Ranged Fighter/Mage
mylegbig
Member Posts: 292
I'm thinking making a fighter/mage that fights from the back with a bow. I plan to play this character till the end of ToB. The question is whether it's better to make it dual or multi-class? The dual class one will of course be a better mage and will be able to get grand mastery in his bow of choice. On the other hand, I can play as an elf for the multi-class and get the elven bonus to bows and 19 dex.
Yes, I know going melee is better in BG2. But who hasn't played a dual wielding fighter/mage? I want to try something a little different.
Yes, I know going melee is better in BG2. But who hasn't played a dual wielding fighter/mage? I want to try something a little different.
2
Comments
My first thought reading the title was Dual Classed Fighter/Mage Grandmastering in Crossbows.
The elf bonuses would be overwhelmed by the dual classed fighter bonuses, so unless you wanted to do that for fun or roleplay reasons I'd go for Dual Classing just for sheer power.
You can get Firetooth shortly after BG2 starts and just chunk guys with an unending supply of fire bolts. And that's before you get into using your magic.
This doesn't get into things like, Fighter HLAs or not having to earn your fighter levels back. But you shouldn't have too much of an issue as the mage HLAs are pretty darn good, the fighter ones aren't, and getting your levels back will be easy unless they adjust down the XP earned for memorizing spells in BG2.
I guess that's why I feel like I can give you some good feedback on this topic.
If you just wish to tear up all the ennemies you come accross, choose the Fighter dualed Mage path. It's without a doubt the very best at giving you both proficiency points as HP, good THAC'O, and making you just as good a mage as if you would be one from level 1.
Then if you what you really want is to try something different, I would go with your elf. But not a Fighter/Mage. A Fighter/Thief/Mage. This character is the only one I've seen being able to abuse as many rules as any character can possibly do. Maybe not as easy to handle in BG1 for your first few levels, but will still kick some ass in ToB next to your Fighter/Mage.
Human Fighter 3 > Mage, 2 dots in Longbow, then 3rd dot at level 3, then 4th dot at Mage level 6.
He was great. Lots of options in combat.
More Fighter levels would be better for the end-battle, but would also require more time to get back. With just Fighter 3, he was able to use his bow for something like 85% of the game.
You will have the advantages of both classes in early game.
You won't have to wait to get your fighter levels back.
You will get xp quickly due to a small party (so your level will be higher)
You can specialize in both ranged and melee, so you will have a very versatile character which is more suited for a small party
Of course this is arguable, but then still the multiclass char is more fun to play i.m.o.
You can throw them or use them in close combat. Plus, in any case they benefit from your Strength bonus.
If you intend to use the character in ToB, I recommend multi-classing (maybe a Gnome?) unless you're willing to play only one class in BG, since dual-classing at BG low levels isn't so interesting on a saga run (it's more or less the same as single class).
The crossbow has a high enchantment and needs no ammunition; even with ammo, though, it adds fire damage - a trick that can be abused to pierce PfMW+Stoneskin combos on enemy mages by loading unenchanted bolts.
The bow has the highest APR of any ranged weapon, meaning that it will likely deal the most damage (despite only being +1).
In any case, ranged weapons are inherently diminished in their effectiveness in ToB, both because of APR limitations (can't get to 5 APR unbuffed with ranged) and because arrows cap at +3 enchantment, which is not enough to hit many ToB bosses. In addition, piercing resistance is fairly common, making these weapons even worse. Add to that the fact that bows do not confer the nice secondary bonuses of many endgame ToB weapons (such as random resistances, bonus damage, stat bonuses...) and you see why it's so difficult to make a good ToB ranged fighter.
That being said, there are some ways around this. Both Melf's Minute Meteors and Energy Blades are very good spells at the end of the game (in most setups anyway). You could use these instead of actual weapons when faced with a boss requiring high enchantment to hit, and keep firing your arrows at everything else. It likely won't be as good as a melee character, but it'll be something different in terms of flavor.
Side note: in terms of power, when you're going all the way to ToB, there really is no reason not to dual a fighter at lvl 13. APR is the single biggest contributor to damage output, and is absolutely worth the minor hassle of regaining an extra few levels; this is especially true if you dual into a mage, who can regain a substantial amount of XP almost instantly through mass-scribing of scrolls.
There's an alternative from Taerom who sells +1 throwing axes for a base price of 10GP/unit. It only weights 2LBS/unit.
@Lord_Tansheron I quite agree with Tuigan being one of the best ranged weapons. But ApR can also be boosted by the fighter HLA whirlwind attack.
While you can certainly compensate for a lack of APR by using (Greater) Whirlwind Attack, it is still a DPS loss compared to someone with native max APR. Why? Because you lose time activating the attack for once, and also because you really would rather activate (and pick on level-up) Critical Strike instead. Ranged weapons will never match melee in damage output, and their range advantage is almost irrelevant in the light of Boots of Speed (and Haste).
Throughout all of BG1 ranged attacks will be extremely good, ToB is just a small part of the game in which you will be using mostly the magic casting of the F/T and you will have grandmastery in melee weapons by that time as well anyway..
Also, when did thrown daggers lose str? Makes sense for darts, which are perhaps too light to add significant momentum. Also, unless you have a big str score to carry, you won't be benefiting that much per round anyways.
Another Fighter I want to try out soon is a character with grandmastery in Crossbow, using the Light Crossbow of Speed which confers one extra attack per round. Bolts of Biting deliver 30 points of poison in 15 seconds!
So it makes for a good alternative since they don't weigh anything!
For hand-to-hand combat, there are the nasty Dagger of Venom and the short-swordy Longtooth.
Daggers, why not?