Completed Let's solo Baldur's Gate on Insane (feat. The Codex)

[SCO]

I think you should reconsider soloing bg2 on insane. I just soloed bg and SoA (and most of ToB, got bored before the end) with a fighter/mage/cleric on insane. I guess the cleric gives a bigger advantage than a thief, but halfway through SoA it got ridiculously easy, thanks to the eight million level cap and the whirlwinds and high level mage spells it brought with it. After I left for the asylum (which I did pretty early), I really don't think I died once except because of petrifying traps and such.

Install ascension.

 

[Orgasm]

I dont want a core or party LP.

Core is not a challenge with current rules, especially in BG2.

And party makes me feel that vicarious embarrassment for the dudes who write that retarded dialog with cutout portraits, when I'm skipping it...

Game needs a new rule of "no LOS abuse" to make combat into hard puzzles with dice. Or some AI mod that makes enemy groups follow.

Vote for Solo/insane/new rules/AI mod.

 

[Morbe]

I think you should reconsider soloing bg2 on insane. I just soloed bg and SoA (and most of ToB, got bored before the end) with a fighter/mage/cleric on insane. I guess the cleric gives a bigger advantage than a thief, but halfway through SoA it got ridiculously easy, thanks to the eight million level cap and the whirlwinds and high level mage spells it brought with it. After I left for the asylum (which I did pretty early), I really don't think I died once except because of petrifying traps and such.

Install ascension.

I probably will if I ever get the energy to fire up BG2 again. But doesn't ascension only affect ToB?

 

[marooned]

Congratulations on finishing this! It's been a great and fun read.

About BG2, do it solo, of course. The Codex with a party would be lame. The difficulty, I don't know. Maybe core it's ok at first but when you get to the higher levels the game won't be able to keep up, making it incredible easy. On the other hand, insane would make the start a masochistic task.

 

[ironyuri]

Congratulations on finishing this! It's been a great and fun read.

About BG2, do it solo, of course. The Codex with a party would be lame. The difficulty, I don't know. Maybe core it's ok at first but when you get to the higher levels the game won't be able to keep up, making it incredible easy. On the other hand, insane would make the start a masochistic task.

On core he could probably skip so many shots of trash mob battles in the early parts and focus on battles like Kangaxx. On insane he'd probably have to skip the dragons, Kangaxx and shit like that unless there's some major cheese he can use.

So core solo might make for quality of encounters rather than quantity of fights (and probably a good death count regardless).

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

On core he could probably skip so many shots of trash mob battles in the early parts and focus on battles like Kangaxx. On insane he'd probably have to skip the dragons, Kangaxx and shit like that unless there's some major cheese he can use.

So core solo might make for quality of encounters rather than quantity of fights (and probably a good death count regardless).

Kangaxx is super easy though...the only hard part is when you're fighting him as a normal lich...as a demilich just get spell immunity:abjuration or a protection from magic scroll and he can't do shit to you (of course maybe you are counting this as major cheese).

Dragons would be tougher, depending on whether he can get to level 9 mage spells before the end of SoA. If yes, then they would also be trivial, due to robe of vecna + time stop + improved alacrity + lower resistance. But seeing as he's a triple multiclass I don't know if he can get that much XP by then. Either way though...I still think the battles with the dragons would be winnable with the right buffs, or maybe buying a chain contingency/spell trigger scroll and throwing lower resistance in that.

 

[Morbe]

Dragons would be tougher, depending on whether he can get to level 9 mage spells before the end of SoA. If yes, then they would also be trivial, due to robe of vecna + time stop + improved alacrity + lower resistance. But seeing as he's a triple multiclass I don't know if he can get that much XP by then. Either way though...I still think the battles with the dragons would be winnable with the right buffs, or maybe buying a chain contingency/spell trigger scroll and throwing lower resistance in that.

If he doesn't remove the level cap, he won't get level 9 mage spells even at max level. And of course none of those level 10 spells from ToB.

 

[Zdzisiu]

Go solo, remove the level cap and unleash the true power of Codex on their asses.

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

Dragons would be tougher, depending on whether he can get to level 9 mage spells before the end of SoA. If yes, then they would also be trivial, due to robe of vecna + time stop + improved alacrity + lower resistance. But seeing as he's a triple multiclass I don't know if he can get that much XP by then. Either way though...I still think the battles with the dragons would be winnable with the right buffs, or maybe buying a chain contingency/spell trigger scroll and throwing lower resistance in that.

If he doesn't remove the level cap, he won't get level 9 mage spells even at max level. And of course none of those level 10 spells from ToB.

Well I'll admit I assumed he installed ToB before starting SoA, which auto removes the level cap.

 

[Yeesh]

Congratulations on a truly delightful LP. The Codex at its very finest.

 

[Pussycat669]

Wait a second, you actually really did it?

:shock: ... ... :D ...

(and thanks for the enjoyable read)

 

[Morbe]

Well I'll admit I assumed he installed ToB before starting SoA, which auto removes the level cap.

ToB sets the xp cap to 8 million, so a 3 classed multiclass mage still won't get level 9 mage spells even with ToB installed.

 

[SCO]

My next play through is going to be a solo F/M/C in insane. Pity BWP doesn't work yet on linux.

 

[MicoSelva]

*POLL DESCRIPTION*

Following the great enermous hugigantic success of this LP, I'm planning to do something similar for Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn & Throne of Bhaal. Although, not wanting the formula to become stale, I'm planning some changes that will allow You, noble audience to influence this epic endavour (much more than ever before!), starting immediately.

BG1 was played solo/insane for increased challenge and lulz - maybe even mainly for lulz as it's really a piss-easy game. I could probably finish it blinded, with right hand tied to my left foot, and left hand glued to my forehead. Although the death count would probably increase a bit.

Anyway, BG2 is not as forgiving when played solo (admittedly, with a party it's not very challenging). Trust me - I've been there (finished SoA with a similar F/M/T char, although with stats boosted to over 20, after a few BG1 playthroughs first). I'm not very keen on soloing dragons dealing double damage - especially that I'm planning to install some difficulty enhancing mods (as well as an XP cap removing one). I also don't want to arbitrarily decide on reducing difficulty / adding party members, as I don't know which of the solo/insane options is the main appeal for the readers.

I'm sheding the responsibility leaving the decision to You, noble audience. There are a few possibilities here. I could play solo on Core rules or with a (limited or full) party on Insane. There's also a hybrid option = limited party on Hard. From what I've read ITT the solo option is probably going to win, but I want to give others a chance too - hence the poll.

All options except full party mean we shall follow adventures of our trollelf, The Codex. Full party means a new character, which I'll create later, based on the codex crew that will be submitted. But that's a tale for another time, another thread.

All votes put into the kingcomrade option will be added to another option of my choice at the end of the poll - I haven't yet decided which one I prefer.

Difficulty levels are not very creative and work as follows:

Core: standard D&D rules
Hard: enemies deal 50% more damage
Insane: enemies deal double damage

 

[Yeesh]

Ha ha ha. You're on RPG Codex, and you're asking people if you should change up a winning formula or keep it the same.

Hmmmmm.....

 

[Malakal]

Do BG2 ANY way you want as long as you use the TACTICS mod. FUCK this mod is so hard I couldn't leave the starting dungeon with it installed (granted I didn't want to cheese or use ridiculous tactics or to stealth through). I wanna see someone play this. For added S&M fun do it on insane.

If you are too big of a chicken for that go for something on insane. Perhaps 1+2?

 

[taplonaplo]

Cheesing AI is not what i would call entertaining. It makes you cheese like hell too, which is not exciting at all.

 

[SCO]

Remove the level cap. It's very hard to get to the "level 10" powers anyway.

 

[Serious_Business]

No solo/insane option? An outrage

Have you considered playing through BG again with the same character? I mean, since you probably played through these games 20 times, why not another one? Doesn't this appeal to you? Isn't this game great? What's wrong? :trollface:

 

[Johannes]

Sword Coast Strategems + solo + whatever

 

[baronjohn]

I only finished BG2 solo with a sorcerer and cleric/mage, but it seemed way easier than with a party. Just make sure to get the staff of the magi early.

 

[Hieromancer]

I only finished BG2 solo with a sorcerer and cleric/mage, but it seemed way easier than with a party. Just make sure to get the staff of the magi early.

A solo sorcerer with the Staff of the Magi, Robe of Vecna and Amulet of Power is basically a god by the time level nine spells come around. I've soloed with one as well, and they can clean up anything in the game easily and effectively, and then Wish all of their spells back afterward. The only stat they need for this is 18 wisdom for maximum Wish cheese, as they don't actually have a spell-casting stat.

 

[Leimrey]

I suggest you make the following playthrough:

1. Ascension
2. Sword Coast Strategems 2 (with all difficulty options installed, including the extra tactical challenges and a Tactix Bodhi remix challenge).
3. Remove XP cap
4. Play solo as a wild mage on core rules difficulty
5. Wild Mage Additions mod (optional, but it'll make the game easier due to a new overpowered 9th level spell)
Seriously, there's nothing better than experiencing a wild surge that turns you into a fucking squirell or makes you lose your legs or changes your sex in the middle of some nasty battle. Ofcourse, wild surges can be relatively beneficial at times.

However a Wild Mage has the best chances of soloing the Ascension part of the game as he will be able to basically cast his first level spells as spells of any level (by using the Nahal's Reckless Dweomer + Improved Chaos Shield combo).

Keep in mind, however, that even with a Wild Mage, who may be considered as the strongest spellcasting class at high (20+) levels, the game will be VERY challenging (and by VERY I mean teeth-shatteringly chalenging due to a limited amount of spells, so you'll often have to prepare specific strategies for specific encounters).

Also, should you want to ramp up the difficulty even more, you may install the original Tactics mod by Weimer.

 

[Leimrey]

A solo sorcerer with the Staff of the Magi, Robe of Vecna and Amulet of Power is basically a god by the time level nine spells come around. I've soloed with one as well, and they can clean up anything in the game easily and effectively, and then Wish all of their spells back afterward.

Wishing for Rest is never guaranteed and even with a wisdom of 25 that option is relatively rare. The only way to use this strategy is to abuse the save/load function when you don't get the desired result. It's much better to play a Wild Mage who can use Nahal's Reckless Dweomer and potentialy increase the number of his high level spells.

 

[relootz]

I demand solo insane!!!