Race and class questions

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Are the non-human racial level limits in place in this game? I don't see any mention of them in the manual or the guides I've read.

Is it possible to dual-class a character more than once?

In the guides I've read, multi-classing seems to be unpopular, compared to dual-classing. Why is that?

 

No level restrictions on non-humans. allthough there is an xp cap in the game. I think you get to...level 14? and thats it.

You can only dual-class once, I belive.

Dual-Classing is more popular than multiclassing for power gaming\god-moding reasons.

 

Sure, but why?

Seems to me the main differences are:
- multiclassing splits xp exactly evenly between classes, while dual-classing lets you control exactly how much xp goes to the first class, with all the rest going to the second class.
- multiclassing averages HP, while dual-classing gives HP mostly from your first class.
- dual-classing doesn't give you powers from both classes until your second class exceeds the first


This doesn't seem like a reason to throw out multiclassing...

 

Some class combinations are better with multiclass in my opinion.

In general I use dual classing to give specific abilities:
Higher hit points for anyone -- several levels of fighter followed by the class you really want (fighter get 10 hp/lvl for the first 9 levels).
Bow specialization for anyone (except clerics -- go for slings). Missile weapons rock in this game, having *** in bows for a mage can really make that mage (or druid for that matter) a solid team member. Start with a good spell or two then pick off the survivors with arrows.
Melee specialization for thieves. The added to hit is really beneficial for backstabs *** gives +3 to hit and +3 damage.
Added attacks for everyone. Fighter get a half attack for ** another for *****. They get a half attack added at level 7 and at level 13. Only pure fighters (at the time of leveling) can get more than ** in any weapon.
Mages, druids, and clerics are extremely powerful at the end of the game. The loss of a single level (300,000 experience point or so) will not really make the charcater any less powerful; however, the added hit points and attacks can give significant boost at times. Multiclassing on the other hand will drop the character several levels in spellcasting ability.

Reasons to multiclass:
You don't need a dedicated thief. You may want one, but may as well add other abilities to round out the party.
You want a ranger/cleric. Multiclassed, these guys rock. They continue to level as a ranger, get lower THAC0, can specialize in every weapon of the cleric (**), and add attacks as a fighter at levels 7 and 13 (perhaps a level later). The also get all divine spells meaning you have a dervish of destruction who gets the most attack per round and is protected by stoneskins (along with other divine spells). The loss of a couple of levels of cleric in the end is really not much of a disadvantage for this character. You do get less hit points in the end (but only 10 or so).

 

The reason dualclassing is more popular than multiclassing in IWD is that IWD is not a selfish game where you only create one character who is the center of the world like BG2, it's a party game. You create 6 characters with different strengths and weaknesses to work together as team. If you have a team of multiclasses you only have mediocre casters for the different spell schools and your party has far less options than a team of specialists which has access to higher level spells and therefore far more options.

Compare a party consisting of cleric9/mage, fighter9/druid, ranger7/cleric with a party of the same multiclasses at 1,000,000-2,000,000 XP for example.

The only class which is more popular multiclassed than dualclassed in IWD is thief.

Another reason why multiclassing is less popular than in BG2 is that IWD and the average IWD player aren't as powergaming as BG2 and the average BG2 player.
If you ask for a BG2 character it's instantly assumed that you have ToB and you get advice based on how powerful your character will be at the 8,000,000 XP cap you won't reach in a normal game without XP farming.
In IWD with HoW installed there's only a level cap, a level 30/30/30 F/M/T multiclass is far superior to a level 30 fighter or thief or mage.
But for IWD players the game is not about getting one character as powerful as possible with XP farming.

 

Well, I must note that before the second class kicks in fully, the character will have only one class to draw on at a time. For instance, the cleric9/mage needs almost half a million xp before he can use both classes together. A multiclass c/m will be better off during that first part of the progression.

Anyway based on the examples here it seems that the strength of dual-classing is the ability to only put 10-20% of your xp to your first class, which is typically a warrior class for good HP and decent weapon skills, and then the remaining 80-90% of your xp goes to crank your spellcasting as high as possible. In fact, that's pretty much the same as the Gold Box Pools series we were discussing on the other board.



One more question: A guide I saw indicated that some spell scrolls are only available twice or even once in the entire game, meaning that your second and third arcane casters might never get that spell, or might have to wait until nearly the end. In contrast, the gold box games gave plenty of scrolls from encounters, unlimited quantities from shops, and furthermore let you choose any one new spell each levelup. Are scroll shortages going to get annoying if I play with 3+ wizard/bards?

 

There are up to 20 spells per level, so each mage will get several spells per level if you distribute them wisely. Just don't expect that everyone will learn every spell, there's only one scroll for emotion:hope, emotion:courage and animate dead and there's only one stoneskin scroll in the normal game and one in TotL for example.