I have now over the past couple of weeks been battling with myself wether I should play a Swashbuckler (Thief kit) or a Stalker (Ranger kit). I have received much response and advice on the subject, but I just can´t make up my mind. So therefor I will use this post to summarize much of the facts about the two classes.

When you read this post and come with advice, its important to understand that I intend to take either a pure Thief or a pure Ranger (with party) first through BG1 + exp (TotSC), then import the character to BG2 (SoA) and choose a kit there Than I will play all the way to the end in ToB.
When I play through the whole saga like this, it will have an effect on the starting stats. In BG1 there are some "tomes" that raises each of the six stats (str, con....). So when I intend to play as an elf, I will by the end of BG1 + exp. have about 19 in str, 20 in dex and 18 in con.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT SPOIL ME WHEN IT COMES TO MOST OF BG2 AND ToB, AS I HAVE NOT PLAYED THOSE YET.

Also note what I want from this character:
- I would like to try out the dual wielding options. That was the first reason why I discovered the classes.
- I want the character to have a good or average AC
- I want the character to be versatile, so that he also can use bow with a certain skill
- I want the character to be able to deal out good (or better :haha: ) or average damage.

When you take these points into consideration, mark my last point: IT MUST BE FUN TO PLAY. So tell me about your own experience.

Stalker:excellent when dual wielding katanas-Celestial Fury+Dak`kon Zerth Blade,he has backstabb,couple of spells he is a good one.


Swashbuckler:this guy is great! He has very good(if not the best) AC ibn the game. He gets certain special High Level Abilititly in ToB that makes him very... versatile. He cannot backstabb but he is pratcticlly a fighter.

- I would like to try out the dual wielding options. That was the first reason why I discovered the classes.

Definitely the Stalker. Rangers get free proficiencies in Dual-Wielding.

- I want the character to have a good or average AC

Swashbuckler has great natural AC.

- I want the character to be versatile, so that he also can use bow with a certain skill

If you are going for Bows the Ranger would be the obvious choice. There are some nice Short Bows in the game but a cool Longbow outdoes them at any time.

- I want the character to be able to deal out good (or better :haha: ) or average damage.

Both can do that. The Stalker can (ironically the Swashbuckler/Thief can't) backstab which will kill some annoying folks in one blow.


All in all I'd vote for the Stalker for several reasons

a.) Backstabbing
b.) Longbows
c.) Natural Enemies. If you e.g. choose Trolls these normally annoyingly strong fiends will fall like flies.
d.) Stronghold quests are more interesting
e.) Priest spells

In ToB the Swashbuckler may eventually outgrow the Stalker on higher levels but as SoA is the longest and most fun part I'd go for the Stalker.

Though longbows far from exceed shortbows in terms of damage.
And I'm warning you, if you ask proof I'll poor all the Jim-threads I can find over your head, effectively driving you crazy with all the numbers [img]smile.gif[/img]

By the very end of the game, the Swashbuckler will have just about the lowest AC possible in the game, due to his THAC0 + AC bonus every 5 levels, and due to his versatility. Yes, the Stalker can Backstab while the Swashbuckler can't, but all you need to incapacitate a Mage is 1 good hit with the right kind of weapon. And let's not forget about Traps, now, either. ;)

Swashbucklers will also have a good THAC0 as well--not quite as good as a Stalker, but close. Not with ranged weapons, though: Swashbucklers can put ** into melee weapons, but only * in ranged weapons, and that second star makes a lot of difference.

Those who think that Longbows outdamage Shortbows haven't been using their Bows correctly. [img]tongue.gif[/img] There are also some damn good Crossbows out there, and only 1 of them is Heavy.

ozzi, one thing I should note if you want to think about taking a pure Thief all the way through ToB: You won't need it. Long before the end of the game (and I mean long before), you'll be Leveling Up and you won't give a damn WHERE you put those 25 Thieving points, because all of your skills are already over 150%. In short, all Thief levels over 20 are pretty much wasted, because that's when you start to run out of places where you can put your Thieving points and still have them be of any real use. For this reason, you might consider Dualing a Swashbuckler into some other class.

Could someone point me to the jim threads about Bows? I can't seem to find it and I'm curious to them...

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