Multiclassing vs. Dualclassing

Chapter 5: Multiclassing vs. Dualclassing

Taking one of the classes and/or kits described in Chapter 4 will give you a very solid, fun character to play. But there is another layer of depth to be added: Most classes can be combined with other classes, making your character more powerful and versatile. Follow this link to see the chart of which races can take which classes, and combinations of classes.

There are two ways of combining classes: Multi-classing and Dual-classing. Only Humans can Dualclass, and only demihumans (all the other races) can Multiclass. Multiclassing is much simpler to explain, so I'll do that first.

During Character Creation, when it's time to choose your Class, just hit the button marked Multi-class. All the Multiclasses open to a character of your Race will be available to you. Choose one (or hit the Back button) and proceed with Character Creation as normal. Once you start the game, all the experience you earn will be divided equally between your classes. If you're a Fighter/Thief, your Fighter half will Level up at half the rate of a pure Fighter, and your Thief half will Level Up at half the rate of a pure Thief. This does not mean that your character's level will be half the level of a true-class, though, as the rate of level gain is not linear (at least in the early stages). Let me provide an example: At the end of ToSC, a true-classed Cleric will be Level 8, and a straight Mage will be Level 9, while a Multiclassed Cleric/Mage will be Level 7/7. A Fighter will be Level 8, a Thief will be Level 10, and a Fighter/Thief will

be Level 7/8. (The difference in levels does widen as time passes, though.) True, Multiclassed characters aren't as specialized as their single-class counterparts: A Level 9 Mage can cast Level 5 spells, such as Animate Dead, while a Cleric/Mage with a Level 7 Mage half can only cast Level 4 Mage spells. However, Multiclass characters are a lot more versatile: The Cleric/Mage in question can also cast Level 4 Cleric spells, has a Cleric's THAC0, and can wear all the heavy armor he wants. For another example, let's consider the Fighter/Mage/Thief: At the EXP cap for ToB, you'd have 2,666,666 EXP points in each of your 3 classes, for Levels 18/17/22.

Brace yourself: We're about to embark on a long, tedious description of Dual-classing. Dualing is when a Human character decides to suddenly stop gaining experience in his current class, and switch professions to start gaining experience in a completely different class. When this happens, the skills and abilities you learned in your first class are temporarily gone�you get them back when you earn enough EXP to be one level higher in your second class than you got with your first. Be warned that once you Dual, you will never again be able to gain levels or skills in your first class. To give an example, let's say you're a Level 4 Human Thief. You decide you want to be a Mage. You Dual. You are now a Level 1 Mage, with the skills, THAC0, and weapon and armor restrictions of a Level 1 Mage. (You may not use the Studded Leather Armor, Long Sword, and Short Bow you were using before you Dualed�those will have to sit in storage for a bit.) You gain experience

and earn some levels, Leveling Up exactly as a Mage would, as if your Thief half had never even existed. Once you hit Level 5 as a Mage, all your Thief abilities come back to you, and you may now use your Thief equipment again. What also takes place at the moment you regain your first class is this: The game compares the THAC0 (and each of the 5 Saving Throws) of each class, gives you the better one, and your THAC0 (and each of the 5 Saving Throws) will continue to improve at the rate of your second class (in this case, Mage). So now you've got your Thief half back. From now on, even though you can still use all your Thieving skills, you will continue to gain levels as a pure Mage. You can never again allocate points into your Thieving skills, so if you feel bad that you have only 55% Find Traps, tough. Should have thought of that before you Dualed.

When assigning weapon proficiencies for your first class, plan ahead and be aware of where you're going to put them in your second class, as well. Let's say you really like 2-Handed Swords, so your Fighter puts lots of points into Large Sword. Then you Dual to Cleric, and eventually get your Fighter half back�and all your points in Large Sword are gone. Well, duh, Clerics can't use bladed or piercing weapons, ever, so those points got erased. (Clerics and Druids are the only classes where you have to worry about this; A Fighter->Mage can use Halberds and Composite Long Bows if you want.) Angrily, you erase that character & start over. This time, your Fighter puts 3 points in Mace, then Duals to Cleric and puts another point in Mace, hoping to have a total of 4 when the Fighter reactivates. That won't happen, because the game doesn't add the proficency points, it simply compares them and grants you the larger of the two, so you've still only got 3 points in Mace. You've only wasted 1 proficiency star, so it's not that bad, but you'd have been better off putting it in Sling or something. This business with proficiency points is the only case in which you can add to the skills of your first class after you Dual. Fighters can achieve Grandmastery (5 points in the same weapon), and so can Dualed Fighters. Even if you only put 2 Levels into your Fighter half before Dualing to Druid, you can still put multiple points into a weapon (after the Fighter class has been regained. You can't do this with the Fighter class inactive, because Druids may only put 1 star into a weapon). Note that BG1 does not allow you to "stack" like this (put weapon stars earned as a Druid on top of weapon stars earned as a Fighter), but BG2 does allow it.

The Rules for Dual-Classing:

1) You must be Human.
2) You must be at least Level 2.
3) You cannot Dual to a class that conflicts with your alignment.
4) You must have a score of at least 15 in the primary stat of your first class.
5) You must have a score of at least 17 in the primary stat of your second class.
6) Each Human character is only allowed to Dual-class once.

About Rule 3: Certain classes have alignment restrictions. These are the Thief, who cannot be Lawful Good (If your Lawful Good character wishes to Dual to Thief, he's SOL), the Ranger, who must be Good, and the Druid, who must be True Neutral. About Rules 4 and 5: The 'primary stat' of a class is which of the 6 main stats is most important to that particular class. For Warriors, Strength is what it takes to win the day, while Priests live by their Wisdom, Rogues need Dexterity, and Wizards rely on Intelligence. So if a Cleric with 15 Wisdom and 18 Dexterity decides he'd be a better Thief than a Cleric, he can make the change; but if he was just 1 point lower in Wisdom, he'd be stuck. (Note that these must be your honest-to-god stats: Trying to fool the game by drinking Potions of Insight and Agility will not work.) Druids are unique in that they have two prime requisites: A Fighter who wishes to Dual to Druid must have 17's in Wisdom and Charisma.

Notes: When combining 2 classes with different armor restrictions (such as Fighter and Mage), the character is able to wear any armor usable by the stronger class (unless he took a kit with armor restrictions, see next paragraph). But be aware that wearing the best armor you can may block the skills of the weaker class: Wizard spells cannot be cast in ANY armor except Mage Robes and Elven Chain Mail, and wearing any armor unusable by a true-class Thief will completely block all of the Thieving skills except Find Traps, Set Traps, and Detect Illusions.

Note that there are some kits that carry armor restrictions; these are the Kensai, Archer, Avenger and Shapeshifter. The armor (and weapon) restrictions imposed by a kit are always in effect, even if you Dual to a class that lets you wear any armor (such as Cleric). There is one exception to this: Fighters who take the Kensai kit are prohibited from wearing armor�and even though Mage Robes are technically armor, they can be worn by Kensai->Mages.

Multiclassed characters cannot choose a kit for either of their classes (with the exception of Gnomish Mages, who all become Illusionists). Dualclassed characters may choose a kit for their first class, but not their second. BG1 does allow the character to Dual to one of the Specialist Mages, that is true, but it is a violation of AD&D Rules, and is corrected in BG2: If you Dual to a Specialist Mage and then Import your character into BG2, the Specialty is stripped from your character, but you are allowed to choose a kit for your first class in its stead.

The combination of Ranger/Cleric (whether achieved though Dual or Multi) is a remarkable one: The Ranger half means that the character has access to Druid spells, and the Cleric half grants the character access to Cleric spells, and lets the character learn all 7 levels on the Priest Scroll. Thus, the Ranger/Cleric is the only class combination that can learn every Priest spell there is (well, except the ones that you need to be Neutral or Evil to learn).

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