Fighter/Mage

Remove all ads!

Hi Guys, I have a question, maybe abit of a newbie question, but here goes...

I want to play through BG2 (no ToB installed) with a 4 member party:

PC - Fighter / Mage
Yoshimo/Imoen
Kelsey
Viconia

...Now, my question really is; whats better to do? Dual Class a fighter at maybe level 9? Or start Multi Class? And what is the best level to dual class if I choose to do so? Also, what would be the best weapon combination? I always thought that dualing Long Swords was the most powerful as 2 good long swords are available straight away (Daystar and Blade of Roses) and there are also some really powerful ones later (Equalizer etc)

What are your thoughts?

Cheers Guys!

 

Dual at level 9. For SoA that's IMO much better than multiclass F/M.

Equalizer is really quite crappy - considering that you get it so late - and I never use it. Daystar has a nice ability, so it's nice, but use another weapon as your main weapon. There are so many long swords you can choose from that it's a good idea to keep a number of different ones in your inventory. Long Sword is a good and safe choice, but IMO not the best.

My favourite weapons are the following:
Staff of the Archmagi +5
Celestial Fury +3
Flail of the Ages +3
Mace of Disruption +2
Azuredge +3 (patched - http://www.baldurdash.org/SoAfix/FixedBG2Azuredge.zip ).

[Fixed the link.] -Tal

[ September 18, 2003, 13:44: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

I agree that dualclassing at level 9 is good for SoA. Your party looks a little bit weak fighterwise to me, but I like to get in the thick of things usually, so it might be only me.

Long swords are a nice choice, as you get a lot of variation, but as Earl Grey pointed out, other weapon classes can be good as well. It depends on your playing style, I guess (e.g. whether you like weapons which buff your offensive abilities or ones that help you defensively).

[ September 18, 2003, 14:05: Message edited by: Kralizek ]

 

If you have the XP cap remover installed, you'd better go for MC, or else I suggest to dual at lvl 9...

 

I would seriously consider thinking of a dual-classed Kensai/Mage. The Kensai/Mage is the pinacle of dualclassery

Kensai can't wear armour, bracers, helmets or shields. A mage can't either. While a fighter/mage can wear certain types of armour and use shields, you won't be using a shield it sounds like. I'd go for as many slots as possible in Single-Weapon fighting style and get a -2 to AC. Get 18 Dex and have -2 to AC. Get a Ring of Protection +2 and the Ring of Gaxx and you get -4 to AC. Cloak of the Sewers, -1 to AC. Pretty soon you'll have -2 AC, plus spells like Mirror Image, Stoneskin and Improved Invis. (which gives you another -4 to AC). A Kensai/Mage is a REALLY powerful char. I highly recommend him.

PS: Dual him at level 9

 

I personally think the Kensai/Mage is overrated, but maybe that's because I like wearing the Robe of Vecna too much.
But definately go dual-classed. If you dual at level 7 you'll have full access to both classes as early as possible. The reason I suggest dual-classing is you'll get 6th level spells quicker. Tenser's Transformation and Improved Haste will let you kill just about anything with ease. And at higher levels you get to Spell Sequence them both along with Stoneskin.
I've played a dual class Ftr/Mage dualling long swords several times and I don't think there's any character that can be as powerful as this combination.

 

In this particular situation he has 3 mages. Kelsey will probably get the Robe of Vecna while Imoen will get a generic one (unless he gets Weimer's item mod, which I would recommend). The F/M would have to have some armour, since there's no other really valuable robes out there. A F/M is a powerful combo since he can use spells like mirror image and others to take most of the spells away from other players. He can walk up all alone to an enemy and get hit with the worst of the spells (Lichs for example), then the other players can come in and start fighting. One aspect where this works well is with The Twisted Rune.

I'd still go with the Kensai/Mage though.

 

If we're going into a discussion about what kit to choose - which was not the topic - I have to say that I prefer Berserker/Mage over Kensai/Mage.