Talking about awesomeness, my appreciation of the Blade class stems more from my Charname Kheltick, than from Haer'Dalis. Kheltick has much less problems staying alive. But it's an unfair comparison: my Charname benefits from high rolls at the creation screen (it's easy to roll high numbers with a Blade, because of the minimum stat requirements) coupled with the BG1 tomes. Kheltick is a bit of a superhuman, with 19 STR, 19 DEX and 16 CON after applying the tomes. Making him a Blade with much more survivability than Haer'Dalis if buffs wear off or get dispelled. In the campaign where I have Haer'Dalis as my Blade, I tend to hear 'farewell, my raven' a lot.
I've never really been a fan of druids myself nor of neutral alignments. Not to mention it just seems weird that I'd be running a party with 4 evils and 2 neutrals, especially when my main character is supposedly neutral.
Even if you take the Faldorn approach, I still don't understand why a druid would be bringing these companions with them.
Huh? In your original post you said you wanted to run an evil party and a Druid PC was on the shortlist ... ?
As far as the swashie suggestion, while I admit that swashies look like a fun class, I really like the idea of backstabbing
I agree that the tradeoff you make by losing backstab multipliers is a big one. But consider that (1) no boss can be backstabbed (2) as the series wears on, there are fewer and fewer candidates for backstabbing. This, to me, makes kits like the Assassin much less attractive when looking at a complete playthrough.
If you're maintaining the same character, Swashbuckler is the one that makes sense. A straight thief in BG1 is really, really dull, made worse because your combat abilties outside backstabs are mediocre (and you'll get shown up on the stats lists by NPCs like Kivan and Coran). Swashies give you a combat boost and the playstyle is mostly the same. ( (The other option is to go human and dual at level 10 or 15 to a Cleric or Mage).
Finally, you can also look to play against each game's individual strengths and use Shadowkeeper to hack your character a bit to fit the game, because a class and playstyle that makes sense and works in BG1 often has no place in BG2 and ToB and vice versa. Since each installment has a different design and focus, you can sort of change with the times. Eg: BG1 has too many thieves, and BG2 doesn't have enough. Skalds offer great party bonuses in BG2, but are made irrelevant by the HLAs in ToB. Etc.
So you could play true class thief in BG1, Assassin in BG2, and hack into a Swashbuckler for ToB. Or start with a true class Bard, play a Skald in BG2 and switch to a Blade for ToB.
Touche I completely forgot about my first post. Now how to justify a druid in there.
Honestly I don't mind the thought of a plain thief so much and you're right about most of the enemies you want to backstab being immune to backstab. I guess I just never viewed a thief that didn't backstab as evil. Weird I know but considering it now.
So that leaves me with druid, assassin, or making my own NPC thief and running a blade in BG2. Herm.
Kinda sketch on assassin as well since I intend on running one with Dorn in my first BGEE playthrough. But that one will be a halfling instead of an elf. (First time shorty since I never make it far with my dwarven wizard slayers).
in my opinion swashbucklers are better than blades, i've even used a swashbuckler with every race ( except dwarf because that 17 dex hurts my feelings) but i find them way less "babysitting needed" than blades, i've never really had it so a blade could just wee-fully get thrown into combat and have everything be all good, at least with a swashbuckler they can start getting a bit more dependant around level 15 or 16 or so in ToB my swashbucklers will have -24/-25 AC, 5 attacks per round -10 or so thac0 and deal an average of 30 damage a hit, all without being buffed up, no such luck with a blade, now i dont really want to dis the blade and all that because yes they can be allright, but you are going to spend a majority of your blade's life buffing up before every battle pretty much- Hey Joe, look at those gibberlings over there, let's go get them, hold on Hank, i need to spend 2 minutes buffing up so then i dont die
Evil party = PC fighter/thief multi or swashbuckler, since there is no evil thief in bg2. I played as a swashbuckler in my evil playthrough. NPCs were Korgan, Viconia, Edwin and Sarevok. Didn't take a sixth since there are no more evil NPCs.
So that leaves me with druid, assassin, or making my own NPC thief and running a blade in BG2. Herm.
Kinda sketch on assassin as well since I intend on running one with Dorn in my first BGEE playthrough. But that one will be a halfling instead of an elf. (First time shorty since I never make it far with my dwarven wizard slayers).
It's a tough choice. I've done multiple playthroughs as an Assassin and one as a Bounty Hunter, and I loved them both. Assassin especially can be extremely satisfying - slicing open mages before they put any defences up is incredibly valuable, and with potions of Invisibility, or even spacious areas, you can backstab one enemy multiple times (that's how I killed Sarevok in my last BGTutu game. Both of our parties had died and it was just the two of us. Quaff a potion, slam a dagger into his back - bam. So awesome).
Bounty Hunters kinda suck, but only because Thief HLAs make them redundant. Pre-ToB, they're a lot of fun (and really, pre-ToB is like 50x the length of ToB...).
Thief point penalties don't matter as BG2 and ToB seem to have been designed with Imoen's level 7 thievery in mind and you can probably count on one hand the amount of traps and locks that you need a lot of skill points for. BG1 is a different story, though - trying to navigate crap like Durlag's Tower with a thief who only got 15 points/level, with most of those going into stealth, is misery. But, then again, in BG1 you'd have Montaron along, and he can take care of those.
Also, while we're on the subject - if you do end up having points to spare, don't skimp out on Detect Illusions. A lot of players ignore it (including me), but the ability to dispel illusions is nothing to sneeze at - especially since, IIRC, it dispels ALL Illusion spells if the level is high enough, including things like Mislead and Project Image.
I would lean heavily towards a thief since from SoA on evil parties don't really have any good options for thieving. But being a thief also presents you from taking the evil(er) path in BG2. Decisions, decisions...
I'll admit Kenji I've never much liked Aerie. Which is saying something considering I can't stand Anomen and still put up with him through a full run of BG2 and ToB.
leaves you pretty wide open for the PC's class or kit. You've got mage, healer, and tank. Thief is covered as well in BG1. You're lacking a thief in BG2, though.
I guess the question is do you want to go full out evil from an RP vantage, versus simply playing the game using the evil NPCs all together at once.
If it is the former, you might consider creating a couple of PCs for BG2, provided that you don't mind losing out a bit on banters. It's up to your creativity and preferences there.
If it's the latter then you can add whomever you like to fill out the other two slots, be they Neutral or Good aligned characters. Yoshimo (later replaced by Imoen) is the logical choice for thief. I think Haer 'Dalis is a great choice for the final slot. That is in fact the party I assembled for my 'evil party' BG2 run.
As for your PC's class or kit, it probably won't matter too much as you can undoubtedly beat the game without too much trouble using any combination of classes/kits by now. Go with whatever seems like it'll be the most fun to try!
I was thinking along similar lines for BG1EE evil playthrough, was thinking maybe a long range archer or fighter or ranger (alignment restrictions?). I don't really want to play as another tank, maybe trying out dual/multi class for 1st time. Bard is a possibility but they seen to be a jack of all trades, master of none type of character (and they can't dual/multi). I didn't realise kits would be availble in BG1EE, must have to revisit what they all do. Good post though
@sarevok57 I didn't think swashbucklers gained more attacks per round, 5 unbuffed explain? I've never played one I should mention though. Interested.
I've always only had Haer'dalis in good parties - use the fort belt first thing in the morning & cast stoneskin, without Korgan in my party the Crom Faeyr is in his off-hand. He's fine without futher buffing, meaning he can just wade in. I buff all party members for major battles, it just means that he can buff even more. Regarding the whole just have him stand away from the battle arguement and use epic bard song.... Why not just have a mislead/simulacrum of him use it? While he hacks away.
in my opinion swashbucklers are better than blades, i've even used a swashbuckler with every race ( except dwarf because that 17 dex hurts my feelings) but i find them way less "babysitting needed" than blades, i've never really had it so a blade could just wee-fully get thrown into combat and have everything be all good, at least with a swashbuckler they can start getting a bit more dependant around level 15 or 16 or so in ToB my swashbucklers will have -24/-25 AC, 5 attacks per round -10 or so thac0 and deal an average of 30 damage a hit, all without being buffed up, no such luck with a blade, now i dont really want to dis the blade and all that because yes they can be allright, but you are going to spend a majority of your blade's life buffing up before every battle pretty much- Hey Joe, look at those gibberlings over there, let's go get them, hold on Hank, i need to spend 2 minutes buffing up so then i dont die
This makes no sense. They'd have the same HP as both thieves and bards roll d6 and cap at +2 HP a level due to constitution. Swashbucklers will have better AC, but that doesn't really matter end game anyway because the difference between -10 AC and -25 AC is nothing. AC caps at -10.
Blades have access to spells. That ends any discussion as to which is better. I don't get why people on the forums seem so allergic to spending time to buff.
If you're finding your bard isn't helping much in fights where you can literally just auto-attack til enemies are dead, drop into Epic Bard Song and buff the rest of your team. Seems like that's more useful than another body to go club things you already kill in a hit with 3 other party members.
@Son_of_Imoen: Maybe I had it modded. I forgot Tenser's makes it so you can't cast spells while it's active because it doesn't mention doing so in the description. Or maybe I did Offensive Spin first and simply had the order mixed up (seems most likely.) Still, it's super hurty while it's all active.
@Son_of_Imoen: Maybe I had it modded. I forgot Tenser's makes it so you can't cast spells while it's active because it doesn't mention doing so in the description. Or maybe I did Offensive Spin first and simply had the order mixed up (seems most likely.) Still, it's super hurty while it's all active.
It might be the other way around to: the mods I use prehibiting it. I wouldn't know the completely vanilla behaviour, I never play without BG2 Fixpack, BG2 Tweaks, aTweaks and Sword Coast Stratagems, to name those who might be suspects for changing spell-behaviour (my install is without Spell Revisions or Divine Remix tough).
@Isair scarlet ninto-jo+3, belm +2, gaunlets of extraordinary weapon specialization and boots of speed, equals 5 attacks per round unbuffed, you also need to take use any item high level ability, but who doesnt take that with their thieves, blades could also do this as well for 5 attacks per round, @sandmanCCL the AC cap is actually -20 and another -6 for dexterity, so if you have 21 dex, you can have up to -25 AC
@sarevok57 Ah I thought you'd be using weapons that added further attacks, I don't see the point in using belm that late in the game. Additional attack aside, I'd rather use a more damaging - higher enchantment weapon. Especially since Swashbucklers can whirlwind.
I've thought about having Haer'dalis use it (scarlet +3) in the past but I quite like him having the Purifier in his main hand.
put scarlet in his off hand, the thing to remember as well is that no matter how many attacks the off hand weapon says you get extra you will only ever get one off hand attack per round, so for example you use purifier in the main hand and scarlet in the offhand, you will have 3 attacks per round, 2 will be the purifier and 1 will be scarlet, that is why i use belm, because with the 5 attacks per round, 4 are scarlet and 1 is belm, unless you give him purifier and a shield+4 of some sort,
If I recall correctly if you're a thief you can still keep your stronghold even if you side with Bodhi
It's a non-issue, actually. If you're a thief, when you go to meet Bodhi in the Graveyard, she decides she can't trust you and revokes her offer. End of story. This MAY not be the case if you haven't done the quest for MaeVar. I'm not sure - because what kind of evil thief is going to skip out on that quest? Edwin and a stronghold!
Rogue Rebalancing mod changes it so that not only can you side with her, you can side with her and keep your stronghold, which could be what you're thinking of.
Also, I think your party selection for BG1 is very solid. Xzar always gets a bad rap (probably because most players have the same experience with him - first time playing BG1, pick him up, and watch in dismay as on the next screen he starts waving his dagger around in front of a group of gibberlings and gets chunked), but outfit him with a ranged weapon and some better spells than Chill Touch and he's a great mage. I'd take him over Dynaheir easy, and possibly over Xan as well. He's not as good as Edwin, but the two combined make for some incredible power.
Montaron is one of my favourite NPCs. Incredibly versatile. Great archer, great support fighter, pretty good frontline fighter (he can wear Full Plate - sure it disables thief abilities, but how often do you use those during combat?), and of course, can take care of all your trap and lock needs. Great mage-killer, too. Backstab those jerks, and if they survive, take them down with Arrows of Biting.
Montaron's that guy who isn't the best at anything, but is quite good for just about everything. A sort of queen-of-all-trades, if you will
@sarevok57 I usually only have Haer'dalis in good parties & have him use the Crom Faeyr in his off-hand, I'd rather have +7 to hit & +14 to damage in his case. Though I suppose he could use it in his main hand (the CF) but as I said I'd rather have the purifier main hand - CF off-hand. I knew about off-hand attacks but I'd still rather use this setup.
@Isair scarlet ninto-jo+3, belm +2, gaunlets of extraordinary weapon specialization and boots of speed, equals 5 attacks per round unbuffed, you also need to take use any item high level ability, but who doesnt take that with their thieves, blades could also do this as well for 5 attacks per round, @sandmanCCL the AC cap is actually -20 and another -6 for dexterity, so if you have 21 dex, you can have up to -25 AC
I've been told by some pretty credible sources that while it displays a better AC on your screen, it doesn't actually matter when it comes to how rolls are calculated. The game is hard-capped at -10 AC despite what it displays.
Or so I'm told. I tend to not notice what my AC is once I get to Throne of Bhaal because most enemies have such high Thac0 you get hit anyway. HP tends to matter more, or ways to mitigate damage. A blade is better at that because of Stone Skin and Mantle and other arcane buffs. Also, a blade can drop into defensive spin for a free -10 AC buff and if you're equipped with something that grants free action, it doesn't root you into place.
In spite of managing a different party, I like trying unusual alignments from a roleplaying point of view. Once I tried roleplaying a neutral sorcerer, whose main concern was survival - sometimes he would turn down 'good' quests, or even accept them just for the reward. 'Sides, he could manage neutral and evil allies, as long and they had similar purposes.
I've never tried an evil protagonist, though... for the simple fact that having Imoen around is too cool. =D
Also, a blade can drop into defensive spin for a free -10 AC buff and if you're equipped with something that grants free action, it doesn't root you into place.
I'll need to remember that one. I always avoided Free Action on my Blade for fear of it interfering with Offensive Spin, just like it does with Haste. Do you know how Free Action and the offensive spin interact?
@sandmanCCL i never knew abou that free action thing, very tricky indeed, and he can only use mantle so many times period, because bards only ever get level 6 spells, and mantle is a level 7 spell, so in theory a swashbuckler could cast it as many times as a blade could, and for AC im pretty sure it makes a difference, you are right on the fact that enemies have stupid low thac0, like abizagal in his human form, if he had a character sheet, it would be -19 or 20 or so, and i remember having -25 ac and watching him miss with 4s which was awesome, because he deals 78 damage a hit when he uses whirlwind- good thing he doesnt use greater whirlwind or else he would be getting +4 to hit and damage ( because he wouldnt be getting penalized from whirlwind's penalty) but i think i will always like having a swashbuckler over a blade, i actually do have a file of a blade in the underdark i believe, and i think i made it my main character, and yes tensers transformation gives him 200+ HP but i think i just got tired of buffing for EVERY single fight with him, are they good in combat? yes, but do you have to buff them all the time, to make them usefull? also yes, if you dont mind buffing all the time, then by all means, blades are great, but if you're lazy like me and want to actually play the game more than having someone who doesnt need to be buffed every battle, then a blade isnt your character, and thats really the only beef i have with blades i like skalds way better, except the range on their song is a little small, but i really hate putting thief type classes in melee, just like the bg II perfect guide says, they hate it when they see mages used as front line fighters and thieves as blockers, know your roll they say
You don't HAVE to buff them in every fight to make them viable. I don't know how that rumor got started. If you're whomping around with a belt of giant strength or better (and you would be for any thief too so don't start the "well but he doesn't need that" talk), you will still be successful in melee.
I also don't give a damn what some "BG 2 perfect" guide says. If it was a strategy RPG with defined positions on a grid like chess, then okay each guy has a more defined role.
But as it is? It's terrifically easy to run away if enemies start focusing someone other than who you want them to focus. Any combination of thief except mage/thief ends up being a melee combatant for me as they are simply deadlier doing that. Just because he's in melee doesn't mean he's a "blocker" or whatever. That kind of thinking is why so many people misguidedly hate Xan, who is one of the deadliest melee combatants in all of BG1.
It's why I think armor class is overrated. It only helps against ranged weaponry and even then as long as you send in the one or two guys on the team designed to soak up hits, your other dudes will be fine.
For when you can afford to be lazy, Sarevok/Minsc/Keldorn/Valygar/Anomen/Korgan all do just fine taking care of the little nothings. When the battle requires a little tactics, I'd rather have a blade on the team than another right-click-only character.
If we're talking a solo run, then you'd be foolish to roll as anything other than a mage (single or multiclassed) or a bard.
You're right about Mantle, though. I was just throwing buffs out there off the top of my head. Forgot it was level 7. You still have Stoneskins, Spell Deflection, Haste/Slow, Hold Person, etc. There's a ton of good spells pre-7 that mages make use of. Blades can ALSO do those things, and more effectively due to a higher caster level. For people who like fireballs, having a blade helps your mage cast more as he'll free up slots otherwise used to buff people. Or hell, throw even more fireballs on him. He can do it.
It just makes no sense to me how people can be like "BLADES ARE BAD BECAUSE THEY NEED BUFFS" and then turn around and praise their Fighter/Cleric or something. Casting spells is a HUGE part of the strategy in any D&D game. There's a reason only two pure classes don't have any spellcasting and even then one of them can via items at epic levels.
If all you're focused on is damage, you will fail. Damage is one of the least important aspects to meta-gaming Baldur's Gate. Damage will come frequently even from the wimpiest of sources. This goes both from your own team to the enemies that attack you. Keeping out of harm's way ends up being vastly more important.
@Dragonspear in regards to your original posting how did you manage to get Korgan in BG1? also how amused was Kagain in finding out that he had been usurped as the only dwarven fighter in the game?
I'll need to remember that one. I always avoided Free Action on my Blade for fear of it interfering with Offensive Spin, just like it does with Haste. Do you know how Free Action and the offensive spin interact?
Just saw this.
No I don't off the top of my head. I know it doesn't negate the max damage per hit buff. It might affect the speed buff but if you're rolling around in boots of speed anyway, you'll still be hauling butt.
Comments
I agree that the tradeoff you make by losing backstab multipliers is a big one. But consider that (1) no boss can be backstabbed (2) as the series wears on, there are fewer and fewer candidates for backstabbing. This, to me, makes kits like the Assassin much less attractive when looking at a complete playthrough.
If you're maintaining the same character, Swashbuckler is the one that makes sense. A straight thief in BG1 is really, really dull, made worse because your combat abilties outside backstabs are mediocre (and you'll get shown up on the stats lists by NPCs like Kivan and Coran). Swashies give you a combat boost and the playstyle is mostly the same. ( (The other option is to go human and dual at level 10 or 15 to a Cleric or Mage).
Finally, you can also look to play against each game's individual strengths and use Shadowkeeper to hack your character a bit to fit the game, because a class and playstyle that makes sense and works in BG1 often has no place in BG2 and ToB and vice versa. Since each installment has a different design and focus, you can sort of change with the times. Eg: BG1 has too many thieves, and BG2 doesn't have enough. Skalds offer great party bonuses in BG2, but are made irrelevant by the HLAs in ToB. Etc.
So you could play true class thief in BG1, Assassin in BG2, and hack into a Swashbuckler for ToB. Or start with a true class Bard, play a Skald in BG2 and switch to a Blade for ToB.
Touche I completely forgot about my first post. Now how to justify a druid in there.
Honestly I don't mind the thought of a plain thief so much and you're right about most of the enemies you want to backstab being immune to backstab. I guess I just never viewed a thief that didn't backstab as evil. Weird I know but considering it now.
And, yeah, I totally get that about swashbucklers -- the kit name makes one think of Errol Flynn or Inigo Montoya. Not quite evil types.
Kinda sketch on assassin as well since I intend on running one with Dorn in my first BGEE playthrough. But that one will be a halfling instead of an elf. (First time shorty since I never make it far with my dwarven wizard slayers).
I guess it'd be much more fun with Swashie if they allowed at least e.g. x1.5 multiplier. Would not imbalance the game IMHO and would make it fun.
Bounty Hunters kinda suck, but only because Thief HLAs make them redundant. Pre-ToB, they're a lot of fun (and really, pre-ToB is like 50x the length of ToB...).
Thief point penalties don't matter as BG2 and ToB seem to have been designed with Imoen's level 7 thievery in mind and you can probably count on one hand the amount of traps and locks that you need a lot of skill points for. BG1 is a different story, though - trying to navigate crap like Durlag's Tower with a thief who only got 15 points/level, with most of those going into stealth, is misery. But, then again, in BG1 you'd have Montaron along, and he can take care of those.
Also, while we're on the subject - if you do end up having points to spare, don't skimp out on Detect Illusions. A lot of players ignore it (including me), but the ability to dispel illusions is nothing to sneeze at - especially since, IIRC, it dispels ALL Illusion spells if the level is high enough, including things like Mislead and Project Image.
I would lean heavily towards a thief since from SoA on evil parties don't really have any good options for thieving. But being a thief also presents you from taking the evil(er) path in BG2. Decisions, decisions...
If I recall correctly if you're a thief you can still keep your stronghold even if you side with Bodhi
*evil laugh*
I guess the question is do you want to go full out evil from an RP vantage, versus simply playing the game using the evil NPCs all together at once.
If it is the former, you might consider creating a couple of PCs for BG2, provided that you don't mind losing out a bit on banters. It's up to your creativity and preferences there.
If it's the latter then you can add whomever you like to fill out the other two slots, be they Neutral or Good aligned characters. Yoshimo (later replaced by Imoen) is the logical choice for thief. I think Haer 'Dalis is a great choice for the final slot. That is in fact the party I assembled for my 'evil party' BG2 run.
As for your PC's class or kit, it probably won't matter too much as you can undoubtedly beat the game without too much trouble using any combination of classes/kits by now. Go with whatever seems like it'll be the most fun to try!
I didn't realise kits would be availble in BG1EE, must have to revisit what they all do. Good post though
I've always only had Haer'dalis in good parties - use the fort belt first thing in the morning & cast stoneskin, without Korgan in my party the Crom Faeyr is in his off-hand. He's fine without futher buffing, meaning he can just wade in. I buff all party members for major battles, it just means that he can buff even more. Regarding the whole just have him stand away from the battle arguement and use epic bard song.... Why not just have a mislead/simulacrum of him use it? While he hacks away.
Blades have access to spells. That ends any discussion as to which is better. I don't get why people on the forums seem so allergic to spending time to buff.
If you're finding your bard isn't helping much in fights where you can literally just auto-attack til enemies are dead, drop into Epic Bard Song and buff the rest of your team. Seems like that's more useful than another body to go club things you already kill in a hit with 3 other party members.
@Son_of_Imoen: Maybe I had it modded. I forgot Tenser's makes it so you can't cast spells while it's active because it doesn't mention doing so in the description. Or maybe I did Offensive Spin first and simply had the order mixed up (seems most likely.) Still, it's super hurty while it's all active.
I've thought about having Haer'dalis use it (scarlet +3) in the past but I quite like him having the Purifier in his main hand.
Rogue Rebalancing mod changes it so that not only can you side with her, you can side with her and keep your stronghold, which could be what you're thinking of.
Also, I think your party selection for BG1 is very solid. Xzar always gets a bad rap (probably because most players have the same experience with him - first time playing BG1, pick him up, and watch in dismay as on the next screen he starts waving his dagger around in front of a group of gibberlings and gets chunked), but outfit him with a ranged weapon and some better spells than Chill Touch and he's a great mage. I'd take him over Dynaheir easy, and possibly over Xan as well. He's not as good as Edwin, but the two combined make for some incredible power.
Montaron is one of my favourite NPCs. Incredibly versatile. Great archer, great support fighter, pretty good frontline fighter (he can wear Full Plate - sure it disables thief abilities, but how often do you use those during combat?), and of course, can take care of all your trap and lock needs. Great mage-killer, too. Backstab those jerks, and if they survive, take them down with Arrows of Biting.
Montaron's that guy who isn't the best at anything, but is quite good for just about everything. A sort of queen-of-all-trades, if you will
Or so I'm told. I tend to not notice what my AC is once I get to Throne of Bhaal because most enemies have such high Thac0 you get hit anyway. HP tends to matter more, or ways to mitigate damage. A blade is better at that because of Stone Skin and Mantle and other arcane buffs. Also, a blade can drop into defensive spin for a free -10 AC buff and if you're equipped with something that grants free action, it doesn't root you into place.
I've never tried an evil protagonist, though... for the simple fact that having Imoen around is too cool. =D
I also don't give a damn what some "BG 2 perfect" guide says. If it was a strategy RPG with defined positions on a grid like chess, then okay each guy has a more defined role.
But as it is? It's terrifically easy to run away if enemies start focusing someone other than who you want them to focus. Any combination of thief except mage/thief ends up being a melee combatant for me as they are simply deadlier doing that. Just because he's in melee doesn't mean he's a "blocker" or whatever. That kind of thinking is why so many people misguidedly hate Xan, who is one of the deadliest melee combatants in all of BG1.
It's why I think armor class is overrated. It only helps against ranged weaponry and even then as long as you send in the one or two guys on the team designed to soak up hits, your other dudes will be fine.
For when you can afford to be lazy, Sarevok/Minsc/Keldorn/Valygar/Anomen/Korgan all do just fine taking care of the little nothings. When the battle requires a little tactics, I'd rather have a blade on the team than another right-click-only character.
If we're talking a solo run, then you'd be foolish to roll as anything other than a mage (single or multiclassed) or a bard.
You're right about Mantle, though. I was just throwing buffs out there off the top of my head. Forgot it was level 7. You still have Stoneskins, Spell Deflection, Haste/Slow, Hold Person, etc. There's a ton of good spells pre-7 that mages make use of. Blades can ALSO do those things, and more effectively due to a higher caster level. For people who like fireballs, having a blade helps your mage cast more as he'll free up slots otherwise used to buff people. Or hell, throw even more fireballs on him. He can do it.
It just makes no sense to me how people can be like "BLADES ARE BAD BECAUSE THEY NEED BUFFS" and then turn around and praise their Fighter/Cleric or something. Casting spells is a HUGE part of the strategy in any D&D game. There's a reason only two pure classes don't have any spellcasting and even then one of them can via items at epic levels.
If all you're focused on is damage, you will fail. Damage is one of the least important aspects to meta-gaming Baldur's Gate. Damage will come frequently even from the wimpiest of sources. This goes both from your own team to the enemies that attack you. Keeping out of harm's way ends up being vastly more important.
No I don't off the top of my head. I know it doesn't negate the max damage per hit buff. It might affect the speed buff but if you're rolling around in boots of speed anyway, you'll still be hauling butt.