald. (you dont want to use up the potions he sells, you will need them later)

* Oswald sells a potion that is essentially a fireball in a flask. Although expensive, they are very effective when severly outnumbered. (orc fortress + the bridge)

* Use Hide in shadows to save the village instead of the potion.

* Use weapons instead of fist. (I suggest Mace) Only use fist to stun the opponet (almost never).

Beware, the the orc fortress is the hardest part you will face until you reach ch 4-5. (since you are cleric these chapters shouldn't be as hard for you). Since you will never reach lv 20 in monk, I would suggest you take only enough monk lvs to get improved evasion or the extra magic resistance.

 

Martin rocks. Arya doesn't quite. The last Targaryen girl is more like The One. Oh well...

I managed to save Shaengarne with a fighter with STR and CON penalty. Hehehe... At that point, she had some ranger and monk levels. Ultimately, she received paladin levels, but the first paladin level came at character level 11 and given ECL+1 (aasimar), I suppose it was somewhat further in the game than Shaengarne. So no ubersaves at that time.

 

Interesting point re: Oswald's potions. I hadn't thought of that. What temple are you referring to?

Also, will the Painbearer skills (Pain Touch, Ilmater's Endurance) ever be of any use?

 

I can't think of the name right now; I'm talking about the tent like thing in the northwest part of town. The lesser healing potions are in infinite amount while only twenty or so greater healing potions are available.

When soloing I had an extra potion bag just for healing potions. I drank them like water. Since you're a cleric you shouldn't have this problem as much.

I am not familar with the Painbearer's skills and cannot help.

 

Good stuff. That pavillion also has a few useful items for sale that I had never noticed before. I had never noticed the coin button there before and had only ever seen the healing for sale. I will make sure to look out for hidden items for sale by other healers. I'm now stocked up on healing potions.

 

^ same for me. Just noticed it yesterday when I were playing my solo monk. That ring of +1 Wisdom sure comes in handy...