Kayless’ Guide to Multi-Classing

[Mianna]

So if I have a tiefling rogue and advance him...lets´s say 1 level and then I take 1 level ranger and then again 1 level rogue and then 1 level ranger...I won´t suffer any experience loss? Is wielding dual daggers a bad idea? How about a bow? In BG2 you have to remove your off-hand weapon to use a bow...

[baileyatbrats]

Two daggers sounds good to me.
Bows work. They may have improved the game mechanics for IWDII, so maybe you can switch between weapons automatically. (Actually I think they have a 'weapon configuration' button. So you can switch between sword and sheild to two daggers to bow.)

You're right about the level progression

Again the goal is fun.
So, don't worry about level progression and xp pentaly.
Your characters will do fine in the game. Make what you want. If you have one character with slow growth whom you like, then the others will do fine until your character progresses.

[Mianna]

Thanks! Now I´ll just wate for the game to be published.

[Kayless]

Originally posted by baileyatbrats
Again the goal is fun.
So, don't worry about level progression and xp pentaly.

Blasphemy! http://www.colute.net/cwm/cwm/3dlil/grrr.gif http://www.smilies.org/basesmilies/razz.gif The whole purpose of this thread is to help produce characters that don’t have exp. penalties and kick some power gaming ass! http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/cont...nx/yelwink.gif

Originally posted by Mianna
So if I have a tiefling rogue and advance him...lets´s say 1 level and then I take 1 level ranger and then again 1 level rogue and then 1 level ranger...I won´t suffer any experience loss?

Yuck! http://www.soccerforums.com/images/smilies/yuck.gif I can't see a reason why anyone would want to take more than one level of ranger. They're woefully underpowered. My advice is to just take a single level then move on to something better, depending on your race's favorite multi-class (humans and half-elves being the most versatile). http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/winkgrin.gif

Originally posted by Mianna
Is wielding dual daggers a bad idea? How about a bow? In BG2 you have to remove your off-hand weapon to use a bow...

I'd recommend short swords over daggers. But then again, this is coming from a pragmatist perspective. Role-playing is all well and good, but sometimes it can get in the way of practicality (especially in a dungeon crawl like IWD2). For example, you could play as a wizard with an Int of 6 for role-playing purposes, I just wouldn't recommend it for reasons of practicality. http://216.40.201.38/contrib/edoom/Peace!.gif

[Mianna]

From a role playing view: Ranger fits best for me. I tried powerplaying as a fighter/mage in BG2 and never liked it...I find the summon natures ally spell very very interesting. How about Minsc in Baldurs? He surely ain´t underpowered! I have noticed that paladins and rangers are quite the same in combat but they have different abilities.

It´s all about peoples taste so everyone can play what they want...and HOW they want.

[baileyatbrats]

Right.
Back in the olden days. (1994?) when I was playing the orginal Pool Of Radience Series I did have to change a couple of characters to make them more powerful. (Reroll for better stats and single class them.)
Since then, I have not had that kind of trouble. Someone mentioned earlier in here that strength and dexterity shouldn't be an issue because there will always be magic items to use.

"Power play" is good, but you only need one good fighter and one good spell caster to get out of the difficult jambs.

Face it. 6 Single class humans would be boring.

[Kayless]

Originally posted by baileyatbrats
Face it. 6 Single class humans would be boring.

Which is why my present party consists of:

Durnkrag, LG male gold dwarf Pal3/FtrXX
Str 14, Dex 10 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 16
Personality (In-brief): A steadfast, earnest, and high-minded soul who would gladly lay down his life to save an innocent.

Machiavelli "Mac" Saint Aiur, CN male human RogXX/Rng1
Str 13, Dex 18 Con 12 Int 13 Wis 10 Cha 10
Personality (In-brief): A terse neurotic loner whose self-deprecating wit and wry sense of humor belie deep-rooted angst.

Grizella, NG female half-orc Bbn1/DrdXX
Str 10, Dex 14 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 18 Cha 8
Personality (In-brief): Warm, open, and affable despite having a fiery temper. Quick to anger, but also quick to defend her friends.

Nebuchadnezzar "Nabucco" Jalre, NE male drow elf WizXX
Str 8, Dex 16 Con 12 Int 20 Wis 14 Cha 10
Personality (In-brief): A petulant, vain and apathetic schemer who wouldn’t think twice of stabbing a friend in the back.

Asenath Rayne, LN Aasimar female ClrXX
Str 13 Dex 10 Con 12 Int 13 Wis 20 Cha 12
Personality (In-brief): Intellectual, persuasive, and serenely spiritual, if somewhat aloof. Though well intentioned, she has a habit of deciding what's best for people (without consulting them).

Sarahanna "Sadie" Van Eyre, CG half-elf female Sor1/MnkXX
Str 13, Dex 16 Con 12 Int 8 Wis 16 Cha 11
Personality (In-brief): A garrulous and cheerfully vacuous idiot savant of martial arts. All-in-all the quintessential bimbo, albeit one capable of inflicting considerable pain upon her foes.

As you can see, no two characters are of the same race or have redundant classes. There is also a nice mix of single and multi-classing as well as an even gender mix. And all of them work from both a role-playing and a power gaming perspective. http://www.highwaygames.com/forum/im...es/biggrin.gif

[Raistlin]

Originally posted by Nippy
I'm gonna guess that some people are going to basically burn this game onto the hard disk permanatley!

Very true .. I installed BG series nearyl 2 years ago , even they cover more 6gb hardisk space , i keep'em as a showing of my respect to BlackIsle .

[Onyx]

@Kayless

Nice team there, from a roleplaying view.
Very interesting.

I would like to know how is "Nabucco" going to fit there, you know, being the (neutral)evil one in the team.

Still, i think a very good team.

[Kayless]

Originally posted by Onyx
@Kayless

Nice team there, from a roleplaying view.
Very interesting.

I would like to know how is "Nabucco" going to fit there, you know, being the (neutral)evil one in the team.

Still, i think a very good team.

Thanks. I always try to have an interesting mix of characters. http://www.highwaygames.com/forum/im...ilies/wink.gif A little history on Nabucco first. You’ll notice his last name is Jalre, which is a drow house from Lords of Darkness that (in modern Faerun at least) lives on the surface of Cormathor and worships Vhaeraun instead of Lloth. They have smaller and more detailed plots than simple world domination, and plan to take over old elven settlements, study mythals and remnants of elven high magic, and find a way to tune these powerful wards to keep out both surface enemies and other drow (the Lloth worshipers).

Since Icewind Dale takes place about 80 years in the past, House Jalre still lives in the Underdark and is a persecuted minority. As a member of House Jalre, Nabucco has more to fear from other drow than most surfacers. Also, Nabucco’s neutral evil, which means he’ll work with just about anyone if it’s beneficial for him to do so. Though he finds it distasteful, he hangs around a group of (mostly) do-gooders for his own protection; from both surface dwellers that wouldn't think twice about killing a lone drow, as well as Lloth worshipers of his own kind (the vast majority of drow). It also gives him a nice camouflage for when he’s secretly checking out places of old elven magic. A lone drow (or a party of drow) would be profoundly suspicious, but a band of heroic adventurers are given a good deal of leeway (since adventurers are always crawling around such places). For their part, the others in the group tolerate Nabucco because he's intimately familiar with the Underdark and (most importantly) he's the only wizard they have. However, he does tend to rub the good aligned party members the wrong way... http://boards.wizards.com/rpg/graemlins/Up_to.gif

Note: At the moment I'm working on a custom soundest that uses Jeremy Irons (mostly from his part of Scar in the Lion King) as the the petulant and insinuating voice of Nabucco. http://www.highwaygames.com/forum/im...es/biggrin.gif

[Mianna]

Hi I´m back I had a GREAT mid-summer fest and I have plenty of energy stored for writing
We had a Finnish voice actor for Scar so don´t really know what the voice is like. I have been thinking about this fighter/rogue thing and it souns better than a ranger/rogue. I´m playing a multi-class fighter/thief in BG2 and I must say that she is AWESOME! She is dual-wielding a katana and a shortsword. Looks soooo cool and katana gives out some pretty nasty damage.

Wonder if they have katanas in ID2...I do hope so!

[Kayless]

Originally posted by Mianna
I´m playing a multi-class fighter/thief in BG2 and I must say that she is AWESOME! She is dual-wielding a katana and a shortsword. Looks soooo cool and katana gives out some pretty nasty damage.

Wonder if they have katanas in ID2...I do hope so!

Unfortunately katanas are not going to be in IWD2 (last I heard). http://www.highwaygames.com/forum/im...es/bawling.gif

[Mianna]

Oooh It is a perfect choise for my PC in BG2 from a roleplaying view: It´s long and a little bit curved but still quite light. I made this swashbuckler11/fighterXX char and it bothers me that my char. has 17 strength...well it doesn´t mean only muscle, but endurance and stamina as well...guess the extra points came from those two

[Kayless]

Okay, I'm back after a three-week hiatus (fishing, playing Warcraft 3 and Neverwinter Nights among other things) and thought I’d bump the old multi-classing guide. http://www.wizards.com/community/ima...ds/biggrin.gif It’s worth mentioning that most of the tips on this topic are based on the PHB (Player’s Handbook) version of D&D classes. My experiences with NWN have taught me to be a bit wary of certain changes in the translation from PnP to video game (you'd have thought I'd have learned that lesson by now). http://www.wizards.com/community/ima...s/rolleyes.gif For instance, NWN decided that a Ranger gets free Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting (combined as a single feat called Dual Wielding) like in the PHB, but is unable to take the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat at later levels. Instead the feat is given automatically to Rangers at ninth level. This completely destroys the Rogue/Ranger multi-classing combo for NWN since taking 9 levels of Ranger is out of the question for a good min/max and going without Improved Two-Weapon Fighting hamstrings your Rogue at higher levels. http://www.wizards.com/community/ima...ins/nonono.gif I had to totally reevaluate my multi-classing concepts (since there were some positive changes to certain classes as well). Here’s hoping IWD2 hues a little closer to the original material (or I'm going to have a hell of a time starting over from scratch). http://www.wizards.com/community/ima...lins/dozey.gif

[Mirk]

so (@kayless or anybody), how does a single level of barbarian sound for fighter types? for the movement and rage, hopefully able to pick up extra rages via feats, don't know if it's in the game, though.