Character that last long.

[Tambourineman]

Hey!

Wich character is best to choose when you are going to play Bg1, TotSc, Bg2 and the throne of baal with the same character. So I want to have a character that will be good in both Bg1 and Throne of Baal.

And if I am going to play over multi player. Should I choose anotherone then?

Please help!

[StarVid]

I had posted that question before, and got mixed replies. Here are some ideas:

Human Ranger dual to a cleric for BG2
Human Cleric dual to a Mage at level 11 for BG2 (clerics suck in BG1, but they get really useful in BG2)
Bard->blade or Skald for BG2 (once again, bards kinda suck in BG1, but are kinda interesting in BG2, plus you can get a cool quest for the bard)

[SixOfSpades]

Also, you might consider taking your Fighter up to Level 12 (or even higher, if you want--more weapon points and HP), then Dualing to either a Cleric or a Thief. I haven't been impressed with the kits for Fighters so far, so Fighter->Thief is the way to go for me......this time around, anyway. I'm taking him to Level 12, and once he reaches Level 13 as a Thief, he'll have
Large Sword*****
Bow***
Small Sword*
Missile*
Blunt*
As well as an AC of -11, and 100% in Stealth, Pockets, and Locks, and that's WITHOUT Stealth-enhancing items. Talk about versatility!

[Istaron]

Hmm... good question.

I wouldn't suggest a warrior (fighter, ranger or paladin), since there are plenty of those.
In BG 1, there are NO good good-aligned clerics.
What BG 2 lacks, is good good-aligned mages, and thieves of any aligment.

So, since I doesn't like multi/dual-classing, cleric, thief OR mage. Personally, I like mages best, but that is just me.

The aligment should be neutral of some sort. Then you can mix good and evil NPCs, to a certain degree.

The race? Well, I think elf is the choise. They gain a penatly to constitution, their max is 17, but since only the warriors can benefit of having a const higher than 16, that is no problem. What elves replace that const-loss is a higher dexterity, wich is very good, especially for a thief.

Hope I have helped you a little bit!

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We call him Bobby Corwen

[Lord Brass]

I wouldn't mind knowing myself Tambourineman, as I'm (reasonably) near to the end of BG. I have to agree with Istaron about the choices available. To cover my options I've got a fighter/mage/cleric which has been both good and bad. I think I'd change it if I went through it again. Advancement is always slow, even if they are versatile.

I'm becoming drawn towards fighter/clerics as those guys can get real mean when levelled-up. You may want to follow SixOfSpades advice and dual a human instead. Not that I've tried it myself. But with some spells like Draw Upon Holy Might being so low on the list (level 2), you've got to think that melee combat could be short and sweet.
It's probably got the advantage in dual-class of having completed BG with a fighter first. Before I loaded TotSC, I found it the easiest character class to get on with, and you're always in the forefront for XP when its dolled out!

Any other suggestions people, or should we carry on as we are? BTW have you started BG yet Tambourineman? If so, what did you choose in the end?

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Making running away an art form

[Tambourineman]

But a fighter..
Duelled to thief at level 13.
Will he as a fighter be enough at Throne of Baal? Or sould I wait to duall him until later levels?

what did you mean with "choose in the end?"

[This message has been edited by Tambourineman (edited 10-04-2001).]

[Tambourineman]

I have compleated baldurs gate 2 four times I think.

But I have not started playing on that game when I and my friend are going to play through everything from Bg1 to Throne of baal! By the way.. Baal.. or Bhaal? Wich one is the Diablo baal (Lord of destruction)?

[StarVid]

Semi-spoiler...

Figure it out this way...

In BG1, there are no decent (good aligned) clerics (plus they are boring to play)
there are no decent good aligned mages (I just don't like specialists)


In BG2, there are no decent thieves that you can keep for the whole game.
In response to Lord Brass, there is one person who could mage a decent mage (Nalia) but her personality is irritating and she's non-essential to the plot (then again almost all the NPCs are).

In BG2, there is one almost halfway decent thief/mage (or I should say illusionist thief), but at best, he'd be a good support mage. Frankly though, I'd rather have a bard as a support mage.

There are lots of decent fighters in both games, for a reason. You don't want your PC on the front line because if he kicks it, game over.

So you can do the Cleric/Mage I mentioned above, but you'll be screwed out of a good thief in BG2. Or you can do a Thief dualed to mage (at a late enough level where you can get really high locks and traps), but Imoen is such a great thief in BG1 it'll be a waste. Or you can multi and play as a thief mage, but then you're just as useless as Jan from BG2.

To sum up, what should you play? For all it matters you could play it squirrel, because at least then you can have all the acorns you want...

[SixOfSpades]

I know next to nothing about ToSC, BG2 or ToB. I do, however, know just about everything about BG1. A few points to clarify:

Istaron said there are no good-aligned Clerics in BG1. Yeslick is a LG Dwarven Fighter/Cleric, with 16 Wisdom. Good, except that Fighter/Clerics are two of the SLOWEST classes to level up, and combining them magnifies that effect. The other Good Cleric is Canderous--he's one of the famous "Illusionary" guys you meet in the Prologue. They're not really meant to be used out in the rest of the game, but there IS a non-cheating way to have them join you. You decide. Canderous is better than Yeslick because he has 18 Wisdom and is single-classed. Both of them, however, have relatively low Dexterity, so it's good if they're the only member of your party who needs the Gauntlets. The best Healer-type in the game is probably either Canderous or Faldorn, a true-class Druid. (she's True Neutral, though.)

As for what race to be, I swear by Elf and Human. Elf for their extra DEX point and better THAC0 with the Bow and Long Sword, and Human for Dual-classing, which looks to be a truly awesome ability.

I don't really like Multi-Classing. Leveling up takes longer, you get lower Hitpoints, and Fighters can't get more than 2 points in any one weapon, which is a real bummer. That being said, Fighter/Thieves and Mage/Thieves rock, especially if they're Elven. I've got one of each in my Multiplayer party, and you only need 2 half-Thieves to get 100% in all the Skills.

To build a really kickass Fighter/Cleric: Dual at Lev. 6 if all you want is Blunt+++ Missile+++, or Lev. 7 to get that extra attack per round. If you're doing BG2 or more, don't Dual until you're at least Lev. 12. You'll need the extra HP, and weapon points to put into Mace and Flail.

I have no idea if 12 levels of Fighter will be enough for BG2. I _do_ know that they get a weapon point every 3 levels, so I'd do either 15 or 18. I made this guy to be a perfect Tank who can both Find Traps and get Backstab Quadruple Damage while wearing his Full Plate.

The original Baal was worshipped by either the Babylonians or Philistines, I forget.....somewhere around that region & era. The Hassidic Jews didn't like the followers of Baal, and since they were the ones who wrote the Old Testament, Baal came off as a Bad Guy. For D&D to name one of the gods Bhaal was both a good and bad thing; good, because it gave a sense of historical realism, and bad because it confuses a lot of people. The original Baal was pronounced BAY-all, which is the way it is in Diablo. I _think_ Bhaal is the same way, but I'm not sure.

[Zbyszek]

I am not sure right now about alignment (could be neutral) but I used Branwen in most of my games. OK, now I remember she was complaining about my reputation, but anyway she was very decent support fighter and had her cleric spells.