I am currently playing a dwarf through the whole series. I have finished BG1 and am now chap 3 of BG2

BG1: a fighter spec in axes (for throwing/ranged weapon) and war hammers for close combat. I got all the tombs for a great 19 strength, 18 dex, 20 constitution (this means massive healing when resting), 19 wisdom, 6 int and 10 charisma [img]smile.gif[/img]

BG2: i converted him to a battlerager (bezerker) and started with *** axes and *** dual wield. for a ranged weapon that is really good side with bodhi at the docks quest which is a +3 throwing hammer which returns to you ;) be sure to buy the fortress shield at the adventure mart for a really good ranged defence!

for close combat use frost reiver and stone fire dual wield. These elemental attacks bypass the effects of stoneskin [img]smile.gif[/img]

later stages build proficiencies with war hammers. Final set up should be the crom faeyer in the off hand and the +5 TOB axe in the main hand.... a walking god!!

i can't see a class being too much better than this. The immunities and bonuses for enrage make it a worth while with a dwarf and i prefer the dwarven culture of throwing axes over bows anyway

Nice build there, Rockstar. You forgot to add the innate dwarven bonuses to saving throws vs magic and poison. The magic bonus helps counteract the fighter's biggest weakness.

Just what is with the -1Dex adjustment for dwarves? It isn't classic 2nd Ed. AD&D; I thought it was a Bioware/Black Isle convention? Anyway, dwarves are supposed to get +1Con/-1Cha. I usually adjust my dwarven thieves' or fighter/thieves' scores in Shadowkeeper which may well be controversial, or indeed frowned upon by some of you guys, but there you go.

It should be said that 17 Dex for a dwarven T or F/T isn't much of a problem considering they get bonuses to the important skills anyway.

yes. Especially combined with 18+ wisdom which adds a further +8 (i think) to magic resistance.

The regeneration also makes it easier to heal by resting until i can get the ring of regen or ring of gax

Wisdom has nothing to do with saving throws, dispite what the manual says.

Pretty sure that in 2nd edition the maximum desterity a dwarf can have is 17. I think that's how it's implemented (I haven't checked, but I don't think dwarves do get a -1 to DEX in BG2).

Dwarves don't get a -1 to Dexterity, they just have a maximum of 17.

You might well be right there - although the effect's the same thing. I'd have to break out the 1st Ed. books to have a proper look as the PG listed all of the min/max stats per character race on each characteristic table.

However, thinking about it that doesn't make sense. Halflings have modified stats of 17 STR and 19 DEX which neatly corresponds to a -1 STR and +1 Dex modifier. All of the races are described in the same way in 2nd Ed. They took out the more specific race/gender limitations e.g. elves have a maximum strength, of which female elves have a lower maximum strength etc. (I can't remember exact values at the moment but trust me they're there.)

I do know they kept some of the racial minimums however, as you can't lower certain racial scores below that value in character creation. Arrrgh! I wish they'd been a little bit less mish-mash with the rules when they made these games.

"You might well be right there - although the effect's the same thing."

Well not quite. To really, really nitpick, the fact that you have a max of 17 and not a -1 to dexterity means that you get a distribution of 3-17 (i.e., the only difference is that any 18 you roll is dropped) versus 2-17 (where the odds of getting 17 are only half of what they are in the other case). So it has a small effect on the number of attribute points you can expect to roll.

Oh alright. Fair point ister, but does anyone know the racial maximum for dwarven dexterity? It would be annoying if it is seventeen as there are plenty of other racial maximums that don't require a characteristic die roll modifier similar to the dwarf but are not represented in the game. Put simply - why single the short people out?