Want to play a Thief or F/T
hammernanvil
Member Posts: 98
Considering playing a Bounty hunter or possibly a Fighter/Thief, Is it even worth playing a F/T in BG1 if you can only get to lvl 8 as a fighter?
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I don't really know how to elaborate on this. You are a competant thief, and a competant fighter this way.
Ive never completed BG1.. yet, so I dont know how long the game runs past hitting the level cap...
You can 1) dual class or 2) multi class
If you multi class you pick to be a Fighter / Thief from the start during character creation and level up in those classes simultaneously. I recommend this for beginner players to dual or multi classes, as it is normally more fun and less work as you get to enjoy having the power of both classes all the way.
If you dual class you wont be able to enjoy both classes abilities at the same time until you are 1 level higher in the second class than the first class is. Also, you can never progress in the first class again. So in the exampke that you go to Fighter 7 / Thief 8 as a dual class you wont enjoy being a Fighter / Thief until you hit the xp cap at the end of the game.
Other Information:
Only humans can dual class
Only non humans can multi class, and any non human can multi to Fighter / Thief.
I'd try a Dwarf F / T and max con, dex, str. As a dwarf with maxed con you will have amazing saving throws.
Edit:
A Hafling F/T would also get great saving throws and specializing in slings could be fun.
A Half Orc F/T could start with 19 str giving you amazing to hit and to damage starting at level 1.
Dwarf Fighter/Thief = slightly better at Fighter (due to being restricted to 17 Dexterity, but being able to hit 18/?? Strength unlike Halfling which is restricted to 17 Strength)
Halfling Fighter/Thief = slightly better at Thief (due to being able to hit 19 Dexterity, so awesome thieving bonuses and better with ranged weapons)
Take yer pick.
But no, in BG1 dual classing F / T wouldn't be worth it unless you really wanted a Fighter Kit like Kensai to Kai Backstab or wanted to dual at 6 Fighter so you could get to 9 Thief and get the 4x backstab, but it really isn't worth it IMO.
But unless you fall into one of those specific scenarios you'd enjoy a multi class F/T in BG1 a lot more.
Edit:
Let me elaborate even further. I just ran a Berserker 6 / Thief 9 to have rage and backstab 4x, and it would have been a lot more enjoyable if I had run a F/T.
I'd actually recommend a Gnome over a halfling. They get 1 less potential dex, but losing that chance for 19 str is a major disadvantage, gnome are otherwise almost the same skill spread as halflings... 5 less in hide/MS, but 10 points in DI at no cost (10% per round of dispelling illusions). Their racial save bonus is about the same really, not a monster like the dwarf's is.
And if you're part fighter, there no justifiable reason beyond roleplaying to ever touch a halfling, the disadvantage for not having that early game fighter bonus str is just too much to bare.
Like this one;
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/10212/a-simple-xp-cap-remover/p1
Im pretty sure you can get past fighter lvl 8.
Though in truth no...a Dualclass is horrible for BG1. You only get to enjoy your full power a short time and then the game is over, while a Multiclass would be rocking from lvl 1. And really, you don't actually need any fighter to make a strong thief. While a plain thief doesn't offer after 13, the kits have plenty advantages to give them some extra umph all the way to the end game, and can actually be some of the most satisfying to play, if you abstain from cheese and really dig into learning how to use their abilities to maximum effect.
Multiclass is better than dual class.
Dual-classing craziness doesn't really start to shine as being meta-gamey enough til the level cap of BG2.
Dwarf is going to win in my opinion in the end because he will still end up with 19 str and have amazing saves, but having 19 str from level 1 can be nice.
currently running Shar-Teel with the same setup, and... well, let's just say she makes things very dead, extremely quickly.
If you only play human for RP reasons, then that's trickier. Can you justify playing a half-elf?
Anyway, slightly off-topic: If you don't want to play a mage but don't want your PC to be a simple auto-attacker, how about Cleric or Druid? Single-class druids in BG1 have a very high level cap, and receive level 5 spells by the end of the game. A fighter->cleric dual class is also a powerful choice, even with a low-level dual like level 3.
So ultimately what's better for melee combat and backstabbing: A multi-class dwarven or half-orc fighter/thief or a dual-class fighter3/thief 9?
Well, if you are going to take fighter to 3, you might as well take it to 6, because with the xp cap if you dual at 3 you end up with 3 fighter / 9 thief, and if you dual at 6 you end up with 6 fighter / 9 thief. I'd take the extra proficiency point and fighter thac0.
For melee combat if you take it to 7 fighter / 8 thief you get an extra 1/2 apr, but for backstabbing if you take thief to 9 you get 4x instead of 3x multiplier.
I still think, for all the reasons listed above, that a multi is better than a dual in BG1, and I ran a 6 berserker / 9 thief through the game. (With grand mastery in staves and the staff of striking I did take Saverok to badly injured with a hit of 90 something before he even saw me and got to move so that was cool)
- 1, as in one, as in *a single point* of thac0.
- a little bit of HP (depending on CON, 12 to 21)
- one extra proficiency point, which you can only spend "properly" if you level up from thief 3 to thief 7 in one go, thereby crippling your character for most of it's life
and the downside? a long, long, LOONG downtime before you get back your fighter abilites. and I do mean really fucking long. it's just... simply not worth it. dual classing at 3 means if you actually prepared for it, in one hour of playtime, you're already back in the saddle with your fighter abilities, whereas a fighter 6 -> thief won't get them back till pretty much nearing the end.
Those are good points.
It didn't take me very long to get to 72,000 xp but I was soloing and knew where to look for xp. But yeah, you could get the 9k xp required for 3 fighter / 4 thief before you were done with the basilisk area alone.
If I was going to dual a fighter into a thief I'd honestly go to 7 / 8 for the extra 1/2 attack, if I wanted a thief with grand mastery and wasn't solo I'd dual at 3, but if I honestly wanted a Fighter / Thief in BG1 I'd multi.
Edit: To elaborate on that if you are soloing with a berserker as I was for the fighter class taking out sirens is easy.
So you can work your way to 32,000 for fighter 6 off sirens pretty quickly. Then dual and do the basilisk area for 7 lesser basilisks (1800 xp?) 2 greater basilisks (4500 xp?) and the mage (1200 xp?) 3 flesh golems in the cave and 2 at the mage shop at high hedge is 5 * (2000 xp) (kill them with all the poison arrows you got from the sirens), named siren that kills you instantly if you talk to her with ranged poison arrows for (5000 xp), calming down the guy in the bar is 900 xp and noober is 400xp and you need roughly 3k more xp to get Fighter 6 / Thief 7.
Then pick up party members if you want.