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A question about Fighter/Cleric dual class

SunekuManSunekuMan Member Posts: 3
edited January 2014 in New Players (NO SPOILERS!)
First time BG player here (I can't believe I never played it, love Planescape). It's quickly becoming one of my favorite RPGs :)

I'm now a level 7 Fighter with my main. I was planning to import to BG2 and dual now (lvl 7) or later in BG2 (lvl 13).

Problem is, I only now realized Clerics can't use swords and I've been putting all my proficiency points to long swords... So, I guess I'm screwed because those points are wasted on a Cleric?

What do you guys recommend? I don't think I want to do a pure Fighter.

Maybe another dual class? Or editing files (but I'd rather not cheat on first playthrough...) to move the points to Flail/Mace/Hammer whatever Clerics like to bash heads in with?

Party:
Main Fighter
Khalid Fighter
Jaheira Fighter/Druid
Minsc Ranger
Coran Thief (kind of wanted Imoen here for the canon party, but I can't find her anymore after letting her go lol...)
Dynaheir Invoker

Thanks for any ideas
Post edited by SunekuMan on

Comments

  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    If you have high enough intelligence (17+) you could dual class into a mage, and fighter->mage is a great combo. You get decent damage output from melee with a load of useful offensive/utility/defensive spells to cap it off.

    Fighter->Thief is also pretty good, giving you the options of hefty backstabs and scouting with your main in addition to being solid in melee. Your points in longswords would be good as they can be used to backstab. You just need decent dexterity to make the dual legal (again 17+), but given that most people maximise dexterity for good AC this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

    Arguably Cleric is still a good option. You'll be able to put a number of proficiency points into blunt weapons as a cleric - 2 at creation then 1 every 4 levels, but you cannot go beyond proficient in any one until after you pass your fighter levels. It'll take a while to develop but would pan out in the long term.

    If you do want to edit your proficiencies (which is a lot less frustrating than replaying the whole game) then a program call EEKeeper allows you to do this. You should be able to find a link to it on the forum somewhere. Just be mindful that having a couple of backup saves is very useful.

  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    If u were planning to dual-class into a Cleric, u presumably had plenty of Wisdom? If so, you can use Shadowkeeper or EEkeeper to edit it into Intelligence instead and dual-class into Fighter =>Mage, which is a very powerful and effective setup.

    Alternatively, you can just edit your long sword proficiency into a blunt weapon *cough*Flail*cough*, and continue as planned. This is a great setup, although it would make you almost identical to a great NPC you can recruit very early on, who has been consistently the most effective member of my BG 2 party.

    Doing either is absolutely fine. I am strict about cheese and cheating, but it was an honest mistake, and pretty damaging if you don't fix it. That said, it's not crippling... I put a 2 points in Scimitars for my Fighter/Mage that I never used in BG 2, and only started training in Katana after I found a weapon I wanted to use!

    So yeah, choose whatever you'd enjoy the most. It is a singleplayer game afterall!
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    i have often made mistakes that I EEKEEPER fixed. i wouldn't call it cheating so much as not wanting to restart or rethink due to a mistake. i try to make this decision as soon as I can though to not make use of what I made the mistake in before making the change.

    anything alongside fighter will be really good anyway. my fighter/thief multi is certainly very effective, and a buffing fighter/mage is also very effective. fighter/druids also get to be druids with heavy armor.

    I actually plan to make my next playthrough some kind of clerics or fighter cleric multi/dual. It will be an effective tanking class with buffs, heals, and access to some strong weapons. you can also get ridiculous amounts of wisdom on an import that will provide so many spells I doubt you would have problems fitting in everything you want.

    i say go for keeper. don't call it cheating if you knew what you were going for an made that mistake. do it right now so you can drop your longsword and switch to a blunt as soon as possible. you know what you wanted so don't worry about it.
  • SunekuManSunekuMan Member Posts: 3
    edited January 2014
    I started playing the game thinking I'm just gonna do a pure Fighter. I didn't want to spoil anything so I just went into the game blind without reading any guides about classes or anything. I just got the idea for the Cleric later, when I got more into the game and started reading about it.

    I think I'm just going to do a pure Fighter then, because I didn't even think about dualing when distributing stat points. Or maybe start BG2 with a brand new character that I plan better.

    Thanks for the help :)
    Post edited by SunekuMan on
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    SunekuMan said:

    I started playing the game thinking I'm just gonna do a pure Fighter. I didn't want to spoil anything so I just went into the game blind without reading any guides about classes or anything. I just got the idea for the Cleric later, when I got more into the game and started reading about it.

    I think I'm just going to do a pure Fighter then, because I didn't even think about stat point distribution when creating the character. Or maybe start BG2 with a brand new character that I plan better.

    Thanks for the help :)

    what are your stats? you could still go with fighter/thief or mage dual if you have 17 dex for the thief or 17 intelligence for the mage. if you have 16 in either you could upgrade them in the game, but I won't say where if you don't want to be spoiled. i know personally the power of the thief, and mage is a favorite among the community as well.

    my first run through I was a pure fighter myself, but I don't think I would do it again. maybe a small variation such as a paladin I want to do, but a pure fighter doesn't provide much more than run up and hit the enemy until they die. at least the kits and similar classes have extras or immunities that make you use them as part of the strategy. fighter is best used as a dual or multi though.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    At lvl13 its MUCH MUCH better, you'll get 2 proficiencies more and another half APR.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    And clerics advance levels faster than fighters in low levels.
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    CrevsDaak said:

    At lvl13 its MUCH MUCH better, you'll get 2 proficiencies more and another half APR.

    It also takes forever to get your skills back compared to 7 or 9. The dual part is a little boring so I prefer to keep it short at 7 for the first half attack
  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    edited January 2014
    Level 9 is almost always the most painless level to dual a figher. As soon as you start BG2 - dual class. You'll reactivate your main class either during the first dungeon or very soon after.

    Dualling at 13 is "optimal", but you're stuck with a work-in-progress character for a full half of the saga.

    *Edit* Honestly I'd recommend against dualling if you plan on just enjoying the game on your first runthrough. While a dual class gives you a lot of power by mid-late BG2 it often means you end up playing a boring or gimped character through BG1. I'm a bit of a powergamer but I don't really have the patience for duals much any more.

    With a multiclass you get the combination you're after from the very beginning. Fighter/Clerics, Fighter/Mages and Fighter/Thieves all work very well throughout BG1:EE and BG2:EE without the downtime or pre-planning needed for a dual class.
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    Yeah, it's surprisingly painful. I didn't realize how much of a difference there was until I tried it.
  • kryptixkryptix Member Posts: 741
    Heindrich1988 said:

    If u were planning to dual-class into a Cleric, u presumably had plenty of Wisdom? If so, you can use Shadowkeeper or EEkeeper to edit it into Intelligence instead and dual-class into Fighter =>Mage, which is a very powerful and effective setup.

    Alternatively, you can just edit your long sword proficiency into a blunt weapon *cough*Flail*cough*, and continue as planned. This is a great setup, although it would make you almost identical to a great NPC you can recruit very early on, who has been consistently the most effective member of my BG 2 party.

    Doing either is absolutely fine. I am strict about cheese and cheating, but it was an honest mistake, and pretty damaging if you don't fix it. That said, it's not crippling... I put a 2 points in Scimitars for my Fighter/Mage that I never used in BG 2, and only started training in Katana after I found a weapon I wanted to use!

    So yeah, choose whatever you'd enjoy the most. It is a singleplayer game afterall!

    But the best off hand weapon for a Fighter/mage is a Scimitar...
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    edited January 2014
    kryptix said:


    But the best off hand weapon for a Fighter/mage is a Scimitar...

    @kryptix
    Oh really? I have been playing blind, so I probably missed it... I've got as far as Sendai's Enclave... haven't found anything groundbreaking scimitar wise..

    Edit:
    Best weapons I've found are:

    Carsomyr
    Flail of Ages
    Celestial Fury
    Silver Sword
    Staff of Magi

    I had the components for Crom Fayr, but didn't forge it cos I didn't wanna give up multiple Str items. In hindsight, I had no idea I'd find so many more Str items anyway, so probably should have forged it.

    I've found more nice weapons in ToB, but they are not as 'wow'-inducing as the above cos there's tonnes of OP stuff by the endgame.




  • kryptixkryptix Member Posts: 741
    Heindrich1988 said:

    kryptix said:


    But the best off hand weapon for a Fighter/mage is a Scimitar...

    @kryptix
    Oh really? I have been playing blind, so I probably missed it... I've got as far as Sendai's Enclave... haven't found anything groundbreaking scimitar wise..

    Edit:
    Best weapons I've found are:

    Carsomyr
    Flail of Ages
    Celestial Fury
    Silver Sword
    Staff of Magi

    I had the components for Crom Fayr, but didn't forge it cos I didn't wanna give up multiple Str items. In hindsight, I had no idea I'd find so many more Str items anyway, so probably should have forged it.

    I've found more nice weapons in ToB, but they are not as 'wow'-inducing as the above cos there's tonnes of OP stuff by the endgame.




    So I was referring to:


    Belm +2 which gives +1 attack per round to your main hand weapon. Even though it is only +2, an extra main hand attack or two if you use improved haste is almost always better than anything else you can put in your off hand.

    You get it in a pile of trash in the ogre tower in the Druid grove.

    Arguably Crom Freyr is better if you have low strength though because 25 strength gives a huge thac0 boost and gives you +14 damage. However, if you played through the whole saga, you can have up to 23 base strength from tomes etc already and the 22 str belt is only 4 damage per swing difference from 25.
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    @Sunekuman, just change the proficiences in EE keeper, this isn't a cheat by itself. If the game was paper and pen, i doubt any DM would hold you in the character with sword proficiences spoilling your plans and fun.

    Give yourself maybe an penality any DM most probally would do, take one of your proficience points out, to allow the change a DM could and probally would request you to sacrifice one of your proficience points.
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