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BG2 run, Kensai/Mage dual or Fighter/Illusionist

DraQ

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Chrząszczyżewoszyce, powiat Łękołody

Lhynn

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Arcane magic is so powerful in AD&D that even a Sorcerer with but a few casts can effectively tank from mid game forwards. Stoneskin and Mirror Image alone makes it all laughable. Just wait until you get things like Spell Immunity and Prot. from Magical Weapons. The question is wether you want to give up a single final level of Mage to gain 9 early levels of Fighter. Dual classing doesn't change your character the way Multi classing does.
This is a non issue, you dont give up a level to get 9 of fighter...
 

oldmanpaco

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Arcane magic is so powerful in AD&D that even a Sorcerer with but a few casts can effectively tank from mid game forwards. Stoneskin and Mirror Image alone makes it all laughable. Just wait until you get things like Spell Immunity and Prot. from Magical Weapons. The question is wether you want to give up a single final level of Mage to gain 9 early levels of Fighter. Dual classing doesn't change your character the way Multi classing does.
This is a non issue, you dont give up a level to get 9 of fighter...

And even if you did lvl 29 mage vs lvl 30 mage: Which is better and why?
 
Self-Ejected

Excidium II

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ranger/ cleric... it's like a triple class, you get druid for free
Isn't that a bug?

Also I'm not a big fan of dual class except for mage due to the aforementioned "dismiss party and go wild scribing scrolls" strategy, no later than level 9.
 

Jason Liang

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... I wouldn't consider it a bug. It doesn't break the game, and no one's ever cared to fix it officially or unofficially. It's not how dual/multiclass works in pnp but then you're supposed to age 6 months for casting Haste and 1 year for casting Wish so in that case your Wizard/ Sorcerer is bugged too. So it's more like an oversight than a bug. It's an effect of how divine spellbooks were hardcoded in Infinity engine, not a typo in the .2da files.

Anyway, I've played through BG2 like five times and found human cleric/ ranger (stalker kit) was the best. It's more fun having a PC that casts from 2 spellbooks, dual wields and backstabs.

If you are committed to Kensai, I'd go Kensai/ Thief instead. UMD let's you dual wield Carsomyr Holy Avenger and Celestial Fury, have a familiar and cancels Kensai's disadvantage iirc. I mean, who else do you strap Carsomyr on except your PC? Are you really going to take Keldorn? Or Assassin/ Fighter, even more OP. UMD is way more fun and broken on your PC than spells.

If you're going to play a Wizard, Wild Mage is actually a lot of fun. It doesn't really make any sense to dual class Wizards to anything except Thief, for Armor and some better weapons (short bow is way better than a lame sling) but you already have a harem full of Wizard/ Thieves in this game (Imoen for incest, Nalia for crackho, Jan for dwarf sex).

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/258273-baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn/faqs/39404
 
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Jason Liang

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Stalker. As a child, you apprenticed by stalking and capturing Candlekeep's cats. It was your deviant mischief to disappear, torment and butcher them in slow and creative ways. Later on you impulsively procured an ugly pair of ponderous hammers from Candlekeep's smithy. In your hidden afternoons of stolen leisure you enthusiastically practiced your violent culinary by knocking in your victims' fragile feline skulls with a rusty mallet in each dainty hand. By surrendering yourself to this sweet autistic art you eventually transcended a cloistered adolescence and became one with both cosmos and nothingness. Little did you know that your misspent childhood trysts were actually the singing blood of Bhaal in your veins thirsting for murder.

But Gorion's lessons did not go wasted on you either, as you dutifully mastered the casting of the spells Haste, Protection from Normal Missiles and Minor Spell Deflection, and an obscure illustrated tome on demonology bearing the title Bible Black from Candlekeep's library that you once perused, which had been misshelved among the childrens' collection, impressed fascinating knowledge of the graphic rituals and secret weaknesses of the Abyss's tentacled lords upon your formative imagination.
 
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laclongquan

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Searching for my kidnapped sister
I will point out that getting out of Candlekeep mean he's level 2 at most. A level2 Ranger is not that hard to imagine since he could just get trained by the library's guard. It is a keep in the bloody of middle nowhere, so the guards are well versed in forestlore is not too hard to swallow.
 

Dzupakazul

Arbiter
Joined
Jun 16, 2015
Messages
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How does someone who grew up cloistered inside a library ends up being a ranger?
Depending on your CHARNAME's class in BG1, you get a different biography, which explains this. Only multiclasses are a generic "you never saw a reason to limit yourself to only one field of expertise", everything else is at least somewhat explained.

And really, starting from level 1, you can explain a lot. If your WFRP party can have a Rat Catcher, Noble, Border Guard and Beggar all on a wilderness adventure in Talabekland, it shouldn't be that hard to fathom.
 

oldmanpaco

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ranger/ cleric... it's like a triple class, you get druid for free
Isn't that a bug?

I seem to remember bio fixed it in a patch but everyone bitched about it so they put it back in. Same with the ring of wizardry outside of the inn.

How does someone who grew up cloistered inside a library ends up being a ranger?
Dual classing means you learned that shit later.

No one duals into a ranger. Do they?
 

Jason Liang

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Well, that was kind of fun.
qs76kh.jpg


Baldur's Gate EE, used Big World to install minimum mods + SCS, the four "recommended" NPCs (Finch, Isra, Valerie and Garrick?), NPC Project, Banter Packs, and animal companion mod. Legacy of Bhaal difficulty. Not sure how you would beat this solo Kensai. Maybe with a more serious team you could use a Kensai, but this fight was pretty nuts even with stealth.

Of course, the toughtest part of the fight was keeping Edwin alive. He makes a fine target in his red robes (hm... maybe next time just have him cast Mirror Images...)

Animal companion mod is kind of fun, and no bugs, but a little OP.

2hftfr4.jpg


2uff2vl.jpg


A true daughter of Murder.
 
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oldmanpaco

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With SCS the bandit camp is pretty intense. But holy crap you're overpowered for that part of the game.
 

Jason Liang

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I wanted to check if NPCs would get another free level boost if you recruit them at level 8 (they receive 32,000 xp if you recruit them at 6/ 37,000 xp for Ranger). It only took about an hour to grind from 6-8 (Wolf of Ulcaster, Dread Wolves 650 xp each). They don't.

I may have to restart again, turns out you need to install Seige of Dragonspear first, then mod, not the other way around. Will probably drop Edwin this time, he's a pain of keep around (not to mention keep alive) if you don't kill Dynaheir. But not sure which other mage to take, Neera is even squishier. Xan (even MORE squishy)? Xzar (a Necro, so he doesn't get Illusion spells? No Mirror Image? gah)?
 
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Lhynn

Arcane
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ProTip: you dont actually need a mage in BG1, they may be of help in siege of dragonspear tho.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
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Pathfinder: Wrath
Edwin is the best mage in the game, including your PC. You don't NEED a mage for BG1, but they wreak havoc when played well, so you are gimping yourself needlessly, they are also not hard to keep alive when buffed with the proper spells.
 

Jason Liang

Arcane
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In the SCS Bandit Camp fight, basically every archer with LOS was aiming at Edwin. Finch's only job once she'd summon her skellies was to keep Edwin alive. Edwin himself was busy chugging healing potions most of the fight like it was Rush week at University of Thay.

But yeah, I'd like to take a mage along for the firepower. As you can see from the stats, my PC was 89% of the kills... Edwin is the other 11%. Imoen and Finch don't really kill things, and I just got Coran.
 

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