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I've played solo runs and hardcore (aka ironman) runs, so I thought I'd try both at the same time. The rules of the challenge are...

Per "hardcore" rules...
-No reloading/dying (if you die you have to start a new game with a fresh character)
-Insane difficulty

Adding to that...
-Only one character at all times (Imoen should be promptly kicked from party before any other action is taken)
-No glitches (obviously, or it would be easy)
-Cheese is okay

It would be cool if some other people want to try it and we can keep a journal of our progress here. It probably sounds tedious at first but it's actually quite fun. I'm going to be starting from bg2 but may decide to do one starting from bg1 sometime.

What I have so far...

Class selection is greatly narrowed down based on who can survive Chateau Irenicus. This is based on two things. The character needs to be able to deal with the enemies, and deal with the traps. So far I have 3 candidates.

-Bounty Hunter, with 100 points in set traps, easily dispatches everything except the Otyugh with snares. Can outrun Otyugh. Can disarm traps.
-Sorcerer, spider spawn mows down everything. Can survive traps with stoneskin.
-Mage/Thief multiclass, Monster Summoning for enemies. Can disarm traps.

My favorite so far is the bounty hunter, which I plan on dualing into a mage at level 11 because of the upgrades to the snares. Sorcerer is a powerhouse, but has trouble dealing with some traps later on, which can be frustrating if it means starting over. Mage/thief does very well, and skillfully dealt with all challenges aside from my own stupidity.

I'll add more if this becomes popular.
Can't the sorcerer just trigger the traps with a summon? My runs have always had a thief to deal with traps, so I haven't had to try this.

If you aren't sure where traps are, then I guess just always send a summon out ahead of you as you are walking.
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Bookwyrm627: If you aren't sure where traps are, then I guess just always send a summon out ahead of you as you are walking.
If you aren't sure where traps are, you should not be playing with ironman rules in the first place.

In fact, I don't recommend playing with ironman rules in the first place; there are too many things that can instant kill you. I even got my main character killed while scouting with a Wizard Eye by a trap that was most definitely *not* a gaze attack.

Another thing of note: Clerics can cast Find Traps, allowing them to know where traps are.
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dtgreene: If you aren't sure where traps are, you should not be playing with ironman rules in the first place.

In fact, I don't recommend playing with ironman rules in the first place; there are too many things that can instant kill you. I even got my main character killed while scouting with a Wizard Eye by a trap that was most definitely *not* a gaze attack.

Another thing of note: Clerics can cast Find Traps, allowing them to know where traps are.
His game, his time, his choice on playing iron man. I'm not inclined towards it myself, but I acknowledge that there are plenty of people that are. He's already said he has done this before (though not solo iron man).

He may not have memorized where the traps are, and it sounds like he doesn't plan on using a guide, so I made a suggestion about how to make up the deficiency he noted for the sorcerer in case it tips the balance.

I don't see the Find Traps spell as useful. You either already know where the traps are (in which case you don't need), or you cast it every few steps (tedious and requires constant resting), and regardless you still need a way to deal with said traps after finding them.
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Bookwyrm627: Can't the sorcerer just trigger the traps with a summon? My runs have always had a thief to deal with traps, so I haven't had to try this.

If you aren't sure where traps are, then I guess just always send a summon out ahead of you as you are walking.
Summons won't trigger traps unfortunately. Interestingly, it seems that the level 15 skeleton warriors (and I guess Wizard Eye according to dtgreene) actually will trigger traps and are the only summons that seem to do so, unfortunately it's going to be a long time before I can use those. And yes, I know where most of the traps are, so it's just a matter of how to deal with the unavoidable ones (such as the long trap in Captain Haegans' room in the slaver stockade).
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Kephin.615: Summons won't trigger traps unfortunately. Interestingly, it seems that the level 15 skeleton warriors (and I guess Wizard Eye according to dtgreene) actually will trigger traps and are the only summons that seem to do so, unfortunately it's going to be a long time before I can use those.
While playing solo, reaching Lv.15 isn't that hard, as it requires 6 times less experience than with full party. And iirc you can farm Mephits in starter dungeon for easy exp (edit: or maybe not so easy, each Mephit gives only 420 EXP).
Post edited October 02, 2015 by Sarisio
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Kephin.615: Summons won't trigger traps unfortunately. Interestingly, it seems that the level 15 skeleton warriors (and I guess Wizard Eye according to dtgreene) actually will trigger traps and are the only summons that seem to do so, unfortunately it's going to be a long time before I can use those.
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Sarisio: While playing solo, reaching Lv.15 isn't that hard, as it requires 6 times less experience than with full party. And iirc you can farm Mephits in starter dungeon for easy exp (edit: or maybe not so easy, each Mephit gives only 420 EXP).
If you mean the machine that spawns them right at the start, I think they eventually stop spawning (after 10 or so).

Also there are some troublesome traps on containers, which absolutely must be set off by the sorcerer himself (such as the charm trap in Mekrath's lair).
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Kephin.615: Also there are some troublesome traps on containers, which absolutely must be set off by the sorcerer himself (such as the charm trap in Mekrath's lair).
If you know the trap is a charm trap and your character is a Sorcerer, try casting Spell Immunity: Enchantment. Similar tricks work for other traps; if you know what the trap does, try making yourself immune (or at least highly resistant) to it.
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Kephin.615: Also there are some troublesome traps on containers, which absolutely must be set off by the sorcerer himself (such as the charm trap in Mekrath's lair).
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dtgreene: If you know the trap is a charm trap and your character is a Sorcerer, try casting Spell Immunity: Enchantment. Similar tricks work for other traps; if you know what the trap does, try making yourself immune (or at least highly resistant) to it.
Does spell immunity work for traps? I remember using SI: Evocation and still being hit by magic missle from a trap.
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dtgreene: If you know the trap is a charm trap and your character is a Sorcerer, try casting Spell Immunity: Enchantment. Similar tricks work for other traps; if you know what the trap does, try making yourself immune (or at least highly resistant) to it.
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Kephin.615: Does spell immunity work for traps? I remember using SI: Evocation and still being hit by magic missle from a trap.
It depends on the trap. Normally the trap is just casting a spell at whoever set it off, but the spell it casts doesn't necessarily conform to the appropriate school. There are many traps that are schoolless and can only be avoided via Stoneskin or Mirror Image.
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Kephin.615: Does spell immunity work for traps? I remember using SI: Evocation and still being hit by magic missle from a trap.
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bevinator: It depends on the trap. Normally the trap is just casting a spell at whoever set it off, but the spell it casts doesn't necessarily conform to the appropriate school. There are many traps that are schoolless and can only be avoided via Stoneskin or Mirror Image.
Knew it! Darn sneaky traps...