So, Baldurs Gate

[Delterius]

Silva Shadowkeeper.

 

[hoverdog]

Bros, I need a hand here.

I made a Berserker in BG2 with the intention of dual-classing to Cleric (Beserker/Cleric) when reaching level 13. But I put my Wisdom stat in 16 and Ive read on google that the requirement for dual to cleric is WIs 17.

Can someone confirm this ? Also, if true, is it possible to increase this 1 pt in Wis through the game/til I reach level 13 ?

Yup, 17 WIS is needed.
I don't think there are any stat-enhancing grimoires in BG2, only in BG1.

If its not possible to raise this 1 pt in Wis, is there some cheat/trainer/.ini editing for me to do this ?

Shadowkeeper or CLUAConsole a Grimoire of +Wis (you have to find its code on the web, though)

 

[Delterius]

To be fair, whenever I go straight for BG2 I always use Shadowkeeper to add those attribute bonuses I am 'entitlted' to -- WIS is a bit of a tricky part since you can choose to get anything between +1 and +3 bonus points, depending on your choices (and how much of an arsehole you are).

 

[Lhynn]

To be fair, whenever I go straight for BG2 I always use Shadowkeeper to add those attribute bonuses I am 'entitlted' to -- WIS is a bit of a tricky part since you can choose to get anything between +1 and +3 bonus points, depending on your choices (and how much of an arsehole you are).

i just saved my characters from BG1, still got them on my mail.

 

[Silva]

Thanks folks. I just edited my Wis to 17 with a program called EE Keeper.

Now, which level is best for dual classing into Cleric ? Im on level 9 with my Berserker, and Im trying to go SOLO as best as I can (or, at the very best having just one other NPC with me for providing support with healing and/or thieving )

I heard lvl 13 is a good point to dual, but its looking too far away to me. Perhaps lvl 11 would be cool too ?

 

[Delterius]

Personally, I absolutely hate the later dual classing. No matter how much more efficient they are, I hate being handicapped for longer.

 

[Lhynn]

Lvl 9 is the easiest point to dual, as the exp req is really low compared to later levels, you get the biggest amount of hitpoints and a decent THAC0. Soloing a dual class is kind of tricky because you lose access of a lot of things and theres no one to carry you till you recover your lost power.

 

[Silva]

Personally, I absolutely hate the later dual classing. No matter how much more efficient they are, I hate being handicapped for longer.

Why handicapped ? When you Dual you dont get both classes bonuses ?

 

[Lhynn]

You dont get your first class bonuses until you gain 1 level more in your current class than you had in your first class.

 

[Silva]

What ? How am I supposed to solo like that ?

oh damn it. Thanks anyway, Lhynn.

 

[Abelian]

is it possible to increase this 1 pt in Wis through the game/til I reach level 13?

I know you already took care of the problem, but you can increase your attributes by 1 in-game. However, you'll need a much higher level to get there

Spoiler

in level 4 of Watcher's Keep.

 

[Silva]

Dualling at lvl 11 is that bad ? (Berseker/Cleric)

And this is the best time Im having with this game. Going solo means much less micromanagement and no boring NPCs soap-opera.

 

[Storyfag]

It's generally better to multiclass from the start, than to dualclass later on.

 

[Lhynn]

Actually dual class is so powerful its broken if done properly, the downside is that you hae to be carried by your party for a while. You do get to keep your old hp tho, so it shouldnt be easy to kill youl.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Yep. Multiclasses cap out at a lower level in each class iirc. Dual classes cap out per class, so it's technically possible to run through the game and get your level 1 level away from max, then dual class and max out your level in that class - provided that class has a level cap that will let you exceed your previous level. Basically, that means more levels, bonuses, hp etc than multiclass. In the long run you should be much more powerful than any multiclass character ever could be especially if you choose your combo carefully. Kensai/Mages are pretty powerful due to the combination of a low armor class, good THAC0, and the stoneskin spell + spell protections - though I think some mods remove the kensai's ability to use stoneskin when dual classed...

 

[curry]

Dualling at lvl 11 is that bad ? (Berseker/Cleric)

And this is the best time Im having with this game. Going solo means much less micromanagement and no boring NPCs soap-opera.

Lvl 11 isn't that bad. Go for it.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Dualling at lvl 11 is that bad ? (Berseker/Cleric)

And this is the best time Im having with this game. Going solo means much less micromanagement and no boring NPCs soap-opera.

Well people usually dual their fighter at level 9 (you gain an extra half attack at that level, bonus to saving throws and after that level you only get 1-3 HP per level depending on your class) or level 13 (another extra half attack, hefty bonus to saving throws and obviously 4 more bonus to THAC0) but level 11 is fine as well.

That said, you don't have to play solo to avoid "NPC soap opera", you can create your entire party like in IWD, it's been a while since I did that but IIRC it goes like this:

-Start a multiplayer game, make sure the guy you want to be the protagonist is in the 1st slot, other party members will appear in other cages (that are empty in normal single player).

-Play through the opening scene till the game autosaves (or you could save manually I guess).

-Go to "mpsave" folder in your root BG2 directory, find the saved game file and move it to "save" folder.

-Load that save in single player and voila, you should have your party, just make sure you don't kick any of them out or they're gone forever.

 

[octavius]

The best way to suck the joy out of BG2 is to powerplay and minmax it.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Yep. Multiclasses cap out at a lower level in each class iirc. Dual classes cap out per class, so it's technically possible to run through the game and get your level 1 level away from max, then dual class and max out your level in that class - provided that class has a level cap that will let you exceed your previous level. Basically, that means more levels, bonuses, hp etc than multiclass. In the long run you should be much more powerful than any multiclass character ever could be especially if you choose your combo carefully. Kensai/Mages are pretty powerful due to the combination of a low armor class, good THAC0, and the stoneskin spell + spell protections - though I think some mods remove the kensai's ability to use stoneskin when dual classed...

Yeah but don't forget that multi-class characters have two (three in fighter/mage/thief case) polls of HLAs to choose from which can be seen quite an advantage.

There's also the thing about nerfing grandmastery (a truly boneheaded decision from Bioware) in vanilla BG2/TOB, with the true grandmastery fix(which makes it as it is in BG1 and IWD) the dual class option definitely becomes more attractive when it comes to any sort of combination with a fighter.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Well, if you're using mods, you may as well remove the level cap and play a fighter/mage/cleric. 150 level uber-munchkin of doom.

 

[Lhynn]

Well, if you're using mods, you may as well remove the level cap and play a fighter/mage/cleric. 150 level uber-munchkin of doom.

Fighter/mage/rogue was better i believe.

 

[KazikluBey]

Yep. Multiclasses cap out at a lower level in each class iirc. Dual classes cap out per class, so it's technically possible to run through the game and get your level 1 level away from max, then dual class and max out your level in that class - provided that class has a level cap that will let you exceed your previous level. Basically, that means more levels, bonuses, hp etc than multiclass. In the long run you should be much more powerful than any multiclass character ever could be especially if you choose your combo carefully. Kensai/Mages are pretty powerful due to the combination of a low armor class, good THAC0, and the stoneskin spell + spell protections - though I think some mods remove the kensai's ability to use stoneskin when dual classed...

Pretty sure that's not quite how it works? If you get to the second highest level possible in the first class you're not going to get back the first class. The total experience cap is still the same, and you're still sharing that XP between your classes when dual classing. The exponential XP requirements per level makes it so that the lvl 9 in the first class is a piss in the ocean, and lets you still reach the highest level in the second despite the XP consumed by the first class. I'm pretty sure you generally didn't get max level in Shadows of Amn (i.e. without ToB) if you chose to dual over at lvl 13 (this may be dependent on which classes you used - thief was cheapest, wizard most expensive, IIRC).

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Well, if you're using mods, you may as well remove the level cap and play a fighter/mage/cleric. 150 level uber-munchkin of doom.

Well not all mods are the same, removing level cap unbalances the game too much IMO, same goes with most weapon/item mods.

True grandmastery mod on the other hand gives you an incentive to actually go for 5 stars in a specific weapon (while in vanilla BG2 you had little reason to do so) and makes the fighter differentiate more from similar classes like Ranger, Paladin and Barbarian.

Also, you can look at this mod as merely restoring grandmastery bonus as it was in all other IE games (save for IWD2 obviously which uses 3d edition D&D), not to mention that Bioware's excuse for nerfing it was hilarious (for balance reasons supposedly, because other classes weren't overwpovered enough already compared to a fighter I guess).

 

[KazikluBey]

Problem with the "true" grandmastery mod is that it's a very big boost to fighters, and leaves other classes like paladins comparatively much weaker. It also makes it make no sense not to dual over from a 5-point class (don't rangers get 5 points too?) to say a cleric if you want a melee oriented one. It would obviously make sense to do so even without the buff, but it goes from sensible to mandatory.

As everyone who isn't playing the game for the first time has likely planned out what specific weapon they'll use for their fighter it wouldn't make sense to not go 5-points in that weapon skill anyway.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Problem with the "true" grandmastery mod is that it's a very big boost to fighters, and leaves other classes like paladins comparatively much weaker.

Except that it doesn't, it (grandmastery mod) just makes them comparable to each other (as in you have an actual reason to choose a fighter other than dual-class) with fighter still arguably being the weakest class.

-Paladins have turn undead (very underrated ability, can explode undead at higher levels, liches become a joke), can cast low level cleric spells (Armor of Faith being the strongest as after a while it gives paladin a damage reduction comparable to Barbarian) and eventually gain access to the paladin class specific weapon which just happens to be one of the best in the game. Of course for example Inquisitor paladin kit loses on all those abilities but gains dispel magic cast at speed factor of 1 that acts as spell twice his actual level which basically makes inquisitor the best "fighter" type single class in the game (and a nightmare for mages), period.

-Rangers have access to Armor of Faith as well, stealth (scouting is important in BG), favoured enemy and gain 2 proficiency points to two-weapon fighting. When it comes to kits while Beast Master is mostly crap, Stalker gives you moderate backstab and some mage spells with virtually no drawbacks and Archer is the best ranged class.

-Barbarian has Rage ability (+4 to STR & CON and immunity to charm, hold, maze, level drain for 5 rounds ), more hitpoints than any other fighter type class, has damage reduction (that caps at 20%), is immune to backstab (not as useful as it should be but still comes in handy on few occasions) and moves faster.

It also makes it make no sense not to dual over from a 5-point class (don't rangers get 5 points too?) to say a cleric if you want a melee oriented one. It would obviously make sense to do so even without the buff, but it goes from sensible to mandatory.

Again, it depends, some players like having access to multiple HLA polls and dislike the babysit/useless period when it comes to dual classes.

Rangers can only get weapon specialization (two stars), same as Paladin and Barbarian.

As everyone who isn't playing the game for the first time has likely planned out what specific weapon they'll use for their fighter it wouldn't make sense to not go 5-points in that weapon skill anyway.

No, in vanilla BG2-TOB it makes no sense to go 5 points whatsoever, getting piddly +2 to damage and -1 to speed factor or something just isn't worth the investment, especially considering that unlike shitty modern RPGs in BG2 weapons differentiated in more than just DPS and many of them had abilities that were useful for different situations (I won't give specific examples as I don't want to spoil the game for the OP) so it pays off far more to be specialized in multiple weapon types than having grandmastery in one.