F/T or F/M/T?

To be honest, if you're going to use un-nerfed tables, then a blade would probably own both a f/m and f/m/t

 

If you don't mind a bit of SKing you could go for a Wild Mage Multiclass. That being said I wouldn't go for three classes as it won't be that effective unless you're soloing the game.

Regarding that party I'd say some extra arcane power may comes in handy (although the Wild Mage will make the other spellcaster look rather limited when he will turn all the level one spells into much more potent spells) I'm not sure this character will really keep up with the rest (he/she will be able to do everything but won't be as good as the others especially when spellcasting is concerned).

 

Also, regarding Ranger/Clerics, I prefer to dual a ranger to a cleric. The reason is that you advance as a cleric as if you were a single class, but get most of the benefits from being a ranger. Dual at level 9 or so.

When you regain your Ranger class abilities, you spell selection will change from that of a pure cleric to that of a ranger/cleric (including the nice druid spells such as summon insects and call lightning).

 

BARDS can't backstab. Also AFAIK, bards get WW and GWW in their HLA pool instead of assassination right? F/M/Ts will get both

Edit - I meant bards can't backstab lol

 

You mean bards can't backstab =)

A blade with un-nerfed tables gets

1. Higher spell levels and more spells then a F/I, much less a F/I and FMT. Only he can't get lvl 9 spells

2. Better thaco, due to higher levels beyond lvl 20, but less APR

And I don't think that anyone will dispute that higher mage levels = win

3. Blades don't get ww or gww. They get improved bard song, which, if cheesed, is probably the best HLA in the game

 

I don't have my books with me atm, but I don't think bards get the trap HLAs, either. I honestly can't see Imp. Bard Song being a better HLA than Timestop Trap. Hell, even Use Any Item, if used properly, can be a devastating ability. It's the only way to get anyone good to use Carsomyr, and even if that does mean forgoing backstabing, Carsomyr+6 with 5* in Two-Handed Swords and a high lvl fighter's THAC0 can truely pwn, especially when backed up by TimeStop, Improved Haste, and isn't there a fighter HLA that makes all attacks in the next round or something criticals?

Even if Imp. Bardsong is more powerful than I'm giving it credit, it's just about the only really good ability the bards get. I don't think it's worth sacrificing traps, gww, and the effectiveness of UAI (bards can already use scrolls and wands, and can't get very good with weapons), not to mention more HP, better THAC0, and more HLAs due to multiclassing.

 

@NOG

Even worse, they have assassination which makes all attacks in the round or two backstabs. Forget your lousy critical hit for 2x damage, how about backstab for 5x damage? There is also the Soul Reaver sword, seem to remember that is very good but only usable by evil characters (I almost never played evil characters).

Personally I still think solo class thieves are worthless in BGII - you dont really need high levels to be an effective thief, and the thief's survivability and combat ability is boosted greatly by a few levels of fighter, even if its a dual class rather than a multi class.

I've never created a single bard character, for some reason the class doesnt appeal to me at all.

 

Actually, bards do get time traps. And UAI.

Not to mention offensive spin, which is like a double duration kai with haste.

To be honest, I was a fan of f/t and fmt as well, simply because they are so much more straight forward to play. But, after 10 yrs and tactics, IA and now SCSII (my favourite btw), I've come to appreciate and like playing bards and f/m because of their tactical complexity.

 

One of the HLAs that a thief has going for him or her is the ability to use any weapon even if their alignment or class is wrong for it. Some weapons will not be that good in the hands of a thief but others may be.

 

SCSII makes things anything from slightly harder to much much harder depending on how you configure it, but it doesnt really influence experience gains much at all. It may add an extra monster here and there, which would boost experience, but overrall its more about smarter enemies using better spells than completely changing the game.

 

You should check out SCSII at gibberlings3.net. It has really got me fired up over BG2 again, much like earlier versions of IA. In fact, I have already restarted the game several times to adapt to the new strategies needed...

 

I havn't really played any of the harder mods, so I won't be much help here, but from the reviews that I HAVE read, it apparently makes the game a HELL of a lot harder. If you were to solo, then I guess mage levels would be needed for that extra kick. Also, seeing as how you're using a mod to add to the difficulty, I guess using a mod to remove the XP cap would be justified

For the people that have played IA or SCSII, can it be done with a solo F/T??

 

Yes, if you are willing to

1. compromise on difficulty by installing easier components
2. resort to cheese

Since SCSII does not block cheesy exploits

 

Proteus, unfortunately, you can't backstab with two-handed swords in BG2 (unless there's a mod somewhere). I think that even applies to assassination, but I'm not sure. That being said, assassination+dual-wielded Shortsword of Mask and Shortsword of Backstabbing+5 is definitely competative with Carsomyr, especially if you ShadowKeeper in that thief kit that get's extra backstabbing damage (up to 7X I believe). Still, you loose the dispell-on-hit of Carsomyr for those mage battles (and remember that contincencies can even be triggered inside Timestop, while your disabling spells won't work until timestop wears off).

Mongerman, I stand corrected on the traps, then, though I still say UAI won't be nearly as effective with a bard. They can already use scrolls and wands, so no benefit there, and they can't get the kind of weapons proficiencies (or the base thac0) that the fighter 1/2 of the F/T (or 1/3 of F/M/T) that a fighter can. Carsomyr+6 in the hands of a bard is little better than it in the hands of a paladin (and maybe worse in some situations), even with Timestop traps. The problem with a bard using UAI is similar to a pure-class thief using it: you can't do anything really good with the items you can now use. A fighter multi-class, though, can.

Mind you, I'm not arguing for a second that the bard class is weak. One of my favorite PCs in BG2 was a bard. All I'm saying is they aren't really a replacement for a F/T multiclass, the two are just different animals.

 

@NOG

Yeah, thats why, even though I know thieves can use Carsomyr with UAI, I never give it to them because I'd rather they specialize in weapons that they can backstab with, such as katanas or long swords. For some reason I'm not a huge fan of short swords. If your fighter class was a Wizard Slayer, you get the additional 10% cumulative spell failure on hit though. Even if the mage survives (not likely) he wont be doing anything for a while.

 

When I had a half-orc wizard slayer I used 2 weapons because I wanted to get more hits in. 2-handed weapons are powerful and fighters can use them but I believe the number hits is what you want with a wizard slayer.

Besides I got a kick out of running around with 2 battle-axes (one of which was quite good).

 

I believe NOG and other players give Carsomyr to f/t and bards not for damage, just for the dispell effect. Once spell protections are dispelled, switch back to your normal weapon and cut the mage to ribbons

 

I wasn't thinking about the amount of damage you do with 2 weapons vs 2 handed weapons (someone else started a detailed thread about that a while back). I was thinking about the special ability of wizard slayer fighters to disrupt future spellcasting.

My understanding is that each hit is cumulative with past ones and raises the likelihood an attempt at spellcasting will fail by 10%.

I think the chance to make future spellcasting fail works against both enemy mages and clerics.

I've only seen 2 possible wizard slayer party members in the game, the protagonist if you choose to be a wizard slayer and forgo other classes, and a halfling that attacks people who take the planar sphere/mage stronghold back in SoA.

This ability can be handy against major spellcasting foes.