Help Build Fighter/Thief

Jagged

So a wicked case of rerollitus has prevented me from completing the trilogy. I'm somewhat convinced a halfling F/T is the way to go and I'm working on a build. But, I can't decide on weapon proficiencies.

On one hand I think sling, quarterstaff, and two handed sword (carsomyr) is the way to go.

Or I want some dual wielding with scimtars (speed weapons,) long swords and maybe eventually foebane or foa.

He would also eventually wear the human leather armor for saving throws.

Will I be able to eventually get his saving throws low enough to make him almost immune to disabling magic?


What advice do you guys have on building this little guy? How will he hold up into TOB?

Thanks!

Mitchfork

I think two-handed is the way to go with F/T, especially if you want to play evil and aren't taking Keldorn. Carsomyr is certainly worth building up to as one of your options, since there's no way you'll be using it otherwise, and you're letting your weapon style do double-duty with the best backstabbing weapon in the game. Going for speed weapons is definitely better DPS-wise but Greater Whirlwind is still awesome, and the speed weapons can go towards other party members.

With 18+ CON and Human Flesh +5 you'll have saving throws of Death -6/Wand -5/Poly 0/Breath 0/Spell -4 (I think). There are a few spells that will impose penalties that would overcome these, but not many. If you equip other items that lower saving throws (Ring of Gaxx, etc.) you'd be pretty immortal to anything but damage.

I played a non-Charname F/T (Elf) through the second Five fight and she was very good. I spec'd her towards Short Bows, Scimitars, and Two-Handed Swords since I don't usually use backstab. I kept her using Tansheron/Gesen for way too long though.

elminster

I'm playing a halfling fighter/thief right now. He has specialisation in bastard swords and Shortbows (the last thing is two-weapon fighting). At level 9 I plan on giving him proficiency with Scimitars.

Next to monks and mages thieves have the best saving throws against magic. At level 17 (end SoA in a 6 person party) you'll have as low as 2 for your save vs spells (without including any rings of protection or other items). Thats assuming you have 18 constitution. So yes its very possible to be highly resilient if not completely immune to certain spells. Plus as an added bonus as a fighter your save vs death will (with 18 CON) be 0 by fighter level 13.

Corvino

As a F/T multi you might be more worried about incoming physical damage than magical - your saves will be great as it is. Consider using Jansen Adventurewear with UAI, offhanding the DoE and popping Hardiness if facing fire giant elites or similar.

One of the biggest strengths of a F/T is flexibility. You can get for near magic-immunity, physical resistance, high AC, whatever takes your fancy. I do tend toward Two Weapon Style for this reason - multiple resists or immunities from 2 weapons at once.

One item to really consider is a new ring added by Rasaad's quest in the arena area. It casts Mirror Image 3x daily which is very useful.

Jagged

I hadn't even thought about getting my physical resistances up. That really is great advice. Isn't there a helmet or other item that can add to physical resistance. Can I get it to 100%?

proghead3

I'll throw out some dissenting opinions for you. I feel that two-handed weapons are a trap (except for the Ravager +6, which is baller status), especially for a fighter/thief. Heck, even on my paladins I've been using FoA, Daystar,Purifier/shield over Carsomyr lately. If you want damage output get a +5 backstab weapon in the main hand and Belm/Kudane/Ninja-to in the offhand. Have your mage cast improved haste on your guy and you'll be ripping enemies apart. In epic levels you'll be doing absurd damage when you throw assassination in the mix. You won't come close to matching that output with GWW.

You shouldn't worry about defense. You should be in stealth when combat begins and let the enemies focus on your tanks before you pop out. You'll be killing most enemies in a fraction of a round, which will mitigate more damage than any piece of armor you'll wear.

Corvino

There is Roranach's Horn, a helmet that adds blunt damage resistance as well. I do agree with what @proghead3 says though - offhand APR weapons (Belm, Kundane & the Scarlet ninja-to) are great and may you an arse-kicking machine.

There's a reason you have a bag of holding though. There's no penalty for keeping a your gear options flexible with a few different setups depending on what you're facing. Also, once you get Use Any Item it's worth relooking at unique items to see if you can gain any new fringe benefits.

SwordsNotWords

Isn't it best to stick with thief only weapons, rather than bastard and two handed swords, to make the most of your back-stab ability?

elminster

SwordsNotWords said:

Isn't it best to stick with thief only weapons, rather than bastard and two handed swords, to make the most of your back-stab ability?

Meh. Play what you want. Your fighter half heavily reduces the penalty of you using a weapon you aren't proficient in so (especially in BG2EE) you are pretty flexible with what you can use for backstabbing.

Skaffen

What playstyle do you want? Always at the front? Got a mage in the party that will regularly cast improved haste? Go dual wielding with speed weapons and later DoE in the offhand. If you want more flexibility and use ranged weapons at least semi-regularly? Go for Two-handers so you can use a bow without going to the inventory screen or one handers if you want to backstab a lot and don't like Ram.

Ah, how I miss the IWD II weapon configurations...