Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II Enhanced Edition have been out for a while now. Though the “enhancements” that have been offered are not the most compelling (save for the multiplayer lobby perhaps), the game itself still stands the test of time. Being a veteran of the original series myself, I’ve played around with a vast range of character classes and builds. Personally, my favourites are the ones that combine swordplay and sorcery. So, what is the best way to become a spell-slinging swordmaster? Here are a few options!
1. Dual class Kensai / Mage
This one is restricted to humans, and it is truly a devastating approach to combat. Robes don’t count as armor, so a Kensai / Mage can equip a wide range of helpful pieces of equipment in an otherwise useless slot, including the Robe of Vecna and Robe of the Archmagi. Kensai normally have poor AC, but thanks to your mage buffs, you can turn yourself into a monstrous defensive machine. You can also achieve Grand Mastery in a weapon of your choice, giving you an excellent combat advantage over a Multiclass Fighter / Mage too. There are a few good levels at which to switch to mage; 7, 9, and 13 stand out in particular. If you switch at level 7, you gain the first bonus half attack per round from being a level 7 fighter, and you’re sitting at a net +2 to attack and damage from your Kensai bonuses. Holding out until level 9 gives you another attack and damage, as well as better HP overall. Level 13 is the best possible time to switch for your end-game Throne of Bhaal power, giving you the last extra half attack per round, and leaving you with a daunting +4 bonus to attack and damage from your Kensai abilities, but getting yourself to level 14 in mage is going to be a painful process. Personally, I would probably go with the level 7 switch so you gain the one extra half attack, and don’t have to painfully suffer through most of Shadows of Amn.
Pros:
- Excellent combat ability with little impact on overall mage development in the long-term
- Inability to wear armor is barely a disadvantage at all because of your mage buffs
Cons:
- Cannot wear the Elven Chainmail that other Fighter / Mage characters have access to
- Doesn’t learn Fighter High-Level Abilities (no Greater Whirlwind)
- THAC0 tapers off at high levels
2. Multiclass Fighter / Mage (Illusionist)
Multiclass Fighter / Mages are consistently powerful throughout their careers (though their mage levels are fairly useless through the first part of Baldur’s Gate), as they don’t have to dual-class the way humans do. The best thing about Fighter / Mage multiclass characters is that they can pick a race other than human. Gnome Fighter / Mage characters are extremely resilient, thanks to their “shorty” saving throw bonuses (basically, make sure you have 18 Con and your saving throws will always be stellar), not to mention the fact that they’re the only race allowed to be a multiclass specialist mage (illusionist). Although Fighter / Mage is not quite as punchy as Kensai / Mage, I find it far more palatable to play since it is far less “munchkin-y” and far more consistent.
Pros:
- Consistently powerful
- Access to both Mage and Fighter High-Level Abilities
- Good number of High-Level Abilities by the end of the game because you have two classes
- Allows you to pick stronger races than human, such as Gnome for amazing saving throws and Illusionist kit
Cons:
- Can only achieve Specialization (**) in weapons
- Can’t choose a Fighter kit
3. Blade Bard
Blades are a bit of a strange bunch. Some people unequivocally say that they are nothing more than pretenders (they are actors, after all) wishing that they were Fighter / Mages. That isn’t entirely true, but it isn’t entirely false either. Blades can’t put more than a single proficiency point in any weapon, though they can gain up to three in Two-Weapon Style. They don’t get any extra attacks per round as they level, and their THAC0 is almost always going to be worse than a Kensai / Mage or Multiclass Fighter / Mage. Though they can cast mage spells, they’ll generally be casting fewer of them per day, and can’t go above 6th level spells in the vanilla game.
Blades make up for their significant shortcomings through the use of their spin abilities. Starting with 1 use of Offensive Spin and Defensive Spin at 1st level and gaining an additional use every four levels, they eventually have enough that they can use them with relative impunity. Offensive Spin grants the Blade a +2 bonus to attack and damage, grants an additional attack per round and causes all of their attacks to deal maximum damage for the four round duration. The big caveat here is that Offensive Spin doesn’t stack with Haste or even Improved Haste, which is a massive damper on their overall damage output (an unnecessary one, if you ask me). Defensive Spin roots the Blade to a single spot, preventing them from moving (though you can still attack), and improving their Armor Class by 1 per level, to a maximum of 10. Thanks to Defensive Spin and their access to strong buff spells like Blur, Mirror Image, Spirit Armor and Stoneskin, Blades can be your staple tank for particularly hard-hitting enemies throughout BG1 and BG2. Even in BG1, it is relatively easy to get a well-prepared Blade down to nearly -20 AC when in Defensive Spin. In this capacity, no other sword and sorcery character can equal them. Blades also cast spells at their full bard level, meaning that a Blade’s spells will hit harder, and their dispels will be more powerful than the other characters above, or even a pure mage, for that matter, since they level the fastest of any class in the game. Blades still have pretty good lore and pick pocketing ability despite their kit penalties, but this is a pretty situational fringe benefit. The lack of extra attacks per round when leveling and their inability to specialize in weapons is a pretty massive downside, but wielding weapons like Kundane, Belm and the Scarlet Ninja-to can help minimize this disadvantage.
If you do decide to go with a Blade, I highly recommend you download the Rogue Rebalancing Mod (which was recently made compatible with BGEE and BG2EE). The Rogue Rebalancing Mod gives them *** in Two-Weapon Fighting to start with (as per PnP rules), allowing them to spread out their proficiency points into a wide array of weapons. It also tweaks their High-Level Abilities, giving them access to the amazingly strong Whirlwind Attack, which can be combined with Offensive Spin to give a Blade a significant amount of late-game punch. It also fixes their spell progression so that it continues to improve once they’ve reached 20th level, eventually getting them up to 8th level spells. They lose access to the special traps that rogues normally get, but it didn’t really make sense for Bards to throw around masterfully constructed explosive traps anyways.
Overall, Blades are fairly strong, but they can’t quite measure up to the raw combat ability and reliability of a fighter class, though they do have a bunch of neat tricks up their sleeves.
Pros:
- Decent combat and spellcasting ability
- Access to the Use Any Item High-Level Ability
- Can become defensive monsters through buffs and Defensive Spin
- Offensive Spin’s buffs are significant
- High caster level
Cons:
- Cannot gain extra attacks per round through leveling or specialization in weapons
- Limited to only Proficiency (*) in weapons
- Tapers off at high level without the Rogue Rebalancing Mod
- Spellcasting is mediocre and never improves past level 20 without the Rogue Rebalancing Mod
4. Multiclass Fighter / Thief / Mage
This one is a mouthful. The FTM is a consummate jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Their THAC0 is going to be decent, though certainly the worst of the actual fighter types most of the time. Their spellcasting is going to be significantly less effective and improve far more slowly than any of the other options listed here, even compared to the Blade, They also miss out on 9th level spells, as when they hit the level cap they are only able to cast 8th level spells. That being said, there is a special kind of joy in being able to cast Invisibility on yourself with impunity on a character with an impressive backstab multiplier and the weapon-skill of a fighter. This is a character that warriors, clerics and other rogues will despise fighting, since as soon as they close the distance (or perhaps begin targeting you with a spell in the case of some clerics) you’ll vanish, only to pop up behind them and splatter their guts on the floor. Even more-so than with the other builds listed here, your spells should primarily be reserved for buffs, since your caster level is comparatively low, making you a poor blaster mage. Spells like Invisibility, Mislead, Improved Invisibility, Haste and Breach should all make regular appearances on your spell list. If you can load up on a higher caster level mage or bard to throw around Remove Magic for you, you should be all set.
All that said, setting yourself up for backstabs is your primary strength, and later on in Throne of Bhaal some of the more threatening enemies are immune, relegating you to the shameful and loathed role of “crappier Fighter / Mage”. You do get a veritable ton of High-Level Abilities by the end of the game, but none of those will include the juicy 9th level mage spells a single, multi or dual classed mage would get. FTMs are amazing solo characters though, and if you remove the experience cap from the game, they can become a veritable one-person army. The worst thing about playing an FTM is how painfully slow the leveling gets; once you breach the double-digits in all your classes, your leveling slows to a crawl.
Pros:
- Ability to set themselves up for devastating backstabs
- Highly versatile, and great for soloing
- Lots of High Level Abilities, and many strong options to choose from
- With the experience cap removed, they can become monstrously powerful
Cons:
- No 9th level spellcasting
- No mage High-Level Abilities
- Painfully slow leveling
- Can end up lackluster in a larger party late game due to lack of focus
Alright guys, that’s it for now. Get out there and slay some dragons or something.
Cheers,
Uni
Renaissance Gamer 