Dual at 7 or at 9?

Klorox

I'm looking at trying to play a berserker>mage through the whole series, no reloads.

I find BG1 to be a little bit easier. I know a lot more tricks and I know where not to go.

If I dual in BG1, I'll finish the game berserker 7/mage 8.

If I dual in BG2, I can do berserker 9, which means a little more THAC0 and an extra proficiency point.

Which is a better option?

JumboWheat01

Dueling at 9 not only improves your THAC0 and gives you grandmastery, it also maximizes your Fighter-based HP gains, making you a lot less squishy from the get-go as a mage. Plus scrolls give a metric crap-ton of EXP in BG2, so the extra experience needed to regain your fighter goodies won't be that noticeable.

Klorox

JumboWheat01 said:

Dueling at 9 not only improves your THAC0 and gives you grandmastery, it also maximizes your Fighter-based HP gains, making you a lot less squishy from the get-go as a mage. Plus scrolls give a metric crap-ton of EXP in BG2, so the extra experience needed to regain your fighter goodies won't be that noticeable.

After realizing I'll also get an extra rage, it's a no brainer.