this is my first (and i hope last) new topic :)
ok, so whats the problem, all of you nerds know baldurs gate series (if not, go back to workshipping EA and GTA4,F3), two days back i was cleaning my shelf with games and found BG 4 in 1 collection. So I installed them all. And Shadows over Soubar, check the bodies, tortured souls and few more other megamods and finaly Baldurs Gate trilogy.
I have played BG many times, I just loved minsc and boo, and other not so interesting NPCs. But now i want some chalenge. I know it is possible to play throught BG2 with one char (mage or thief) but I want to beat this game with one char from BG1 till the end of BG2:ToB and I cannot decide what character to play.
single class hero ? gets XP cap fastest, strong in beginning but little limited
dual class (kensai - mage, thief - mage) - weaker in start but stronger in end, but i will have to survive few levels of second class to get levels for activating first one
multiclass (mage/thief - fighter/mage/thief or cleric combo) strongest in my eves, but really slow beginning of the game
I think that mage is essencial due to protection spells (fear, petrification, hold...) and he is powerhouse on higher levels, or thief with his Use Any Item HLA ?
I would appreciate any powergaming advices, any advices on classes and your opinions overaly :)
Just to clarify this mission imposible:
only main character
beating game from candlekeep to hell
no cheating
normal or core rules
any mods installed :)

I'd be going for the hair tearing experience of the hardest class (and have it take me over a year to completion because of that). But I just like a challenge to be like that.
Without mods, you will be limited to a smaller number of classes from BG1, unless you multiclass later.

I did it.
My choice: fighter/mage/thief.
My mods: BGT, the one that makes enemies use potions and improve difficult in some battles (like the final one with Sarevok) and XP cap remover (very useful for Throne of Baal, since you will have maximum level then).
Also: I've played BG many, many times, so I know where are the good items, I know who I have to rob, etc., etc.
EDIT: I found the screen of my character during BG2. (I've lost the rest of my beloved screens) =(
PS: The best advice if you have a thief is --> hide and stab x10000

Multi-classing is always the most powerful option at high levels, but you pay for it when you start. My classic combo is Ranger/Rogue which will allow duel wielding and sneak attack. Its been a long time since I played BG, so I don't remember if there was a mod I used.
Power gaming wise, because BG is based on the D&D rules, the best class to start with is a barbarian and add levels of cleric later. This is so you turn into a slaughtering power house with divine spell backup. If you want to make it hard, simply a single class is going to do it because you cap so early.
Good luck!

I tried Kensai once and they can dish out unbelievable damage. But my personal favourite is a Monk. I had a well-built monk and it walked through any trap int he game unharmed, was hard to hit and killed Lord Jeirdan (in own form) with Quivering Palm :)
Another option may be a Shapeshifter - Cernd, for example, is a vertiable dervish once he's shifted.
Karl

dualclass kensai - mage is quite powerfull what i know
for now i am thinking about fighter/thief/mage (xp cap removed) but I don't know how that char will perform solo in BG1 :/ second option is assasin and backstabbing throught game.
in BG2 you start with some levels, so it is soloable with more chars, but in BG1 starting on lvl 1 ruins my day.
That barbarian cleric combo looks interesting :) i will take look into it.

moonfear, you have me motivated enough to give this a go myself. It's been long enough since the last game of BG1&2 that I should of forgotten a lot to re-experience.

Doing it in BG1 is more difficult, but with a little hide and stab and a few wands you're done.

I'd probably go for the fighter/cleric combo, a good damage dealing bastard with the ability to fully heal himself and use most forms of equipment. Divine magic can give you decent resistances as can the choice of race

The problem with a non thief character is you can't open chests, doors, etc which means you're pretty much screwed in BG1 and part of BG2. Also you can't steal, which is very useful at the beggining too.

there is no lock/trap mod for BG2 or BGT so this is not so big problem (but i think that it is cheating)

are there critical doors & chests you MUST open in BG1? Surely missing out on some of the loot is part of the difficulty

If you choose the route of duel-classing to a mage a good way to get through those levels before you regain access to your first class's abilities is to hold onto every spell scroll you can get your hands on, then learn, remove, and relearn spells (as you get a significant chunk of experience every time you learn a spell from a scroll). This can net you a quick 7 or 8 levels, sometimes more if you have a fair number of lvl 7/8/9 scrolls.

Now that DarkPhoenix mention it, I also installed a very useful mod which fix just that. You receive 10% of the experience you would normally receive for learning scrolls, disarming tramps and opening locks. If you don't use a mod like this you will probably be level 6 or 7 by Naskhell.
PS: Besides, 1.000 xp for a single level 1 scroll is insane.

even now i learn something new about BG :) so I am going to try F/T/M halfelf, maybe elf.