I was really never into the whol dual-classing thing but I feel like experimenting. I wanted to make a mage and dual class him around level 11 or 12 to a thief (I hate how the characters in the game are the other way around, thieves dual classed into mages and I find their thieving abilities sub-par). And then I got thinking, why not have a specialist mage? Are they allowed to dual class or when I reactive the mage abilities, will I have a standard level 11 mage? Also, when I begin to dual class, can I have a specialty thief like an assassin, or is that not allowed?

You can't dual class a specialist mage AFAIK.

If you dual at level 11 mage, once you hit level 12 as a thief, you will gain all your level 11 mage abilities back. You will not advance any more in mage ever again.

I'm 90% sure you can't dual class a mage to an assassin; you can only dual to a normal thief IIRC. I seem to recall having an assassin dualed to a fighter once though.

[ 11-26-2006, 09:53 PM: Message edited by: Lord ]

You can only start the game with a kit.

The reason the NPCs (Imoen and Nalia) are Thief > Mages rather than Mage > Thiefs is because it's much more powerful that way.

You get more HP, and advance in the more powerful class.

If you find their skills subpar, then you need to stay a thief longer than Imoen (7) or Nalia (4) did.

Well I just want to level my mage to 11 or 12 just so I can get my level 6 spells, then I begin the path of the thief. I was thinking maybe an illusionist mage dual classed into a thief, just for the roleplaying aspects.

Actually you can. You can dual out of any kit, includngn specialist mage. You cannot dual into a kit, so you'd have to be a regular thief.

not wild mage though sadly

You *can* however, dual into a mage specialist kit.

Diviner to thief: Possible!

Diviner to Swashbuckler: Impossible!

Swashbuckler to Diviner: Possible!

Huzzah!

huzzah indeed if true but how . . ?

People dual into a mage because I think a mage is more fun to play than a thief at high levels. A thief just sets traps to kill powerful enemies most of the time, where a mage does big powerful spells...well I suppose it's just a matter of taste.

Only in BG 1, I'm afraid. In BG 2 you can't do it, and all such characters you import will lose their kit.