Wizard+cleric in BG

[GarfunkeL]

I'm toying with the idea of trying to play through BG+SoA+ToB finally since I've never finished none of 'em. It's been quite few years since I played any of them, so here goes: I got the wacky idea of creating an elven mage+cleric and going to town. Is there any point to such a character? If I remove the levelcap from SoA/ToB does the character become as powerful as pure mage?

Also, I've previously played with Imoen, Ajantis, Branwen, Dynaheir and Minsc as my companions (until Cloakwook that is since I've never gone further). To get something different, I'm thinking of maximizing spell power in the party - so PC as mage/cleric, Viconia, Edwin, Xzar, who else? Is it possible to get Dynaheir and Edwin somehow in the same party?

And what would the party look in BG2? Viconia, Aeris, Edwin - ???

 

[Jasede]

Cleric/Mage is perhaps one of the best multi-classes if you have access to high levels. You could easily solo the game. No problems, just advantages.

Dynaheir and Edwin will kill each other.

I'd include Branwen, since to me, clerical spells are spell power too. Xzar. Edwin is the best wizard in the game, much better than you can ever be. Aside of that I don't remember any other wizards in BG 1 - wait! Try Garrick. He's a terrible bard - but since he is a bard he can contribute bard song and mage spells. There's some cleric of Cyric, but you meet him in Baldur's Gate and he's awful. Might want to try him. Name is Tiax.

BG 2? If you really want all wizards, Edwin, Aeris, Jan Jansen and I can't think of any more. But Jaheira and Cervain (or whatever the druid werewolf was named) are also casters, druids both of them.

 

[fatzuzake]

Oooh, shut up ,will you ! Cause you make me fuck bg2. I mean, I flirted with Bg2 for a while, I get it naked lots of times but never got the balls to go all the way. I think his size scared me. A big huge fuckable game. The only problem is, once you start the fuck, you gotta go till the end, and that can take weeks ( from what I heard ) . Damn tempting sexy game.

 

[Murk]

Without a level cap you can reach level 40/40 in a dual class, and that's just Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal, not counting the first game (and its expansions).

If you're going to power/meta-game by using all wizards you might as well just make your own. What you can do is make a party of 6 in whatever class you want then dual them to wizard and that way you can balance it out a bit with some extra skills too - like thieving, weapon proficiencies, major thac0 boost for the warrior classes, and just so you won't have 6 guys who can lob fireballs everywhere and not much else.

 

[dolio]

Imoen's dualed to mage, as well, although she's missing for a while. I hear people dual class Sarevok to mage in ToB, too.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

A Cleric/Mage? It's not pointless, but it won't really capitalize on a unique experience. In BG1, Cleric/Mages are pretty decent, but nothing special. They don't get all the fun toys available to them in BG2. But, in BG2, there's already a Cleric/Mage NPC in Aerie, and she's pretty much good enough at her role that playing a PC Cleric/Mage might feel redundant.

I prefer to go for class types and combos that aren't available in NPCs myself. There's absolutely no Fighter/Mage NPCs in BG1 or BG2, so I have a thing for them, whether multi-classed for the extra combat prowess, or dual-classed for kit powers. Fighters dual classed to thieves are pretty nifty as well, especially Kensai/Thieves. The Ranger/Cleric multiclass is outstanding as meatshield with all of the amazing self-buffs in addition to serious combat skill. Plus, there are some pretty neat combos at higher levels.

Weird classes are fun too. Wild Mages and Sorcerers are pretty much the best spellcasters out there...if a little tough to handle. Barbarians are cool too, and I think you can dual-class from one into something else. Monks are really powerful, but I find them boring.

 

[Murk]

You can't dual class from or into Barbarian unless you use a mod. I remember that being the biggest drawback in taking a Barbarian over the berserker kit.

 

[weirwood]

First of all, elf cleric/mage won't work, you'll have to either be a half-elf, or a gnome cleric/illusionist.

A Cleric/Mage? It's not pointless, but it won't really capitalize on a unique experience. In BG1, Cleric/Mages are pretty decent, but nothing special. They don't get all the fun toys available to them in BG2. But, in BG2, there's already a Cleric/Mage NPC in Aerie, and she's pretty much good enough at her role that playing a PC Cleric/Mage might feel redundant.

Except that Aerie is one of the most annoying characters ever, even by Bioware's low standards. Also, with shadowkeeper and the Level 1 NPCs mod, you can pick whichever npcs you like, and assign them whichever class you like.

Cleric/mages won't have as many high level spells as pure mages, but there are unique combos that only they can pull off. The robe of Vecna will speed up both your cleric and mage spells, you can put Heal and other cleric spells in contingencies and triggers, and if you really want to cheese it, there's time stop + harm. Go for it.

 

[baronjohn]

Cleric/mages are very fun. You can get all the relevant equipment (robe of vecna, amulet of power, staff of the magi, ring of gaxx, boots of speed) early, and then nothing can touch you.

 

[coldcrow]

First of all: install some mods so the game becomes remotely challenging. Second: Evil parties are fun (not to mention you get the best NPCs). Third: Do not save-scum your way through.

 

[Jaesun]

It would be ok when playing BG as a mage/cleric, but you will have a lot more fun once you get to BGII+ToB, as you will finally be higher level. But as noted above, you already have Aerie, provided you want to use her.

A Ranger/Cleric is also quite bad ass.

I'm playing the Baldur's Gate Trilogy mod, and playing as a Half-Elf Multi-Class Fighter/Druid. It's enjoyable so far.

 

[oldmanpaco]

First of all: install some mods so the game becomes remotely challenging. Second: Evil parties are fun (not to mention you get the best NPCs). Third: Do not save-scum your way through.

I second this. Edwin, Viconia, and that dwarf are my favorite BG2 NPCs. I do use a cheat mod to keep everyone from killing each other though.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Thanks for the tips folks, lets see how it goes!

 

[GarfunkeL]

So maximum arcane spellcasting prowess for BG1 is:

PC, Xan, Xzar, Quayle and Edwin, leaving the sixth slot for Imoen to be dualed into a mage :D Haha, wonder how well that team would do. Might have to try it!

Also, when transitioning from BG to BG2, did I import an character or a savegame? I ask because I wonder if there is any sense in using the various tomes&manuals for the npc's instead of the pc. If I could raise Minsc to STR 19 and then get him to keep that in BG2 it would be pretty sweet.

 

[Jasede]

You'd be surprised, 6 wizards actually rape BG 1. I mean, 1 wizard on his own can, but if you pause a lot, six do it six times as fast. You'll be able to farm Ankhegs early on for lots of levels.

Not sure about the tomes. I just use all of them on the MC out of principle.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Also, does different weapon speeds affect anything in BG?

 

[Jasede]

They affect your iniative throw, IE, how likely it is in any given combat round that you start your attacks earlier than the enemy, but they do not make you attack more often.

This is only handy if you play something that does huge amounts of damage, but has high AC, to kill enemies before they get to hit you in one hit - this is really only practical for Kensai.

It's also (slightly) significant while you are level 1 or 2, so you get to kill Gibberlings before they kill you.

You might as well ignore it, really.

 

[Melcar]

Yeah, wizard/clerics kick ass. The only reason to take Aerie; give her the Robe of Vecna, that Harmony Shield or whatever it's called, and a hammer, and watch her kill things. Too bad she's an annoying bitch, although if you tell her early on to shut the fuck up she is not that bad.
Personally I like playing classes that are not available from the NPCs; thieves, clerics are some of the best (the available NPCs for those classes are really not that good). Yeah, there's that lvl1 NPC mod, but it just seems wrong. You can do some really neat stuff though, like turning Jaheira into a much better ranger/cleric, or Minsc into a barbarian.

 

[dolio]

Also, when transitioning from BG to BG2, did I import an character or a savegame? I ask because I wonder if there is any sense in using the various tomes&manuals for the npc's instead of the pc. If I could raise Minsc to STR 19 and then get him to keep that in BG2 it would be pretty sweet.

I'm pretty sure tome use on anything other than the main character doesn't carry over. Several characters have their stats improved in BG2, though (at least, taking one of the mods I've installed before's word on it, as I've never played the original BG).

I've heard of people using the tomes to boost some of the BG1 stats to be consistent with the BG2 stats, but that just sounds silly to me.

I've also heard that HP gets rerolled on your main character when you import to BG2, so don't get too attached to the number if you've meticulously save scummed on level ups for maximum HP.

 

[Jaesun]

I'm pretty sure tome use on anything other than the main character doesn't carry over. Several characters have their stats improved in BG2, though (at least, taking one of the mods I've installed before's word on it, as I've never played the original BG).

Yup, unless you play the BGT mod. Then all your NPC stats DO carry over. Pretty cool.

 

[GarfunkeL]

BG Trilogy OR BG-TuTu along with Gibberlings3 other fix mods?
Which is better and why?

 

[jsaving]

Is a mage/cleric viable in the BG series?
Absolutely, but make sure you understand how multiclassing works or else you may be disappointed with what you get. At low levels, you'll be almost as strong in each class as a singleclass character would be, giving you a significant boost that will serve you well. At higher levels you will noticeably lag ordinary characters in each of your two classes, though the fact that you have two will keep you competitive overall. And resign yourself to the likelihood that you'll top out at 8th level mage spells, or at best cast your first 9th level mage spell toward the end of ToB.

Cleric/mage is a strong choice overall, but you'll likely want to carry a full mage in the party as well. As to which race you should take, go for the gnome cleric/illusionist -- the extra spell slot at each spell level more than offsets the loss of a few necromancy spells, especially for a multiclass character.

BG Trilogy or BG TuTu?
You'll get different opinions on this question, but having tried both I would say TuTu is the better choice. It has fewer bugs and better support, plus you don't lose access to the BG1 music. But either one is perfectly workable, so if you really like the idea of fusing everything into a single game, opt for Trilogy instead.

 

[Jaesun]

BG Trilogy or BG TuTu?
You'll get different opinions on this question, but having tried both I would say TuTu is the better choice. It has fewer bugs and better support, plus you don't lose access to the BG1 music. But either one is perfectly workable, so if you really like the idea of fusing everything into a single game, opt for Trilogy instead.

Um the BG1 music works perfectly fine in BGT.
I have not noticed any of these "fewer bugs than TUTU".

As for BGT vs BGTUTU:

Do you want to play BG+TotSC+BGII+Tob as one big huge fucking game, and carry over all your NPC stats? Then play BGT.

If you just want to play BG1 in the BGII engine, then play TUTU.

Pretty simple really.

 

[Jasede]

I'd play without either.

 

[Vulture underbelly fur]

The wizard/cleric multiclass in SOA and TOB is the most powerful spellcaster ever, especially if you solo the whole thing for huge xp gains. My fovorite combination was putting 3 flame strikes in a spell trigger and killing the shadow dragon instantaneously after casting 3 lower resist spells. The fact that you can also put a healing spell in a contingency and 3 cleric quest spells in a chain contingency (3x implosions on sight anyone?) allows the wizard/cleric to produce some ridiculous damage.

Edit: Also, it is much easier to solo the final fight with Mellisan (with Ascension and Tactics installed) with a wizard/cleric multiclass as he possesses more spells than a wizard and your obligatory high wisdom will warrant a greater probability of getting a "restore all spells" option when casting unlimited wish. You'll need to remove the exp cap and solo the game to experience the true power of this combination though.