Are thief skills mandatory for the game?

[Saverico]

Seems you cant decide on one opinion)). If its so(that you dont need them at all) i will go with a drow fighter4/mageX. Will go for hammers but have no idea about stats. What would you propose?

drow starts as fighter 2levels
str ??
dex ??
con 16
int 18
wis ??
cha -totally down

dex based or strength? If dex then weapon finesse and dual wield(take abuse of fighter feats), but cant go with hammers or strength base?
Your opinions?

[Marty4]

You should definitely go for a dex based character like that. Since you can't be wearing heavy armor and casting, you will want 20 DEX (and 20 INT as well). In light of the revelation that the pit traps are avoidable, you still may want some roguery to take advantage of some good pickpocketing opportunities. If not, then a fighter4/mage is a solid class.

Stats:
STR 12
DEX 20
CON 16
INT 20
WIS 7
CON 5

Since you are DEX based, forget about hammers (there are good ones, but leave them for the warriors). I don't know what your friend is using, but you should dual wield either shortswords or daggers, or one of each.

Also, personally speaking, if you want to add on warrior levels I have found adding 2 paladin and 1 ranger to be vastly superior to 4 fighter.

Observe the pros and cons: (!=pro, @=con)
ranger1/paladin2
! Free dual wielding
! Immunity to fear
! Will obtain +1 STR and WIS over the course of the game, and again in HoF
! Can wield the holy avenger
@ less fighting capability than the fighter
@ With the above stats, you wont enjoy the other bonuses of these classes

fighter4
! weapon specialization
! maximized attacks
! more BAB and saves than the above classes
! more feats
@ must waste two feats on dual wielding
@ Takes 4 levels instead of 3, crimping your spells
@ No stat bonus

This is just my preference, the fighter4 build is still formidable (and I use it frequently).

[Saverico]

///Observe the pros and cons: (!=pro, @=con)
ranger1/paladin2
! Free dual wielding
! Immunity to fear
! Will obtain +1 STR and WIS over the course of the game, and again in HoF
! Can wield the holy avenger
@ less fighting capability than the fighter
@ With the above stats, you wont enjoy the other bonuses of these classes

fighter4
! weapon specialization
! maximized attacks
! more BAB and saves than the above classes
! more feats
@ must waste two feats on dual wielding
@ Takes 4 levels instead of 3, crimping your spells
@ No stat bonus
////////////


I think ill take the fighter option, my friend goes as pal3/sorX character so hell cover me and 2char will gain xps fast. Immunity against fear can be granted by an item that wears one of those goblin commanders..