Are thief skills mandatory for the game?

[Saverico]

I read various comments about that a pure thief(or at least his skills) is not necessary to finish the game but i think marty4 said youll be needing them later in the game? Is there a lock that must be picked or a door? How did those sorcerers solo the game then? Knock?

[Marty4]

There is one point in the game where an unavoidable trap can completely prevent continuation of the game without sufficient theiving skills. My solution to wasting as little time as possible with thieves is to take a drow ranger1/rogue1/paladin2/mage, with 20 DEX and INT. Take the rogue level first, and you will have enough skill points to last the entire game, including the above trap.

With a solo sorcerer, I kinda cheated and brought in a level 1 rogue for that trap, and dismissed him afterward. Not sure if there is another solution.

Keep in mind that a pure rogue, while I never use them, can be a powerful fighter. Grab all of the rogueish feats like hamstring, pick up two shortswords, and your rogue can become a deadly flank attacker or first striker.

[ZFR]

oooh Marty, I almost didnt recognize you in the new outfit

I just wanted to ask you what trap are you talking about ??? (finished the game twice so please spoil me). I always take rogues so thieving skills in good supply.

[Saverico]

Powerfull fighter? I and my friend will play multiplayer again after a long pause, but we lost the saves so if he goes with paladin3/sorcererX i need to go with somebody able to detrap it. If i remeber disarm trap is affected by inteligence modifier so what would you propose?

[Marty4]

Minor spoilers
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I was refering to the pair of pit traps in the Yuan-Ti temple. Unless I missed something, there is no way to get out of them short of disabling the trap.

@ Saverico:

The class that I mentioned above, the drow ranger1/rogue1/paladin2/mage, would fit your party perfectly. You will have 20 INT and DEX. As you level, you will be putting more points into INT (which will make you both a better mage and theif), and you can use a certain DEX +5 item to its max potential by giving one of your developed points to DEX. You will wind up with stats like so:

STR 12
DEX 26
CON 16
INT 26
WIS 7
CHA 5
(with heavy powergamed stat location).

The 26 INT and DEX will suit you for the entire game, even with only one level of rogue. Keep a few potions of master theivery just in case, and learn knock.

[Saverico]

This combination of classes doesnt seem to make sense to me. Ranger level whatfor? If dual wielding weapons i would have to take weapon finese feat to make use of dexterity. Rouge OK. Two levels of paladin? Only thing i can think of would be imunity fear, but no casting(low wisdom) no bonus to saves(low charisma). if then why not leave out paladin?

[Bozos of Bones]

Drow: 11+character level of magic resistance
Ranger: Dual wielding for free, favored enemy, better BAB and fort save than mage. What's teh problem with Weapon Finesse, ofcourse you'll need it, why not take it?
Rogue: 1d6 backstab, a huge number of skill points, especially if you start the character as a rogue. Further levels of rogue are unnecesary if you are aiming for Imp Evasion, see next
Paladin 2: Better BAB and saves than mage, fear immunity, useable Holy Avenger for extra 15 spell resistance. More levels will enable the Heroic Inspiration feat, which is good, but not worth further diluting the mage.
Mage: Power
I'd give him proficiency in longsword and shortblade, and give him Holy Avenger and Brilliant SS +5. I have heard of a bug that when you do something, you get brilliant on both weapons, but I dunno how to do it, and I don't care. This char will have no XP penalty and oodles of power.

Oh, and about the pit traps, you don't have to wade through them. Actually, they are there to help you, not to kill you. And you can get out if it activates, just have to have patience, and healing spells or a lot of hp and not move.

[ 06-29-2005, 11:07 AM: Message edited by: Bozos of Bones ]

[Marty4]

Originally posted by Bozos of Bones: Drow: 11+character level of magic resistance Ranger: Dual wielding for free, favored enemy, better BAB and fort save than mage. What's teh problem with Weapon Finesse, ofcourse you'll need it, why not take it? Rogue: 1d6 backstab, a huge number of skill points, especially if you start the character as a rogue. Further levels of rogue are unnecesary if you are aiming for Imp Evasion, see next Paladin 2: Better BAB and saves than mage, fear immunity, useable Holy Avenger for extra 15 spell resistance. More levels will enable the Heroic Inspiration feat, which is good, but not worth further diluting the mage. Mage: Power I'd give him proficiency in longsword and shortblade, and give him Holy Avenger and Brilliant SS +5. I have heard of a bug that when you do something, you get brilliant on both weapons, but I dunno how to do it, and I don't care. This char will have no XP penalty and oodles of power. Oh, and about the pit traps, you don't have to wade through them. Actually, they are there to help you, not to kill you. And you can get out if it activates, just have to have patience, and healing spells or a lot of hp and not move.

Perfectly said on why the ranger1/paladin2/rogue1/mage works. Stole the words right out of my mouth

About the pit traps, do you mean they stop after a while? I never spent a lot of time in them, so I wouldn't know if they eventually ended.

[Bozos of Bones]

I found out that they stop after a while when i sent the heartless dead through the active trap. They were inside, getting steady damage, then the trap stopped, unlocked and they were off. And I just love the heartless dead, you can make them follow you and stuff and that's just a good addition.

[Marty4]

Cool, I didn't know that. I guess I could have gotten by with my solo sorcerer without importing a theif.