Thief/Mage and Mage/Thief Dual Class

Philhelm

Aside from the progression of the second class in BG2, what would be the difference between the two dual classes, and which one is better? Would the Mage/Thief have fewer hitpoints than the Thief/Mage? What would be the best level distribution? Finally, continuing on in BG2, would it be better to go Thief/Mage or Mage/Thief? A lot of questions, I know.

marfig

I'd always go first thief and mage next. The main reason being, the thief class becomes rather bland as soon as you hit the desired 100% on the essential skills (detect traps and open locks for most people). The mage progression, on the contrary is always linear with more and more spells added to their spellbook.

Locking a mage out of any progression by "dualing" to thief seems to me a way to damage a character. Especially considering the mage becomes a real powerhouse around level 7. You would need to bring your thief to level 8 (at least) so you could go back to use mage spells. On the other hand, a good thief can usually dual around level 5 and already obtain x3 backstab damage.

Madhax

Definitely Thief->Mage for most situations. My interpretation of a mage/thief combo is a character that can provide a thief's support roles of lockpicking and trap disarming, but primarily acts as a spellcaster during combat. To this end, I'd dual the thief to mage at around level 7 (just like Imoen), so that they have sufficient thievery points to open all locks and disarm all traps for the rest of the game.

I suppose some sort of Mage->Thief build in which the character is a mage long enough to obtain invisibility magic for the purpose of superior thievery is possible, but it seems to me like too much effort for too little payoff.

Edit: And if the latter seems like a good idea to you, a multiclass thief/mage would probably be infinitely more effective than a mage->thief.

Anduin

Go Thief first. Reason better hp and Thaco from the word go. Now when you decide to dual to mage is difficult. Thieves do not get any more benefits after lvl 13 when the x5 backstab is reached. But you will be a thief in BG in its entirety... If you want to be a thief / mage in BG 1 then I would dual at lvl 5 for the x3 backstab and the ability to get all those lovely thief skills back before the end...

Personally I would multicIass

FrozenCells

I don't think anyone would recommend the Mage->Thief. Fewer hitpoints, few spells (at a low caster level) and then you level out as a Thief (more skill points than you need in BG2, backstab immune enemies in ToB, True Sight removing most of the spells you would end up using, UAI giving you access to scrolls). The Thief->Mage you already know from Nalia/Imoen, a mage with access to shortbows and thief skills but essentially just a mage. In BG2 terms there's no reason not to go Thief->Mage over a mage really other than losing the specialist school bonus (quite a big loss). Just take enough levels to max out whatever thief skills you want (most likely open locks, find/disarm traps, possibly detect illusions). You'll find advocates for Swashbuckler/Mage for the improved defenses and some combat ability for a while, traditionally done Swashbuckler10/MageX.

Corvino

Also, consider a kit for the thief depending on your playstyle. Swashbuckler/Thief is pretty popular with those who can't be bothered backstabbing for the free THAC0 and AC.