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'm definately suggesting you play as the Hunter since it's the most powerful class in the whole game. We played a COOP game with a Paladin, a Mage and a Barbarian and my Hunter turned out to be the most powerful melee AND long-ranged character of them all, assuming you get your STR to 18+.
That's just from my experiences though.

I have a question thats sorta off topic.
What makes the second baldurs gate so much better than the first ?I've seen people hail BG2 as one of the greatest rpgs of all time but I rarely see the first get any sort of praise.

BG2 is bigger, better done and in my opinion with really good story.
But best is BG trilogy - mod which makes from BG1 and BG2 one big game.
Regarding hunter - he is strong, i know, especially archer in boots fo haste, but what about traps? Locks? Petrification (and alike) spells ?
P.S. - allready 5/5/6 :) just finished nashel mines

Greater resolution, better engine, more mods and barters. I still preffer BG1 (with BG2 engine of course).
EDIT: Hunter is good, but useless for a solo campaign.

I would have a question...
in particular, on the subject of "needing" theif skills, how much do you think you need to game the system to complete it in this manner?
I had a hard enough time getting to Sarevok playing with the standard party of six, and found that having the PC as a mage or other weaker char really hurt me in the beginning. Have to say, I've never finished BG1 without cheating in one way or another, and 90% of those times were to beat Sarevok.

The main problem I had with BG1 was the fight with dopplegangers in candlekeep (I think), every offensive spell I had did lots of collateral damage and like most RPGs of that era, a town had a very bad sense of humour when it came to accidental massacres and the guards helped the enemy.

I think for me the basilisks were a particular annoyance, as well as the vast amount of kobold archers in one of the side dungeons on the eastern side of the map.

I loved the kobolds, best source of fire arrows in any game I've played. The basilisks just cost me shitloads of money in stone to flesh scrolls but that had a happy end when I had a spare and found that woman in nashkell(?) who'd been turned to stone

I guess my problem with the kobolds in whatever side-quest it was, was that my mage needed to sleep and regain his spells, but every time I rested, I got attacked! It got frustrating, and I ended up leaving that dungeon and never returning.
There was one place (east of beregost perhaps) where there is a small nest of basilisks, and I had a terrible time having most of my party turned to stone, and not being able to kill the basilisks as Khalid and Misnc were often the first to go, just seemed far too easy for them to turn folk to stone. Had a similar problem in BG2 with the various beholder-esque types and illithids, but at least there were good protective spells.

thats why protection spells are so good, especialy protection from petrification.

lol that sounds like a suggestion for a 3rd Ed build. Remember, Baldur's Gate is 2nd Edition!
I highly recommend the Thief/Mage route, but the way. Probably best for solo play in Baldur's Gate. Thief can survive BG1, has critical skills you'll want, and you really take off in BG2.
Mages are TOO good in general in BG, imo, starting around 7th level.
If you want a REAL challenge be a vanilla Fighter :) Or worse, a Bard.

I got the impression he was talking about dual classing, which is 2ed rules.
What about dual classing a Ranger/Cleric? I remember that was a potent combo in Icewind Dale, but it's been a long time since I've played BG or IWD, so I can't really make an informed suggestion. Rogue/Mage sounds sweet though.

I know, I couldn't remember the 2nd Ed. names, so I just used the current Ed. which I'm playing. Its a shame there isn't an RP thread somewhere which (those interested) could play in. Suppose we're all too busy with our cheap games :D

Ranger/Rogue and Barbarian/Cleric are not valid multiclass or dual class combos, my point was...
And I think the roleplaying boards at gamefaqs are ok. Try them.

I'm going to try this also. However I've never used TUTU before.
When seaching for it I found BG TUTU and BG Trilogy. They both seem to be similar.
Has anyone here had experience with both of them and can tell me which is the better one to use?
Karl