Which PC for trilogy run? (A few BG2 spoilers in here)
masteraleph
Member Posts: 270
Starting a new trilogy run, for the first time as a trilogy and for the first time in a long while for BG1. I'm a big fan of PCs who are strong melee types, but I also can't get out of my head the time I did the Unseeing Eye quest quite late, and in the room with all the undead, accidentally clicked on Anomen's Turn Undead...and BOOM! went the room. I'd imagine that a similar thing could occur in places like the Umar Hills or Windspear Hills dungeons. I'm also trying to run a party without all of my regulars, which means I'd like to cut out one or more of Anomen, Nalia, and/or Imoen. I haven't actually played any of these combos except for Fighter/Thief, so if anyone has any comments, I'd appreciate it.
Ideas:
*Pure Cleric. Much weaker melee, but easily gets to the levels necessary to chunk even liches in SoA. Eventually starts to feel like it's totally wasting levels.
*Fighter 9->Cleric. Weaker than dualing at 13 for melee because he misses the 1/2 attack, but happens much, much earlier (could actually already be done in SoD). Relatively minimal XP spent on the Fighter side, plus the extra XP from SoD mean that he could hit chunking level at the same time as a pure Cleric would normally. Doesn't get very good HLAs like a multiclass F/C would. Maxes out, I think, at 4 APR with Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization.
*Fighter 13->Cleric. Problem here is that I'm pretty sure the jump in XP between Fighter 9 and Fighter 13 would prevent him from hitting chunking level in Cleric before the end of SoA (to get to Cleric 18, which I think is what you need to blow up a normal lich, he'd need about 3.5 million XP). Doesn't get very good HLAs like a multiclass F/C would. Maxes out at 4.5 APR, I think, with Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization.
*Fighter/Cleric multiclass, and either forget turning undead or bring Anomen along. Gets the good HLAs from the Fighter side. Very nice in BG1.
*Fighter/Thief multiclass, optionally use another mage instead of Nalia/Imoen, bring Anomen along. Great HLAs. Very nice in BG1.
*Fighter/Mage or Fighter/Illusionist multiclass. Self buff, get good HLAs.
Ideas:
*Pure Cleric. Much weaker melee, but easily gets to the levels necessary to chunk even liches in SoA. Eventually starts to feel like it's totally wasting levels.
*Fighter 9->Cleric. Weaker than dualing at 13 for melee because he misses the 1/2 attack, but happens much, much earlier (could actually already be done in SoD). Relatively minimal XP spent on the Fighter side, plus the extra XP from SoD mean that he could hit chunking level at the same time as a pure Cleric would normally. Doesn't get very good HLAs like a multiclass F/C would. Maxes out, I think, at 4 APR with Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization.
*Fighter 13->Cleric. Problem here is that I'm pretty sure the jump in XP between Fighter 9 and Fighter 13 would prevent him from hitting chunking level in Cleric before the end of SoA (to get to Cleric 18, which I think is what you need to blow up a normal lich, he'd need about 3.5 million XP). Doesn't get very good HLAs like a multiclass F/C would. Maxes out at 4.5 APR, I think, with Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization.
*Fighter/Cleric multiclass, and either forget turning undead or bring Anomen along. Gets the good HLAs from the Fighter side. Very nice in BG1.
*Fighter/Thief multiclass, optionally use another mage instead of Nalia/Imoen, bring Anomen along. Great HLAs. Very nice in BG1.
*Fighter/Mage or Fighter/Illusionist multiclass. Self buff, get good HLAs.
2
Comments
No downtime, always a strong fighter, always a good enough cleric. Gets full fighter APR. Command dominates early game, the cleric buffs are great always and in ToB you became a juggernaut of destruction that's super resilient (Faith armor, hardiness and great saving throws plus immunities via buffs). The downsides are no grandmastery, slightly fewer cleric spells and lesser turning.
And if you like dwarfs then even better.
So, dual from fighter to cleric and focus on spells rather than melee prowess. You'll get a very different experience and the cleric's HLA's aren't so bad as some think. The only major downside, which I think is unfair* to clerics, are their insanely long casting time compared to a mage. Use alot of summons and turn anything undead into pieces.
The option would be to use a thief -> cleric for ultimate utility. This means you have a very broad spectrum of choices in BG2 because you don't have bring one of the few thieves there. You won't kill anything by battle prowess though, which is off-putting to some people.
In BG1 you can stack up on good range characters like Kivan, Coran etc and not bother with Imoen (if you want to try something new, You said you normally use her)
(nothing is really unfair or unbalanced in a single player game, but if the clerics could get something to speed up casting a bit that would have been really cool)
However, as someone who likes to play fighter types I'm all too painfully aware that in ToB you won't get far without a strong mage, so I tend towards a fighter/mage (using the Machine of Lum the Mad if necessary to make up for any level deficit due to multiclassing). The fighter bit gets you nicely through BG and SoA until ToB, when the mage bit really kicks in and you spend all of the combat time spell casting. Much the same can be said of a dual class fighter>mage which, whilst not being so much of a tank, will allow you to reach the higher mage levels earlier. My personal favourite though is an assassin>mage - they're just great fun to play.
On the other hand, if like me you enjoy just throwing the kitchen sink at an opponent and watching the blood cover the walls, you can't go far wrong with a Blackguard (which would fit with you not wanting to use your regular party) or a Berserker.
Also having the undeads explode is nice, but you can live without it.
But playing a hight level cleric is really interesting, dualing at 7 (the cleric is almost the only class that has buffs to do it) or 9 is a good choice, 13 is too late, when you get to the point that the undead explode more than half of them is already dead and the rest quite easy given the level of the party...
If you don't have problems using EEkeeper I suggest F9 (or 7-8)->Priest of Lathander.
Illegal but not on the same level of power of the kensage, you will get that 1 more APR and some minor bonuses for 1-3 big battles/day.
Or Priest of Lathander11->Mage. this is 100% legit and don't make Vampires explode, but you will be the best mage in the game, somehow the best cleric as you will wear the robe so cast clerical spells fast (that sometimes is better then often) and for 2 battles you will have some really good mlee potential, on top of the more mlee oriented NPCs that a Charname who is a high level mage and decent cleric allows.
Berserker/Druid: What I'm playing right now. You're basically a Fighter+ for the entire first game, and a short while into SoA when your fighter abilities might start to lose relevance you gain amazing support spells to even the odds. Has a very poor selection of weapons to chose from, however.