When to dual a swashbuckler into a cleric?

Henrik Larsson · Post by **Henrik Larsson** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:30 am

My party is :

Korgan
Jaheira
Mazzy
Edwin
Me (Swashbuckler and future cleric)

Since I have ToB installed I'm wondering should I dual to cleric at level 10 or a little bit later?

Enil · Post by **Enil** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:23 am

Er...with that party composition, my advice would be never

You only have 1 mage, Edwin, and you already have clerical duties handled with the inclusion of Jaheira. OK, so she can't cast restoration, but you can always buy restoration scrolls at any temple.

I would dual your swashbuckler to a mage, probably at Lvl. 12 to allow full thief hit points, an extra pip and 75 extra points to place in your thief abilities.

However, if you are still insistent on dualling to a cleric, I would probably still dual at 12. You don't have another thief in your party either, and while I would guess you probably have decent scores in Find Traps and Open Locks (having not bothered to concentrate on stealth skills for your Swashbuckler), you would benefit from getting the Set Trap and Detect Illusion scores up a bit (else you are going to end up wasting Edwin's and Jaheira's spell slots on True Sight at some point).

Well that's my $0.02 anyway.

Enil

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:49 am

Hrrrm...

Well, 10 will be easier, certainly, since you'll be able to recover your abilities easily - what weapons have you gone for - staves & clubs? Your party will be a bit light in overall thief skills, and completely hosed while you're working off the dual class switch, which will be a bit of a hassle - you may want a rogue for the interim.

Good luck!

Henrik Larsson · Post by **Henrik Larsson** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 10:39 am

First of all thanx on your feedback

That's probably true about me being better to dual into a mage, but what if I take Haer Dalis( he is both decent fighter and 2nd mage) as a 6th member? Or Imoen later on? Maybe then would be reasonable for me to dual into a cleric?

I have finished the game a few times already ( but never with ToB) and this time I wanted to go with the party of 5, having that extra spot for individual NPC quests.

I know I have a little uncommon party but I 've never tried playing with Mazzy and thought this would be a good chance.

Henrik Larsson · Post by **Henrik Larsson** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 10:41 am

Maybe I should take one more person and stick with good old 6 aside

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:51 pm

It's your show

Play how you like.

Enil · Post by **Enil** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 2:34 am

Indeed. Play however you like.

As long as you are having fun, don't worry about it.

However, since you asked for advice, my advice is that you are a light on the mage side. Since you hadn't metioned a 6th party member in your original post, I assumed that Edwin was your only mage, hence the advice on dualling to a mage.

However, if you are going to take either Immy or HD, you would be able to dual to whatever you fancy. I would still offer the advice that Lvl12 might be a better dual for your swashbuckler (to get the abilities up a bit more).

Also, remember with your party composition you are going to be without a thief after you dual until you get your thief levels back. Not impossible to handle, but you will be making heavy use of Jaheira's Find Traps spell, as well as wasting Edwin's 2nd level slots on Knock to open all those chests.

Still, I guess you could bring in HD as well and use his slots.

Enil

Henrik Larsson · Post by **Henrik Larsson** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 3:47 am

OK thanx

Antimatter · Post by **Antimatter** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 6:01 am

I would take Yoshimo or Jan for time you're waiting to get your thief skills back. I guarentee you're going to want a thief, and you can do Jan's quest during that time if you want so you're still kind of doing what you wanted anyways.

ARcheR_S_ · Post by **ARcheR_S_** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 1:12 pm

I would seriously advice Haer 'Dhalis (yes, yes, I know noone likes him).......but hes a great NPC's

I probably said this before, but not only does he become seriously powerfull at the higher levels (abillities and all) but hes also a great NPC's to have along. He can be funny, has decent advice and is one of the most "witted" NPC's u can have along.

Plus u could need a bit more magery.......allways handy.

DrSlikk · Post by **DrSlikk** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 3:13 pm

"When to dual a swashbuckler into a cleric?"

How about never

CrownHead · Post by **CrownHead** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 11:33 pm

Understandable to think that Swashbuckler dualed to a cleric isn't a very good class (which it is most certainly is not. Atleast compared to some other classes). But for me, after playing the game through a few times usually with a sorc or a fighter or a kensai or a fighter mage, I realized I had never been a cleric, so then after thinking for a long while, I decided to make a priest of helm dualed to a thief, which is actually quite fun. I would recommend this over the swashbuckler/cleric for a few reasons.

Swashbucklers have most of their abilities made so they could be powerful at a high level, in the beginning they aren't very good. But hell, by the end of ToB with the right stuff their AC could be -30 (Another reeaally fun char to play with).

Clerics are alright, I tend to use their low level spells a lot more than their high level ones though. (various protection spells, hold person, etc.)

Basicly I'm saying there are better variations than the swashbuckler/cleric.

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 1:22 am

I've come to the same conclusion lately - and that's why I started a half elven fighter/cleric. Why ? Because he has pretty much the same thac0 as ranger , capable of 3 attacks , and access to several good spells - sanctuary , chant , aid (highly underestimated but very helpful spell) , PFEvil 10' , Champion's Strg. Use Wonderous Recall to bring back ChStrg to extend the spellcasting capabilites.

With all the buffs , and with Draw Upon Holy Might his thac0 can match that of a pure fighter , while bestowing extra hps and AC.
Personally I think he's way more interesting then pure fighter.
Not to mention he can use amulet of power AND wand of flamestrike.

I'd advise such a char instead of Swash/Cleric. For thievery take Jan. He can have the breach type spells while using wands of fireball , cloudkill etc.
That way :
You - shield + Flail of Ages , flamestrike wand
Korgan : Axe + shield , later Axe+Crom ?
Mazzy : shortbow
Edwin : spells , wands , returning throwables
Jan : spells , wands , X-bow of Speed
Jaheira : sling + shield , wand of flamestrike

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 10:06 am

Well...

Swashbuckler, like most thief kits, fits more easily with dualling to a mage than a cleric.

Clerics are more easily dualled from ranger, fighter and some fighter kits (like Berserker) It's a minor item, but be aware that a Dwarven fighter/cleric is the only Cleric dual/multi choice that can use any missile weapon other than a sling.

All that being said, play how you like.

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 8:07 pm

I dont think it is a bad idea to dual a swashie to a cleric. I have played a bit with the cleric/thief multi and it is a very useful class. If you have the patience for it I would recommend dualling after you get use any item as it is a very useful ability to have. It opens up many possibilties for your character.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Thu May 01, 2003 9:48 am

Let me clarify..

Dualing a swashbuckler to cleric isn't a bad idea - the fit is just a little more challenging. How did you handle that switch with HLAs?

Dual after Yaga-Shura and do most of the remedial leveling in WK?
or did you get HLAs early enough to dual in SoA?

However you did it, you can't have had the thief abilities back for long...