GW I see your point since Suul_yinn my first character was a multi-class thief/mage, but she was never able to learn above lvl 7 spells even with the EXP cap removed and 4 million plus EXP. Thus a multi makes a good general charcter, but long term a dual is far better, especially if you intend to buy the add on pack when it comes out. Mage/thieves are excellent as you can cast stone-skin, improved invisibility, tenser's transformation etc and do some serious back-stabbing.

What the...fighter/thief not a very good idea???? It is the best of ideas!!! Have you ever thought of the possibilities with a fighter dualled to a thief?? Think about it:
The fighter gets a fighters THACO and can be a grandmaster in weapons. After dualling, and you have gotten your thief-skills back, BAM!! You will never miss a backstab, + the thief almost always kills what it backstabs. This means liches and all sorts of mages will die very easy, and effectively. Why won't anybody believe me when I say that this makes the game really easy. I have played the game through with a kensai/thief on hard difficulty, so I would know, now wouldn't I.

If you need thief-skills in the beginning, just keep jan. He can be in the back picking his nose in combat, but will find traps, open locks and pick pockets. After you have gotten enough thief-skills to open locks and find traps for your fighter/thief, then you can finally kick jan out, and get someone more useful.

The gnomish thief/mage won't be able to backstab as much or as hard as a fighter/mage, and has really low hp. You only have limited amount of tenser's transformation spells, so there will not be much fighting. The gnome won't get much spells either. I say this is a weak, weak combination.

weak.

Not really. Have him memorise invisible and shadow door spells. Give him a girdle of hill giant strength. Only difference is no advanced specialisation and THAC0, but that's not such a big deal with a good, solid strength and mage spells at his disposal. You could have up to thirteen backstabs per fight, which isn't bad at all. 'Specially if he's using a katana.

THACO is quite a bit difference, but probably doesn't matter when it comes to dealing with mages. The gnome can only be proficient in weapons, so he/she won't get that good backstabs. And when you don't want the gnome to backstab, he/she is nearly useless in combat with the low hp and bad THACO. Then it has to rely on it's weak spells, can cast stoneskin, and then throw some magic missiles or something.

Yes, the gnome can turn invisible 13 times or whatever, but the fighter/thief can also turn invisible that many times, because there are mages in my party that can cast invisible on him. Weak I tell you.

Why can't he get good backstabs? Because he misses out on that +2 damage from specialisation? Boo hoo. And what's wrong with his spells? No necromancy? He's still got chain lightning.

My thief-mage with a strength of 8, no magical enhancements and the blade of roses could regularly do anything up to 100+ backstab damage. For large groups she would cast emotion, no save, leaving them vulnerable to backstabbing and other spells. Few humanoids can survive one x5 backstab so a fighter thieve' strike s is often total overkill. Yet a thief mage is far more versatile and doesn't have to rely on other mages to help them. Mages weak, they dominate the game. Think of all the humanoid encounters you fought. Which enemy gave you the most trouble? Bet it was a mage. Why do you think Irenicus was a mage? I don't count the impossible to kill assassins in the guild as they were fixed. Even 1st level spells are devastating with higher level mages. Chromatic Orb turns enemies to stone. My 'weak' mage/thief used it in Kangaax, before turning him to dust with one blow. Maybe you prefer a fighter/thief, but they are not much better than a mage/thief in h-to-h combat as they are delicate due to low HP's and poor armour. After the backstab they are vulnerable to other enemies, whereas a mage/thief can disappear or just disable them all first. Plus stoneskin, immunities etc mean they are far safer in the thick of it than your fighter/thief. Then there is always Tenser's transformation.

Just +2 from specialization?? Oh well, I was more thinking of the kensai, who has and additional +2 damage. this means +4*4=16 more damage in the beginning, and 20 more when x5 backstabs. That is quite a lot isn't it? As a fighter he is also very good, killing the enemy fast and effective.

Ok, I got to admit, the gnome can be a useful spellcaster, but the spells will not last for long. When he has casted the chainlightning, and the other powerful spells (which equals a normal fighter), he has the low level spells left, and will not come up to the standard of a fighter/thief. The hitpoints is just bothering me. I still think the fighter/thief is a better choice.

Yes, the fighter/thief will do overkills to a lot of monsters, but it is great against trolls, greater wolferes, etc. Besides, you never have to worry that the victim won't die, and focus on other monster.

I still say the gnome thief/mage is bad, but if you like more thief-skills and have some from the start, then a gnome/mage is a good choice. When it comes to combat, this thief will be as bad as Jan (or worse). A thief (choose a kit) dualled to a mage is much better, if you don't care about hide in shadows, detect illussions etc.