GameBanshee Forums

I've tried a few solo games and one thing I've found is that you need effective mass crowd control, particularly at higher levels. I've found that Clerics are actually best at this with Greater Command and Symbol: Hoplessness. The only problem is that they don't fight particularly well. I've also seen lots of people bag Rangers as a vastly underpowered class when compared to Fighters, Barbarians and Paladins.

While I partly agree with this, I've given some thought to this and am considering a Ranger15/Cleric15 split. The reason for all the Ranger levels is this: Favoured Enemies. At level 15 you have a total of 4 Favoured enemies and do +4 damage when fighting any of them, no matter what weapon you use. Consider this against Weapon Specialization, which gives +2 damage with the specific weapon. 15 Levels also gives you access to a few useful Ranger spells, but mainly the ranger spells suck.

15 Cleric levels give you all the crowd control you should need, including 2 castings of Symbol Hoplessness (with enough wisdom, thanks Every God Ring!) and plenty of Greater Commands, particularly if you're a Lorekeeper of Oghma. I think this build could actually work pertty well. Lots of buffs, disabling ability, synergy of ability scores, good base attacks and weapon selection, plus heaps of Hit Points and tha ability to drop a Heal right in the middle of combat if you're getting low! I'm thinking Demarch of Mask, or Lorekeeper of Oghma for the domain spells.

Anyone think of any critical weaknesses this combo can't overcome? I think this guy could do well even in HoF mode, where Symbol etc. are an absolute MUST.

I think that the ranger lev. are a bit of a waste, considering that for 15 lev. you get only +4 dmg towards 4 kind of beasts and an extra minor spellcasting ability. I think you would be much better choosing a paladin (saves, spelcasting ability, immunity to fear, holy avenger an some minor other bonus), or a barbarian (more hp, rage, some resistances, extra speed) or some other mix.

Sure a Paladin/Cleric would probably be a stronger class overall, but then you're stuck being a Painbearer of Illmater.

This is a functional combination, but I like being able to choose other Cleric Orders for their Domain spells. With the Ranger, you get a couple of bonus feats, some elemental damage spells like Call Lightning and Sunscorch, plus a permanent Holy Power effect against 4 of your most hated opponents. I think this guy will do best at the low levels then taper off in power towards the end of the game. I think he's a workable option, but I really wish the Improved 2 weapon fighting feat was available in this game, or your Max. attacks could go over 5 to make 2 weapon fighting better.

I might try a solo Paladin/Cleric as well, just because the idea of Dual wielding Holy avengers is too much to pass up!

Sounds like an interesting character. One problem I'd see is the order that you'd take the levels. If you do a 50/50 split then you wouldn't get heal until you can cast 6th level spells at cleric level 11 (your 21st level) or Symbol of Hopelessness at level at level 13 if you take Oghma (at level 25). So maybe you'd have to go w/ cleric levels first and then ranger levels later in the game?

-ishuman

I don't see level order as a huge issue with that combination. Since its a solo character, the level ups happen really quickly. I've heard of people being level 24 before they even get to the underdark.
But I'm not much of a solo player. It gets dull after a while for me.

It can get a bit boring after a while unless you really enjoy the charcter you've made. I'd love to play a solo pure ranger for example (6 favoured enemies with +6 damage againsyt each? sign me up and hand me that greatsword over there....), but the fact is he just wouldn't be able to cope with many of the situation the game would throw at him.

To survive solo, you need mass disabling/killing effects in the later chapters, the damage from a single spell like Fireball or Cone of Cold etc, just wont be enough to kill your opponents outright, while slower spells like Delayed Blast Fireball are to slow to cast before the enemy is in striking distance. This is why I've gone for the Cleric levels. Three main spells, Greater Command, Heal and Symbol: Hoplessness. These are the equalisers. Other buffs like Bulls Strength, Holy Power and Ironskins don't hurt either. The nearest that the Arcane Spell casters get to these effects are Emotion: Fear, Chaos and again the Symbol's.

I was also thinking of a Bard17/Cleric of Oghma13 build just for fun. the 13 cleric levels would give me all the spells I really need including 1 Symbol: Fear and 1 Symbol: Hoplessness thanks to the domain spells. The Bard levels give me all the I could want (Mirror Image, Blur, Blink, Haste, Emotion: Hope) as well as the always fun Great Shout and Emotion: Fear.