Dual-Class Questions

[Lord Brass]

Whilst I understand that HP and saving throws are "reset" to your new class when you dual, I was wondering about weapon proficiencies. I'm contemplating dualling one of my fighters to a cleric, who has some blunt weapon skill already. Is it the case that if you elect the same proficiency in your new class, you won't receive the added benefit of the old one? Or to put it another way, you couldn't get a cleric specialised in maces say?

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Making running away an art form

[Sazerac]

If you started a fighter, as soon as you get your Fighting class back, you can specialize in anything. Only bad thing is, if you put stuff in Longsword or other things like that before dualling, you can never use those again as a Cleric. However, you can master in Hammer, Flail, Mace, etc.

Cheers,


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Patience, my BUTT...I'm going to KILL something!!!

[Lord Brass]

Thanks Saz, I was curious as upon choosing to dual-class, you have proficiency options to allocate. So, if you have points in Hammers already and add another one for becoming a cleric, would they register together, or do you effectively "lose" the points that you've just put in?

i.e. I had two points in Hammers, so when I change and put another point in for becoming a cleric, if I go up to one level higher than the fighter class, would I know have three points in Hammers? I suspect not.

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Making running away an art form

[Sazerac]

Ah, good question. I think they will eventually sum together, when Fighting skills return (up to a max of 5, of course). However, I may be wrong. Dual-classing is a bit of a gamble on things like that, and I know the game treats things differently than in PnP.

I would imagine that if you opened up the file in DaleKeeper (just to take a look), it would solve the question for you there. What you could do is, if you have Dalekeeper, is dual-class, allocate the point, save in a DIFFERENT slot, open up Dalekeeper, give the character the XP needed to get him up one level higher than his last Fighting class, then re-open the file in IWD to see what occurred. That would answer the question one way or another. Of course, assuming you didn't want to cheat, you would just revert back to the other save and play it out, or reload the save before you dual-classed and allocate the point elsewhere, if needed.

Cheers,



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Patience, my BUTT...I'm going to KILL something!!!

[Kitty]

If you dual a Fighter to anything, you regain your weapon proficiencies when your new class is one level higher than the level you had prior to dualing. However, there are 2 major exceptions: a) fighters who dualed to clerics lose their proficiencies in edged or piercing weapons and b) those who dualed to druids lose their proficiencies in all weapons druids can't use.
THAC0 and Saving Throws are reset to the new class when dual-classing and recovered when the dual-classing process is complete. However, hit points and ability scores aren't changed (including exceptional strenght scores).
Unfortunately, weapon proficiency points for the *same* weapon are NOT cummulative. For example, you have a fighter with 4+ in Hammers and you dual-class. Then you assign a 1+ in Hammers while you're only a cleric. When the dualling process is completed, you WON'T have 5+ in Hammers, but only 4+.
This may sound complicated, but that's the way it is. When you get more experience, you see that dual-classed characters are REALLY powerful.

[Sazerac]

Thank you, Kitty! That clears that up for me, too! Something I had always wondered about.

So, LB, spend your points elsewhere until you get your Fighter skills back.

Cheers,



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Patience, my BUTT...I'm going to KILL something!!!

[Hayashi]

Here's my dualling experience with my fighter/mage, Kayla that validates Kittu's reply. I started her out a a fighter and made sure she had 18's for STR, DEX, INT and CON. For her beginning 4 points of proficiency I gave 2* in missile weapons (as I wanted her to *eventually* use a shield, she had to use a sling as a missile weapon), one in daggers and one more for mace (to deal with skeletal undead).

When she levelled up as a L3 fighter, I gave her a proficiency in another weapon (can't remember which, my memory is getting baaaaaddddd ) then immediately dualled her to mage - and lost ALL my prof points.

I had one single point to spend, which I put in missile weapons. So she was stuck with just one point in missile weapons until she levelled up as a level 4 mage, at which point she got her fighter abilities back - only this time the point I had put into missile weapons as a mage had disappeared!

So in total, I had spent 3 points in missile weapons, but now she only has 2 stars in it.

Oh well, she just levelled up as a level 6 mage and got one more point to spend - which I stuck into longswords - there are some cool "large swords" I have discovered so far. Not that she needs it, her role is to stay back and hit monsters with whatever spells she has, and use her sling to. But you never know when you're gonna get ambushed, right?

[This message has been edited by Hayashi (edited 10-29-2001).]

[shawnme]

do you have a cliric if not dule him. I weight untell he gets to leveal 18 or masters a wepon skill blunt weapon or flail.

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shawn harden

[JR Jansen]

'scouse me

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JR

Damned i lost cousin Jan's techno gloves



Forest runner and first gnomish demiranger-protector with slightly rougueish tendencies and a natural dislike for Aerie

[Lord Brass]

Thanks guys, I suspected as much. I've always thought that Dual-Class characters have never really been thought out all the way through. Could be an old p&pers paranoia, but there you go.

Shame about the points Kitty, but does that mean that you're limited to the points you spend as a fighter if you move to another class? Oh, I see what you mean, as a cleric you can't have more than a point in a weapon proficiency, thus you could never gain the experience with that weapon to "go over" the skills you gain as a cleric. Is that right?

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Making running away an art form