Infinity Engine RPGs

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Sorry Peter Friend, but I'm not using your Dungeon of Doom party anymore.  It was too slow and boring.  Let’s fail with a solo challenge instead!  To avoid having to walk all the way back to the inn every few minutes, I decided I needed a Cleric, or rather a Fighter/Cleric.  Clerics in Infinity Engine games are effectively watered-down Fighters with healing and stat modifying magic.  With a dual class, I could get some of the Fighter advantages back, take advantage of the extra experience a solo character receives, and still keep the Cleric spells.

 

Dwarf was the chosen species for its high Constitution and high Saving Throws for magic evasion.  Their only drawback seems to be a Dexterity penalty.  Fighter/Clerics don’t need much Intelligence or Charisma, so most points in that were removed in favor of other stats:
 
 
STR:  18/37
DEX:  17
CON:  19
INT:  9
WIS:  18
CHA:  4
 

(Why is Strength expressed in fractions in the range between 18 and 19 anyway?  There has to be some absurd rule in old Dungeons and Dragons that explains this. . .)

 
Ur Pregnanttummy began his quest by sauntering into Pomab’s shop and insulting him until he agreed to sell weapons, armor, and item carrying cases.  With 4 Charisma, he wasn’t interested in haggling.  Ur bought a Morning Star, Splint Mail, Helmet, the biggest shield he could afford, and a Sling with bullets.  Ur was the embodiment of all Dwarven stereotypes and therefore sympathized with the village alcoholic and bought him a drink.  He also killed the Wolf in Apsel’s scrimshaw shop for the free experience.
 

The Goblins to the southeast of Easthaven’s bridge failed to overcome Ur’s Armor Class.  The ensuing battle looked like a game of blind man’s buff, similar to early encounters in Baldur’s Gate 1.  Ur prevailed and proved he was already better than his short-lived Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode namesake.  By the time he reached the Wolves and Orcs guarding the local cave, he had started to gain levels. Ur gave most of the enemies acute concussions with his handy Sling.  David succeeded against Goliath with one stone, while Ur did not have YHWH’s favor and thus had to rely on the old “kiting” tactic of retreating and attacking. 
 

Ur learned the 2nd tier of Cleric spells and gained a War Hammer proficiency point before Chapter 1.  His preferred magic was Cure Minor Wounds for healing, and Aid + Draw Upon Holy Might for temporary max HP and stat boosts.  Sanctuary was memorized for emergencies.
 
 
Ur fought with Ghereg the Ogre in the Broken Tower after the latter took the “old Reghedmen barbarian remedy” suggestion as an insult.  The initial exchange of blows was harsh to both combatants:  Ur took 16 damage from Ghereg’s Club, and a critical hit from Ur’s Morning Star smashed Ghereg for 20 damage.  Ur didn’t want to rely on luck for the rest of the fight and retreated to throw stones from his Sling.  Ur Pregnanttummy is a pragmatic Dwarf, not an honorable one. 


Killing Goblins and Beetles north of the road gained Ur another level, and he crushed Uligar and the other Orcs when they demanded tribute.  Ur freed Jermsy mostly for the experience points, though he had a nominal Lawful Good reputation to keep.
 
 
Sling bullets knocked out the Tundra Yetis on the eastern border of Kuldahar at the beginning of Chapter 1.  A Lesser Shadow forced Ur to set up a Sanctuary bubble to heal himself.  He cast Magical Stone to exorcise the specter even though it was unnecessary.  The real purpose of that spell is to kill monsters immune to unenchanted weaponry.  Bioware limited those encounters to Baldur’s Gate 2, while Black Isle saw fit to throw them into the early game in Icewind Dale.
 
 
Ur Pregnanttummy
Fighter Level 4, Cleric Level 4
 
Morning Star/Sling
Plate Mail Armor
Helmet
Large Shield
 
Proficiencies:
 
War Hammer:  *
Flail/Morning Star:  **
Sling:  **

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Icewind Dale Solo Fighter/Cleric Part 2


Ur Pregnanttummy had vowed to "wash me beard in your blood", but there were few opportunities to do this until late in Chapter 1.  To deal with the hordes of Skeletons and other undead, Ur Pregnanttummy usually cast Animate Dead to summon his own minions, then enhanced them with Prayer.  Wights, Imbued Wights, and Mummies were immune to unenchanted attacks, so Ur struck them with a conjured Spiritual Hammer, threw a Magical Stone, or simply hit them with his own +1 weapons.  Even if they were ineffective, Animate Dead monsters made decent distractions.


Slings and stones were still necessary in Chapter 1 for several tactical situations.  Ur could pelt foes from a safe position as Animate Dead minions occupied them.  Slings didn't require Ur to walk into Stinking Clouds to attack.  Slings were the best way to cancel spell charging animations too, since Ur couldn't depend on his "shorty saves" to dodge magic.


Ur lost much of his health in a battle with Myrkul's Sending, so he was grateful for Animate Dead as he cast Cure Light Wounds.  Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, and a monster summoning trap forced Ur to retreat to the previous floor of Kresselack's Tomb and fight some of the monsters on his own terms.  Even after some of the undead on the 2nd floor were dead, Ur was still in danger.  He took advantage of Spiritual Hammer's ranged attack to destroy an Imbued Wight.


I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot the key to unlock the 3rd floor of Kresselack's Tomb for a while, so Ur wasted minutes trying to force the doors and lever with his Strength.    


One safe place for storage was a house in Kuldahar to the right of the Root Cellar.  The resident didn't mind it when my Dwarf shoved his obsolete keys and other items onto her bookshelf!


On the 3rd floor of Kresselack's Tomb, Ur smashed the undead with his Morning Star +1.  Holy Smite didn't do anything.  You'd think undead would automatically be Evil alignment.  Is there some explanation for this in a Monster Manual?  Do only "fiends" count as Evil by default?  And what's up with the Negative Plane Protection spell?  The description says it "cannot be cast on the Negative Energy Plane", so clearly there must be some way that Dungeons and Dragons characters can go there.  Is it relevant to Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale, or is the description meant to account for some improbable situation in the tabletop RPG?


When Ur got tier 4 Cleric spells, he added Recitation to his Animate Dead buffing routine, since the description said it could combine with Prayer.  An enemy party of Spectral Knights and a Skeletal Mage defeated Ur once when they chased him down before he could heal.


Lysan the priestess in the ice cave was a difficult opponent.  Silence 15' Radius disabled Ur's spells on one try, and Charm Person or Mammal affected him too.  Eventually Animate Dead and Ur's melee attacks defeated her and the summoned Yetis. 


Besides enhancing stats, Prayer and Recitation have the benefit of debuffing enemies in range.  This proved useful against the Verbeegs in Temple of the Forgotten God.  Acolytes were much worse than Verbeegs because they could cast Hold Person.  This killed Ur once, and so I learned to set up Free Action before battles, just like with HERMAN the Priest of Helm in the failed Baldur's Gate 1 solo. 


One Acolyte apparently didn't think they would fall victim to their own Entangle.  Ur's Free Action status and Sling gave the Acolyte a fatal head injury. 


Ur Pregnanttummy greeted the Lizard Men, Tough Lizard Men, and Lizard Man Shamans on the first floor of Dragon's Eye in Chapter 2 with the usual Animate Dead tactics.  He made sure to pick up as many Flaming Oils from their corpses as possible to prepare for the Trolls on the 2nd floor. . .


Ur Pregnanttummy
Fighter Level 7, Cleric Level 8
 
Morning Star +1/Sling
Plate Mail Armor
Helmet
Reinforced Large Shield +1
Gauntlets of Weapon Skill
Black Wolf Talisman
Ring of the Warrior

 
Proficiencies:
 
War Hammer:  **
Flail/Morning Star:  **
Sling:  **

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Icewind Dale Solo Fighter/Cleric Part 3


Ur Pregnanttummy used the typical Animate Dead tactics to carry him through most of Dragon's Eye.  Prayer and Recitation weakened hordes of foes and strengthened his allies.  Ur dethroned the Lizard King practically unscathed. 


Bombardier Beetles on the 1st and 2nd floors could emit acid clouds, so the Sling was the best method of pest control.  Wraith Spiders were immune to unenchanted weapons and required Ur to fight in melee, but were easy to kill. 


Trolls attacked in groups and "fainted" after losing enough HP.  To finish them off, Ur tossed Flaming Oils onto them.  If they were packed tightly, Ur could kill multiple Trolls at once.  There weren't enough Flaming Oils in the dungeon itself, so Ur purchased more at the Kuldahar potion shop. 


Once Ur saved Mother Egenia, he leveled up and could now cast tier 5 Cleric spells.  The ones most of interest to him at the time were Shield of Lathander for temporary invincibility and Righteous Magic for a Strength boost.  He didn't use the former much in practice, since it had short duration.  The tier 1 spell Sanctuary was usually the method to escape from packs of enemies.  Righteous Magic saw some action.


Few moments in an RPG solo run were more satisfying than seeing Ur being surrounded by Cold Wights on the 3rd floor, only for him to crush them one by one.  He fought multiple waves of them before advancing to the 4th floor.  Blast Skeletons sometimes exploded for minor cold damage.   Unfortunately, I wasn't reading the level up screen properly and put a point into Two Weapon Style instead of Two-Handed Weapon Style.  Didn't realize that until I was writing this post.    


Poison Zombies appeared later in the 3rd floor.  Presio couldn't cast some of her spells when Ur was giving her concussions, but she fired a parting Magic Missile before dying.


Enemies on the 4th floor were slightly more cunning and passed themselves off as friendly priests.  They were really evil snake worshipers, since violence is the only method of advancing in Icewind Dale. 


Various Yuan-ti on the 4th and 5th floors were the most difficult opponents.  They were accurate enough to get around Ur's Armor Class some of the time, and one High Archer must have had a "+99 Bow of Never Missing".  Ur was eloquent for a character with such low Charisma, and found creative ways to shout at the Odd Little Girl who tried to dissuade him from advancing.  Eventually he ran out of insults and cried "Enough, red-headed step-child of Acheron!"  Maybe Odd Little Girl looked too much like Anne Shirley.


Ur managed to save some of the Captive Villagers between killing The High Baptist and clearing out other rooms on the 5th floor.  Each room required Ur to rest, however.  It's a wonder the Captive Villagers could hold out for so many hours and days in-game!  Animate Dead was still useful, but enemies were catching up to the Skeletons and Zombies.


Judging by the map, there's only a few rooms left on the 5th floor of Dragon's Eye.  Is it the end?  Icewind Dale is so far much more combat and dungeon focused than any Baldur's Gate game.


Ur Pregnanttummy
Fighter Level 10, Cleric Level 10
 
Tombsweeper +3/Sling +1
Plate Mail Armor
Helmet
Reinforced Large Shield +1
Gauntlets of Weapon Skill
Black Wolf Talisman
Ring of the Warrior

 
Proficiencies:
 
War Hammer:  **
Flail/Morning Star:  **
Sling:  **

Two Weapon Style:  *