Should I ditch my thief Astarion?

[Whale hunter]

Hey guys, I’ve been enjoying using Astarion but find him a little lacklustre in combat with him only having one base attack per round. I accidentally tried to open a chest with my Pally and he aced it, so I tried it a few times and hasn’t failed yet using gloves of dex and guidance. So my question is, if my pally can do my thief’s main role, should I not just pick bring someone like Gale with who will dish out 100 times more damage with more utility? I’m 100 hours in and just about to hit Baldurs gate at level 9. Am I using my thief wrong?

[Azunai]

I reset his class and gave him 5 levels of Ranger, rest assassin rogue. Pretty solid damage especially on first turn (went with the gloomstalker subclass of the ranger) and he still has the same sleight of hand proficiency etc.

[Quacksalber]

It's up to you who you keep in your party. I tend to pick who I find the most entertaining or who fits most to whatever character I am playing if I do not specifically need them. As to whether you are using him properly, I cannot say as I have not played enough. In EA rogues could hide during combat and use sneak attack as well as not be seen. This was supposed to carry over to the main game, but I either am too stupid to use it, or it did not.

[Whale hunter]

This was how I was going to build Minsc when I finally get him. (Crazy excited) I’m just tempted to ditch the thief altogether or build him as a pally cleric and have him run around dealing 200 damage a turn smiting everyone.

[TooMuchCoffee]

Opening chests is trivial, since you can just try again and only lose one tool upon fail. Disarming traps is where a rogue might come in handy, you'll only get one try.
During combat a rogue requires a certain amount of micromanaging to shine.

Anyway, Astarion's most compelling point is his character.

[GeminiEclipse]

If you want more damage you can multiclass 4 rogue with 5 fighter/ranger. Assassin will do more damage than thief in most situations as long as you are initiating the round.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Whale hunter:

Should I ditch my thief Astarion?
Hey guys, I’ve been enjoying using Astarion but find him a little lacklustre in combat with him only having one base attack per round. I accidentally tried to open a chest with my Pally and he aced it, so I tried it a few times and hasn’t failed yet using gloves of dex and guidance. So my question is, if my pally can do my thief’s main role, should I not just pick bring someone like Gale with who will dish out 100 times more damage with more utility? I’m 100 hours in and just about to hit Baldurs gate at level 9. Am I using my thief wrong?

You do not need a thief. High DEX and enough tools are sufficient.

[Seswatha]

Respec him into a swords bard. Thief is mostly not worth taking past level 3-5 max, but it's a strong multiclass for some builds.

[Whale hunter]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Originally posted by Whale hunter:

Should I ditch my thief Astarion?
Hey guys, I’ve been enjoying using Astarion but find him a little lacklustre in combat with him only having one base attack per round. I accidentally tried to open a chest with my Pally and he aced it, so I tried it a few times and hasn’t failed yet using gloves of dex and guidance. So my question is, if my pally can do my thief’s main role, should I not just pick bring someone like Gale with who will dish out 100 times more damage with more utility? I’m 100 hours in and just about to hit Baldurs gate at level 9. Am I using my thief wrong?

You do not need a thief. High DEX and enough tools are sufficient.

Thought as much, gloves of dex means I can pick almost any lock. I think I could probably pick up a few extra items to boost should I need it. I think I’ll roll something really powerful for the hell of it. Another pally cleric would be so much fun, especially if I can find another item besides the bow that gives haste. Two of them with haste would be hilarious

[Whale hunter]

Originally posted by Seswatha:

Respec him into a swords bard.

That’s actually a solid shout

[Whale hunter]

Originally posted by TooMuchCoffee:

Opening chests is trivial, since you can just try again and only lose one tool upon fail. Disarming traps is where a rogue might come in handy, you'll only get one try.
During combat a rogue requires a certain amount of micromanaging to shine.

Anyway, Astarion's most compelling point is his character.

I’m not overly keen on him, he’s a little too camp for me. But he’s ok. I’m struggling to see a use for him. Even if he crits for 60 damage, that’s still less then most other classes. I think they need an extra attack to make them more useful

[Metallicus]

5th level Doomstalker and 7th level Assassin. He will rock your world.

[Corbeau]

My Astarion was 7 thief/5 fighter in the end and he was the main damage dealer in my party, scoring regularly around 100-120 damage per action with 4 actions (hasted) and 3 bonus actions per round.

[Beast of War]

Most classes can't be really judged in the act 1 game as all classes gain power and ability, but so do enemies. I noticed dual dagger rogues become weaker as the enemies get heavier armor, whereas a 2H hammer wielding Paladin become God-like in damage. That is somewhat logical : IRL you wouldn't use swords or daggers to fight someone in heavy armor. ( dagger maybe to finish them off laying on the ground, but not to fight them with ) but with blunt or spiked warhammers or armor piercing crossbow bolts. Since this is fantasy, with magic as well ofc.

Since you are fighting heavy armor enemies and even metal mechs a lot in act 3 daggers do not do as well. Swords and daggers are for piercing cloth, unarmored or light armored enemies like in Act 1....not steel or better armor you come across in and under the city and fanatic cults. If you play all content you will be up against the counterpart of paladins and when you hit them with daggers you wil hear litterally "bing bing bing"and see around 0 damage numbers floating up.

The funny thing is unarmed strikes of a monk ( barehand ) hit as hard as warhammers on armored enemies. That makes daggers an early act weapon in my book, to be swapped for something else in act 3.

[Whale hunter]

Originally posted by Beast of War:

IMost classes can't be really judged in the act 1 game as all classes gain power and ability, but i noticed dual dagger rogues become weaker as the enemies get heavier armor, whereas a 2H hammer wielding Paladin become God-like in damage. That is somewhat logical : IRL you wouldn't use swords or daggers to fight someone in heavy armor. ( dagger maybe to finish them off laying on the ground, but not to fight them with ) but with blunt or spiked warhammers or armor piercing crossbow bolts. Since this is fantasy, with magi as well ofc.

Since you are fighting heavy armor enemies and even metal mechs a lot in act 3 daggers do not do as well. Swords and daggers are for piercing cloth, unarmored enemies....not steel or better armor.

I agree, my mind is made up, I’m ditching him and running a second pally/cleric. Go for the eyes boo! Go for the eyes!!

[Zero]

yeah pure rogue kinda sucks, i respec'd him into 7 assassin and the rest into gloom stalker so now he has 1 extra attack on the first round, and once he's lvl 12, he'll have 3 on the 1st and 2 on subsequent rounds, far better.