New to BG/D&D
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Greetings, to start I'll say that although I'm new to D&D gaming I have some knowledge of the mechanics. Just no friends interested in tabletop gaming.
So I got hold of BG:EE to satisfy my urge.
But I'm a bit confused as to what class I should choose for my first character.
In my RPG's that allow the choice, I either play a pure Mage or a mix of Mage and archer.
My recurring character from every game I've played is an Elven Mage whose primary concern is herself. In terms of BG, the Wild Mage kit suits her best. But from what I've read it would be an exercise in masochism to learn this game as a Mage.
Likewise with a multiclass thief/Mage (for the spells and archery).
Is this assumption correct?
Should I just suck it up and roll an Archer?
If so, is there much benefit to 18/00 strength over anything less.
So I got hold of BG:EE to satisfy my urge.
But I'm a bit confused as to what class I should choose for my first character.
In my RPG's that allow the choice, I either play a pure Mage or a mix of Mage and archer.
My recurring character from every game I've played is an Elven Mage whose primary concern is herself. In terms of BG, the Wild Mage kit suits her best. But from what I've read it would be an exercise in masochism to learn this game as a Mage.
Likewise with a multiclass thief/Mage (for the spells and archery).
Is this assumption correct?
Should I just suck it up and roll an Archer?
If so, is there much benefit to 18/00 strength over anything less.
6
Comments
Mages are tougher to learn, very much moreso the Wildmage, which makes reloading pretty near required; spells can have very unpleasant unintended effects, so maybe don't start out as a Wildmage...
A pretty good character is a gnome Fighter/Illusionist thats specialized in archery. Straightforward and powerful.
For your first character you should try the concept you want the most. If you really want a mix of mage and an archer, make an elven fighter/mage multiclass.
I would just like to point out that you don't have to get it "right" first time around. The beauty of this game is in it's re-playability, it's not a "get it right first time or go home" scenario, so you are only limited by the amount of time you can afford to spend playing the game.
With that in mind my advice would be to go with whatever feels natural to you for your first playthrough. You will in all likelihood meet an untimely or stupid death at some point (or several points) but you can always abort that game, go back and roll a new character (based on what you've learnt about yourself and the game) and start again.
Don't analyse it to death, just play it.
If you want to go the archer mage route, I'd second the fighter/mage selection. Thieves are more utility than ranged damage in this game. It's worth noting that shortbows are probably a better selection than longbows in the long term (longbows become pretty bad in BG2, while shortbows remain awesome), but a fighter/mage can switch fairly easily. The actual Archer kit can't switch as easily, so I'd recommend going shortbow from the beginning for them.
18/00 strength is very powerful in melee, but it's pretty useless for an archer. You might want an 18/anything if you're planning on using longbows in BG1, but otherwise strength isn't going to do much for you with bows.