Questions about Soloing

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I'm thinking about soloing SoA and ToB before I start to put mods on the game and play those, so I have some questions.
Please note before you answer I don't have mods on the game now, I am not putting any on until after I've soloed, and I don't have ShadowKeeeper

1. Class - which class to take? My thoughts on this are bonus XP for thief skills, lockpick, disarm trap and trap setting abilities useful. Also there's scroll reading XP and with 'Erase spell' this can be really useful with the multiples of the same scroll. So do I play a Mage/Thief or even Fighter/Mage/Thief to take advantage of these? Summoned creatures could be used to set off traps etc but how would they open a trapped door? With the multi-class characters I would lose accessto the kits, would this be that great a loss?

2. Playing Solo - Is this really playing solo or just semi-solo? For instance once Imoen frees me do I tell her to go away? How would that affect the game? I've just removed the raison d'etre for the first half of the game if I don't take her.

3. Quests - In most cases I can take the quest without the person joining the party, but in some cases it can be advantageous havingthem in your party, for instance Yoshimo's betrayal if you release the geas, Keldorn's marital problems, Anomen's ascension etc etc.

I'll probably come up with more as I think more about it. TIA

 

1. The F/M/T is probably the most common solo for the exact reason you listed. However, since your main character will be getting ALL the XPs, and you aren't going to install any mods, you'll find this character to get dull after a while, as you will hit the 8 million XP cap before you even finish SoA. So don't worry about erasing and re-scribing scrolls - you'll have more XPs than you'll need. The other bummer with this combination (if you don't install the XP disabler) is not only will you never level in ToB because you've already maxed out your XPs, you also won't have access to 9th level spells, because you need 3 million XP in your mage class to get them. (You'll be just short at 2,666,666 XPs in each class.)

2. Not taking Imoen has no effect on game play.

3. This is the main reason why I don't solo. I like the interaction with party members. The only quest that you may have a slight problem with is the planar sphere. Valygar is required to enter, so you'll have to take the "evil" path here and kill him and bring back his body to enter the sphere. That having been said, I don't think there are any major quests that require you to have person X in the party. All the quests that give strongholds and all the core story line quests can be completed going solo.

 

So I'd need to remove the XP cap, I can accept that, that is probably here on SP I assume? Not only do I want access to the 9th level spells there's also the HLA's I'd want to have. Thanks Aldeth

 

You would still get HLAs regardless. HLAs kick in as soon as you acheive a total of 3 million XPs. So with a F/M/T, you'll get them as soon as you hit 1 million in each class (since at that point, you've earned a total of 3 million). Since you'll have three classes, and can pick from any of the HLAs from all three classes regardless of which one leveled, you'll have a TON of HLAs.

The problem with 9th level spells is that you need 3 million in each class (9 million total) and without the disabler (which should be in the miscellaneous menu on SP) you are allowed only 8 million total.

 

IIRC triple class characters were bugged so that they could not select the whole set of HLAs, and there was a fix somewhere?

 

Yes, but the real problem is the number of slots. Even with the fix (which gives you back the HLAs for the extra 6th, 7th, and 8th level spells), there are other HLAs missing, simply because there are not enough spots on the HLA screen to put them all. IIRC, Warcry is one of those missing HLAs; you wouldn't know it if you weren't looking for it, but if you look you can't find which ones are missing.

 

Yes, but as Fel points out, you get the ones you'll want. The ones missing are like War Cry - HLAs that wouldn't really be selected anyway. It's not like you get screwed out of the bonus thief traps, or GWW, or the 10th level mage spells.

The interesting thing with the F/M/T, is that you can put off learning the 10th level mage spells for some time - you can't cast them until you get to 9 million XPs anyway.

 

I have to take issue with this, because two of the ones you get screwed out of with the fix are the Deathblow and Greater Deathblow HLAs. They're two of my favorites for taking down Mind Flayers, Umber Hulks, or any other confusing/stunning enemies. I nearly uninstalled the fix because of that.

 

C/M - Healling, Protection from evil, summoning and spell sequencers, should remove the 5 summon limit though.

 

I like the idea of soloing a Barbarian, but it might not be great for a first timer. They eventually get damage reduction, so if you're taking very little damage (possibly even regenerating through Rage and items later), and dishing out tons of it, you should theoretically breeze through the game.

 

Ok I went to do the Xp cap remover bit from here and there's 3 of them!! So which one do I use?

For those interested I've rolled my character, she's a Neutral Evil Mage/Thief
Str 12
Dex 18
Con 16
Int 18
Wis 16
Cha 3

 

Actually, on the subject of XP cap removers, I've got one (comes with TDD, I believe?) and when I level Viccy past 40, all her cleric spells disappear making her useless. Whyfore?

 

@Darkstrider:

Since you only take two classes you can cast level 9 spells and get all HLAs without modding your game.
There is no need to use an XPCap remover.

The 'Safe' XPCap' remover just removes the XPCap without altering the in-game mechanics, allowing your character to reach level 40 in both classes.

The other programs change the in-game mechanics. They make your game easier by changing saving throws for example. They allow level 50.


@Daie d'Malkin:

If you follow DarkStrider's link you will be enlightened.

 

1. It all depends on whether you get the Ease Of Use mod, which has the installable option of removing ALL traps and locks, making a full combat character possible( I think it's EOU, can anyone clarify this?). If not, then what the other guys said. If so, then whatever, although a solo Monk becomes ultra-powerful very early on. I was up to HLAs by the time I'd finished chapter 2.

2. What Aldeth said.

3. I would usually take a character on board just to do their specific quest then kick them out again.

 

Go with a R/C. Or a C/T. I think that Sorcerers has got a describtion for a solo R/C. I would under any circumstances take a MC through solo simply because the more abilities you got. Perhaps - for you - a F/M/T will be too easy? By the way I think SimDing made a mod wich enabled enemys/creatures to activat traps, but how it works I don't know.

 

I guess if you're soloing, it would be useful to have deathblow and Greater Deathblow. For me, I usually play in a party, and when I'm doing areas like the D'Arnise Keep, and the Mind Flayer Lair in the Underdark, I don't have access to those HLAs yet. Similarly, I don't have tons of specific equipment like charm protection and the like to protect my characters.

The time when creatures like Mind Flayers and Umber Hulks pose the greatest problem is the time when having HLAs isn't yet an option. By the time I'm in late SoA or ToB, and have access to those HLAs, I usually have excellent saving throws, not to mention charm protection and the like from equipment, meaning that these creatures are no longer a problem, and a such, I view spending points of deathblow and greater deathblow as a waste. Those HLAs don't alter the chance of my being affected by their abilities, and since they are going to die after a whack or two anyway, killing them quickly isn't an issue. I prefer to carry around equipment that gives charm protection and protection against psionics and other things that lower saving throws. If you can avoid their abilities, they aren't worth wasting an HLA to kill.

 

Well guess what? This topic is about soloing, not parties, where it is helpful to have those HLAs, and you get them about halfway through SoA so it does make a difference. And for the record, the only two items I've ever found that blocked psionics are the Brine Potions (which you have to go through Mind Flayers to even get ), and the Psion's Blade deep in Watcher's Keep. Meanwhile, HLAs can be gotten anywhere that will give you XP for levels.

Good saving throws aren't a big deal when you've got half a dozen flayers shooting their psionic energies at you. Even given perfect saving throws, that's still about a quarter of the time that you get stunned. For that matter, they don't even need the stun if you take too long to kill them, because even with an obscenely low AC they can still hit you on criticals, again showing up with a better than 25% chance to hit you at least once just in one round. And this is on Core Rules difficulty, even; I wouldn't want to think how it'd be on Insane difficulty.

Are you playing on Easy, or what? Even an epic monk with a STR belt takes two to three shots. (And again I wouldn't want to imagine how much it'd take on Insane difficulty.)

 

Fel - chill out dude! Maybe I failed miserably to make my point, but in fact I WAS AGREEING WITH YOU. I thought I was making clear in my last post that I was speaking about DB and GDB being non-essential in a party. You are correct that since the topic is about going solo, I should keep my comments within those confines.

If you look at the very first sentence of my previous post, I actually said DB and GDB would be useful if going solo. The rest of my post is an explanation as to why I initially discounted them. (I guess it's a useful skill against vampires as well.)

As for killing MFs and UHs in under a round, it's imminently possible - again assuming you have a PARTY. With my PC, Keldorn and Minsc hacking away and others firing missile weapons for support, it's possible to take out several MF or UH in a single round. However, since I should stick to comments involving solo characters, again, no I can't kill an MF with a single whack or two with a F/M/T. About the only solo characters that have a good chance to kill a mind flayer with a single whack would be something like a Kensai with Kai ability, or obviously any character that successfully backstabs.

 

I saw that. But then the rest is stuff that could lead people down the wrong path of thought, so I felt I had to correct it. I'm sorry if I seemed a little harsh, but I was trying for sarcasm.

Technically, that epic monk I was talking about could do that too, having four attacks per round. But if you've min-maxed your monk (meaning 5 or less INT), preventing mind flayers from getting even one hit in is crucial to survival, and killing four a round is a lot better than one or two. With a character with less melee ability, it ends up being no less crucial because while you'll probably be able to withstand two or three hits without dying, you kill them slower and are thus very nearly as vulnerable. Especially if you don't have the patience to wait until the stat-draining effect wears off before continuing, and chances are, if you're soloing you are that impatient.

 

Good god - that's suicidal. If I'm in the mind flayer lair for example, whenever anyone gets their intelligence drained, they wait it out before continuing into the next room.