Dual class Yoshimo (SPOILER!!!)

_Connacht_

I was thinking to start a new playthrough with the mod that

allows to plot-wise keep Yoshimo after Spellhold without doing the party reform trick

.
Thus saying, I thought to dual class him right when I find Imoen, so that she will be the main thief while he levels up as a fighter. The rest of the party as usual would stick around characters recurring from BG1 and those who give me strongholds.
My only question: is it worth the effort? I mean, for ToB would be better and more interesting a high level pure bounty hunter with limited katana proficiency or a master dual wielding katana fighter that can set some traps and backstab a little? I don't mind if there are better fighters, it's just for him on its own.

DJKajuru

Yoshi as a fighter works just like mazzy, that is, a warrior who can go insane with ranged weapons and if properly equiped can also be very deadly in melee. If you wait long enough he'll also make an incredible fighter/thief in ToB, but it may take more than one chapter.

So the real question is: do you need any more fighters in your party? If so ,dual him and enjoy him as such. If you've already have two or more fighters then it would be more interesting to not dual him and enjoy the benefits of high level trap setting.

_Connacht_

I usually like to concentrate on fighters to some extent (in fact Imoen for me is usual enough to cover both magic and thieving skills).
Especially if I can field as many as possible powerful weapons to their highest combat value. Yoshi would go for Celestial Fury and later Hindo's Doom.

DJKajuru

_Connacht_ said:

I usually like to concentrate on fighters to some extent (in fact Imoen for me is usual enough to cover both magic and thieving skills).
Especially if I can field as many as possible powerful weapons to their highest combat value. Yoshi would go for Celestial Fury and later Hindo's Doom.

I that case , be happy with you oriental Katana wielding fighter.

Personally, I would dual him earlier (level 10 ) and have him work as the party archer until he's reached an acceptable thac0 and profs to dual katanas and he would probably get his thief skills back before chapter 3 . I know it's not optimized enough , but still a very interesting character and you could have another thief in the party until you've gotten Imoen back.

_Connacht_

IIRC Yoshimo starts at level 10, which means right when he meets Charname in Chateau Irenicus.
Perhaps Nalia could be the party thief for the first quests (deArnise keep, slavers, her problems with the Roenalls + anything needed until Yoshimo gets back his skills), with some potions to use when there are hard locks.

SomeSort

_Connacht_ said:

I was thinking to start a new playthrough with the mod that

allows to plot-wise keep Yoshimo after Spellhold without doing the party reform trick

.
Thus saying, I thought to dual class him right when I find Imoen, so that she will be the main thief while he levels up as a fighter. The rest of the party as usual would stick around characters recurring from BG1 and those who give me strongholds.
My only question: is it worth the effort? I mean, for ToB would be better and more interesting a high level pure bounty hunter with limited katana proficiency or a master dual wielding katana fighter that can set some traps and backstab a little? I don't mind if there are better fighters, it's just for him on its own.

I love dual-classing Yoshimo, and I still hold a grudge because the first time I took him to Spellhold was a run where I'd dual-classed him and I never got to unlock the dual. Single-class bounty hunters are potentially game-breaking if you're willing to abuse traps, but if you're not (because it's too much work or because it eliminates any challenge), dualing to fighter makes for a much better character. All about 'dem APRs.

Best times to dual are either level 11 for the upgraded traps or whatever level you first get your thief points where you want them. His Find Traps is maxed from the get-go, and if you're bringing Imoen she can handle all the locks. (If you're not bringing Imoen, putting 5 points into Open Locks and bringing the Ring of Lockpicks will let you get Yoshi to 95, which lets him open anything in the saga if he's willing to try a couple times on the harder locks.)

You need 45 points in Set Traps to max that with the Mercykiller Ring. You need 100 in Detect Illusions if you want to max that, which I'd advise against because that's five level-ups for a Bounty Hunter, which makes the dual take forever to complete *and* puts you into the level 16 traps, which are lame.

A level 13 dual has a lot going for it. You get the x5 Backstab, can get your 5 in Open Locks and 45 in Set Traps with an extra 10 points to spare. Of course, a level 13 dual also means a long time without your thief levels. If you're willing to give him the Dex boost from Watcher's Keep, you can dual at level 12 and still max out Open Locks / Set Traps (with the relevant rings). You lose the x5 backstab multiplier, but the dual completes nearly a half-million XP sooner.

You're also not limited to Katanas unless you want to be. Yoshimo is potentially the only non-charname fighter you'll get where you can control his proficiencies from the beginning. Great target for weapons like Foebane or Ravager that don't have a natural NPC counterpart already.