Stupid Thief Question

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Doesn't say anything about that in the second edition handbook, just refers to it as a 'knife in the back' and gives no weapon examples. But I could perhaps envision a thief sandbagging somebody with a club moreso than I could them bopping the victim with a big old quarterstaff.

 

^^^^^^^^ @ Silvershield: Not only have I made it all the way through ToB without backstabbing, but I've made it through many, many times. No, I'm not fond of the thief class in general. I only went through the game once as a thief. I guess I'm not utilizing them to their fullest potential, because I've never really thought of them as anything more than lock-picking, trap-disarming archers. Although I LOVE their HLAs, particularly UAI and Spike Trap. I can't enjoy the game anymore without knocking out Mellisan's whole third attack with 4 or 5 STs.

This run-through, I will make a concerted effort to get the most from my thieves.

 

I don't click the weapon. I just hide. get behind them and attack and it's just never worked well for me. but maybe it's just been my luck period since I haven't used them much.

 

If you score a miss, it still counts as an attack and removes your invisibility. This is a big pain because thieves have bad THAC0, and it's part of what makes fighter/thieves attractive. Thieves also have only one attack per round, so sometimes your hide in shadows can just wear off before you ever get around to actually making your attack.

 

That's why Fighter/Thieves do sooOooOo much better than just regular thieves in the way of backstabbing. AND not just because of the thac0 bonus but also because of the specialization of weapons and being able to put 3 stars into two-weapon-fighting. But if you're just playing as a thief and you're wielding a smaller weapon type then you will be able to attack quicker. For example a knife will hit quicker than a long sword, thus allowing the thief to make quicker attacks (not attacks per round but rather how quick during each round). This will reduce the time in which you're 'waiting' for you're ONE attack each round and should lessen the chance of moving out of the shadows while attacking. Pretty sure that's how it goes!

@ Gregor
If you're unable to figure out on whether or not to take a thief class or not, there's a great guide here on SP somewhere that describes the entire class, kits and all. It also provides an in depth perspective on how to use a rogue during the game, strategies, enemy tips, weapon choices etc

It should really make you appreciate being a thief!

 

Backstab is neat. Coupled with some magery or fighting ability, it is simply DEVASTATING!

The example is a high level F/M/T. Cast mislead to stay invisible. Improved haste yourself. Dualw-wield 2 nice weapons. Have STR enhancing belt. Sneak to the back. Use Critical Hit HLA. Start smashing.

8 attacks/round, all are both critical hits and backstabs. Approx. 200+ damage per hit. Nothing can survive this carnage! Fun! Try that!

 

I do believe you when you say that Silver! But how long will it take a F/M/T to get his HLA's in ToB anyways and would they get many in the first place?

 

Gahh. It takes the same amount of time for multiclasses to get HLAs as pure classes, and they get just as many.

 

Thought they only got them at their respective HLA levels so yeah it would take them the same time BUT, because they have to wait for all the experience to get to those levels, wouldn't it take longer ...

 

No. Levels have nothing to do with when you begin to get HLAs. Pure classes begin getting HLAs when they have 3,000,000 XP. Multiclasses also begin getting HLAs when they have 3,000,000 XP. That's *total*.

 

OMG are you serious! I always thought it was when the particular class reached respective level. So in the case of a F/T, when the fighter hits level 20 and the thief hits level 24.

 

Nope. A multiclass will get HLAs when they have three million experience between both or all of their classes, so a fighter/mage/thief would only need one million in each class.

 

Damn! What was I looking at when I played as my Fighter/Thief!??? So that means that they get the same amount of HLA's huh.

 

Actually, they get more. Since they start getting them at earlier levels (which is , BTW) and get one for every level they advance in either class, they keep even with your other party members, and can even surpass them given the right circumstances.

 

So it is a little bit unbalanced eh? MCs really overpower DCs in ToB, which is a bummer as in pure SoA DCs were so versatile and strong! DC has lost its charm!

 

Personally, I hated the 2nd edition dual class system. Way too many limitations, way too little logic (very tenuous reasoning for not letting players use inactive class skills, no good reason for not letting players ever advance in their old class again once dualled). Didn't work particularly well with BG2, either, since the game marched on at the same pace regardless of whether you were a 13th level fighter or a 1st level mage. At least a DM might have made some allowances.

 

If nothing else a Good DM would have let you take on the piddly small time low level party jobs at the local tavern or some such compared to the high level ones to build up your XP with challenges that you could actually take on.

 

Yeah, or let a newly dual-classed character in on a lower level campaign or something. It really disrupts the flow of the game when you do it in BG2, though.

 

But the newly dual-classed PC will still have major HP.

Imagine a cleric dualled at level 14. He has 90+HP, and he joins a level 1 campaign as he is now a level 1, say, mage.

Wouldn'T it be odd, to have a 90 HP character with 4-8 HP characters? I think yes.

 

I didn't mean a level 1 campaign, just lower than level 13.