What's your favorite/most interesting class to play?
Bertle
Member Posts: 49
Hey all! I'm trying to shake up my playthroughs with new classes I haven't used before (or haven't used effectively before -*cough thief cough*). I've been browsing through guides for ideas, but it got me curious- what's everyone's favorite class to play? Did any class really surprise you with how good/fun it was?
I'm a pretty experienced player, so tricky-to-do-well ideas are also welcome!
I'm a pretty experienced player, so tricky-to-do-well ideas are also welcome!
1
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I don't have a favorite class though. I made a Dual-Class Thief -> Wizard Slayer once that was a beast. A walking death sentence for pretty much every arcane spellcaster in the game. Probably my favorite character so far.
My easiest run was with a Half-Orc Assassin, undoubtedly. Hording items that grant invisibility and potions that did the same made the game absolutely trivial. Sarevok was killed basically with Potions of Invisibility and the Staff of Striking.
On my first ever playthrough of BG I beat Sarevok by having Imoen stand to the side and shoot him with arrows while Gorion's ward ran in circles. Not the most graceful method, but my 11 year old self was super proud.
Thanks for the ideas - I've never played a wizard slayer before because everything I've heard about them has been super negative, and I thought not using magic items would make the game frustrating. Maybe I'll give it a try though- could be a good challenge!
You may want to check those if you want to play a Wizard Slayer:
Wizard Slayer Rebalancing Mod
Relieve Wizard Slayer
Those can be used together if you want to.
half-orc fighter/thief
going full melee as if he wasn't a thief, basically the only reason for doing this is so when he hits that sexy 3 million XP mark is so he can start wielding the holy avenger like a BAWSS, while getting amazing AC in the process ( thanks to UAI and he can choose better hell trial results as apposed to a paladin ) works even better with a dwarf thanks to those sexy saving throw bonuses, but i like the half-orc because he hits a little harder and he is "gimped" right in the right way ( aka; saves not as good as a dwarf, doesnt have as many HP as a full fighter/barbarian and so forth )
half-elf cleric/mage
just one of my favourite class options, SO many spells at your disposal, especially if you start with 18s in INT/WIS and crank those up with tomes, just a spell casting harrier, although in theory aerie could be as well, but with her lame-o WIS and INT scores your main holmes can bring her to school when it comes to multi-class spell casting, hell just for spite, be a cleric mage and have aerie in your team anyway to really have an obtuse spell arsenal
half-orc swashbuckler
i remember i had a play through where i started fresh in ToB with a half-orc swashbuckler and it went pretty well, especially when i finally got a hold of UAI, i believe i had jan or imoen in my team, so i treated my swashie like a fighter ( giving him full plate ) and his AC was insane, and his to hit and to damage were pretty damn good, thanks to starting out with that 19 STR, and even with yamanto and belm +2, i was tearing it up pretty good, those scrolls of tenser's transformation with a swashbuckler are just simply priceless when you have UAI, and then also waiting until you hit ToB to cast find familiar to get a bonus 24 HP instead of 12 if you cast it in SoA
half-elf fighter/druid
this is a fun class to play because its not OP or anything special, but its very unique and sub par which to me makes it fun, plus especially if jaheira isnt going to be joining my adventures i can become a "better version" of jaheira per se, plus mix in with some sexy hell trial bonuses with absolutely no consequence and life is good, pumping out that 22 STR with no items boosting it up
half-orc barbarian
sounds cliché? well it is, but two interesting play throughs i had with this combo were; two handed weapon style with spear, and two weapon style with flails,
the first being the spear one, i remember i had a play through were i was running to spell hold right away to get imoen so i thought i would do spear for the lerz, and plus i knew there was some good ones coming up, and as soon as i got impaler i was not disappointed, especially when it helped me to determine how much damage resistance a baddie had depending on how much the extra damage did, solid
then the flail wielder, ah good times, throw defender in the offhand, throw the ages in the main hand, and let that barbarian loose, with some nice damage resistance ( especially with the belt of interior barrier equipped ) and lots of HP, you will be gobbling up the brunt of attack while you dish out some serious pain, especially with all that slowness you are going to be inflicting on your baddie chaps, slow is a devastating effect a baddie can have especially when there is a dual wielding half-orc flailing ( lol ) freakazoid running about
half-elf fighter/mage/thief
although while excellent in bg1, not so much in bg2, but the thing i love about this class, its basically a thief with tons of great benefits, in all honesty, when a thief hits level 10, they for the most part dont get any better ( okay maybe 11 for traps ) but i think you know what i mean, plus since we have played the game so many times as imoen as our "thief" in SoA, a triple class is just icing on the cake, here we have a thief that can have some nice attacks per round, actually deal some damage with a weapon, can actually hit, and to top it all off, throw a spell or two, and then mix that in with UAI for extra icing and you have one hell of a rounded of character, perhaps not a total power house in any one way, but definitely a very useful thief for sure
Probably my favorite class is the thief, unkitted or with a kit that can backstab.
My thief charnames clear whole dungeons spotting not spotted, setting traps and luring the enemies into them, or luring them one by one and using corners or whatever let them run outside the view sight of the enemy a split second, just enough to hide again, for multiple backstabs.
one of the favorite tricks of my thieves is appear at the border of the view area of a mage and as he begins to cast a quick step back, hide in shadows, and the spell is lost.
I try to get celestial fury as soon as i can and only late game or in some situations i switch to weapon of higher enchantment.
An other build that i like very much is the FMT, can do almost everything that a thief can do, but with better thac0 and arcane protections, and can also be a fantastic tank, with spell protection or with armor and a stoneskin while he uses wands to cast. He is also a decent flank attacker and secondary mage. Sometimes he and his simulacrum clone, that can freely use all the potions of invisibility i have or other powerful ones without expending them, work in tandem for carpets of traps and multiple backstabs.
Usually my FMT uses the 2Hweapon style, staff (ryn, striking and then ram) for backstabbing, and 2Hsword (the talking one at the beginning, nice immunity and then the pally one to get MR and dispel on hit.
One class that i find really interesting is the CM, actually i play Aerie for it, but if in some battles i use the CM as a caster in many other situations i use the clerical spells to buff for the combat, even if the apr never exceeds 4 are attacks that hurt. At high levels the mlee power of a CM can become crazy, in some battles i have Aerie's PI buffed and shapeshifted in golem, Righteous Magic grants a 40 damage roll every time on top of the 14 for the 25 str. As the PI is placed in a spot where she draw on her and her golem MR the spells of the enemy mages the simulacrum kicks in, also buffed and with a shiny BBOD from a scroll in the quick slot to flank and do even more damage. There is no Korgan that can match the havoc that 2 clones of a high level CM can cause...
I always DW with the CM as soon as he/she get enough levels to do it effectively.
An other of my favorites is the kensage9, (returning) daggers and a speed weapon in OH for +2 apr mlee and good ranged damage. It works for almost all the battles until the point where his thac0 begins to be sub optimal. Most of the SoA and early ToB enemies that need more then +3 weapons have bad ac, so equipping a high enchantment weapon is not a problem.
In late ToB the kensage's role is mainly casting, and he is almost as good as a pure mage in that, often he do it using the PI, sometimes he uses a power infinite spells strategy casting a spell trap and then a CC with a PI and a simulacrum on enemy sighted, with RoV and AoP he can pull out the combo in 1/2 round.
The original recipe with 2 PI in the CC is not possible in EE, but with a couple of tricks more the EE version is just as effective.
Berseker->Mage and kensage13 are probably more effective, but i don't like long down times and i prefer the static bonuses of the kensai to the berseker's rage.
I have also a lot of fun playing the sorcerer and the wild mage.
The sorcerer in a party is really effective and in some battles i find better to let him handle the situation alone as he at high levels can win most of the battles way before the 2 rounds of an improved alacrity last.
When i play a sorcerer usually he solo part of the game, at least the soa starting dungeon (lot of fun with tactics mod as he lacks the power and equipment that make him so strong later) and i recruit the npcs only late, so usually my sorcerers cast lev 9 spells way before the end of soa.
The wild mage is tricky as even if i am not a non reloader i refuse to reload for bad wild surges. Imho to reload for a surge defeats the purpose to play a wild mage... In my experience as soon as the WM can cast lev 7 spells he can use quite often the dweomers, and i have an other mage to buff my party as a surge casting normally sometimes happens, not often, but as i don't reload in such situations is something i want to avoid.
One combo that i want to try, but until now i did not use, is cleric of Lathander11->mage.
2 boons/day for 6apr improved hasted, almost all the clerical spells that are really useful and a better arcane caster then the multi. I suspect that it needs different tactics then the multi, in early game probably is more strong mlee wise, while the power of the multi triumph at high levels (fighter's thac0 and better level depending buffs). Late game is probably a better caster, less overall spells, but more arcane ones and enough divine ones, his magic resistance spell is also more effective if used offensively as it sets the enemy MR at a lower value being level dependent.
Special mention to the Reaver kit, from a mod, but i am not sure that it is ported to EE, i used it in the original and i like it very much. It is the real jack of all the trades, and a very interesting concept.
http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=158&Itemid=110
Same, but we seem to have different tastes on alternatives. My next favorite playthroughs are a tie between a Totemic Druid and a Wild Mage.
I'm a sucker for summoning stuff and I love the whole save-or-die/tactics thing the druid has going. I fell in love with Wild Mage when I experienced just how wacky surges can be. I will forever remember the time I got a double surge that resulted my enemies being pelted by cows from the sky.
While I also like playing thief/x/- classes, I suppose I think the game gives me enough of those to keep me happy (Yoshi, Jan, Imoen, Nalia, Hexxat and Mr. ToB - F/T on that last one is particularly fun because you get his fighter abilities back very quickly).
My first character ever was a f/m/'t back when bg1 first came out. I didn't really know how to play it and I finished the game with a really strong party but an incredibly weak charname. I never went back. So how does one play fmt?
Swashbuckler halforc
Dwarven defender tied for my favorite along with barbarian halforc or dwarf depending on alignment.
I tried paladin, ranger, cleric,druid, and mage builds but don't like them.
My alignment is usually cn or ne. I have played these games since they first came out. I probably have 10000 hours tied up in them
As thief he performs the basic utilities for the party, find and remove traps and open locks. But he is also the spotter, i try to never use my player's knowledge, only the one the party is supposed to have, so i don't pre buff if i have not spotted the enemy before, and he backstabs a lot, mainly in the soa part of the game. Also traps can be really strong as long as are used spotting, setting them and then luring the enemies into them, but i push hiding in shadows before traps setting as he gets thieving skills slower then a pure thief.
As fighter he has less hp and a slightly worst thac0 compared with a pure fighter and never gets more then 2 pips in a weapon style, but he can use his own spells to protect himself, spells that lower the ac like blur, and stacking them then equipping an armor he can get an outrageous low ac and/or spells like stoneskin, mirror images and pfmw. spell immunity, the globes and other spells make him immune to magic. He can be the better tank of the party while dealing a pretty good and reliable damage.
I usually go for staves and 2H swords, with pips in 2Hweapon style. The staves (ryn, striking and ram) are the best weapons for a backstabber, long reach and good damage, he can also use the staff of the magi way before he gets the UAI hla to dispel on hit and as an help for his spotting and backstabbing tasks, he can not stab with it but he can use it to hide after a stab to run away without the enemies following him and hide again to repeat (equip the stabbing weapon before trying to hide).
The 2H sword is for the talking one, nice immunity against some spells, but mainly to use carsomyr as he gets UAI.
Pips in 2Hweapon give criticals also on a roll of 19, very useful for stabbing and useful in regular battle.
Also to have him DW is very effective, even if is not my choice, stabs with the celestial fury can take away even a strong fighter with a lot of hp if he fails the save and get stunned.
As mage most of his spells are used to protect him as fighter and to boost his thieving skills, ie the cheap one that gives for a long time 18.50 str is really useful until you have enough str enhancers for all the fighters. He also uses contingency and sequencers/trigger to cast fast in the battle without stealing the time to his weapon, a sequencer can be set to breach, to protect himself or to damage the enemy. He still has place for other spells and is a decent secondary mage.
As he becomes able to cast lev 8 spells he can use the simulacrum, 2 thieves backstabing are better then 1, or the clone can dispel the protections with SoTM or carsomir while the original stabb a split second after, before even a contingency or a script can trigger and protect again the enemy.
The simulacrum mean also double number of traps, with a proper strategy the cap number of traps in an area is not a problem as you lure the enemy into the traps, disappear and then set new ones in an other place to repeat.
And 2 tanks/fighters protected with arcane spells double the damage output and the time they can tank before the spells are depleted. Often, as i have him with a long reach weapon, the clone use his spells to tank, no reason to spare them as are lost as the clone expires, and the original fight from behind the clone with only a stoneskin that if i am lucky is only partially consumed after the battle (aka able to position them properly and to retreat for a very short time if the enemy focus on the original).
About hla uai is the first choice i make, then a mix of rogue and fighter ones. Some spike traps, probably at least 1 time trap, CS to be sure that the stab works and on not protected foe do double damage, gww to have a turbo effect always ready and some other useful ones. To have 3 hla pools is really strong, but as the number of them is limited the choice must be wise, only the best ones for your style and only the number that you really need.
Regular traps can ber used together with the spke ones and improved haste give longer duration then the only round a gww lasts, gww is for the final assault when the enemy is breached, damaged and has to die fast...
The fmt is a lot of utility for the party, can deal a lot of damage using his thief part or take away from the battle the most problematic enemy, usually a mage, and can be really strong when used as tank/fighter.
As long as you don't try to use him as the main mage, he can not do it well and can do it only at the cost of don't have the spells to perform his real duties, he is one of the most fun and powerful multi to use.
I'm a big fan of Druids too, but their spell list (especially early on) suffer in BG. IWD2 did Druids right.
A lot of people think of FMTs as being weak because they can't wear heavy armor and will never receive 9th level mage spells. And both of those things are true; if your top priority is to cast time stop or wear any armor in the game, then you're going to be disappointed trying to use a FMT in those roles. But if you properly take advantage of the synergies, they're very useful party members.
This is exactly what I'm looking for
This thread has been awesome so far! Thanks for all the great ideas - I've made a list of new ones from here to try. If you have anymore ideas, keep 'em coming!
Fighter like thac0, 25 str without items and a long lasting kai for automatic maxed dmg roll let him DW effectively and even if he never goes above 4 dpr the 14 dmg from strength and the maxed roll make each attack count.
The C/M at high level can also shapeshift into golem to get a 4d10 roll maxed all the times, so little less then 60dmg/hit depending on equipment (also his PI can) or use the BBoD for a 24 automatic damage roll (perfect for the simulacrum clone).
The F/M deals more damage as has better apr and does not need to buff offensively, only to use the spells in a defensive way, the C/M is a better caster as can use both magics, but buffed his sustained dmg output is really good and for minor battles he does not need the whole buffing process, his cleric thac0 is a good starting point and he has plenty of cleric slots to partially buff in those situations and fully buff for the boss battles.
I agree that the other possible combos having mage and not having fighter lack of sustained mlee damage.
When I discovered I could use a necklace of missiles, then fade into the shadows before any reprisal, I had a great deal of fun. I couldn't handle every situation with it, but if I didn't feel like inching through an area, I could leave my party at the entrance (or in town), stealth through the dungeon, then back stab the boss to death, and no other enemies were the wiser. I set the AI to automatically HiPS, and felt like my character was made of shadow stuff, like a wraith.
I was pretty surprised. I had abandoned several shadow dancer characters in the past, but when I kept one long enough to hide reliably, I "fell in love", so to speak.
But the flavor!
A neat build to try is a Swashbuckler 25/ Cleric... yeah, it's slow, but you can get 2 HLAs as a thief, giving you UAI, meaning you can have a speed weapon off hand during your Cleric levels, and use any mage scroll/item, including the Robe of Vecna for fast casting, if you don't want to be in melee. It's a crazy build, and feels neat, because you dual out of thief (in my playthrough anyways) after you develop your new Bhaal powers, and have access to enough trickery to make the cleric levels more interesting than a level 2 cleric sounds in SoA. Iirc, I took whirlwind attack and UAI for my HLAs, and found them to be pretty useful together. I could buff up and charge a tough boss armed with Carsomyr, which I'm not even proficient with, and WW in the bosses face with one of the most damaging weapons in the game to a boss relying on magical protections. The rest of the part followed up. A nice perk for when you get your cleric levels back, you get to keep those thief proficiencies, so you're specialized in speed weapons! Which you can use!!! With Cleric Buffs!!!!! And you've got a mess of Swashbuckler bonuses! Yes, it's a fun build, and feels like cheesey somehow than a sorcerer.
My most recent game was an archer! I thought it would just be painful in BG2 when melee weapons start to really outstrip ranged weapons, but I was pleasantly surprised by how useful it was. My archer took out Firkraag herself with only her mage debuffing him, while all of the other melee tanks couldn't get a hit in with his wing buffs (we took him on a little early).
A surprisingly fun playthrough!
i am quite surprised.
about the dual at 25 to complete it 3.3M xp is needed as rogue and then 4.05 as cleric, so is possible but so close to the cap that probably a player can use charname at his full potential only in the very last battles.
it is surely not for me, that find even a dual at 13 way too long, but i see how some players can like it.
i assume that the ac and damage bonus are inactive during the down time, so at least until lev 20 cleric he is only a down leveled cleric with uai as fighting power, when he reaches lev 20 he has capped his clerical buffing potential and thac0, and he is at 3.3M + 2.7M so 7M total xp, but he has to gain 1.3M xp more to get back the ac, damage and thac0 boost.