Hey guys, long time no post. I've been too busy studying for some computer certs, so I've been slackin here! Anyway, when is the best time to dual a character? From what I understand they're fairly useless until the new class finally reaches the same level as their old class. That said, it seems like the longer you wait, the longer it is until your character is worth a damn again.

Any opinions?

I haven't dualed a character in any of the BG games yet...But in P&P if you used any of the abilities of the beginning class you didn't get any experience for the new class...And you couldn't use bot abilities until your second class surpasses the first.

Is that the way it is in BG? If so, the longer you wait to dual...The longer it'll be before you can use all your powers.

In BG you can not use 1st class until you reach one level higher with second class so its a little different and from what I hear most people dual around lvl 13 or so

It all really depends on what class you want to dual from and to. For example, if you are dualing a fighter to a mage or cleric/druid, you need to dual at nine to get maximum advantage of both classes. I haven't dualed any other classes yet, but the main point is to figure out how you can get the most advantage from both classes based on what you can by leveling up per level. Another thing one must consider(unless you are very patient) is that you don't get new abilities until you are one level better than old class. So if you dualed a fighter at level 13, it will take a lot longer to get a completed dual classed character.

I imported my old PC, a fighter thief from BG-I. I dualled him in 6th lvl from fighter to thief, for this was most prudent in BG-I: You can get 6 proficiency slots for the fighter and the rest for the thief.
Reimporting him into BG-II I was able to place the slots where I needed, because I was already dualclassed and able to use the advantages of both classes. :))

In BG-II I would probably dualclass from fighter to thief directly in the 8th lvl or in the 9th. Otherwise I would too much depend on my NPCs for survival.

If you are dualing from the start (you musn't be a human IIRC)it can be nice but if you are dualing in lvl12-15 it needs patience- very much of it.If you plan to use the char for another time, fine; you can have a great fighter/cleric or a mage/thief.But if you are going to use him once just stick to old good char classes.It is no use to dual your thief to mage when you are lvl 12-15 if you don't mind your thieving abilites come back in Suldanesselar, when it is too late...

Dual classing a Kensai warrior to a mage is a good dual class if you do it at level 9-10