Return to the Sword Coast

I use BGT and I've come to prefer it to Tutu. You might also want to check out the BGT Tweak pack if you haven't already:

http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/67-baldurs-gate-trilogy-tweak-pack-11/

The component I like is the "Import more NPCs into Shadow of Amn". This will make it so that if you have certain BG1 NPCs in your party when you make the transition to BG2, they will be placed around Athkatla for you to recruit again. This allows me to dual Shar-Teel to thief and bring her over into BGII to make up for the lack of evil thieves in that game.

Interesting suggestion Kana thanks... The only drawback is that they wouldn't have any lines in BG2. I've installed Branwen and Tiax for BG2 already. My only problem is that Tiax is already a Cleric/Thief so I may be better off with another protagonist.

Beastmaster/Cleric? Now that would be a challenge!

Truth is I really like having a Thief as my main character.

Carabas wrote:

Truth is I really like having a Thief as my main character.

Kensai Thief?  

Personaly my favourite is a Kensai dualed with something. It is a challenge to fight with Kensai, because he does not wear any armor. After you dual on 12th level you have to grow from level 1 to level 13 and it also is a challenge.

Last time I tried Kensai/mage was a fun trip:roll: 

I don't like the Kensai Kit. Basically you have to rely on potions so you can make it as a Mage or a Thief in order to negate the class drawback (Mages get protective spells, Thieves get UAI).

If I were to pick a Kensai I'd go for a Kensai Druid just because it's something most players don't do.

I've started a new game with BG Trilogy and it's good to play this game again. I've picked a Swashbuckler with the idea of dual classing as a Cleric early on (when the first extra AC, to hit and damage bonuses kick in) that way I'll have a Cleric who will have maxed out detect illusions (plus fairly good trap detection, both working with heavy armours), native bonus to AC, hit and damage (not huge but they stack), full two weapon fighting (somewhat making up for the low number of attacks of a Cleric). All at the cost of twelve hitpoints which seems to be a fair trade considering the fact that Cleric kits aren't so great. I think this character can do rather well and with the right gear he should be a force to be reckoned with. I almost went for a multiclass (dwarves get sick saves) but focusing on the Cleric part should make turning undead creatures more satisfying (hopefully).

I've done the math and instead of losing ten to twelve hitpoints (dualling at 5 or 6 for skills) I would actually be better off going all the way to level 10 as a Swashie for 10d6 points considering a level 5 Thief dualled to Cleric would get 5d6 + 4d8 +2 hitpoints. The difference boils down to 4 points which wouldn't be a huge deal considering the added bonus to AC, damage and hit. Furthermore going to level 11 would give better traps (they should be usable while wearing heavy armour). At level 11+ both clerics and thieves get the same amount of hitpoints per level. Going to level 15 would net more bonuses but it would take forever to make the first class active.

At this point I don't know whether I should go for level 5 or 10. 5 is painless, 10 brings more to the table but will delay the build until the beginning of SoA. This is tricky...

EDIT: level 5 it is simply because it makes the whole thing more manageable. Waiting forever for the inactive class to be reactivated is just too much of a nuisance.

I've started a new game with the EE this time. I'm doing another Swashbuckler Cleric but this time I went for Clubs ++ in order to be able to last throughout BG1 as a Thief. I'll put points in Two Weapon Style during the game. I'm going to focus on traps (setting and detecting) and detect invisibiliy. I'm thinking of dualling at level 11 so it can be manageable with a little bit of soloing to speed up the process.

I found a pretty cool portrait for a female warrior and she is going to be a no nonsense CN would be warrior not disciplined enough to be a real Fighter but tough enough to rely on dirty tricks during straight up fights (to account for the swashie bonus to damage).

Basically she is a bit of a thug and a grunt with an eye for tactics and a truly indomitable spirit who can't follow orders and carves her own path through the realms.

The cleric class will reflect her focus on the divine power within. That should be fun.

Had a colleague at work that was deep into DD stuff. I could listen to him for hours, all the intricacies of stats and abilities, to me as an outsider it sounded (and still sounds) like rocket science.
Too late for me, i tried but i dont think i have the necessary resolve to really get into this kind of stuff, but nevertheless, i still like listening (or in this case reading) about it, interesting and exciting stuff that i keep telling myself i have to get into...one day.

D&D fans tend to be like that.

I'm afraid you make it sound a lot more complicated than it actually is. With these older games as long as you don't mess up your build you're pretty safe so if you reconsider getting into BG we could help you out.

Haven't you played Swordcoast Legends? It's even more straightforward especially at normal difficulty a Fighter build can be incredibly effective.

Yeah i did play Swordcoast legends but it was very softcore and noob friendly.
Remember many years ago i tried BG 2 and woof it was too hard for me. Aside from not understanding why i couldnt do this or that (like casting a spell for example ), it was also the fact that even the cleaning lady or the beggar at the corner of the street could mop the floors with my party.
Came a long way since then, played some BG (inspired by one of your posts) and it seemed quite easy, dunno maybe they dumbed down the "enhanced" edition?
Still wasnt so sure i wanted to take the time to get deeper into how things work, takes time and patience.
Anyway reading your post, i think i figured out what prevented me to fully enjoy this type of games: its the roleplaying. Taking your character actions and personality seriously and making it a part of the game experience.

Coming from pen and paper rpgs that's the thing I love about BG1, it's the beginning of the story and you are free to imagine what your character is going to be like and how he or she is going to tackle the situations the game is putting forward.

Swordcoast Legends is very noob friendly on normal difficulty, I've played on hard and the beginning was challenging but after that difficulty kept going down.