class questions

[rondell]

Hi all. I haven't started yet (need to buy a new video card today), so I'm still a little hung up on IWD, so please bear with me.

1. In IWD I dualed as a fighter/thief and found that to be adequate for my thieving needs. Now, I'd like to have a strongheart halfling rogue with levels of a specialist wizard (haven't decided which). Is there a sense of an adequate level for a rogue in this game. In other words, my needs as a thief were met early on in the previous game - I'd like to get him to a usable level as a rogue and then concentrate on wizardry.

2. I found my bard to be quite useful for identifying things in the earlier game. Is this still the case? If so, any recommendations for another class to combine with a bard (yes, I know it depends on my party)?

Thanks very much

[Lord of Alcohol]

Since its third edittion rules you can dual back and forth between fighter and thief so you can meet your needs easier. Need better thieving? When you level up add another thief level etc.
As for the bard identifying I havent used mine to do it yet. My mage has lots of proficieny points in Knowledge,Spellcraft. You pretty much identify everything you get your hands on. I think I only used the spell identify twice and it was early in the game.
Get that video card in today and get to gaming mister!

[Larry_OHF]

I cannot add anything to the above statement...only that I agree with what he said.

[Magness]

Regarding bards... they no longer have an innate ability to ID things. It's all in the skills you select. A well-skilled wizard or seorceror ends up being more than good enough at IDing items, etc. A bard's skill points are better spent on other things, like bluff and diplomacy, etc.

On multiclassing a rogue. Having played BG1, BG2-SoA-ToB, and IWD1, I'm used to theives being fairly weak in combat. I'm deep into chapter 6 of IWD2 and I must say that my rogue has been surprisingly good in combat. Now, I must admit that after level 10 or 11, I did multiclass in a couple levels of fighter. I suppose that this has been fairly useful. It added some extra HP and the martial weapons profs. But I wouldn't say that it was critically necessary to create a combat worthy rogue.

The 3rd ed "Sneak Attack" is much easier to execute than the old backstab. You don't NEED to be invisible or stealthed (doesn't hurt). You can simply have your rogue run around behind a foe and take a quick stab for a successful Sneak Attack. My rogue (level 12 rogue/level 2 fighter) is regularly hitting for 30-40 Hp during sneak attacks. I've found that SA works better in battles where the battle's being fought in a larger room or other open area. In tight confines, you could easily find yourself cut off.

Just be careful not to get your sneak attacking rogue cut off from the rest of your party.

The key to a combat worthy rogue lies in:

(A) maxing out your DEX. When you have the opportunity to increase your DEX thru items or during level ups, take it (unless you have another critical stat need).

(B) selecting good rogue specific feats: Improved Evasion, Crippling Strike (improved sneak attacks), and Weapon Finesse (attack roll based on DEX instead of STR when using small blades) for rogues are all nearly a must have feats.

(C) The Weapons Finesse feat requires the use of "small blades" (i.e. daggers or short swords). Rely on these for your rogue melee weapons, since as a Rogue, your DEX will likely be higher than your STR, thus creating a better Base Attack Bonus (BAB).

(D) Do not wear any armor heavier than studded leather. Sure, if you put feat points into heavier armor or MC in a level or 2 of fighter, you COULD wear heavier armor. But those heavier armors will limit your rogue skills and limit the amount of DEX bonus that's added to your AC. There are some good sets of studded leather out there that can crank up a Rogue's AC pretty nicely without limiting yor DEX bonus or rogue skills.

[Zoltan]

Exactly Mangess! I have 2 tanks,1 cleric, 1 mage,1 bard and 1 rogue/fighter/ranger. I dont want to make a bard/rogue my rogue is also a warrior. I'll keep the bard pure. it is a good idea to take 1 level ranger (you get imp 2 weapon fighting + ambidex) good idea [img]smile.gif[/img]