Single, multi or dual

Syndaree

Being a very strict class purist I was curious to see what you guys prefer when it comes to multi/dual/singleclassing. If you could pick a 4 man party for the whole saga from all the NPC's available, would you opt for single, dual or multi-classed team as your personal preference? NPC's are just suggestions, each of them representing an idea. Mind you, charname's class doesn't have to be thief, I just set it to that so that there's always a numeric class balance. Also ignore the alignments.

Singles:

Charname Thief
Edwin Mage
Viconia Cleric
Korgan Fighter

Multis:

Charname Fighter/thief
Aerie Cleric/mage
Jan Thief/mage
Jaheira Fighter/druid

Duals:

Charname Fighter-thief
Imoen Thief-mage
Anomen Fighter-cleric
Xzar Mage-cleric

Syndaree

While I do like the concept of both duals and multis, I am firmly a single class kind of guy. Even when I roleplay I find it hard to keep certain characters in my party due to them not being single classed.

ThacoBell

I multi unless I want my charname to be a Bard. But lets be honest, Bards are basically super fast levelling multis anyway

lroumen

I don't know how to describe dual class but it would not be flexibility .

ThacoBell

lroumen said:

I don't know how to describe dual class but it would not be flexibility .

Cheese?

JumboWheat01

I am an incredible class purist. Heck, I've designed and played pure Fighters in the NWN games, and even planned one for DDO. FIGHTERS. In 3.X rules! It's been that way with me for the longest time, mostly because of all the guides I read that say "multiclass here, and with that," all the bloody time. Annoyed me enough to make me swing the other way.

The only real exception seems to be in the 2e IE games, and that would be the Cleric/Thief. I love it, it gives me Trickery domain vibes, and for some reason, I love the Trickery domain. But then again, multiclassing here means leveling up as two classes at the same time, rather than one at a time, or dropping one all together for an entirely different path, so maybe that's why the Cleric/Thief doesn't bother me at all.

Kamigoroshi

ThacoBell said:

lroumen said:

I don't know how to describe dual class but it would not be flexibility .

Cheese?

My money is on retraining. Similarly, I have for the longest time called multi-classing as multiple employment. And as for being single classed, well... having a single job only brings you so far in the 21th century. Possessing more qualifications in your résumé is always a good idea.

That being said:

Cleric/Thief multiclass FTW!

kanisatha

The fighter-thief multi with an added prestige class is my all-time favorite D&D character package. Conversely, I hate the dual-class concept.

lroumen

Retraining? What about "abandon ship!"?

Kamigoroshi

lroumen said:

Retraining? What about "abandon ship!"?

I'm afraid that line is already patented, reserved and copyrighted by captain Saemon Havarian's crew. It's not easy being a law abiding pirate.

DreadKhan

ThacoBell said:

lroumen said:

I don't know how to describe dual class but it would not be flexibility .

Cheese?

Cheese can be very tasty.

deltago

Good question.

I like my Cleric/Mage is one of my favourite builds for its versatility, however I like my front line tanks "pure."

Mage/Thief or dual->thief are also beneficial more than a pure thief IMO to the point of I'd dual Yoshimo if I kept him for the entire sage. But pure mages can be more powerful in the later stages of the series.

But if we take into consideration NPCs that you can utilize, I would probably go Single with:

Charname (Cleric or Mage)
Yoshimo (Thief)
Haer (Bard)
Keldorn (Paladin)

Although, if I could pull if off, Dual:

Charname (Enchanter -> Cleric)
Valygar (Ranger->Cleric)
Nalia (Thief -> Mage)
Yoshimo (Thief -> Fighter)

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ThacoBell

DreadKhan said:

ThacoBell said:

lroumen said:

I don't know how to describe dual class but it would not be flexibility .

Cheese?

Cheese can be very tasty.

Indeed it can, but I'm afraid dual is the kind of cheese that doesn't agree with me.

Shikao

4 man party means more EXP per character, so multis will be perfect for that. Pack more classes in fewer people! =D

For 6 man, I would probably go with singles.

Aerakar

I play single class mainly and some multi-class characters, but I've always found single classed characters more immersive and therefore I tend to stick with them longer without rerolling.

Single class characters have clearer strengths/weaknesses and I like to play to the class strengths and their defined roles (except for when playing bards, but their role is jack of all trades so here we are again). Plus, I like the sugar rush from leveling up faster!

That being said, multi-class are quite fun to play, especially F/Ts, Cleric/Thieves and F/Ms. But I would probably just play a swashbuckler instead of a F/T or a blade instead of a F/M, even if lower on the power curve.

Cleric/thief though is a unique combo and so party composition friendly. I have a cleric/thief currently in the play queue. I will probably keeper/tweak him to a shield dwarf who worships Vergadain or a halfling worshiping Brandobaris or Dallah Thaun for something new, since gnomish cleric/thief is now ruled by Glint.

Lord_Tansheron

I used to be all about duals, but that was before LoB mode and, more importantly, the IR/SR mods. With that setup, I very much favor multiclass now - what single classes I run can't be duals or multis to begin with. Well Archer technically CAN, but not really.