Opinion Poll
FredN
Member Posts: 716
....I have done 3 run-throughs of SoA so far. Most competent in combat was my Half-Orc Berserker, who is now the current God of Murder. My berserker->thief is also pretty nasty, and is about to put an end to Bodhi in Chapter 6. And my Bardic Blade is about to help Dorn in his assault on Heave ... err, I mean Elysium.
.....Now, IMO, playing a pure thief variant from the start is one of the hardest things to do. So, I opted for the challenge. But what thief variant? I considered assassin, with the poison weapon ability, but also looked at swashbuckler. This variant is sort of a cheap fighter wanna-be, just a lot less competent with weapons. And you can't backstab. As it happens, I ended up taking this type.
.....So, my question is, how much is the loss of backstab ability going to handicap me? My reasoning was
that backstabs are hard to set up in any event, so losing that wouldn't be that big a deal. On the other hand, when you do pull one off, you can inflict a world of hurt. I could change my mind and restart as an assassin; I'm just finishing up Chapter 1, so not a big loss of time if I do so. Decisions, decisions ....
.....Now, IMO, playing a pure thief variant from the start is one of the hardest things to do. So, I opted for the challenge. But what thief variant? I considered assassin, with the poison weapon ability, but also looked at swashbuckler. This variant is sort of a cheap fighter wanna-be, just a lot less competent with weapons. And you can't backstab. As it happens, I ended up taking this type.
.....So, my question is, how much is the loss of backstab ability going to handicap me? My reasoning was
that backstabs are hard to set up in any event, so losing that wouldn't be that big a deal. On the other hand, when you do pull one off, you can inflict a world of hurt. I could change my mind and restart as an assassin; I'm just finishing up Chapter 1, so not a big loss of time if I do so. Decisions, decisions ....
0
Comments
The problem with backstab is that you have to sacrifice a lot of time, and time is turns in this system. So you are potentially lowering your attacks per round and your spellcast/potion slot per round as well. You're way better off chugging potions and whaling away with your weapon on a fighter/thief combo.
TBH, I think the tanky fighter/thief is a strong protagonist to build. There's generally no comparable companion NPC for this role in either of the three games. I've found halfling or dwarf fighter/thief to be strong. Can even work better as a human on a dual thief-fighter, where you focus thief points on just a few skills, and dual very early.
....Unfortunately, I wanted to try an elf, and only humans can dual professions. I could have gone for an elven Fighter-thief combination, but then I wouldn't be able to choose a thief sub-class, and I wanted to give swashbuckler a shot. And as you say, backstab is often hard to set up in any event; I won't miss too badly.
....As for your initial statement, I did something similar, but in reverse order. I rolled up a Berserker, and dualed over to thief. This guy is nasty. At this point (mid-chapter 6), I have Grand Mastery in both bastard swords (Foebane for the win!), and longswords, for the occasional backstab. Also for using Daystar vs Undead. Plus I have the usual thief skills involving traps, locks and detect illusion. Sweet!
P.S. Try backstabbing an Undead with Daystar. Also, it doesn't matter how perceptive they are; I have the Assassinate HLA for an automatic backstab equivalent.
It really isn't. A pure swashbuckler absolutely can't fill the standard fighter role of being a melee tank, at least before epic levels. And that makes the kit quite a bit harder to use properly than it looks like at first glance. A swashbuckler is still a thief, and they still have to use thief-like tactics. Sneak into combat, duck back out if you're taking heat ...
If you want to combine fighter and thief, just play a fighter/thief multiclass. That's strong, easy to use, and capable of filling a wide range of combat roles just by switching up equipment.
(I went for a halfling fighter/thief protagonist when I did my no-spellcasting run)
....I didn't say it was a real substitute, I said it was a wanna-be, a cheap knock-off. Yes I am fighting more as a thief than anything else. I especially do well laying traps around a corner, and then baiting the enemy into following me into them. I have a shortbow and some magic arrows for helping out the rest of the crew when a fight occurs. Right now we have Jaheira and Minsc as the front line tanks. But, once the enemy has been weakened, I can pop a DUHM and join in to help finish them off. Or, as a special coup-de-grace, hit them with a Vampiric touch. Horror and Larloch's Drain are the other tactics I can employ, although in general less useful.
.....Also note that the initial Bhaalspawn abilities vary slightly depending on race and profession. My Half-Orc berserker got not one but 2 DUHMs, and also a slow poison and a cure light wounds, but did not get Vampiric Touch. I guess the developers figured a berserker had enough ways to deal damage. Or maybe it's random; I haven't created enough characters to get a reliable statistical sampling.
Lawful good characters get all the good abilities, and chaotic evil characters get all the evil abilities. NG are 90% likely to get each good ability, and CG 80%. NE are 90% likely to get each evil ability, and LE 80%. Neutral morality characters are 50% on everything. (Roll independently for each of the six ability slots)