Tips for my route to 100% MR Fighter/Thief?

johntyl

So I was well into the middle of BG1 with my main char as Archer and I realised that I spent most of my time being stealthy and acting like a thief, and I realised suddenly that I love backstabbing more than shooting banal arrows.

So I decided to reroll into a F/T instead. But not just the typical wont-get-it-wrong F/T build, but one that is gearing towards a (possibly) 100% Magic resistant F/T going into BG2. I am basing my build chiefly from this dude's guide: http://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/2olycf/why_wizard_slayer_is_the_best_fighter/?sort=new

But instead of a WS/T as a dual-class which, for me, takes away a bulk of the fun as a Thief early game (and which I also find inherently impractical), I am opting for a similar build with a multi-class F/T. Ultimately, the aim of my F/T should look quite similar to that dude's guide but with slight differences:

To quote him:
This build works by combining the awesome proficiency points of a fighter with the insanely overpowered HLA of thieves: use any item
Ring of Gaxx: 10%
Hindo's Doom+4: 10%
Purifier +5: 30%
Human Flesh: 20%
Amulet of Seladrin: 10%
Tears of Bhaal Trial: 10%
Total: magic resistance: 90% (any tips where I can get the other 10% from? Apart from potions/spells.)

The philosophy behind my longing for this build is inspired by my battle with Drizzt who has an obscene MR (he has like 98% innate MR in BG1 WTF?) which made me insanely jealous, hence my journey to attain a similar prowess. My devised CHAR though is not meant to be a tank or insane-damage-outputer, he is sneaky rat who will be spending most of his time hiding/moving in shadows with a cloak of non-detection, running around with a pair of boots of speed, and backstabbing with a poisoned weapon (early game). As he progressed into BG2, he will slowly gear towards a high MR build, be a bait for magic users who will spam their spells on him in vain, disappear often (with invisibility spells or potions) and appear only to backstab. As he progressed further into ToB which will see more enemies immune to backstabs, he will become mainly a bait and killer of magic users, and become more a fighter than a thief, and if that is inadequate he can always use a scroll of Tenser's Transformation. This is ultimately a character who has immense Saving Throws and near perfect 100% MR.

What do you guys think? Any tips on how I can improve this build? Also, what class should I play this character - elf or half-orc (for the added strength and constitution)? What do you think his/her optimal stats should be?

Also, what is the best backstabbing weapon in BG1 and BG2 for a F/T? My character will be dual-wielding at the outset. Looking forward to your suggestions!

adragon87

Varscona is my pick for backstabbing in BG1. I find that its higher base damage does more than the poison from the Dagger of Venom.
I can't think of any items to get you to 100% magic resistance. Hindo's Doom and the Purifier get you 40% so Carsomyr would contribute 50% with Use Any Item, which would be 100% total. But, you can't back stab with it, so I think you may be stuck with 90%, but that's still really good.

johntyl

adragon87 said:

Varscona is my pick for backstabbing in BG1. I find that its higher base damage does more than the poison from the Dagger of Venom.
I can't think of any items to get you to 100% magic resistance. Hindo's Doom and the Purifier get you 40% so Carsomyr would contribute 50% with Use Any Item, which would be 100% total. But, you can't back stab with it, so I think you may be stuck with 90%, but that's still really good.

But if you take dagger of venom's overall poison damage (6 points/round, up to 15 points of damage) into account, wouldn't it deal more damage per hit?

Also, just wanna verify something, can you backstab with Purifier (a bastard sword) or Hindo's Doom (a katana)?

adragon87

Dagger of Venom can go higher with luck, but won't on average. Hindo's Doom can backstab.

adragon87

Dagger of Venom is better against spellcasters and may beat Varscona as I think about it more, but you probably won't have pips in daggers or long swords. The katana+1 in the cloakwood mines is even better than Varscona actually. I forget about it, but it makes sense to use when you get it, because you should take pips in katana for your build anyway.

bob_veng

katana yes, bastard sword no

machine of lum can give another +5%

hindo's doom is not an optimal main hand weapon and human flesh is not an optimal armor...just switch between carsomyr (+50% mr) and staff of the ram

Grum

Katanas are good enough for backstabbing. And purifier in off hand for the 30% isn't bad. Pick up lum for the 95%.

In BG1ee I noticed that you can hide, switch to plate, and still backstab. So grab the armor of...enkidu? Something like that. It is full plate that gives you 5% MR.

Hide. Switch armor. Backstab and tank in your plate armor while rocking 100% MR. For mid fight backstabs, use a potion of invisibility/ring of invisibility/scrolls from UAI. A true fighter/thief!

johntyl

Grum said:

Katanas are good enough for backstabbing. And purifier in off hand for the 30% isn't bad. Pick up lum for the 95%.

In BG1ee I noticed that you can hide, switch to plate, and still backstab. So grab the armor of...enkidu? Something like that. It is full plate that gives you 5% MR.

Hide. Switch armor. Backstab and tank in your plate armor while rocking 100% MR. For mid fight backstabs, use a potion of invisibility/ring of invisibility/scrolls from UAI. A true fighter/thief!

Found the name of the armor you are talking about: Enkidu's full plate (http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Enkidu's_Full_Plate) Good idea!

johntyl

bob_veng said:

katana yes, bastard sword no

machine of lum can give another +5%

hindo's doom is not an optimal main hand weapon and human flesh is not an optimal armor...just switch between carsomyr (+50% mr) and staff of the ram

So I should put all my pips in two-handed weapon style and two-handed weapon and staff (i guess you are suggesting using staff to backstab instead?)

adragon87

johntyl said:

bob_veng said:

katana yes, bastard sword no

machine of lum can give another +5%

hindo's doom is not an optimal main hand weapon and human flesh is not an optimal armor...just switch between carsomyr (+50% mr) and staff of the ram

So I should put all my pips in two-handed weapon style and two-handed weapon and staff (i guess you are suggesting using staff to backstab instead?)

That's what I would do to, my earlier advice assumed you really wanted two weapon style, but if that's not set in stone, I think this build is better.

johntyl

On second thoughts, would dual-classing Kensai(at level 13) -> Thief be more effective for this build in the long run? So that I can at least GM on a few pip?

adragon87

The multiclass would be stronger for most of the game, but the dual class would be stronger in the end. I would personally go multi but I am one of those people who likes to play the character I want for the whole game. Not play the whole game for the character I want.

johntyl

adragon87 said:

I would personally go multi but I am one of those people who likes to play the character I want for the whole game. Not play the whole game for the character I want.

That's some deep stuff you've got there

adragon87

johntyl

Grum said:

Katanas are good enough for backstabbing. And purifier in off hand for the 30% isn't bad. Pick up lum for the 95%.

In BG1ee I noticed that you can hide, switch to plate, and still backstab. So grab the armor of...enkidu? Something like that. It is full plate that gives you 5% MR.

Hide. Switch armor. Backstab and tank in your plate armor while rocking 100% MR. For mid fight backstabs, use a potion of invisibility/ring of invisibility/scrolls from UAI. A true fighter/thief!

Ok, i just realised you cant switch to that armor because the armor you will be wearing will provide 20% MR and switching Human Flesh for Enkidu will grant you -15% MR instead.

Wowo

Staff is strong in BG1 and again once you get a few whirlwind HLAs but in the middle 2 weapon style is stronger with a speed weapon in the offhand. Arguably this makes up a majority of the game.

In bg1 the best single handed backstabbing weapon is one of drizzts swords.

johntyl

Wowo said:

Staff is strong in BG1 and again once you get a few whirlwind HLAs but in the middle 2 weapon style is stronger with a speed weapon in the offhand. Arguably this makes up a majority of the game.

In bg1 the best single handed backstabbing weapon is one of drizzts swords.

Using whirlwind HLA, which will be stronger: 2 weapon style or Carsomyr?

And yes, I am planning to slay Drizzt again

johntyl

Alright guys, after much research and serious thoughts, I have decided to go along @bob_veng suggestion about two handed weapon style for my F/T. I just played around with Imonen using Staff of Striking and the BS damage is insane despite her low pips in it. My F/T will probably put all his pips in two handed weapon style and quarterstaff in BG1, and perhaps 1 pip in scimitar for Drizzt's weapons. In BG2, I will probably start putting some pips in two-handed weapon swords for Carsomyr.

In BG2, I am thinking of using the combo of Staff of the Magi and Staff of the Ram to BS and go invisible by switching to Staff of the Magi after the BS. Can anyone verify if this will work? Does equipping Staff of the magi give you instant invisibility?

bob_veng

yeah it's a staple of munchkining. there's also vhailor's helm. you can have the pc in front of an opponent and the simulacrum at his back and alternate melee and backstab with them for a good laugh. since you have carsomyr and vhailor's helm (and detect illusion) you hardly need the mage class; you can cast copies of scrolls (such as time-stop) from the simulacrum without expending the originals.

you will get bored soon. you might want to attempt a speedrun or adopt some self-imposed rules such as no-reload or in-game time challenge. backstab lamely doesn't work on some later bosses so there'll be nothing to do but hack away.

if you want to take things to another level you can dual class at 3m exp from a thief kit. you will have less hp and some wasted pips (inconsequential) but you could have an assasin for 7x backstab (and the biggest attainable damage) or a shadowdancer for yet another copy of yourself. it's a very late bloomer but the payoff is hysterical.

you could also dual to thief from kensai. you get tons of hp but you won't have fighter hla's which may not be a big problem. kensai still has at least half of the fighter hla potential in his kai ability. some enemies are immune to critical hits anyway.

however there's also the headband of the devout that briefly gives you max damage rolls. that gives you a (comparably smaller) chunk of the fighter's high-level potential too, so you can dual from berserker at lvl13. berserker13/thief with mr is effectively godmode.

there's also the big metal unit if you're up for that.

johntyl

@bob_veng Wow, that's a ton of really useful suggestions, thanks mate! I guess I shall stick to multi-class for now, perhaps I will try a kensai->thief/mage the next round (heard lots of rave reviews about it)

I will be playing on Hard mode at the onset (or maybe Insane if I can pull it off) because the current Normal mode is way too easy. I will also be playing the SCS mode to up the challenges abit. Perhaps I will impose a minimal reload on myself since I will be doing a lot of stealthy scouting, to kind of simulate reality in a sense. Thanks for all the great tips so far!:)

johntyl

@bob_veng Also, I guess ultimately I will be wielding alternately Carsomyr +6 (when I need the MR) and Gram the Sword of Grief +5 for melee opponents, and Staff of the Ram +6 for backstabbing, whilst holding Staff of the Magi for permanent invisibility leading to BS. What do you think?

wraith5641

I was going to mention Carsomyr for when you got your HLAs, but you already realized that. Carsomyr + Ring of Gaxx is already 60% resistance. Human Flesh is 20% so that adds up to 80%. Amulet of Seldarin and whatever innate resistances you can pick up from machines or quest lines should take you to 100%.

bob_veng

johntyl said:

@bob_veng Also, I guess ultimately I will be wielding alternately Carsomyr +6 (when I need the MR) and Gram the Sword of Grief +5 for melee opponents, and Staff of the Ram +6 for backstabbing, whilst holding Staff of the Magi for permanent invisibility leading to BS. What do you think?

yep.