dual class exp

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I am new here so please forgive me if this has already been addressed but here goes...

I usually play pure classes - necromancer, sorcerer, archer etc but I wondered about a kensi dualed to mage at level 7 or 13. Will I be able to reach the maximum mage level and have full access to all spell levels and/or special abilities.

I look forward ot your replies.

 

With level 7 you might (64K XP), with level 13 you won't (around 1.2M XP IIRC). Consult your manual for exact numbers.

 

Cheers, I think I will give it a shot

 

To add to what chev has said, you hit your maximum mage level at 125,000 XP before the XP cap. I'm not totally sure on this, but I think that mage level 31 (max level) occurs at 7,875,000 XP. So you'll be fine if you dual at level 7, and you'll even be OK at level 8 (although there is very little advantage in going to level 8 as opposed to level 7, other than receiving 6-10 more hitpoints). Two additional things to point out:

1. While the difference between 7 and 8 is minimal, there is a big difference between 7 and 9. At level 9 you get an additional weapons proficiency, and an additional use of the kai ability, so if you don't dual at level 7, level 9 is still a possibility. You will max your mage level at level 30 under this scenario, but honestly, the difference between a level 30 and level 31 mage is minimal.

2. Keep in mind that if you are playing with a full party of six characters, it is highly unlikely you will get anywhere near the XP cap. With a group of 6 NPCs, you'll likely finish the game with around 6 million to 6.5 million XPs per character.

EDIT:

I just realized you were posting in the SoA forum. What I said above is only good for ToB. For SoA, the XP cap is 2,950,000 XP. The mage hits level 19 at 3,000,000 XP, so in this scenario, you have about 275,000 extra XPs to play with. If you only are doing the SoA portion of the game, there is no problem with going to level 9 as a kensai - you'll still get to the same mage level as a dual class as you would playing a straight mage. However, you won't get anywhere near max level if you take the kensai out to level 13 - you end up with 4 fewer mage levels.

 

Thanks thats much apreciated. I was thinking of soloing and maybe bringing my exp up reading scrolls. My familiar will be a cat to detect traps and a few knocks should get me through.

I dread the battle in the bridge district for the staff of the magi.

 

To add to chev's and Aldeth's comments:

A couple of other reasons to wait until after level 7 -- at level 8, you get a -1 to weapon speed, and at level 9, in addition to an extra kai and proficiency point, you get another +1 to thac0 and damage.

 

Oh, yes. I forgot about that. That's even more reason to wait until level 9. Basically it boils down to this - the benefits of going to level 8 aren't worth it, unless you plan on continuing to level 9. For me, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't wait until level 9 to dual, although some people advocate dual-classing right from the very beginning to get their old abilities back in the shortest amount of time possible.

And there is some merit in this. If you dual right at level 7, then you get your kensai abilities back at mage level 8. That's just 90,000 XP. On the other hand, if you wait to dual at level 9, you don't even dual until you've already earned 250,000 XP, and you don't get your kensai skills back until you hit mage level 10, which I believe is somewhere around 300,000 XP. So the difference is earning 90,000 XP (basically around the time you escape Irencus' Dungeon, versus over half a million.

 

Pretty much the only way solo a dual class character is if you do one pile of quests, but don't go back and talk to the people who gave you the quest. Talk to them later, after you've dualled, to get the XP. That way, you can get your abilities back really quick. No fighting required.

 

Thats a great idea Mystra's. And thanks to everyone that provided advise.

 

[ Reference to ToB feature deleted ] - Beren

[ October 21, 2004, 11:34: Message edited by: Beren ]