Character Creation ...

Aranan · Post by **Aranan** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 3:08 pm

I was wondering if I could get some input on character creation for my new "multiplayer" game.

I was thinking a cleric/mage dual or multi (which one of dual or multi should I pick, and if dual, which class should I start with and what level should I dual over at? If multi, should I consider a gnome illusionist/cleric?) I want to have access to as many of the spells as possible (er.. as many of the GOOD spells as possible).

or maybe..

Ranger/Cleric multi or dual (Once again, not sure which one) in order to be an overall priest that has all the offensive and defensive priestly spells (mainly the druid swarm lines that stop casters and the fun cleric spells). If I dual, should I use something like a Stalker/Cleric?

Kensai/Druid? Are these worth it? Or maybe a TotemicDruid/Fighter dual? Fighter/Druid multi? Or just throw it out?

Some form of a fighter mage.. Kensage? or a multiclass?

I've never used anything other than straight classes or kits, and I'm realizing how I'm not using my characters to their full potentials. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 3:27 pm

Cleric/Mage could be a great class (Aerie) I recomend a Dual Class, Dualed from a cleric at about level 16 (can't rememebr how the spell progression goes) to a mage..this will give you some slightly better combat abilities, and access to all the best priest spells...you will not however have a devastating Turn Undead...Also if you've got ToB then IMHO the Mage Level 10 Spells are far superior to the Priest Quest Spells...
Ranger Cleric would be absolutely useless..don't try, unless you have a good roleplaying argument for it...
Kensai/Druid, I cannot imagine how this one would turn out..however I'm sure a Kensai cleric would turn out much better, if dualed from the Kensai about level 14...
There is dispute as to wether a Kensai/Mage or straight Fighter/Mage is the most powerful class in the game but either way if you dual from fighter at about level 18 he will be a killer..

remeber, Druids are a crap class, only play them if you really like the imagery or feel that if you lived in the fantasy realms you really would be a druid...anyway, I'd say a Fighter Cleric is the most interesting you've said...

speedball · Post by **speedball** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 3:47 pm

Ranger/Clerics are actually fun to play. While a lot of the Druid spells are pretty bad, there are some gems in there. I'm specifically thinking Ironskins, Insect Swarm/Plague, and Summon Fire Elemental.

Combine Ironskins with Draw Upon Holy Might and Righteous Magic, and dual wielding, and your R/C will be kicking tail like nobody's business.

I would take a Fighter/Mage over a Kensai/Mage. I believe, but am not sure, that a F/M can use a shield and still cast spells, while a K/M can't, and there are some nice shields out there.

Aranan · Post by **Aranan** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 3:51 pm

Should a f/m be used in front lines or as a rear caster that just has more HP and can be used to fight in a pinch?

Same with a ranger/cleric..

PosterX · Post by **PosterX** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:01 pm

Kensai dual

I know many people love the Kensai/Mage and Kensai/Thief duals but I just cannot imagine doing this. First of all most people dual at lvl 9 or 13. This means that you only geta +3 or +4 bonus. You have to take this with the restriction that your mage cannot wear bracers or your thief unable to wear leather or studded leather. If you want to dual use either a plain fighter or a beserker.

Aranan · Post by **Aranan** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:04 pm

Can someone tell me when I'd need to dual over from a cleric in order to get the level 10 mage spells (in ToB of course)

Xan deVir · Post by **Xan deVir** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:47 pm

Re: Kensai dual

Originally posted by PosterX
I know many people love the Kensai/Mage and Kensai/Thief duals but I just cannot imagine doing this. First of all most people dual at lvl 9 or 13. This means that you only geta +3 or +4 bonus. You have to take this with the restriction that your mage cannot wear bracers or your thief unable to wear leather or studded leather. If you want to dual use either a plain fighter or a beserker.

I played as a kensai thief in a 2 ppl multiplayer party the other player who was the main character and also the server played as a cleric/mage multiclass, my character was really hard to play right after the dualing but we had ~50/50% of total kills after all. IMO the assassin kit in bg2 sucks and it should've been somethin like kensai thief multiclass who gets only 10 thief skills per lvl and could only put 'em into hide in shadows, more silently, and set traps - not those overpowered munchin traps of course and w/o UAI skill... that would be a perfect assassin cuz he's ez to hit n' kill but he hit hard and can actually hit even the most powerful creatures. anyway if u wanna play a kensai thief you should try making this character in an editor and you'll have more fun.
-wtf, it's 01:56 here... me gonna sleep!

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 5:23 pm

You have to take this with the restriction that your mage cannot wear bracers or your thief unable to wear leather or studded leather

oh man! Not again!!!

....

I love the berserker/mage, maybe is really the most powerful class thanx to the rage immunities combined with all the rest, but the kensai/mage is also great!
I explained in an old thread that the kensai/mage has actually an equal or even better AC than a berserker/mage with bracers, thanx to the -2 AC being applied AFTER any other AC bonus, SPELLS INCLUDED.
(Though I admit I could miss those gauntles of extraordinary specialization..)

For the head, Ioun stones.
For the body, Robe of Vecna.

It is true, no shield for a kensai, but very few people in this forum would lose the benefits of dualwielding for a shield.
This was amply debated.
Shields have at maximum one special ability, weapons often have
many and crucial special abilities and grant all kind of immunities,
so with TWO weapons the combos are VERY good.....

And most of all, a kensai/mage is IMHO the most stylish of all chars!
I love to see that little girl who runs TOTALLY unarmored, protected
only by her skills, her swords and contingencies!!!!
She alone killed the IMPROVED Demogorgon and his minions without a wound, while... NPC SPOILER
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
....Sarevok was already dead (killed by massive damage)
when the battle started....

(Wouldn't have been possible without Spell Immunity: Abjuration,
to be shielded from those damned Remove Magic!!!!

)

My advice is: take a char that you like and make him powerful.

Aranan · Post by **Aranan** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 10:13 pm

Wow, thanks for that link. It really helps a lot!

I think I've narrowed it down to a cleric that duals into a mage with enough time left over so the mage can get level 10 spells (Would this be like level 12 for the cleric?);

a ranger/cleric multi (Will I be able to get all the druid spells if I do this?) that uses dual wield(***), hammers(**), flails(**) and maces(*)

and a fighter(berserk/kensai, still debating) that duals into a mage.

I think the ranger/cleric is gonna stay, so it's a choice between the fighter/mage and the cleric/mage. I was really thinking of having a sorceress in my group (never played one before in BG, but I have in DND 3e) so that would really play into my decision..

speedball · Post by **speedball** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 8:53 am

A R/C multi in SoA with ToB installed will be able to get all Druid spells.

Aranan · Post by **Aranan** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 8:58 am

Thanks a lot. My decision is to go with a multi ranger/cleric, a sorcerer and a blade (human so I can dual later maybe.. is there anything worth dualing to form a blade?)

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 9:21 am

Hmmmmm, but the sorceror is a plain class....
Anyway, for hints about the sorceror you may want to ask
UserUnfriendly (though he is a... uhhhm..... CHEESY player

)

If you want to know anything about the kensai/mage ask freely, there's a lot of knowledge here!

The Ranger/Cleric is a good class indeed!
Though somewhat cheesy... They get all spells from the druid pool
even though the ranger class is limited to the third level...
There's really a glitch here I think...

Let's say they are clerics with major access to all the spheres...
A bit overpowered.

Ah, bards CANNOT dual.

Aranan · Post by **Aranan** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 12:36 pm

Yeah, I know the sorc is a plain class but he's a plain class I've never played

That's enough of a twist for me right now. I've been paying attention to a lot of UserUnfriendly's posts (lots of discussions about spell combos, wow

).

I think my next game I'll use the kensai/mage and a cleric/mage, I just couldn't fit all the cool combos I wanted to try into one game and have room for NPCs (for their quests and interactions, the be funny!

)

I was originally planning to use the ranger/cleric as a caster, but I realized I was a bit short on tanks so I opted to use him as one instead.

Doh, forgot about bards not being able to dual. Thanks for pointing it out to me though. I might replace him with a kensai/mage (I'm only a bit into chapter 1, he can still catch up).. If I do the kensai/mage, I'm guessing dual wielding (***) katanas and longswords would be the best plan, right?

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Sat Mar 30, 2002 2:22 am

A great tank OR a great caster?
Uhmm, believe me a ranger/cleric is really BOTH at the same time!
Even too much as I stated...

For the proficiency, yeah, it's good, I have katana and long sword.
But I use only katanas... In the off-hand D'akkon Blade, not really
very powerful, but I like it 'cause it's specific for fighter/mages!!!

Also the other "esotic" blades are cool....

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Sun Mar 31, 2002 1:25 am

littz and I and others have hashed out merits of dual vs mult, dual is better for large parties, multi for small. you see, with mult you are actually adding xp to another, invisible char. so if you plan a small party, may I suggest either a fighter mage cleric, you actually have to see the OBSCENE power of this class, especially with xp cap off...

first ofall, if you have a small say 4 person party, 1 theif, jahiera and korgy??

you will become an unstaoppable killer. you blur into battle, with righteous magic and draw on holy power at low levels, righteous alone at high, you can litterally go hand to hand wit dragons and give as good as got. your chains and triggers are loaded with triple earthquake, bypasses magic resist, and if your attacks dont get him, the really good cleric spells that bypass magic resist will. forget the undead, your range and killer abilty will make you master. unless you add patches, you wont get the extra spells for quest level mage spells, but who cares? this char is absolutely the finest killer in the game, way better than a kensai at 40th level.

of course, the only class better is my

kensai sorc cleric druid hive mother beholder death bringer, with soon to be tested, time stop immunity!!!!

laugh now lich!!!

Aranan · Post by **Aranan** » Sun Mar 31, 2002 4:56 am

the only class better is my kensai sorc cleric druid hive mother beholder death bringer, with soon to be tested, time stop immunity!!!!

ROFL! Sounds .... Unfriendly

So a tripple multi won't gain the HLAs of one of his classes, but a double multi would? After this question I think I'll understand the whole dual vs. multi thing