Has anyone ever tried this as a party:

hobbit ninja to* ranger
and
human bishop to* valkyrie (or other hybrid fighter class)

* my plan is to max out their signature skills, ie stealth, crit, various spellbooks. Then switch the bishop (use ninja's healing spells in the mean time), and then 5 levels later switch the ninja to a ranger for better gear and weapons, etc.

I can see it now:
killer gear for my ninja/ranger
and the infinity helm for my bishop!

I haven't decided whom to switch over first yet though.. what do you think?

• RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,Wintersteel (Guest), 05:58 AM, Apr-02-03
  • RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,interested (Guest), 04:37 AM, Apr-03-03
    • RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,Dragon2k, 07:50 PM, Apr-03-03
      • RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,interested (Guest), 08:16 PM, Apr-03-03
        • RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,Dragon2k, 02:46 AM, Apr-04-03
          • RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,interested (Guest), 05:03 AM, Apr-04-03
            • RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,rbrown, 11:47 AM, Apr-04-03
• RE: Dynamic Dual-Classing Duo,interested (Guest), 02:05 PM, Jul-26-03

Don't waste your time switching more than once. If you switch to a new class, the program will still treat your 1st level guy as if the were at their previous level, which means that even though they are 1st level they will advance as if they were still 5th level. Simplely put, the exp's needed to go from 1st to 2nd lvl for the new class will be treated as the exp's needed for advancement from 5th to 6th level. Constant class switching will make your heroes to weak to finish the game. Hire npc's to fill those other roles, just be warned that some of them won't go to certain areas. If you really want to do this, find a copy of Wiz 7, play your characters to 5th level, then save and import them into Wiz 8, where you can change their class after you start them in a new game.

Thanks for the exp requirement tip. It sounds like I'll be saving up level-ups for a while in advance of switching to minimize the impact. BTW - I'm only switching each character once.

So far it's going pretty well. Both ninja and bishop are level 5 and speedily building up skills. My AC is pretty high due to ninja's stealth and bishops war sceptre/shield/ring of protection/leather hauberk combo. She gets all the good armor.

Anyway, I just jumped down the waterfall in the monastery and am making my way to the gregor. Let's see if I can beat him! Gimme that exp.

I'll keep you posted.

do make sure that all the character's skills, which the new class doesn't have, are all maxed out before switching.
this means, max out your Ninja's Locks & Traps, Pickpocket (if you like that sort of thing), stealth, Critical Strike and martial arts. definately will be better later, with Melee and Long Range Criticals.
personally, I'd go with a Bishop -> Samurai as you would gain Critical Strike. I'm sure you can find a pair of Wakazashis for practice then. Freeze All and hack away.

I'm leaning towards the Bishop-> Valkyrie transistion for better gear than Samurais get. I must say that it's tempting though. It's either one of those 2 of the hybrid fighter types because they have the 25% weapon skill bonus. it's really between the priest spellbook and polearms or mage spellbook and sword.

As for the ninja, I'll have to work on locks and traps a little more. I'm going to ignore martial arts and throwing in favor of sword (-> light sword), mace&flail (->diamond eyes), and bows (->eagle eye bow). I haven't found any off-hand maces and can't wait for those nunchaka.. For now I've got an unidentified tarnished sword, a dagger and crossbow.

things are going well. the gregor is dead and I'm stopping by burz for some alchemy practice before heading to the upper monastery.

thanks for the feedback!

a Valkyrie is also a good choice. kinda hard to pass "Cheat Death" up.
after your bishop learns her spells from all the various spellbooks (which also add spell points so you can cast them), either one is fine. a single bishop, can learn all the spells in the entire game. it will take a long time though.
oh well, at least Burz has your sling bullets and quarrels fully stocked, like they're water. good opertunity to shoplift for that pickpocket skill (which isn't a Ranger's kind of thing)
also, there is a trap in the lower monestary, that you can keep triggering over and over, so you can cast Heal Wounds and Cure Lesser Condition repeatedly, to build up Divine and Water Realm skills, and Alchemy and whichever is highest for the Bishop. pop trap, heal, pop again, heal, repeat until low on HP and spell points, then rest. cast Enchanted Blade, Armorplate, Magic Screen, etc, then save, and repeat.

trap: do you mean the chest in the wine cellar?

He means the smelly coffin.

it's been a while since i started this thread, and I just wanted to update you on progress, both ninja and bishop are level 14 and I am very pleased with them.

Somewhere around level 9 I decided to "cheat" and train them to 100 stealth (for which I switched the bishop to a rogue for 1 level). BTW- the bishop trained shield at the same time. average ac's are 21 and 23 for ninja and bishop respectively.

As for when to switch, I'm still building skills on both of them. I could have skipped the stealth training, but I like a good fight, and found the bishop too vulnerable in a close combat situation.

I'll post again when I switch 'em... oh and I'm currently at marten's bluff after running around the various wildernesses for a while.