How to Backstab effectively?

[Forscythe]

Ok this sounds lame but I completed the entire BG1 without backstabbing anyone!!

I know with TOTSC installed i have to lie in the shadows and wait till the enemy is facing the opposite direction......But i've never succeeded!!

in fact my poor thief was pummelled!!

Help would be great!!

[Mack_Attack]

You need to hide in shadows then walk behind the enemy and make your first attack then run away fast. This worked for all the time it is a good way to wear down the monster then draw him back to the party to finish him off. But if you miss your attack then there is no damage done. Then the enemy tends to get a little bit choked that you tried to kill him.

[Darkman]

It's all about the hit and run. Your thief is probably too weak to take on melee opponents directly, hence the backstabbing. So what you do is sneak up behind your target, while hiding in the shadows of course, and attack them with a melee weapon (a good magical short or long sword will do nicely, but use whatever you're proficient in). A level 5-8 thief has a 3x damage multiplier (lvl 9-12 4x, lvl 13+ 5x) and I think there is a THACO bonus for attacking while hidden, so it is really easy to do some quick damage with a backstab. The problem is you won't always finish off your opponent in one hit, or he may have friends with him. After you land your backstab blow, switch to your bow and take off running back to your main group (for tough opponents you'll want your party close by!). On the way, feel free to unlease a few arrows at whoever is following you.

Or you can implement the backstab in open combat. I always have my thief hidden in shadows constantly, which is important because you can't hide yourself when in view of an enemy. If a fight breaks out, I'll sometimes have my thief skirt around the edge of the fray, backstab one of the tougher or more dangerous opponents, and then retreat a few steps and fire away with bow and arrows. That gets in a good chunk of damage relatively quickly. With decent strength and a good sword a thief can do surprising amounts of damage with backstab

[Lemernis]

Make sure that the weapon you attempt the backstab with is suitable. If it isn't you will get the "weapon unsuitable for backstab" message in the dialogue box.

On another forum we were recently discussing what determines the success of a beckstab. A poster had asked if the chance of making a successful attack was the same as the hide-in-shadows percentage. Someone responded that beyond simply being invisible at the time of the attack, the attack roll itself with +4 added would appear to be the only determining factor. However, it does seem that a visible frontal attack, eg, a fighter-thief meleeing with a sword, might very well succeed more often than a backstab. I've always wondered if there are some modifiers at work under the surface that make it a little harder to succeed with a backstab than a visible attack. I posted the question on an AD&D forum, and so may have a follow-up to this post before too long. I would like to know how it is determined in D&D at least--although whether the folks at Bioware actually implemented such rules into BG I still wouldn't know.

[This message has been edited by Lemernis (edited 09-10-2001).]

[Tyrion]

I seem to be unable to backstab with my two handed sword. Is it something wrong?

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"No!" shreiked Tyrion. Though the sword felt heavy as a fallen tree he lifted it. He saw the deamon look up, astonished. He brought down the blade with the awesome majestic power of a falling thunderbolt. The burning blade caught the deamon right in the centre of its forehead. The deamon's head fell apart under the force of the impact. The deamon N'kari sank to its knees, dead.

-Tyrion at the battle of the Blighted Isle.

[Lemernis]

It must be an unsuitable weapon for the particular thief class you're using. Some classes can backstab with a longsword, but perhaps a two handed weapon may be out of bounds for any class. There are various restrictions as pertains to each class (i.e., xxxx-thief.) For example, I noticed the other day when testing a fighter-thief I'm using in an MP campain that I was able to successfully backstab with an enchanted scrimitar but could not do so with a plain scrimitar.

[Demoquin]

A thief can only backstab with weapons of its class (i.e short sword, dagger, long sword, club, quarterstaff, )

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I am Demoquin, Agent from Hell