Weapons and dual classing

Rei

Thinking about getting IWDEE on the Steam sale. Just have a couple of quick questions.

Is dual classing viable? I'm not sure how fast the experience progression is compared to BG.

I'm thinking of running a four character party of:
Inquisitor or Undead Hunter
Fighter/Cleric or Berserker(9)->Cleric
Sorcerer
Thief/Mage or Swashbuckler(10)->Mage

Am I going to be gimped for too long dual classing like that?


Second question: Should I be aiming for specific weapons with each character like I would in BG or are there enough viable weapon options of each type?

sarevok57

for dual classing purposes, I believe you will hit around level 9/10 at the end of chapter 2, and then maybe near the end of chapter 3 you will get your original class abilities back - and this is with a 6 man party- ( I usually dual class my swashbuckler at level 11 into a fighter and its around chapter 4 I think when I get my thief abilities back - again with a 6 man party- )

when it comes to weapons, I like choosing long swords and axes, and morningstars, there are quite a few of those weapons that give an AC bonus, also in HoW there are at least 2 +4 long swords that give an extra attack per round plus the AC bonus ( at least I believe it gives an AC bonus)

so based on that, for the paladin I would go long sword/bastard sword, and even worse case scenario you can only have 2 pips in each weapon, so even if you find a new super weapon, you can start putting your points over into it

for the fighter/cleric you will only be able to use crushing weapons, so I would go with Morningstar, because there is 2 I believe that give damage resistance bonuses and give an AC bonus and its +4 ( pretty solid)

for sorcerer, I would probably go with sling, ( since in the severed hand, shop keeper there sells infinite +2 bullets so that is always helpful)

and for your swash/mage, maybe go for bow? I believe there is a shortbow or 2 that gives an extra attack per round, I know there is at least one in HoW, don't remember if IWD has an extra attack shortbow, or maybe even crossbow, crossbows are pretty good in IWD and I believe the odd one gives an extra attack per round, although if you go the bow route, and if you find ANY arrows of piercing I HIGHLY suggest you save them for the last boss ( just a suggestion)

but realistically, you can basically go for any weapon you like, the only character that is going to matter is the fighter/cleric since you can hit 5 pips, everyone else can only hit 2 at most, so even if you don't have proficiency you will get it soon enough

also remember that there are no high level abilities in IWD/HoW so when you hit pass 2.95 million XP don't expect them to come, and remember there is a level cap in this game, and that level cap is 30, so in theory you could have a multiclass hit level 30/30 if you wanted to

but the advance with 4 guys is, you will grow up levels a little faster, so dualing at 9 or 10 will be no sweat, and if you find weapons you are not proficient in, it will only take a handful of levels before you become specialized in them, although as I said some of the better ones are: long sword, axes and morningstars and even long bows, so maybe aim for those weapon types

Rei

Neat. Thanks!

Is there any reason to go for shields or should I be dual wielding whenever possible like in BG?

sarevok57

I like going for shields, in IWD there are a few shields that give damage resistance bonuses, which makes them really great, infact there is one shield called the great shield +3 I believe and it gives a +4 AC bonus and around 10 or so % resistance to all physical damage as well, plus there are some speed weapons in IWD as well, so dual wielding might not be necessary, but again, dual wielding and turning your guy into a mobile chainsaw can also work

but based on the fact that you only have around 4 chums on your team, I would probably go the shield route, the extra AC and possible damage resistance bonuses will really come in handy, plus if you give your sorcerer improved haste, dual wielding wont necessarily be needed

but at the same time you could do both if you really wanted to, dual wield all the way, and when you are in a tough fight and need a little more AC and resistance go back to using your shield when needed, then once the tough fight is over, go back to dual wielding

for my personal taste, I go the shield route myself, as I said there are some great shields in this game, and there are also speed weapons all over the place so its really up to personal preference

Rei

Thanks!

Ended up going for a Swashbuckler (to be dualled into mage) but I decided to play on Insane so I figured I'd need the healing from the get go so I went for a Half-orc Fighter/Cleric over the dual class. Went for Long Swords + Shields on the Paladin (Undead Hunter) and Flails/Morning Stars + Dual Wielding on the Fighter/Cleric.

I have one more noob question, if you don't mind.

When playing BG, I like to rebind the move camera keys from the arrows to WASD. I can't for the life of me find this option in the assign keys section. Am I just being dumb? I find it hard to believe that it's an option in BGEE/BG2EE and not IWDEE...

sarevok57

if im not mistaken it wasn't until patch 2.x until you could really assign some of the more obscure hot keys to bg1 and bg2, IWD still has 1.4 (?) if im not mistaken so I don't think there is the option yet to assign directional hot keys, although I could be wrong, haven't played IWD in a few months ( I made an incredibly brutal build of a team, and after a million tries almost won and then lost, so I haven't played the game since)

Rei

That's probably it.

ineth

If you're okay with dualing relatively late, I imagine a great place to dual a thief would be shortly before entering chapter 5 (Wyrm's Tooth).

There is an insane amount of XP to be gained in Wyrm's Tooth if you do all side-quests (much more than in each previous chapter), and no traps and locks whatsoever.

At the end of chapter 4 you'll encounter lots of traps and locks in the Dwarven crypts, so you'll still need the Thief. But then when you've looted all the crypts, you could dual to another class just before you report back to Norlinor to get your end-of-chapter quest XP and move on to chapter 5.

I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine that after completing Wyrm's Tooth, and making an errand run back to the Arboretum to deliver the Pure Water, you'll be close to getting your Thief abilities back.

Rei

I actually just dualled to mage at level 6. As soon as I got 100 in pick locks and find traps. I figured the extra four levels of thief wouldn't be worth the hassle of going without a thief for that long.

sarevok57

remember, there is always the knock spell, which works on any lock that a thief can pick, but then again there are some traps that aren't disarmed once tripped, so you will need a thief to get rid of those ones