Khalid-Jaheira or Minsc-Dynaheir [from a newbie]
Eadwyn_G8keeper
Member Posts: 541
I am a beginner playing a Half-elven Multiclass Fighter/Mage. Lawful Good. 18/55-10-17-17-12-15+2[Algernon'sCloak]. I am reading here that Elven would have been a better choice for Race and am wondering whether my Dex score, which makes casting spells before I get Gauntlets of Dexterity mostly out of the question at Low levels, was such a good idea... Anyhow, I am playing with Imoen [intending to DualClass her at @Level 3
Jaheira-Khalid and Kivan. I am planning to recruit Ajantis and later Coran when Imoen becomes Mage. My question is whether to trade Jaheira-Khalid for Minsc-Dynaheir and will I regret not having Branwen??? Also considering rerolling and just playing with Imoen until we finish with Marl and Firebeard in Beregost.
Jaheira-Khalid and Kivan. I am planning to recruit Ajantis and later Coran when Imoen becomes Mage. My question is whether to trade Jaheira-Khalid for Minsc-Dynaheir and will I regret not having Branwen??? Also considering rerolling and just playing with Imoen until we finish with Marl and Firebeard in Beregost.
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Personally, I use the Fighter/Mage's arcane casting ability purely in a support role. Using buff and debuff spells like Glitterdust, Haste, Slow, etc...level one is usually full of armor spells until I get archmage robes or the elven chain, a magic missle or three for interrupts and most of my other spells are defensive ones like Mirror Image and Stoneskin. I tend to have another arcane caster who lobs the fireballs and skull traps for me while my F/M chops people up with a sword.
Your stats aren't optimal, but they aren't bad either. Eventually Armor Class quits mattering and instead it becomes how well you mitigate damage completely - which you will do fine with things like Mirror Image and Stoneskin. You will end up with 19, 11, 18, 18, 15, 16 as your stats by the end of the game if you grab all the books, so you'll do fine.
Edit: Whoops, forgot the question.
Personally, when it's time to get Ajantis, just run Khalid into an Ankheg to die in the same zone, then kick his corpse out of the party, Jaheira takes it rather well and will stick along.
So, F/M Charname, Ajantis, Imoen, Jaheira, Coran, and then either recruit Branwen like you wanted, or kill off Dynaheir and just take Minsc along.
Really, both pairs (Minsc & Dyna and Khalid & Jaheira) are fine. Minsc is very entertaining and colorful, and he's one of the strongest damage-dealers on the frontline wielding a two-handed sword. Khalid is no slouch either with Bastard sword and big shield. Jaheira gives you healing and can melee effectively (and you can now have her dual-wield clubs). Dynaheir is probably the least interesting of the four personality-wise. But having a full mage in the party is great. You won't miss that much if you pass on Branwen. She's fine but she's more of a B list character.
You can have Khalid AND Ajantis.
Khalid is awesome. He has a good dex (16) and a very good constitution (17).
You can have him either tank or use the bow (best solution is to give him *** in long swords and ** in long bows).
Just give him gauntlets of strength (for 18/00 that you'll find later) and he is the best.
For instance, if you've got the Thief skills covered by other party members and all you're after from Imoen is spellcasting, then feel free to dual at level 2. Or if you want to pour Imoen's skill points into stealth and optimize her backstabbing ability, then dual at level 5 so she'll get the backstab modifier x3. Etc.
This does require some planning and knowledge of other party member Thieves' skills. Coran, for example, comes with a pretty dismal skill point score in Find Traps. Safana comes with a high Open Locks score. And so on.
You may wish to plan also when to tackle Durlag's Tower, if that's on your agenda for the game. So depending on how you divvy up Thief duties amongst other Thieves you can plan Imoen's skill point distribution accordingly.
And remember, the longer you wait to dual Imoen, the longer it will take to get her Thieving skills back. That's part of your overall calculations for the party's Thieving skills as well.
The guide should be completed in a couple days.
For the time being, Imoen's stats at Thief 1:
Pick Pockets 25
Open Locks 25
Find Traps 35
Move Silently 35
Hide in Shadows 15
Detect Illusion 0
Set Traps 5
and she receives 25 Thief skill points per level.
The following item will improve her stealth ability:
raises Move Silently skill by 20
raises Hide in Shadows skill by 15
without disabling her spellcasting ability.
Jaheira - she had the best AC in the party when I gave her gauntlets for 18 DEX and ankheg armor. Essentially, I used her as a frontline fighter with very good success.
I find them to be a strong pairing. Better than Minsc and Dynaheir? That all depends on your party's strengths and weaknesses. For instance, if you don't need a mage, I'm not sure the Minsc combination is best (because they take two slots). I am currently playing with two mages in the party and it's working well for me, but there are other ways to approach this. For all party lineups, I'd recommend seeing what needs your party has and picking NPCs to balance out those weaknesses.
Golden rule nr 1: always dump charisma to maximize relevant stats Golden rule nr 2: always kill Khalid Golden rule nr 3: always kill Dynaheir
Now we got that cleared up: Yes elf would have been a better choice, since Fighter/Mage should use a bow so the extra dex would have helped. Dual her at lvl 5 or 6 Nah... can't imagine you would wut?
Seriously, it depends a lot on your taste. Some people (myself included) find Khalid's voice horrible and annoying, others dislike Jaheira's attitude, nearly everyone dislikes Dynaheir. But that doesn't mean you have to, as all can be made useful if you try enough.
You already have Kivan for ranged, and likely also Coran. You plan on getting Ajantis to tank. Your basics are covered. You'll have Imoen and charname as mages. You need a healer more than another caster, so for that alone, I'd say switch out Minsc and Dynaheir and keep Jaheira. Or trade her for Branwen.
Backstab is extremely powerful, but not with Imoen (unless you're artificially boosting her strength). Imoen is almost always better as a support thief/archer, a role at which she excels regardless of whether or not you dual her to Mage. If you're playing Good and keeping Imoen around, I'd forget about backstabs until your next game or BG2.
Pickpocketing is completely unnecessary for progression through the storyline, and with so few notable targets for the skill, it's mostly useless without metagame knowledge. And when you do want to pickpocket, there are potions available to raise your score by 40%, which is usually enough if you are okay with reloading upon failures.
As a fighter/mage, you definitely shouldn't be wearing actual armor unless you're still at a very low level. Get some mage robes, and consider spells such as Armor or Shield if you plan on meleeing. Your PC will be a good archer with the Dexterity gauntlets, but they might also be useful for, say, Ajantis to tank with. At this point, you might be better off making your PC a melee combatant, and use him as a flank-attacker while not casting.
@Eadwyn_G8keeper: Might be a good idea to take Kivan along for the wyvern, if that somehow works with your party. Killing wyverns with still vulnurable party members is likely a bit less risky with his ranged skills. Plus, if you don't need him in the final party, you can have him frontline and take the poison and it's not a loss if he dies.
And I'm the one making continuous "witty retorts"? Go hug a werebear.
However, I couldn't think of any way really to get the combination the original poster wanted without running some people in their britches towards a nasty monster. I think his Fighter/Mage with Ajantis, Imoen, Branwen or Minsc, Jaheira, and Coran would make a very solid party.