Question About Dual-Class and Exceptional Strength

[New Moon On Monday]

If a character starts with a non-warrior class and a strength of 18, and then chooses Dual-Class to switch to a Fighter, will that character gain an Exceptional Strength score?

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Attributes don't change when dual-classing. And since only humans can dual-class, why would you start with only STR 18?

[Julius Borisov]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

And since only humans can dual-class, why would you start with only STR 18?

How can a human who is not a figher start with more? Only half-orcs can have 19 STR.

@New Moon On Monday - no, in that situation 18 STR won't change.

[New Moon On Monday]

Thanks.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Let me rephrase - if you want to start as human and dual-class, why would you want to start as non-warrior with up to STR 18 and become a Fighter later, if you could start as a warrior class/kit with more than STR 18?

The benefits of dual-classing from a non-warrior into a warrior are too small compared with multi-classing a non-human or dual-classing a human warrior into some other class. HP loss is significant - not being able to cast in heavy armor is important, too, for the Mage case - not gaining further spells for the primary class is another reason to decide against dual-classing from a non-warrior. A dual-class Warrior/Cleric would be more fun and become much more capable, for example.

[New Moon On Monday]

The second class cannot be a kit. What I was considering was a Shadowdancer/Fighter dual-class, switching to fighter after achieving maximum backstab multiplier and 100%+ stealth to adding extra damage capability from grand mastery (and exceptional strength, if available).

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Oh, shadowdancer is an odd choice for this game, which throws so many mobs at the player. High stealth and full backstab at level 13 are high requirements for the primary class. Roughly 1.9 million XP to complete the dual-classing is a lot. d6 vs. d10 HD, too. And you still need a second thief meanwhile. The manual tells that the prime requisites for dual-classing a Shadowdancer are STR, DEX and CHA. That's okay, but still more than with other thief kits.

In IWDEE, at most I dual-class a single Swashbuckler level 5 into Fighter to have someone to find and disarm traps - also if playing HoF mode. Whenever you want other thieving skills, going with a multi-class thief is the way to go - or else you need more than one companion with at least some thief class levels. A penalty.