Hmmm... Maybe, but most mid-to-high level Mages cast also Pro-Magic-Weapons and/or Mislead - both are spells that a solo assassin will find hard to counter (with 15 points per level, are you really going to put points in Detect Illusions?)

Are you playing with the Grandmastery patch? Being a Grandmaster in a weapon gives you +5 damage.
A level 40 Swashbuckler will receive +8 bonus to damage - but will also suffer -4 penalty for using the "regular" Whirlwind. The Fighter will use Greater Whirlwind, so eventually, he will deal more damage: 5 > 8 - 4... ;)

As for AC, don't overlook Blades. They can achieve rock bottom (albeit temporary) AC while under the effect of Defensive Spin, Blur, etc...

The amount of the enemies who don't wear helms is quite surprising. ;) Unfortunately, all bosses do.

As for Improved Haste - if you're willing to abuse it, Vhailor's Helm means unlimited Improved Haste (among other things), due to the fact that IH can be cast on others.

Indeed, the backstabs' value decreases as the game goes on, but it's still a huge plus in favor of the F/T. Even in ToB, quite a few enemies can be blasted into little pieces with a single blow. ;) And don't forget Assassinate, too!

[ 01-06-2003, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: Alson ]

But they don't usually cast those until you've made yourself visible, and they should already be poisoned by then [img]smile.gif[/img] But I've heard the poison duration isn't exactly what it should be, it's in fact much shorter, is this correct?

But such sitting ducks they would be [img]smile.gif[/img] They can't activate both spins at once can they? The Bard isn't that great of a fighter when he's not doing the Offensive spin, is he?

My Swashbuckler would still get +2 dmg from his Specialization so the real difference in proficiency level is only +3 dmg. Besides, I play with the Extended Lvl 50 XP Cap, so my damage will eventually reach +12 (with the specialization) compared to the Fighters +5. Subtract the Whirlwind penalty, it's still +8 > +5

I wouldn't be willing to abuse it though [img]smile.gif[/img]

Don't know... I'm probably one of the worst thief players out there.

Not if they wear the Ring of Free Action. ;)

Nope - only one at a time.

That's what Tenser's Transformation was made for. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

OK, accepted. Usually i don't take 3rd party mods into consideration, but this the diffrences here are too small to argue for. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Oh! We forgot the Archer! Or are you ruling him out because he's not a fighter? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Same here... BG2 is already too easy. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-06-2003, 11:45 AM: Message edited by: Alson ]

Really? Was the ring really intended to negate the "rooting"? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Tenser's Transformation doesn't sound THAT good from it's description. Sure it doubles your life and gives you a decent AC and THAC0 bonus, but the dmg bonus isn't that spectacular and there's no APR increase. If anything, it seems to be more of a defensive skill than an offensive one. Don't doubt that a Blade can tank really well, but isn't his hitting power rather poor compared to the Swashbuckler?

Indeed, melee fighters only now [img]smile.gif[/img] Though I do think his ability to dole out physical damage is impressive.

The Grand Mastery Patch is a 3rd party mod itself isn't it? :D I read that it wasn't intended to work like it does with the patch, because of balance issues.

If we rule out both the XP cap extender and the GM Patch, the Swashbuckler would still be +3 dmg ahead [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-06-2003, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Rataxes ]

I need to know the advantages a Swashy has over a F/T.

P.S. I don't care about the leveling; I prefer waiting (Solo single class maxes out to quickly).

Advantages are

- Much better damage
- FAR superior AC

Disadvantages are

- Misses out on a few useful Fighter abilities such as Hardiness,
Greater Deathblow and Critical Strike
- Misses out on both Backstab and Assassination
- Slightly worse THAC0 when using Whirlwind (since your version gets
a -4 THAC0 penalty while the F/T's enhanced version does not)
- Slightly weaker in the beginning due to not being able to wear heavy armour, makes up for this by getting a +2 AC bonus from the beginning, which becomes +3 already at lvl 10.

That's about it I think, an F/T will also in the end have more than twice as many HLA's due to maxing out two classes. Though you'll never need more than 20-25 in total.

[quote]Originally posted by Rataxes:
[QB]Really? Was the ring really intended to negate the "rooting"?

Well, I don't believe that this is its purpose, but it is one of the best.

What would you recommend, Swashy or F/T? This is for a solo, fairly high stats. If Swashy I will probably use Belm+CF/Sanchy, and if F/T possibly the uber Staff (guess)

Argh..quote doesnt work