Swashbuckler sounds like an improved fighter/thief at first glance because it lets you put two pips in a weapon while accumulating thief points at a faster pace than a fighter/thief would. However, you don't need the extra thief points since you can't backstab and the two pips actually aren't all that helpful either since you don't get the APR bonus two pips normally grant.
Swashbucklers are overrated. They are forever stuck with 1APR, have no backstab and don't get the dual wielding style for free, which means it will take you twelve levels to start actually hitting things sometimes(assuming you start with two pips in Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninja-to which you absolutely should)
Oddly enough, they make decent ranged characters because their bonuses apply to ranged weapon as well - give them either a Boomerang Dagger or Tuigan's.
I prefer Fighter/Thief because they can have more than 1 base APR, backstab, and most importantly, two sets of HLAs. Also, they don't have the item restrictions of a thief even before they get UAI, which is for a considerable part of the game.
I always found multiclasses to be incredibly fun to play (all the extra level ups are pretty great too). Swashbuckler is one of my favorite single classes though. Its a tough call.
Swashbuckler using darts or shortbows are nasty, very pleasant solo of BG1. Trying to be a straight up dual wielder is probably a bad idea in BG1, though well into BG2 it becomes very viable.
A swashbuckler can be extremely versatile with thieving abilities in BG1 already, though stealth probably shouldn't be your priority.
Dualing from a lvl 10 swashy to fighter sounds as an interesting alternative as well.
just wondering, haven't got a dualed character into SOA and TOB lately. Are they the same as multiclass characters for HLAs and stronghold access, etc?
Unfortunately no, you can't access HLAs from the first class. That's one reason why, for example, Anomen is so much worse than a multiclass fighter/cleric at high levels.
Unfortunately no, you can't access HLAs from the first class. That's one reason why, for example, Anomen is so much worse than a multiclass fighter/cleric at high levels.
that's a pity, I do like playing humans and planning duals with kits.
I'll probably stick with my plan on going Swashy 10 and dual to Fighter, I'm not a fan of backstabbing and like to go for grand mastery,
I love fighter/thief characters, and game loves them back. In SoD and SoA they get very powerful armors and BG (entirely), differently than Icewind Dale, rewards backstabbing a lot. Many difficult battles can be ended easily with a backstab.
What is everyone's favorite F/T race these days? Elf, halfling, dwarf, 1/2 orc?
I am partial to dwarves or halflings myself for the saving throw bonuses, with dwarves being my melee-focused F/T and halflings my ranged-focused F/T.
I prefer Elves, first because i don't like shorty races (except dwarves, but not as thieves) and second because i like the thac0 bonuses with long swords. In Bg the great +2 long sword is available very, very soon and it's worthy till the end (and even is SoD) Edit: talking about fighter/thief made me roll a new character, and got lucky with it in 10 minutes. Usually i need a lot of time in order to get some good numbers
Still considering my options. There are too many fun ones!!!
- Swashbuckler all the way - Swashbuckler => Fighter dual - Kensai => Thief dual - Berserker => Thief dual - Fighter / Thief
What I'm looking for is not necessarily a backstabber, but building the ultimate melee dual-wielding powerhouse with some thieving abilities (detect traps/open locks/detect illusions).
What I'm looking for is not necessarily a backstabber, but building the ultimate melee dual-wielding powerhouse with some thieving abilities (detect traps/open locks/detect illusions).
My main objection vs Fighter/Thief is that I can't get Weapon Grandmastery for extra APR etc. I'm leaning towards a dual class at the moment.
Probably Swashbuckler with 2 pips in dual and 2 in scimitars/wakizashi/ninja-to, dual at lvl 10 to fighter, and then go for grand mastery with either bastard swords and/or long swords and/or flails.
At high levels, multiclassing gives you much more melee power because you can take fighter as well as thief HLAs. If you dual from fighter to thief then you can't take critical strike, whirlwind attacks, etc which would make you less of a "melee dual-wielding powerhouse."
At high levels, multiclassing gives you much more melee power because you can take fighter as well as thief HLAs. If you dual then you can't take critical strike, whirlwind attacks, etc which would make you less of a "melee dual-wielding powerhouse."
Which are all fighter HLAs, and the current plan is to dual from Swashy into Fighter.
But I'll probably roll an half-elf Fighter / Thief too (no elf, the paper dolls look terrible).
Dual-classing from a Swashbuckler to a Fighter will make you lose all the cool thief HLAs! Just look at them! You surely don't want to miss those? (Use Any Item is one of them!)
My advice: get a dwarven fighter/thief! You won't regret it!
(Yes, dwarves make the best melee-powerhouses! High saves, high constitution, an awesome paperdoll, and not to mention their high racial bonuses to many thieving skills!)
Thief trap HLAs are the only ones in the game that provide a nearly guaranteed instant-auto-win against most of the game's strongest foes including Melissan, dragons, etc. Combining that with fighter melee HLAs and dwarven save bonuses seems like a great idea to me.
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Oddly enough, they make decent ranged characters because their bonuses apply to ranged weapon as well - give them either a Boomerang Dagger or Tuigan's.
I prefer Fighter/Thief because they can have more than 1 base APR, backstab, and most importantly, two sets of HLAs. Also, they don't have the item restrictions of a thief even before they get UAI, which is for a considerable part of the game.
A swashbuckler can be extremely versatile with thieving abilities in BG1 already, though stealth probably shouldn't be your priority.
I'll probably stick with my plan on going Swashy 10 and dual to Fighter, I'm not a fan of backstabbing and like to go for grand mastery,
I am partial to dwarves or halflings myself for the saving throw bonuses, with dwarves being my melee-focused F/T and halflings my ranged-focused F/T.
Edit: talking about fighter/thief made me roll a new character, and got lucky with it in 10 minutes. Usually i need a lot of time in order to get some good numbers
Is there somewhere a picture overview of the different paper dolls with corresponding classes?
- Swashbuckler all the way
- Swashbuckler => Fighter dual
- Kensai => Thief dual
- Berserker => Thief dual
- Fighter / Thief
What I'm looking for is not necessarily a backstabber, but building the ultimate melee dual-wielding powerhouse with some thieving abilities (detect traps/open locks/detect illusions).
Probably Swashbuckler with 2 pips in dual and 2 in scimitars/wakizashi/ninja-to, dual at lvl 10 to fighter, and then go for grand mastery with either bastard swords and/or long swords and/or flails.
But I'll probably roll an half-elf Fighter / Thief too (no elf, the paper dolls look terrible).
Maybe play one Good and the other Evil.
Dual-classing from a Swashbuckler to a Fighter will make you lose all the cool thief HLAs! Just look at them! You surely don't want to miss those? (Use Any Item is one of them!)
My advice: get a dwarven fighter/thief! You won't regret it!
(Yes, dwarves make the best melee-powerhouses! High saves, high constitution, an awesome paperdoll, and not to mention their high racial bonuses to many thieving skills!)
Settled for a 86 point roll, because it had a 18/00. Pretty pleased.
Changing your apperance with EEKeeper is trivial though.