Wild mage solo and other BG questions
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:01 pm
I posted something similar in the ToB forum, but it seems that hardly anyone visits there compared to here. Is there a reason for this? Don't most people who play BG2 have ToB?
I haven't played the BG games in quite a while and I thought that I'd take another run through. It's been long enough since I played that I don't remember how BG2 ends (Spellhold and on is a little fuzzy) or really anything from ToB. Anyway, I have some questions on my strategy.
Originally, I was started a Fighter in BG1 which I would kit to a Kensai and then dual to a mage in BG2. I've never done a Kensai/Mage. I hear it's cheese, but I was interested for the sake of a different experience. However, while downloading the patches for the game, I came across this "Journal of Elmonster" which was a solo mage guide type of thing for BG2. I thought it was pretty cool and would offer the "twist" for which I was looking in the K/M. Because I don't want spoilers, I didn't read the Elmonster guide past the second chapter.
So I restarted BG1 with a mage. However, instead of playing a vanilla mage, I plan to kit to a Wild Mage for BG2. I've heard that there was some cheese with the wild mage, but I just want to play one for the wild surges. Here's what I rolled up for BG1:
Levendis
CN Elven Mage
Str 18
Dex 18
Con 15
Int 18
Wis 16
Cha 8
+ Missile Weapons
Yeah, I know a 93-point character is a little cheese (especially considering he'll be 100-points after the tomes), but he's a solo character, so I'm cutting him some slack (that first assassin in FAI was a pain until I thought to use blindness). Still, I bet if I were to knock Strength down to 8-10 it wouldn't matter too much. As is, I've yet to be able to force a single lock, which was my main reason for pumping Strength.
I've been purely solo except for two situations. First, I accepted Imoen after the Prologue to get the wand of MM and because I didn't want to just leave her in the woods. She only helped kill a single gibberling (though I technically took it out with a single crit from a sling). Also, I picked up Garrick only to get Algernon's Cloak. I could have just taken out Algernon and taken the minor hit to reputation, but it seemed kind of excessive to kill the guy.
As of now, I just finished the Naskel mines and am getting ready to clear out all the outdoorsy stuff before hitting up the bandit camp. Anyway, I have some questions about how to go about the later parts of the game, as well as getting by in BG2.
1) I noticed that summons/charmed creatures can't set off traps. Is there anything other than MI for dealing with traps. And does that work with area effect traps? If not, how does one handle an AE trap?
2) I want to be able to complete NPC quests in BG2. However, some quests require keeping a character around for quite a while before it's triggered. Is there a way that I can "force" a quest's progression? I know that this makes the game technically not purely solo. However, this is less about the achievement of doing a purely solo game and more about just a different experience.
3) Obviously, I won't be doing romances, but I'd still like to run through Jah's quests (that druid house, and Baron Ployer). Can I force those along as well?
4) While the Wild Mage sounds fun, and I can get around the lack of flexibility compared to the Sorc has with wish-resting, I'm almost tempted to solo a Sorc instead and just Shadowkeep in the golden pantaloons. However, if I do that, I'd loose the wild surges. I'm looking to hear opinions on this.
5) And what about Mods (BG1 or BG2)? I'm not looking for the improved enemies mods, but mods that add more quests/adventures. Obviously, I'm not concerned with XP (I'm sure that I'll cap out quickly enough), but I just wanted to add more to the game. Any thoughts?
6) Lastly, I just wanted to hear any non-spoiler general thoughts about soloing a Wizard through the whole series.
Thanks.
I haven't played the BG games in quite a while and I thought that I'd take another run through. It's been long enough since I played that I don't remember how BG2 ends (Spellhold and on is a little fuzzy) or really anything from ToB. Anyway, I have some questions on my strategy.
Originally, I was started a Fighter in BG1 which I would kit to a Kensai and then dual to a mage in BG2. I've never done a Kensai/Mage. I hear it's cheese, but I was interested for the sake of a different experience. However, while downloading the patches for the game, I came across this "Journal of Elmonster" which was a solo mage guide type of thing for BG2. I thought it was pretty cool and would offer the "twist" for which I was looking in the K/M. Because I don't want spoilers, I didn't read the Elmonster guide past the second chapter.
So I restarted BG1 with a mage. However, instead of playing a vanilla mage, I plan to kit to a Wild Mage for BG2. I've heard that there was some cheese with the wild mage, but I just want to play one for the wild surges. Here's what I rolled up for BG1:
Levendis
CN Elven Mage
Str 18
Dex 18
Con 15
Int 18
Wis 16
Cha 8
+ Missile Weapons
Yeah, I know a 93-point character is a little cheese (especially considering he'll be 100-points after the tomes), but he's a solo character, so I'm cutting him some slack (that first assassin in FAI was a pain until I thought to use blindness). Still, I bet if I were to knock Strength down to 8-10 it wouldn't matter too much. As is, I've yet to be able to force a single lock, which was my main reason for pumping Strength.
I've been purely solo except for two situations. First, I accepted Imoen after the Prologue to get the wand of MM and because I didn't want to just leave her in the woods. She only helped kill a single gibberling (though I technically took it out with a single crit from a sling). Also, I picked up Garrick only to get Algernon's Cloak. I could have just taken out Algernon and taken the minor hit to reputation, but it seemed kind of excessive to kill the guy.
As of now, I just finished the Naskel mines and am getting ready to clear out all the outdoorsy stuff before hitting up the bandit camp. Anyway, I have some questions about how to go about the later parts of the game, as well as getting by in BG2.
1) I noticed that summons/charmed creatures can't set off traps. Is there anything other than MI for dealing with traps. And does that work with area effect traps? If not, how does one handle an AE trap?
2) I want to be able to complete NPC quests in BG2. However, some quests require keeping a character around for quite a while before it's triggered. Is there a way that I can "force" a quest's progression? I know that this makes the game technically not purely solo. However, this is less about the achievement of doing a purely solo game and more about just a different experience.
3) Obviously, I won't be doing romances, but I'd still like to run through Jah's quests (that druid house, and Baron Ployer). Can I force those along as well?
4) While the Wild Mage sounds fun, and I can get around the lack of flexibility compared to the Sorc has with wish-resting, I'm almost tempted to solo a Sorc instead and just Shadowkeep in the golden pantaloons. However, if I do that, I'd loose the wild surges. I'm looking to hear opinions on this.
5) And what about Mods (BG1 or BG2)? I'm not looking for the improved enemies mods, but mods that add more quests/adventures. Obviously, I'm not concerned with XP (I'm sure that I'll cap out quickly enough), but I just wanted to add more to the game. Any thoughts?
6) Lastly, I just wanted to hear any non-spoiler general thoughts about soloing a Wizard through the whole series.
Thanks.