Help me flesh out my Baldur's Gate II PC!

Cafe Society
1

Alright, soon now, I’m going to go in for whatmay be my last BGII character ever.

So, I’m going to make him very fun!

I’m planning:

CN Elven (Aquatic Elf, but the in-game difference is immaterial) Fighter/Mage

BUT! Should I add Theif into that? The additional capabilties are nice, but are they worth it? Ohhhhh!!! I don’t know!

Can some of you give me advice? Has anyone played these types? Is splitting my levels up that much too weakening?

My rational for the character:
Party:
Korgan
Me!
Sarevok (later)
Viconia
Edwin
Jan Jansen
Possibly Haer’Dalis until ToB…
Fighter: I need to back up Korgan in a fight. The Dwarf can’t take on everything. Plus, I’ve seen a lot of cool tricks to do with spells that boost my combat abilties. Many fun spells aren’t that useful to a normal caster are useful to a fighter type.
Mage: I wan to kick some magical booty! Besieds, I’ve noticed smart caster use can clean up in BGII.
Theif: I like theiving, but I’m not sure its the best choice. There are some fun quests to do with it, but still… Arg! I don’t know!

PS: SHould I go for the Thieve’s or Mage’s Stronghold?

As an aside, should I join the Shadow Theives Guild or pay Bodhi the $$$? Which is more fun? Will is become more or less powerful with Bohdi’s help?

2

Thieves are sort of useless in BG2, unfortunately. If you have Jan (or even Imoen), you can detect pretty much any trap in the game, and even open most locks. In BG1, thieves were an excellent investment, but I wouldn’t recomend bothering with a third class.

Fighters are good. They just kick any other physical creature around the map, and their feats in ToB are most excellent. Greater Whirlwind all the way. Against a good mage, though, they’re toast without protection.

Mages are the most powerful in the game – at higher levels. A pure mage (or pure sorcerer, which I’m playing through the game with right now… I’m in Chapter 5) will wipe the floor with anything else in the game at higher levels. Even highly magic-resistant creatures can be “removed.” However, this is at higher levels.

If you’re going to double class as a mage and fighter, you won’t ever get those top-line spells, and nor will you get the best attacking strength of a fighter. You sore of take the worst of each class. My sorceror at level 15 is excellent at all sorts of combat, as is Minsc a pure warrior), at level 14. Remember that you can’t cast spells in armor, though, and if you try to go into melee combat without armor, you’re toast. But, hey, if you want to multi-class, go for it. Just be prepared to have a main character that sucks at combat, except for certain one-on-one situations.

Go for the Fighter stronghold if you’re multiclassed. The Thief and Mage strongholds are sort of… unsatisfying.

Definately go Shadow Thieves. They’re cooler. Never ally with (Bodhi’s type). It’ll get you to the same place, but she’s nasty to deal with.

On your NPC list… Korgan is good as a fighter. Sarevok is great as a fighter, but you can’t get him until a lot later. Vic is an excellent cleric, but make sure to get her a strength increasing item, like the belt of Hill Giant Strength. Edwin and Jan should take care of most of your spellcasting capability, but I’d highly suggest Imoen instead of Jan. Without Imoen, you miss a lot of the plotline. And she is a great wizard.

-Psi Cop

3

Well, I was thinking that I’d be about 1 level behind in each class. Not wonderful, but hardly a deal breaker.

Two words: Elven Chain. And before that, stoneskin. In any event, this character was going to go for archery, mostly.

I’ve seen it. Twice.

4

Well, the way that Multiclass works is that you divide experience evenly between the two classes. For example:

A pure fighter vs a pure mage with:

100,000 XP: Level 7 Fighter OR Level 8 Mage
200,000 XP: Level 8 / Level 9
500,000 XP: Level 10 / Level 11
1,000,000 XP: Level 12 / Level 12
1,500,000 XP: Level 14 / Level 14
2,000,000 XP: Level 16 / Level 15
3,000,000 XP: Level 20 / Level 18

Now, take that same experience and divide it between the fighter and mage…

100,000 XP: Level 6 Fighter AND Level 6 Mage
200,000 XP: Level 7/8
500,000 XP: Level 9/10
1,000,000 XP: Level 10/11
1,500,000 XP: 11/12
2,000,000 XP: 12/12
3,000,000 XP: 14/14

This table used for reference.

At 3,000,000 experience points (which is above the BG2 experience cap, without ToB), you’re looking at a 6 level difference in warriors (which isn’t so much), but four levels in wizard, which is a bunch. Every spell counts. Especially since you can’t get level 9 spells until 18. You’d need 6,000,000 XP before being able to cast a level 9 spell as a wizard.

On the Elven Chain thing… yeah, you can cast spells with it. But by the time you can get it, most of the easy-to-beat physical opponents will have been passed by. I’m in the Underdark right now with Minsc and Keldorn, with armor classes of -7 and -1 respectively, and they’re still getting pounded upon. Heck, I have Vic outfitted with Drow Plate +5 for an AC of -12, and she still gets hit regularly. If you’re going to go toe-to-toe, you need plate mail and a heck of a lot of hit points. Mirror image and stoneskin are great defensive spells, but they can go down fast. The best use for magic missile, for example, is taking down mirror images. Stoneskin goes soon thereafter.

And yeah, if you’ve gone through it twice, ditching Imoen is okay… but why did you ask about Bodhi vs. the Shadow Thieves, out of curiosity? Bodhi’s route actually seems a bit easier to me (I hate fighting vampires), but she’s just too pushy and arrogent. I don’t care how eeeeeevilll a character is, none that I’d ever play would want to go along with her.

-Psi Cop

5

Don’t listen to anyone about thieves being (sort of) useless. I had lots of fun with spike traps in ToB. This was especially useful to me as I never played a good mage. However, if you do go the F/M/T route, you might want to play with less characters to increase XP.

One thing to add a little spice to the games are the add-on mods. New NPCs, new items, even new quests and areas depending on the mods. Keeps it fresh; one gets tired of finding new ways to beat Kangaxx right out of Irenicus’ dungeon…*

[sub]*yes, that’s hyperbole[/sub]

6

Well, mI’ve actually never joined her guild… there just seemed something too freaky about the undead S&M Queen.

ANyway, think I should gofor a fighter dualed to mage? Or pure Elven Mage?

7

Yeah. that’s part of my reasoning as well. Even if I play the evilest sorceror to ever set foot in the lands, I’m not going to feel easy about meeting a vampire in the graveyard at night who claims to want to help me. The Shadow Thieves, at least, admit that they’re doing it for the money and for the tasks you do for them. Also remember that the Shadow Thieves were the ones that launched the invasion of the complex that distracted Irenicus. That, for me, was my primary reason. Whoever they were, they were definately against my captor.

Anyway, if you’re asking my honest opinion, I’d go for a sorcerer, myself. Wizards are nice, but they have to memorize spells in advance. Playing as a sorceror, I always have a dispell invisiblity when I need it… but if I’m just fighting a hoard of ordinary creatures, the spell slot for dispell invisibility would have been wasted. It’s nice being able to pick which spells to cast on the spur of the moment. In Pen and Paper D&D, I’d never play a sorceror because they’re so limited… but with a relatively small selection of spells in BG2, you only need a couple spells at each spell level anyway.

-Psi Cop

8

Well, I’ll go for it. I really just wanted some more hitpoints and to be a decent ranged attacker, primarily so I wouldn’t waste spells. :slight_smile:

9

I got to the very end of BG II but was unable to close the deal because I lacked a pure and unadulterated bad ass mage.

Considered starting over, but it’s a lot of work and anyway I have Icewind Dale now where you script your entire party.

Multiclass isn’t for me. When the shit hits the fan there’s no time to ponder the baroque trivia of this or that character’s multilayered abilities. Give me fundamentally simple characters with no fancy pants frills.