Simple Solo Builds?

[ChrisB]

Would anyone can to show me a pre-made solo build for a cleric, barbarian, or wizard (or all three of them (but different chars, not mulitclassed into one char) which will allow me to explore the world on my own? Spending countless hours trying to calculate 'the right build' is no longer within my abilities. I last played (extensively) NWN1 in 2006 and I only played a few hours of the NWN2 campaign a few years ago. One of the chief things that has driven me away from RPG's is my fear of, and tendency to screw up my characters. If Barbarian, maybe some secondary skills like using sneak mode might be interesting. But I don't have the smarts to make that work.

[Thorsson]

A sneaking Barbarian is a pretty bad idea. Barbarians just want Str & Con and sneakers generally want Dex (& maybe Int). Barbarians are "Me smash 'em" characters, not sneakers.

Maybe you need to spend a little time reading about the different classes and try to figure out some things that look like they'd work well together.

If you just want builds, go to the NWN2DB http://nwn2db.com/ and use the search engine.

[mrieder79]

Barbarian will be challenging to solo with unless you want to throw in a fair number of fighter levels. I've never spent much time on barbarians but I would imagine if you threw in 12 fighter levels, you could do pretty well in most places. I guess add 3 rogue to get access to UMD because you will need it for your really low will save. You probably want to grab a class with access to heal skill too since you will have a mediocre reflex save which means traps will eat up your HP. Maybe grab anointed knight (if good) or warrior of darkness (if evil). Cleric will also get you there.

Caster wizards are hard to solo with because of the limited number of spells you have and the relative weakness of summons at epic levels. It can be done--I played a palemaster with HIPS and could solo some epic content--but it isn't "easy."

Gish wizards are okay, but sorcerers work better because they can rebuff often.

Cleric is probably your best bet for soloing. I would consider multiclassing possibly 4 fighter levels for access to tower shield, and weapon specialization. Also consider a class that gives you tumble. That way you can take able learner and get +3 dodge AC when you max your tumble to 30.

I've never played cleric on the server, but I have played a melee based favored soul. Since they use the same spell list and have similar abilities in general(at epic levels, FS gets some extra DR and haste, so it is stronger) I imagine that something like Cleric23/fighter4/rogue3 would work. With practiced spellcaster you get to CL27 at lvl30. I would make it melee focused. Get your wisdom to 16 (and use a +3 item to allow you to cast lvl9 spells) and pump the rest into strength. IF you make an Aasimar, you might be able to get your STR and CHA to 21 and go for Epic Divine Might, which is really good for soloing bosses.

If you just want a toon for soloing then try a favored soul buid. That is much easier. Something like Favored soul 24/ rogue 3/ cleric 3 is pretty unstoppable. You can search the forums for strong favored soul builds since there has been lots of discussion about them over the years.

[ChrisB]

Okay I'm going to read up on the classes.
The Favored Soul idea is appealing.

I saw the nwn2 db but I was afraid that it wouldn't be that helpful because of BGTSCC's custom modifications. Is there any place to find all the info on BGTSCC's classes?

Hmmm the Favored Soul uses Charisma for casting but Wisdom for DC checks. How can I make the char melee focused when I have to divide between Strength, Charisma, and Wisdom?

[mrieder79]

Go to this thread to find the custom changes to this server:

http://bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6


Use the search function to find the threads on the favored soul build and recommended spell selections.


I would like to add that even with a strong build it is hard to solo this server until you get to know it a little bit. Party up until you have been here awhile or you will die a lot.

[ChrisB]

Okay well the problem is that I don't like dealing with other players anymore than I absolutely have to. I know it sounds a bit rude, but it isn't meant to. I did use to RP many moons ago. But my play time will be highly irregular. Having to wait all the time to find the right party, and then suddenly someone has to leave, (or I have to leave as something comes up, which happens to me a lot), then the whole effort was for not. If I sound like the world's smallest violin, I apologize. It is just too difficult for me to try to deal with. BGTSCC has massive improvements, both currently and upcoming, which has drawn me to it. Thus, I don't want to not play it because there are no AI companions and the module is hard to solo, but I don't have many other options.

[Alsarias]

Sneaky barbarian = ranger

[mrieder79]

Okay well the problem is that I don't like dealing with other players anymore than I absolutely have to. I know it sounds a bit rude, but it isn't meant to. I did use to RP many moons ago. But my play time will be highly irregular. Having to wait all the time to find the right party, and then suddenly someone has to leave, (or I have to leave as something comes up, which happens to me a lot), then the whole effort was for not. If I sound like the world's smallest violin, I apologize. It is just too difficult for me to try to deal with. BGTSCC has massive improvements, both currently and upcoming, which has drawn me to it. Thus, I don't want to not play it because there are no AI companions and the module is hard to solo, but I don't have many other options.

I completely understand.

[Archaos]

Hmmm the Favored Soul uses Charisma for casting but Wisdom for DC checks. How can I make the char melee focused when I have to divide between Strength, Charisma, and Wisdom?

The answer is: you don't. You put some good points in STR (like 16) and about that much in CHA.
You ignore Wisdom, completely.

Favored Souls are not DC casters. You can make them but since you lack the Domains for more offensive ones, it's best to focus on heals and buffs.
By the way, if you dip into Cleric for the Domains, you won't be getting the extra spells.

But usually, people dip into Cleric to get Turn Undead.
With Turn Undead you can get Divine feats like Divine Might and Divine Shield which use CHA.
You see where this is going.

You could dip into 3 Cleric levels for Domains (be sure to be of the god you chose) and Turn Undead, get Divine Might and raise both STR and CHA into 21 to get Epic Divine Might.

But that is not necessary. Even as a pure Favored Soul, you get some nice class features and you can just use a feat to get Heavy Armor Proficiency.
Then tank better than a Fighter and Cleric since you can heal and rebuff yourself all the time.

Also no need for Prestige Classes, because like I said, the FS gets some nice class features unlike Cleric which only gets Domains and Turn Undead.

So to recap:
Get Favored Soul for awesome solo and party capabilities.
16 in STR and CHA is good. WIS can be 8-10, it doesn't matter.
Get Heavy Armor, stay pure FS.
Be sure to pick a god with a nice favored weapon, because you become proficient with it, get Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization.
Use only buffs and heals as well as such utility spells, ignore all the Save: Yes spells.
Get Extend Spell metamagic feat to double the durations of buffs.
Get the Divine Power spell. Then Extend it and don't look back.

[ChrisB]

Thanks guys.
Okay I'll make a full favored soul

Also, thank you mrieder for understanding. I do like RP and playing with people. But it is a lot of work for me especially when real life kicks in. I would like to suggest to allow players to use, at the very least, a generic fighter type character.


It could be done via RP too.
Say for example, you hire a mercenary, or if you have high Charisma or high Diplomacy, persuade someone to go adventuring with you.

EDIT:
Hmmm..... FS is not a DC caster. So FS has no offensive spells?
EDIT2:
mrieder I think I like your 23cleric/4 fighter/3 rogue
Okay, do I NEED weapon specialization? How necessay is it? What weapon should I specialize in? Also, do I need weapon focus or improved critical, power attack and cleave?
EDIT3:
hmmmmmmmm...... Well.. I kind of don't like favored souls for the same reason I don't like sorcerers. Neither of them are appealing to me in an RP kind of sense.
Sorcerer is just another word for wizard, and I don't like the fact that 3.5/NWN2 makes them separate classes. I feel kind of 'back to square one' again while reading this thread and info on builds. It all feels a bit complicated and getting it 'just right' is frustrating me again. well... hmmm....
If one of you folks are willing to dump an EXACT build on me, based on either Cleric or Wizard, I will go ahead and copy it to the letter.

[Archaos]

The FS has the same spells as the Cleric. They just lack the extra spells Clerics get from Domains.
And since DC is based on Wisdom, it's best to ignore WIS and focus on buffs and heals.

You don't need Weapon Focus and Specialization. The Favored Soul gets those automatically on the weapon their god uses.

So if you picked Helm, you will get the Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Focus and Spec in Bastard Sword.

Sorcerer might be another word for Wizard but they have their own lore, background and mechanics.

The Wizard studies to get his spells and can learn all of his spells but needs to prepare each one every time.

The Sorcerer is born with a talent for magic because of their heritage and most of the times it comes from dragon blood. Dragons also cast spells like a Sorcerer and many take human forms.

The Favored Soul is someone that for some reason was favored by a deity. Either because they had potential or because of their acts or for whatever reason. That's up to the player.

The Cleric is a devout priest of a deity that communicates with it directly and obeys it's orders.
A Favored Soul might very well not know who their patron deity is, only that they can channel divine energy for some reason and might want to discover why.

That makes them easier to RP since they don't need to know their deity's dogma inside-out.

They are an alternate source of power and offer VERY different RP.

Personally, I would make a pure Favored Soul.
They are easy to play, easy to RP, great solo and party capability and they are less complex than the Fighter/Cleric/Rogue above.

Just level up as FS, cast buffs and melee. Extremely survivable with all the protections and heals.
Plus anyone you party with will love you.

[ChrisB]

Okay what about offensive spells for FS?
EDIT2:

Okay well I care about DC. Favored soul isn't optimal for melee it seems and that is what you are suggesting.

IDK how to justify to myself making a favored soul. I kind of "RP with myself" if that is the right way to describe it. The Description of FS doesn't thrill me much. I like the idea of being a devout priest rather than a divinely favored, mediocre melee guy. It seems out of place. If I were to do FS, I really want to be able to cast offensive spells.

OKay... So if it is possible, just difficult, I'm willing to brave the storm as a wizard going solo even if it takes longer to level up due to the difficulty. Could someone make me a wizard build with a high DC? I'd prefer good alignment but I don't want an evil alignment at all.

[Grimcheese]

When it comes to Favored Soul, ideally you will be smacking things with a weapon, unless you want to be a caster-based Soul. You'll get oodles of spells that'll make you even better than a regular fighter at that task: Animal buffs, Shield of Faith, Magic Vestment, Greater Magic Weapon, Divine Favor/Power...the list goes on.

Note that once you pick spells, it is difficult to change them, and I believe after a certain point, you cannot change them anymore. Check out Karond's Guide to the Cleric/FS Spellbook for a general idea of what spells to pick. That it's tailored towards FS is a nice bit of icing.

I understand your issues with time and having ready people to play with and slurp EXP. Usually, for me, if I have a few hours to spare, I go fishing. With a few pieces of Survival gear, I have a reasonable chance to hit the EXP cap, and even if I don't, I got some EXP anyhoo, and with a minimal risk of dying. Doing quests also help; for the most part, they reset weekly, and it's an easy...what, 3.5k EXP if you don't do the really dangerous ones? Fishing once to twice a day and doing quests should get you a level a week at the worst.

EDIT: Favored Souls rely a great deal on their buffs to be better-than-fighter good. Without them? Yeah, they're a bit of a fizzle. But I can say from personal experience that you don't want to mess with a favored soul who has all of their butt-kicking buffs active.

EDIT 2: There's also bards, whose songs can be pretty wicked if built for DC.

[Thorsson]

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.

[Deathgrowl]

Hello, ChrisB.

While I can say I really do sympathize with your point of view that the server at first seems unforgiving for solo play (particularily casters), I must insist that it isn't actually all that difficult. Of course, I can only speak from my own experience:

I currently have a level 30, very sub-par wizard. It does fine solo, but only for so long. NWN2 (which is based on Dungeons and Dragons, after all) isn't an MMO where you have mana regeneration. You will run out of spells and so summons or dominations is your best bet as far as soloing goes, because they last for a bit if you buff them up appropriately (and keep some stacks of healing kits to keep them alive). It's slow and it's tedious, but it works.

A better method is to get another player to play with you, but I realize that's not something you want to have to rely on. However, it works much like when you have a summon, especially when the other player is playing a fighter or some other melee focused character. Instead of buffing up a summon, you buff up the other character. And this is extremely effective.

I also recently started another wizard that I only ever really play when I have a few other players I level with online. But it will be a quite powerful wizard. It just takes a bit of patience to get to a point where it actually starts feeling powerful. The build is quite simple: wizard16/arcane scholar10/archmage4. All greater ints, ending up at 34 unbuffed int for high DCs. This thing gets 31+spell level in necromancy, 30+spell level in evocation and 29+spell level in everything else. That means for instance 40 DC Wail of the Banshee. Or 35 Firebrand. Or 36 DC Solipsism.

I also have a rogue20/shadowdancer10 which is quite sub-par both damage and stat wise. I leveled that character mostly by soloing. Here, HiPS and UMD (for heroism and spiderskin mainly) is your friend. There are much more powerful builds both in offense and defense than this one. The standard rogue16/assassin9/invisible blade5 is a good choice, for instance.

I have a level 28 druid. And while druid is extremely tedious to level up until level 12 (at least in my opinion), after that point it becomes a complete breeze. The treant form is just massively powerful. And then when you get to level 18, you get elemental shapes. Air, water and earth are all very powerful forms for different purposes. I used water for the most part. And when you get to level 27 and have 27 or more wisdom, you can get dragon shape. And then you will rule the server.

Lastly, I have a curious build: Bard8/Fighter12/Palemaster10. He's currently level 27, but this is really a powerful build when it comes to PvE. Damage on par with most fighter builds. AB on par with most fighter builds. Higher AC than most fighter builds. And better saves than most fighter builds. On top of that, it has good skill set and some nice bard tricks. The vampire summon is also not to be underestimated.

I don't know what you want or expect from a character, but at least now you have a few links to click.