How to dual class with SK???

[aragornchewi]

I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate I with a human fighter but when I'll start BGII, I would like to dual class him as a swashbuckler using SK.... any idea how to specify in SK that the first class is "stopped"???

Thanks.

[UserUnfriendly]

import from bg1 to 2 and dual class to swishie?

got me....

in point of fact, dual is something i definately stay away from, as far as my hacking goes...multi is consistant and easy and stable, i just dont know the rules for dual...

[VonDondu]

In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with a Fighter dualled to a Swashbuckler. (Not everyone's character is a Shapeshifter Druid/Mage with Undead Hunter Immunities, Swashbuckler attack bonuses, Bard Song, and Wild Mage spells, or something like that.)

Here's how to create a Fighter dualled to a Swashbuckler:

Import your Fighter from BG1 into a new game of BG2. Select your proficiencies and all that good stuff. Play the game and advance to level you want to be when your character becomes dual-classed. 9th Level, 12th Level, and 13th Level each have their advantages. Before you select the "Dual Class" option on the character screen, exit the game and open your saved game with ShadowKeeper. There's only ONE change you want to make: on the second tab, change the kit from "None" to "Swashbuckler". (This doesn't make your character a Swashbuckler; it enables him to become a Swashbuckler when you dual-class him inside the game.) After making that one and only one change, save the edited game and start the game. Select "Dual Class" on the character screen, then select "Thief". Then your character will be a Fighter dualled to a Swashbuckler.

Have fun, and good luck.

Edit: Looking back, I told you how to create a Fighter dualled to a Shwashbuckler, but I didn't answer your question, "Any idea how to specify in SK that the first class is "stopped"???" Here's how it works.

First of all, whether your character is dual-classed or multi-classed, ShadowKeeper will show that he has two classes. On the second tab under "Class", you'll see a combination such as "Fighter/Thief". If your character is human, having two classes makes him dual-classed. If he's not human, then he'll always be multi-classed if you specify two classes in that box.

If a character is human and dual-classed, the experience shown in the "Experience" box on the first tab of ShadowKeeper will always be applied to his SECOND class (the one he's still advancing in). I can't remember whether the experience for his first class is subtracted from that number, but if it is, the remainder is applied entirely to his second class. If a character is multi-classed and not human, his experience will always be divided equally between both of his classes.

At the bottom of the first tab in ShadowKeeper, there are three boxes with the label "Level". The first box determines the level of his first class, and the second box determines the level of the second class (unless I got that backward...it's been a while since I looked at it). If your character is dual-classed, the number in the first box will determine what level he was when he stopped advancing in that class and became dual-classed.

I might have gotten a couple of things backward, but hopefully, you understand how it works now.

[aragornchewi]

Since I'm at the beginning of BG, I'll test it later but the explanations seem clear enough.... thanks a lot.

[JackOfClubs]

Originally posted by VonDondu
Import your Fighter from BG1 into a new game of BG2. Select your proficiencies and all that good stuff. Play the game and advance to level you want to be when your character becomes dual-classed. 9th Level, 12th Level, and 13th Level each have their advantages. Before you select the "Dual Class" option on the character screen, exit the game and open your saved game with ShadowKeeper. There's only ONE change you want to make: on the second tab, change the kit from "None" to "Swashbuckler". (This doesn't make your character a Swashbuckler; it enables him to become a Swashbuckler when you dual-class him inside the game.) After making that one and only one change, save the edited game and start the game. Select "Dual Class" on the character screen, then select "Thief". Then your character will be a Fighter dualled to a Swashbuckler.

I think it would also work if you just dual-classed to Thief whenever you are ready and then used SK to change the kit to Swashbuckler *after* dualing.

@Von: is there any advantage to doing it first? I've only done this the other way around (ie removing Imoen's Dual to mage and making her a single-classed Bounty Hunter).

[VonDondu]

If you dual to a Thief and then change the kit to a Swashbuckler, the character fails to receive his first set of Swashbuckler special abilities (his attack bonus). You can give it to him manually by editing the "Affects" in ShadowKeeper, but IMO, it's more trouble to do that than it is to assign the Swashbuckler kit before you make him dual-classed.

When you changed Imoen to a Bounty Hunter, her thieving skills should have been penalized, and you should have manually added an extra Special Trap Setting skill or two. She was probably entitled to a few extra hit points and maybe an extra proficiency point as well. Did you change all of that?

When I make a major conversion to a character, I like to roll up another character to use as a "model". That way, I can compare the edited character to a perfectly legitimate character to make sure that everything is correct and conforms to the rules. This includes striking spells from a character's spellbook if I make him/her a specialist Mage. (For example, I usually make Imoen a Conjurer after Spellhold, so I have to remove her Divination spells.) Sometimes I find that even Bioware was responsible for a few inconsistencies.

[aragornchewi]

I've never though of changing the class of a NPC but now that you mention it, maybe I'll give it a try

Thanks for the infos and idea.

[UserUnfriendly]

current party,

bun bun, kensai wiz slayer sorc....

sola, dead and in bag of holding, kensai mage...

jahiera shapeshifter kensai...with wes ease of use rebalanced shapeshifters, killer...

aerie conjuror cleric

viccy cleric of talos

immie thief wildmage...

[JackOfClubs]

Originally posted by VonDondu
If you dual to a Thief and then change the kit to a Swashbuckler, the character fails to receive his first set of Swashbuckler special abilities (his attack bonus). You can give it to him manually by editing the "Affects" in ShadowKeeper, but IMO, it's more trouble to do that than it is to assign the Swashbuckler kit before you make him dual-classed.

When you changed Imoen to a Bounty Hunter, her thieving skills should have been penalized, and you should have manually added an extra Special Trap Setting skill or two. She was probably entitled to a few extra hit points and maybe an extra proficiency point as well. Did you change all of that?

Good point about the first-level abilities. I probably would have just edited them in SK, since I was already in there, but your way is much more efficient.

When I un-dual Imoen, I usually set her back to level 1 but keep the experience total. That way she automatically levels up in the legal way and I can re-allocate her proficiencies and thief skills to reflect the way I assigned them in BG1. I figure this is reasonable since she was in my party from the very begining, and I kind of resent Bioware taking her over.

edit: UserUnfriendly has suggest somewhere that NPCs should be set to level 0 so that you get the first-level abilities. I haven't tried this with Imoen but I don't see it making much difference.

[VonDondu]

I agree with you. Sometimes, it's best to take a character back to 1st Level if you're going to do a major conversion. Actually, that's what I do to Imoen when I get her back from Spellhold. I set her experience points to 1, though, and level her up one level at a time inside the game. I guess it's not really necessary to do that, but it's a good way to make sure that everything is done according to the rules. When I set her back to 1st Level, I reduce her hit points and thieving skill points, but I don't worry about THAC0 or saving throws, since those are adjusted automatically.

I've never set a character's level to 0, and I'm not sure what happens when you do that. Are you saying that when a character levels up to 1st Level, he gets all of the bonuses from his class, such as Paladin kit immunities and Swashbuckler bonuses and so forth? If that's the case, it would make things a lot easier. I usually roll up a "model" and make adjustments when I compare the two, and sometimes it's tedious, especially if I have to copy and paste lots of "Affects".

EDIT: I just did an experiment, and setting a character's level to 0 does indeed permit him to gain the abilities he's supposed to have at 1st Level. That will make editing a character a lot easier for me in the future.

Speaking of strange party members, I once CTRL-Q'ed a chicken and named it Ginger. Chickens are 1st Level Mages, you know, and Ginger became a rather accomplished one.

[JackOfClubs]

I didn't know that. I wonder what the rationale for making them mages is? Low hitpoints? Unable to use armor? Or maybe just an inside joke at Bioware...

<I loved that movie, too, by the way.>

[VonDondu]

I have no idea why chickens are Mages. It could have been an accident, or as you suggested, it might be a tribute to Melicamp. All chickens are male, which doesn't make much sense, but I think that's probably because the designers used the default template, and the default gender is male. Chickens have default stats (all 9's) and standard colors, so I doubt they got a lot of special treatment.

I like your idea about creating a party consisting of a Ranger and his followers. It would really be fun if you could find some soundsets for Rocky, Bullwinkle, and Ginger. (I have to admit that Ginger's squawking got pretty old.)

BTW, the designers got mooses all wrong: STR 3, 12hp, bad saving throws, etc. The designers have obviously never been face-to-face with a real live moose before. Even a lower level Fighter would have trouble taking one down without some heavy-duty firepower.