DISCLAIMER:
I do not pretend to be greatest BG2 player on the planet; I just muddle through as best I can. If you have a better way of doing something, I have a pad and pencil ready.
(see the "Solo Sorceror" thread, also)
I'm playing core D&D rules with no mods and avoiding anything really "cheesy". To me, there is a huge difference between being smart and cheating like hell (shrug). I did use CLUA to get a Bag of Holding, which is a necessity and is not available in SoA.
Umar Hills and Temple (not the dragon, yet). . . Tenser's Transformation and Agannazer's Scorcher were very useful, along with Melf's Meteors(of course). These and a few summoned III critters got me through. Scorcher is surprisingly useful when you aren't worried about frying your team members. Keep this in mind when selecting spells; some spells that are nearly useless with a team become potent weapons when there's nothing in front of you but enemies.
Linvale's 3rd errand (Bodhi & Co.). . . I would suggest that you be Lvl 15 and able to summon Skeleton Warriors or defeating the vampires in the passage leading to the "room of blood and blades" could be tough. You'll also need Truesight, Pierce, Breach and a Protect From Undead scroll (maybe 2). Those and some meteors did the trick. Btw, Scorcher worked great in the room downstairs.
I used Korgan for his little quest only because he tells you where to go next (to Pimlico's Estate and to the roof of the CC). I made a mistake in actually using him for combat and he used up several precious healing potions.(sigh)
Healing is a problem, since I have no "internal" healing and must rely totally on potions. I'm headed for the sewers now to buy the 10 from what's-his-face; hopefully they will last a while. While I'm there, I'll take a crack at that group in the NW corner.(cringe)
Well, I decided to do the Planar Sphere, instead. I remembered that there were some potions there, too, and they're free.
The only "trick" here is to use Valygar to A) get into the sphere B) talk to Lavok and C) to carry Lavok outside. He's nearly useless, anyway, so why have him sharing XP? The only things I couldn't handle were 2 Adamanite Golems; I just don't have enough brute force to knock them down (my THACO is 12). The fight with the Demon outside consisted of 3 summoned skeleton warriors, a quick spell trigger of Pierce/Breach/(forgot), back away, go invisible and watch the fun.
It is now late on Day 16; I just recently got Lvl 16; after paying 9K gold for the mage and paying about 12K for a fresh fire wand, I've still got about 7K and I've bought everything useful except for healing potions. I'll tackle those guys in the sewer while I'm waiting for the mages and apprentices to show up tomorrow and pick up those other 10 potions while I'm at it. A little voice tells me I'm gonna need 'em sooner or later.
Sewer fight ... sent 2 skeleton warriors in to occupy the fighters while I concentrated on Gaius; I've learned that you've GOT to knock him down quickly to win this battle. I hit him with a Pierce/
Breach/Emotion trigger; the Emotion element is to hopefully put at least 2 critters to sleep, which it did. Then I just used meteors to kill Gaius and to help the skeletons dispatch the rest of the group.
After picking up the healing potions and killing the Rakshasa and the green troll (no need to detail those), I thought I'd try the Twisted Rune (Bridge District...rogue stone...you know the one).
Aren't liches fun?
I got lucky here because I'm not really strong enough, yet. After protecting myself with Spell Turning, Resist Fear, Stoneskin and a haste potion, on the 4th or 5th try, I simply outlasted the lich and finally beat him to death with my trusty staff mace! The rest of this fight is pretty straightforward (spell turning the Beholder, etc.). To kill Layene, I used my trusty Pierce/Breach/whatever trigger ... once her limited defenses are down, she's a soft target but be quick about it or she can get nasty. I just started the apprentices on the dagger and sent the Knights of Solamnia home, which got me to Lvl 17, where I added Elemental Protection and Mord's Sword to my arsenal. The dagger won't be ready for 4 days so I'm off to Trademeet to battle a billion trolls.
Trademeet ... used Mord's Sword, Scorcher and Meteors on the trolls. I'm getting better with "sweeping" with Scorcher; it just takes a little practice. Tenser's and a couple of skeleton warriors took care of the Rakshasa. My only problem was that I wasn't watching the clock and restored Raissa instead of going to the marketplace; I ended up juuust missing the merchant and had to rest (kill) 8 hours in Trademeet and THEN make the 16-hour trip back to Athkatla.(sigh) Now I'll probably have to rest again soon.
I'm going to try to do the Haer'dalis quest and the estate in the Temple District in time to start the apprentices on the scroll (17 hours from now).
The "estate fights", especially the one upstairs were easier solo than with a team. I'm finding that Mord's Swords, meteors and Scorcher are a lethal combination, plus they allow me to stay on the periphery of the fight and out of harm's way. Upstairs, I used a trigger of Emotion and 2 skeleton warriors to disable and distract the 4-5 critters. I knew that there were traps around me that I couldn't see, so I stayed stationary and used a Mord's Sword to handle anything close in, then sent the sword after the main critter party. The whole fight took about 2 minutes (real time). I had to take a small hit from one of the traps to pick up all of the goodies but c'est la vie.
Haer'dalis (part 1)... used Mord Swords to take out Mephits and Umber Hulks; I forget exactly what I used on the mage but it wasn't anything weird. My only problem was the trap in front of the altar; I had to try a couple of times to get a trap that didn't kill me.
Haer'dalis (part 2)... cast meteors and prepared a trigger of Emotion/skeleton warrior/truesight before going in. The bounty hunter on the left when you walk in is the key critter and he goes invisible, so you need truesight to target the meteors. Once he was down, I threw a Mord in to help the skeleton with the rest of the critters. The Sword took out everything in my path, including the wyvern, 2 huge air elementals and the warden guy. I was just a spectator! The last fight consisted of 1 Dragon's Breath.
It is late on Day 21, the apprentices have started on the scroll and I'm off to Nalia's place. After a painfully slow start, my solo character is now probably stronger than the game is set up for. Getting ALL of the XP makes a huge difference. At this point, I'm only nervous about beholders, flayers and dragons; other than that, I think I can blow away anything that dares cross my path. (how's that for arrogance?) I'm also curious to see what happens with the Greater Werewolf in Windspear; I've always had to lure him into a room and slam the door and it would be fun to whup his furry butt.
Nalia's castle was uneventful ... Mord Swords, Scorcher, etc.
Eyeless Cult ... same routine until the room right before you go into the Beholders' lair. In the past, the worst critter was 1 Greater Mummy; this time, perhaps because of my high level (?), I ran into a Lich and 2 GM's, plus the Skeleton Warriors, Ghouls and other assorted baddies. A Pierce/Breach/Fireball trigger aimed at the lich, followed by an Incendiary Cloud and a couple of Dragon's Breaths pretty much solved the problem.
The lair proved tricky. Spell Turning works only sorta; the Beholders and Gauths ignored summoned helpers and went right for me and the helpers take too long to dispatch them, anyway. I ended up using Dragon's Breath to fry 'em; not very elegant but it worked.(shrug) Two cloudkills took care of the blind priests.
If anyone is still paying attention to this post, I have a question:
Waaay back when you create your character, a sorceror may or may not get Light Heal as an innate ability. If you don't have it, how would you "heal" the Guardian of Amaunator? A sorceror can't use healing scrolls and there's no way to hand him a potion. Are you just SOL?
As soon as the apprentices finish the scroll and start on the ring, I'm off to Windspear. If I survive that, I do the Flayers in the sewer, pick up the ring and head for Spellhold. This raises another question: do I keep Imoen? Hmmmm.
I survived Windspear but still couldn't take down the 3 (yes, 3) Greater Werewolves. If anybody knows how to kill these @#$%^ things, puhleeze tell me. I used Tenser's and Black Blade to take out Samia's group and those 2, plus Elemental Protection, to do the 6 genies. I had to use a few healing potions but the Ring of Gaxx really heals me quickly.
The flayers under the Temple District were easy ... summon 2 Mord Swords, open the door, run like hell to avoid psionic blasts, repeat as needed.
I've picked up the Ring of Wizardry and am ready to board the ship for Spellhold. It took exactly 30 days. With more careful planning, it could probably be done in 28 days.
This will be my last entry. I'm basically a high-level (22) Sorceror with equipment easily found in the game (Robe of Vecna, Amulet of Power, etc.) and an assortment of spells through Lvl 9, plus 3-4 "abilities". Anyone familiar with the game and the Sorceror class should be able to go solo; just expect to start s-l-o-w-l-y until the XP starts piling up. It does add a new twist to an already great game.
