Q: Fastest time through BG2?

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Things to remember:
- Exiting Irenicus' Dungeon.
Clock is set forward to 07.00.

This means if you exit ID on 0 days 6 hours it'll be 0 days 7 hours when you get out, but if you exit on 0 days 8 hours it'll be 1 days 7 hours instead!

- Leaving for Brynnlaw.
Clock is set forward to the end of seven days from the time you leave.

This means that if you leave on 0 days 23 hours you arrive on 8 days 0 hours, but if you leave on 1 days 1 hours you 'll arrive on 9 days 0 hours!

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By accident I found a thread (on another forum) about speeding through BG2 and doing it solo no less.
Best solo time through BG2 appears to be 9 days 19 hours... now that guy knows his way around BG2.

 

My fastest time through was within 44 days 13 hours (last finalsave date) with Sir Galahad, of course a halfling cavalier.

 

Any idea what character he (-or she) solo'd?

That is bare minimum stuff at a guess!

 

To solo at record speed you need stealth and/or invisibility and obviously a fast movement. This means Thief, Monk and Berserkers are good. F/M/T or F/T are great ones.

You spend the first day between 07.00 and 20.00 or so getting important stuff like Boots of Speed, constantly using potions to move faster until you get them.

 

I just got through the game yesterday and it took something like 50-55 days. I did a lot of quests and my cavalier was lvl 17.

 

I'm on 70+ and only in Underdark. Having said that, as it is my first campaign, I think taking my time exploring and making Oh So Many mistakes is more important than to finish it quickly.

That for me is a later challenge requiring a strategy I've yet to work out....

 

I started a new solo character (elf F/M/T) today.

Quests done:
Circus in Waukeens
Hendaks slavers in CC
Slavers in Slums d.
Montaron in Docks d.
Rescue Haer'Dalis in Temple d.
Planar Prison in Bridge d.
Guarded Compound in Temple d.
Twisted Rune in Bridge d.

The time is now 0 days 20 hours

Problem is there might not be enough time to do Kangaxx (to get his ring) before nightfall. Once nightfall all time must be used to finish Aran's quests or else I won't make the ship before midnight.
It was silly of me to do the Montaron quest since it's of no use and probably cost me an hour.

I'm gonna get some sleep now and resume playing later today...

 

Hmm, I stopped the quest silly me. I have a general question on this topic. What mono character to use? I haven't gotten past my update because I have been fooling around with the classes. Here's how I see it

1. Healings are very usefull because it reduces the need for sleep

2. Fighting skills is an absolute must. If he can't crush his enemies, then how to finish the game?

3. Character must be strong the entire game.
This means no dc, no monks who are extreme in the end but not in the beginning.

4. My gamelevel is the lowest, so basically damage isn't the biggest problem. Rather imprisonment and the likes. magic imunity would be nice

5. He should have a weapon that hits everything. Maybe I should have sticked to my archer with the sling, but I stopped because the original intention was to dc him, which didn't work

Of course no character has all this, so a compromise must be made. ideas?

 

F/M/T must be the wise solution. Specialize in pickpocket and sell goods and wands to gain money. Steal them back and use them. Don't get into more moral issues of abusing the game in the sense of reality.

Work for shadow thieves and go to spellhold. Caves of Underdark is an excellent way to gain XP if you have explored the underwater city of Suhuagin. Not much more to say. Rest is up to reloads, patience and efficiency.

[This message has been edited by Ramses (edited January 13, 2002).]

 

I bet a Jester could solo just fine and in record time!

* Pick pocketing to gain easy money, needed for Spellhold.
* Mage spells to open doors.
* Song confuses enemies, meaning you can easily slip by them.

 

Yay! I made it!

Final time 9 days 20 hours.

Here is how the time was spent:
- Day 0:
Hours 0-6 in Irenicus Dungeon
Hours 7-23 in Athkatla
- Day 2-7: Travelling to Brynnlaw
- Day 8:
Hours 0-2 Brynnlaw & Spellhold
Hours 3-6 Underdark
Hours 6-24 Travelling to Athkatla
- Day 9:
Hours 0-1 Athkatla
Hours 2-17 Travelling to Suldanesselar
Hours 18-19 Suldanesselar etc.

F/M/T is a superb choice for this since this character can use almost any item.

Especially important items were:
Boots of Speed
Azuredge (for killing undeads)
Celestial Fury (stunning)
Staff of the Magi (invisibile)

It took roughly 12 hours real time to do this.

Edited:
Saves are available if anyone is interested.

[This message has been edited by Earl Grey (edited January 13, 2002).]

 

Earl Grey:

a) Could you send those saves over my way? Email is "stevpear@yahoo.com"

b) Want some more solo challenges?

- Bard/Bard kit. I'm doing a Blade.
- Druid/Druid kit.
- Do not buy items from any shop!
- Complete the game with as few kills as possible.

 

I picked barbarian.
improved speed: no need to explain
immune to backstab: ahh thieves
Rage: helps vs all those spells which are annoying to a soloist, well most of them anyways.
lots of hps and imunities to weapons: very usefull. Prevents you from running to priests.

mc is not a good idea in my humble opinion, because they start with little hps. personally I thought the monk was rather weak in the beginning of the game.

for invisibility you can use potions, no need to pick a thief for that alone. traps are hardly deadly on easy. Beserker would have been a good choice indeed, but I chose barbarian, because I think he has just the ammount of extra power I need

Thanks for the extra clock info Earl Grey. It's appreciated. I'm going to try and beat your time.

 

Earl Gray,

Well done, although a but sick.

2 questions: What dif level? and Why not Daystar for undead?

 

I am very impressed! Did you rest a single time, not counting the travel to spellhold? Some more details would be appreciated. Start a topic in creativity surge maybe?

 

Day 9 hour 0. I just arrived in spelhold.
oops restart....


[This message has been edited by StressedE (edited January 14, 2002).]

 

Viking and Joachin you will both get an answer if you look at his time line. Daystar only works once per rest. There is no time to rest in this schedule only the first 23 hours in Atkathla allows a sleep.

 

DOH!

Forgot about that. Only just picked it up, and haven't actually used it yet.

 

Saves:
I'm putting up a few saves on http://www.geocities.com/earlgreyi/speed.html
Edited: Ok, the speed solo page is now finished with 13 saves to choose from.

Game configuration:
- ToB installed with patch 26498
(http://www.bioware.com/games/throne_bhaal/support/patches/)
- Azuredge fix from Baldurdash
(http://members.home.net/mrkevvy/ToB/Fixes/Imports/FixedBG2Azuredge.zip)

@StressedE
Potions for invisibility is one way of doing it, the disadvantage is that it's another thing you have to stock up on. That's why getting Staff of the Magi is so good.

@Viking
Normal difficulty level. I play on normal, because I like the way it handles HP's and spell learning.
Daystar is not a bad idea. If your character can't use scrolls it gives you a one-shot undead killer once it gets "recharged" on the trip to Brynnlaw.
Come to think of it, will it get recharged if you sell it to a store and buy it again?

@joacqin
No rest.

More general gameplay comments
- Avoid battle whenever possible unless the enemy has something you want.
- Steal/resell to get cash if you're a thief. This is IMO kind of cheesy but it's part of what thieves do.
- Do Kangaxx' quest then pickpocket him instead of fighting him to save time.

- Start char info
Chaotic Good (Only CG or LG can use Azuredge)
Str 9 (annoyingly low at first - must get strength belt asap)
Dex 19
Con 16
Int 18 (possibly a waste of stat points)
Wis 18
Cha 10
High (100) Lockpick and Trapfind skills. Used potions to get pickpocket up when stealing.
Katana **
Axe **
Single weapon Style *(*)

What more can I tell you?

[This message has been edited by Earl Grey (edited January 14, 2002).]

Hey Archangel! You liked my coffecup, did you?

[This message has been edited by Earl Grey (edited January 14, 2002).]

 

*High Five* Earl Grey. That time is awesome. Wooohooo. You are the best!

EDITED; LOL, ROTFL "CoffeeCup.gif"

[This message has been edited by ArchAngel (edited January 14, 2002).]