I'll start off saying that all this talk of soloing inspired me to start up a solo IWD character. (As if I really need yet another party!) The first thing I noticed, gameplay wise, was IWD moves a helluva lot faster than BG2. That's neither here nor there, but after upwards 30 second autosave/load times in BG2 it's indescribably refreshing to load in ~10 seconds. Not to mention overall game speed is faster. Bleh, I really need to upgrade this box.

Anyhoo. I started a Gnomish Illusionist and aptly named him "Gnome Alone" after his BG1 counterpart. I'll be referring to him a bit later on.

Wisdom. ... Saving throws. Wait till somebody captures you in some sort of spell that cripples you, you will curse your self for not having better saving throws. Shoot for 12 or better, remember, there are two wisdom books in Baldur's Gate that will bring it to a comfortable 14.

I always forget about Wisdom's saving throws modifier. Exactly how helpful is it, though? The BG2 manual has a table with a "Mag Def Adj" column - would this be the saving throws modifier? (The bonus is +1 at 15 and maxes out +4 at 18.)

Charisma. It is a vital skill, especially for solo characters. Some times, being able to smooth talk your way out of a situation is better then fighting. There are also better rewards. There is a cloak that will raise it by two, as well as charm your enemies. This will be important. And, there is the Friends Spell. Casting this before shopping or talking is a good idea. Cheaper goods, like Robes of the Good Arch Magi for about 10 grand is a live saver. Shoot for 15 if possible, higher is better.

Charisma's biggest contribution is on price, but in that breath you might as well damn solo characters to keep up a decent reputation. Can't one be a despicable, evil wretch and solo?

Let me start off by saying, Grease and later, Web, are must haves. ... This also helps a good bit in a certain fight trying to keep a certain duke alive. (More on this later.)

Methods of keeping Duke alive will make a very interesting section. Since IWD I've come to appreciate both Grease and Web, despite Grease having that piggy icon. And so the Mage called upon the God of Short-Order Chefs to smite his enemies with FILTH and presence of VERMIN...

Sleep. Another must have, great for starting out. A sleeping ogre is a dead ogre. Starting out, you will be VERY fragile, and, you don't want anything to touch you.

This almost never works when I want it to. But when it does work, it's quite nice. Along a similar vein, Chromatic Orb is very cool. It increases in power with each level up, though those are few and far betwee for F/M/T. :\ Anyway, Gnome Alone keeps some Chromatic Orbs memorized in addition to MMs and Grease. (Grease is neat in IWD. It's neon purple.) Currently, monsters are "Held" for a good bit when they fail to save against it. Whoo.

Shield. Good for armor purposes, should worst come to worst. Better then Armor. Also gives a nifty bonus against missle attacks. With a certain girdle and a certain pair of boots, you can make your self immune to incoming enemy arrows. Well, almost immune.

Nothing quite makes a day go bad as fast as a pack of archers.

Shocking Grasp. I know, I know, a touchy feely spell. To start off with, at level 1, this is probably the most damaging spell you can get. 1 to 10 electrical damage is nothing to sneeze at.

A F/M/T would probably have better THAC0 than Gnome Alone, so I suppose Shocking Grasp might work better there. But I still loathe touch spells.

Luck. Your thieving skills will be lacking. This will help.

Interesting. I've never used Luck. Will have to look into it...

Ghost Armor and Blur.

Gnome Alone never used these. Instead...

Mirror Image of course. Helpful, but, sometimes there are better spells to memorize for certain battles.

...he used this. Oh how I love Mirror Image. It's handy for setting off traps, absorbing annoying archery, etc. etc. It saved his ass more times than I can count.

Melf's Acid Arrows. Great for taking out enemy spell casters while you are tied up with other more formidable foes that are right in your face.

Something else I'd throw in with the attack spells is Agannazar's Scorcher. Someone on the Ironworks IWD forum said they used it when soloing an IWD mage. I tried it and - WOW! Line 'em up and mow 'em down. It sucks being stuck in place, but that one memorization can take out multiple enemies. Plus no irritating party members to get in the way of it. (That's also what I loved about Fireball in a solo party. *g*)

Invisibility. Some fights you simply can't win. So, go invisible and avoid them all together. Knowing when to run like a scalded dog is one of the most important things you will learn playing solo.

Don't I know it! Illusion do your stuff! Sometimes I'd invisible myself before sleep, but I don't know if that had any effect on whether I got mobbed or not. Just the idea put my mind at ease, though.

Dispell Magic. ALWAYS try to keep this around, on a scroll if possible. Hasted enemies, like the Dopplegangers in the Duchal Palace fight, will kill you dead as a doorknob in seconds. Dispell magic makes short work of heavily buffed enemies.

My solution to such enemies was typically Cloud Kill, then Invisible myself and watch 'em die. *g* But the Duke battle was a marked exception.

[o: *LEMMING* :o]