This guy just blew my mind with regard to thief multiclasses

Chronicler

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/41344/compare-swashbuckler-fighter-thief-bounty-hunter-shadowdancer-assassin-cleric-thief-mage-thief

vladpen wrote: »

7 & 8. The Cleric/Thief and the Mage/Thief. These feel closer to being Cleric and Mage than Thief. What are some interesting synergies? Buffs that merely compensate for not being Fighter/Thief aren't interesting.

I read this and I thought "son of a gun, that is pretty much what I do with my caster thieves. I always make these mage/thieves fancying I'll be some master of the discrete and indirect and then I just load my spellbook up with buffs so I can backstab better and take an arrow without dying."

I think I'm gonna try playing my next mage/thief different to see how that works out.

Maurvir

I'm playing a C/T in my current BG1 run, and I have had her specialize in traps and hide in shadows. However, because she is a multi-class, she will eventually catch up on the other skills, like actually OPENING locks. For now, I have one of the other thieves (Aura) handle the opening bit.

Perhaps ironically, she rarely uses her divine magic for much more than healing. Instead, she is the front-runner taking out all the traps. I normally have Aura cast invisibility on her, which is more reliable than hide in shadows, then have her run the area for traps. Because of the armor penalty, she normally does it without armor on.

In battle, she's much better as an archer, though she can tolerate being on the front line for brief periods. The exception is fights against skeleton warriors and undead - as a level 8 Priest of Lathander, she is already at the point where she can make lower level undead explode. Also, she can reliably set two traps (with a trap skill of 105), for battles where the party picks the time and place.

I've found playing a C/T to be a refreshing change over my usual M or M/T PCs. While a C/T really isn't as synergistic as a M/T, she brings a lot to the party - even if her kill ratio is pretty bad. For people who need their PC to be "the stereotypical hero", a C/T is a poor choice, but if you really prefer the team approach, they are incredibly versatile.

Amusingly, for a while she had as her "most powerful killed" Fear - the warder in Durlag's Tower. I thought that was pretty amusing.

WarChiefZeke

When I'm a caster thief I always stock up on invisibilities or sanctuaries so I can get in multiple backstabs, and Web, Hold Person, or any other way I can disable someone for the easy backstab.

Or go polymorph self and make use of the spider. I forget if they can backstab, almost certain they can, and it's just fun to do for a change of pace.

There's also a Druid spell that lets you see parts of the map from far away. Can plan for encounters without ever having to approach an enemy.

Just a few ideas.

jmerry

Spider form can backstab, but the base damage is low enough (1d4+1) that there's really not much point. Ogre form is best for the really big numbers (4d6+1 base damage), and flind form is the balanced option with a decent first hit (1d10+1 base damage) and multiple attacks if you stick in there. An appropriate weapon style (single-weapon for spider or ogre, two-handed for flind) also helps.
What's spider form good for? Fighting in webs, and applying poison to casters. Neither of those is particularly enhanced by also being a thief.

Note also that there's something of a bug (as of version 2.5) - ogre form's weapon is flagged as magical in BGEE, but not BG2EE. That, and shapeshifting in general is far too crash-prone to lean on. It's the only thing I've ever found that generates saves which consistently freeze the game if you try to load them.

Yamcha

I once had a mod that made Viconia a thief/cleric which was the so fun to play. The stealth attack bonus made the cleric harm spells so much more powerful and it fit her personality perfectly.
By far my fav thief multiclass!