Fighter/thief...as good as Swashbuckler? Better or worse?:)

[Yanni]

Hi again!....unforunately
This time im asking about a multiclass Fighter/thief?Is it as good as Swashbuckler?Is a fighter/thief good in combat?Good in thievery?Cause i dont like normal thiefs cause they are so bad in combat, my current swashbuckler cant hit anything...so i want him to ne able to fight...so if you have any experience about playing a fighter/thief please tell me if it is good?Or if you just want to help me in this "problem" ,the give me some reply
Thanks

[philip]

He will not level up as fast as a normal swashbuckler.
Maybe he's more powerful, haven't tried myself.

[Sazerac]

Best options are to either take a fighter and dual him/her to a thief, or take a thief and dual him/her to a fighter, as you can get grandmastery in weapons and still be able to use thief skills. What you choose depends on what you want to end up as at the end of the game.

My personal favorite is to dual a fighter to a thief, at about 9th level Fighter level. Thieves level up very quickly so you'll get your fighter skills back again quickly. If you choose the Berserker kit, it's even better because of the AC and to hit bonuses you get while berserk, and the immunities against Maze/Imprisonment/Charm/Confusion/Domination, etc. it gives you.

If you're going to dual a thief to a fighter, choose an Assassin.

I'd still say Swashbuckler is best for pure thief kit, rather than multiclass fighter-thief. Put your points in STR, DEX, and CON; WIS and INT can go, and so can CHA; you can always use the Ring of Human Influence if you want to up that a bit. I'd say strive for STR of 17 or higher, DEX of 18, and CON of 17 or higher. There's enough strength-enhancing spells and items in the game (Girdle of Hill Giant Strength, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, etc.) that you should be able to boost that up artificially as well.

Good luck!
-Sazerac

[Magness]

I just completed a famale elven Swashbuckler (Kamryn the Red) all the way thru SoA and ToB. Very fun.

You don't really need to crank up the CON beyond 16. According to the STR/DEX/CON table, there's no real advantage for a Swashy to have a 17 or 18 CON. Use those points for DEX, then STR.

An advantage to playing a Swashy over a fighter/thief (particularly a multiclassed F/T) is that your theiving skills will rocket up very quickly. I pumped up the Find Traps/Open Locks, and stealth skills first, then I focused on getting my Set Traps skill way up there quickly. Never forget to use the Set Traps skill. You don't have to use it to actually KILL your enemies. It works great to heavily damage them, making the fight that much easier. (In the final battle of ToB, my swashy set a few traps that did over 150 points of damage to the final baddie, making that battle much, much easier.)