Solo R/C on insane with SCSII

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Seeing as I don't particularly like fallout 3 all that much, and don't really have any other games on the table that I want play at the moment, I've decided to try take an old BG1 R/C through SoA and ToB solo on insane. Since I've never played with SCSII I thought I might as well give that a go, having played both IA and tactics.
The thing is though that the only character I've ever soloed through the games is a sorcerer (besides the odd solo blade runs that I never seem to complete) I would appreciate some help on tactics, gear selection(especially gear with useful modifies that I can save for specific battles; you know gear which combined with hardiness will give huge damage resistances and the likes) spell selection, HLAs, etc. I've played R/C's before, but only in parties and I suppose you need a totally different approach to be successful.
I'm going to cheat and give myself a bag of holding from the beginning so I can horde items from the go (I just hate inventory management anyways), so just go ahead and mention anything you think I might want to keep.

I'm going to use:

BG2 Fixpack
BG2 Tweakpack
SCSII (probably going to disable the beholder telekinesis thing so I can cheese with the shield of Balduran)
Dungeon Be Gone

 

The problem with R/C's is that their weapon selection is so limited there is almost no other option than taking Crom/FoA/MoD and that super-powered sling, you also have enough proficiency points to excel with all of them.

Might I suggest adding Item Revisions from G3 to that mix? It will change almost every magic item in the game, bringing a lot of unbalanced items to the same power level. I just started with it, but already saw some nice weapons. It will bring some variety to your game.

Spell-wise I don't think much will change from a regular party game, except that mobility and debilitating spells are more useful than damaging and healing spells.

 

Yeah weapons selection is my biggest beef with the R/C. Initially I considered going with a straight F/T(probably an illegal multi with berserker kit - dual is of course also an option, but getting those abilities back will be hell) or maybe a F/M/T for UAI so I could mix in stuff like carsomyr for MR etc. and have access to more bladed weapons, but meh.

 

I've never soloed a R/C, and I generally prefer arcane magic over divine. Certainly a solo R/C is doable in an unmodded game, but I think it might be tricky with SCSII, particularly on insane. I'm currently soloing a F/M/T, and I use mage spells all the time, not only for buffing, but also to bring down enemy mage defenses.

Having said that, because I use arcane magic moreso than divine, I'm less familiar with the usefulness of divine spells in various situations, so it's quite possible that I'm underestimating a R/C's ability to solo SCSII.

 

Yeah the lack of arcane damage is a major drawback, and so far enemy mages in particular seems to be the biggest problem I face with my R/C.

I've started a game with a F/M/T simultaneously (illegally kitted as a berserker - considered assassin as well but enrage just seemed to be more useful in the long run than the x7 multiplier). It is definitely a lot easier with the F/M/T. Aside from the fact that I can use the potion of master thievery sell/steal exploit to get some sweet gear early on, being able to buff up with spirit armor and stoneskin and then just wade in, backstab and spam a couple of sunfires makes a world of difference.
I'm kind of torn on this. The R/C tempts me because of the challenge, but I really don't want to end up having to ditch the run through because it is too difficult or is going to take me too long to finish (if I'm not able to complete the game within a reasonable time frame I know myself well enough to realize that I ain't ever going to finish it - and I only have like a couple of hours a day next to school, homework and work ).

 

My F/M/T is illegal as well (Morturi). Once I got Mislead and, shortly thereafter, UAI, the game became pretty easy (although I'm playing core rather than insane). I'm just about to start Sendai's enclave; after that, it's just Balthazar and Melissan, and I don't anticipate problems with either.

BTW, if you haven't played the SCSII version of the Abazigal section, DavidW has made some really nice changes here. Most of SCSII is about improved AI, but here he's added some new content and battles as well.

 

I've never played SCSII before so looking forward to that. In fact I've only ever managed to fully complete ToB once or twice (I think that ToB is generally not a very good game compared to BG1 and SoA ).

Think I'm going to stay with this F/M/T (with exp cap removed chances are I might even get to get a few level 9 spells since I can go 50 in all classes). Now my only big concern is which HLAs to pick... I'm not sure if a Planetar is worth it, considering I most likely won't get to get too many level 9 spells. Loads of GWWs, at least one hardiness and UAI is a no-brainer. I'm probably going to want a time trap or two as well. Hmm... Coices, choices .
Any idea how many HLAs I can presume to get by end-game? 15 or so?

 

Don't worry about HLA's - my FMT is at around level 30/25/35, and you start with your first HLAs at 12/13/15, so I've got around 50 HLA's. I'm at the point now where I dump them somewhere just to get rid of them. Of course, I'm dual-wielding, so with impr haste, there's no point in taking GWW.

I've found Planetar to be one of the more useful HLA's. I'm not sure why, but if I have trouble bringing down enemies' (magical) defenses, it seems that the Planetar cuts right through them; it's almost like their attacks bypass everything.

Last point - I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but FMT's (or FMC's) don't get mage HLA's normally; that's because, without the XP cap removed, mages can't cast level 9 spells, and since you need level 9 slots to cast mage HLA's, the game assumes you wouldn't be able to use them. There is a component of the G3 Tweakpack which gives access to the more useful mage HLA's, and if you don't have it installed yet, you should do so now (I don't think there's a problem installing it mid-game).

 

Cool .

Really? Never used them much myself, or any summon for that matter, since it's usually enough just to send your guys in, in a 5-man party, and start hacking things up .

Already have that component .

 

I feel the same way, even with a melee-based solo character. With SCSII, though, there are situations where the help comes in handy. It was more by fluke that I noticed the Planetar seems to bypass defenses. I thought it was just a coincidence the first time, but I've used it a few times since, with the same results. I'm not even sure if this is supposed to be the way it works, or if it's a bug in my game, so I'm not promising you'll have the same experience.

 

Heh, this is sooo easy . Buff up and hide, backstab, sunfire, some attacking and then some more sunfires bye bye badguys .
Looking forward to see if I'm going to meet a little more opposition later on .

I don't think there's actually that much of a difference between insane and core with a F/M/T seeing as with all the buffs available the plan is to take no damage at all . It's only in those rare cases when the defense does go down that things start getting ugly. I don't have SI yet, which is going to make things a lot easier, but with amulet of power and vecnas robe I insta-cast sunfires so can usually interrupt nasty spells like remove magic etc.