Never finished IWD, do I really need a thief?

Dragonspear

I have a party I'd like to use, and I have most of the group sorted out already.

Paladin (because that's me!)
Dwarven Defender
Elven Archer
Skald (Hired by the paladin to help navigate the region, and expand upon the lore)
Invoker or likely Dragon Disciple, Friend of the paladin, aspiring War Wizard just like the paladin is an aspiring Purple Dragon knight
Divine Healer (I can't decide if a cleric is also travelling with the paladin, if they meet a druid along with the skald, or if they just find a cleric of tempus in easthaven).

I realize the smart choice, would be to make the Elven archer a fighter/thief, but I'd rather not. I love the archer flavor. I'd also rather not do a Mage/Thief, because I already have the bard.

But as someone who's not a particular fan of summons (cept for druids, necromancers, conjurers, evil clerics and blackguards), I'm wondering how badly I'm going to hate myself without a thief.

joluv

Pickpocketing is unnecessary, and you can open locks without a Thief with high strength or Knock. That just leaves traps. Compared to the BG series, more of the traps in IWD are scattered where you can avoid them if you know where they are, as opposed to one big trap stretched across an entire hallway. That means the Find Traps spell (or special ability) is actually useful here, since you don't need to disarm every trap you find. So yeah, having no Thief won't cause you too much pain.

JuliusBorisov

But still, don't forget to use the Find Traps spell in ANY dungeon you're going to enter to. After BG, I thought IWD had a fest of traps.

Artas1984

I have finished IWD recently i have to say the thief is a must own. A thief is a must own in any RPG company, just because of his set of skills. Make him also a fighter to gain cool weapon proficiency. You even can do without ranger if your thief will be a half-fighter. Train him bow specialization (Assanti - the best bow in IWD that you will find in some Yuan Ti dungeons) and have him have high hide/move silently skills.

Ancalagon44

What you can do is bring a thief and dual class him later when he has 100 in open locks and find traps. Reason being, those two skills are useful, but I didn't find backstabbing too useful.

If I remember correctly, monks can find traps but not disarm them. In that case, a monk should be fine, because if you can identify the traps, at least you can avoid them. Your other option of course is just triggering the trap with a warrior with good saves and a lot of hitpoints. Your Dwarven Defender would be good for that.

Merina

Ancalagon44 said:

What you can do is bring a thief and dual class him later when he has 100 in open locks and find traps.

Skipping the 100 in OpenLocks and dual-classing a few levels earlier works really well.

greenbeans8

If you are happy with your party then add a new job class you have little experience with. A swashbuckler doesn't have to lug aroud heavy armour but does weight affect baggage in the android version of this table top based video game? Because yes, a rogue is a diplomat, a thief is a pack mule scavenger... and hunter... and gatherer too.

Wowo

I love bringing a thief for the backstabs and trap setting along with whatever their kit or multi choice brings to the table. Getting for of traps is just a bonus (and a significant one considering how many traps are scattered in places where you have to fight, it's super annoying having traps going off or having to carefully micromanage movement while fighting).

Tad_Has_A_Cold_Olive

You could go with a Cleric/Thief character. Combine the healing and the lockpicking.

Grum

All you need is a character with high HP to tank traps and someone to heal them. If a dwarven defender walks up front and you replaced your thief with an extra druid or cleric, you can easily heal up the damage. And as said before, if you know where the traps are then most can be avoided.

That or take a swashbuckler. You get your thief, and they end up like a fighter.

In my current playthrough I have a human swashbuckler. At lvl 5, and with the upgraded belt, she'll have 100% in open locks and find traps. She'll then dual class to fighter and will focus on longbows. This pretty much makes her a fighter with +2 AC, +1 to Hit, +1 Damage and the ability to find/disarm any trap and open any lock. Losing out on pickpockets isn't a huge loss, and in IWD trap setting isn't needed. Yeah, no backstabbing, but that takes alot of effort to set up and can leave your thief in a bad situation.

This gives you what you 'need' from a thief while also giving you another big damage dealer.

sarevok57

is it possible to beat the game without a thief? most definitely, is it going to be a pain? im going to say yeah, the bottom level of dragon's eye is going to be good times, I did it without a theif so all those poison and confusing traps will be good times since they don't go away after you trip them, so you can trip them multiple times, but im pretty sure I have played without a thief before and I still got by, plus all the people who have solo'd the game with druids and the like got by as well, so mostly thieves are there just for convenience

semiticgoddess

@sarevok57 is right. Even if you go most of the game without a thief, I would recommend adding one to the party just to disarm the traps at the bottom of Dragon's Eye. They will screw you up, badly, and repeatedly, without a thief.

Grum

Detect traps and walk around them. The only one you can't avoid is the one directly in front of the door.

It is possible. Just a real pain.

Kilivitz

sarevok57 said:

the bottom level of dragon's eye is going to be good times

From the perspective of someone who suffers from PTSD caused by that particular map, the sarcastic use of "good times" here made me laugh out loud. Thank you, sir.