I'm not a big fan of kiting generally. I view Baldur's Gate as something of a heroic fantasy. If I read a book containing the lines "And then the hero skipped nimby away from his Nemesis, leading him in a wide circle around the room. His companions took aim and pelted their foe with missiles, gradually wearing him down until finally he fell" then I'd be disappointed. Are there more optimal ways to play than my way? Undoubtedly. Does it make me feel cheap if I do it? It can.
It doesn't necessarily take a min-maxed fighter/mage to go toe-to-toe with Sarevok, pretty much any melee-based CHARNAME and a number of NPCs are capable of doing it. In BG:EE I've used a Cavalier, Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Mage and Fighter/Thief as tanks. I don't feel bad about ganging up on Sarevok with a full party though as he brings a set of henchmen along too.
@Corvino I feel the opposite when I read that kind of story. If I see the hero doing something noble and heroic and above all stupid, it frustrates me to no end. I want my heroes to be smart enough to fight dirty, and winning through less-than-honorable means isn't a reflection on their moral character because they've proved that deep down they're good people even if they don't care about looking good for the crowd. One of the reasons I love the Discworld books is that even though many of the heroes have a penchant for metaphorically kicking their enemies in the shins in order to win it doesn't equate that with villainy. You can be all the hero you want, but at the end of the day sometimes the little people win the battles that heroes can't, because they're the ones who *know* they don't stand a chance.
I like to think that's what gives me the edge over Sarevok. He's been studying and training and plotting all his life while I've been reading comic books in Candlekeep, and the only reason he's challenged me is because he knows he can beat me in a fair fight. And I know that he can beat me in a fair fight. So why give him one? Both of us know that I'm the Good one, and if I happen to fire a few volleys of poisoned arrows of detonation into his little party out of improved invisibility, I'll still be the Good one. And more importantly, the alive one.
As for taking him in melee... well, I think that situation relies less on "tanking" and more on "killing him first" as I don't think there's any NPC who can get high enough AC to dodge his blows for a significant amount of time. Not that killing him first is not a valid strategy, but I still believe that if you wanted to a spend a while fighting the mages while keeping him off your back your best option is to dispel him and not let him hit you.
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It doesn't necessarily take a min-maxed fighter/mage to go toe-to-toe with Sarevok, pretty much any melee-based CHARNAME and a number of NPCs are capable of doing it. In BG:EE I've used a Cavalier, Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Mage and Fighter/Thief as tanks. I don't feel bad about ganging up on Sarevok with a full party though as he brings a set of henchmen along too.
I feel the opposite when I read that kind of story. If I see the hero doing something noble and heroic and above all stupid, it frustrates me to no end. I want my heroes to be smart enough to fight dirty, and winning through less-than-honorable means isn't a reflection on their moral character because they've proved that deep down they're good people even if they don't care about looking good for the crowd. One of the reasons I love the Discworld books is that even though many of the heroes have a penchant for metaphorically kicking their enemies in the shins in order to win it doesn't equate that with villainy. You can be all the hero you want, but at the end of the day sometimes the little people win the battles that heroes can't, because they're the ones who *know* they don't stand a chance.
I like to think that's what gives me the edge over Sarevok. He's been studying and training and plotting all his life while I've been reading comic books in Candlekeep, and the only reason he's challenged me is because he knows he can beat me in a fair fight. And I know that he can beat me in a fair fight. So why give him one? Both of us know that I'm the Good one, and if I happen to fire a few volleys of poisoned arrows of detonation into his little party out of improved invisibility, I'll still be the Good one. And more importantly, the alive one.
As for taking him in melee... well, I think that situation relies less on "tanking" and more on "killing him first" as I don't think there's any NPC who can get high enough AC to dodge his blows for a significant amount of time. Not that killing him first is not a valid strategy, but I still believe that if you wanted to a spend a while fighting the mages while keeping him off your back your best option is to dispel him and not let him hit you.