Best Class/Classes For Solo Run?

Discussion in 'The Temple of Elemental Evil' started by sonofliberty, Sep 20, 2012.

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  1. sirchet

    sirchet Force for Goodness Moderator Supporter

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    And how many 1's have you rolled? I've stopped counting myself. ;)
     
  2. Goshi3156

    Goshi3156 Dire Badger

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    I'm just glad that unlike PnP, natural 1s don't cause any bad ideas from the DM to crop up =(
     
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  3. sirchet

    sirchet Force for Goodness Moderator Supporter

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    Yeah, our DM has a special crit table we have to roll on if it happens ... It CAN get ugly :)
     
  4. silo25

    silo25 Established Member

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    Is it DP or charm?
     
  5. Daryk

    Daryk Veteran Member

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    I thought it was Charm Person.
     
  6. Oleg Ben Loleg

    Oleg Ben Loleg Established Member Supporter

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    Hi, I want to start my first run with a solo character. Probably a fighter/ cleric mix. I have read somewhere here it might be useful to give your solo character one level as sorcerer since he can scribe scrolls that he or others might use. Someone wrote here that it is even possible to scribe a fireball spell. But how can a 1st lvl wizard sribe a 3rd lvl spell? I think a sorc can only scribe those spells that he has already memorized in his spellbook. Is it somehow possible that a first level sorc can scribe a fireball spell? Could he then use that sroll or only a character with a high enough use magic device skill? How high had that skill to be to use a fireball spell?
     
  7. Nightcanon

    Nightcanon Garrulous Halfling

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    I think you need to know the spell to be able to scribe its scroll. Not sure if learning a spell that you can't yet cast as a wizard, through copy scroll, allows you to do this. I'd have thought that one of Wiz, Druid or Cleric would be the optimum soloist, given the power of magic in D&D.
     
  8. J'allan UlDragos

    J'allan UlDragos Dragon Warrior

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    Yeah, you can learn (and thus then scribe) a spell even if you do not have enough levels and are not able to cast it. Be aware that the ability to learn a higher level spell from a scroll is going to be very difficult as only a single dip into a spellcasting class gives meager ability to learn spells from scrolls beyond the casting level of the character. Use save/reload, as a missed chance to learn the spell from your scroll locks you out from learning that spell, until you gain a level in your spellcasting class. If you are only taking a single dip, that would mean you could never learn that spell! Taking a level of wizard or sorcerer also nets you a familiar as well. Make sure you pump up the skills Use Magic Device and Spellcraft as you can if you want to use the scribe scroll ability. I believe both skills are involved in calculating your learning chance. Also, be sure you carry the tool that gives you a +2 bonus to scribing spells - you can buy it in the starting shop.

    Also, take a level in wizard, not sorcerer. Sorcerer is a Charisma based spellcaster, that learns spells ONLY by advancing in level, and selecting new spells. They have a much smaller casting repertoire, but they do not have to memorize their spells, and cannot learn from scrolls. They would have the ability to scribe scrolls, but it would only be the ones they natively know. If you take a level of Generalist wizard, you would have the POSSIBILITY of scribing any scroll in the game.

    Be aware you will also be likely making your character take a 20% EXP penalty if you have multiple classes that are more than 1 level apart
     
  9. Number99

    Number99 kicking Iuz

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    I mixed a fighter with a rogue and a few levels of sorcerer in my solo game. The fighter for the use of weapons, sometimes dual wield other times with a shield. And rogue for the sneak attacks. And sorcerer for the read magic so that I could identify the potions I picked up.
     
  10. Oleg Ben Loleg

    Oleg Ben Loleg Established Member Supporter

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    Thanks for your reply J'allan. I knew that there is a high chance of spell learning failure so I will have to save and reload probably quite a few times, just like you suggested. But since I want only one or two of those spells, especially fireball, I think it will be allright.
    You also said:
    "Be aware you will also be likely making your character take a 20% EXP penalty if you have multiple classes that are more than 1 level apart[/QUOTE]"

    Doesn't that only apply to non-human characters? Since I will try a human fighter/cleric I hope I won't experience a exp loss.
     
  11. tom

    tom Established Member

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    By solo do you mean only one character and never highering an NPc?



    A straight Druid walks everything up to Dxd . You can even do it with a bog standard average stat character because you can craft stat items.
     
  12. J'allan UlDragos

    J'allan UlDragos Dragon Warrior

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    Oleg, no problem! I have several times played through the game with an elven cleric, her build aimed at Cleric 17/ Diviner 3. So i know she is able to learn, scribe, and cast spells from scrolls of the magic user spells far beyond her level. Of course her build is considerably aided as her other class is a spell casting class, so she naturally has maxed out Spellcraft, and very high UMD. this build has been very successful for me, as Elves get to ignore their Wizard level as it is a class ability for their race if they multiclass, and the character is very versatile and has a vast repertoire of spells and magic related skills to draw upon. The Cleric levels allow her to choose to be melee if she wants to, and the Elven race ability also allows her access to long swords and longbows for free, which would be class restricted otherwise. She works out as a great crafter and archer! i usually choose the Plant and Sun domains, but Healing and other domains are also good choices.

    for your build, you are correct that Human gets to choose their specializing class when they multi-class. However, if you take 3 (or more!?) classes... this gets much more complicated, as the old rule now applies to both of your other class levels - as you only get to ignore one class. So i suppose you could do something like Fighter 9/ Cleric 10/ Wizard 1 ... it might work? The classes not ignored must always stay within one level of each other to avoid the EXP penalty.

    http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/spellcraft.htm

    this deals with the math behind applying the Spellcraft skill, and says the algorithm for learning a spell from a scroll, if you wanted to know how that works.
     
  13. J'allan UlDragos

    J'allan UlDragos Dragon Warrior

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    However, i have NEVER attempted what you are doing, in a solo character run. I like having a full party! :) 5 characters, 3 henchmen, pets, summons ... a veritable traveling army.
     
  14. J'allan UlDragos

    J'allan UlDragos Dragon Warrior

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    May i also suggest one more thing? You should have your character learn how to craft a 'Helm of Radiance' as soon as possible in your solo game. It may remove some of the challenge (but hey you are trying to tackle this game with one character, so you will NEED an edge!) ... this wonderful magical helm allows a character to cast UNLIMITED castings of the following spells and abilities IIRC:
    1. Detect Evil 10'
    2. Consecrate Ground
    3. Flamestrike

    This helm is SUPPOSED to be useable by any GOOD character, but i believe because of a hardcoded game issue (i don't know if the item is actually Vanilla or not) the spells it grants only function if the character wearing it is of the cleric class.

    From my current party, i have a Paladin 12/ Cleric 1 that is a veritable TANK equipped with this and a magically crafted Ransuer.
     
  15. Oleg Ben Loleg

    Oleg Ben Loleg Established Member Supporter

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    Correct

    A straight Druid walks everything up to Dxd . You can even do it with a bog standard average stat character because you can craft stat items[/QUOTE]

    A Druid would be my second best choice. But maybe I will still have a closer look at that character before I make up my mind.

    OK, together with your other information, that the xp penalty with using three different classes might get more complicated, I might now decide for fighter/cleric only since I now have the opportunity to use a area spell with flamestrike.
     
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