I recently completed the BG-series solo, and i want to try the same in IWD as well, is it do-able? I have never gotten farther into it than chapter 2(with a normal party), and my experience with it is that it is very combat-focused and has a lot of hordes. Still a fun game though. Is this character usable for a solo-playthrough? (IWD 1)

Fighter/mage/thief
STR 18/00
DEX 18
CON 17
INT 18
WIS 3
CHA 3

A possible problem with it might be that i can't cast spells in leather armor/can't use thief skills in robes and so on. Not sure about the last statement though, haven't tested it.

It's do-able, and can be done with that character, yes. People have done it with a pure Fighter. It won't be easy though (but you know that). You'll be looking at a lot of kiting and retreating for the first few levels. As far as Thief skill go, the robe won't interfere. One thing to look out for is the Elven Chain or Kaylessa'a armor (both random drops in the Severed Hand). You can cast spells and use Thief skills while wearing it.

Your character is definitely good enough for soloing. If you can afford buy the Robe of Enfusing from Orrick before chapter 2 starts and his inventory changes, it will take some time until you find something better. It works very well in combination with the shield spell.

Imo, there aren't that many traps, so you don't really need the thief skills. Just clear them by triggering, then heal up afterwards. Use Knock spell to open locked stuff. Of course, if you want the backstab ability, or to pick pockets, that is another matter. Probably the most uber-character build for soloing IWD would be a cleric/mage. You get all the amazing cleric buffs + by lvl 20 your smite undead skill will be insane, plus you have all the awesome mage spells like haste, improved invisibility and cloud-kill. Tensers Transformation spell turns your mage into an awesome fighter if you need it.

Remember that in IWD a mage needs to find a scroll first to learn a new spell, while clerics get all their divine spells automatically on level-up. One consequence of soloing with a mage is that you are levelling-up and gaining spell slots faster than you are finding new scrolls. So you end up with a lot of empty high-level spell slots till late in the game. Shouldn't pose too much of a problem, but a mage's spell knowledge is tied much more closely to successfully progressing through the chapters.

You can take armor off and put it back on again freely in combat to cast spells, but kmonster's approach is definitely better in the long run. Magical bracers and protection rings don't stack with armor anyways, so at some point you just don't want armor anymore.

If you play with maximum difficulty settings and do all the starting missions in town, your character will probably be at least lvl 3/3/3 before you even leave to go to investigate the missing caravan.

Biggest drawback there, IMO, is the waste of spell slots for that. Unless you want to rest and reload your spells every time you run into a lock, which is an enormous pain in the ass.

Well, the rogue backstab IS nice to have + you can "get" the ring of free movement early. So a multi-class rogue is good to have. Just saying you can get through IWD without is all.

Also, there are several ways to gain very high Strength through magical means in mid-game. SO you might be able to get away with a mediocre Str ability score if you can manage to survive the first few chapters relying on high Dex + missile weapons. That way you could shift some ability points into other stats if you want.

Yes, as i played i realised that maybe it wasn't necessary to have a thief class on my character, haven't used the thief skills very much so far, but hide in shadows + backstab is very nice. I could probably bash most doors too. The thief skills will probably be excellent farther into the game though. I have made it to chapter 2 and i can see some good uses for it here.

That robe kmonster recommended was very excellent, in combination with the shield spell it is better than plate mail.

And also, why does my character fatigue after very short time? One fight, and he needs rest.

Casting certain spells brings on high fatigue. The Haste spell is notorious for this. But chaining together lots of buff spells can do it too. There is a cleric spell that can help, but honestly I always found you just need to rest a lot. Each chapter has a "safe" area where wandering monsters are less likely.

If you mean the elven armor, then no. Both are random drops and are determined when you first enter the area where the armor drops. If you didn't find them, you got unlucky and won't get them now.

Don't worry, the random armor in the severed hand is not the best armor for your character to wear.

If you are grinding experience in the Myconid cavern, for some reason a Sling does double-damage against them. Makes it a lot less risky.

Thanks for the tip! Grinding xp in that place is a good idea, but is the sling damage considered an exploit, or are the Myconids just very weak against slings?

Slings do (oddly) piecing damage. Perhaps they're vulnerable to that damage type. Although slings add your STR modifier to damage, so that could be what's being noticed.

I'm not sure about better armor than the elven chain though. I can't think of anything better offhand (that still allows you to cast and use your thief skills). I do know there are several that are overall better though.

I finished IWD yesterday, and i must say that the whole game was an epic journey from start to finish. The last boss was very easy, which was kind of unexpected, but i had to reload a couple of times. Started on HoW the same evening, and played it a couple of hours into the night, and finished it today. It was short, but very enjoyable and felt like a proper expansion. Now it's time for Trials of the Luremaster.