Shadowdancer dual-class... what's the most interesting choice?

KingGhidorah

So I'm really liking the new patch and started a brand new game with a Shadowdancer, attempting to try out the rebalanced version.
After a few rolls I got lucky and hit a 96, which allowed me to have decent stats in STR, WIS and INT. High enough to dual class in Mage, fighter or cleric eventually.

I'd like to see some opinions about Shadowdancer duals... should i dual early, late, not at all? And what class?

Discuss!

FinneousPJ

Shadowdancer -> Fighter is the ultimate assassin.

nano

There are lots of mage thieves already so I'd pick fighter for some variety.

Aeschylus

so i can't seem to find the "hide in plain sight" ability...

recklessheart

I would say none of the above, as I disagree with dualling kits when the fundamental mechanics of the game seem to suggest only pure classes should multi- or dual-. But when you've got such good stats, it would seem a shame not to encourage you to use them if you want to. The Mage benefits best from this, I would say, as they can fade from combat while laying down area spells and disabling enemies.

nano

recklessheart said:

I would say none of the above, as I disagree with dualling kits when the fundamental mechanics of the game seem to suggest only pure classes should multi- or dual-.

Well, there is an option for none.

[Deleted User]

Depends on how you define "interesting." The Fighter dual is interesting from a damage standpoint because it ups your base damage and gives you extra attacks which can potentially be chained backstabs from alternating HiPS and invisibility items. Mage or Cleric dual is interesting in that you're combining utility roles while upping survivability from the ability to hide shortly after launch a spell. A Shadowdancer->Mage using a shortbow (or Cleric using a Sling) has an immediate escape button that doesn't interfere with the spellcasting clock to use if they attract too much attention.

Either way, my inclination is towards a late dual. Even if you're planning on taking another thief to cover traps and locks, an early dual (meaning during BGEE) would mean level 6ish, which is barely enough time to get decent hiding and only gives you one Shadowstep to play with. My inclination would be to wait until level 10 (i.e. the level cap in BGEE) and dual immediately upon beginning BG2EE. It might even be worth it to go a couple of extra levels to solidify your skills if you don't plan on having another thief in the party.

Chaotic_Good

When you duel you will have 2-3 shadowsteps for position change in a pinch.
You can cast during your 6s cd and backstab in between.
Staff is the best back stab gear so no proff loss.
Gives cleric insta invis and back stab.
If you go to 15 you loose two lvs of cleric and that is really no loss.
You can cast sanctuary to buff party members as they are running in for battle and as needed after.

Hide/back stab/hips/Sanctuary/buffs/hips/ back stab / cast / hips / back stab / cast / hips

I think it will all play pretty smooth and if you get low on health you can shadow step ooc and heal.

I am not sure if buff spells kill hide/hips as far as the game is concerned it might read as sanctuary idk have not tried it?

All that said I am now playing beastmaster/cleric instead of shadow dancer/cleric because a static 50% failure rate through a cd + actual failure rate is foul, but it should work out even if you have bad rng you can use your shadow steps.

ryuken87

Aeschylus said:

so i can't seem to find the "hide in plain sight" ability...

Fighter. The HIPS ability uses the regular stealth button, the difference is you can do it while enemies can see you.

PugPug

It takes a long time for the Shadowdancer to get enough stealth skill that I would consider dual classing.

CrevsDaak

Mage, just get a lvl9 spell slot, memorize "Chain Contingency" with "Stoneskin", "Sunfire" and a "Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting" inside and set "see enemy" or HP lower than 50%, AND "Limited Wish", cast it after the contingency has been triggered, select the one that restore lost spell, and then you can cheese up to ToB, where everybody but no Commoners have 127% MR and 182 Base Hit Points, not saying their THAC0 of -20... :P

CoryNewb

I'm not a big dual class/multi class guy.

SassyGoldElf

I probably would never play this in the game because I do not like how 2e multi/dual class worked at all, it was far too restrictive and honestly didn't even make much sense. But from a roleplaying perspective, I actually have been recently doing some writing for a new character who is a Shadowdancer and I'm heavily considering the possibility of her having a few levels of Cleric, specifically to Shar. Given that the Shadowdancer interacts directly with the Shadow Weave and the Plane of Shadows I think it's a very fitting and interesting idea. Cleric/Thief in general is really unique to me anyway. So if you do like dual-classing mechanically I definitely would say to try it out.

LordRumfish

So... shadowdancers get less thief skill points and you have to wait a while on the backstab progression. For thieves in general, they are a fast-leveling class so if you dual-class you may be disappointed by how long it takes your 2nd class to catch up with thief.

Between these factors, I would be very tempted to just stick to playing a straight shadowdancer, and therefore I would consider races like halfling or elf for the skill bonuses and 19 Dex, plus racial bonuses in other areas.

meagloth

If you do dual, which you shouldn't, you should start out as the fighter, then progress as a shadowdancer. Except you cant dual to a kit, so stick with the backstab.

FinneousPJ

If you don't mind using a game editor you can dual into a kit.

element

I have one and I'm considering dualing him at 10 to fighter I like the idea of having a very mobile fighter with the use of shadow step. although I may forgo it as I'm not big on dual classes

Schneidend

Get this munchkinny garbage outta my face!

Felspawn

Schneidend said:

Get this munchkinny garbage outta my face!

^ this

KingGhidorah

Im also leaning towards dualling to a fighter... thief/mages are abundant in the series and fighters seems to complement the shadow dancer class well (even though lore wise it would make more sense to pick mage).

I plan to have a small party of around 3/4 persons around rather then a full party of 6, so im really considering perhaps even levelling at 17 (a lot of guides mention dualing at 21 for UAI... but im hesistant because of the downtime) to get the 3x backstab.

Choices, choices...

mjs

wait till you get a backstab multiplier then change to cleric. when you hit level 9 or 10, you can buff up with DuHM and Righteous Magic for 25 strength, max damage chain-backthwacks (clubs or staffs!)

ReadingRambo

I've just started my first BG 2 ee with an EE keepered shadowdancer cleric as a multiclass. It is an absolute blast to play so far. The enhanced edition's ability to bind actions to keys has fixed the borked thief/cleric interface that bothered me before.


Wait.. Did vanilla have the ability to assign keys? Like thieving to 'E" key etc? Maybe I just didn't realize how to do it years ago lol

Lace

Kaigen said:

Either way, my inclination is towards a late dual. Even if you're planning on taking another thief to cover traps and locks, an early dual (meaning during BGEE) would mean level 6ish, which is barely enough time to get decent hiding and only gives you one Shadowstep to play with. My inclination would be to wait until level 10 (i.e. the level cap in BGEE) and dual immediately upon beginning BG2EE. It might even be worth it to go a couple of extra levels to solidify your skills if you don't plan on having another thief in the party.

I agree with @Kaigen about dualling late. If you're able to wait this long, dualling at 13 will allow you to maximize your backstab multiplier at 4x, an important attribute if you choose a fighter dual, or in general.

Anywhoo, I was thinking about trying a shadowdancer -> fighter myself, so I'll vote for that.

Kaltzor

Thief/Cleric is an interesting jack-of-all-trades... But you might need a few thief levels too many to make proper use of shadowdancer in a dual-class...

belasco

Mage seems kind of pointless since their abilities can be replicated through spells, and you can't cast while shadowstepping anyway. Though I've always had a soft spot for cleric/thieves because of the UAI workaround to the cleric weapon restrictions.

nano

Oh it does bypass cleric weapon restrictions? Always wondered about that. And Shadowdancers do get UAI, it's not replaced by their own HLAs?

Pantalion

Well, it's a seriously painful dual class prospect, but ~3,000,000 Experience or so into Shadowdancer and the rest into Cleric would get you UAI and Shadowstep. You're talking late, late game before you can actually play the character though.

You might even want to just run through Shadowdancer until you've enough skill points for whatever then move into a Fighter going to Grand Mastery the bow and/or Sling. Hide, move, shoot. A cloak of non-detection and you're unstoppable, and you can always Grand Mastery something melee whilst you're at it.

6kNNRQ

Why does Shadowdancer have Strength, Dexterity, and Charisma listed as Dual-class requisites?

I saw that and thought, "If I make a fighter with high dexterity and charisma, I can dual into Shadowdancer."

In BGEE, I was building up a Kensai 9 / Shadowdancer for use in Black Pits 2, only to find it doesn't work.

I suppose those requisites mean you have to have those high abilities to dual-class out of shadow dancer and into an non-kit fighter, mage, cleric, or druid?

elminster

6kNNRQ said:

In BGEE, I was building up a Kensai 9 / Shadowdancer for use in Black Pits 2, only to find it doesn't work.

You can't dual class into a kit anyways.

I suppose those requisites mean you have to have those high abilities to dual-class out of shadow dancer and into an non-kit fighter, mage, cleric, or druid?

You'd need 15 in all 3 of these abilities to dual class into these (as well as more depending upon what you are dual classing into). That said you can't dual class a thief into a druid.