Best Overall Character?

[Durak]

I had a lot of trouble beating the game with my half-elf beserker Longsword specialized. Obviously, that was a BAD choice. The game was freakin hard. Anyone here have suggestions for good characters to start a new game with?

[Accord]

How about a human berserker duel to a mage?
Try to have the berserker reach around level 12~13 before dueling, get more weapon proficiencies and hitpoints.

What's so hard about it? Should be a good choice. If you play a fighter class, dual at 9 to get to the highest mage level available.

G.W. - Durak's character is a half-elf so can't dual, but ninth is the right level.

As a first time through player the Paladin Undead Hunter (Human only) is probably the most reload friendly due to immunities. You can turn the difficulty down to increase your enjoyment.

To overcome the early difficulties(read-my pet annoyances) a Bard is wonderful you can steal everything you need to start with and the lore ability means you almost never have to identify anything. Even with Edwin (NPC) at lvl 14 he only has lore = 53 and never identifies +3 items.. - Curdis

[Memnoch]

There's no such thing as a *best* overall character. It all depends on how you play the game. If you like soloing go the kensai mage route. At the upper levels you will walk all over the opposition, though it will be hard to get to that upper level with the kensai's AC deficiencies. But after a while it gets boring as your party stands around while your kensai casts stoneskin, mirror image and tensers transformation and kills every enemy.

[Aurum]

Humans:

Kensai lv12/Mage
Thief lv pick lock and detecting traps)/ cleric
Cavalier(cool, almost for me)
Sorcery

Half-elf:

Fighter/mage/cleric (first weak, afterward strong)
Figther/mage/thief ""

Mors principium est.

Never understood why on earth everyone out there duals to some fingerwaggler all the time. I made human berserker (due to many immunities while enraged) and since I knew this time where I can get some useful longswords, I had that up to high level and also two weapon style. Went thru all game like that, never cared or had any wish to dual into some half breed of both. Never even needed spellcasting all the time. Only spells my spellcasters had memorized were some healings, some prots from negative plane and few others, and a load of different magic dispell spells. 2 chars were tanking (occasionally 3rd also), rest used ranged weapons, no problemo at all..

Dual to mage.. Bah.

[Desdicado]

Tlan,

I kinda like my protagonist to get in the thick of the battle so I would agree with you there.
I played a pure mage character in BG1 on one run through but that was it.
For BG2 I think a half elf berserk sounds as good a choice as any. I completed it on my first run through with a human berserk no problem at all. Undead hunter on my second try worked very well.
Feel like someting new now, Jester ?, monk?.

[Yorick]

Monk is my favourite, Bard (playing a Jester at the moment) is my second.

[Memnoch]

Here's an interesting challenge: rather than picking the best/most popular character, try picking one of the more obscure ones, like Beastmaster or Totemic Druid, and see how you go with that. I started to play a Jester to prove that it was a good character, i had to change my strategies around a bit, but now i'm enjoying the game as much if not more than when i was playing a more standard character.

We could all report back each week on our characters' (mis)adventures...