Hey guys. Been lurking these forums for awhile and I've dusted off my copies of BG1 & 2 for some good ole BGT gameplay. My plan is to play a half-orc fighter/thief and I thought I'd ask if anyone had any good suggestions for weapons/styles to focus in as well as where I should put my thief points.

My plan is to scout for the enemy and then use my 19 str to do some serious damage in the first round. I'm not much for re-hiding and then jumping back in so I'd want a build that would give me some survivability after the initial strike. I'm thinking of specializing in shortswords (Rogue Re-balance Sword of Backstabbing looks cool) and daggers (Dagger of Venom) but I'm not sure if I should do single weapon style for the increased crit-chance and AC or go with two-weapon style.

As far as thief points go, keep in mind that I will be the only thief class in the party as I've modded Imoen into a bard. Should I get lockpicking and find-traps up to 100 first or should I focus on hide and move silently? If the latter, how high should I increase them?

Thanks in advance for the help guys :)

You don't need to worry about racing your Locks or Traps up to 100 right away, as most of the traps in BG1 don't require more than 60 or so, and the ones in earlier areas require a lot less. Putting at least a few points in Hide/Move will make life a lot less irritating, but it's not super-necessary to invest heavily unless you're jumping around corners to re-hide. I'd go for a balanced approach in your case.

For BG2 I'd normally recommend katanas or scim/wak/ninja, but those weapons don't exist in BG1 so you'd be unnecessarily gimping yourself in the first game. Shortswords are... alright, but longswords are generally better. Remember to invest at least one point in either clubs or staves in case of clay golems and the like. I usually prefer staves because there are so many good ones readily available in both games, and the Staff of the Ram is also the single best backstabbing weapon in the entire game.

Personally I like to use 1 point in single weapon and a bunch more points in TWF. I switch to a single weapon for the crit bonus on the backstab and then immediately equip an offhand weapon afterwards. Before you have 2 points in TWF, though, just stick with the single weapon, as the hit penalties are pretty severe until then.

Daggers... I don't really like them much for thieves. The Dagger of Venom is nice, and the two returning throwing daggers in BG2 are nice because they give you a bonus attack even in melee, but they aren't THAT good compared to the other weapons available. Especially when the returning throwing daggers can't be used with TWF.

Thanks for the response. Good to know that a balanced approach will work. As far as proficiencies go, does say Longsword **, Single Weapon *, and Quarterstaff * seem good at first level? I figure having the staff prof early on will help when my sword breaks - just switch to the unbreakable staff until I get a replacement. As far as level-ups go, I'd plan to get *** in Two-Weapon style as early as possible. I just wish you could switch your off-hand off with a hotkey or something.

I'd like to add that you should check your backstab modifier with each weapon you have equipped; I ran an elven fighter/thief who somehow had a x1 backstab with a longsword. :(

It's not a good idea to spread your proficiencies, the second weapon proficiency point does make a far bigger difference than the first. Even if you use a weapon you aren't proficient with you get only a -2 penalty to hit while you get +1 to hit, +2 to damage and an extra half attack per round for weapon specialization. Weapon styles only grant only a little bonus. You only get 4 proficiency points at the start and one additional at level 3 and 6 so use them wisely.

Don't worry about weapons breaking, the chance is very low, magical weapons don't break and even fists can do damage.

If you want your character to be the one starting the battles with a backstab defense is more important than extra attacks, you'll have 6 party members for attacking while the enemies will concentrate on your half-orc.

Make your weapon style decision right at the start, do you want to dualwield, do you want to get the +2 AC and more criticals for single weapon style or do you save those proficiency points for another weapon type and use a shield instead ?

I feel compelled to point out that, while he may be correct about the odds, I've had my weapons break several times in a row, leaving (in one case) both Khalid and Minsc without a weapon in the middle of a Gnoll fortress. I've even had weapons break while clearing out the rats in Candlekeep, leaving that character unable to kill the rats until he got another weapon, as apparently non-monks can't kill with their fists. What I'm trying to say is, if your character is focused on iron weapons, carry some extras around until you find a magical version. Other than that, everything Kmonster said is good.