Dual Fighter->Druid what level?

Faray

Ok so I never got to play Icewind Dale the first time around so the enchanted edition is a nice treat. That being said, I did some research and from what I gather you get around 1.5 mil xp? So would it be viable to get my fighter to 7 before switching him into a druid, or will it take too long to get to level 8?

RAM021

Fighter9

Druid10 is super quick

DreadKhan

I would consider duelling as soon as you nab the extra 1/2 attack, the extra HP from more levels arent worth it unless you're a Kensai first (then dual at 9 maybe).

jackjack

Yeah I say level 7.

Klorox

I was considering dual classing at level 2 or 3. I really just want the one Rage, the bonus proficiencies, and the ability to wear heavy armor.

I realize your character will be much more powerful dual classing at level 9, but that's a long way to wait for some pretty sweet spells.

It really depends what you're looking for.

Anaximander

If you'll dual class at level 7 you won't get your levels back before chapter 3, so considering a fairly major encounter at the end of chapter 2 your other party members will have to tow the line. I just experienced this myself and well luckily managed alright but it could present increased challenges.

Welkin

I was thinking lvl 3 (intending just to play iwd) not a huge bonus but 3* scimitar (or sling), 2* sw+shield. I'm sure 7+ fighter levels makes a tougher character later in the game but I figure this makes a slightly less squishy druid with almost no time waiting on skills to return.

Would the extra weapon proficiencies out weigh the loss of racial benefits from being a human rather than an elf or half elf?

Zyzzogeton

Racial benefits aren't as important in IWD.

Short saves can be a huge deal in the BG games because a lot of effects just hitting the Protagonist caused game overs and the series was filled with those effects.

Half Orcs and Gnomes probably have the only significant benefits, with 19 STR for the Half Orc and specialized multiclass mages for the Gnomes (although Illusionist giving up two schools instead of just one is a huge hit)

DreadKhan

IWD does have plenty of poison early iirc, and lots of hold effects to worry about, but not as many spells. Saves are still helpful imo, though no Bhaalspawn = everyone's expendable.

Belanos

Zyzzogeton said:

...and specialized multiclass mages for the Gnomes (although Illusionist giving up two schools instead of just one is a huge hit)

It's not so bad if you have another caster to pick up the slack. Gnomes can be a good Arcane backup if you also multi-class them as Thieves. They also have the advantage of getting up to 19 Intelligence, plus some extra Thief bonuses.

sarevok57

i did this with my cleric, was a fighter first and then dualled over to cleric once the fighter hit level 7, and i hit level 8 cleric somewhere in dragon's eye, and i didn't even do that much grinding for XP, plus level 7 is all you need from the sounds of it ( looks like you are using a beserker ) oh, and by the way, 5 proficiency points in a weapon sets your attacks per round to 3, not 2.5 like in the bg series,

Zyzzogeton

19 INT is almost literally useless over

95% chance at spell scribing over 85% doesn't really matter since spell scribing is 100% with reloading/difficulty adjustment.

All spells per level is useless for an Illusionist which won't hit the limit thanks to barred schools.

Lore is a fairly useless stat because Bards already auto ID everything and if there isn't a Bard then that's what Identify is for.

Ancalagon44

I took a potion that gave me plus 3 to INT, ended up with 21 INT, and I still had spell learning failures. It is definitely not 97% as claimed, I think with 21 INT I had about a 75% success rate. I reloaded dozens of times and saved after learning every two spells in order to learn all of them.

GawainBS

Fighter 7 allows for an extra 1/2 attack.
Fighter 9 allows for the 5th star in a weapon, which gives an extra 1/2 attack on top of that. (Plus some other bonuses.) HOWEVER: In this game, it's possible to increase weapon proficiency beyond "normal" even if leveling the second class. So, the first proficiency you earn as a Druid after you've regained your Fighter capabilities, could be added to your 4-star weapon. Conclusion: Fighter 7 is the gold-point to dualclass if you want a powerful melee and a caster.
As pointed out earlier, Druid 10 will be there very fast, though.

For those who plan to take the same party through HoW, dualling at lvl 13, for yet another 1/2 attack), would be the best.

I dualled my Fighter 3 to a Mage, but I'm purely using her as a caster, with decent weapon options, and was eager to get the Arcane magic going.

P.S.: It's duAlling, dammit!

RAM021

Ancalagon44 said:

I took a potion that gave me plus 3 to INT, ended up with 21 INT, and I still had spell learning failures. It is definitely not 97% as claimed, I think with 21 INT I had about a 75% success rate. I reloaded dozens of times and saved after learning every two spells in order to learn all of them.

If you are a specialist, your non-specialized schools scribe at -15%

GawainBS said:

Fighter 9 allows for the 5th star in a weapon, which gives an extra 1/2 attack on top of that. (Plus some other bonuses.)
P.S.: It's duAlling, dammit!

In IWD Grandmastery is a full additional APR (+1.5 total)

Agreed dual/duel annoys me too!

GawainBS

You sure it's an additional attack? So far, I've read the 5-star description as if each level lists the TOTAL benefit, not the incremental on each level.

RAM021

GawainBS said:

You sure it's an additional attack? So far, I've read the 5-star description as if each level lists the TOTAL benefit, not the incremental on each level.

Sadly I am positive... it even explicitly states it. Note well that BG1/2 & IWD differ in this regard.

Baldur's Gate Grandmastery is +0.5 attack/round for +1 APR TOTAL
Icewind Dale Grandmastery is +1.0 attack/round for +1.5 APR TOTAL

Really changes up the class balance...

GawainBS

Well, with the addition of kits, Fighters become pretty strong now, though. Not a bad thing.

RAM021

Fighters have always been strong... although the Mastery changes do influence the BG kit balance: any character that melees is now comparatively worse off and not all kits/combos have received other abilities in way of compensation.

dertrop

GawainBS said:

HOWEVER: In this game, it's possible to increase weapon proficiency beyond "normal" even if leveling the second class. So, the first proficiency you earn as a Druid after you've regained your Fighter capabilities, could be added to your 4-star weapon. Conclusion: Fighter 7 is the gold-point to dualclass if you want a powerful melee and a caster.

You do not happen to have a source on this? If I remember correctly in BG(2):EE when dualclassing and chosing the same weapon proficiency resulted in the other being negated?

Ancalagon44

RAM021 said:

If you are a specialist, your non-specialized schools scribe at -15%

Not a specialist - dual classed Shadow Dancer to Mage.

About 3 out of 4 spells would transcribe. Did it last night with 22 intelligence - same thing. Gonna report a bug I think.

Zyzzogeton

That's only for proficiency points before the first class is reactivated. And only for proficiency that overlap. Like a Fighter getting 2 Morning Star and not putting anything in Slings then dual classing to a Cleric and then getting 1 Morning Star and 1 Sling. That 1 in Morning Stars is wasted when the Fighter reactivates. But the Sling proficiency isn't.

And after the Fighter is reactivated it'll have 2 in Morning Stars (from the Fighter) and 1 in Sling (from the Cleric) and will be able to develop either of these to 5 using proficiency points it gains as a Cleric.

Ancalagon44

dertrop said:

You do not happen to have a source on this? If I remember correctly in BG(2):EE when dualclassing and chosing the same weapon proficiency resulted in the other being negated?

This is the way it worked for me. I dualled a berserker to a cleric at level 7.

At level 7, he had 3 pips in maces and 3 pips in dual wielding. In his cleric levels, I put pips into sword and shield style, morningstars, and warhammers.

When he became a level 8 cleric, his fighter levels reactivated, and I was able to put a 4th pip into maces, despite the fact he was no longer levelling up as a fighter. At this point, he had 4 pips in maces, 3 pips in dual wielding, and 1 pip each in morningstars and warhammers.

RAM021

Ancalagon44 said:

RAM021 said:

If you are a specialist, your non-specialized schools scribe at -15%

Not a specialist - dual classed Shadow Dancer to Mage.
About 3 out of 4 spells would transcribe. Did it last night with 22 intelligence - same thing. Gonna report a bug I think.

Random is as random does... it may just be that simple.

GawainBS

Ancalagon44 said:

dertrop said:

You do not happen to have a source on this? If I remember correctly in BG(2):EE when dualclassing and chosing the same weapon proficiency resulted in the other being negated?

This is the way it worked for me. I dualled a berserker to a cleric at level 7.

At level 7, he had 3 pips in maces and 3 pips in dual wielding. In his cleric levels, I put pips into sword and shield style, morningstars, and warhammers.

When he became a level 8 cleric, his fighter levels reactivated, and I was able to put a 4th pip into maces, despite the fact he was no longer levelling up as a fighter. At this point, he had 4 pips in maces, 3 pips in dual wielding, and 1 pip each in morningstars and warhammers.

Yup. That's how it worked for me. I was (pleasantly) surprised by it.

ifupauline

I would say lvl 9, it is so easy to gain back your lvl as a druid level 10 and you get grandmastery.

Zyzzogeton

Dualing at even level 2 doesn't stop a player from attaining Grand Mastery using proficiency points gained as a Druid after the Fighter class is reactivated.

Ancalagon44

RAM021 said:

Random is as random does... it may just be that simple.

Considering that 97% of spells should be learnable, and I've done it on two different occassions at different character levels, I don't think it is random. Repeated it over 40 times and it bears out - it is more like 75%, not 97%.

DinsdalePiranha

please don't. dual fighter -> druid requires...

STR: 15
WIS: 17
CHA: **17**

add to the fact that you need to have high (aka 18) DEX and CON - you've got ONE dump stat, and a char that requires 90+ rolls to... well, not suck.

Zyzzogeton

Need? Since when does one character need to have high DEX and CON without even knowing the composition of the rest of the party?

Especially given that this character will have access to Barkskin and Ironskin and summons.

GawainBS

True, you'd need a 91+ roll AND pray that you get 18/51+ STR.