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XP cap, and kensai/mage question

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PolyMorphVZ
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XP cap, and kensai/mage question

Post by PolyMorphVZ »

I saw the strategy guide on soloing SoA as a kensai/mage (Its the only thing that would describe making one in detail) and it says to dual class into a mage once your kensai is at lvl 9, because with the XP cap, if you do it after 9 then you wont be able to reach a mage level where you can have 8th tier spells... he also said the other option is to wait until lvl 13 i think it was, so your melee will be stronger, but you wont make that 8th spell tier.

So.. Since I have ToB installed, does that negate all that? Is the XP cap in ToB raised above the 3 million?

And if thats the case, what level would you guys suggest i dual class at? 9? or 13? or even higher?
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Cuchulain82
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Post by Cuchulain82 »

Hi PolyMorphVZ,

If you have TOB installed, then yes, you can dual at level 13 and still have access to all levels of spells- 8th level, 9th level, and even High Level Abilities (HLAs).

As for when to dual, well... that is a much debated topic here at GB. I various people say to dual at levels 9, 12, 13, or even 15. My advice is to look at the XP charts, think about how long you want to be without your fighter abilities, and try searching for other threads here at GB. There are literally hundreds (thousands even?) of threads about this very topic here at GB, so happy hunting! :D
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Nimiety
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Post by Nimiety »

There are three choices:
- with just SoA, the XP cap is just shy of 3,000,000 so level 9 is the most commonly chosen level
- with just ToB, the XP cap is 8,000,000 so level 13 is the most commonly chosen level
- with the XP cap remover, there is no real XP limit, as the limit shifts to the number of levels you can reach - the max any class can reach is level 40. You could, for example, go 39 levels as a fighter, get snotloads of HLAs, *then* dual to a mage, and make it all the way up to level 40 - it would equate to somewhere around 16 million XP. Multiclass chars can have the advantage here - fighter/mage/thieves go up to somewhere around 22,000,000 XP before all their levels are at 40.

The biggest advice I can give you is to not underestimate the XP you can gain when soloing. The most dissapointment I had was soloing a fighter who dualled to mage at level 9 - I made it into ToB with around 12,000,000 XP and was already at level 34 as a mage (I think). It was disappointing because I knew if I continued through ToB, I would probably have hit the cap half way through the expansion.

The next solo I tried was a ranger/cleric multiclass, so tricks like spell memorization to cheat and get more XP. This one has faired better so far, but I'm still at around 10-11,000,000 and just entered Suldanessar.

The one I'm planning next is going to be a thief->fighter, but dualled somewhere around level 25, but I'm still thinking that I could max out part way into ToB.

I find that at the very least, the XP cap remover for ToB extends the life od the game for those of us that still want to go after all the dragons and liches without worrying about a blase period where their characters don't improve.

Anyways, a little off topic, but I hope it helps you!
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masteralef
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Post by masteralef »

Sadly, no one here has explained WHY 9 and 13 are the most common levels.

Basically, fighter classes get a new weapon proficiency every 3 levels (3, 6, 9, etc). Therefore, getting up to level 9 will give you one additional proficiency. Since you're starting with 6, that'll make 7, which means that you either have an extra weapon to spread around to or if you're focusing on, say, quarterstaff, you can hit Grand Mastery and 2 stars in 2 handed weapon style.

For 13, it's because fighter classes get an extra 1/2 attack per round at 13.
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