Advice on playing a Fighter/Mage

[Dreamer128]

Ok, I just rolled a Grey Elf Fighter/Mage with the following statts;

16/16/16/18/13/10 (In case I made a mix up; Int is 18, and Wis is 13). I know I should probably have gone with 17/17/17/18/10/10 but I'm a Roleplayer

Anyway, my first issue is my party. Since I've cut through the game several times now, I think fun is more important then powergaming. So I was thinking of the following party:

PC
Imoen/Yoshimo
Jaheira (Interesting character)
Minsc (And Boo! - don't you just love that guy?)
Aerie (Romance and 'boosting morale' - she kind of replaces Xan)
Valygar/Jan

Right now, I'm having a really hard time selecting my last NPC (Jan or Valygar). Jan is by far the most fun, but I already have 3 Mages. And I will need Valygar anyway for the planer Sphere quest, which brings me to my next question. Which stronghold should I take? I think the Planer Sphere is the most profitable, but also the hardest to obtain. And how much fun is the D'Arnise keep when you don't have Nalia in your party to improve the storyline around it? And finally, which weapons should I give my char?
So far I have three points in dual wielding, two in Katana (Planning on using the Celestial Fury and Dak'kons Zerth blade) and one in Longsword (there is a really good one in TOB). But I might take a point in either mace, axe or warhammer, for undead slaying purposes. I'm planning on buying the Robe of Vecna for either Imoen or Aerie, and the robe of the good Archmagi for the other. And using the (improved) Bladesinger Armor on my own character. Would that a wise choice?
Any advice would be welcome.

[Faceman]

To your party question.
Most people take a party of five (including PC) and leave one spot open for NPCs to join and solve their quests. Also I think that you are low on clerics (with Aerie being the only one and only multi) or at least Paladins. Jan is a wise choice because he can level up as a thief but Valygar makes an excellent backup tank or ranged supporter (speaking of which you could consider Mazzy too). Roleplaying-wise I would go for Valygar as you already have a Ranger and a Druid in your party and your alignment would be good-only with these party members, whereas Jan is Neutral.

I also think that the Planar sphere is more interesting than the Keep even with Nalia around. Also I tend to emphasize the Mage in fighter/mage (as I mostly use a dualled fighter). So take the sphere.
Actually I like dual-wielding more with two weapons of identical proficiency but you do it your way. So: There are some nice Longswords in SoA too. Take a point in Mace for the undead. There will be a nice thing around and also I'm not sure if Hammers should be dual-wielded.
Your armor selection is top notch. Only thing I dislike is the color of the improved BSchain
just love the green of the original one

[Stratos]

Grey Elf?

Yes, Jan is more fun than Valygar. But do you really need a sixth character? It is true that you already have 3 mages and Jan is another "weak" character. Both Imoen/Yoshimo and Aerie requires some attention to keep alive and adding Jan to the party would only give you another person to pay close attention to. But Jan IS fun...

I would go for the Planar Sphere, one of the better strongholds. I don´t understand what you mean by "hardest to obtain" though.

As for weapons, CF and DZB is a good combo, Flail of Ages and Mace of Disruption are also some very useful weapons to wield yourself or give to either Minsc or Valygar if you pick him.

I don´t know if Robe of Vecna affects the casting time on cleric spells as well, but if thats the case I would give it to Aerie as she is likely to cast more spells than Imoen.

You might also consider giving a good range weapon to a party member as there are some very good around.

[Nerull]

Originally posted by Dreamer128: Ok, I just rolled a Grey Elf Fighter/Mage with the following statts; 16/16/16/18/13/10 (In case I made a mix up; Int is 18, and Wis is 13). I know I should probably have gone with 17/17/17/18/10/10 but I'm a Roleplayer Anyway, my first issue is my party. Since I've cut through the game several times now, I think fun is more important then powergaming. So I was thinking of the following party: PC Imoen/Yoshimo Jaheira (Interesting character) Minsc (And Boo! - don't you just love that guy?) Aerie (Romance and 'boosting morale' - she kind of replaces Xan) Valygar/Jan Right now, I'm having a really hard time selecting my last NPC (Jan or Valygar). Jan is by far the most fun, but I already have 3 Mages. And I will need Valygar anyway for the planer Sphere quest, which brings me to my next question. Which stronghold should I take? I think the Planer Sphere is the most profitable, but also the hardest to obtain. And how much fun is the D'Arnise keep when you don't have Nalia in your party to improve the storyline around it? And finally, which weapons should I give my char? So far I have three points in dual wielding, two in Katana (Planning on using the Celestial Fury and Dak'kons Zerth blade) and one in Longsword (there is a really good one in TOB). But I might take a point in either mace, axe or warhammer, for undead slaying purposes. I'm planning on buying the Robe of Vecna for either Imoen or Aerie, and the robe of the good Archmagi for the other. And using the (improved) Bladesinger Armor on my own character. Would that a wise choice? Any advice would be welcome.

If you plan to use Yoshimo until you get Imoen back, then Jan is really repetitive. You are a wizard, and so is Aerie, so that should give you plenty of wizard magic until you get Imoen back (and then you become really strong magically). It's not really a matter of Jan being neutral in your good party; you have Jaheira as well. Thus, much better to take Valygar, or even Mazzy. If you are looking for Jan for the interactions, then replace Yoshimo with Jan, and add Valygar or Mazzy (I generally keep Valygar long enough to open the door you need him for, then replace him). Remember, there are not a lot of good katanas out there; yes Valygar comes with one, but with your character using them you will have to make some hard choices.

The keep is okay, but nothing to write home about. I'm not big on the Planar Sphere, either, but it is better than the keep.

If you want to use katanas, go ahead! But like I said above, assuming you give your guy the best katanas, leaves Valygar a little out of the loop (you could give him slots in other weapons instead, allowing him to dual something like Flail of Ages and his katana). Or give him points in Axe, and let him use it to kill undead. Also, consider flails for him as well, so he can use the Flail of Ages. For you, if you plan to do a lot of melee combat, then definitely put slots in warhammers; otherwise, go with some other weapon instead (maybe the flail or axe) and put slots in warhammer for Valygar (his strenght is a little low).

Robe of Vecna speeds up ALL of the person's spells, so definitely give the Robe of Vecna to Aerie! The other robe you use until you get Imoen back, unless you come across a suit of armor that you can wear and still cast spells in (of course, you could always cast spells before battle then put on a suit of armor, since you are part fighter). However, sticking with character, use the robe until Imoen, give it to her, then get the chain that you are planning on.

[Illithid]

To your stronghold question:
I've heard that as a fighter/mage it is possible to get both strongholds. It's a bug, so you don't have to cheat (Spoilers ahead):
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After finishing the quest at the keep, simply refuse to watch over it. Nalia will leave the party, but tell you, that she'll be waiting for you (at the keep's gate to be precise) if you should change your mind. Afterwards, you can do the planar sphere and accept it as your stronghold. Return to the keep, talk to Nalia and accept the offer to guard it. It doesn't work the other way round though, so you have to do the keep quest first.
I don't know if it really does work out, but I'm planning to try myself.

[Raistlin Majere]

baldurdash removes this bug, i hear

[Dreamer128]

Stratos: The Grey Elf isn't an actual class, its just a roleplaying thing.
Faceman: Its true that I am a bit low on Clerics, but Jaheira is a fine replacement. Unlike other druids, she can bring people back from death (Harpers Call).
Nerull: Perhaps I should keep Valygar until after the Sphere Quest, and then replace him by Keldorn (although I 'really' don't like that guy). Or perhaps I could give Valygar another point in Spear or Longbow and let him go with that.
Illithid/Raistlin: I don't use the Baldurash patch, only the official TOB one [img]smile.gif[/img] . I don't know if they fixed it, though I suppose I'll find out soon enough...

Thanks for all the advice guys [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 05-28-2003, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

[waverider]

doesn't anny one get sick of aerie take an other romance

take the evil romance for a change ...

[Dreamer128]

Did that the last time But someone spoiled me on the outcome

[Nerull]

Originally posted by Dreamer128: Nerull: Perhaps I should keep Valygar until after the Sphere Quest, and then replace him by Keldorn (although I 'really' don't like that guy). Or perhaps I could give Valygar another point in Spear or Longbow and let him go with that.

If you don't like Keldorn, don't take him! Minsc can handle the tanking duties just fine. If you take Valygar, just put points into other weapons than katanas. It won't take long for him to get his 2 slots in another weapon, and if you choose one that a thief can backstab with then all of better.