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Solo (or not) trilogy run F/M or Sorcerer?

So I am trying to pick between sorcerer or f/m,since I am very troubled that MMM does little damage to golems at Nalias keep,and most of my parties summons at ToB on another playthrough is bad(need tanky ones.),should f/m be more fun?I can also have a duo with Jaheira or trio with Vic and Korgan if sorcerer.I have already a blade ready to be exported at bg2,it is very similar to fm right?I'm well aware that sorcerer is either a damage dealer or a breach(for both) and supporter(if not solo,obviously)

Im still new at forums(translation:I suck at talking.) do you guys suggest making polls more general and relatable?
  1. Solo (or not) trilogy run F/M or Sorcerer?10 votes
    1. Continue Sorcerer Solo
      20.00%
    2. Get Jaheira as a tank and romance at Sorc
        0.00%
    3. Start a evil character as a supporter sorcerer
        0.00%
    4. Use a f/m (I've decided to use a blade.)for solo
      20.00%
    5. Scrap everything and restart as an elven F/M
      60.00%

Comments

  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    Fighter/mages are in my view the strongest characters in the game while fighter/mage/thieves are the most versatile. You won't go wrong with either of them, for sure.
    BLANKY
  • SimulacreSimulacre Member Posts: 102
    edited October 2018
    Greetings !

    I'm also new here, but I'll try to help.

    I'm unsure of your experience with the game so I'll start off with some pretty basic advice before getting into details.

    If you intend to play the game with a restricted group of two or three companions or even going solo, then you ought to understand how classes work the best.

    A fighter/mage is very different from a sorcerer or even a mage. The fighter part implies that you'll engage in close-range combat - although you could wastefully decide to only use bows or crossbows - while a single-class mage is supposed to remain in the back cranking out spells, that is especially true if you're nowhere near the end of BG2 when arcane casters can shred almost anything and show off.

    Because of that, spells from the fighter/mage will often serve as a buff or a short preemptive strike before using melee weapons. Since you won't cast easily in the middle of the battlefield, instantaneous spells - like stoneskin - are preferable and give you protection. Magic missiles are also a nice way to deal some damage and interrupt before reaching the opponent and swing his head off. Now there are ways to get round what I just said - some of them being very tedious - but that's how things normally go : you won't use your magic the same way if you're a sorcerer or a fighter/mage.... or even a blade.

    Speaking of which, yes, it could be said that the blade is very much like the fighter/mage. Some will claim that the blade is just a weaker version of the fighter/mage because of lower attacks per round, worse Thaco and interesting high-level abilities going down the drain but I find it to be more complicated than that.

    In my opinion, while the Fighter/Mage clearly has more raw power, the advantage of the blade is that he's more versatile and eventually more fun to play.

    Use Any Item will allow to wield weapons a fighter/mage will never wield while other HLA will allow the blade to set powerful traps, make potions, scrolls, not to mention the bard song which is great especially if you manage to sing it while moving and fighting. Defensive spins - among other things - also allows the Blade to tank very well, if not better than fighter/mages.

    As you can see, there are tons of possibilities with blades since they fall into the jack-of-all-trades category. I ended up liking blades much more than its fighter/mage counterpart after hearing - all the time - how they sucked. True story. They're clearly underestimated.

    Also, against common belief, it's untrue that blades cannot cast spells above level 6. They can, or at least they kinda can. They simply have to use a scroll and those scrolls can be bought, created or duplicated. Blades also cast better than mages for those spells who scale with the level of the caster.

    To sum it up... both classes can pull out the fighter/mage tricks, blades are just less efficient at it. But the Blade can pull out tricks the fighter/mage can't. Decide what's best based on what role you prefer, straight damage-dealer or gimmicky-warrior, both classes are VERY viable.

    What's fun is in fact entirely up to you, some like to place Charmane at the center of the action while others don't. If you want to swing swords and crush skulls then don't be a sorcerer and let Edwin or Nalia do the damage from afar.. if you want to let your partners take the heat while you fire from aback, be a sorcerer and let Jaheira do the tanking/buffing, or use Viconia and Korgan if playing evil. If you decide to go along with Jaheira, I suggest you take another party member to help out like Haer'Dalis who is a great support. Don't forget to get a thief as well if you don't have one. ;)

    I you really, really want to go solo then I'd suggest you consider the swashbuckler. They're thieves so you don't need to get one or to lamely cross traps hoping they don't get you. They're also decent fighters AND they can cast through scrolls with Use Any Item so they can be compared with blades and fighter/mages somehow. Soloing the Blade won't disarm traps although being true neutral might. I don't remember if the Rabbit (the familiar given if you're true neutral) can detect AND disarm tramps. Hopefully someone will confirm.

    In the end, all choices are viable because BG2 is not that hard of a game when you learn how to play and all choices can be fun depending on your taste. Heck, some people even like to play the cleric/rogue !

    That being said, I find the versatile profile of the blade much more enjoyable than the fighter/mage or any single-class warrior, mage or sorcerer. If you're interested in roleplaying, bards are also one of the best if not the best class to incarnate in my humble opinion. Yes, those books from Candlekeep should take a toll on you !

    Anything else ?
    Post edited by Simulacre on
    BLANKYGusindadunbar
  • NoloirNoloir Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 380
    edited October 2018
    Solo Sorceror has access to some of the best spells early. It's effectiveness is dependant on the spells you give it. The best are the spells that increase in strength as the character increases in level.

    For instance Magic Missle only discharges as a single missle at level 1 but by level 10 it discharges 5 at the same time! Spells like this are the bread and butter of sorc. In Nalia's keep as another example your sorc would've been better of with Melf's Acid arrow instead of MMM as Acid arrow stays around longer and does more damage over time the higher your sorc level is.

    You should chose to continue your playthrough depending on how well or poorly your sorc is developed along these lines. The more spells a sorc has that increases with it's level the more viable the sorceror becomes in the long run.

    I'll put out this tip for you to this about. Chromatic orb is a "poor wizard's" ace in the triology.
    Gusinda
  • BLANKYBLANKY Member Posts: 14
    Noloir said:

    Solo Sorceror has access to some of the best spells early. It's effectiveness is dependant on the spells you give it. The best are the spells that increase in strength as the character increases in level.

    For instance Magic Missle only discharges as a single missle at level 1 but by level 10 it discharges 5 at the same time! Spells like this are the bread and butter of sorc. In Nalia's keep as another example your sorc would've been better of with Melf's Acid arrow instead of MMM as Acid arrow stays around longer and does more damage over time the higher your sorc level is.

    You should chose to continue your playthrough depending on how well or poorly your sorc is developed along these lines. The more spells a sorc has that increases with it's level the more viable the sorceror becomes in the long run.

    I'll put out this tip for you to this about. Chromatic orb is a "poor wizard's" ace in the triology.

    Well, sort of use both,but in my very 1st playthrough,at the last chapter,a +3FoA barely did damage to an adamanite(sp?)golem, and my Sorcerer,barely did damage to an iron golem...and the purple golem at Nalias keep,I simply just grabbed its attention and use 3 MMM and rest MMM rest,so yeah.....Its is kinda messed up,how dp you kill Golems with a sorcerer?
  • BLANKYBLANKY Member Posts: 14
    Simulacre said:

    Greetings !

    I'm also new here, but I'll try to help.

    I'm unsure of your experience with the game so I'll start off with some pretty basic advice before getting into details.

    If you intend to play the game with a restricted group of two or three companions or even going solo, then you ought to understand how classes work the best.

    A fighter/mage is very different from a sorcerer or even a mage. The fighter part implies that you'll engage in close-range combat - although you could wastefully decide to only use bows or crossbows - while a single-class mage is supposed to remain in the back cranking out spells, that is especially true if you're nowhere near the end of BG2 when arcane casters can shred almost anything and show off.

    Because of that, spells from the fighter/mage will often serve as a buff or a short preemptive strike before using melee weapons. Since you won't cast easily in the middle of the battlefield, instantaneous spells - like stoneskin - are preferable and give you protection. Magic missiles are also a nice way to deal some damage and interrupt before reaching the opponent and swing his head off. Now there are ways to get round what I just said - some of them being very tedious - but that's how things normally go : you won't use your magic the same way if you're a sorcerer or a fighter/mage.... or even a blade.

    Speaking of which, yes, it could be said that the blade is very much like the fighter/mage. Some will claim that the blade is just a weaker version of the fighter/mage because of lower attacks per round, worse Thaco and interesting high-level abilities going down the drain but I find it to be more complicated than that.

    In my opinion, while the Fighter/Mage clearly has more raw power, the advantage of the blade is that he's more versatile and eventually more fun to play.

    Use Any Item will allow to wield weapons a fighter/mage will never wield while other HLA will allow the blade to set powerful traps, make potions, scrolls, not to mention the bard song which is great especially if you manage to sing it while moving and fighting. Defensive spins - among other things - also allows the Blade to tank very well, if not better than fighter/mages.

    As you can see, there are tons of possibilities with blades since they fall into the jack-of-all-trades category. I ended up liking blades much more than its fighter/mage counterpart after hearing - all the time - how they sucked. True story. They're clearly underestimated.

    Also, against common belief, it's untrue that blades cannot cast spells above level 6. They can, or at least they kinda can. They simply have to use a scroll and those scrolls can be bought, created or duplicated. Blades also cast better than mages for those spells who scale with the level of the caster.

    To sum it up... both classes can pull out the fighter/mage tricks, blades are just less efficient at it. But the Blade can pull out tricks the fighter/mage can't. Decide what's best based on what role you prefer, straight damage-dealer or gimmicky-warrior, both classes are VERY viable.

    What's fun is in fact entirely up to you, some like to place Charmane at the center of the action while others don't. If you want to swing swords and crush skulls then don't be a sorcerer and let Edwin or Nalia do the damage from afar.. if you want to let your partners take the heat while you fire from aback, be a sorcerer and let Jaheira do the tanking/buffing, or use Viconia and Korgan if playing evil. If you decide to go along with Jaheira, I suggest you take another party member to help out like Haer'Dalis who is a great support. Don't forget to get a thief as well if you don't have one. ;)

    I you really, really want to go solo then I'd suggest you consider the swashbuckler. They're thieves so you don't need to get one or to lamely cross traps hoping they don't get you. They're also decent fighters AND they can cast through scrolls with Use Any Item so they can be compared with blades and fighter/mages somehow. Soloing the Blade won't disarm traps although being true neutral might. I don't remember if the Rabbit (the familiar given if you're true neutral) can detect AND disarm tramps. Hopefully someone will confirm.

    In the end, all choices are viable because BG2 is not that hard of a game when you learn how to play and all choices can be fun depending on your taste. Heck, some people even like to play the cleric/rogue !

    That being said, I find the versatile profile of the blade much more enjoyable than the fighter/mage or any single-class warrior, mage or sorcerer. If you're interested in roleplaying, bards are also one of the best if not the best class to incarnate in my humble opinion. Yes, those books from Candlekeep should take a toll on you !

    Anything else ?

    Well,as a evil Blade,should I get a full party?Or a tank and cleric?
  • SimulacreSimulacre Member Posts: 102
    edited October 2018
    You can have a full party, but that's not mandatory. A full party will take longer to level up, on the other hand the blade levels up really fast so it's not much of a hassle. I usually stick with two or three companions at the beginning of BG2 and recruit others later on.

    As en evil blade you should at least take along with you a thief and a priest.

    Jaheira is interesting because she's a good tank and can serve as a priest at the same time. If you really want to play a restricted group Jaheira and Jan are excellent choices, they're strong and a lot of fun. They're also neutral so they'll put up with your evilness unless you start whacking everybody.

    If you're keen on having companions of the same alignment, then take a warrior-type fella like Korgan plus Viconia. Among the new companions you'll also find an evil thief so you're all set.
    Post edited by Simulacre on
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • DordledumDordledum Member Posts: 243

    Where's the poll option for fighter/sorcerer?

    well, that'd be an illegal build
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    Blade will level faster but F/M will hit more and get more spells besides. Unless you like running away from gibberlings and wild dogs and whacking away at sleeping kobolds with a staff at 1 apr, I'd recommend against sorcerer in BGEE. They're a blast in BG2EE though (pun intended!).
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited October 2018
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
    StummvonBordwehr
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