Recommend an evil dual-class; more questions

Remove all ads!

Hello good folks of Sorcerer's Place! I need some serious inputs for my next project. I plan on LPing (that is, making a commented video series of) the whole Baldur's Gate series, starting in EasyTutu and importing the character into BG2 and then ToB afterwards. (I am currently LPing Icewind Dale 2 and should be finished around December.)

My big question is, of course, the character choice. This project will likely take a year or more, so the main character had better be good and interesting to role-play.

I currently lean towards a Neutral Evil character, who would mostly be doing good deeds simply because that is what gets you the best rewards in this game, and NE characters do not care about the morality of actions, only their personal gain.

I usually take a human pure sorcerer, give him 18cha, that's very straightforward and leads to an very active and flexible spellcaster. However, for the sake of change and making the LP more interesting, I might do something a bit more funky such as a dual-class. The point is to be fearsome, dark and deadly.

I've never dual-classed my main character before. Does that mean I will be useless for a long portion of the game as I wait till my old abilities are re-activated? Like, how long? What would be an interesting dual-class build?

Also, a bit of a newbie question (it's been a long time since I played 2nd ed), but at character creation, when you roll your stats, does the total number of points awarded on a roll vary? If so, what is the theoretical maximum of points you can get? Does that have anything to do with the max strength score (the number after 18, like 18/54 etc.)?

I know several have LPed Baldur's Gate before, mostly plagued by very poor image and sound quality; I know I do much better than anyone else on the technical side of things (just look at any of my recent IWD2 videos in "Original" quality, fullscreen, it's indistinguishable from having the game running live). Where I still have much improvement to do is on providing interesting commentary. If you have any tips on that (what kind of stuff do you want to hear me talk about, what should I improve based on my IWD2 LP), they are also very welcome.

 

If you're running tutu, you might just want to multi-class from level one and avoid dual-classing. If you want to be evil and dark any kind of rogue would do well. I like fighter/rogue. Rogue/mage would work too though... you could be a quirky Rogue/illusionist gnome. You can be best friends with Tiax in the first game, and Jan in the second.

Yes, the roll amount does vary. I'm not sure of the theoretical maximum, but I've rolled long enough to get three or four 18s while still maintaining 10-12s in other stats (i.e. no dropping stats to 3). Afaik getting 18/anything has nothing to do with the amount of stat points you have. I've gotten tons of points and an 18/03 in Strength, while getting little points and an 18/00.

18/00 is actually 18/100, if you forgot, so 18/00 is the highest, though anything from 18/90+ is enough to make a killing machine.

Non-blind runs are hard to make interesting via commentary, but it can work in your advantage if you haven't played the games in awhile. (Being surprised by things can add to excitement). Otherwise, it's just about strength of character; sharing tidbits of lore, sharing opinions and making comments directed toward characters in games are all things that I find interesting. Of course, it's personal preference in the end.

 

Cheat and make a half-orc fighter/assassin.

 

Nice LP you have there for IWD 2.

I definitely would follow your BG LP .
Especially if you play it like your IWD 2 one without mods or cheats.
When you really go all the way through Throne of Bhaal, a multiclass should be as good if not better than a dual class (if you don't insist on playing human, that is).

Fighter/Mage would be a solid choice imho.
But in the end you could choose almost everything if choosing the right companions.

As for the right comments, if they come naturally it should be ok.

 

I'm a bit put off by all the restrictions (once you're used to 3rd ed, eh...). If I go multiclass, I can't be human and I can't use any of the cool kits, for instance I'd love to be a multiclass berserker/priest of talos, but that is simply not possible. If I'm fighter/priest, I can't use swords or axes at all. If I'm fighter/mage, I can't use armor while casting spells, so it'll be hard to have good AC... It's difficult to judge in advance.

Anyway, rogue is really not my type so I won't be rogue or any mix of that. Currently leaning towards a dual-classed berserker/mage, a dual-class berserker/priest of talos or a multiclass generic fighter/cleric. I've heard that in ToB you'll get more abilities with a multiclass, how does that work?

I would do it with EasyTutu though, for both technical and gameplay reasons. Even though that's "modding", IMO it stays true to the spirit of the game, it's the same game running in an improved version of the original engine.

No cheats, sorry.

Do you have any example of LPs you find interesting? Particularly rpgs. I have some LPs I like a lot, like RealMyst or Myst IV. These are adventure games though, and I've yet to find anyone that LPs RPGs in a way that I like (which is one reason why I'm trying my hand at it).

 

There are a lot restrictions in 2nd edition, true.
The best approximation of your Berserker/Priest of Talos class would be a dual class Berserker->Cleric (very powerful,btw).
Make it B7->Cl (extra half-attack), B9->Cl (extra skill) or B13->Cl (final attack upgrade), though to regain 14 levels of Priest levels is painful so
B9->Cl x would be a good compromise.
By the way you can't dualclass into a kit, just the plain class, so no talos kit, which isn't this much different from the plain class anyway besides his two special abilities which you wouldn't use in later stages anyway.

Give the swords/axes to your companions.
There are enough extremely powerful hammers/flails out there to be used by your Cleric.
Concerning the armor restriction of the Fighter/Mage, this isn't this much of a problem. Stoneskin + Mirror Image are more powerful than the best Armor anyway and you'll most probably want to wear the powerful robes in BG2 anyway instead of Armor.

All good choices.
As for the ToB abilities after approx. 3 Million exp. points you start to gain one ability per level. If you are dualclass only for your 2nd class, if you are multi then for your current class you leveled in.

.
That's ok because it is more consistent if doing a trilogy run.
On the other hand you can abuse quite a bit of some new spells/ special kit abilities early on, so beware .

 

Just to add to what Rahkir said, the theoretical max is 108 (18x6), but you'll never get that. Realistically, for a fighter, if you're willing to re-roll alot, you might get low-90's.

After ~3 million XP, you get to choose an HLA from either class each time you level up (contrary to what hanibal said, it's not restricted to the class you leveled up in).

 

Oh, I remembered it wrong then.
But actually you're not precise either since you still can't use a HLA from your first class if you're a dualclass (well if you dual before 3 Mill exp, that is).

 

Right. But I was only responding to the question regarding HLA's for multi-classes.

 

My favorite weapons in the game are flail/mace.

Spoiler

Flail of Ages +5 [Flail]
1d6 + 6 + 10 damage
Free Action
33% Chance to Slow

and of course
Crom Faeyr [War hammer]
Set Strength to 25
Kills Golems, Ettins and Trolls
2d4+3 damage

Of course, they come late in game, but you can't deny their power in ToB/the end of SoA. And maces/flails will do you fine throughout the game, especially if you have to fight any skeletons

Fighter/mage starts pretty weak, but if you bring him all the way through ToB he's going to turn into a powerhouse. In BG1 it's best to start off with defensive spells, like sleep. Put a whole group of gibberlings/wolves to sleep and take them out before they can get up to hit you.
He won't be a main damage dealer until he starts dual wielding powerful weapons (Celestial Fury is a great starter in BG2 for a fighter/mage), but with all the mage buffs (mirror image, etc) in conjunction with a good priest buffing you, he can be immune to pretty much everything in the game, including illithid/beholders.

Are you planning to use the original BG1 gui? I think that'd stay true to the spirit of the first game.

Thank you for clarifying that, Splunge, it was a lot clearer than what I said.

 

In my opinion, the ultimate villian in BG.

 

F/T makes for an awesome assassin. As long as you have a mage or cleric in your party to dispel magic, cast breach, and turn undead you are set.

Currently running a F/T with Aerie. It covers all the classes. He's NG but I keep thinking how cool it would be if he were NE and corrupting Aerie.

 

Just trying out a half-orc fighter/cleric at the moment. It looks like I can't get Greater/High/Mastery in weapons (couldn't at character creation). If so, is there any point not to go pure cleric instead?

Grrrr, neat ideas for my lp...

Yeah I guess I can live with the hope of eventually getting Crom Faeyr. Blunt weapons also fit an evil character well.

Yup.

Oh, and regarding EasyTutu: do you somehow get BG2-only spells/scrolls or items in BG1 because of that?

 

The fighter side of Multi-classing gives multiple attacks, pure clerics never get more than 1 AT/rnd.

 

Ok, and regarding THAC0, here's a little something I found:

Patterns
--------
Warrior 1 every level
Wizard 1 every 3 levels
Priest 2 every 3 levels
Rogue 1 every 2 levels

(http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/75251-baldurs-gate/faqs/8566)

So how would a multi-class Fighter/Priest gain THAC0? 1 for every level of fighter + 2 for every 3 levels of priest? Seems a bit overpowered.

 

Whichever is the lowest.
A Fighter 9/Cleric 9 would simply use the Fighter THAC0 as though he was a single class fighter 9.
A Fighter 2 -> Cleric 10 would use the Cleric THAC0.
F2 has 19 THAC0 and Cl 10 has 14 THAC0, so THAC0 14 would be the result.

 

I wouldn't mind having just 2 berserks a day (judging from my average use of barbarian rage in IWD2) so in theory B7->Cl is ideal, but, looking at the xp tables, a fighter lvl 7 is 55000, and a cleric lvl 8 is 110000, together that is 165000, slightly over ToTSC's 161000xp cap. So unless I cheat to remove the xp cap, I would not get my berserker abilities back until BG2, which absolutely sucks.

So, I guess I'd stay with pure Berserker for ToTSC and dual to Cleric early in BG2, at level 9.

I am currently leaning more towards that build than multiclass fighter/cleric, 1) for the berserk ability which is not only awesome but fits my evil personality, and 2) for the overall quicker priest progression. Will miss on the eventual fighter HLA, but I guess Sarevoc will make up for it.

The only big con is that it'll make for a dull early game in BG2 as I restart at lvl1 Priest.

Will have to think more. I still have until December or so to decide.

Oh yeah and there's something I don't get all. A warrior gets an extra half-attack at lvl 7 and another at lvl 13. However, weapon specialization already gives an extra half-attack. Do they stack or not?

 

In my experience multi class characters beat out dual classed ones on average in ToB. The limit to ** proficiency is by no means a serious disadvantage later in the game.

My proposal: Play a mage-thief.

Or better still, shadowkeep yourself an evil multiclassed assassin-mage. Very versatile, as you'll have both (although comparably limited) thieving abilities and a formidable back stab, and access to high level abilities of both thief and mage classes (especially 'use any item'). Also interesting for soloing as you can iirc gather XP from learning spells as well as from opening traps and locks.

 

They do.