So let's sort out this before I try again with a sorc. Dragon Disciple is a decent EE-addition, but is more defensive character, and poverty wants offensive power.

- if we apply No Item At All (besides quest items), most classes won't be able to kill things. That's unfortunate, so to say. This includes all warrior classes (fighter, ranger, paladin, barbarian(, and the rogue classes (bard, thief).
The above classes either can't cause lethal damage to anyone (unarmed damage can only knock target out, but never kill them, what is mandatory for progress), or gain ability to do so beyond lvl1 (good luck finding quests w/o those restrictions), and what they do gain will prove too little anyway eventualy. Like thief do get traps, a kit even get more traps per day, but how exactly would you deal with the Bandit Camp?
- Monk can do lethal damage barehanded, but can't deal ranged damage, what is mandatory for Spellhold's Asylum (the room where a couple of goblins are shooting you standing on pillars), so don't even try beyond BG1. Pure BG1 runs might possible though with the aboves.
- Mage is not an option, as demands reading scrolls. Good luck trying this one in BG 1, or like any of the games. I suggest though trying the Minimal Stat Challange.
- Pure Divine Casters suck pixie-dust, but feel free to try. Even a Cleric/thief will perish against The Ravager, because there's no way to harm the bugger enough, and the possible status-effects (like Finger of Death, Harm - yes, even Harm does not effect ed the creture last time I tried).
I've tested Harm on The Ravager right now, landed a chritical hit, and it did zilch. This happened under EE. Well, it says "magic resistance"... Anyone want to reload for a 1:20 chance for critical hit, + 10% chance avoiding magic resistance (practicaly a 1:200 chance)? Good luck with that. (It still can turn out it is simply immun to Harm!) Bonus annoyance factor is, Harm falls off of you if you cast it before entering the arena, and takes ages to be cast. Of course Ravager does no move, which makes it impervious to traps. NOTE: I also did not find any method for self-blinding, which would allow to lay traps in the middle of the mayhem.)
With this test, I safely assume the creature is equally immun to all kinds of stat-drains too, like Shaman's Etheral Retribution (if you could somehow pull it off enough times in a row), or the Archer's Aimed Shot.
- This leaves the ONLY possible candidate for a trilogy solo poverty run the Sorcerer.

Sex: male means free exp and stuff, so duh.

Alignment: if the wiki is true, you might pick almost any alignment. The biggest influence here is if you manage to be evil, or if you want to mess with Watcher's Keep's demons (you can avoid fighting one of the demon groups with portal gem). So extend out options.
Most familiars can do nothing but fight, and who needs that. What is an advantage though is, if it has thief abilities. that leaves us with:
- ferret: Lawful Neutral
- rabbit: true neutral
- cat: chaotic neutral
Neither of them are evil unfortunately. On paper the best one is Ferret, because it can do 3. Unfortunately all on an abysmal level, and is focusing on pickpocket.
Rabbit would be convenient still, as it can detect trap along being a scout. Unfortunately, it stealth-skill is practicaly negligable, and doesn't even get better in BG2.
So ye, you are best to pick the cat.

Stats: the higher the better. CHA can be the dumpstat as always, as it does not effect exp-rewards. If CON is maxed out, you get a chance for 20 CON, what means full heal just by sleeping - in this case your pick should be half-elf. If on the other hand you don't care for that, you will wanto to pick elf instead for +1 DEX, which not only gives you better AC (very little bit helps), but also better ranged thac0, which'll count for Melf's Minute Meteor and Energy Blades. On the other hand there's only potential advantage for the elf if gets to the Machine of Lum, and will pich the evil reward during the Tears. The half-elf's CON would also only reach 20 when it won't matter anymore (again Machine of Lum), or if also pick Dragon Disciple instead of pure sorcerer. Then again, you might want to go for the evil +2 CON reward from the Tears, as poverty characters simply avoid being hit.
On the other hand STR and DEX are core stats. WIS is mainly for (Limited) Wish, and is required. INT on the other hand seems to be a potential dumpstat for a sorc.

Eh, I'll go for elf sorc, 18/19/17/9/15/14. Sum: 92, 2 pont better tham my Trilogy-run. Nice. Opted for 17 CON instead of 16 (with Tome + Lum + evil Tear, that's still be 20), so I might not bother with Watcher's Keep, or mess with it only in ToB. Doesn't rly matter, and I can afford, as I have more points than before, but lack the chance to roll even higher. CHA doesn't rly matter anyway. If WIS would work as in the manual, I'd pump that to 18 immediately. But no need for that... With the exception of identifying the Tomes...? Nah, sorcerer has abysmal lore (1 per level), and the INT/WIS could only provide 20 in all. the Tomes require 50.

Energy Blades?

(Also, I'm pretty sure Spiritual Hammer and Flame Blade are in the game, and Druids can wild shape to handle some common enemies.)

Energy Blades don't do near enough to handle The Ravager. Not even close. Partly because it mostly deals elemental damage, on what Rav. has 100% res. But feel free to try it yourself. As for meatshield, I think the best option is a planetar + 4 elemental. I'm not sure at the moment how elementals work, but at a reload I summoned a prince, and then the program did not allow me to summon more elementals. Might be that you can summon 3 elemental + a prince, might be not.
Spiritual Hammer is +1 weapon, Flame Blade is not even enchanted just deals fire damage, and The Ravager requires +4 or higher weapons to be harmed.

Anyway, I just realised, familiars can deal deathblows, what means I can use all my magic missiles how I want. Oh, ye, cats actualy do attacks under EE. Seems that's an improvement.
Also: if you hurt Imoen before she reaches melee distance, she'll "turn hostile", and then go away without attacking you (when you leave Candlekeep). So you don't have to have a single moment not being solo.
I do collect gold by the way, because sleeping for 1 HP on the road is very stupid and takes forever, and demands reloads because of random encounters. Who needs that. You'll need gold to buy stuff anyway because of quests, so use your surplus gold to get healed in temples. Why is the institution of hospitals not invented, beats me.
Against the Friendly Arm Assassin the cat did a crit preventing him doing mirror image, so just to be on the safe side released a magic missile, and the encounter was down Inside took and gave back the pantaloons.

You CAN do Unshey's Belt right away with a cat familiar if you make it do hit-and-run-the-f-away tactics. Also note that familiars at this point have better AC and more HP than you, so use them against common enemies to take a blow or two. The "good" ability of minor healing will help immensly here. Don't try it stand any blow of the ogre though, it'll be splashed.
Minor note: with this "party of two", you can block a spawn-point you can draw back in good distance, make the AI wonder back to its starting position, rins and repeat.

With the talk with Marl gained the first level.
Wether true or not that Garrick was tlaking to you automaticaly, now he doesn't, so Beregost is not blocked from wondering around. Neera still blocks some space, bt you still can reach both the major's house, both that barrel at he behind of a block. Neera gets out of the Fog of War, but will be just outside of sensing you. Not that the barrel has anything in it, but on principle.
I suggest pick up some quest (Silke*, Neera, the assassination are all better put for another time), sleep in the Fedelpost Inn (has maximum quality room), unlock the areas you can, then visit the Temple area to ulock more areas, and finish off the local hobgoblin chief.

*Actualy, found a way to abuse the AI and thus finish Silke right now. Make the familiar hide behind her, while you position yourself near the entrance of the Inn. For me Silke decided to get farther from me when I moved the cat out of her melee range, and prevented her first casting. Leaving the cat in melee range makes Silke meleeing, and she oneshots your familiar, what would be bad! The next thing was to stand the familiar behind her, and make the protagonist wlak in aiming Magic Missile at her. Attack with the cat for damage, and the MM will prevent her casting again. Back away, repeat.
Yes, you can pick up the familiar by talking to it during battle. And you do have the option to back inside the Inn, though do that only briefly, else the assassin approaches you, and he's way too though for now. Also laso: if Silke manages to cast a lightning, which disposes Garrick - who cares, he doesn't give any reward anyway, only the party you were hired to defeat can be midly important to llive, as they do give you a reward (you can sell it at the nearby shop).
You'll need to sleep again after this. Btw, the Fedelpost Inn also buys Firebeards book given as reward. Sure, it's 1$, still better than throwing away. Going around looting all the free gold (did not bother baching locks), I have 1,700+$ currently.

Went for Mirian's Letter. the Ogrillons have terrible thac0, but that doesn't mean you should not use save&reload plus unload on them, because if the hit either of you, you are toast.
Sleep between the two to regain spells. When dleivering the letter, I again levelled up. Picked Identify just for flavour, if I ran out of firepower, I reserve the right to switch this out. for BG1 the spell Shield would be my choice (EDIT: Shield is superfluous if you have Mirror Image), but if firepower would be the issue, Larloch's could come to play.
A useful thing: I've checked, and the familiar gains HP when sleeping according to the room-quality you purchase too, even if it is in your backpack.
Along Zhurlong's Boots you might want to visit High Hedge to get back Perdue's sword. Not that you could dleiver it, but on principle. You have the room and carrying capacity after all.
But before you go, why not deal with the local assassin with your dramaticaly incrised firepower. MM does significant damage now, and while you better not let him hit any of you, you can run around beng chased, while the familiar tries to hide, and make backstabs. You might want to do this anyway, or just rely it as last resort if you roll particularly bad on the missiles.

It's annoying and time-consuming to return after every minor quest to its questor, but whatever. Just like your need to sleep after like every step, because the battle exhaust you, and the familiar soon becomes only a distraction. That's still better than nothing though. Don't let gnolls fight the little one, they can onehit it. Hit once, then run around. Same for the worg at Melicamp.
Beware with Zargal, he is surprisingly though (and again can oneshot your familiar). I got lucky, and he paniced in the end, so despite out of MM, the familiar could backstab him as finisher.

Tenygan can be finished of with some lucky roll on the MM-damage, and his mage is patheticaly weak. The archer will be impossible for a long while though (until you gain Mirror Image or Stoneskin). Still, good exp these two, and another clvl.

Just saw on the wiki the Hobgoblin Camp has a bit of extra exp for dleivering a trinket found nearby, so there. After this I'll visit the Lighthouse, fighing some wolves for "easy" exp. I mean I did visit Nashkel as I was there, and the local assassin went down "easy". Snaek-attack by the fmailiar, back away so it doesn't think up anything funny, go melee when start casting again. Launch MMs of course until it's down.

Against Zordal (Nashkel Festival) the amount of MM was enough. Could block all his casting with itm but to be on the safe side, Mirror Image should be up.

Albert's Dog is easy exp, Sendai can be done the usual way - her two archer don't like to move, so you can position familiar to make you see, wonder in shooting MM, wander out, repeat. Mirror Image is still a must though. Note: the Cat does baskstab, with *2 multiplier.
Mr. Dart-thrower can be done too, but it's far from easy, and I think the engine cheats to bypass Mirror Image. So be extremly cautious, because the familiar sux against him in melee!

Went to the Mines, just to unlock the Samuel-area, finished the chasing kobolds event. Entered the Mine to empty the leftover spells (dleivered the dagger), then came out and went for the body. This netted me another clvl.

To get rid of Greywolf, I used a pretty ... questionable method. I mean running out of sight, hitting the sleep button is not exactly conventional warfare.
In the Mines Mirror Image prevents most of the trap-damage, which is good.
Mulahey was ... interresting. I have zero idea what triggers what he summons - sometimes he does not summon the skelies. Also at occasion not all the horde tries to flood you, what would be the optimal case. All of these turned out to be irrelevant for me though, because while I was positioning myself - his initial approach can be positioned by positioning your character - trying to trying out running to Xan's part of the cave, Mulahey started to panic instead of truning hostile. So this was easy for me. Another idea was to run for the entrance, and fragment his horde. his spells are also annoying, and being clerical uninterruptable, but the Cat could bypass them anytime if you need some help.
Oh: stop using the cat as attacker around here, because even a simple kobold on this level (but not ebove) could oneshot the poor thing.

Remember, that Grey Ooze must be delt with physical damage :( But the assassination attempt is doable with using the stealthed familiar for positioning, running out of side after releasing your spell, running a lot if needed, and sleep when you run out of spells.
Also, for this once, I gave back the Revenant's dagger. Fun fact: never did this before.
Oh: Nimbul, the assassin is almost a joke with not just the local guards, but also Rasaad standing right on his nose. Only bother if you need the exp. Otherwise to avoid his spell just enter the inn's door periodicaly.

With 20 rep Mad Arcand trusted me with his quest.
Gaving a stealthy familiar guarantees Basillus looses all his minions. At this level I could even interrupt his every spell. When he runs out, he's just a melee character who'll chase after any distraction.
Finaly was strong enough to clean Landarin's house. Mirror Image protects from the spiders until at least 1 is defeated, so can either run away, or hop into the house for avoidance. Then when there is an opening you can run, and without any help you are still faster than a spider.
You want to loot Brage's sister while also getting the exp from the Brage-quest? arrive from the east, make Brage notice you, then run away! He'll stand at his new position if you manage to get out of his sight. You should, you are just a tiny bit faster.
Bar'uk's horde of Kobold Commando is a headache. Don't bother, they don't worth the effort. If you feel you have to, know they tend to wonder very far very soon, creating the ooption to pick them down one-by-one. Still not reommended.
Deke was interresting. I piked off his cohorts entirely by accident leaving him last. He turned blue, and surrendered :D
The Osmadi-encounter is bloody annoying. The wild bear tend to turn hostile if in visibility, and wither that or the potential two-bear spawn happens that kills the mood. My minimalist solution was to run away shooting MMs to the single bear, then when it was down, sleep. Yes, it's ridiculous, but it's not cheating, technicaly speaking, so duh. The druid fight does continue, and to add more annoyance, your exp can be stolen by that npc. For the coming fight I did not always get interruption, so my suggestion is to back away from him, and if casting failure does not happen, back away from visibility.
Fahrington's scroll was fingerpractice. As I was here, for why not, tried the Red Wizards, and going in from the right angle, shooting MM while under the cover of Mirror Image I did fine.
With my CHA I could do Drienne's Cat for maximum reward. That whole area is open to do at this point.
Did you know you can get to Borda without bothering with the xvart village? You can. But the only way you can win against him is with Melf's Minute Meteors, because he has magic resistance otherwise. Your first hit also needs to connect preventing his mirror image, or you're in trouble.
The CHA-tome is my first. I think.
Got the VON Tome too.

Ankhegs doesn't stand to the Magic Missle + Melf's Minute Meteor combo, so N of FAI is cleared, as well the Bridge, as well the zombie-farm. So it's time to go against the Bandit Camp. Which is much easier under EE, as now I can just go in-and-out of the boss-tent to thin the mob.
Almost forgot about the S of Ulcaster area, the cow was there, so before opening the chest to get to the new chapter... Also cleaned out the other quests in the area. Beware: Arghain himself is BIG, and if you arrive to him from north instead of south, his troop will port on your head!
Let's hop to Durlag's Tower for that Tome. To get in you either have pick Invisibility, or fight some Battle Horrors. They have insane AC, so you can't use MMM here, only MM and skull traps - you have some space around Ike to pull this off (need 2 ST + 1 MM per BH). Beware, don't hurt the shopkeeper! Inside just go up the central staircase twice, meet the other adventurer, save to prevent the Dire Charm, get out.
If in CWF1 you side with the trespasser, beware, if you skull traps kill any member of the incoming gorup, Aldeth will think they are alive, and the quest can not progress!
Not doing much in the CWFs, and I think EE rmeoved a super-sirene from CWF4, at least moved from the way, making it easier.
For the CWM lvl 2 I suggest again to use the side-corridor to get behind enemy lines.

To survive CVM lvl 3 entrance you have a couple of options. I'd be glad to have more spells here... Stoneskin would mean full protection down there to cast a Skull Trap, hopefully eliminating at least a couple of units. If you don't have that, you have to rely on reload and Mirror Image. In all cases, cast at least a spider up on the 2nd level.
Another option is to just pop in and go back either instantly, or releasing a Magic Missile. Now most likely the entire room of people will arrive with you, being hostile and all. But if you reload from before coming back, the majority of enemies will be out of sight, and this time will be left behind. Whoever follows shall be halted by the summon/s, and delt with MMM and MM.
On the corridors of lvl 3 you either have to risk the respawning, or be invisible, or summon a spider for cover.
To deal with the bottom level Battle Horrors in the sall room the human guard is you have space to cast Skull Trap. Cast first beyond that point a spider, and lure the horror out. While the summon is hacked set the traps. Again help with magic missiles.
Did EE nerf the chief wizard here? Cause before he had an infinite cycle of spells, but this time he quickly ran out, and was kinda pathetic. Still, the traps on his corridor hurt, so fun fact: visited The Surgeon after this (free healing).
When entering BG, I'm already at max level of BG1EE(/TotSC), so i'll breeze through most of the remaining stuff.
Funny thing is, I keep accumlating potions. Likely through quests.

So, for BG I had: Nester's Dagger, a sphene gem (for the seer), and an angel-ring (for Fergus). Besides these, only the Umberlee-temple was to be done (it is included in the Being Poisoned questline), and Ramazith's Tower for its Tome again. Oh, and there's the Thieves Guild quest too.
The Sewer Ogre Mage was surprisingly hard, as as soon as you leave the spawn-point before him unighted, spawns a horde of crawlers. In the end I tossed in a skull trap for good measure, and finished the rest with MMM.

Ramazith's tower was ... weird, and I thinnk bugged? I just Knocked the door open, went in. First floor: immediately ran back to ground floor - the jellies followed me, so I hopped back, and the oozes remained down there. Summoned 2 spiders, went up, shot a skull trap (hit and killed only 1), hopped back, ran behind the spiders. Shoth MMMs on as many as I dared, then skull trap on the last paralyzed spider eliminated most of the ghasts, so could MMM the remaining 1-2. Realising I have to be able to leave the tower cast mirror image and MMM, went down (the mustards did not care if I summoned distration). Weirdly only 1 was there, the other ... just bugged out from the game it seems.
For the hobgoblins went up, down, cast trap on those who came down (2 did not). The stairs covered some of them, making them hit me less, giving more chance for successfull casting. and lastly for the kobolds... Same, but having a spider on the level below them, makes things even more easier.

Wow, Petrine in EE has a specific ring of hers. Ok.

Candlekeep is again a breeze. Avoid what you can, fight which you must. If you picked prot. from petr. use it when passing the lizards. Don't forget to get the tomes (requires Knock spell). The traps will hurt, even if the missle-ones are sponged by mirror image, but I have high enough CON that with UHM can heal-sleep.

Realising I never brought back Gurke's Cloak (or finished the Strange Vial quest), bumped into Neeera. Isn't she the littlest karen? Entirely unprepared considered a reload, settled for casting a skull trap. Got lucky, finished the casting and hit each of them before reaching me.

This is the second time (after my minimal stat ranger) where Slythe's companion never shown up. The only thing I can think of is me attacking Slythe without activating her dialogue. Feels like a bug.

Web seems to be the choice of people to deal with the ducal palace as (solo insane poverty) sorc. Given that slvl 2 does not have a hugh amount of useful spells it might actualy fit in, if you sacrifise Melf's Acidic Arrow, or simply do not go beyond BG1. Or don't open locked doors at all. Which can be tricky at times, and means you don't use up the Tomes. Which is of course up to you. But I would not skip Mirror Image for anything, and Knock is at me to grab the Tomes, and generaly make my life easier (like I dunno what happens if you fail the thieves' quest). Without Resist Fear you won't be able to pass the Baal Tear without turning evil - ok, I confess I never bothered with the beholders, so maybe that's an alternative? Finaly the 5th slot, which can not be filled in BG1 remains for question. A possible spell here is Invisibility, which status you can get from 3 spells (inv. inv 10 f, improved). The improved version is not available in BG 1 for reasons: you only get 2 lvl 4 spell, from which one should be Spider Spawn for being awesome, and for causing unenchanted damage, thinking on Magic Golems in ToB sections of the games. The other is for consideration, sure, but we need something to deal with Sarevok, and unless another strategy comes up, the Invisible Ooze Walking On Skull Trap Traps will take up this slot.
On the other hand, the lvl 3 spells might have a free slot for 10 foot invisibility, given the only spells you need there are Melf's Minuite Meteors and Skull Trap, the 3rd slot for BG1 remaining open. Though you might consider picking Ghost Armor, thinking upon Irenicus' Dungeon, which you must pass, but won't be able still to unlock more casting ability.

So the dukes.
As mentioned, Web is a highly popular spell here, casting it blind, so most of the partzicipants of the battle will be bogged down, lessenning the numbers, incrising the chance they won't even be able to cast their buffs. But you don't actualy need this, at least not on Core Difficulty.
My strategy was to summon 4 spiders (theoreticaly 5, but I was lazy to reload for that), have MMM in oyur hands, and have Mirror Image running. Position the spiders between the dukes and the crowd, go in, cast Magic Missile where it can do the most use, and hope for the best. Reload if needed. The length os the battle was 2 cast of MM, and 1 cast of MMM after those. Then hurry to the other end of the room, so you won't have to deal with Sarevok - the remaining guards will hold him off until his mage arrives and teleports away.

The list of spells that were used until this point are:
level 1: 1 - Find Familiar, 2 - Magic Missile 3 - Identify (you don't need this, I only used this to use the Tomes by myself)
level 2: 1 - Mirror Image, 2 - Knock (if you don't use the Tomes, you don't need this, probably for anything)
level 3 - 1 - Melf's Minute Meteor, 2 - Skull Trap (if for mothing else, to deal with Battle Horrors - unless of course you picked some kind of invisibility, but that makes the Vloakwood Mines bottom more problematic, and if you can wait for Improved Invisibility, that's way better)
level 4 - Spider Spawn

The Skeleton Warriors (after the Battle Horrors) are a nightmare, they magic dmg immunity, good AC and high dmg. Summonning spiders help, mirror image is a must, then run a lot behind to be able to refresh your MMM-supply.
The oozes don't require much attention, as their shooting range is smaller than yours, and you have plenty of space ti withdraw.
For the Iron Throne Group outside Sarevok's Hiding: I did not remember skull traps having such long range. According to my memory, it could not be cast all the range of your sight, giving it a considerably drawback compared to Fireball. Either my memory sucks, or EE tweeked out this. Whatever, I'm ready to abuse.
Tamoko this time went to her way, as she should be.

Against Sarevok if you had access to lvl 5 spells it'd be much more convenient. As it stands though, it's a faildafe strategy to have one of the basic invisibilities (Invisibility or Invisibility 10 feet radious), walk up to Sarevok just to be visible, immediately start casting Invisibility, wait until the effect of traps expire (stinking cloud, web), then use Polymorph Self -> mustard jelly, and start walking left-right on the skull trap trap. It's a bit of a letdown to have to rely on two spells never used before, but at least we have the option to win.
I'm not entirely sure if the spiders are necessary tbh.
UPDATE: do NOT summon the spiders, they complicate things: the mage teleporting to the entrence won't see you, the spiders will teleport on your head, and the archer will shoot explosive arrows on them, endagering you. Mirror Image is a must though, then invisibility, then Ploymorph Self.
UPDATE 2: in theory, it is still possbile to pull off casting Skull Traps near Sarevok's podium, leave the temple, sleep, cast more of the thing. This is very dumb, I'm not sure if it was possible under the original game, PLUS it is very hard to pull off considering the randomly floating flock of bats (you'll need to reload AL LOT, also bring Melf's Meteors to emergency-shoot bats, hopefuly in time).
UPDATE: it IS possible to use Invisibility 10' radius, if you manage to find a slot for it. Here is how: the above method will not work, because of the castingtime. So you need to pre-cast it. fortunately the fight still activates when you get close to the podium. You therefor need a summon. spiders are still the best - you only need 1 this time, because you want to controll it full time, preventing it teleporting around. Your goal is to lure Sarevok to the middle. Wait until the spider is dead, because it made the mage cast spells in my game, and that got in the way. the infighting though will not matter, the mage does not shoot back on the archer. So when the smoke settled, Polyymorph Self.

Passed Irenicus' Dungeon, not used any new spell (spiders are great cover), and by clearing it (gloin horde spawned at the portal), gained a new level even. I think I'll pick Sunfire as my new spell. That, or Spell Immunity are the two most immediate-use spells on the list. I wonder where did I use cloudkill during the previous go... Probably some mage group were responsible.

Went into the Circus Tent, and because killing Aerie gives no exp, freed her instead.
For the second floor you either should run for the stairs, or have mirror image running, lure out all the creatures by walking into visibility, and sunfire them to oblivion. Only the shadows worth exp, but the werewolf can interrupt your casting either way, and will harm you if you harm them. So it's either two sunfire or nothing.

A minor note for the Promenade is the elf-hater, who if you manage to bother with, will net you 3 gold. It's not much, but better than nothing.
Also worth remembering that special abilities do not count as spells.

Going to pick up the Stronghold-quest is not as rushing right now, os instead went the usual way into the Copper Coronet. Outside fought the two marauders, this used up my One Warning for the Cowled Wizards, but I'm 3,500$ at the moment, so I'm pretty confident getting the remaining sum soon.
Also, fighting Amalas gave me a level.

Dang, forgot ye shall not approach the Sewer Shaman, so I had to fight them.
But I do have the gold to buy off the Cowled Wizards.

For fighting the slavers summon 1-2 spider in the sewer, pop in, pop out, run to the corner, drop a skull trap on the crowd, and you're done with most of the horde. The rest of the building is whatever strategy you like. On an interresting note if you pick something like cloudkill, when fighting the 2nd human mob, run in the southern cell, close the door, and hug the western wall - the enemy will go back to the room and suffocate.

This once I had to rescue Viconia, as I did not dispose her in BG1. Was easier than expected, at least with Spider Spawn all over, and magic licence.
On the margin of the Government Distric remember, if you play solo, mage Anomen angry when you first meet him claiming to be evil and not changing, so he goes home, and the whole house will turn hostile if you ever enter,. In case you like/need such exp.

Was the harper-dude between areas always impervious to damage? Because I indiscriminately threw on 'em AoE-spells.

Uncle Lester is now hasted in EE? That was a surprise. But I got lucky.

I got boggled down between various quests for not having lvl 2 spell to cast to get the priestly trinket for MaeVar. Mainly the Sir Sarles questline, but you know how it is. Point is: one more clvl.

For the Bruied Alive-kidnappers I thought I'll let them run away, but met with Weird Behavior. Once they stood hostile when they reached out of sight. Another time they ran away. In the end decided to set 3 skull trap, than magic missile the dwarf under steon skin.
Another Weird Behaviour wa which I rmemeber an orc in the Lilarcor-sewer backed to the wall - and disappeared.
Yet another Weird Thing was, at least I never tried this before, told the Talos priest who had the Dawn Ring I came in to potentialy buy the flat. Then force-attacked the bugger. The ring was there, but no reinforcement ever appeared.

I got lucky, and all the spending/earning (remember, quests and other events require/allow you to spend money) set me at 14,500 with Mae'Var down, and with this all time/daytime sensitive quests were down too as far as I care.
The "problem" of choosing side in the Guildwar is very theorethical, given you don't have Restoration, and while healing HP is one thing, restoration is a whole other thing. Leveldrain is inconvenient anyway. And negative plane protection just sucks. So unless you have some clever little trick in your sleaves against the vampires, I strongly encourage siding with the undead.

When doing Bodhi's first job, beware, there is a beggar down the dock, who in case perish for an AoE- attack, will ruin your reputation.

After you join Bodhi, there supposed to be a scripted ambush at the thieves guild. This can be prevented if you manage to destroy the thief who should talk to you out of sight.
Finishing the first job also gave me a clvl.

For Day 6 I totaly forgot about Witch Cragmoon's cohorts, and of course I did not save before leaving the inn, and I did not want to wait through the 3rd dream again, so this was a proper amush. Not that it was hard, but certainly was annoying, and made me waste a ton of spells to the level I was measuring just to go back for another sleep.

Tarnor and his group in the sewers is a very good reason to have Cloudkill.

To fight the lich at the city gate you just need to be patient. Enter, wait until its defense kicks in, exit, wait like 2 minutes, enter again, start throwing MMM until his second defenses kick in, wait a minute outside, enter, he'll cast a prot from magic weapons, so wait another minute, then finish him off. Didn't even try to grab me with Maze - against which you should have Spell Immunity.

Trademeet
---------------
This place is semi-easy/straightforward. Not much enemy-variety, neither the numbers too overwhelming. The group of druids are of course a pain, but the majority does not have too many hit dices, so cloud kill and/or death spell works wonders. If you don't have those, try skull traps, and spiders as meatshield (they don't last very long though).
the trolls are the weakest elements here, MMM easily dispatches them.
Fighting Ifhateer is a big exploit-battle. The raksasha don't come out of their cottage, and under EE poison cloud immediately scese to exist when you leave an area. And 80% of the time they start casting. 10-20% of the time they do some melee, but that's mostly negligable. Throw 2-3 MMM, step out, repeat. At the start of the battle a spider can gain you some extra time, but that's it.
Hm. So if you immediately speak with Cernde, you can skip the last druid mob. Fine for me.

The Mantle quest is annoying, for the enclosed space constant summonning, and insance magic resistance. Be sure to have at least 2 MMM on you, otherwise don't even try. You first job is to take out the summoner. You first spell inside though should be a Sunfire to eliminate the two small skeletons which are not summonned. After the summoner is down, cast a Death Spell. Finish the fight after all this is done.
So Mirror Image PLUS Stone Skin is pretty much unavoidable here. Though the local guards can help. Not much, but a bit.

Neeber is annoying, as he is time-dependent to appear, and unlike for BG1EE you can't just click on him, oyu have to move the curser each tme a bit.

The Return of the Tanner quest is annoying, because the NPC is very unresponsive in EE, and many times don't move/start talking to you, until she does.

Umar Hills
---------------

Valygar has a surprisingly high AC, so try traditional spellcasting.

Btw, for a brief period I considered checking what amount of exp you could get without leaving Amn, but than again, it has some though content, and tvh the whole entering the Sphere and running the stronghold thing just cancelled that approach yet again.
Btw, before leaving Umar Hill to its ruins, and mostly doing any of its quests (all have a small delay on them, just so you go and do the ruins), still got a levelup. As spiders started lacking, I picked up Mordekainen. Limited Wish has to wait. That spell actualy worth 2 spells aside its one-time wishes: Negative Plane Protection and Minor Globe of Invulnerability. I might regret though not picking Finger of Death, but whatever, I think.

There is one good thing about Skeleton Warriors: they use hugh swords, meaning you remain ranged-range when they are already melee-range, making your meteors more effective.
Shadow Fiends are a nuisance, but they can not pass the almighty magic of a closed door. Otherwise, I suggest Sunfire very heavily.
Did not meet a lich, but Bone Golems are defnitely huhgh. But if you have Mordekaninen, they pose no problem.
Obviously not bothered with the leveldraining dragon, and the Shade Lord went down for only 2 spells: 1 mordekainen and 1 skull trap (this later oneshotted every minion it had, including the altair).

The Sphere
----------------

Oh, how I hate Tolgerias. Well, I pretty much hate this place in general, with a passion.
So, first you have to fight a Clay Golem. Get a Mordekainen for wall, and slowly drain it with MMM.
Then the feral halflings are just the worst, but eventualy you can finish them. The spiders in the golem room fortunately perish for a single Death Spell.
The furnace room is angering though. My startegy here is to cast Improved Invisibility, go in, start with throwing MMM on the wizard-whatever (important to hit!), then Sunfire the mob to oblivion. The mageling has spell deflection, what can cause serious problem, and this moob is just nuisance.
The golems... Can't huhrt a Mordekainen, so you can eventualy win. In case there's some left after the initial attack, send in your remaining summon (one enough), and shut the door. This makes the golem(s) wander to the far end of the room, so you can grab the head.
Tolgerias is just the worst with his infinite death spell against your summons his fellow's summons (death spell them as your 2-3rd casting), 0 casting speed power word stun... The only really effective strategy I found aside just hope for the best is to cast cloudkill (why do I refer this as poison cloud?) and support it with Animate Dead. Animate Dead is a pretty lame spell otherwise (can't harm like anything), but it works for this.
I hate the demons here too, but seems Animate Dead is not that useless after all. Still the smae location as was used before, but that spell-level is pretty empty for me anyway.
Finishing the Sphere gave another clvl.

Bug: the stronghold quest(s) don't get time-stamp in the journal.

Anyway, managed to rescue an unsaveable servant in the De'arnide Keep by sending in a summon blind. Don't think this worked in the original, but in EE the troll attacked the summon, so there.

In case you forgot you'll need a Wand of Frost, and don't have one for the Limited Wish Adventure, you find one in the De'Arnise Keep!
On this note, I warn you about a bug. I ... let's say tried to go back to buy back the wand of frost brought out from Irenicus' Dungeon, of course sold to Gaelen's shopkeeper, who turned out to turn hostile as soon as you pact with Bodhi. Whataver, reload. Turned out somehow the program overwrote my latest save slot (not a quicksave slot) while also autosaving the game. It was suprising, but the quicksaves saved me from demise.
Anyways, the keep was mostly summons, and supporting them with magic from behind.
Time to do the beholder cult I assume.

I did not plan for it, but running down the spells, just had a setup to spend it before sleep, so attack Valeri's goons. Weird, none came up with them being some kinda cut content.

I truly get nervous every time I go against The Eyeless. The annoying traps. The ambushes. the beholders. Avoid the beholders like plague - use invisibility. When you cnan not - that's where Abi Dhalzim will likely come into play, that hits hard. Summons worth barely anything them shooting Death Spell en masse and stuff. I hate this.
A good strategy is here to cast a skeleton warrior, and when the enemy is mobbing on it, toss in a skull trap - that usualy eliminates the entire mob. You'll have to manualy make the skeleton attack whoever is still active, because though will not come to you for attacking it, will switch its aim on you.
The BUG where you return to Amanuator in the Sewers withthe depleted rod still exist, so do NOT click on the door, else the game will hang indefinitely, you'll have to shot it down via Task Manager, and stuff.

Whoop, not just another level when came up from defeating the Eyeless, but the apprentices finished their first task too!

Now here is what's left for me before moving on:
- The Guarded Compound: I hate this place, will likely skip it again.
- Windspear Hills + the Winspear Key: it's though, but I usualy do it before moving on
- The Planar Prison: it's such an inconvenience, that place is.
- The Rogue Stone Doorway: I probably could do it, but does it worth the fuss?
- Kangaxx. I have the parts. The first one involved a lot of running around, summons and whatnot, the sewer-lich only required a skeletal warrior and 3 Abi Dhalzim. Still, does the reward worth it? I mean if I can beat the lich form, the demilich isn't even a challenge.
- and of course the eradication of the shadow thief guild.

The Planar Prison is a joke if you have Abi Dhalzim. Note: at the arrival don't worry about the griendly thrall, has no effect on the progress, so if an AoE hits it... Oh well.
Besides: another clvl, (19th).

Kangaxx - ok, either EE gave it a new ability, or dunno why never met with this Demilich Howl. Defeating the lich-form is easy: abi Dhalzim. EE gave it immunity in its demilich form against that, and MMM just doesn't hurt it fast enough before the Howl kicks in eventualy. Of course could try to run TWO Spell Immunity, but does not worth the effort, especialy things depending on random - if MMM only hurts it 1 HP per shot, that's doom.
And picking Black Blade of Disaster just for this optional fight sounds very-very stupid.
NOTE after gaining the Slayer form, of course you can come back...

Using my old notes from page 1 proved beneficial, beating the Rogue Stone Doorway is really that easy: summon a planetar. There's some risk though, if the wrong spell/s is not resisted by it, so do a save. Itherwise yes, it's really just that.

The Guarded Compound is no threat when you can throw in the nuclear option: Planetar.
Still, watch out for the Nishruu. It drains charges, items and stuff even if you do have Stone Skin on.

Gven there is only 1 place to go now, I decided to roll the Stronghold by sleeping. A lot. Did not require anything from the 3rd course, the graduation gave me another clvl.
Ya know, the whole politics behind this stronghold could make up for let's say a 50 pages short story.

BUG: when going to Windspear Hills, got a random envounter. This cut the remaining time to arrival to 12 hours, so I cast a Stone Skin to be safer on landing. The Stone Skin evaporated anyway, AND it was like I just cast it, thus could not immediately cast again.
So I reloaded, and on spot summoned the nuclear option instead. Did short work.

Dunno how it worked before, but The Guardian in WS, F's D can be seen and defeated by a Planetar, without you equipping the mask. Which according to the wiki in EE 2.5+ does not protect from critical hits anymore, so I can wear it. Unenchanted rings and amulets are aplenty (the Harper Amulet is of course the most stylish), and the Anarag's Fallens provide you with boots. Too bad Beamdog did not implement their BG1 unenchanted girdel in BG2.
I'm also pretty sure, only the three Evil-alignment was offered to double-cross your questor, swiutching side to Firkraag. Now my Chaotic Neutral char could have picked that option. Dunno why, but this time I go for the "good"-alignment options. 20K exp this cost me here if I'm correct, but I just don't care that much.

BUG or something: when entering the Slum's temple, Habib might show up. Originaly he trew his gold in, dealing you 1 dmg or such. Under EE he came in, and started attacking me for like 10 seconds.

The Sewer Key area is ... Well, summon Mordekainen (at least after the first room, which is more humans than illithids), and close the door behind them. There's nothing much else you can do, and I have like no idea how to 100% prtect from some rendomly shot Brain Deviouring or what (the Dire Charm school in itself is not enough).

Lacking 18 CHA, the only option to get into the Asylum is to fight head first. Don't waste your time with the quests (unless you rly want to exp).

Dunno if it's a BUG, but if you eliminate Chermy before talking with Ginia, Ginia will disappear from the game. This was not how it went before EE.

BUG: one of the tags that appear under EE when progressing a quest, I think the one after you met the contect in the Byrnnlow Inn looped infinitely. It disappeared when I clicked it away manualy though.

During the dream you fight Baal remember, your INT (mind) is a dumpstat.

Solved all riddles to avoide boredom, but did not bother wwith the sluice, used the other exit exclusively.

the Asylum-fight with Irenicus was ... Never before turned EVERYBODY hostile. Not that it changed anything on the long run, still.
I mean this fight was clearly not designed with ToB in mind. Now Summon Planetar -> Abi Dhalzim was all it took.

I have 5million+ exp, so I'm skipping the shaugains.

In the dwarf city reach clvl 24. Won't bother with the local quests if I can avoid. But got rid of the dwarves demon for good measure.

Dunno what struck me, but it did struck me Imma mage, so I did all the tavern duels. Planetars were unmatched.

My guess is, Adalon is evil, that's why she tries to drop us into a drow mob, but I defeated them already, so nyah-nyah. Also another level.

BUG: This never happened before, but I just noticed, I did NOT get the Slayer Change ability. I have zero idea why. I even remember getting the Slayer Change dream with Imoen in the school, and all that "what's an eternity of nothingness" speech.
All is not lost though, but I'll have to re-play all of the Underdark. "Magnificient". F Beamdog.

----------------

One thing interresting poped up by this: I discovered the drow inn has a second floor! Not that it'd have anything interresting, but still.

Also a BUG: NEVER click going into the drow temple. Same bug as for the Amanuator-temple in the sewers: you go in, the cutscene can not happen, you are F-ed.

A bit of roleplay: I always "buy" the magic rope, then droop it on the floor, pretending I actualy cast it into the casms.

I'll never grasp why I have to kill the drow treasury-guards,, in the open, and none react to it. But id I manage to pull out some invisibility-trick, the whole city becomes hostile.

Here are 2 features I suggest to Beamdog:
- put the exp-limit of BG2 on BG2, as well as cut Watcher's Keep from the BG2 part. Preferably this mode should be optional of course, but I'm missing the original challenge. Maybe only unlock it in Chpater 7. Something definitely could be done here.
- make the slaves-option in the Ust-Natha Bazaar as it should be. They should most likely work as any Familiar: exceeding the party-limit, but following you around from area to area, no leveling up for them.

Also: when entering Bodhi's Lair in Chapter 6-or-whatever, when first entering deal with the vampires at the nearest corner - then return to the entrance. This is, because for some odd reason, a fledgeling vampire is supposed to be there, but probably does not spawn when you enter on the surface-exit (the other is that gets open if you sided with the thieves), probably to favour the player and not get attacked instantly, but it still feels buggy behaviour.

Btw, I'm clvl 27 at this point.

I had one playthrough where I did not get the Slayer Change ability. I never learned why it failed, but I believe I found posts asserting that careful use of the debug console to teleport back into the dream area would allow the ability to be added. I think in my case party timing worked out that I never slept during chapter 4. I don't know if this is responsible for the problem.

It very likely is. Strange, because it was not a problem under the original.
There are multiple solutions, like re-setting the GLOBAL, or simply adding the ability via Shadowkeeper (or whatever its current name is).
Fortunately, it's ca. 2-3 hours gamepolay only what's lost, and I'll use this as checking if my strategies truly did work (obviously they did),

------------------

Here is an updated list of spells-suggestion:

lvl 1
------
1 - Find Familiar (either something that can sneak around (hint: Cat), or the Imp for polymorph self)
2 - Magic Missile (good scaling damage, low casting time)
3 - Protection From Evil (because summoned demons are a pain)
4 - Identify (more of a roleplaying spell tbh. Gives you more gold from selling reward-items (I didn't even pick up items just to sell them, and using BG1's Tomes (but as they can be considered quest items, and can't be used w/o identification, this is more of a nitpick)
5 - Protection from Petrification might be convenient, but ANYTHING goes here

lvl 2
------
1 - Mirror Image (good defensive spell)
2 - Knock (convenient to have, opens a ton of quests in BG2, and makes some Tomes accessible in BG1)
3 - Web (there's space for it, and helps in BG1)
4 - Resist Fear (better have it. We don't want a panicing Planetar, do we? Not much need for it in BG1 though)
5 - Melf's Acidic Arrows (more of a convenience to have, and tbh not much else to pick up, but all in all, ANYTHING goes here)

lvl 3
------
1 - Melf's Minute Meteors (pure damage,, hits everything, kills trolls)
2 - Skull Trap (under EE it doesn't even have a range-problem)
3 - Invisibility 10' Radius (you likely do need an invisibility option for BG1, so depending on alignment, reload-tolerance and other factors, you might pick this up)
4 - ANYTHING goes here
5 - ANYTHING goes here

lvl 4
------
1 - Improved Invisibility
2 - Spider Spawn
3 - Polymorph Self (the above three depends on your familiar, save/reload tolerance etc.)
4 - Stone Skin (magnificient defense)
5 - Minor Spell Sequencer (not that I ever used this, but extra ability is extra ability. Otherwise ANYTHING goes here)

lvl 5
------
1 - Spell Immunity (total game-changer, this one)
2 - Sunfire (you'll love this spell in BG 2, also fire dmg, aka. defeats trolls)
3 - Cloudkill (you won't believe how convenient this is to have early BG2. It'll become obsolate, but whatever)
4 - Animate Dead (total mage-killer, and combined with Skull Traps, you can quickly eliminate hordes with low level spells. They also last forever, if that matters)
5 - ANYTHING goes here

lvl 6
------
1 - Death Spell (you don't believe how convenient this is to have, and as for the Rescue Phaere it eliminates all the monsters which otherwise all gang on YOU, pretty much a must-have)
2 - True Sight (just pure convenience, welcomed, as the planetar sometimes would vanish before the end of fighting)
3 - Protection From Magic Energy (you want to semi-permanently become The Slayer? Use this.)
4 - Protection From Magic Weapons (convenient defensive spell, not used yet)
5 - Improved Haste (it's a bit redundant with optioning Energy Blades, but might come in handy. Not used yet)

lvl 7
------
1 - Mordekainin's Sword (good defense, tolerable offense)
2 - Limited Wish (hidden Negative Plane Protection, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, plus style-bonuses)
3 - Khelben's Wharding Whip (thinking on ToB)
4 - Spell Sequencer (again, ANYTHING goes here, but an extra ability is an extra ability)
5 - Project Image (I heared you can abuse this. Never actualy used)

lvl 8
------
1 - Piercing Shield (pretty much a must-have against The Ravager, and it is very nice to have anyway)
2 - Abi Dhalzim's Horrid Whilting (pretty much an upgrade from Cloudkill. Totaly slow casting speed, so cast it from out of sight, or something)
3 - Spell Trigger (again, ANYTHING goes here, but an extra ability is an extra ability)
4 - Simulacrum (I heared you can abuse this. Never actualy used)

lvl 9
------
1 - Chain Contignency (again, ANYTHING goes here, but an extra ability is an extra ability)
2 - Wish (pretty much mandatory because of Amelyssan. Otherwise, I tend not to use it at all)
3 - Time Stop (according to my notes, I'll need this)
4 - ANYTHING goes here

----------------------------------

Here is a neat old trick of mine to make your life in WSK lvl 1 easier: One - save often, as some containers are trapped with leveldrain (none of those which contain quest items). Two: again found a lock that I could bash because of high STR, not needing to use up a spell-casting. Just telling. The real deal is: before doing the ritual to fight the statues instead of doing it, pick up the book from the altair! This makes only the two topmost statue alive.
And finaly: just in case, focus your efforts on anything BUT the golem-statue. you can run away from that into a side-room and it won't be able to follow, potentialy blocking more enemies from following you.

And yet another: try to preserve a Planetar for the end og the day. It has Heal spells, what means full heal!

For WSK lvl 2: yes, blocking the Chromatic with Mordekainen, than Dragonbreath in its face while it is in ice-form solves it.

Picture: WSK3 2D-representation. One day someone should build it in 3D.

So, let's analyse WDK3.

One: chain Contignency is a lifesaver here, definitely have it. Don't even start without it.

So we start in AR3003, and to south is Yakman/saferoom to sleep, AR 3011.

Out goal is basicaly 3013 and 3012. I always pacted with 3012, but this might depend on alignment.
AR3012 can trust you with the quest, and thus you don't need to fight them, if you are:
- any of the Good alignment
- Lawful Neutral
AR3013 will nt trust you with the quest if:
- Lawful Good / Neutral Good alignment.

The easiest way to reach AR3012 is through AR 3008, which is east from AR3003. The problem is, it is a no-magic zone. Not sure what the original game does here, but EE definitely allows Chain Contignency here. Store 3 Mordekainen, also pre-cast MMM or Energy Blades (EB from now on), and it'll be easy.
From AR3008 again go east to reach AR3012.
Getting back to AR3003 is going north, then west.

The only other way to reach AR3012 is through AR3004, which is again a No Magic Zone, so might as well go through the above route. Your only chance w/o Chain Contignency (or one of the similar spells) is to pre-cast invisibiility and/or make a run for it.

-

Reaching AR3013 can only be done via 1 option.
First go west to AR 3009. This is a Wild Magic Zone, so you'll obviously hate it. Fill your Chain Contignency with 3 Abi Dhalzim, because either setting Mordekainen's on the target was what did not work for me, or the Wild Magic effects the contignency-spells too. Point is, this should automaticaly rmeove 1+ enemies from the play. Don't move around, and use low level spells - I suggest Magic Missile, Spell Trap, Spider Spawn, and hope for the best.

From here your ONLY option is to go south, to the succubi area. You either fight them, or have Negative Plane Protection running (cast it from Limited Wish in AR3003), OR at the end of it summon a planetar to restoration for your lost levels.
Then you either go to AR3013 by going south, and can get back to AR3003 going north -> north -> east), or you have to work yourself backwards from AR3015 (where the Deck of Many Things is).
Looking at the map now, it feels obvious why you can "advance" by "re-entering" the portals you show up: easy way to get the player back to a spot they can sleep when working from the behind!
Another interresting thing is, with the exception of AR3004 / AR3008, which are optional to each other, you have to pass every single room of this "labyrinth". But you mostly likely won'r in this one, as you can skip every other battle if you fight the succubi.

To beat the succubi, the easiest way is to pre-cast Energy Blade (for the hasted walking effect), enter, run back, summon a planetar, done.

Fighting AR3013 is a bit different in practice, but not in ocncept as it was before. EE's AI's target-selection is a bit more against you, but it's not lethal, and Improved Invisibility doesn't really do the trick anymore.
So for preparation, DO everything you can: stone skin, mirror image, prot. from evil, resist fear, what have you. What is most important is Absolute Immunity, because the Chain Contignency had here like 2 second delay, and that's too much, especialy as everything starts aganzanar's scorcher and stuff at you.
You need the time at arrival to summon a Planetar on the head of the boss, as he'd just make his "minions" (pretty hugh mini-ons, heh) refill ranks. Getting to the soutwest corner is a good position to be in.
And yes, you do need a chain contignency. I put in 2 mordekainen, and a prot. from magiv weapons. Eventualy, it'll kick in.
Also: while I pre-cast a MMM, actualy Energy Blades were what I used to shred the boss. Use the remaining discs to thin the remaining numbers, and pick off the ranged ones first, so if s hits the fans, you'll still have some hope. But if the boss is down, and the planetar is still kicking, you'll almost guaranteed win.

Deck of Many Things - thief/cleric possible after all?
I've found a coupl of issues with the DoM:
1) shouldn't Beamdog fix the obvious BUG that permanently getting +1 to your saving throws from this is a BAD draw, not a good one, or even change the draw to a good one by actualy giving you +1 saving throws, meaning LOWER them?
2) one of the things DoM does is blinding the player! This in theory means, you COULD walk up to The Ravager and trap it to where it came from. If anyone wants to give it a try.

Energy Blades BUG?
These projectiles, unlike Melf's Minute Meteor, are NOT permanent? This might be related to WSK3, or in general.

In case you are wondering, if you risk your vitality during the DoM-plays, and loose, you'll loose 6 max HP permanently. (Obviously: reload, or just wager your exp.)

For WSK4 the githyanki are way more annoying, as they tend to stun your planetar. Against the illithids just send in Mordekainen's, and thin out the corwd with Death Spell (umberhulks fall for it).
Polymorph Self is an excellent way to defeat Magic Golems. (I totaly forgot about turning invisible at this point.)

Ah, finaly! The locker with the Crystal Hammer (key item for Machine of Lum) is behind a leveldrain-trap!

According to the manual and to the wiki, Energy Blades vanish after 4 turns. This is a general limitation of the Blades, and was probably done for balance reasons since the wielder is under Improved Haste for as long as a Blade remains. If the Blades remained until thrown, you could give your wizard pseudo-permanent Improved Haste by summoning the blades, then never attacking with them.

1) obviously being an item (that does have an effect) Boots of Speed is outlawed.

2) These are not my rules. Ok, I tweeked them to clear things, and to provide more fun with the concept, but the Solo Poverty challenge is not my idea. This document seems to be the source for this challenge, though it was BG2 + ToB only.

Btw, one of the reason I'm doing this, and making all these notes, so anyone could reproduce my results, and not just claim success. There are some seriously horrid picks of spells for example at that guy. Like when did he need Shield and Fire Shield for example? Or Greater Malison and Lower Resist (in ToB these barely do anything, bosses become immun to everything aside Pierce Shield).

---------------

Items that even poverty characters may wear:
rings: any unenchanted jewelry works. There are no unique variants.
amulet: Harper Amulet from the quest of finding out what happened to Montaron quest, or Galvena's Medalion fromn Brynlaw
belt: BG1 has an unenchanted Girdle. That's it.
Cloak: you have 3 options here: after doing Bodhi's 2nd quest, you can pick up one of the planted "evidence" (not sure if this'd mess with the progress), Drow Pwiwafi Cloak (turns into adamantite dust), Cloak of Elvenkind. the last two are obviously not for cleric/thief, but only for sorcerer/ess.
Armor: Cleric's Vestments exist in Siege of Dragonspear.
boots: Worn-out boots (from Anarg's paladins)
helmet: Mask of King Strohm the 3rd (only in EE, where it no longer protects from critical hits)
gloves: not counting cursed, or otherwise hindering gloves, thief/clerics could wear Bard's Gloves, as it does nothing. Wasting a HLA for that though seems super ridiculous.
misc items: for some reason, you can insert Holy Water in here... Otherwise my guess is, not much else. Though if you want to bend the rules, and like play with a monk, I think you could put in Wand of Wonders. I mean, that's what miracles are for, eh? Those petrification-charges (maybe lightning bolts can be enough too?) might just kick in for you.

---------------

Dealing with Kangaxx:
I want to to avoid Permanent Slayer Change as much as possible, so if there is another way, I'll do it another way.
The problem was, the simple Slayer Change timer runs out while the bugger is still kicking. But a well-timed Improved Haste right before the change IS enough to pull this through.

---------------

Suldanesselar

The various monsters roaming around shouldn't pose new elements, so duh.
Entering into houses though might. So before you do, pull out a Prot. From Magical Weapons / Absolute Immunity / what have you.

Interresting tidbit: if your familiar has pickpocketed items (cough, cough), when you pick it up, those items end up in your inventory.
Oh, and don't hesitate to bargain with the local dragon. Total poverty-style that bargain is, and the beast will not take away the quest-items you'll still need to use in the city. Neither will take your familiar, if you have one. Maybe won't take any quest item at all? It left my holy water and stake. But it took my Adamantite Dust...

You gain extra bragging rights if clearing the whole city without rest. Even more if this involves the Tree section.

Minor point, but if you can identify, that Staff of Woodland worth quite a nice amount of gold. Not that you'd ever need to sleep in an inn anymore, but still, some future quests (giving you reputation in case you need it) will demand gold.

Funny story: Irenicus has a couple of Maze spell on his touch, so when he mazed my planetar, I knew I'm in toruble when instead of casting another nonsense, started walking at me. Out of sheer desperation started casting Abi Dhalzim, and it kicked in before the Maze had effect. I mean even the animation ran through - but the transition to tha Abyss saved me!

Some Tear-analytics:
Fear: +2 Con or immunity to 0/1 weapons: Sure, 20+ CON is good for sleep-regeneration, but remember, you actualy can hop into the Pocket Dimension whenever you want (so to say). And a planetar can cast Heal on you. In case you are in the middle of a dungeon and stuff. So it's superfluous.
Greed: the HP is pretty negligable, and you can't use the sword, so saving throws all the way!
Pride: we are maxing out exp anyway, so duh. Pick resistances.
Wrath: here comes a somewhat interresting choice. Sure, EE no longer gives you +3 stat, only +2, because Beamdog is misguided in that, but what'd INT give you anyway? Come to think of it, neither will WIS and CHA. So it falls back to alignment vs. +2 STR. On the other hand, you should have plenty of STR already to carry things around, won't even try melee unarmed (not even by accident), and nothing benefits from the THAC0/dmg bonuses, so this is entirely superfluous in the end.
Selfishness: I always fall back on this as The Big Question. The AC is pretty negligable at this point, sure, though in theory casting Ghost Armor or Spirit Armor might mean very occasionaly, situationaly some improvement. On the other hand magic res. is nice, the HP-loss is ... marginal, and the DEX-loss... Would actualy lower an elf character's THAC0 (going to 20 from 21).

Minor note: coming to think of it, I could have started with lower WIS and pump CHA with those points. I mean I used Limited Wish for a 10+ option (Negative Plane Protection), and even that felt a bit redundant (planetar-restoration, ya know). Not that I lost any quest for it, or needed more coins of course... But that might have pushed me to be good at Sarevok.

Took me 1 hour real life to beat Sarevok barehanded. The fight still could not be won though, he merely becomes "unconscious". This sound stupid for a quest-fight. Anyway, the familiar delt the finishing blow first punch.
Come to think of it: shouldn't be something something done already with the Familiar-situation? I mean Familiars depend on the caster's alignment, right? So if the alignment changes for whatever reason (Helmet of Oposite Alignment, doing Tears the evil way, or some Planescape-situation), shouldn't the Familar automaticaly change, or something? Like being unsommoned, so you'd have to summon a new, appropriate one?
How does the pcp version of AD&D handle this?

So Slayer-Irenicus is down. Started with 4 Mordekainen + Planetar. Couple of defensive spells, nothing serious.
On the sidenote though, True sight seemed to have no effect on Irenicus' misleads... So maybe don't waste time trying that.
The swords lasted until the extra demons were delt with, then Irenicus shot them down with a Death Spell...
Then at a point he mazed the planetar, so I desperatly casted Animate Dead, and it was suprisingly lasting. Keep your distance though, the ubgger thend to cast a lot. On the other hand, did not teleport around insane rapidly, what was a plus.
Then thrown in two Pierce Shield, and went for Improved Alactricity, and wasted all of my Magic Missiles and Melf's Acidic Arrows on the creature. The planetar returned in the meantime, and the battle ended with literaly it swinging its sword for the last time, immediately got unsummoned, me was in the middle of casting Abi Dhalzim - but Irenicus just ruened back to human. That swing of the planetar was so perfect.
Btw, none wrote a What If if Irenicus won here? I mean the Baalspawn War would still happen. How things would turn out then?

------------
------------
TOB
------------
------------
Illasera
This one is funny. While you are waiting for something to happen, start casting Skull Traps. I've casted 4, and thus never found out wtf is happenning.

1st pocket challenge
It's easy, the problem is the numbers. So summon up 3 things (I'd suggest start with skeletons, then later on switch to mordekainen), and when like halfway through, throw in the planetar. When units start to accumlate throw in a Death Spell for good measure (this is for the Evil version, the Good version if I'm correct throws on you bigger stuff, so who knows), and during the endwave toss in Energy Blade. And though Aran Linvail (right side of the screen) is a summoner, I'd concentrate on the mage (middle) for starter. Leave the warrior (left side) on the planetar, that can stand the whirlwinds and stuff.

Saradush
The city is racist. Reputation point for helping out the elves, but not for the dwarves? Cancel the city.
Also: why can't my planetar resurrect that peasant? Ridiculous. The wiki also gives incomplete information. No matter if you have a Raise Dead Scroll, the option to resurrect will NOT come up for a sorcerer/ess.
Ah, and maybe you wanna know this: castng invisibility before arriving down here wll be cancelled at arrival.
On the good side, a minor note of course, as things can be lured through doors in EE, whatever remaining summons you have, will be able to deal with the two soldiers inside the tavern.

Finding a key
If you are immun to 0/1 weapons, the barracks are free to loot. Otherwise try the vampire complex under invisibility spell.

Gromnir
The fight under the throne room is ridiculously unchallenging with the walking in-and-out of the door as you can set up whatever summons you want on the previous floor. So if you want a hardcore challenge, try to solve things without this exploit. It should be possible, it was the default under the Original ToBm because doing so had duplicated the hostiles (one set in, one out). Original SoA allowed this doot-trick, but it is just so cheap in comparison.
That aside, Gromnir is not much of a challenge. Not sure if Chain Contignency works here, or is cancelled by EE, whatever though. Put up your defensive spells anyway: Stone Skin (I accidently ran out of 4th lvl spells, so you don't even need this), Mirror Image (just to be on the safe side), Protection From Magical Weapons (this sounds like a very good idea), potentialy Ghost/Spirit Armor. Obviously, being immun to 0/1 weapons might be another factor here too.
The point is, at arrival, summon the planetar. I bet this fight would have been more interresting by arriving with just SoA exp-limit, but there will be other fights to catch up with clvl. Help out with Abi Dhalzim (the size of the room is just perfect for that) and the occasional MMM, and that's it.

North Forest
You can simply turn invisible, and pass the area, especialy that you only need like 6,000 goldm and even that is optionaly spen on reputation-refilling quests. But if you need a reputation point right now, "save" the merchant here (he can't actualy die by the soldiers attacking), and say you don't need compensation.

Forest of Mir
Leave everything to summons. You job is to stay out of the fights, those leveldrains hurt. Energy Blades for the haste effect, plus some self-defense are a good idea.
If you get into real trouble, you can either turn Slayer Form, or try to run out of sight and hop into the Pocket Dimension and sleep, rebuff.

Marching Mountain
Turn invisible at arrival. Walk in, go to one of the open siderooms. Summon stuff, becuase under EE you surely will turn visible when picking up the wardstones.
When you have both, go down to the gongs. If you have the wardstones, you can click on them, the leveldraining traps will not be present anymore.
Do the other two siderooms.
Do the throne room.
An important note: elite fire giants can easily massacre the planetar, so provide cover by Mordekainen.
Then to open the Bedroom Door you either had to max out your strength at character creation, get all the bonuses (Tome, Machine of Lum, Evil Baal Tear), or turn to thew Slayer.
EDIT: never forget, you don't have to exterminate everything here. if they can't see you, they'll leave you alone! Don't have anything to finish off Desert Trolls or Magic Golems? Just put there a summon, and move out of the room to the next one!

Forest of Mir #2
I am still not sure wether you have to do anything here but talk to Nyalee and escape.
I still liquidated Nyalee for good measure.
Note: Nyalee did not react me summonning Mordekainen, but started casting some magic dmagae spells when rised a skeleton, just so you know.
I have no idea what to do with the Shambling Mounds by the way. They seem to be immun to everything I could come up with, and can even kill Mordekainen's Swords, which is "very interresting" so to say. They also don't count as summons here, they just grow out of the gorund I assume. Fortunately we don't have to bother. Just get away while your summons last.

I was wondering why I can't go to the Siege Camp. Relised have to go back to North Forest, run past it, and open the lovation using the other side. Heh.
Well. Arriving here removes ALL your buffs, INCLUDING THE PERMANENT MIND SHIELD FROM DECK OF MANY THINGS, because Beamdog just introduced a new bug in their infinite wisdom. F them.

Anyway, as it stands, rebuff, summon, go in and hit YS with anything. A single Melf's Meteor or something, then bavk to the bridge. That always created me better spawn-points for YS. For some reason in EE I wasn't even struck by infinite number of soldiers, so could save at this point. YS spawned on the east side. Beware, some priest-druid starts with some massive bug-summonning, so send ahead a Mordekainen, than more Mordekainen, finaly the planetar so it is covered. Walk in to just see YS, cast time stop, cast improved alactricity, cast all your Magic Missles, then start casting Skull Traps. He should drop flat once time returns to normal. Otherwise continue spammin AoE-spells (fkull trap, and when that's out Abi Dhalzim). Oh, and hope your swords won't be annihilated by some random Death Spell (one of the reason we sent out a single sword for scouting).
I'm not 100% sure, but I think after the Solar stopped its thing, we were put there with soldiers active - in EE seems they got removed, even before all fading black.
In the end, we're done here, moving on.

The Oasis
Of course just cast invisibility and pass this area.
The thing is, in the Original this ment somewhat of a challenge, because the hostiles still mobbed on you, despite not seeing, so you could end up stuck, and forced to fight. In EE they just randomly roam around. Pathetic.

2nd pocket challenge
4 Mordekainen + Planetar is a good start, plus Energy Blade, so you can run back to cover fast. If you are lucky, the Dark Version will just vanish for a vorpal effect, but either way, toss in a time Stop + Improved Alactricity, and start launching either the Dark Version, or whoever you want. Maybe the girl, just to get rid of that easy target. Chain Contignency with 3 Abi Dhaltzim might help with this too. When the most problematic Dark Version is down, start casting Abi Dhalzim to get rid if the mage. Why he has no Death Spell to get rid of your minions is anyone's guess.

Amkethran
Just so you don't know, you can go in the middle to meet Saemon, and sticking the wall on the north to the smuggler cave w/o activating any of the reputation-quests. And you can leave to the new areas from where you arrived to the city.

Sendai
Exterior: force-attack the guy in front of the cottage, so you won't have to bother with beholders and such. At least 1 Mordekainen is advised to halt enemy from the west. True Sight is needed to uncover the mage on the right - throw MMM on it, because he is annoying, and drows otherwise have high magic resistance.
inside: you start with no enemy in cisual range, so you have time to summon up a planetar. Help out with Death Spell, extra summons, what have you.
the drow kensai: We already have chain contignency, fill it with Mordekainen, enter invisible, summon planetar. You may help out with MMM.
monster passage: be invisible, and just go through. You don't even have to bother with the slave/spider master, just exit. Note for Beamdog: putting a key for the exit of these chamber on the master's corpse would be ok.
the lich: you arrive out of sight. Cast a summon (no matter what, it is just distraction to make the timestop pass), than summon up another planetar, and sit back. You can help with True Seeing against misleads, and Death Spell against the usual efretii-summon.
Ogremoch&Co: found some strange bug(?) when entering the earth elemental room: somewhere during the fight in the small alcive my planetar disappeared. It was still summoned, but could not find it to click on it. So just summon a Mordekainen and support it with MMM. Only summon the planetar when entering the actual room - the sword can't harm the prince.
Then lead the planetar to the other room to fight all the various nasties. You can't really do support for all the resistances, and the beholder cheapshotting you if you get in sight of it.
Diaytha: make this a pitfight, of course. Precast Stone Skin - this is like the only spell that won't fall off here from you. Helps avoiding accidents, because otherwise you just have enough time to planetar. But the bugger focuses on you, so you shall run in circles. Not as bad as the situation in Dark Alliance, but can be frustrating.
Illithid rooms: put 3 Mordekainen in Chain Contignency. Make them attack the illithids while you Death Spell down the umber hulks (yes, no elders here). Support with MMM for the rest.
Sendai: I hate her, because I don't understand the mechanics here, but I have things to abuse, so with a couple of reloads...
One: position yourself on the podium on the right side (south) of the entrance. This way you will be safe from the semi-Sendais, can position Mordekainens or Skeletons at the entrance, and help out the planetar as needed. It will be needed, because EE's AI makes the planetar stop doing anything if there is a mislead, and you have to manualy put it back to action. This makes True Sight a good buff to run. No idea why the planetar does not run its own, becauseit could. Whatever.
Two: know which is the last smei-Sendai, so you can arrange a save. Yes, you can make a save during this fight, and they will be abused.
Three: when you get to the Final Sendai, you'll run low on spells,so before fighting the last statue (south one, so right before that wonder on a northern podium) make a save, and hop to the Pocket Dimension for a good sleep.
In theory you want a chain contignency with Khelben's Whardin Whip + 2 Pierce Shield running, than time stop + improved alacricity right after you dropped a planetar to be on the safe side, then unload whatever you have on her- but she still tends to just heal up for no reason, and this annoys me to no end. Feels like i'm wasting my time, and the whole fight is on the hand of real life luck, wether the AI will let me win, or not.
Either way, after I did all the above, started unloading Energy Blades on her head. Fortunately she didn't start crazy-portin, neither crazy-summoning on me.