Too late to multiclass?

[Smacx]

So, I've just started this game and I'm playing a straight up human cleric following the path Warpriest of Siberys.

He's level 3 so I have a few hours invested in the character. Not too much that I couldn't reroll.

I'm reading about all of the different cleric type builds and contemplating whether I should have made a cleric/fighter multiclass build.

Thus, some questions:

- How much flexability is there to changes your characters about and experiment? Say I want to try a cleric/fighter or cleric/ranger multiclass. Can I revert back later anyhow? If its possible to revert back to a single class, is it 'costly'?

- Are there penalties for not having gone multiclass at lvl 2? Will I miss out on some things if I go multiclass at lvl 4?

- I chose a cleric weapon specialization, so this will be wasted if I go multiclass with a cleric/fighter. Can I undo this somehow without penalty?

Thanks

[tihocan]

Changing class levels can be done with hearts of woods, which are currently only found in the DDO store (check prices), though some old ones found during a special events may still be lying around (would cost a lot though). If you want to mess around at your level it'd be probably cheaper to buy Veteran status ;)

Multiclassing is a complex topic, but in short, it's not too late to multiclass a Fighter on a Cleric.

Undoing cleric weapon spec: are you talking about enhancements? You can reset them at your trainer for a small fee.

[sirdanile]

So, I've just started this game and I'm playing a straight up human cleric following the path Warpriest of Siberys.

I would suggest looking up builds on the forums, use the search to find Tihocans updated paths thread for this...the pre generated paths can be sup-par

Thus, some questions:

- How much flexability is there to changes your characters about and experiment? Say I want to try a cleric/fighter or cleric/ranger multiclass. Can I revert back later anyhow? If its possible to revert back to a single class, is it 'costly'?

It costs real money to change class levels and even that is limited to 1-5 of them at a time... again I suggest searching around for builds on these forums... the people around here have already experimented and figured out what doesn't work

- Are there penalties for not having gone multiclass at lvl 2? Will I miss out on some things if I go multiclass at lvl 4?

I suggest Planning out any multiclasses before even creating the character... when you multiclass you get exactly what you pick, cleric 4/ fighter 1 has access to level 2 spells whereas a cleric 5 has level 3 spells, multiclassing casting classes is generally discouraged for this reason.

- I chose a cleric weapon specialization, so this will be wasted if I go multiclass with a cleric/fighter. Can I undo this somehow without penalty?

I am not sure what you mean exactly but taking a guess you're talking about the faith enhancements, you will not lose these and respecing enhancements is a lot easier than levels, pay some plat and can't respec again for 3 days.


Thanks


Hope this helped; answers in green.

[cdemeritt]

As you are new to the game, it truly is best not to multiclass until you really get a good grip on the game mechanics... It is very easy for you to build something that works well now, but will be totally useless in 10 levels.. most people who multicass, at least the good multiclass builds spend hours planning, playing with numbers, figuring out what combos and when to multiclass... Rare is the good multiclass that was done on a whim. even good combos can be totally borked if done at the wrong time.

As for flexability... at least now you can redo some levels, but it will cost you real cash... unless you are lucky enough to know someone with a leftover festivault Heart of Wood. You can revert again, but you'll have to wait a week. and have another HoW.

If you multiclass, there is always penalties (depending on what you do, it might not be all that much, and worth it, but you will give up something.) Example: a Pure Cleric gets the Cleric capstone of Divine Intervention: Prevents death for a few Extra secs...really helpful in some raids. A multiclass build can not get the capstone.

[theb]

1) If you are following a Turbine path such as Warpriest, your character is weaker than many equivalently progressed custom characters. There is no one right way to build a character, cleric, healing focused cleric, etc. because builds make different trade offs and have different strengths and weaknesses. Although there are thousands of right ways to build a character, there are millions of wrong ways which do not make trade offs but are simply weaker than comparable ones, and among the millions are the Turbine paths.

2) There is very little flexibility, and that costs real money. Changing class levels costs much more than changing attributes within a class, so if you plan on spending a moderate amount to preserve a character your best bet is to stay pure in one class, as multiclasses will not be as salvageable. Even if you plan on never spending any money, there is less room for error when pure, and furthermore one's build will not set off red flags in the minds of those you are trying to group with if you are pure, as some cleric/ranger/xxxxx might.

3) It is almost always too late to multiclass a character optimally or even near optimally if you have not planned out all 20 character levels from the beginning. That said, it may not be too late for you, as one rare exception is the battle cleric with one or two levels of fighter in addition to cleric levels. Your being in a position where it will not be egregiously disastrous to multiclass is uncommon, akin to coincidentally playing the same moves a chess grandmaster would several times in a row despite being a novice. It probably won't be the case for your next character.

Even so, if you want an optimal character to play to the level cap you must follow a custom build made by someone experienced. Most new players squander the cleric's few skill points into heal and don't have enough constitution, among other things. If you don't feel compelled to play a near optimal character as your first, you'd be like most people playing their first character, and that's fine.

4) If you mean to say you have taken a martial weapon proficiency that is granted by fighter, in retrospect that feat will have been a waste. One feat may be exchanged for free by completing a quest, otherwise one must pay a fee that increases exponentially the higher level one is. Many people take the free exchange as their first, and then struggle to afford later feat swaps.

5) Define your goals and fulfill them without letting well intentioned other people tell you what to do. If your goal is to experiment making customs character or to copy a character from another fantasy setting, even a well planned build made by someone else won't achieve that. If your goal is to make a very powerful character on your first run through the game, you should probably adjust your efforts towards finding one to copy *exactly*. If your goal is to understand how characters are built and why and how the mechanics of the game work so you can plan your own good chaacters in a few months, asking for tips on how to plan your custom build, as you are doing, might be best. If you desire to do this while also avoiding making a weak character, stay pure.