Dodge maximizing

[Aoslare]

Never mind all the past pessimism, this is TOTALLY doable for a singleton. I did some scripting to put a new character (Nephil DT Natural Mage) at level 36 and provide a selection of dodge-enhancing equipment. I pushed Mage Spells to 11 and Tool Use to 8, giving myself a very conservative discount to account for trainers, wisdom crystals, and so on. Then I pumped dodge. After putting on the right equipment and being careful with my skills, I managed to reach:

 

20 Gymnastics

14 Dexterity

14 Defense

10 Luck

Total dodging bonus: +191%

 

This is enough to usually evade level 30 enemies attacking physically, and close to 50/50 against level 40 enemies. I'm pretty sure there are actually more skill points available. I really have no idea how much knowledge brew can be had and if a certain level of Nature Lore can provide a skill point bonanza.

 

You can inflate the available skill points even more by replacing Divinely Touched with Nimble Fingers; or, you can replace it with Fast on Feet for a flat 10% bonus to dodge. DT however gives you a pretty nice bow attack (14 dex, 10 bows, 12 sharpshooter) and fair mage ability.

 

I also wonder if it's possible to skip Tool Use entirely? Unlock Doors works on everything except traps, so it just depends on any traps being in really critical places. So far, I haven't seen any.

 

One problem: As I suspected, most spells get a full 50% bonus to-hit. (Assuming I am reading the script right, and that does not mean Bolt of Fire never misses.) I also haven't figured out if the bonuses accrue at the same rates apply against spells and missiles. I think they do, but if they don't, that could be a big problem. Thoughts anyone?

[Ephesos]

I thought the whole issue was that you'd never get to level 36, given the total lack of experience points.

[Aoslare]

People have been ending up at what, 32, 33, 34, with parties of four, right? Perhaps 36 is a little optimistic, but the difference between level 34 and level 36 is pretty minimal.

 

Honestly, the EXP cap has NOTHING to do with the feasability of a singleton. There's always been a cap, and it's never been particularly lenient. In Exile, you got less skill points at high levels, too (4 after 20, 3 after 40, and you couldn't exceed level 50). But in Exile you could also buy infinite knowledge brews from Silverlocke, and I gather you could in Avernum as well.

[Lilith]

I was able to make about 35 knowledge brews at the end of A4, but that assumes you uncover every cache with herbs in it. Which you won't, due to your lack of Nature Lore. Besides, the brews come so late in the game that they're only useful for the last 3 dungeons. So basically, don't count on them as part of your strategy.

[Synergy]

You could use those Knowledge Brews at the end to pump up Nature Lore, then walk over every square inch of the explored world to uncover all the caches. Cash it all in for a bit more training at Bargha or Fort Remote before the final 3 dungeons. Use the extra gained herbs to either add more Nature Lore or fill in any gaps in other skills.

 

This is one idea of what one/I might do with the situation. Also, as a singleton, I never have to make more than one of anything specially crafted, so I don't use extra mandrake, etc. making something like Answering Gauntlets. This should leave most ingredients for Knowledge Brews. Any extra Healing and Spiritual Herbs can be sold off at the end toward more spells or traning.

[Alorael at Large]

You'd still have to come up with the initial Nature Lore required to uncover caches, which might not be possible.

 

—Alorael, who is quite sure that it's realistic to expect singletons to achieve the same levels as full parties. In fact, they do it faster. The problem is that they don't gain more levels, so you end up with one character that's only equivalent to a quarter of a normal party.

[Aoslare]

Honestly, more than anything else it's the balancing of the game engine that makes singletonity more difficult. You can no longer cast bless four times (for 8 mana) and be immune to damage with a nice attack even though you have 1 strength, 1 dexterity, and 0 weapon skills!