Swashbuckler, or Blade? Compare

[Taegn]

I was thinking instead of powergaming and playing a fighter with 18/00 or a mage with 18 intelligence or a sorcerer or something (like I usually do), I'll do somethign I've never done and play "weaker" class.

So far the two that appeal to me are either Blade, or Swashbuckler.

I understand the Swashbuckler can legally have -24 AC? How is this done? I thought the least you could have was -10? Or did the post typo and really meant -14 AC?

I know the Blade is a "jack of all trades"; a Bard with better fighting ability.

So I'm somewhat torn between the two. The Swashbuckler seems to be good in fights, but so does the Blade who also has spellcasting.

And what would be a good party (good alignment) for a Blade or Swashbuckler?

And form my next run I wanna be evil, so what would be a good party for evil alignment?

[Crenshinibon]

I would say that both of these classes are MUCH stronger than a fighter.

The maximum that the game can support is -25 AC, which both classes can hit. The Swashbuckler recieves an AC bonus every few levels which helps with this, the rest is all equipment as well as in game bonuses, using rings that give to AC, armor, amulets and so forth. This is a constant bonus.

The Blade on the other hand has the handy Defensive Spin ability, which when used in combination with Spirit Armor and Tensor's Transformation would bring the bard up to -24 AC (-23 without Tensor's), depending on items. This is by no means permanent, but at full level you can use the spin ten times per day and it lasts for 24 seconds which is almost equivalent to three and a half rounds.

In terms of power, I think that the Blade outshines the Swashbuckler, who may be stronger on a regular basis, falls to the Bard's repertoire of self-enhancing spells. Also, at the start, a Bard can have an easy time by utilizing the wands which are awarded to you (should you get them rather) very early in the game.

For a good party I suggest:

Minsc
Jahiera/ Aeirie (Romance), Anomen if female
Imoen
Jan (Chaotic Neutral)
Keldorn/ Valygar (Some people find Valygar bland and boring so it's up to you, both are fighter types though Valygar has a handy backstab)

For an evil party I suggest:

Edwin
Korgan
Viconia (Romance)
Jan (Chaotic Neutral)
Haer' Dalis (Blade, Chaotic Neutral)

[Taegn]

I usually play

Jahiera (romance)
Minsc (muscle, comic relief)
Yoshimo (plotline)
Aerie (come on, she's a great healer and awesome spellcaster)
And in the last slot whoever I pick up for whatever quest... Anomen, Nalia, Keldorn, etc. Keldorn seems a bit weak to me. I'm not sure.

[Crenshinibon]

Yes, there is no doubt that Aerie is strong but than again, so is any other mage or cleric. I have a personal dislike of Nalia, that's why she wasn't included. Haer' Dalis is a great character to play, being a Blade and has some interesting banter under certain conditions.

[Taegn]

I'm just wondering who I should use for a thief after Yoshimo is gone and I have Imoen back. I'm wondering if her thieving skills will be enough for ToB. I was thinking of editing her to have the same stats she has when she completes BG1, which is usually trapskills and lockskills in the 90's.

I usually use Nalia for my thief, but yes, she is a goody goody and very annoying about it. I heard you can have Sarevok in your party, too. (Obviously I haven't play ToB much heh)

[Crenshinibon]

Imoen should be fine in ToB, but Jan has my heart.

[galraen]

I was thinking of editing her to have the same stats she has when she completes BG1, which is usually trapskills and lockskills in the 90's.

That's what I always do, IMO that's not cheating but bug fixing. In my current game I'm about to rescue her, and the first thing I'll do is restore her to being an elventh level Swashbuckler, which is what she was before she stripped naked and fired off a wand of missiles in Waukeen's Promenade. Hopefully the spell in the asylum will have cured her bouts of insanity.

[Darth Malignus]

My typical setups:

Good Party:
Fighter/Mage Protagonist.
Viconia/Anomen, depending on what you prefer.
Jaheira.
Imoen.
And some Fighter-type, usually Minsc.
Yoshimo, for roleplaying purposes.
And maybe another Fighter-type, like Valygar.

Spoiler for ToB:

Spoiler

Come ToB, I won´t use a 6th party member in SoA, but instead I pick up Sarevok and dual him into a Thief. He can use a lot of different weapons, but most importantly, he´ll be able to use Carsomyr with the Use All Items skill. With his proficiencies in that, he´ll be a real badass.

Evil Party:
Fighter/Thief Protagonist.
Viconia.
Edwin.
Jaheira.
Korgan.
Jan.
And Yoshimo again, of course.

Spoiler for ToB:

Spoiler

I won´t use Jan in SoA, if I go on to ToB, but later on I´ll pick up Sarevok again, only this time I dual him to a Mage, stick him into Elven Armor, Aslyferund Chain or some such, and use him as a back-up caster for Edwin.

Another spoiler for ToB:
Now, this is what I usually go with, but if I would roll a Blade or Swashbuckler, the parties work as well, but maybe i would consider dualing the evil Swashbuckler into a Mage, if I roll one.
(spoiler part)->

Spoiler

I´d maybe dual Sarevok into a Mage in the good party as well as in the evil party. And nothing else. Or maybe still keep him as a Thief, for the Use All Items. One is as good as the other, I guess. It depends on what mood I´m in.

[thebannedone]

With a swashbuckler you could have a high constant ac especially if you go with a shield and take whirlwind attacks, and better damage output, well atleast when the blade isnt using improved haste(which swashbuckler gets a lot later),offensive spin(doesnt give an extra attack if already hasted though) and tenser together. A blade on the other hand can use mirror images and protection from magical weapons which can make you immune in melee, and can have even higher ac than blade with the defensive spin, though for mobility you'd have to sacrifice one ac ring for a freedom ring, which in the end will mean that both would have the same ac with the same gear, only difference is that swashbuckler has it constantly and blade needs to buff to get it, and with a swash theres really no drawback in using full plate later with UAI, so in that regard swash wins when it comes to ac. Swash is better for those who dont like buffing their chrs that much and blade is better for those who do i think. And by the way the maximum AC that the game supports isnt -25, the maximum number that you can see in the chr sheet and inventory is -28, which requires a very high dex, but the actual max is -48, the extra 20 comes from ac against type bonuses, like ac against slashing, well it could be said its -50 against evil creatures with protection from evil on, but the effect doesnt increase your ac but instead lowers their thac0 against you. Also if you play on easy difficulty you usually get a +6 bonus to your hit rolls, but it can vary from 0-3-6, just thought i'd mention this to those who wonder about weird hit rolls sometimes.

[Berethor]

I prefer the Swashbuckler over the Blade for the most part, since he is generally better than a fighter, and can fit the role of main party thief to boot. Blades, on the other hand, can deal out an insane amount of damage and also absorb a lot of it too, but it just doesn't fit in as well in a typical party, being almost purely DPS.

It kind of boils down to what you need for your party.

I've currently got a level 18 Swashbuckler at the start of the Asylum and he is actually outkilling Minsc by about 100 kills. I'd say it's more like 20 kills if you take away the Daystar's Sunray ability that I've been routinely using to fry undead. Still, very powerful.

I've played a Blade before. The lack of Lore/Pick pockets/a levelling Bard song makes him feel more like a multi-classed fighter/mage than a Bard.

Thats just my two cents.