On the other hand...dual wielding in BG1

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I very much appreciate the EasyTutu version of BG1 since it enables all the various cool kits and dual wielding. Well, scratch that. I think dual wielding is overrated in BG1.

The best I can understand it, you start off with -4 to hit with your off hand and are limited in the number of proficiency points you can work to reduce that.

When you take into account at low level what poor THACO you start with (among all classes, not just mages and thieves), I can't bring myself to dual wield at all.

Short of an out and out fighter like Kagain, Khalid or Minsc that gets a fair number of proficiency points and loads of bonuses to hit and damage, I don't bother dual wielding any of my characters. My tanks Jaheira and Yeslick are sword and shield style, all the way.

Am I missing something? Perhaps in BG2 where you have enough proficiency points to overcome the initial penalties, is dual wielding worth it.

 

Well IIRC, rangers are naturally adept at two weapon fighting, stick one more point to it at the start and start dual-swinging!

 

Silverstar ir right, rangers get 2** for free on character creation, as do ranger/cleric.

 

Yep, stick another point right at the start, for the max of 3, and then you will only have a -2 penalty to your off-hand THAC0, which can be negated by high STR, and specialisation THAC0 bonuses. You get 2+½ attacks/round at level 1 if you dual wield weapons you are specialised at. Not bad for a start, eh?

So pick a ranger and spend your initial 4 weapon proficiencies like this:

*Two weapon proficiency (it will be *** now)
**To your favourite melee single handed weapon for specialisation, and dual wield them only!
* to any ranged weapon of your choice, just in case. Bows are sure handy!

 

So it appears a ranger is worth doing. But since in BG1, I'm so missile dependent if I want to dual wield, I'm swapping weapons constantly.

None of the NPC's except Minsc are gifted this way and he comes I believe with two-handed sword specialty.

I'm not convinced on dual wielding. I think I'll save my dual wielding for my blade run-through.

 

Dual weilding isn't that great in BG1, unless you've got a superb STR score.

Sacrificing the bonus AC from a shield just isn't worth the extra attack IMHO. In BG2, I only will dual-weild if the offhand weapon grants some nice special effects. Remember, no matter how many ApR your character has, the offhand weapon will only add 1.

 

Dual wielding is great for Wizard Slayers. I played one through BG Tutu and it was a lot of fun.

When you start you should first get ++ in a weapon and get +++ in dual wielding at level 3 (dual wielding gives a penalty to attacks which is very hefty for low level characters).

 

Real pain for dual-wielders, IMHO, you can not effectively and quickly switch to a ranged weapon, ie:bow, and this is really annoying!

You can safely dual-wield on hapless victims for maximised damage. If the victim is held or webbed or uncouncious, even your old-school mage can get two daggers for each hand and start piercing through!