Hello guys,

Currently I am about to finish BG1:EE (this still may take months) with an Orc Fighter/Cleric. My starting stats were..

STR: 19
DEX: 18
CON: 16 (became 17 with tomb)
INT: 9
WIS: 18
CHA: 10

With 2 points on both Warhammer and Sling.

I am slowly thinking how this build would fare in BG2, which i had started million times but never finished. Should I continue with this (I will already made flail 1 point) or should I go with a Human (obviously) Fighter-Cleric Build. For this I am going to make a Level 7 Fighter first with +3 On Warhammer and +3 on Sling. This will also give me 1/2 attacks per round. After that I will continue as a Cleric. I never ever dual classed on BG games so even tho i basically know the rules, i dont know them in practice.

So what do you say?

NOTE: I am planning to play BG2:EE. I also still have BGT installed.

Tnx
Engin.

Some things to consider:

Half-orc Fighter/Cleric:
+ Continues to advance as a Fighter
+ Can get Fighter HLAs as well as Cleric HLAs (and the Fighter HLAs are usually considered more useful)
+ Can start with natural 19 Strength
- Can't advance proficiencies past specialization (more an issue in the EE, where grandmastery is significant; in the original BG2 it isn't a big deal)

Human Fighter->Cleric
+ Can get grandmastery (in original BG2, even after dual-classing; I don't know about the EE, and original Icewind Dale doesn't allow it)
+ Advances more quickly as a Cleric, learning 7th level spells much sooner and getting more of them
- Does not advance further as a Fighter
- Can't learn Fighter HLAs; is limited to the Cleric list for them
- Is generally inferior to Ranger->Cleric, which gets access to druid spells as well (more so in the original than the EE), gets dual wielding for free (2 stars), and, in the original (non-EE), starts getting HLAs early because of a typo made by the developers.

Your multiclass will be better on the long run. If you want to improve roll a better one with 19 con and dump cha.

@dtgreene thank you. I guess HLA means High Level Abilities. 19 CON seems appealing but i am kinda roleplaying my own hero which doesnt have much health. Thats why i left it 16. Also, I would never dump CHA for the same reason. I know it doesnt effect the game but it effects how i connect with my character.

You are roleplaying a half-orc (can have higher con) fighter (more hp) with 16 con (bonus hp) who doesn't have much health? o.O

Respect for the roleplaying decision, but I don't think I'd be able to pass up acquiring natural regeneration.

What does natural regeneration do? I never had CON more than 16. All I know is that CON higher than 16 benefits only Fighters and useless for other classes. I need to google that. :))

Characters with CON 20 or greater regenerate 1 HP per turn. This means it's useless -- especially considering you would have to waste precious attribute points -- in normal situations, and only has benefit while traveling (it takes time). This makes it feasible in BG1, but a thoroughly stupid sacrifice in BG2.

Thank you. I think i will leave it at 16 (now 17). I dont want to roll an other character and i dont feel like lowering any other ability.

Depends on what he is sacrificing. If he's running a fighter multi class, then it is also extra max hp, and Cha isn't a bad ability to sacrifice in BG2, considering the available items. It isn't as useful to a dual class that starts as fighter.

The regen won't save you mid combat, but it does lower healing costs, especially if the player doesn't want to rest frequently, and any other Con boosts will increase the regen speed.

His game, his decision. Like I said, I probably couldn't pass up the chance for innate regen, since it is easily within reach for an Orc or Dwarf.

No, it depends on if you're (generalisation) a power gamer or not.

the dual character gets 'turn' as a real combat option where as the multi does not.

Generally speaking Multi-class is preferable in the long run, but Dual Class is fine for a few reasons, primarily grandmastery, which some people could swear by due to higher APR... however this is also countered by High Level Abilities available for a Fighter/Cleric Multi-class that wouldn't hold up for a Dual-Class. If you want a meatier healer that levels up faster, Dual-Classing is the way to go; due to the nature of how many priest spells work, you won't suffer much at all in combat either, though your HP will be a bit wonky, and buff spells will be your life blood for actual fighting, you'll get levels as a cleric faster, and more of them by the XP Cap, so you'll have more spells per day too.

So basically: Fighter with self-sufficient buffs and utility? Multi-Class.
A Healer/Spell-focused Priest that can take a hit and hold their own in a fight? Dual-Class.

Not in the original BG2. (I have read that the EE apparently changed grandmastery to give extra APR and higher bonuses, but that's not the case in the original game.)

Well, he did specify he was playing BG1:EE, so that's why I didn't add the note there. Besides that a lot of people used the revised rules from BG1 using the Tweak Pack mod regarding Grand Mastery bonuses, and the Enhanced Edition decided to use those as well.