Dual or Multi Fighter Mage
Valorous
Member Posts: 5
What do you prefer when you play a fighter mage and your playing from BG through BG2? How do you build your fighter mage either as dual or multi when it comes to stats and pips?
- Dual or Multi Fighter Mage86 votes
- Figher>Mage Dual31.40%
- Figher/Mage Multi68.60%
2
Comments
So that's the whole of BG1 and a bit of BG2 before you can cast any spells and playing a straight fighter is just plain boring. The most egregious problem though is having to play a human, if you don't want to use mods/EEkeeper.
Multi gives way more benefits earlier on such as the sleep spell, which destroys most of BG1. Plus you can be a Elf or a half Elf, so it's instantly infinitely superior to dual classing.
If you run a fighter/mage, you run an entirely different set of spells and probably also need a secondary mage. The payoff is greater but it takes longer to get there and you really have to emphasize the power of mage buffs because your magic growth is slower. Dual-wield is the strongest choice.
Plus that's really only a worry if you're playing a solo character anyway.
Nearly invincible tank, always close to the enemy -> multi
Mostly casting, making little use of the bonus Hp, thac0, and bonus attacks -> dual
I almost forgot. With multi-class, your thac0 never stops improving, so in the long run you will be a much more effective fighter AND spell caster unless you use mods.
Playing through the entire trilogy, I would say that the multiclass is probably better overall without even looking at the benefits of the HLA. Yes, you lose some kit abilities assuming you start with a specialist fighter like a kensai or something but you get the added benefit of buffs at low level even without the extra pluses you get from being a kensai.
As a f/m you can decide if you want to melee it out or just a be a bit lazy and blast them all away from a afar - ahh the options.... so many to pick from.
Although either one really are in the end a bit too powerful. Dualed and multi-class should be limited to some degree in terms of spells (for the multi-class and fighting skills) or in terms of their THACO or grandmastery for the dualed class (assuming you go for grandmastery at level 9 or is it 13) - dualed characters should no longer be able to grandmaster their fighting skills or something to limit them.
edit: regarding being unique, I mean there's no F/M NPC. There's no F-M NPC either, but there are strong single-class leveling mages in the game but no multiclass other than Jan.
You can go a lot of different directions with pips, depending on who else is in your party competing for weapon choices. Longswords are always a safe bet, and some kind of ranged weapon for early on is a must (it becomes less important in BG2EE). You could go Katana for Dak'kon's Zerth Blade, but I generally have more important things to buy early in BG2, and it quickly gets outclassed (Celestial Fury is still a decent reason to grab the proficiency anyway). But you could honestly go in any direction, though two-weapon fighting's advantages mean you generally stick to one-handed weapons.
Though I will give points to the berserker/Mage, simply because of Berserk. So very handy in just about every situation. But if I was going to play a mage, I would stick with a more powerful caster like a Wild Mage or Sorcerer.
While Multi has His Merrits in BG1(may even be stronger), around mid SoA you will notice the lacking spell levels and the slower Spell Grade unlocks. also fighter after 13 will not add anything to your class aside marginal better THAC0 and Greater Whirlwind...where i prefer Improved Haste Over..
Dual on the Other hand Opens up possibility's...
from the crazy lvl 13 kensage who with his self buffs is basically immortal once you reach that...
all the way down to the Puny LvL 2 Fighter who just opens up some Weapon choices , a Helm , a Shield and a few more HP so Kobolds don't kill him with a Cough...
to everything in between, (namely 7 and 9)
the only downside to Dual is the Downtime ...but that's as long as you want it to be..
I'll also say I prefer a pure mage over a mixed one of any sort, even if my character is about as strong as wet tissue paper for the first couple of levels.
1- die of old age before gnomes even reach sexual peak
2 - night blindness
3 - no facial hair options
B: Gnomes kick ass
1- bonus illusion spells
2 - fighter HLA
3 - shorty saves
4 - enemies have save penalties to your illusion spells
The multi also doesn't have down time in between and you lose what? One half attack and 3 points of damage but gain ever improving thac0 so that in the long run you hit MORE often which results in more damage
Illusion spells are great sure, but Necromancy is also equally great.
even worse so for Multi Fighter/Illusionist ..while they cheer for their first lvl 7 spell at the Beginning of ToB i already chug out my first LvL 9
In BG1, a straight fighter is good enough - and you can rely on others for your spellcasing.
In BG2, access to high level abilities as a mage mean you need to be level 18+ for those 9th level slots. Fighter levels above 13 are a waste, since you are either using your wizard abilities to improve your fighter side or else you should just be a straight fighter.
However i don't see any cheating around restriction, that's just common restriction. In addition, you can actually be 8M xp in a 3man party in soa, and mb with a 4 man party aswell (not sure for this one).
And yeah as you stated it, i played once this character as solo, in a scs ascenscion, and i actually bashed so hard the last battle with it.
Because there are several awesome short bows in BG2. And long bows in vanilla game are... acceptable but not the strongest choice. And you do not have the ability to respec your character in a legit way.
> If we have Khalid in the party should i avoid longsword?
There are enough longswords for everyone, rejoice!
> Why not mace for the stupifer or is flails better/katanas better?
Stupefier is nerfed, I think it's not worth to build a character around it. And in BG2 maces are not so strong as other options. Katanas are good for only basically the first half of BG2. Long swords and flails are both safe choices.