Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

I recently came back to the game myself earlier this year and I know the feeling of being overwhelmed in making a build.

Without getting to detailed (you've received some extremely detailed information already), favored souls are melee, pretty plain and simple. They take about 5 minutes to buff themselves, and continuously buff themselves periodically, but they are a wrecking ball of a class.

However, if you want a simpler melee build, you can't go wrong with 12 levels of fighter + whatever else youd want (like barbarian). You'll get 7 extra feats and unlock weapon focus and specialization all the way to epic.

Plenty of purists here on the server hate 12 fighter for exactly that reason - it's too good, too easy; but I'd say it's well worth your consideration.

Thorsson wrote:

ChrisB wrote:Favored soul isn't optimal for melee it seems and that is what you are suggesting.

You are kidding. FS20/X is the absolute tops for melee. The only downside is the time spent buffing.

Exactly. It might not be the best of the best for melee compared to specialized fighter builds or insane damage Rogues but they can melee AWESOMELY.

The Divine Power spell I suggested, makes your BAB (base attack bonus) equal to your level and like a Fighter. It also gives you extra attacks and extra HP as well as +6 STR that stacks with items and other spells I believe.
Extended, it lasts double the time. And you can cast that over and over.

At level 30, that's 6 minutes of being like a Fighter with a TON of buffs, heals, ability to ward others and resurrect them.

I would advise against playing a Druid to be honest, if you're new. Their RP is complex and they are not just nature clerics that shapeshift.
They have their equivalent code of conduct, with things they shouldn't do and their own philosophy and druid oaths.

Cleric or Favored Soul are the classes I would recommend to anyone new. Even more of FS if you have no experience with the dogmas of gods.

If you're after an easy class that buffs into a passable fighter, why not just cut out the 'middle man' and make a fighter? If you wanted a barbarian spin on it, add in frenzied berserker. I love playing classes that are ready to go in most situations. Currently play a fighter/FB and its a cakewalk. IMO, constant buffing is a pain. Many favoured soul spells are short duration, meaning that they are either buffing constantly or they save their short buffs for tough fights, leaving them subpar at other times. Play a fighter, the RP is open, pick and maximise the heal skill, armour up and you're good to go!

I'm in the "less buffs the better" camp.

It's hard to go wrong with a dwarven defender honestly. If you're looking for mellee. Their solid defensive abilities free them up to do things offensively with less to worry about than most. They can be a little plain jane build wise but hey, it works.

Almost any variation will work but for a devoted soloist you can either mix in rogue levels for a balanced somewhat believable survivalist type who could, in a pinch, be RP'd rather well if you wind up with the time. Or you could dump that and go pure face tank, dump social stats entirely 13 int, 13 dex, and pump the rest into strength and con. Sure you're an anti social half deaf and blind troglodyte. But you can fight and take a hit like a champ as you'll likely be able to muster epic DR feats in addition to mixing in WM for bringing on the pain train. Also your saves will probably be stupid high anyway and you can evade most traps, and those that make it through. Pfft, you'll have dragon like hit points.

Dwarves can be straight up ridiculous.

Warlock. I have been soloing easy even from lv 1 with a warlock. You never run out of attacks and while you only get a handful of invocations by lv 20 those you do get are quite good. Go to the graveyard, stand behind the fence, and blast away while they have to run around to get to you. Can get to lv 4 in just an hour or so. Really powerful and good fun.

Level 4 in an hour is very impressive.

mrieder79 wrote:Level 4 in an hour is very impressive.

Yea it is... unless you're a wizard with some gold...

Out of the ones i tried wizards are the easiest to lvl early on since they can use lvl 7 summon scrolls from the very beginning (you can buy those at a merchant, if you have enough gold). If i remember correctly it's a lvl 12 elemental. I lvled a wizard in the UD and was able to start right at the displacer beasts. Once i had invis (i think lvl 3) i went straight to the goblins. They gave like 80 xp per kill and the elemental is just wrecking them.

don't remember how long it took me to reach lvl 7 but was very fast... a few hours all in all... then i deleted him tho xD

I did die a lot of times early on however, it's a bit tricky since the displacer beats one shot you at lvl 1. Once you have invis tho it's a cakewalk.

Okay. That is pure genius. Well done sir.

If you don't want to buff any Fighter combo build is going to do you well. I think the most popular one boils down to Figher 14/Rogue 4/FB 5/WM7. Take rogue at 1, do the starter quests to get to level 2 and take fighter, then you're good. Don't necessarily agree with FB / WM, but it isn't against the rules so make your own judgement on that.

Really most classes can solo in certain area's, though you asked for simple so that is what I gave you. Also, just as a note, you can replace FB with another class if, like me you don't like the idea of a raging lunatic that happens to be disciplined enough to perfect his use of a single weapon. I like Bodyguard for 2d6 sneak dice, 10% movement bump and a couple other neat goodies. Plus if you take able learner (you should), you can max bluff and since you already have to take combat expertise you might as well grab feint! Now you have 4d6 SA dice by using feint, even solo.

I am far less experienced than many of the posters here and there are far more powerful class/builds than this, but if you are adamant you don't want to buff, this guy will do you well. You might consider a strength bard though, with 4 levels of fighter and battle caster, you don't have to buff too much and they are wrecking balls. (basically you buff with ghostly/ethereal visage, mirror image, grtr/superior resistance, whatever else you want, inspiration of your choice, songs later on, curse song early if you have more than one enemy fighting you and the rest of the time you just swing away!

I would also suggest a simple Crossbowman. Fighter + Assassin or Rogue/SD. Works wonders.

Crossbowmen: rather than simply F/Asn add some extra damage, e.g. by EA.

Bard26/F4 also works very well.

Probably something like Bard8/F8/Asn9/EA5 would also work well.

Archers and crossbowmen, while very powerful in the proper hands, do require experience and a certain amount of finesse to play. I would caution inexperienced players that these are not "simple" solo builds.

Something that gives a crossbowman some extra defense is to mix in Warrior of Darkness. Your saves become more balanced, since it progresses both Will and Fort saves, it has high BAB, you get some extra damage and Blindfight and Toughness for free, which opens up for Steadfast Determination.
I also think you can use the bonus feats for Great Dex at epic levels, I took four levels pre-epic and planned the rest for epic levels.
I played Fighter 12/Assassin 8/Warrior of Darkness 10 for a crossbower, and it worked well (until level 21, then I made another char).

mrieder79 wrote:Archers and crossbowmen, while very powerful in the proper hands, do require experience and a certain amount of finesse to play. I would caution inexperienced players that these are not "simple" solo builds.

I guess if we presume that simple means no HiPS and no spells that is true.

In that case we are left with our great friend the F/Ro/FB/WM, which requires no finesse at all.

::cough:: .... monk .... ::cough::