multi-class

[aggroskater]

I was thinking of making a multi-classed character and was wondering if a rogue/ranger would be good? They have similar skills and both use stealth which I like, but since they are similar would that be a bad choice? thnx for your opinoins.

[Xandax]

My usual reply to stuff like this, is - if you want to play a rouge/ranger then I really think you should try it out.

Due to fact of the 3E rules in NwN it is hard to actually mess up your character completely.

imo any multiclass can be a viable one (in NwN because you can only have 3 multiclasses - otherwise a level 1 fighter/mage/rogue/ranger/fighter/cleric/bard might not be a good idea ) therefore go with what you feel might be fun or interesting

But, anyway - rogue is a great class to multiclass in because of the high amount of skillpoints they gain per level, and there is nothing wrong with combining to "similar" classes to gain a boost in the shared skills.

[Jurosementalistile]

It's a pity they screwed up the rules so that all your class skills don't remain class skills when you level up in another class, like they do in the 3rd edition rules. That would make taking a level of rogue very useful

[archerknight]

Ranger/rogue makes a very good multilevel, but if you want a powerful fighter take most of the levels as ranger. In my experience a ranger10/rogue10 is not especially tough in melee combat.

[aggroskater]

Ok thnx, i know that the lvl cap is 20, so I take that a cumlative lvl of 20 when dealing with multi-classed charcters is the cap as well, like a lvl 10/10? Also, does anyone know what the lvl cap will be for the upcoming expansions, just out of curiosity? One other thing, when I have played baldurs gate beacause it used 2nd edition rules couldn't pick which class lvls up and so forth, so is it best just to rotate from class to class when lvling, or is it ok to have one class 5 lvls higher than the other? Thnx, again.

[archerknight]

You can take the levels wherever and whanever you want, but I think if you switch levels with too much difference you will have some kind of penalty. For example if you have a ranger2/rogue1 you would have no penalty to add a level to either, but if you have a ranger5/rogue1 there would be an experience point penalty to add a level in rogue. I don't know the reason. It's probably best to rotate at least until you get the class you want the lower level up too the max you want it.

You're right the level cap is the total of all levels.

[aggroskater]

Thnx guys, it cleared a lot of things up

[Xandax]

Originally posted by archerknight
You can take the levels wherever and whanever you want, but I think if you switch levels with too much difference you will have some kind of penalty. For example if you have a ranger2/rogue1 you would have no penalty to add a level to either, but if you have a ranger5/rogue1 there would be an experience point penalty to add a level in rogue. <snip>

This depends on wich class and race you take, there is something called favored multiclass that will negate this exp.penalty.

The class that is a race favored multiclass does not calculate into exp.penalties. For instance a human has "any" as favored multiclass - therefor it will always be the highest class that is favored - and thus will not get any exp penalties for a level 5<something>/ level 1<something else>

If you have a race that has favored multiclass wizard you would recive a penalty for such a constallation unless one of the classes was wizard.

If your classes are within 1 level of each other, there is no penalty - level 5<something> / level 4 <something else> is hence without penalty, even if both classes aren't the race' favored multiclass.

[EvilEdwin]

You get a massive 20% penalty to gaining experience if your levels are unbalanced. That may not sound a lot but it soon racks up, especially since there is a finite amount of experience in the official campaign. If you do this it's unlikely you'll get to level 20.

[Thanatos]

Ugh, this is news to me. Seems like everytime I think I've figured this game out, something else comes up.

This is going to be a problem because I just multiclassed my half-elf rogue into a bard. Why do they even let you multiclass late in the game if they're gonna slap you with a penalty? You know what, screw it, I'm gonna keep my bard level at level 3 or so and just keep levelling my rogue if i want, exp penalty be damned. Doesn't really matter as long as I can finish the game, I can always just port my character back to chapter four after I finish if i really want the exp.

[EvilEdwin]

You shouldn't have a problem wiith a half-elf bard/rogue since a half-elf has it's highest class as a favoured class, meaning that the highest levels don't count. So you won't get the penalty.

[Thanatos]

Ah, thanks. Just finshed the game with 16 levels actually, don't know if that's normal or what.

[EvilEdwin]

I originally finished it with a human paladin at level 16. But recently with a fighter/rogue I got to 17. Went through Chapter 4 again to get to level 18.

[Ubik]

Rogue/Ranger seems to me as very good combo. Right now I am upping a new R/R.

He is lvl 9 Ranger / lvl 4 Rogue and he is really a very potent character. I boosted his archer skills and with a comp. long bow +2 he is killing everything in sight, while my tank henchie takes the damage and my pet panther deals in some more damage.

But progressing with such a character without a beefy henchman might be tricky.

Also, picking human or half-elf negates the exp. penalty in multiclassing (I think...).

[limorkil]

I love ranger/rogue. When I played through I took much more ranger than rogue - I think I was 14/6 at the end. My reasoning was as follows:

- The rogue class mainly gives you access to some good skills and skill points, but not a lot else. The backstab damage is not that great unless you take LOTS of rogue levels and even then you can't backstab many creatures you would like to because they are immune.

- You cannot spend skill points on non-ranger skills when you gain a ranger level, but you CAN save the points. What I did was save a few points each ranger level and then when I made a rogue level (roughly once every 4 levels) I dumped those skill points into handy rogue skills such as use magic item and disarm.

- You'll be crap at fighting if you take too many rogue levels (note: I didn't play with a henchman and I skipped the introduction to start at level 1 - I think this makes early chapter 1 more challenging and fun.)

- The ranger pet's level depends on the number of ranger levels you have. So more ranger levels gives you a more useful pet (my panther still died easy, but I had him more for RP purposes - i.e. Drizzt - and to help in tough fights )

I also chose to have a ranger that did not use spells (the spells aren't that good anyway) so I made my wisdom lower than usual and used the extra attribute points to give myself more intelligence (for skill points) and dexterity.

Because you get 4x normal skill points at the start, I recommend starting as a rogue because that will give you a lot more skill points. Also, the key to skills is to choose a few and near-max them.