Baldur's Gate 3 - Solo Honour - Paladins of Tyr - Wizard
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- A solo Wizard playthrough on honour mode.
I generally take videos of every combat encounter, but I'm only uploading significant encounters right now, as it takes ages to sort through the videos and to upload them. If there is a specific encounter that is not uploaded that someone wants to see, leave a comment and I will upload it. I don't have time to record commentary, to edit or to rewatch the videos. There are a few instances of playing more than easy encounters or insignificant bits of the game on Steam Deck, so they would lack videos.
I sometimes make mistakes, sometimes get unlucky or lucky, and sometimes things just do not work out as planned or expected. It is easy to say in hindsight what could have or should have been done differently, but c'est la vie.
Haha amazing!
Very nice! Have you checked out the Trials of Tav mod?
I was going to wait until official mod support to play it, but I couldn't wait any longer. I just started playing it this past week. I'm like 17 hours into a run, on Honour Mode of course. I'm still on my second attempt, I quit the first attempt because I did not know how things worked yet. I think I have like 600 Rogue score at the moment, I'm having terribly bad luck getting certain pieces of equipment that I need for my builds, so it's frustrating.
Just lost my first honour solo attempt to skellies in the crypt, a bit dumb on my part, also they did land one to many crits with Ray of Frost :-)
How do you usually play a very start of your runs? Nautiloid, beach, crypt. Do you skip things to go harvest some xp first?
No, that's not dumb. It can be hard there, for sure. The beginning of Act 1 can be the hardest bit of the game, actually.
I do not skip anything. I always start as rogue. I think rogue has the best chance for a successful start, just be sure to pick up a Light Crossbow on the Nautiloid.
I'm level 3 when I go into the crypt. I get Scratch, the 60 xp from going near Blighted Village by Scratch (but not triggering cutscene with goblins), rescuing Sazaa, doing Arabella thing, Nettie thing, killing Bugbear at the top of the grove. I enter the crypt from the locked passage, the hatch that is high DC (it may be 20), directly above where the skeletons are, so I kill the 4 enemies outside of it at the top by starting from where Lae'zel was being held in the cage.
I loot the weapon off of the skeleton with the most HP that is in the middle, on the bottom, so that he cannot use it. To give yourself the best chance, lockpick the door so that you can open it if you have to run away before you start the fight. When I'm ready, I don't go into the room where Withers is, I go up to one of the caster skeletons and right click them, hit "pick up" and it will start the encounter. If you are fast enough you can stealth right as they resurrect and go into turn-based mode and move away to a safe spot, then exit turn-based mode and start the fight with surprise. If you get caught when they start getting up, you need to run, hide and reset, which is easier said than done.
@@QuiteDisquietly Thank you for the info! It will help a lot.
What I was referring to as dumb was exactly that :-) I decided to jump into the crypt via the hole for some reason, ended up in a middle of bandits, defeated them barely, using almost everything and then I engaged skellies normally instead of planning the fight, got their weapons though :-)) If I at least have started a fight on my terms, I probably could have pulled through but it's was just not to be 😂
Want to play as Shadowheart, so no rogue start for me until respec. Then I'm planning to go rogue and eventually Gloomstalker Assassin, 8/4 or maybe with some fighter in the mix. I don't like respecing much, I somehow feel like if I chose the build I have to stick to it throughout or restart :-))
@@alexmashkin863 Warning: Long, long comment, but depending on how much you want to breeze through the acts - you can get to level 3-4 without risking much and without resting at all, but it requires some know-how and spells. You can do it fairly safely on solo-honor mode as well and without skipping anything - you just need to do things in a certain order to minimize the risk of dying. If you want to know what I do (this may be less 'honorable', so if you don't want to play like this, understandable) look below:
Make sure you can somehow use/get Disguise Self. Shadowheart has this - or just start as a Drow if you can't be arsed. Disguise self is helpful later, even if you do start as a Drow. Anyway;
To begin with, if you have to use your Illithid Wisdom to rescue Shadowheart, get Lae'zel to open the pod (just a bit more convenient for later). During the final Nautiloid fight, move one of the Nautiloid tanks over to the Ilithid when he's low on health and get Shadowheart to blow him up. If you want to kill them both it requires a bit more effort, and you can look it up using a guide. This is just faster and more consistent.
After the Nautiloid, recruit Shadowheart and 'skip' the intellect Devourer fight by jumping up on the rock formation by the 'hidden chest'. Reaching the chest also gives you XP. Here you can reach the Roadside Cliffs and recruit Gale. Go to crashed Nautiloid and kill the Ilithid, (skip the dialogue) and now you can recruit Astarion (I'd recommend you doing so (unless you're soloing) as he gets a lot of Inspiration points by breezing through like this). Go and free Lae'zel thereafter. After this, go to the Emerald Grove fight. You can trigger the cutscene/fight from where the two Goblin archers spawn, giving you a good vantage point.
Anyway, after the fight, go straight through to the grove, and buy a strength and invisibility potion from Auntie Ethel (if you're not planning on using a strength character). Use the STR potion immediately, and the invis one if you get into trouble. You can speak to the Tieflings/Druids and save/get Arabella killed now (this will spawn Raphael at certain points on the map). If you do that, get the tadpole down from Nettie (if you're open and honest with her in your dialogues, she won't harm you/try to poison you). Go outside the Grove and head towards the Blighted village - speak to the siblings, ask them what happened to the dead brother, and tell them to confront the Owlbear. Take the tadpole. Go to the Blighted village; Disguise yourself as Drow (if you're not one), and talk your way through. Go to the windmill as your Drow character and use the intimidation option - it's a low check. Thereafter, free Barcus. Go straight to Goblin camp with Drow - get the waypoint. If you have Astarion get him to suck off Crusher's Ring of Movement Speed (it's hilarious and Astarion as advantage his he's a Rogue). After this, go outside the goblin Camp by the bridge, and wait for Crusher with your STR character. Chuck Crusher into the water. Using your Drow character, enter the Fortress (do it alone) and use the [Drow Options] (if you don't go in alone and your Drow character is NOT the party leader, your party leader will initiate the conversation. After this, TP to Blighted village and head North to Waukeen's Rest (avoid conflict/combat along the way), and free Counselor Florrick using your STR character. You should more or less be level 4 now, and have engaged in minimal combat.
That's more or less what I do. I play things a bit differently if I'm playing a Dark Urge character, but yeah. If you're not quite level 4 at that point, you can still always go to the Underdark from the Goblin Fort, Recruit the Trolls, and/or go to the Crypt. Should Net you level 4, easy.
@@MonteZuul Thank you for the details! I know most of it, that's what I referred to as "xp harvesting", I didn't know about killing illithid on Nautiloid though. Always just skipped it and Zhalk, couldn't be arsed :-)
In this particular run I do collect companions for their quests but I keep them in camp. It will be good Shadowheart run if I don't change my mind somehow :-))
So what I wanted to know was how much harder it makes things if I don't go xp harvesting and will engage in the fights more or less as I come upon them.
For example devourers on the crash site - I skip them until I get level 2 if I'm not already, but I can kill them pretty consistently solo at level 2. So I don't see much point putting this fight off for long. The crypt is ok for me at level 2 on Tactician but I did die to it on Honour, then again I did make some stupid decisions :-))
@@alexmashkin863 Yeah I can't be arsed with Zhalk either, usually. I just steal his sword (Shadowheart willing), kill squidward and bail. The time investment for the extra 75 xp isn't worth it imo (there is an achievement as well for killing him, though).
To answer your question; it is definitely possible, with a full party, to beat everything as come across things 'naturally' in the game. But, it depends how you want to (role)play as well. If you want to fight everything 'head-on' without cheesing/surprising enemies, then it is quite hard and challenging - nigh impossible (you have to be quite lucky, frequently) if you're solo'ing, especially early game. But it also heavily depends (solo or not) whether you allow your characters to have the same knowledge/know-how as you (the player) have (it is an RPG after all) before you get into encounters. For example, when you click the button in the crypts, do you make your characters hide because YOU know the skeletons will wake up, or is everyone standing, so that it is a 'fair fight'? Because if you all hide, you can sneak up on the skeletons and surprise them, making the fight significantly easier, even at level 2. Hell, you can even steal all their weapons before the fight even begins. It should go without saying, but XP-harvesting (getting to level 4-5, without really killing anything), makes it significantly easier, but you can still, easily, die (solo) if you're playing recklessly.
If you don't have any qualms about playstyle, then you can do pretty much every fight solo while you're scaled with the enemies' levels, but you have to rely on less-than-honorable strategies to do so, because they minimize chance of failure whereas honorable playing increases it :-). But remember, running away is also a totally legitimate strategy - and should always be considered when fighting sometimes you just get caught off guard!
With the Devourers I usually just group them up (out of combat) with minor illusion close to the Nautiloid tank and blow it up (with cantrip/dip arrow in nearby flames). Devourers should be quite, quite easy if you just skip around as I described and recruited Astarion & Gale first.
I don't see the biggest issue with playing dishonorably solo, since when you're gimping yourself to one character only (although that said, it is all a part of a spectrum, because barrelmancy is too OP and can get you through everything easily as a solo-character). But with everything said and done, the most important thing is that you have fun - and if that means constraining yourself (or not) to certain playstyles, give that a go - but the more honorably you play, the more you leave it to chance that you'll lose simply through bad luck on the dice-rolls.
I want to try a solo HM run with Gale origin, may I ask what kind of build you have planned for this playthrough?
I used Abjuration until level 10, with at some points 2 levels into Warlock for Eldritch Blast to conserve spell slots and the Warlock Invocation "Armour of Shadows" which has great synergy with Abjuration as it lets you stack Arcane Ward without using any spell slots. There isn't any other school than Abjuration that gives you any benefits really pre-level 10. At level 10 Evocation get "Potent Spellcasting" which is good so at 10 I switch to pure Evocation school and use Spell Sniper as a feat to pick up Eldritch Blast that will be based of Intelligence and dump Warlock. I never did a Gale origin playthrough, I have a suspicion that it may be more difficult than most others though if you are not careful about the order you do things, as having Gale in the party forces you to Long Rest at critical points when you do not want to. For that reason, I never interact with Gale while he is stuck in the portal, to prevent that from happening. You must make sure to not get the Bliss Spores buff from Myconid Colony until AFTER you are in Act 2 or Apostle of Myrkul will be much more difficult as your hit chance will be significantly lower. Having Gale forces a long rest when attempting to enter Act 2. Sorcerer is much better than Wizard for solo play. I'd recommend playing Sorcerer first before trying Wizard, as Wizard is really just playing Sorcerer with a large handicap, in solo play at least.
@@QuiteDisquietly tysm for the quick reply and helpful insights! maybe I'll try sorcerer solo then and save the gale playthrough for a different challenge. I imagine the Orin fight would be alot easier as DU anyway
@@itsnotrael The Orin fight is much easier with Dark Urge, but it's not a problem at all for Wizard or Sorcerer either way. Magic Missiles melts Unstoppable stacks, and as long as you kill at least one enemy every round, you won't be instant killed by the ritual.
One last thing I would say, a lot of people lean towards fire as Sorcerer or Wizard, I would caution strongly against this for solo play. For me, at least, I do not use fire damage much at all due to the fact that the main control spells I use are ice and it will melt from the fire. Sleet Storm still works though, even when using fire as it refreezes itself every time you "end turn".
I don't know if you did an honour mode solo yet, but the first 1/2 to 3/4 of Act 1 is often the most difficult bit of the game as you do not have all of the necessary resources for a build to synergize. Spellsparkler and Magic Missiles is pretty much a must for the beginning.
@@QuiteDisquietly this will be my first solo attempt, but Act 1 has always felt the most difficult (maybe apart from the myrkul fight) regardless of how many characters I've used ^^ it's nice that you can find a lot of the magic missile gear in act 1 though. Sleet Storm seems neat, I've never really considered that spell, going to give it a try.
@@itsnotrael Sleet Storm is my favorite spell.
The most useful tips for solo play are as follows:
Do not use the spell "Haste" or scrolls of it. Getting hit and going Lethargic can end your run faster than anything else. Use Potions of Speed or Haste Spore Grenades if you need Haste. When you are on the last round of Potion of Speed, save your bonus action and use another one if combat is not over or you are not safe, it will end your turn but you will not go Lethargic and you have 2 more turns of Haste. Haste Spores do not cause Lethargic at all.
Do not long rest from Act 1.5 to the beginning of Act 3. If you need to refresh spell slots, you have to either use Potions of Angelic Reprieve, Elixirs, or the best but most tedious way, is to re-spec. You cannot refresh any abilities that require a long rest even with a re-spec though. The reason you do not long rest is because once you get the "Bliss Spores" buff from Spaw in the Myconid Colony (for turning in the quest of killing the Duergar at Underdark Beach) you want to keep it all the way up until you defeat the Apostle of Myrkul. Also, in the Sharran Sanctuary there are 3 "Dark Lady's" buffs that are +5 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma that you want to keep. You need to pass Saving Throws to get them, so save inspiration for it and use the three pieces of equipment you can get at that point for saves (ring, cloak and shield). Make sure to force any long rest cutscenes before getting the buff. I would recommend leaving Gale in the portal and letting Shadowheart kill Lae'zel. Do not enter the Astral Prism after speaking to Vlaakith or it will force a long rest upon entering Act 2. Same goes with Lae'zel forcing one. You can kill Lae'zel yourself in Act 1 and res her in Act 3 if you really want to keep her around, I don't think you can do the same with Gale. If you really want Gale, you have to enter Act 2 before getting Bliss Spores.
Do not enter Grymforge until you are ready to face Nere, as long resting and switching areas will make the quest fail if you do them twice after entering. So get whatever equipment and whatnot you need from Act 1.5 before doing Grymforge, that is what I do at least, it makes it easier.
You may want to try to research how to do the whole not long resting thing for Bliss Spores and Dark Lady's buffs before you get to that point. It is safe to enter Act 1.5 and Act 2 only after you deal with the Goblin/Grove situation. You can enter Act 2 and not fail anything other than Goblin/Grove junk and then still go back and do Act 1 stuff. Just as long as you do not deal with the Nightsong in the Gauntlet of Shar.
oh, and Boots of Speed are a must unless you spec into Rogue.