Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - Psionic dualing

10-08-2003, 01:07 AM

a number of tests done by players on the board has shown that caster experience level has a huge impact on spell effectiveness. this is the biggest issue to deal with when dual-classing spellcasters.

so if you switch out to alchemist, for example, you will not be able to cast your psionic spells at higher than level 13 effectiveness (unless you switched back). i would expect this would become a greater problem as the game went on.

similarly, your alchemy spells would start out at level 1 effectiveness. against level 13 opponents, even a power level 7 fire bomb from your fire college would struggle to do damage.

of course, it's not so simple to work out either. spells that overlap in the two spell books would be cast at your total level. however, alchemy and psionic are the two least overlapping spell books in the game.

the switch to a bishop is a little nicer, in as much as you would keep levelling up your psionic spellcasting power with each level gain. so when you are a level 5 bishop, your psionic spells would be cast at level 18 (13+5), and similarly you would qualify for your level 7 psionic spells. however, all your other books would still be cast at level 5. the additional spell points from having all those books open would be nice, but since your most effective spells would still be psionic, one must wonder if it's worth the slower levelling.

you could switch out to monk and take advantage of your staff and throwing skills. this would also give you continued access to developing your psionic book, but only after giving up 4 levels of non-casting. that would also mean you would cast at effectively 4 levels below your total level. that might be the most even trade-off: slightly lower spell effectiveness against improved melee effectiveness (plus you'd open stealth and critical strike). if you were to do this, i'd still go for powercast, as you're too close to pass it up. one thought, though, you may have to double check your monk attribute minimums, as you may need to boost dex to 55 to qualify. fortunately you can do that with 2 points at your next level up, as you make the switch.

as you can see, dual classing has some complicated nuances, particularly where spell casters are concerned. for most people, it's not worth working out the details. for others, it's an opportunity to take advantage of the full breadth of variety in skills in the game within individual characters, and worth the effort.

in any event, be prepared to do a bit of experimenting before you finally work out what's best. perhaps it'd be worth keeping a save of the game before you make any switch, in case you want to try a different switch, or make the same switch but develop differently, or just stay with the psi and keep going.

edit - sorry, zig, didnt realise that was your post. you're obviously more experienced at the game than my post above gives credit for. i assumed it was from someone new to the game! pardon me.

[ 10-08-2003, 01:08 AM: Message edited by: sultan ]

10-08-2003, 01:07 AM	#3
sultan Guest Posts: n/a	a number of tests done by players on the board has shown that caster experience level has a huge impact on spell effectiveness. this is the biggest issue to deal with when dual-classing spellcasters. so if you switch out to alchemist, for example, you will not be able to cast your psionic spells at higher than level 13 effectiveness (unless you switched back). i would expect this would become a greater problem as the game went on. similarly, your alchemy spells would start out at level 1 effectiveness. against level 13 opponents, even a power level 7 fire bomb from your fire college would struggle to do damage. of course, it's not so simple to work out either. spells that overlap in the two spell books would be cast at your total level. however, alchemy and psionic are the two least overlapping spell books in the game. the switch to a bishop is a little nicer, in as much as you would keep levelling up your psionic spellcasting power with each level gain. so when you are a level 5 bishop, your psionic spells would be cast at level 18 (13+5), and similarly you would qualify for your level 7 psionic spells. however, all your other books would still be cast at level 5. the additional spell points from having all those books open would be nice, but since your most effective spells would still be psionic, one must wonder if it's worth the slower levelling. you could switch out to monk and take advantage of your staff and throwing skills. this would also give you continued access to developing your psionic book, but only after giving up 4 levels of non-casting. that would also mean you would cast at effectively 4 levels below your total level. that might be the most even trade-off: slightly lower spell effectiveness against improved melee effectiveness (plus you'd open stealth and critical strike). if you were to do this, i'd still go for powercast, as you're too close to pass it up. one thought, though, you may have to double check your monk attribute minimums, as you may need to boost dex to 55 to qualify. fortunately you can do that with 2 points at your next level up, as you make the switch. as you can see, dual classing has some complicated nuances, particularly where spell casters are concerned. for most people, it's not worth working out the details. for others, it's an opportunity to take advantage of the full breadth of variety in skills in the game within individual characters, and worth the effort. in any event, be prepared to do a bit of experimenting before you finally work out what's best. perhaps it'd be worth keeping a save of the game before you make any switch, in case you want to try a different switch, or make the same switch but develop differently, or just stay with the psi and keep going. edit - sorry, zig, didnt realise that was your post. you're obviously more experienced at the game than my post above gives credit for. i assumed it was from someone new to the game! pardon me. [ 10-08-2003, 01:08 AM: Message edited by: sultan ]