Multi-class vs dual class in party creation what's your opinion?

Wanderon

Working on coming up with a fun and interesting party but keep running into the whole multi vs dual choice and waffling over it.

For me - Multi has the advantage of continued leveling of both classes - often a good thing with the general exception of thief class which doesn't gain much after level 10 or so.

Dual class for me is mostly useful when you want to add some warrior perks to a casting class but I have no patience for carrying this much beyond level 6 or so and then waiting and waiting for the warrior perks to come back and whether or not I will get my "completed class concept" before or after I get into more difficult areas of the game.

On the other hand multi classes level considerably slower which can also be an issue getting into more difficult areas with lower level abilities.

The other main thing I think about is character/party concept where generally speaking a party with a nice mix of races is more interesting than an all human party and even a party of all gnomes or halflings is also more interesting than all humans LOL

Whats your take on this dilemma - or do you even see a dilemma?

Shikao

Multi/dual dilemma is partially matter of personal preference, partially depends on what kind of playthrough you do. So I am quite sure everybody will have their own opinions =P

If race/class restrictions mess up with your party conceptions, then mod the game and remove them. I like Paladins, but I was tired them always being human, so I changed it and never regretted it =]

Redrake

No dilemma. I only dual class thieves to mages and fighters to druids. Usually, I take a thief and dual-class her to a mage after reaching Wyrm's Tooth. By that time there are no more traps to disable or locks to pick. And the amount of experience available during those final chapters is more than enough to make the character recover her thieving skills by the time I reach Burial Island (the next trap fest).

Dual classing a fighter to druid is fun, but building such a character can be extremely hard. Getting the right stats to dual class and still make an effective fighter can limit your options to creating a backup tank or a slingshot user. Best dual-ed after level 13 for some extra attacks for round and grandmastery.

As far as multi-class: dwarven fighter/cleric makes for the best tank IMO. half-elven fighter/mages also show up a lot in my IWD parties. And so do half-elven cleric/mages and fighter/druids.

skaterfezz

I personally hate dual class, it just feels too powergamey and really boring until you get all the stuff from your previous class back. I really like multiclass though the slow leveling is only really a problem in the beginning but it picks up later on. Dual class is technically better but less fun in my opinion and it doesn't really make sense from a roleplay standpoint(in most cases). Also if you use eekeeper you can get rid of the race/class restrictions and you can make kitted multiclasses. And yes I agree that a human party is more boring than a party with other races.

JuliusBorisov

I prefer multiclasses: they are easier to manage, easier to play right away.

You don't wait for anything, you always use all your character is capable of.

Fighter/Thief and Fighter/Mage (illusionist) are very good choices for IWD.

FinneousPJ

I think in IWD (and esp. HoF) dual classes are better. Multis are perfectly fine though.

atcDave

I like using both, although I only dual class characters I know will be switching at a pretty low level (never past seven).

schreier

Fighter/Druid - I dualed to get weapon mastery and higher hit points ... Fighter/Mage/Cleric and Fighter/Mage/Thief I multied b/c you can't get 3 w/ dual (obviously) and because I wanted beefier versions of mage/cleric and mage/thief.

I also dualed Ranger/Cleric because Rangers get no weapon mastery

kensai

I like duals more, while multi are easy and powerful (and iwd favors multi more, because of level restrictions you can make a 30\30 lvl multi) but duals are more challenging and interesting.