Classes

Introduction

Class(es) is what defines a creature's role and profession.

There are four groups of classes: warrior, priest, mage and rogue. Classes in each group, with a few exceptions, follow the same basic rules and have access to similar high-level class ability pool.

A creature's class affects nearly all aspects of the rules: the weapons and armor they may use, whether they may cast spells, and which spell books they use. The class also grants the creature special abilities, passive effects, defines which benefits they gain with level advances.

Some classes have strict requirements and are available only to creatures of particular races or alignments, but all have minimums in certain ability scores. Many characteristics of classes are further altered by kits which are modified versions of the basic classes.

Class group

Group	Class	Overview
Warrior	Fighter	Masters of combat, able to use the widest range of weapons and armor. Very limited access to magic (though rangers and paladins can cast priest HLA spells); most classes have only a few special abilities. Restricted wand use. High hit points.
	Ranger
	Paladin
	Barbarian*
Priest	Cleric	Cast divine spells (except monks), learn new spells by levels (except monks), reasonable to good combat capability, can heal. Restricted access to armor (except Cleric) and weapons. Medium-high hit points.
	Druid
	Monk†
	Shaman‡
Wizard	Mage	Cast arcane spells, learn new spells by scribing scrolls (except sorcerers), very limited in combat, few weapon choices, and may only wear cloth. Low hit points.
	Specialist Mage*
	Wild Mage†
	Sorcerer†
Rogue	Thief	Reasonable combat capability and weapon selection, but limited to light armors. Access to thieving skills. Thieves backstab enemies for additional damage. Bards have limited access to arcane spells. Medium-low hit points.
	Bard

* From Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn onward, barbarian and mage specializations are treated as kits

† Only from Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn onward

‡ Only in Enhanced Editions

Kits

See also: Category:Kits

After picking a single class in Baldur's Gate II and Enhanced Editions of the games, you can choose a class kit. Class kits modify the base class by adding bonuses, replacing special abilities, and balancing these with penalties. Some class kits have restrictions that differ from those of the base class.

Mage specializations are treated as mage kits from Baldur's Gate II, Barbarians are treated as a fighter kit in Enhanced Editions. The following Table only reflects the state after EE version 2.0.

Base Class	Kit	Overview
Fighter	Berserker	May go into a Rage to increase fighting prowess but suffers fatigue afterwards. Can only become proficient in ranged weapons.
	Wizard Slayer	Makes spell failure more likely for mage enemies, and has magic resistance. Can't use many magical items.
	Kensai	Focuses on damage increment, may not wear armor or use any ranged weapons except thrown.
	Dwarven Defender	Dwarf-only warrior with better defense abilities, but less skilled in weapons.
	Barbarian	Trade armor restrictions with natural resistances, use Enrage
Ranger	Archer	Expert marksmen. Gain damage bonuses with missile weapons and the Called Shot ability. Can't wear plate armor.
	Stalker	Scouts and spies who gain some thief skills and cast a few arcane spells, but are restricted to light armor.
	Beast Master	Summon animals to fight alongside them. Can't use metal weapons and armor.
Paladin	Cavalier	Classic knight in armor. Gains advantages against demons and dragons and some immunities. Can't use ranged weapons except thrown.
	Inquisitor	A hunter of evil mystics. Can Dispel Magic and cast True Sight, has some immunities. Loses Turning and Lay On Hands.
	Undead Hunter	Augments to battle the undead, have some immunities. Cannot Lay On Hands.
	Blackguard	Anti-paladin who has fallen to evil. Has evil versions of paladin abilities - Absorb Health instead of Lay On Hands. May Poison Weapon, has unique Aura of Despair
Cleric	Priest of Talos	Serves the evil god of storms. May cast Lightning Bolt and Storm Shield, has alignment restrictions
	Priest of Helm	Serves the neutral god of watchers. May cast True Sight and Seeking Sword, has alignment restrictions
	Priest of Lathander	Serves the good god of renewal. May cast Hold Undead and Boon of Lathander, has alignment restrictions
	Priest of Tyr	Serves the lawful good god of Tyr. May cast Acclamation and Divine Favor, has alignment restrictions
	Priest of Tempus	Serves the neutral god of battles. May cast Holy Power and Chaos of Battle, has alignment restrictions
Druid	Totemic Druid	Gives up shapeshifting to summon spirit animals.
	Shapeshifter	Gives up normal shapeshifting for lycanthropy.
	Avenger	Additional shapeshifting options, access to some mage spells. Strength and constitution penalties, cannot wear heavy armor.
Mage	Specialist Mage	One extra slot per spell level. Gain saving throws advantages of chosen school, give up access to opposing school spells.
	Wild Mage	One extra slot per spell level. Three unique spells, but may Wild Surge with uncontrollable effects, caster level varies in 5 scale range.
Thief	Assassin	Increased backstab damage, can Poison Weapon. Gets fewer thief skill points.
	Bounty Hunter	Set Traps skill bonus, may Set Special Snare. Gets fewer thief skill points.
	Swashbuckler	To-hit and armor class bonuses, can specialize in thief weapons and two-weapon style. Cannot Backstab.
	Shadowdancer	Hide In Plain Sight, Shadowstep special ability, saving throw bonus, but Backstab is diminished, gets fewer thief skill points. Cannot be lawful.
Bard	Blade	Specializes in Two-Weapon Fighting, use Offensive Spin and Defensive Spin. Has reduced Lore and Pick Pockets skills.
	Jester	Song can confuse, slow or knock out enemies instead of helping allies.
	Skald	Modified song improves combat prowess of party. Limited ability to pick pockets.
Sorcerer	Sorcerer	Base Class. Similar to the Mage, but does not have to prepare spells in advance. The downside is that the array of spells is limited.
	Dragon Disciple	Can Breath Weapon, gain fire resistances and defense bonuses. Learn and cast fewer spells.
Monk	Dark Moon Monk	Followers of the dark goddess Shar. Replaces some monk abilities with arcane magic. Can Detect Illusion
	Sun Soul Monk	Lawful followers of good gods. Replaces some monk abilities with access to sun soul abilities.
Shaman	Shaman	Base Class. Use Druid spell pool, learn new spells by level, summon spirit allies.

Gameplay

As of EE v2.3.673 and classic games, class kits other than specialist mages are treated as “NONE” school, which behaves as a dedicated school the same way as the schools of specialist mages, thus kitted protagonists enjoy a +2 saving throws bonus when made save facing “NONE” school sources, also carry a -2 saving throws penalty to victims when using “NONE” school sources.

For kitted dual-classers, the above advantages always apply.

Exceptions exist among companions: Anomen, Imoen from BG2Chapter4 onward, Sarvorak etc, enjoy the ST augments since their flags are set to “NONE” despite being unkitted.

“NONE” school sources also includes:

• Many non-player, unkitted creatures, as well as their abilities
• Certain player spells, abilities such as Dragon Breath
• Most on-hit effects from physical weapons such as Celestial Fury
• Most charge abilities such as Celestial Fury’s blindness, Oil of Fiery Burning, but excluding wands, whose charges are assigned to mage schools accordingly

Multi-class

Non-human races may choose to multi-class at character creation, advancing in two or three unkitted classes simultaneously. Multi-class creatures gain the advantages and abide the limitations of every class, they divide their experience points among their classes, so they progress in levels more slowly than single class creatures. Any XP gained are stored in total, the in-game XP values for each class are rounded down numbers after total XP is divided by the class number for display purpose, there’s no XP loss.

Valid multi-class combinations

	Elf	Half-elf	Dwarf	Halfling	Gnome*	Half-orc
Fighter / Cleric		o	o		o	o
Fighter / Druid		o
Fighter / Mage	o	o			o
Fighter / Thief	o	o	o	o	o	o
Cleric / Ranger		o
Cleric / Mage		o			o
Cleric / Thief					o	o
Mage / Thief	o	o			o
Fighter / Mage / Cleric		o
Fighter / Mage / Thief	o	o

*Gnomes gain levels in Illusionist instead of Mage.

• HP, see Multi-class HP
• Restrictions from every class apply, but may use the combined item types, with the exception of cleric or druid multi-classing, in which cases the weapon selection is set to cleric or druid’s, though the expansion still apply to other item types. Eg, cleric / thieves may use Wand of the Heavens but never bladed weapons unless they can Use Any Item; fighter / mages may wield Bastard Sword and wear Plate Mail, but they are unable to cast arcane spells due to the mage class restriction regarding armor; likewise, fighter / thieves may not use thieving abilities while wearing other than Leather, Studded leather, or Hide armor
• Lore, Proficiency Points, saving throws, THAC0: Only the better value will be used. Multi-class fighters may only achieve specialization (2 points), with the exception of two-weapon style in weapon proficiency
• HLAs will be gained from every class each level once total XP exceeds 3,000,000

Dual-class

Humans may not MULTI-class, but can instead DUAL-class, starting from a Level 2 kitted or a unkitted class onward. By doing so, they cease to advance in their current class and start to develop a new, unkitted class from its Level 1. Once they have changed to a second class, they cannot go back to the first. In addition, the abilities of the first class become unavailable until the second class reaches one level beyond the level where the first class stopped. This option may only ever be done once, even if the requirements are met for more than one new class.

IMPORTANT: The experience cap in Throne of Bhaal is 8,000,000, experience points from both the exact XP requirement of the level of the first class and the total XP from the second class count towards this total. Please make sure that there're sufficient points left available to progress high enough in the second class.

Valid dual-class paths and requirements

Current class	Class dualed to	Min. natural scores & requirements
Fighter (excluding Barbarians)	Cleric	Strength 15, Wisdom 17
	Druid	Strength 15, Wisdom 17, Charisma 17, must be True Neutral
	Mage	Strength 15, Intelligence 17
	Thief	Strength 15, Dexterity 17, can't be Lawful Good
Ranger	Cleric	Strength 15, Dexterity 15, Wisdom 17
Cleric	Fighter	Wisdom 15, Strength 17
	Ranger	Wisdom 17, Strength 17, Dexterity 17, must be Good
	Mage	Wisdom 15, Intelligence 17
	Thief	Wisdom 15, Dexterity 17, can't be Lawful Good
Druid	Fighter	Wisdom 15, Charisma 15, Strength 17
Mage (excluding Wild Mages)	Fighter	Intelligence 15, Strength 17
	Cleric	Intelligence 15, Wisdom 17
	Thief	Intelligence 15, Dexterity 17, can't be Lawful Good
Thief	Fighter	Dexterity 15, Strength 17	Dexterity 15, Charisma 15, Strength 17 for Shadowdancer
	Cleric	Dexterity 15, Wisdom 17	Dexterity 15, Charisma 15, Strength 15, Wisdom 17 for Shadowdancer
	Mage	Dexterity 15, Intelligence 17	Dexterity 15, Charisma 15, Strength 15, Intelligence 17 for Shadowdancer

• HP, see Dual-class HP

• The item usage rule is generally the same as multi-classers. The restrictions and item usage array of the first class, even if inactive, apply to the current class. eg: A cleric dualed to ranger may not use slashing or piercing weapons at any time, however, the game will still let you put proficiency points into bows, daggers, etc while the cleric class is inactive, but you will not be able to equip them. You may use any armor allowed by either class once the former class becomes active again. Some passive effects, like Use Any Item remain effective even if the class is inactive

• Once the dual starts, the character is only allowed to spend proficiency points on the weapon array of the second class from then on. Proficiency Points, saving throws, THAC0 will reset to new class's values until first class becomes active again, then only the better value between the two classes will be used. eg: A fighter that puts 3 proficiency points into staffs then dual classes to a Druid and then puts 1 point into staffs while the fighter class is inactive, will only have 3 points (not 4) in staffs once both classes become active. There is no in-game indication as to where your inactive class has proficiency points so it is advisable to write these down before dual classing. Fighters dualed to other class may continue to advance in proficiency up to 5 once they regain their abilities.

• HLAs will only be gained from the current active class

Gameplay

First class	Advantages	Disadvantages
Low-level	Can use the abilities of both classes earlier, since it won't take long for the second class to overcome the low level of the first class The second class can be developed to a high level.	The first class will be locked at low level state
High-level	The first class can have more powerful class abilities, even HLAs The second class will level up quickly, due to the faster experience points gain late game	Long inactive time for the first class Only able to shine end-game Risk of not being able to regain abilities of the first class if not managed carefully

Notable breakpoints for Fighters:

• Level 7: 1.5 APR bonus, THAC0 14
• Level 9: Last d10 health increase and warrior constitution health bonus, 7th proficiency point, THAC0 12
• Level 13: 2 APR bonus, THAC0 8

Notable breakpoints for Druids:

• Level 12: The druid's unusual experience table causes them to level rapidly from levels 7 to 12, even faster than thieves. Level 12 only requires 300,000 XP (allowing 38 levels of fighter to follow) and grants access to useful level 6 spells. Only go to lvl 13 if the Shapeshifter class kit was chosen (may still reach 37 levels of fighter).

Notable breakpoints for Rangers:

• Level 3: Gains a whopping 7 proficiency points and gives many bonuses while not hindering cleric progression in any noticeable way, excellent if playing in BG1 or preferring a large party where individual XP is lower
• Level 9: Last d10 health increase and warrior constitution health bonus, increased backstab multiplier for Stalker, an extra half attack was also gained at level 7
• Level 12: Stalker class kit grabs possible mage's spells and Beast Master gets all Animal Summoning spells at reduced spellbook levels, may still reach level 38 cleric

Cleric, Mage, and Thief are not recommended to be taken first due to the extreme power of high level spells in conjunction with high caster levels, or Use Any Item and large Backstab multipliers. Two notable exceptions exist.

If wanting to back-stab with every attack: Assassin (9,13,17,21) to Mage (up to 31,29,27,24), for Poison Weapon with Invisibility or Time Stop and occasionally the ultra powerful combination Mislead followed by Black Blade of Disaster and Tenser's Transformation, is often chosen since Multi-class Thief/Mage can not go above level 20 Mage.

Level 1 Necromancer Specialist Mage (up to level 12) grants bonuses on Slay Living and Finger of Death (priest) without prohibiting any cleric spells! This also grants access to many useful mage spells (including Greater Malison for truly difficult saving throws of any cleric spell) while still allowing 39 levels of cleric.

See also

• Ability Scores
• Experience Tables
• Spell Progression Tables
• Reputation

Archived content

Restrictions on the choice of second class when dual-classing:

• All resulting class mixes must be viable multi-class combinations as well (Ex: fighter/druid and ranger/cleric are valid multi-class combinations, but other combinations with druid or ranger are not valid multi-class options). This also means that Bards, Paladins, Barbarians, Shamans, Sorcerers and Monks cannot dual-class or be dual-classed into.
• The character's alignment must comply with any restrictions of the second class (e.g. a Lawful Good character may not dual-class as a Thief, and a Fighter must be True Neutral to dual-class into a Druid).
• Your character must have scores of 15 or higher in the prime requisites of your current class and scores of 17 or more in the prime requisites of the class you wish to change to. Druids, Rangers have two prime requisites, and the Shadowdancer thief kit has three. Ex: A cleric attempting to dual-class into a ranger must have 15 Wisdom, and also 17 Strength, 17 Dexterity, but does NOT need to meet the ranger's minimum constitution score of 14 in order to dual-class, as that is not a prime requisite to dual into the ranger class. This is why Imoen may dual-class as a mage (and canonically does so by Baldur's Gate 2), since her Dexterity of 18 meets the requirement for a Thief, and her Intelligence of 17 meets the requirement for a mage.
• If attempting to dual-class to a Specialist Mage , the character must also meet the extra minimum statistic requirement for that particular kind of Specialist. This can only be done in the very original Baldur's Gate when specialist mages were separate classes and not mage class kits. Imported characters from BG1 to BG2 or to any Enhanced Edition will have their specialist mage kit stripped if it was their second class.  

HP will be locked at the value it was at when you choose to dual class until you regain use of your first class. After that you will gain additional HP according to your second class. Ex: a level 9 fighter with constitution of 18 has 126 HP dualed into mage; even at fighter (lv9) > mage (lv9) s/he still has 126 HP; but once s/he reaches fighter (lv9) > mage (lv10), the HP goes to 132 and the character starts to gain HP as a mage now. As Warrior class group gains most HP at low levels than any other class groups, they're generally recommended to be taken first for a greater HP sum.