The strongest thief!!!

[el_kalkylus]

As I have been saying in the last 5 posts I have written, I am a kensai/thief. It is such a great combo, that you can do almost everything with him. I am playing on hard difficulty and I am still able to kill all the liches by just using my thief (including Kangaxx! ), and Firkrag. I am now going for the shadow dragon, but I am sure there will be no trouble there. Now when I have killed Kangaxx, and gotten that special thing you get when you kill Kangaxx, I have my thief on first row as a tank. He is also quite a good fighter with -1 in main hand THACO and 2 in offhand (I dual-wield with katanas, having Celestial fury as a main weapon), 122 hitpoints, +3 to hit, +6 damage, and ac 2 (which is quite bad, but what the hey...your backstabs and setting traps makes up for it). Also with the boot and speeds you can use the "kill and run tactic". The only problems that I encounter with my thief is monsters that are immune to backstabs, such as golems or beholders, but I always have Minsc, Anomen and Jaheira that can take care of that particular problem.

Of course you can't just go around backstabbing, you have to have Edwin and the other spell-casters cast certain spells, so that your thief can work in peace. I had some trouble in the beginning with the tactics, but now I am moving on pretty smooth. This game is far much more fun than the last one I played, roleplaying aspects also included. Last game I played as an assassin/mage.

I am also quite satisfied with my party, and here it is:

El_kalkylus - Scout, backstabber, fighter
Anomen - Fighter, spellcaster and healer
Minsc - Fighter (Ranger)
Edwin - Can be a good mage, necessary for later
Jaheira - Fighter, spellcaster and healer
Jan - pick pockets, find traps, open locks, cast minor spells

I don't really need Jan, except for finding traps and open locks, but soon my own thief can handle that himself.

You think that's so tough? My half-orc fighter-thief could kick your butt six ways till sunrise. -10 AC in his stealthy armor, base 19 strength (girdles are for not for real men); -1 thaco at level 12, and as many hp as Korgan. He also can shoot you up full of bolts and use his helm of simulcrum and knock you up with his twin brother.

[el_kalkylus]

oh, yeah. I am at level 13 with my thief.

By the way, it is a mage and archer-killer. Great against weaker creatures that you want to put out as quick as possible before they start hurting your party.

[el_kalkylus]

That is great G.W, but he won't deal out as much damage as my thief do, besides I level up more often and get more thieving skills. I agree that your thief would beat the crap out of mine, but I don't use my thief as a fighter. He is more of a thief that do all the damage with one blow, and run away before he gets hurt. I have never seen him backstab lower than 46 damage, and the most I have seen him do was 202.

Not only that, my thief can also use kai 3 times/day which is very nice to have.

[Tobbin]

I would make a comment, but it seems that most people can't play my character, so I will just say that it's good you found something that works for you.

Hey Tobbin, you ought to make a character template for a ranger-thief and post it somewhere. I'd like to give it a shot.
My favourite is, and always will be the fighter-mage. Ah, the fun times I've had.

[el_kalkylus]

Tobbin, from the posts that I have been reading, I didn't think it was possible to make a ranger/thief. How is it? What are the advantages of having a ranger/thief compared to a fighter/thief (except some spells at high levels)?

Tobbin, could you test and see if you could make an archer thief? Because that would be the most useful combo, I think. Ranger thief is a bit too much like a fighter thief otherwise (with the disadvantage of not getting past specialization as well).
The problem I have with the kensai thief is that if your thief isn't fighting up front, he ought to be using ranged weapons, but a kensai can't shoot a bow or a sling. Can the kensai thief at least throw darts? Not sure if thieves have darts available.

As for Geedubya the half orc, at his thief level (14-15?) he has 100% detect traps, unlock doors, 90+% stealth, and 75% pickpocketing. He can still pickpocket a little to make money, and his stealth skills are nearly flawless. Haven't found a need to detect illusions yet.

[Zoratorak]

yeah... whats the deal with detect illusions or move silently... i never found it any useful and i have a female thief character in multiplayer to support my main... any ideas??

Since there is a bunch of mighty Thiefs gathered here, someone can answer me my question.
I don't play a Thief character (yet, Halforc Fighter/Thief sounds awesome)but how can my Thief in the party do backstabbing? Do I have to activate the Thief agressive script?