multi/dual classing possibilities

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I was hoping to get people's opinions on some of the less-played multi and dual classes.

Everyone always talks about one of these:

MC ranger/cleric
DC kensai/mage
DC swashbuckler/mage
MC figher/druid

How about some of the other possibilities? Does anyone ever play them?

Are there any MC or DC cleric/thieves out there? Or how about a DC wizard slayer/mage? What would a DC stalker/cleric be like? You could also get into some paradoxical ones. You can start as a Cleric of Lothander - god of rebirth - and dual-class into a necromancer - if you use SK.

There are certainly other possibilities out there, and I was hoping some people would tell of their experiences with them, just because they're combinations not many people play, there's no NPC with that combo, so many people simply don't know. Feel free to add other combos not listed here, but please don't go over why ranger/clerics or kensai/mages kick ass. We all know they're really, really good.

 

He would be able to backstab with a club, only club, nothing else. That's because the club is the only weapon a thief can use.

He would be ablo to cast all cleric and druid spells, no matter what level you dual him at. I guess that's a bug, but it's hardcoded and not easy to get rid of(would we really?). He would also get those extra mage spells the stalker got, which can hel a lot.

 

You forgot to list another well-established DC combo of Kensai/Thief

Anyways... I've tried Assassin/Fighter and compared it to the Kensai/Thief. You get a better armour class, but fewer hit points, so that balances out. The Kensai will get hit more often, but has more hitpoints to absorb the blows; while the Assassin dodges more attacks but has less HP. It's a tough call between Kai and poison weapon. Personally I think poison weapon is better (especially against spell casters), but both are great at killing. Early on, the assassin has a harder time since he doesn't start out with the strength bonus when rolling your character, plus the THAC0 of a thief sucks before dualing.

But of course, the primary interest in comparing those DC's is potential backstab damage. In my experience, the Kensai/Thief was better. IIRC my max backstab damage done was well over 200 damage. The assassin max was around 100-150 (did NOT factor in poison weapon damage nor kai).

Some other differences that you may want to consider are thieving points (Kensai/Thief has potentially more). And a helmet... IIRC my kensai/thief could only use an Ioun stone while the Assassin/fighter could wear helmets.

A similarity worth mentioning is both can achieve grand mastery.

So apart from a slower start, Assassin/Fighter could be a viable alternative to the highly-flaunted Kensai/Thief.

 

@ Blog

What level did you dual class from Assassin to Fighter? I think that would be key in determining maximum backstab damage. Assassins do not max out their backstab until level 21. I do not know offhand, but my guess is there probably isn't enough available XP in the game for you to become a level 21 assassin, dual to fighter, and reach level 22 fighter to regain your thief abilities. At best, you're still without a thief for a long time when you dual class. If you dual prior to level 18 (when the backstab hits X6) then in term of backstabbing ability, an assassin is no better than a bounty hunter or a regular theif. Of course, you're probably taking it for the poison.

@ Daephon

The other possibility there would be a quarterstaff for a backstabbing weapon. However, given the fact that a ranger automatically gets two proficiency points in two-weapon style, it's probably a good idea to go with two clubs. I guess anyone playing that character class does Trademeet very early on. On the other hand, when he's not backstabbing, he can use any weapon a cleric would be allowed to use (do stalkers have weapon restrictions as well?). I know stalkers are restricted in what weapons they can use to backstab (thief weapons), but I don't know if it applies to all weapons even if they aren't trying to backstab. For example, can you equip a Stalker/Cleric with Crom Faeyr? So I guess it's possible to be restricted to three weapons the whole game - quarterstaff, club, and sling.

 

Of course you can, the Stalker has no weapon restrictions

 

@Blog: you are forgetting that the kensai/thief with Use Any Item, can wear helmets and stuff.

You say your assasin/fighter will have a beter AC. Why? The kensai/thief can wear the same or maybe even better armor + he gets a +2 bonus. I know he won't be able to use thieving skills while wearing full plate, but the same goes for the assasin/fighter.

So I say the kensai/thief is much better than the assasin/fighter (better AC, better THAC0, more thief points, more hit points). Am I thinking wrong here?
But even if I'm right, I'm not saying the assasin/fighter wouldn't be a cool class to play, just less powerful.