Best Class/Classes For Solo Run?

Hmm, in that case, I could take Ranger (Dwarf) as my 1st level, and just cross-class the trap/lock skills as I go. Ranger/Cleric/xxxx then....let's see, Wizard could still work if I accept ASF chances and wear light armor. Can't remember off hand if there are any feats that help with ASF.

Maybe Bard as 3rd class? This would give some arcane spells without ASF, plus useful face skills.

 

A couple of questions:

Why do you want the plant domain? I can't think of one plant monster in the game. Humans can chose Elhonna, you just need to have the right alignment.

If you are MIN/MAXing, why no go for Good & Lawful domains for Holy Axiomatic crafting, or pretty much any other domain but plant.

 

Lots of fungus/plant critters in the Temple's lower levels, I have been told...it's been years since I visited the place, but I seem to remember fighting mushroom critters that had a nasty habit of spraying confusion spores around...very bad in a party, probably fatal if I'm solo. Also plant domain gives me Entangle, Barkskin and Spike Growth as domain spells. Handy for crowd control (and crafting Amulet of Natural Armor, I believe).

If I am remembering wrong, or I've been misinformed (tavern rumors being what they are, lol) then I'd probably take Pelor as my deity for Good/Healing or Good/Sun. Stronger healing is never a bad thing, and Greater Turning + extra Searing Light/Flame Strike would be helpful vs Undead.

I believe I've tried every combination of (non-evil) alignment for Elhonna as a human/dwarf, and if I take Rogue as my starting class, she is locked out as a choice. I have to pick either Ranger, or Druid, if I want Elhonna and I'm not an Elf, Half-elf, Gnome, or Halfling.

 

Warp wood is a pretty effective alternative to open locks- I'm pretty sure I used it on Brother Smyth's chest. It's a bit meta-gamey, but I can't remember any traps that significantly inconvenience a character on full hp, so I'd be tempted to heal up to loot chests- either with potions or returning to base.
I never had much in the way of problems with the fungi in the temple- all pretty feeble especially at level 10+ and with available weaponry. There's a collection of oozes and slimes which are a bit trickier as I can never remember their individual vulnerabilities and always end up causing them to split.

 

I'm very fond of turn undead, and greater turning at low levels would make some of the early undead battles doable (I'm thinking Emridy Meadows and moathouse in particular). There is an armored arcana feat, which I think is implemented in this game. Alternatively make liberal use of Stoneskin (wand), or craft wands of your prefered spells and use them whilst wearing whatever stone/ bone armour you wish.

 

Once you get the blue elven armor, spell failure rarely occurs. I used scrolls quite often, and rarely had any issues. Scribe/use scroll may be over powered. I am actually thinking of a F/C 4/16 Dwarf as my next solo.

 

Plant domain is the solo chars optimum survival choice : u get entangle to ensure no gang bangs against yourself happen and since yr a cleric u will craft amulete of natural armor and stack that one with a extra long lasting bark skin spell in adition to what yr allrdy enchanted armor(and shield perhaps) gives, plus add a little AC ring later and u end up with an AC of around 50+ that makes u 'rather hard to hit' and provides u with the option of going to 'chat up' the enemy spell casters first and just afterwards slowly dismantle the rest of gang while they keep swinging for the butter flies around you.
Also watch out for the water domain that one makes a cleric extra nasty giving him arrow protection&concealment from early on, various brutal crowd direct dmg spells later plus the option to craft icy weaponry that pretty much bypasses most monster resistances and they can turn fire creatures along side the classical dead things

As far as soloing goes my advice: cleric up till u can craft all u want(icing on the cake would be ac rings and spell resists on armor) and afterwards rogue on till lvl 20; equipment wise u would be best served by medium armor(last stop mitral/adamant plate) belt of giant str, amulet and ring that grant extra ac and u should start of with a wpn and shield style to maximize survivability early on and later on perhaps switch to 2x handed or dual wielding to enhance the dmg u can dish out(valid example: bastard sword&shield early on and afterwards 2x handed bastard sword or short sword&shield early on and dual wielding short swords later... but then again dual wielding bastard swords is always an option.)
For me soloing days are pretty much over only real challenge i found there was surviving the lower levels; after that u have the cash,equipment and summons to make anything cry uncle in less then 10 rounds. For masochists i highly recommend a solo pure monk play trough and if u have the will power and stamina to survive that and return sane to the real world then u truly 'are the man'

PS: of all domains for me personally plant,water and good seem to give the best results for my defensive spellcasting needs and on extreme occasions dish the extra raw crowd dmg that shifts a battle's results from extreme casualties to mildly/badly injured chars (worth mentioning my partys never include sorc,wiz or druids and as such is heavily reliant on melee and archery chars and expects only bardic&cleric buffing/healing to ensure they last enough to win a battle)

 

a monk is one of the easier soloers, you save against everything! i have more hard ache with solo fighters

 

Monk easy to solo ?? hes potentially sub par on everything ranging from AC, damage and all the way down to crafting&equipment choice limitations; only thing hes got going for himself are those saves u mentioned and its superior combat speed and perhaps initiative.
Then again any non magic crafter class suffers badly in the saves dept and since the real power in this game comes mostly from crafted equipment and rarely from naturally risen stats and learned feats u can safely say magic users have the easyist time since they can boost themselves up via crafted equipment and spells way beyond anything a non magic user can get via feats and preexistent equipment.
As i see them for soloing purpose the dnd classes go like this:
1st tier:cleric,druid,paladin
2nd tier: bard,sorc,wiz
3rd tier :fighter,barbarian
4th tier oorly designed multiclass chars and non focused single class builds
and then theres the ranger and monk that will depending on how good the char build is land anywhere between 2nd tier and 4th tier.
PS:Rather curious how the rest of u guys see the classes rank up for the purpose of a solo adventure'

 

I guess it depends on what restriction you impose on yourself regarding 'exploits': starting stats, max HP, Answering swords and Magicked clubs. Once you have Scather, you are pretty much guaranteed to beat any non NC enemy regardless of your BAB- especially if you have an 18+6 strength, 18+6 Con, layered Stoneskins etc.
FWIW, My plan to Solo Demons & Demigods relies primarily on being able to cast twice in a round using Quicken spell- so high level Wiz or Cleric, though I'm not hugely confident about getting a solo mage through the Moathouse (or even Welkwood Bog)

 

My easiest solo run, by far, was a NG H Barb 1/Wiz 19 (No exploits, eccept Scather). Started as Barb, in order to survive the begining (rage very useful when in trouble and out of spells...). Moathouse not too difficult with a MASSIVE use of Sleep spell. Pretty repetitive, cast sleep- coup de grace, etc... Web+Scorching Ray next step. All this time lots of summon I, of course (You'll need to scribe quite a bit, but low level scrolls are cheap. both money and Exp)

Oh, my stats , naturally rolled, were something like: 14,15,15,18.12.12 IIRC

 

I thought co8 removed the +4 on trip attempts from Dwarves because it wasn't only resiting trip attempts it gave +4 on making them like improved trip.

 

high UMD and cha (for parley) you can easily start out as 3-4 lvl before leaving hommlet and using items you get (like the fungus statue allows you to live long enough as a monk, but all i said is i have an easier time with a monk than a fighter! im running the game again as both to gauge again!!!

 

With 5 or 6 PCs I'm usually at or near 2nd level entering the moathouse, usually 4th by the time I meet Lareth's gang, which is pretty tough in terms of geting the right guys to the front, then back out once they've cast. If you have the ability to cast 3rd level spells by the tike you get there, it's probably easier to go solo I guess...

 

I haven't seen anything about this. Removing the dwarven stability bonus would suck. Can you show a link to this someplace?