Help Picking a Class
Melet
Member Posts: 1
I just want to play a relatively fun martial that can hit things straight through to the end of both games! I'm a Human! What do I pick?
At first I was going to pick Ranger because I felt like the versatility is useful then the internet said don't pick Ranger, pick Archer, then I looked into that and the internet says don't pick Archer, play Stalker instead, Backstab is super useful, and then I look up Stalker and it says, why would you play Stalker, when you could play Fighter/Thief? And so I look up THAT and Fighter/Thief is relegated only to the demi-races.
So then it's like okay, I'm definitely picking Human, how about dualclassing? THEN the internet says, oh well dualclassing is all well and good but you suck for a several levels in the midgame, so you COULD do Fighter/Thief but why pick that when Mage/Fighter is so much better?
But then the internet says, wait wait wait, why do Mage/Fighter if you're going to dualclass? Then you'll cap out early since Mage is so much better lategame, you should do Fighter 9/13 and THEN go Mage instead! And that was about the point I was like wow, wait, hold on, okay, this is like, way sidetracked from what I actually want to play.
So then I go looking up just like, okay what do I play, it's my first time playing, and I just see a new avalanche of 'pick Paladin, go Lawful Good Paladin' and then 'just go straight Fighter' and 'Sorcerer is really OP' and so on... and I still haven't even considered Bard yet!
So I'm stuck. Help! Help me!!! I want to play the video game but I can't get past the Final Boss that is Character Generation!!! Help me!!!
I kind of want to be able to do as much 'party stuff' as I can on my one character including party face, disarming, lockpicking, etc, as well as hitting everything to death in melee and shootin stuff with ranged kind of from stealth or whatever too. What do I do!? What do I pick!?
Help!!!
At first I was going to pick Ranger because I felt like the versatility is useful then the internet said don't pick Ranger, pick Archer, then I looked into that and the internet says don't pick Archer, play Stalker instead, Backstab is super useful, and then I look up Stalker and it says, why would you play Stalker, when you could play Fighter/Thief? And so I look up THAT and Fighter/Thief is relegated only to the demi-races.
So then it's like okay, I'm definitely picking Human, how about dualclassing? THEN the internet says, oh well dualclassing is all well and good but you suck for a several levels in the midgame, so you COULD do Fighter/Thief but why pick that when Mage/Fighter is so much better?
But then the internet says, wait wait wait, why do Mage/Fighter if you're going to dualclass? Then you'll cap out early since Mage is so much better lategame, you should do Fighter 9/13 and THEN go Mage instead! And that was about the point I was like wow, wait, hold on, okay, this is like, way sidetracked from what I actually want to play.
So then I go looking up just like, okay what do I play, it's my first time playing, and I just see a new avalanche of 'pick Paladin, go Lawful Good Paladin' and then 'just go straight Fighter' and 'Sorcerer is really OP' and so on... and I still haven't even considered Bard yet!
So I'm stuck. Help! Help me!!! I want to play the video game but I can't get past the Final Boss that is Character Generation!!! Help me!!!
I kind of want to be able to do as much 'party stuff' as I can on my one character including party face, disarming, lockpicking, etc, as well as hitting everything to death in melee and shootin stuff with ranged kind of from stealth or whatever too. What do I do!? What do I pick!?
Help!!!
0
Comments
Yes, the multiclass requires you to play a non-human race (unless you mod the rules). That's not a problem. Non-humans are, mechanically, just better than humans. Class selection is the only human advantage.
Unless you absolutely must be human, for non-mechanical reasons. In which case, you do you.
What's a multiclass fighter/thief good for? Tactical flexibility. You can switch combat roles at a moment's notice. Put on heavy armor and wade in as a tank. Take off the heavy armor and sneak around to backstab enemies. Grab a ranged weapon and start shooting from the back - since you can't go beyond specialization in any one weapon, you will diversify your weapon choices and have multiple good options.
When I played my no-spellcasting run, my protagonist was a halfling fighter/thief. She generally wore heavy armor in combat, taking it off to use skills. After all, you hardly ever need to disarm a trap during a battle. And you can still backstab to start a fight; while you can't hide in heavy armor, you stay invisible for about a round if you put the armor on after successfully hiding.
What's a fighter -> thief dual good for? Backstabs. You'll push your weapon of choice to grand mastery and reduce your flexibility a bit, but then that extra damage gets multiplied in a backstab. It makes a big difference.
You can also take a kit on the fighter side. A brief overview of the options:
- Barbarian. Not an option; barbarians aren't allowed to dual-class.
- Berserker. No specialization in missile weapons, and you get a rage ability for a bit of a combat boost and a ton of immunities. Practically free, really, and that rage is very useful.
- Dwarven Defender. Not an option; only dwarves can take the kit, and only humans can dual-class.
- Kensai. Bonuses to attack and damage, at the cost of a bunch of equipment restrictions. You can't play as a tank or an archer, but once the dual comes on line you're the absolute best at backstabbing. AC doesn't matter if they can't see you. Oh, and once you hit epic levels and take Use Any Item, that nullifies the equipment restrictions. This one's my favorite, though I haven't played it in a while.
- Wizard Slayer. You get a bit of magic resistance and can destroy the spellcasting ability of mages you hit (but not priests). This ability is less useful than it sounds; most of the difficulty of fighting mages comes from defensive spells that prevent you from hitting them. If you can hit the mage with physical attacks, you can usually just kill it with them. On the flip side, the equipment restrictions really hurt. Probably not worth it compared to the other options.
When should you dual-class in a fighter -> thief build? Somewhere fairly early in SoA. Fighter level 9 gets you a grand mastery locked in and all of the fighter hit dice for high HP. Fighter level 13 gets you that extra 1/2 APR, plus permanently better THAC0 and saves - but you won't complete the dual until the rest of your party are nearly up to HLAs. Some earlier duals might make sense in a vacuum, but they don't mesh well with the campaign structure on a protagonist. It takes a lot longer to go from Fighter 7 to F7->T8 in BGEE than it does to go from Fighter 9 to F9->T10 in BG2EE.
How about thief -> fighter? Variant material. Think of it as a fighter with some utility abilities, at the cost of hit points. You won't have much of a backstab due to the low thief level, and you won't be able to master very many thief skills. But just having a few levels of investment in trapfinding and lockpicking means you don't have to worry about covering that in the rest of your party.
Briefly on the other options you mentioned ...
Rangers and their kits. Stealth is great even if you don't have a backstab multiplier; scouting is very useful on all the outdoor maps in the BG1 campaign. If you see them before they see you, you can plan the encounter and take it on your terms. And rangers are good at stealth right from the beginning. Kit-wise ... archers lock you in to one tactical role, but they're so good at it that you don't mind. Stalkers get a combat use for their stealth and a few neat spells, though they'll never come close to a fighter/thief as a backstabber. Beastmasters are just ... not good.
Mage -> Fighter. On this one, I'd argue that the best time to dual is at the very earliest opportunity, level 2. You're not a real mage, you're just a fighter that can use wands and scrolls. And that's enough to be interesting.
Fighter -> Mage. A well known "power" option, though not one I care to play. You can either go for the arcane melee play style (defend with spells, attack with weapons) or play as a mage with a bigger HP pool.
Paladin. Yes, they're nice and straightforward. It's an easy roleplaying hook, too.
Pure Fighter. Strong early, suffers a bit at high levels. Maybe a bit too straightforward, with zero active class abilities.
Sorcerer. Definitely powerful; the strongest party I've ever built had a Dragon Disciple protagonist. But you have to know what you're doing and choose the right spells as you level up to achieve that power. Not recommended for a first playthrough.
Bard. Jack of all trades in theory, support class in practice. I've run a lot of parties with bards in them, but never as the protagonist.
On the list of "party stuff" you mentioned ...
- Party Face. High charisma is the only requirement here - no social skills in 2nd edition. You can drag portraits around on the right side of the screen; whoever's at the top of that is generally the one who's going to talk to merchants and quest NPCs. So, that's who serves as the party's face. In BG1, they'll need a naturally high charisma. In BG2, there's a ring you can find very early on that sets charisma to 18 so anyone can fill the role at the cost of an item slot.
- Disarming and lockpicking. Only thieves may apply. There's really no substitute in this system; while several other classes can use one or two of the thief skills, both the "disarm trap" and "pick lock" actions are thief-only.
- Hitting things hard in melee. You pretty much have to have a proper martial class for this one. Only warriors and monks get bonus attacks per round, and you just can't do much hitting at 1 APR.
- Shooting things at long range. Anyone that can hold a bow can do a decent job, but warriors will do a lot more damage. And the Archer kit is in a class of its own here. Also, archery is much more powerful in BG1 than BG2. You'll want several archers in the party in BG1, and then won't care if you have none in BG2.
On the whole ... a fighter/thief combination of some sort really does sound like what you want to play. This time, at least. Hopefully, what I've written will be helpful for you.