I am just curious what the best class for a challenge would be. Here are the rules:
* Game must be played entirely solo. If someone is forced into your party, you must dismiss the character as soon as possible. Summons are allowed, however.
* Your character must be Human. Dual-classing is prohibited (and would likely be prevented by the next rule, anyway).
* When you reach the screen where you roll stats, you must set every stat to the minimum value the game will allow. (At least in BG2 (not sure about BG1), you can advance past this screen with unspent stat points; this allows you to play with minimun stats.) It *is* OK to use stat-raising effects (like spells, potions, or certain equipment) after the game starts, however.
* Glitches/Exploits: I am thinking of the following rule here: Anything that is very obviously a glitch (like gem underflow) is prohibited. On the other hand, things like stacking effects that some say aren't meant to stack (like Armor of Faith, for example) *is* allowed. This does mean that, for example, if you're a Thief or Bard, that it *is* permitted to chug Potions of Master Thievery and steal/sell from the same fence to get money.
* No mods. In particular, this includes mods like TuTu or Trilogy. Play either the original version or the Enhanced Edition.

Given these rules, which class would be easiest to beat each game with?

Also, are there any game-stopping issues low stats might cause? For instance, is 3 Strength ever too low to carry items that are required?

I'd say paladin or ranger, since they have the most requirements for minimum stats.

The enhanced edition *is* a mod.

Bards are good. They level up faster, which also makes their spells more powerful\harder to resist, since that bit is based on character-level.

The high amounts of wands in the game will also serve the Bard nicely. + He can use bows, which are very handy in BG1.

There is an issue with bows and wands. With only 3 Strength, you can only carry 5 lbs. and a short bow weighs 3. Wands (at least some of them) weigh 1 each, so 2 wands are enough to use up all of the character's carrying capacity, at least until you get the Strength spell.

You can forget about using long bows; they're too heavy to carry one even if you are carrying nothing else.

At least the arrows appear to be weightless.

I am suspecting that Sorcerer might be doable for the second game, as that class's spellcasting abilities are not dependent on stats, and there are plenty of spells in the game that can negate damage from various sources (which is important because taking damage is not an option with 3 Constitution).

Ohh. In that case a bard would not be a good option at all. I wasn't aware that the minimum Str requirement was THAT low.

I guess Sorcerer is a way better option then.

A sorcerer with 3 con would get 1 hp per level IIRC. I'm pretty sure that there are some unavoidable sources of damage in the game that would kill you, not even counting traps or enemies that are hard to avoid all damage from.
There are also some quest items that weigh quite a bit I think, so a solo character with 3 strength would be screwed for those.

Frankly, the only class I can think of that could possibly solo the game with minimum stats (without using exploits) is a paladin. And even then, it would probably be an exercise in frustration rather than fun.

I don't know why you would do this to yourself, unless this is a purely rhetorical question.

Assuming BG2 classic here:

Thanks to the game's extremely large arcane spell list, there are ways to get around these problems; you just need to choose the right spells. In particular, here are some spells that could be useful:

Reflected Image: 50% chance of blocking one source of damage. Inferior to Mirror Image, but still worth mentioning.

Larloch's Minor Drain: Gives you 4 HP, and it stacks. Now your HP isn't quite as bad, and you might actually be able to survive a trap or other damage source.

Invisibility: Allows you to avoid fighting. Why fight enemies that can kill yo when you can just go invisible and avoid the fights entirely? Also, can last up to 24 hours, unlike Improved Invisibility.

Mirror Image: Can block damage from nearly any source. Even something like Fireball will usually fail to damage you when protected with this spell. (Note, however, that it does not help against enemies like Vampires and Mind Flayers; they can still drain levels/Intelligence even if they hit your image.)

Strength: Sets your Strength to 18/50 on first cast and lasts a while. Now you can actually carry stuff!

Vampiric Touch: Gives you more hit points. Can't be stacked (because this spell makes you immune to Vampiric Touch), but might still be enough to get past a source of damage.\

Polymorph Self: While polymorphed, you get the physical stats of the form you transformed into. Now your Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and HP aren't cripplingly low anymore. (There are downsides, of course.)

So, even just in the first 4 spell levels, there are spells that can make things more manageable.

One other thing I should mention: Melf's Minute Meteors have weight, so using that spell while your Strength is only 3 might not be a good idea. Also, watch out for Strength wearing off while you still have meteors to fire.

Man I get a headache just thinkin bout tryin what you're doin.

Is you gonna give a little running commentary of your game doin this, if you indeed end up doin this?

Is you gonna do this in "iron man" mode, with no reloads?

If you did this, you'd be my hero!

Personally, I don't like the game enough to actually attempt this. I haven't even been able to get through the game once.

Also, even if I did attempt this, there is no way I would even think of doing a no reload run. I actually dislike it when a game tries to enforce such rules (that's why, when playing classic Wizardry (1-3 and 5), I use save states), so there's no way I would subject myself to those rules willingly. There's also the fact that, if I use something like Mirror Image to avoid a source of damage, that the Mirror Image could fail, leading to my death.

Even playing casually (with no self-imposed restrictions), I don't think the game is always fair. For example, there was a time when my Wizard Eye got killed by a crushing trap, and the game decided that my main character was dead, giving me a sudden game over.

That sounds like a bug tbh. Did you have the fixpack installed? It fixes a lot of weird issues like that.

I've completed both games several times, even solo, but minimum stats are pretty crippling. Even if you used spells to circumvent them, there are several enemies that can dispell your buffs, most prominently beholders, but also any high level mages.

I don't like ironman runs either, and BG has enough randomness due to D&D rules, especially at the beginning, that ironman would be a real pain.

Personally, I don't like the fixpack because it "fixes" things that I would rather not have fixed, like Armor of Faith stacking, for example. Furthermore, there is no option to just install the fixes I want and not those I do not want.

(I suspect that this particular trap is a gaze attack for whatever reason, even though that doesn't make logical sense.)

Solo = Avenger... base stats don't really matter
Group = Shape shifter

Yeah, like Mystral said, the AD&D randomness would make Ironman mode tough.

Though I will say that, on my first "full" play-thru start-to-finish, I did most of BG1 without getting killed. (I did do re-loading for a. leveling up Hit Points, and b. copying spells.)

Previous to my first "full" play-thru start-to-finish, I had previously gotten as far as the Naskel Mines (starting Chapter 3), but then decided to start over (different character, party, etc.) ...and, after being acclimated to the game, to see if I could get through it all without dying.

I remember going through the whole beginning Chapters, and exploring the Baldur's Gate City, without dying once. Then, before I was ready to initiate the final Chapters of BG1, I did the expansion areas. Durlag's Tower got me (I was so bummed!). And the final battle with Sarevok got me too.

(BG2 I certainly did not come close to doing without getting smoked.)

Otherwise, I think it is possible to do BG1 in ironman mode... without cheese tactics (cause cheese ain't no fun!), and with your Missile Weapon proficiencies at the ready.

But certainly not with that "minimum-stats" stuff you're talkin' about!

And I would think that BG2 SoA/ToB Ironman would be almost impossible (without cheese), even with a regular-stats character.

I'd say Ranger, they have the highest minimum stats. Possibly Archer, since you will lack the strength for heavy armor or melee bonuses, the AC from high dexterity, and the HP from high constitution it's best to keep distance. And all the +1 to hit and damage will help compensate some. Beast Master would be good for meat shields... and HP from your familiar... idk. Maybe Shapeshifter if you get the constitution bonuses of the werewolf forms (removed in BGEE).

It's a shame about the human restriction, an elf Ranger has naturally higher intelligence and charisma, plus +1 to hit with bows. And a half-elf Ranger/Cleric would have the higher minimum stats of a Ranger, but with the buff spells of a Cleric.