Solo Blade: Best Items? Item list? Cool Spell Combos?

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@Faraaz

I got up to level 25 last night after playing for only an hour! The planar sphere itself netted me 3 levels. I haven't touched Umar Hills, The Temple Ruins, the Unseeing Eye, the Graveyard, anything with Aran Lanavil (although I do need to pick up the Amulet of Power), Watchers Keep, and that's just off the top of my head. I picked up a * in flail and warhammer at levels 20 and 24.

I took UAI and IBsong, got myself the Robe of Vecna, Scarlet Ninja and the Simi Helm (although I can't see myself using it too much...only when necessary).

Typical battle prep:
Stoneskin > Draw Upon Holy Might (25 Str) > Mirror Image > Improved Haste > (either) Imp Invis or Mislead w/ Spell Immunity > Offensive Spin once I run in to fight.

That gets me 9 attacks per round at full damage. If I'm feeling aggressive I'll have my Mislead sing an IBS or use the Simi Helm, but quite often there really is no reason for it. For large groups I'll use the wand of Cloudkill to soften them up and interupt spellcasters. Remove Magic works well against Yaun-Ti Mages (I hate those guys) and other spellcasters who Stoneskin/Mirror Image.

I found that Contingency (Helpless): Animate Dead works well, too, since I'm not yet immune to Charm, Confusion, or Hold (Any good items for this? I'm a ways away from the Ring of Free Action). Once I'm out of the battle a Skeleton pops up in my stead. If it doesn't kill the enemy (which it normally does) it buys me enough time to ride out the spell.

Anyway, Blades kick some serious @$$. The're fast and fun to solo.

 

Spell Immunity: Enchantment...1 round per level protection from ALL such spells.

Except of course, from Mind Flayer stuns and what not. For that, you can get potions and stuff in the areas you get them in.

I also highly recommend keeping a Spell Trigger memorized at all times with Improved Haste+Mislead+Tenser's Transformation. You should have Stoneskin on at all times. If caught off guard, just pop one of these babies and you're ready to go.

 

@Faraaz,

For the life of me I can't find a scroll of TT? Is it in any of the merchant shops? It's (I believe) the only spell I'm missing.

In regard to Spell Trigger: I'm assuming you Simi and cast it on your character? How can you do that though w/ your Simi being 60% of your character. I don't believe I'll have that many 6th level spells. Even if restored he doesn't know those spells, he just has the slots open for them, right?

What am I missing here?

 

IIRC theres a scroll of Tenser's Transformation in the screaming statue on the way to the lost city in the Unseeing Eye quest, ( you know, the place you go to get the first half of the rift device) . The container its in is trapped however, and I can't, for the life of me, remember what kind of trap it is.

 

Rudiger,

Thank you sir! Funny thing is I just found the scroll about two hours ago. I put off the Unseeing Eye quest because I didn't remember it having any nencessary items I needed for my character...looks like I was wrong.

Anyway, my Blade is a over-powering beast now. Level 31, all the cool HLA, 8 Offensive and Defensive spins, etc, etc. There really isn't any need for summons anymore. 31st level skull traps take care of large groups of enemies and improved haste + mislead + offensive spin (w/ or w/o TT) takes care of anyone who survived.

And I still have quite a few quests plus Watcher's Keep before I'm off to Spellhold. Sweet, sweet stuff.

 

How do you heal, by the way? Are you managing it with just potions? The Ring of Regen will help a bit, but a 10hps/minute healing heavy damage is going to be painful.

 

Ring of Gaxx.

 

LoneBadger,

In regard to healing, I'm hardly ever hit. I can't remember the last time I used a healing potion, to tell you the truth.

Felinoid is right about the ROGaxx, plus it makes me immue to poison and disease. The Amulet of Power makes me immune to level drain as well.

Defensively I always have Stoneskin on b/c it lasts forever, I can mirror image in a heartbeat, and Spell Immunity: Abjuration takes care of any enemies attempting to dispel my defensives.

Offensively most enemies don't last long enough to touch me. Most battles (save for a bosses or nasty liches) are over in about 2-3 rounds max.

-Draw Upon Holy Might gets my STR to 25 (I'm Neutral--Good)
-9 attacks per round at full damage with Improved Haste, dual wielding CF & Scarlet Ninja (+1 attack/round) + Offensive Spin
-When I need to I'll cast Mislead and SPiv so no one can see me, but I'd say I only cast it about for about 1/3 of my battles.

My favorite weapons are CF, FOA, and Daystar (for Undead). I normally bounce between these weapons depending on the type of enemy I'm facing. I like keeping the Scarlet Ninja b/c of the extra attack per round.

My favorite spell is Skull Trap for large groups of enemies (31D6 Magical damage, save for half...hmmm?), I hardly use anything else, sometimes a flame arrow if there are friendlies around, but even that's a rarity. Remove Magic helps quite a bit, too. Mages who Stoneskin/MI have a tough time saving vs a 30+ level dispel. One or two cuts w/ the CF and they're history.

If I want to get really disgusting, Improved Bard Song gives me +4 to hit/damage along w/ other lovely bonuses. TTransformation gives me a fighters THACO, double hit points, and another +2 to hit/damage (Offensive Spin gives me another +2 to hit/damage as well). Sick, right? In all honestly, though, I rarely need to go that far.

Anyway, Blades are fast and fun to solo. I'm really enjoying my game.

[ September 04, 2005, 05:52: Message edited by: Caspian ]

 

Having experimented, I now see that healing isn't a problem. Because if I'm getting hit, I'm dead anyway. Trying to fight without a bunch of defensive spells is suicide, so don't. On the other hand, with said stack of spells I'm almost impossible to kill.

Found to my disappointment that the Offensive Spin bonus attack is a haste effect, and hence does not stack with the Haste spell. The maxed damage effect is nice with dual katanas, though.

Biggest problem I'm having is traps. Particularly the unavoidable ones that can be triggered multiple times. Seriously thinking of using Ease of Use to remove them.

How long did it take you to get Use Any Item? Obviously you're still in chapter 2, if you're using Draw Upon Holy Might.

 

@LoneBadger - 3 million XP is when you can start getting HLAs. For a bard, that's pretty darn quick.

 

Actually, everybody gets to 3 million at the same speed, except for dual classed characters.

 

LoneBadger,

In regard to offensive spin, although the manuel says it doesn't stack with haste, I'm pretty sure it does. Regardless, Improved Haste + Belm or Scarlet Ninja (both of which you can get fairly early on) will give you 6 attacks per round at full damage, 8 attacks once you hit level 20.

In regard to traps, I always have a few Mirror Images memorized. Cast it before you cast Knock on chests and start looting. As for other traps, just keep Stoneskin on all the time and run with it. There are only a few really bad traps in the game and everything else you can work with.

You'll get to Level 15 fast. Animate Ded will help you until you get to level 24 for your HLA's. I went UAI first and then Improved Bard Song. After that I stocked up on Spike and Time Traps.

You'll get to 3 mil experience fairly quickly. I'm on the 3rd level of Watcher's Keep and I'm at Level 39 with a well over 6 mil xp. I should be level 40 before I even take off for Brynlaw/Spellhold.

Speaking of which, what's the easiest way to fight demons? I'm sick of those punks stunning me all the time. The Ded Magic Zone really blows, too. Any ideas?

PS: Why won't the forum let me post the correct spelling of "ded"?

 

I didn't read the manual - I cast Haste, entered an Offensive Spin and noted that my attacks didn't increase.

 

Hmmm....not too sure what to tell you about the attacks. I just hit level 40 on the 4th level of Watchers Keep. This is as good as I'm getting. I'm still having a great time.

@LoneBadger: What level is your Blade? I was getting my @$$ handed to me in the first dungeon, throwing MMM and praying mephits didn't stun me. Once you're out of there it's smooth sailing.

 

I use Dungeon Be Gone these days - I just hate trudging through there one more time every time I get a new character concept. So the first thing my Blade did was the circus tent, where she did fairly well (when thoroughly buffed). I then got killed 3 or 4 times by the dwarf that attacks you outside the Copper Coronet - normally a trivial combat, but I was out of spells.

 

@LoneBadger

The first dungeon is a necessary evil, IMO, for a Blade. I used all the empty wands to sell-steal-resell with Jayes to get enough cash to get the gear I needed. But you'll do fine either way.

Have you got your magic license yet? What level is your character? You can always start with a few quests that are either combat free or combat light if you don't want to be jumping headstrong into battles. Also, stealing and memorizing spells is a great way to get your character XP early on.

When I started I went from Irenicous' Dungeon to Circus Tent (for Ring of HI) to theiving for gear/spells to Magic license (don't forget to pp for the Ring of the Ram) to get the CF and then to the Planar Prison for Boots of Speed and Meldolic Chain. After that I went Lich hunting for the Daystar and Ring of Gaxx.

That ring of encounters got me the majority of all the gear I needed until I got UAI.

The 3rd Level of Watcher's Keep was the most challenging dungeon I've faced. Too many Dead Magic Zones, next to zero time for prep due to telelportation, and the majority of the demons can see invisible, which made Mislead useless. Not to mention far too many enemies had spell resistence which made my Skull Traps extremely ineffective. I ended up casting Improved Haste just to be able to run away from enemies, and then distracting them with a wand of monster summoning until I was buffed up. Quite a few reloads, but I made it.

 

Something really stupid that I discovered recently was that selling and getting your wands back actually recharges them to about 100 charges per use! I thought that since when I got them, most wands had like 10 charges, there wasn't anypoint...I could do more damage with a Fireball that I cast instead of using a wand all 10 times...

But this is great! And I feel so stupid for realising this so late...after finishing like 60+ runs of BG2 solo!

This is where my post gets on topic ...Blades have a HUGE advantage in the game then...they can just keep using wands. Limited spellcasting doesn't mean jack now!

 

I actually made note of this in the guide Faraaz, although I admit I wasn't being clear about it. If you're not of the packrat mentality, you can even skip the sell-stealing-to-make-enough-gold bit and be armed with some of the most dangerous gear in BG2 right after escaping Irenicus' Dungeon. You just need to steal a few "recharged" wands.
I doubt Mencar and co. could hold a candle against the horde you could potentially conjure up with the Wand of Monster Summoning, for example, or you can empty 5 charges on them from the Wand of Lightning and just watch them all get fried by the bouncing lights - just be sure you don't get yourself fried as well in the process.
And if all else fails, spam cloudkills.

 

THat's what I've been doing...I was playin a Blade recently...gave up after I smashed Firkraag untouched at lvl 15 solo...

That was like 2 hours into the game!

All I used was a Lower MR, Mislead, then spammed Wands of Lightning...oh yeah, a Greater Malison and Skull Trap too...didn't lay a finger on him.

Blades are soo powerful...