Character creation help

czhey

I loved this game as a kid but was never very good! Always just played as a fighter. I had a quick play through a couple years ago, but would like a full play through with a fun character now, not fighter.
Must have good alignment/party.
Must be fun and playable in BG2 as I hope to export to that.

I'm thinking fighter/theif, or some kind of Mage?
I'm currently playing a game as a half Orc fighter 19/18/19 str/Dex/con with a view to making a fighter theif, but don't know if it's well set up.
I think minsc is a good fighter? So I can use him, imoen for finding traps/opening locks, is there someone good I can find early on to do heal spells? I normally use jahira but don't want to use khalid.

Any input much appreciated before I get too far into this game!

JuliusBorisov

Hello, @czhey and welcome to the forum!

As a non-human, your fighter now can't become a thief, i.e. dualclass. If you chose a fighter at the character creation, you half-orc will stay a fighter.

A fighter/thief is an excellent character, very fun to play. As does a fighter/mage. I can wholeheartedly advice them.

Indeed, you can use Imoen for finding traps/opening locks, while your fighter/thief should concentrate on hiding in shadows to be able to scout and backstab.

Mincs has high STR, but his DEX and CON are a little bit low. If you want a damage dealer, he can be one, but to be able to tank, you need someone with better DEX and/or CON. For a good party, Khalid indeed can be such a tank, but nobody will say bad things if you don't like him as a character.

For a good party, Kivan can be a better tank than Minsc due to having higher DEX. Or even Jaheira can be a good tank, with Armor of Faith as a spell and 17 CON.

Note that you'll find a DEX-enhancing item further in the game.

As for a cleric, you can add Branwen to your party.

czhey

Hi, thanks for the quick and detailed reply!

I thought I was missing a trick somewhere with being non human, that's explained it thanks! And although my character seems a great fighter, I'll be restarting for a little variety.

Tank is exactly the word I was looking for, great to know thanks! I'll re consider khalid/jahira.

The other names ring a bell, but I don't remember them, I have a good idea of what to look for though thanks



Another stupid question... Which Mage/sorcerer class is best for damage dealing type spells?

JuliusBorisov

All non-humans can become multiclass characters - they're easier to play as than those who dualclass, by the way, because you don't need any time to wait till the second class is active. So, a half-orc can be a formidable fighter/thief multiclass.

As for spells, mages learn spells from scrolls while sorcerers choose spells at level ups. Mages can be specialists - choosing the scholl of magic, while sorcerers don't. If a mage is a specialist, he gets +1 spells per level but loses an access to spells from the opposite school.

Damage dealing spells like fireball are majorly from Evocation school, but not only Invokers can cast them - in fact, any mage other than Enchantments can cast these spells. But there're always other spells of the same level that inflict damage. So basically when choosing a school for your mage you should think of spells she can cast. There's no extra benefit of becoming, for example, an Invoker, to cast Evocation spells.

In Siege of Dragonspear they'll introduce a penalty to specialist mages in learing spells that are not from your school. But so far, there's no such a penalty.

So, basically any mage can cast damage dealing spells, they just can differ based on your opposed shool. Personally, I enjoy Illusionists as they lose an access to Necromancy but there're not many good Necromancy spells anyway. And Illusionists can become gnomes - this race gets additional saving throws. Also, gnomes are the only race that can be a specialist if the character is multiclass - Fighter/Illusionist, Cleric/Illusionist are very interesting characters.

Play the game as you like. You'll meet NPCs as you play and will be able to choose the ones you are especially interested in.