Inefficent (Dual)classes you are tempted to play ?

DevardKrown

We all know the Typical Steroid classes like the "Kensage" .."Fighter/Thief" and so on so forth who can become real monsters in their own right.

but ever thought about odd class combinations and dual levels ?
for example as of right now im Thinking of a Specialized mage lvl2 dualed to a Thief. i know i know , like a Swashbuckler6/mageX would make waaaay more sense granting me a full thief and the full mage powers but here me out !.

-a Specialized Mage Level 2 gets 3 LvL 1 spellslots that's Perfectly for 3times "Armor" Granting rk6 which is like a Studded Letherarmor +2 for 27 Hours (or just use Shield with 1-3 hours for RK4). Opening up the Chest Slot for Robes. with a 20% fire resistance robe and the two 40% rings your immune to fire which brings us to,
-All the Fancy Wands ! ... yep right from the beginning with a downtime of lousy 2500xp, think about a stealthed guy sneaking up close and personal in a horde and blowing it up walking unhurt out the smoldering corpses.
-if you don't fancy a robe you can wear your run of the Mill leather armor and just use 3 free identify a day , you have to be in your inventory to check out the new loot anyhow so moving your armor for a moment is less than inconvenient.
-Scroll casting ! use all you want instead of selling them.
-And Using all the Other Mage goodies Long before UAI
-you also get Find Familiar which compensates for the lost Thief Level HP and in BG2+TOB even nets a few extra !

and a Big Goody , you are a extremely Cannon CHARNAME , think about it, being raised in Candlekeep as a mage , plunged into the swordcost and stuck with getting better at wizardry or fighting dirty , using everything you can get an advantage with (aka being a thief)... you don't have the time to Practice for years like a fighter or throw yourself into Faith and get super powers, at the end of the day you are just a Normal Guy who wants to see another day.


Downsides are ,
-obviously you have a Odd Dual level and your mage part will never be fully useful.
-you are stuck with being a Basic Thief.



so which inefficient CHARNAMES you wanted to test out ? share your ideas.

TheArtisan

Kensai/Cleric with grandmastery in quarterstaves.

You can't tank. You can't dual wield katanas. You can't wear mage robes or use stoneskin to bypass no armor rule. What you can do is buff yourself to 25 strength and activate Kai while wielding Staff of the Ram for massive damage. It works great thematically too (think eastern warrior monk).

DevardKrown

Artemius_I said:

Kensai/Cleric with grandmastery in quarterstaves.

You can't tank. You can't dual wield katanas. You can't wear mage robes or use stoneskin to bypass no armor rule. What you can do is buff yourself to 25 strength and activate Kai while wielding Staff of the Ram for massive damage. It works great thematically too (think eastern warrior monk).

Great one ! , always hated the fact that you can with Mage or UAI work around the Kensais no Armor Ability and make him "OP"

also dont forget that you cant even wear a Helm and get your face bashed in

justfeelinathome

As we're on the topic of clerics (I don't know if it's odd enough to qualify): Beastmaster/Cleric always apealed to me. I think it would be the master of cannon fodder, since they can get a summon spell for each level. Will try this one, when SOD hits the virtual shelves. Somehow both the ability to summon and the one to have a familiar are extremely appealing to me. The weapon selection, however, is the most restrictive in the game, due to both classes ethoses: Clubs, Quarterstaffs and Slings. Don't know when to dual yet. Also, this will be my first dual for the main char.

Another one I've seen pop up on the forums (from an older, similar thread, which I can't seem to find), is Avenger/Fighter. Avenger penalties make it so, that you have to use at least one tome of strength before you can do it. I won't personally try this one though, since I love my Avenger class so much (it's my favorite), that I wouldn't share it with ANY class.

Might I also suggest (here I am somewhat tempted again, for RP-reasons) Wizard Slayer into Mage? Not only did u pass on the possibility to rectify your downside via Use All Items-HLA, but you've got some serious self-hatred or hypocrisy to deal with.

Anyway, I'm curious to see what else people will come up with.

TheArtisan

justtravelinthrough said:

Might I also suggest (here I am somewhat tempted again, for RP-reasons) Wizard Slayer into Mage? Not only did u pass on the possibility to rectify your downside via Use All Items-HLA, but you've got some serious self-hatred or hypocrisy to deal with.

*cough*Use Any Items is a thief HLA*cough*l2readplz

justfeelinathome

That's what I meant when I said u pass on the possibility. You DON'T get that when you go with mage.

TheArtisan

Oops.

Aaaaand that's my cue to get off the forums. Nighty-night all.

Skatan

Archer -> Cleric: You get the +DMG and THAC0 from archer levels but at the penalty of not being able to use them to their fullest with a bow or xbow. You can only wear studded leather. You get 2 pips in slings and 1 in whatever weapon you choose, BUT: You can buff the hell out of your STR to add damage to sling, you get the DMG/THAC0 bonus from archer levels, you can use dualweild with ie staff maces, you get favored enemy.

It's a weird dualclass without perfect synergies, but you'll still be a good cleric with a pretty effecient sling attack with +1 APR from specialization and ranger level 7 (if you dual at 9 or later).

Jarrakul

Illusionist -> Fighter. Some nice defensive spells (Mirror Image in particular) and the ability to use a whole bunch of items in exchange for losing out on a bunch of hit points, armor (in practice, anyway), and the ability to be a berserker. I can never quite convince myself the trade is worth it, but it would be kind of cool.

Philhelm

Priest of Lathander > Thief. Maybe take the Cleric level up to 11 to get a second Boon of Lathander use per day, so that in a pinch he can have 3 APR and +2 to hit, damage, and saves. Of course, this will be in conjunction with DUHM bonuses to Strength and Dexterity and the usual Cleric shenanigans. Eventually he will get UAI, and will finally be able to pick up a knife to butter his bread.

Wowo

Swashbuckler 25 -> Cleric. UAI, scimitar specialisation.

Solo only ...

GreenWarlock

I'm always fond of the Avenger -> Fighter. Relies on Tomes in BG1 to work at all, you lose much of your fighter hp and the CON bonus, although that is mostly capped by the Avenger to begin with. The key benefit of any Druid -> Fighter dual is to play into the start of BG2, and finish off the low-xp druid levels, dualing at either 200kxp or 300kxp for 6th level spell goodness, backed by the BG1 Wisdom tomes, and Iron Skins when you get the spells back.

This is not a power-gamer's kit, but is not bad, and is fun to do /just/ /becasue/ /you/ /can/

Grond0

Philhelm said:

Priest of Lathander > Thief. Maybe take the Cleric level up to 11 to get a second Boon of Lathander use per day, so that in a pinch he can have 3 APR and +2 to hit, damage, and saves. Of course, this will be in conjunction with DUHM bonuses to Strength and Dexterity and the usual Cleric shenanigans. Eventually he will get UAI, and will finally be able to pick up a knife to butter his bread.

Why not go the whole hog and take PoL up to level 21 before dualling to mage? That gives you an alternative means to get to 10 APR using dual-wielding. Of course it will be a while before you actually get that ability and not long left to use it in ...

Philhelm

Grond0 said:

Philhelm said:

Priest of Lathander > Thief. Maybe take the Cleric level up to 11 to get a second Boon of Lathander use per day, so that in a pinch he can have 3 APR and +2 to hit, damage, and saves. Of course, this will be in conjunction with DUHM bonuses to Strength and Dexterity and the usual Cleric shenanigans. Eventually he will get UAI, and will finally be able to pick up a knife to butter his bread.

Why not go the whole hog and take PoL up to level 21 before dualling to mage? That gives you an alternative means to get to 10 APR using dual-wielding. Of course it will be a while before you actually get that ability and not long left to use it in ...

A Priest of Lathander/Mage can only use a spoon while eating, and is physically unable to pick up a fork and knife.

DevardKrown

Philhelm said:

Grond0 said:

Philhelm said:

Priest of Lathander > Thief. Maybe take the Cleric level up to 11 to get a second Boon of Lathander use per day, so that in a pinch he can have 3 APR and +2 to hit, damage, and saves. Of course, this will be in conjunction with DUHM bonuses to Strength and Dexterity and the usual Cleric shenanigans. Eventually he will get UAI, and will finally be able to pick up a knife to butter his bread.

Why not go the whole hog and take PoL up to level 21 before dualling to mage? That gives you an alternative means to get to 10 APR using dual-wielding. Of course it will be a while before you actually get that ability and not long left to use it in ...

A Priest of Lathander/Mage can only use a spoon while eating, and is physically unable to pick up a fork and knife.

this is why they are so wise...they get their Wisdom....spoon feed...*snrk*

thelovebat

I'd say any of the Ranger kits dual classed into Cleric wouldn't work all too well, but depending on the level you dual class at it could be fun to see if you could overcome all the limitations.

The Archer can't wear much in the way of armor and isn't versed in melee weapons, and they can't get more than specialization in slings which is the only ranged weapon a Cleric can use. There are some fanmade kits out there for either a Fighter or Ranger that could allow for grandmastery in slings, but the Archer kit as is loses out on a lot and gains next to nothing for a Cleric. Basically just a small boost to ranged to hit and damage depending on dual class level, some free points in dual wielding, and the Called Shot ability which is hardly useful at a lower Archer level. Not being able to specialize in anything other than Slings really hurts, perhaps if you could get a higher skill in slings it might be worth trying but otherwise your weapon options are far too limited for it to be worth the tradeoffs. With the two free points in dual wielding, not being as versed with melee weapons makes that less useful. And being really limited with the Cleric weapon selection hurts their ranged bonuses.

Stalker is already a mix between a Fighter and a Thief, but they don't have the freedom to wear any kind of armor they want which is already bad enough cus a Fighter/Thief can wear any armor they want when not using Thief skills (or wearing non-leather armor that allows Thief skill usage). They also don't get to use some of the same great equipment restricted to Thieves, and their backstabbing won't get the same multiplier as a Thief (especially if dual classing). You get a few decent bonus spells later, but depending on dual classing level you won't get them unless dual classing in the 2nd game. Backstabbing as a Cleric and using stealth isn't the most effective combination anyway for that class, being limited to just blunt weapons and Studded Leather means they won't be a ranged attacker, can't wear great armor to tank, and don't get access to the same equipment and abilities of a Thief. Of the Ranger kits available it's the one that would be the most plausible for dual classing, but still very gimped.

Beast Master isn't a good kit to begin with, restricted to wooden weapons and studded leather at most. That and summoning abilities really aren't that great with how Beamdog nerfed those spells compared to the original Baldur's Gate. You can summon a familiar, but in the long term that's 6 free hit points and that's pretty much it, cus you don't want to risk them not being in your inventory and dying. Dual class to Cleric though, and you've got yourself a pretty nerfed character who's only options for melee are staffs and clubs, allowing you only 3 weapons total you can use and not being able to wear heavy armor either. And if you dual class before getting any of the Animal Summoning spells, it's pretty much a waste of a dual class (and with the BG1 level cap, I don't think you can get any Animal Summoning skills, dual class, then get your old abilities back in BG1). So you get a bonus to stealth abilities and some forgettable summoning abilities, while vastly limiting your equipment (even more so with a Cleric dual class). Not a winning combination, and you have to dual class in BG2 just to have access to the Animal Summoning.

If dual classing from Ranger to Cleric, IMO there's little to no reason to dual class as a Ranger kit, unless being able to memorize those few Mage spells as a Stalker seems all that enticing (this requires dualing no sooner than level 12 though when they get those spells, which would be in BG2). A non-kit Ranger at least can wear whatever armor they want and with the free points in dual wielding can dual wield some nice blunt weapons fairly well. All while allowing the Cleric spellbook access to Druid spells, which I suppose the kits offer too but with the mentioned drawbacks that aren't worth the bother.