What is the best char?

[el_kalkylus]

I would say it is more fun to play a sorcerer or a thief. There are a lot of spells to choose from, and there is plenty of fun to backstab. To play a sorcerer however, you need to pick the right spell, which isn't easy if you never played bg2, so I would recommend you to play as a mage instead. I am now playing a sorcerer, and his powers are immense. I use all the magic in my book before I rest, which I never did when I was playing a mage. With a sorcerer you can cast spells whenever you feel like it.

I think Jon Irenicus is a sorcerer, or is he just an incredible mage?

It's not so much a question of which class to play but who you put in your party. There's only one pure caster immediately available once you escape the strange first dungeon (Nalia) and two thieves (Jan Jansen and Yoshimo, Jan probably being the better choice). If you play for the first time you need to be someone who fulfills at least one of these roles to avoid bothers later on (like meeting up with someone who could fill the role later, but then you far outpace them in EXP). Kensai mage is one possibility (dualed to mage at level 9--get three kais and an extra proficency before leveling, and maintain a thaco of 1 throughout the game). A half-orc dual class thief-warrior has great power as well, I have found (no armor limitations, excellent AC, strength and hp equal to the best NPC fighter's hp). Other possibilities are fine but you will never have trouble finding people to fill other roles (fighter or cleric roles), but the lack of thieves and difficulty finding pure class mages is a big reason I started over again.

And, by the way, though many monsters resist magic and so on, there are many high level spells that are unresistable, there are spells that reduce magic resistance, and you need someone in the party able to cast level 7+ spells, especially when you take on dragons and liches (you'll understand when you see your first lich).

I've played BG1 quite a lot, and really hated starting over because I didn't really like the class I was in. I'd like to avoid that problem now that I have BG2. What do you think is the most poweful class in the game (take items etc into account too)

A lot of monsters have magical resistance, and you can just drink a magic resistance potion or have one miscast magic and you're done for. So mage isn't really a good option, I think. It's good if you are only in defense, let others tank and the only thing you do is attack, but overall it's not the best option.

What I tried: I summoned Drizzt, and attacked him with a lvl 21 (well, XP set at 2950000 which means lvl 17-20 dependant on class) kensai, monk, thief, and fighter.

What I noticed:
A thief is bad for fighting, you should only use them for hiding/bstab, but for the rest I think they're only useful for traps/lockpicking.
A kensai (no armor) is a LOT better than a fighter! (?) I spawned both of Drizzt weapons and wielded them as kensai (proficiency in scimitar AND two weapon style); Drizzt went down in no time. Well, no that I think of it, I'm not sure if I tested fighter with some great armor fighting Drizzt...
My monk was awesome, maybe even better than kensai. quivering palm and after that stunning blow, and Drizzt was out cold.

Other guilds seem to be producing MUCH less... but maybe a druid casting entangle, and then killing him with arrows works well too...

My question: have some of you guys/gals been doin this in any way? I mean, with your knowledge of all the armor/ weapons, cloak etc in BG2, what do you think is the best class to pick? (For example, if there are a LOT of thief NPC's who want to join me, I shouldn't go thief... or if I get a fine monk in level 2, it would be better not to go for monk since I'd already get one soon in the game...

(btw, when I fight with my kensai with katana's against Drizzt, I die every single time, so if I can't get great weapon somewhere, monk is still the best choice...)

[Magness]

Just a few thoughts...

This is a VERY subjective topic. The first thing to know is what is your prefered fighting style for your player character: melee, ranged, magical.

As has been stated often on this board ...
Kensai's are shock fighters. They are great at dealing out a LOT of damage in a short period of time, but since they cannot wear armor, they tend to take serious damage when the battles take too long.

Yes, theives don't make great fighters ... except for Swashbucklers. SB's are actually pretty darned good fighters. I've played a SB all the way thru with considerable success. Sure they cannot backstab. But SB's are really good fighters and have full thieving skills.

Many people like pure fighters since they can achieve Grandmaster status (i.e. 5 points) in their weapons skills. However, I happen to like the Paladin kits, since the give the character some very useful immunities and abilities.

For example, I am currently playing an Inquisitor. The inquisitor's special abilities (super powerful/fast Dispel Magic, True Sight, Immune to Hold and Charm) are seriously useful in BG2. The Undead Hunter's immunity to level drain is also SERIOUSLY useful as well.

IMO, the best class is not only about what damage can you deal out, but it also what non-damaging things can you do and what things CAN'T be done TO you (i.e. immunities) by the enemy. It's always a real hoot to see that grandmaster fighter being held while my inquistitor is immune and still hacking away or more likely having to cast Dispel Magic to free his ass from the hold spell.

Well, a question for everyone who is familiar with BG2: which NPC's/classes are easy to get in your party, and which are very hard? I mean, if there is no mage to be found anywhere, I guess I could go mage.
And if I go mage, should I just go for a lot of offensive spells cause others in my party will do the tanking? I still feel like I have almost no spells... 1 lvl 8, 2 lvl 7 etc... seems to me a mage is a laugh; you just wait for a minute for his best spells to run out, then you can go in and slaughter him/her. And does anyone have an answer to the Jon Irenicus el_kalkylus asked before: is he just a mage or a sorcerer?

(btw: if you are a druid/cleric, you can cast miscast magic, dispel, silence 10' and ANY mage is useless... right?)

Not all mages will be as dumb as liches. Though with dragons, it's debatable. Anyway, you get more than a simple 1 or 2 level spells thanks to equipment. Rings of wizardary and such. Edwin also has a three spell bonus per level.

Here's how hard it is to find characters:
Minsc, Jaheria, Korgan, Nalia, and Amoen--easy (copper coronet for those who don't join the party);
Viconia, Jan Jansen: fairly easy, just in the government district
Keldorn: harder, in the sewer in the temple district, will require one semi-tough battle;
Cernd: harder, in a jail in Trademeet, no battles except easy ones against animals
Valygar: harder, Umar hills, no battles except random encounters, must either get Minsc's quest or talk to someone in the government district to get Umar Hills on the map
Mazzy: harder still, locked up in the dungeon north of Umar Hills, must find her map in the cabin to travel there
Edwin: more difficult. Requires performing four quests for the shadow thieves.
Imoen: hardest (naturally), requires several quests, and will not have more than 400,000 exp when you get to her.

You want to try to meet the fighters before level 9 (with the exception of Korgan) because at level 9 they waste their proficiencies on moronic things if you haven't met them (i.e., daggers and short swords). Also, don't get too many of them at once or you will have too many quests to do and they will all leave you if you don't do them in time. Korgan and Nalia's quests are easy. Jan, Viconia don't really require you to do anything. Edwin's quest is identical to Korgan's, almost. Valygar says you have to help him but never complains about it. Not sure about Mazzy, know she has a quest.

Oh, and silence and miscast magic don't really work well anymore. Most casters have globes of invulnerability up which block at least spells below level 3.

someone wanted to know if irenicus is a mage or a sorcereor
Irenicus is:

Human
Mage level 29
Gender :Niether
Alignment:Chaotic Good
Str:13
Dex:18
Con:14
Int:18
Wis:18
Cha:17
Lore:87
Luck:0
Hp:96

[Rikard T'Aranaxz]

One look in the mages spellbook will show you 2 spells
lower resistance
and breach
both lower magic resistance by 30% or something

another benfit to a mage is that he inflict damge to multible persons (or so he can do)
or directly kill someone

well all i can do is recommend mages to you and hope you follow

The easiest game has to be half-orc fighter/thief. Takes little time to roll up the character (no waiting to get 18/00); and you get the skills you need to survive right away. Kensai mage is very good but you have to advance several levels to get the kensai skills back and are weak at that time. Plus with a thief character you can steal all the spells you want from merchants and give them to the mages in your party (as well as anything else that catches your eye). Although Jan is pretty good at stealing, admittedly.

[Rikard T'Aranaxz]

monk might be an interresting class aswell
never took the troubvle trying them
they seem such a non-class
not AD&D a-like
monks let me think about wizardry and M&M