Backwards dual class

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The normal method for dualling seems to be going from fighter-type to a spellcaster-type. I thought I'd try it the other way, since i never really saw the point in the original method. I started with a diviner, dualled at level 11 to fighter. Lots of spells up to level 5, which is most of the good buffs (apart from mislead which has cheese sauce all over). Is this a good idea or should i have stuck to the norm?

 

You miss out on hitpoints, you miss out on casting levels,so the meager amount of spells you have dont last...but if you want to roleplay it, I suppose its cool.

But as far as logical reasons for doing this go...none whatsoever.

 

There's a few things to keep in mind when it comes to dual-classing. First, Fighter (and other warriror types in general) progession is very good at the beginning (lots of HP, THAC0, etc), then slows down. After level 10, you get only 3 HP per level, and CON no longer factors in. THAC0 reaches 1 at level 20 and no longer goes down.

With spellcasters on the other hand, you get the best stuff at high levels - level 7 spells for priests, level 8-9 spells for mages. Therefore, it makes more sense to start with a fighter, up to level 9 or something, when you have all the HP you will get from that class anyway, and a pretty good THAC0, them move to spellcaster until the end of the game, gathering as many high-level spell slots as possible.

 

@Ziad
In SoA the best fighter THAC0 is reached at level 19 when base THAC0 is 2.
Technically it is maxed out at fighter level 21 when base THAC0 is 0.

 

Hm, so what does increase past level 21 then?

 

Only the usual stuff: health points, lore points and perhaps some save throws (but not sure of that)... If you have the TOB expansion installed you get nifty new class abilities though And normally (without exp cap remover) you can't get past level 19 as a fighter (exp cap is lied at 2950000 I believe)

 

If you find pure fighters boring, there is an extra incentive in dual classing a Fighter into a spellcaster or a thief earlier on (maybe right after you leave Irenicus dungeon or hit level 9 -I agree with Ziad) by doing so you won't have to hack and slash your way throughout the game.

Once I turned a Swashbuckler into a Fighter who was really amazing (incredible AC and bonuses) but the lack of any thieving abilities when the Thief levels were inactive bored me to death... it was sheer drudgery.

 

Fighter and Ranger dont really get any bonuses past level 9 at the same rate as before. There are a few other points where there might be a few extra skills available to them, specially for kits. But thats it.

Mage, Druid and Cleric get more spells as they keep growing. As such stopping their advancement does not make a lot of sence. Dualling to a fighter type for the THAC0, even less in the face of better buffing spells available.
Thief gets skills but you may decide not to accrue additional skills and dual to another class.

So yours may not be the best idea chiz65_ but tell us how interesting it was.

 

@Earl Grey: Yes, I forgot this was SOA land. Sorry.

The reason a lot of people seem to like dualling from a fighter at level 9 is that this is when you've got all the hit points, you get one proficiency point, and you're relatively low-level so getting to level 10 in your next class (especially if it's a druid, cleric or thief) and reactivating the first class's ability takes very little time. Some people like to dual at level 12, but the benefits compared to 9 seem quite minor: one proficiency, 3 THAC0 and 9 hit points (this is different if you have a kit of course). On the downside, experience required to reactivate the fighter class increases exponentially, which translates into a more "boring" transition phase.

@Caradhras: This is why you time things so that, while you wait for the Thief class to reactivate, Yoshimo is temporarily in the party

@Chiz: Dualling a mage at level 11 doesn't seem like a great idea, because you get level 5 spells at PC level 9 and level 6 spells at PC level 12. So, what I would do is dual the mage at either level 9 or level 12, not something in between (since in those in-between levels you only get more slots for spell levels you already have access to, rather than new spell levels)

 

Although it takes more time to reactivate the fighter (or ranger, if you'd like) levels, it might make some sense to dual at level 13, so you can get an extra 1/2 attack per round.

 

The only sense is power - perfect. My Kensai/mage made it to lv13/14 after Underdark, not much left to do

Pay attention to the exp table, Ranger and Mage take more exp than Fighter, while Thief and Cleric take less.

 

It is also important to consider whether you want to use kits / specialist mages. If you really want a certain kit (e.g. Kensai) then you have to take the fighter levels first as you can't take a kit in your second class.

 

I once considered taking an evil cleric kit backward dualled over to fighter for the lightning shield. The idea was to be a melee machine with the lightning shield on to deal even more damage to those who hit me. But then I took a closer look at what lightning shield really does, and it does pathetic damage, so out goes that idea.

I sorely miss the prowess of the old D&D fireshields.

 

Looking at it now, i think i definitely missed out on HP. And dualling from level 10 would be better, saving me a huge gap from fighter levels to reactivate it.
@Ziad, i wanted several level 5 slots, and no level 6. The mage/fighter was to be a buffing warrior, not a spellslinger. Dualling as soon as i get the first level 5 was not enough, there are several nice ones there.