Most versatile PC?
Cactus
Member Posts: 152
I am looking for some variety in my next playthrough... 'Versatile' is the keyword 
Normally I play as multiclass fighter/thief, mage/thief or fighter/mage. I prefer not too OP, and no duel-class. Any suggestion for next playthrough?
Normally I play as multiclass fighter/thief, mage/thief or fighter/mage. I prefer not too OP, and no duel-class. Any suggestion for next playthrough? 0
Comments
It'll work as a thief, through the use of DUHM and Armor of Faith as a decent fighter, and with the normal XP Cap of BGEE as a mediocre divine caster.
And clubs and quartersteaves are useable for backstabs.
Avenger (a druid with some mage spells + decent shape shift forms)
Blade (decent offensive combat ability + mage spells + pick pockets)
Swashbuckler (decent offensive combat ability + thief abilities)
Stalker (a ranger with backstabbing ability; will get semi-useful spells eventually)
playthrough of what? bg:ee? bg1? bg2?
if bg:ee than definitly fighter/cleric or ranger/cleric for druid spells opness
bg1 fighter fighter/cleric
bg2 all fighters rangers paladins
fighter/cleric or ranger/cleric for druid spells opness
fighter/mage/thief
fighter/mage/cleric
fighter/druid
And in a pinch, you can throw on dual-speed weapons (or use Black blade of Disaster), IH, and pop tenser's and tear into an enemy if all of the above don't work.
@Kaltzor Cleric/Thief could be definitly be worth a try... Always thought of this as the oddest combination, but who knows
@zur321 BG:EE (thought it was obvious, since it is a BG:EE forum), possible continue through BG2:EE. Aren't the triple class a bit annoying to play? I tried out fighter/mage/theif, but the leveling up time took forever, leaving him weak for a long time. Never got very far into the game with this one.
But I suppose ti does level up slowly, but still, very versatile
also you don't like dualing probably for the same reason that i don't like dualing because it takes half of the game to play as fighter and other half as gimped fighter with cleric spells but
berserker2/cleric is great for this (in bg1)
he levels very fast so downtime of berserker is really low
has +0,5 apr
can go for ***** weapon proficiency
very good rage
19/18/19/x/18/x stats bring the beats, and eventually become 23/19/21/x/22/x+1 by the end of the game
Sanctuary = Level 1 Invisibility
Find Traps
Prot. from Elements
Healing
Ressurection
HLA's
No Armour Restrictions
etc.
That said I think there is a huge gap between the FMT, Bard, CM trio and then the rest of the list.
My problem with the Half-Orc compared to the dwarf is that by end game, (Which you are referring to with your end game stats), you can easily achieve 25 str, 25 dex, 25 con just by casting draw upon holy might on yourself (which is one of the best cleric buff spells period and one of the best level 2 spells anyway). On top of that you get the dwarven bonus saving throws which half-orcs don't get.
Not to mention, due to shorty saves, innate dwarf bonus and fighter/Cleric save progressions, you're practically immune to all spells with saving throws by 161,000 xp. And once you add things like rings of protection or other save boosters to counter spells with innate save penalties, you barely need to memorize any form of protection for yourself, except vs stuff that doesn't allow saves.
(the only save they don't get a lot of is vs petrification/polymorph. In BG2, NO ONE uses any spells with those saves. Flesh to stone is vs spells. And no one uses an attack with a save vs polymorph (technically some Jellies are supposed to, but it uses save vs breath instead). And the gaze spells in BG1 are easily protected against).
Cleric/thief is strong, but lacks defensive strength outside of stealth until higher levels when you gain access to stronger buffs and armor.
18 CON + Buckley's Bucker + Manual of Bodily Health = 20 CON, REGENERATION
No need for the cleric class, take a Sorcerer
plus today is the first day that I actually saw buckley's buckler, quite the co-incidence
If we take your suggestion about most versatile, actually Mage does better than Wizard. Many people see Sorcerers as a walking artillery platform, and not without reason. Without mods, at least last time I played BG2, there was no way to unlearn your spells as you levelled and you got VERY few of them but to counterbalance that you could cast them more often than a Mage.
Thus the most common way of playing a Sorc is to primarily load up on damage spells with a few defensive spells to keep yourself alive and leave the versatility things (from identify, to web, hold person, Prot from Pet, Haste, Slow etc.) to your other arcane casters who, while casting fewer spells overall, can tailor their spells to the situation at hand.
While the FMT might not have anywhere near the number of spells per day as compared to a Sorc; they don't NEED to spend a spell on invis, but if they do then they can also replace your thief and run over the entire map by themselves disarming all the traps, then when the party starts combat they can just backstab and turn into a fighter that is better in melee than a Sorc by far, on top of having a wider weapon selection to choose from.
Bard however, I would argue tops the List. They can already use almost every weapon in game (I think the composite longbow is the only weapon that if you have points in longbow you can't use it as a bard even while meeting the str requirement). They are single classed and use the Thief leveling table so they go up in levels stupidly fast (being able to cap at level 10: more on that later).
While bard song isn't something you should have on ALL the time, throwing it on during a tough fight after you've throw out a few control and support spells can have a major effect on a battle, especially on harder encounters.
If your wisdom is above 10, you will most likely never really need more than a few identify spells throughout the entire saga. Is that game breaking? Not really, just saves some gold and/or rests in the end, but there are a few times you might not have an identify spell available (unless you've played through multiple times) for an item you want.
Has pickpocketing: Now I realize you don't NEED pickpocketing in baldur's gate, but until you view some of the pickpocketable items in game and when you can get them, I think that PP is generally underrated.
Can cast from almost any scroll I believe in game and I think use almost every wand as well, further supplementing their "I can be whatever you need me to be" mentality.
Not as good in combat as a fighter or fighter/multiclass, but still better than an arcane caster when the weapons break out, not to mention those 2 extra HP/level until 9 make a difference, especially early.
For stat min/maxers: they are ridiculously easy to get good rolls for, and even leaving Charisma at 15, you can easily secure fairly high charisma for any sorts of vendoring etc.
Doesn't fight your arcane or your divine casters for gear, in fact in both games now you're ideal armor is Elven Chain, allowing you a second arcane caster, capable of casting 4th level spells who DOESN'T need the X robe of the Arch Magi, doesn't require the full plate or ankheg plate, nor do they require shadow armor.
And last but not least, they can reach level 10 and Mages and Sorcs can only reach level 9. A Sorc will only be able to cast 4th level spells as well, while a mage will just be cracking into 5th level. Furthermore, when using spells that scale with level (everyone's favorite here is Flame Arrow as its the BEST example in BGEE), the bard will do better until deep shadow's of amn than a mage/sorc will comparatively.
For example: Flame Arrow is a level 3 spell, that for every 5 levels of the caster (starting at level 5) it will allow the caster to conjure a projectile to do 1d6+4d6 damage to the target. In BGEE a Mage or Sorc will only get 1 arrow when they cast this whereas the Bard will get 2.
Anyway, I think I should end my novel, Defense of the Bard here
Although I like the bard, they always seem to fall into the "master of none" category pretty heavily in my games and I just end up wishing I hadn't brought them; that's obviously just my feelings, though, and as you point out they do bring a startling amount of utility.