I completed it with no cheats and a Paladin. I used Spider's Bane as soon as I got it, and i made sure to get every decent item. In the end i had 25 % Magic resist from the cloak of Balduran and my AC was about 9. I also had a good stats roll and after they were tomed up they look like this:

Str 19
dex 19
con 19
wis 17
int 12
cha 19

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Haladar
Mithril Cavalier of ALSB
Guardian of The Holy Temple of Aerie

Kickass characters on both counts, guys. Fighter/Thief is indeed a great class, but my personal preference dictates against Multiclassing a Fighter, because of the severe restriction on your weapon specialization. The best Fighter/Thief is a Dual-classed Fighter/Thief, in my book.

My solo Thief can still go toe-to-toe with most enemies: That hacked helm lets him reach an AC of -1 (still feel a little guilty about cheating, but hey, with a solo character you have a little leeway), so once he comes out of a backstab (LOVE that backstab!) he'll be all too happy to continue using the Dagger of Venom on you. (He also carries some Potions of Defense, just in case.) He still has to watch his ass when dealing with things like Sirenes, of course--but who doesn't?

Paladins are also a strong class, but why not go Fighter? If it's a case of Lay On Hands vs. being able to put more than 2 stars into a weapon, I'd go with the stars every time. Unless you're thinking of taking that character into BG2, in which case, a Paladin is definitely worth his salt.

And as for Drifter's soloing the whole game with a Mage--WOW! http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/noncgi/smiles/eek.gif

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Boots of Stealth: 1125 gp
Shadow Armor: 7875 gp
Slipping an Oil of Firey Burning down the back of Sarevok's armor: Priceless

Yes, I think that being unable to master in weapons for m/c characters is a big flaw. Seems completely unfair. I still prefer the M/C F/T as the THAC0 bonuses etc along with the increase in thieving skills is a lot to miss out on, particularly if you dual over in BG1 but then export over to solo BG2 and ToB you will have a (relatively in game terms) low level PC in one class or the other. I don't recall the XP cap for ToB but it's in the millions, that makes for a pretty awesome M/C character that has reaped the benefits of both classes all the way with the exception of weapon specialization...... But yes the weapon specialization sucks.

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One love, peace.