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I now have a level 11 fighter. So far I've been limiting myself to Tomi as a henchman due to the trap detection and lock picking skills. I'd like to know the pros and cons to dual classing and the best option to dual for a fighter while still retaining as much as possible of the aquired feats, skills, abilities..etc.

Well - firstly - I'd advice to read about multiclassing characters in the manual (in my version it is on page 126-128).
This should explain the dynamics behind multiclassing - because it is way different then the earlier D&D rules (for instance the 2.edition rules used in Baldurs Gate, Baldurs Gate 2 and similar).

Secondly - there are of couse both advantages and disadvantages to multiclassing.
A fighter is one of the best classes to multiclass in my oppinion because of the versatility possible. (there are some "power" combinations possible, but the fighter is a good baseclass for most all combinations)
For instance takeing a few levels of rogue makes does it so you can get many more skillpoints and rogue-specific feats and abilities. The disadvantage to doing this is that the rogue isn't as good a warrior and get a lower attack bonus progress and hitpoint progress.

So basically - there is an advantage is you gain more abilities from different classes, but they will not be as high as if you had gone with only one class.

Hope this helps a little


By the way - you don't need a spoiler tag in a thread like this. The rule of thumb is to place spoiler tag when you deal with/mention in-game content (quests, areas, puzzles and similar), and not when asking/dealing with rules and/or general stuff (for instance multi-classing).

Ok, as I see the disadvantages, are they still going to be inherent once I'm done going as far as I want with the 2nd class and return to the primary class or is it a permanent change?

You can alternate between classes at will (as long as the prerequisits are fulfilled)
So, for instance - if you have a level 11 character that has all levels in fighter.
When you then level up to 12 - you can then decide if you wish to place a level in for instance rogue. You will then be a L11 fighter /L1 rogue - and still a level 12 character.
When you then level up to 13, you can decide to either take a level as fighter - or as a rogue - or as a 3rd class. Say you take a level as a fighter. Then you have a L12 fighter/L1 rogue.
Then supposed you level to 14.
Then you can, just as when leveling up to 13, decide to either take a level as a fighter, as a rogue or any 3rd class where you fulfill the requierment. Supposed you take a rogue level - you will then have a level 14 character with L12 figther/L2 rogue.

So - as you see the multiclass rules are very open and flexible as to how you want your character to turn out.

There are however a few restrictons - for instance, races have "favored class" which have influences on what is good to multiclass to and you can max have 3 different types classes in NwN. (this is all explained in the manual - at the pages I mentioned earlier)

So compare two level 14 characters:
One is L15 fighter and the other is L12 Fighter/L3 Rogue.
Then the former will have a little better attack bonus, a little extra hit points etc. The latter will be a little worse at fighting, but will have access to more skills and the rogue abilities that comes with 3 levels of rogue.

So as you see - the advantages and disadvantages are purely up to the player, due to the way multiclassing works in 3.edtion rules (and thus NwN)
It might be a tad confusing - but the essences is easy once you get the hang of it.

I appreciate the clarification. From what you've said, and what I've read, this would mean for instance, that I could take my fighter, get the desired levels in rogue or other ... though with his braindead wisdom casters would be nearly impossible, and once I go back and focus on my primary class, I won't have really lost that much, but only have prolonged gaining what I would have as a straight fighter for the levels in the other class.

Basically yes.
But remember the level caps - which means that if you take some levels as something other then your "main" class (in your example fighter) you will never be able to reach the same level as fighter - as if you hadn't multiclassed.

Also remember that you don't have to take all the wanted levels in another class in the same sequence. You can mix around as you wish - for instance, taking a rogue level for every 4 levels of fighter - so each time you reach level 5, 10, 15 and 20 you would take a rogue level ending up with a character of level 16/4 fighter/rogue.

There are many character class combinations availble - and they all hold advantages and disadvantages.
For instance a level 15 character with the classes L8/7 Fighter/Rogue might not be able to fight as well as a L15 fighter or do rogue stuff as good as a L15 rogue, but he can still perfom very well compared to the two latter examples because of versatility.

Well, just hit lvl 12 and switched to thief *cough* excuse me, rogue class. Glad I did, some of the skills that were costing me a 2 or more points to advance dropped to 1. Further, the sneak attack has drasticly improved my warrior's damage when combined with the 2-weapon fighting.

I intend to get enough in this class to dump Tomi ... I ran him through this last time I played. I think instead I'll get a caster, and perhaps then I can make use of quite a few things, including the reagents.