What is a better starting class for my PC?

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Out of Fighter, Mage and Paladin, bearing in mind BG2 as well.
I'm torn because, I like the fighters ability to attain grand mastery and the paladin gets the best sword in BG2 and loads of XP from the stronghold whereas the mage is just kinda following Gorion and a spellcaster. Any opinions welcome.

 

either a paladin or a mage. You will get kinda bored with a single-class fighter.

And I would choose Paladin as I tend to hate spellcasters

 

I would choose mage, mostly because it's more of a challage and it is more of a variety using spells than swords

 

I played alot of fighters in the beginning because it feels more nice to get alot of attacks/round instead of a single spell.
Although, after a year or two I finally realized the beauty of mages. Cuz as Robert said, there are more spells than swords.

So I´d make a Human - Illusionist.

 

Single class fighter and in BG2 be a Wizard-Slayer. They are really great.

 

If I were a mage what would be the best weapon to be equipped with at the start of BG1?

 

The start of BGI if you're a mage, chose proficiencies in missile weapons, and use a sling. You have 6 hp tops when you're first level, so anything can kill you. You'll still have to use a quarterstaff against the assassins inside Candlekeep (you get a massive penalty using a bow in melee, plus your attacker gets a substantial bonus to hit).

All three of those choices have good strongholds. The fighter gets a whole lot of XP, the mage gets a few items and a good amount of XP, and the paladin gets a really nice set of armor, though probably not as much XP as the other two.

As far as what to chose, I'd take the best of both worlds and play a fighter/mage multi-class. There's a lot to be said for multi-class characters. In general, they are stronger than single class character in BGI, because they are only one level behind, but have access to the abilities of both classes. In BGII, SoA, they fall a little behind the power curve, because they level up at half the rate of what a single class character would. However, by ToB, I would say they are stronger than single classes once again, because they can chose HLA of both classes.

Regardless of what you chose, if you are playing a mage or fighter/mage, I would take an elf to get the bonus to dexterity because you will be using missile weapons, and the THAC0 on missile weapons is based on dexterity. If you do go with fighter, either a human or a dwarf for the bonus hitpoints.

 

Ok I'm gonna go with an elf mage or elf fighter/mage. If I go with the fighter/mage will there be a stronghold problem later in BG2? Which of these two options is the best all round option?

 

THere won't be a "problem", but you will have to choose between the Mage or the Fighter stronghold.

Or you can download a mod and get both of 'em

 

Where can I find the mod?

 

The mod you search for is part of the Ease-of-Use mod, which you can find on this very (sorcerer's) place

 

You can do it without the mod. Do the fighter stronghold first, but say you're not ready to accept it yet. Then go do the mage stronghold. Then go back and get the fighter stronghold.

There is loads of info about this in the BG2 forum.

Before choosing Elf, decide whether you want a romance with Viccy in BG2. If you do then choose Half-elf, if not it doesn't matter.

Fighter/Mage has a better survivability, but is slow to get off the ground. Remember, you want your PC to stay alive so more HP is important. Plus, Edwin is a better mage than you can create yourself.

If you go for a mage, then I would highly recommend using darts as you get 3 attacks per round and there are some cool darts later.

 

Fighters may get boring with pure hack and slash, but based on your party, they can be great and are very customizable (sp?) as in what type: sword and shield, tank, ranged, any combination as well. Wizards arn't as customizable IMO but they require more tactics when choosing a spell to cast and preparing for a fight (Would that be considered a customizing feature? ). If you can afford to spare a spot in your line-up, go one of each and test them out for a bit. You can always kick them out if they don't suit your needs.

 

Mages simply take the cake when you get to upper levels...

I was playing ToB and my PC was a pure mage, and Edwin was in my party. The two accounted for about 85% of the kills in the party. If you're taking this character all the way through to the end...consider that.

 

Mages are massivly powerful at higher levels, but as for kills in the party, it also depends on if your fighters did most of the first strikes, then your mages finished off things. Fighters could get opponents to 10% of their hit points, but if the mage finishes them off, the kill is his/hers . Seeing the number of kills a (N)PC has is cool, but it doesn't neccessarily say everything about their power. Just my two cents...

 

The only problem with mages in BG1 is keeping them alive long enough to get to higher levels. If you do go for a mage then a specialist mage (conjurer or illusionist) is best if human or generalist if Elf (unless you want an enchanter - no evocation spells, but plenty of wands to supplement). Could be a Half-elf conjurer I think.

Try a mage/thief. Can wear armor and sneak around when not casting sells - and still reaches level 7 mage by end of game. This way you could surround yourself with more muscle for protection. I played one myself recently and it was excellent - best game so far. You end up being the centre of everything which is great from an rp point of view.

 

I'm going to play an Elf Ranger, hopefully I can get my Moonblade idea to work. I could easily play an Elf Mage if the Moonblade idea works as well though.

 

Thief-mage multi-class rules....

Thats what im currently playing through BG1 til the end. Its just bloody fun.

And of course every person plays a role. I need those three front-line people so my mages can launch the lightning bolts, etc. That ranger with the crossbow is quite useful to....but i think that ones icewind dale....<shrugs>....still cool.

 

I'm now trying out an elf fighter/mage. Seems pretty good so far.