Classes that were hard to play-A New Change in Favorite Classes

DKnight

Well im decided on a few things. After playing other roleplaying party based games-The avernum series and others, Ive come to believe that my favored class in baldurs gate/icewind dale (the rogue) is not my favorite anymore.

I know alot of people had success with rogues in bg1 and 2, i always had a frustrating time because of their low chance to hit.

No, when i get this game when it comes out, i will mostlikely play some sort of fighter class, prally a fighter or ranger or even barbarian. I wont play them the way they were meant to be played however. No If i play as a fighter, I will mostlikely go for the dex and swords items and make a drizzt type finesse fighter, which sounds really cool. If i play a barbarian then instead of a big sword, Ill wield a dagger, and make a speedy barb. Oh the possibilities.

But seriously, i used to have a niche for rogues but they really were too difficult for my style of playing.

Its been a good 2 years since playing any of the epic and awesome infinity engine games and im glad to be back!

ElectricMonk

@DKnight welcome to the forums, glad to hear that you're as excited about BG:EE as the rest of us. As for your comments regarding classes, have you played a thief that you dualled into a fighter or a fighter dualled into a thief? These can be quite effective characters...

DKnight

Ive replayed bg 2 a bit too much i think. I restarted it over 500 times as the possibilities are endless. However bg 1 was always my favorite and i only beat the game once, when i soloed the game with the class you mentioned.

ElectricMonk

Yeah, there are advantaged and disadvantages to both games, and it's hard to judge them against one another, but if I had to choose BG1 would probably be my choice as well. Dual classing is the way to go if you're looking for power. As for soloing the game, multi-classing is often better for utility purposes even though you have to make some sacrifices.

DKnight

The reason why this is cool is because back then when i played these games, i only liked soloing. Now im into party based games like avernum which i mentioned, so i will no doubt be using a clutch party! Who knows maybe ill stick with the nutjobs xzar and montaron like i tried for a while.

Ryan

Multi-class a fighter/thief that way you could free up your npc space for more interesting party combos.

Cheesebelly

Fighter/thief multiclass is probably one of my favorite class combos around, simply because it's lethal, effective and is a solid hitter (while being a weak tank unless you decide to wear full plate of course)
Now, with the addition of kits in Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, you might want to try a fighter kit > thief dual class. I personally love the Berserker > thief combination, as the rage will grant insane boosts for the thief. Even a Berserker (2) > Thief (3+) will be effective and you should have no big trouble.

Other than that, I might also suggest a Cleric/Thief multi class. It is one of the most PAINFUL classes to level up, but trust me the reward is great.

Other than that, I guess your idea is fine, changing class for a bit might be a good plan. Barbarian should be fun, as well as an archer ranger if you want something unique (or if you feel extremely imaginative, you go with an Archer (slinger) dualed into cleric )

But I think this is the reason on why Baldur's gate has so much replay value. Admittedly, my favorite class is cleric... yet I can't play it anymore. It gets too boring too fast for me. Right now I am enjoying bards the most though, especially dual wielding Blades with Kundane and Belm! (or Scarlet Ninja-to once you get Use any Item)

DKnight

Another cool idea for a class would be a fighter wielding a crossbow with grandmastery. It would be kind of like a vanguard marksman as he could take a beating, had 1 shot 1 kill tactics and wouldnt need to rely on many shots at once. 1 or 2 shots will kill most low level stuff. Not a bad idea.

Corvino

Difficult to play classes often have their upsodes. Monks, multiclass Cleric/Mages, loads of dual classes - they all start out weak and are painful to level but eventually become ungodly killing machines.

There are some very weak classes out there though, often due to a mismatch between the class description and the implementation. Shapeshifters for example should be pretty damn powerful, but the greater werewolf they transform into is nowhere near as good as NPC greater werewolves and doesn't improve with stats, gear or levels. Thus Cernd in BG2 is a deeply unpopular NPC because he's not only a wet blanket, he's rubbish for powergamers too.

@DKnight If you emjoy thieves, then multi or dual classed thieves can be very effective. As mentioned above, multi or dualed Fighter->thieves get more HP and the better THAC0 of fighters but gradually get all the benefits that thieves get, including traps and use any item. Fighter Kits are doubly effective here, just google Kensai thief and you'll get a lot of gushy threads about Kaistabbing. Thief/mages are also good. Thieves dualled to mages at 10ish get more Hp than mages, and all the trap disarming, lockpicking, backstabbing versatility. Swashbuckler -> mage duals even get bonus AC/THAC0 and bow proficiency at the cost of backstabs.