When to dual class to a mage from a Bounty Hunter?

[Imrahil]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: Of course I was thinking because of using the no exp limiter patch, I would have taken the bounty hunter route. it may take too long .

With the XP Remover in the G3 BG Fixpack (I think, if not in there, try the Tweak Pack right below it), you can achieve Level 40 in your active class, so switching at an earlier, albeit high, level is not really an issue

Originally posted by Armen: my $0.02 on thief dualling is there's a lot to be said for dualling before your level-related trap progression changes from poison damage to fire damage - that might be level 15 but i'm not sure - there was a post with the list in but i can't find it

That's a good point (maybe, see below). At 1st-10th level the traps "deal out damage & slow the target". At 11th-15th level, the traps "hold the target". 16th-20th = Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, while 21st+ = Maze. The last 2 are sort of weak, all things considered, so dualling at 15th might be the best bet, if you're not going to wait until the HLA'a kick in, which costs an extra 1,900,000 XP or so, & is not really worth it for a Thief->Mage dual, IMO (I'd rather be working on the Mage class for that 1,900,000 XP).

Originally posted by Lark: ...it doesn't necessarily have to to be level 21 in your thief class, but level 21 in your active class, whatever it be. A bountyhunter(2)->whatever(21) would still get maze traps.

I've never tested this myself, but I'm... well, skeptical. It might be like Ranger/Clerics getting all the Druid spells of all levels, but again, I'm skeptical until someone confirms this by trying it out.

[Arledrian]

Level 10. That's when your thief hit points are pretty much maxed out and you've got the basic thieving abilities under your belt. Also, it takes 375k xp points to get to level 11 as a mage, and 750k to get to 12 - that's quite an unpleasant gap. Plus the mage is the more powerful class, so you'd want to give yourself more time to build that up once you can do the thief basics.

[Lark]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: also welcome to IW [img]smile.gif[/img]

Thank you, but you already welcomed me here .

Originally posted by Lark: While it is true that the special traps of the bounty hunter get their last upgrade at level 21, it doesn't necessarily have to to be level 21 in your thief class, but level 21 in your active class, whatever it be. A bountyhunter(2)->whatever(21) would still get maze traps.

This is unfortunately wrong.

I did some testing, here are the results:
The Bountyhunter's Snare Trap for Bountyhunter->Mages

S=Slow; H=Hold; O=Otiluke's Resilient Sphere; M= Maze

Bountyhunter Lvl/Mage Lvl; Total XP needed to get Maze Traps
XX09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
08 S S S S H H H H H H H H H H O O O O O O O O n/a
09 - S S H H H H H H H H H H O O O O O O O O O n/a
10 - - H H H H H H H H H H O O O O O O O O O O n/a
11 - - - H H H H H H H H O O O O O O O O O O M 7720k
12 - - - - H H H H H H O O O O O O O O O O M M 7565k
13 - - - - - H H H H O O O O O O O O O O M M M 7410k
14 - - - - - - H H O O O O O O O O O O M M M M 7255k
15 - - - - - - - O O O O O O O O O O M M M M M 7100k
16 - - - - - - - - O O O O O O O O M M M M M M 6945k
17 - - - - - - - - - O O O O O O M M M M M M M 6790k
18 - - - - - - - - - - O O O O M M M M M M M M 6635k
19 - - - - - - - - - - - O O M M M M M M M M M 6480k
20 - - - - - - - - - - - - M M M M M M M M M M 6325k

If the average level of both classes of a dual class, rounded up, is 10 or lower the Bountyhunter's Snare Trap will cast Slow, if it is at least 11 it will cast Hold, if at least 16 - ORS, if at least 21 - Maze.

Out of curiosity I assigned the Bountyhunter kit to a M/T multiclass and it worked just as above, the same case with a F/M/T multiclass (in this case, the average level of all three classes).

If you want to get Maze traps at all (at mage lvl 30) you can't dual earlier than lvl 11.
If you want to get the maximum number of spell slots (at mage lvl 28), you can't dual later than lvl 15.
If you want to get Maze traps the fastest, you have to dual at lvl 20, which allows you to reach lvl 25 as a mage (meaning, you lose out one 8th lvl and one 9th lvl spell slot)


Lark

[ 04-30-2007, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: Lark ]

[Klorox]

While the character may be more powerful dual-classed, I think you'll have a much more rewarding time with a Thief/Mage or Thief/Illusionist character. A high level dual won't get his thieving skills back until very late in SoA, at the earliest (and that's only if you're soloing).

[Harkoliar]

Thanks Lark for the test and your results!