I just finished a solo playthrough as a warlock. I was surprised how well the game worked and how fun it was to play in this manner. It required a lot of invisibility, misty stepping, and the friends cantrip as most of the combat encounters would have been too deadly solo, but I was able to get through a lot of the content and if there were any quests I couldn’t do or areas that were too dangerous, that was just part of the cost of playing this way.
Because I was being sneaky and avoiding combat, I did occasionally encounter a few instances with quest triggers, though. The best example I can think of was with the missing shipment for the Zhentarim.
Originally I just snuck in, downed a potion of hill giant strength, picked up the chest and slipped out the back.
When I tried to turn the shipment in I couldn’t because I was asked about the Zhentarim agents, not the package. Okay, I thought. So I reloaded and this time I let the agents catch me which triggered the battle. I turned invisible and let the knolls kill the agents. I then walked the shipment back to the quest giver, but I still couldn’t turn the quest in. She asked about the agents and even though I had witnessed their deaths I couldn’t tell her so. Ideally if I have the shipment I should just be able to lie to her and say they are dead even if they aren’t and turn in the shipment.
I think if I had talked to the Zhent agents, agreed to help them, then turned invisible and let them die I could have turned the quest in, but by that point I was tired of so slow encumbered walking the chest to the inn, so I moved on.
There were a couple of more similar minor issues I had with quest triggers when playing in this style, but for the most part it was a great experience. I really hope I can play such a sneaky, practical character (I was going to say cowardly but I don’t think I played him as a coward, just somebody with perfectly reasonable senses of self preservation) when the full game comes out.
Thanks.
