<div style='font: 9pt arial; text-align: left; '>Since I never finished the original BG, when it came time to make a char for BG2, I was thinking about making a Figher/Druid (like my BG char had been), but then I decided to go for the Archer kit. Very fun.
Advantages:
Grandmaster proficiency in bows. A grandmaster with a longbow can administer multiple ass-beatings from a very long way away. This is especially nice seeing as how your main character isn't ressurectable. Keeping your distance is a Good Thing.
Based off of a Ranger, so you get good HP.
While the kit doesn't let you use metal armor, you're only slightly screwed until you kill some Dragons, because you CAN use just about all of the dragon-hide armors (which tend to be amongst the best in the game).
You also can do decently with any other type of weapon and a shield. This is important.
Throne of Bhaal only: Greater Whirlwind from across the screen. (Greater Whirlwind is an ability that lets you attack 10 times in one round/6 seconds with no penalty. While it's true that fighters will probably do more damage, there's something to be said about turning a mage into a pincushion from the other side of the screen.)
Disadvantages:
Keeping lots of ammo. This is my only true problem with archers - in original BG2, it's a pain keeping lots of ammo around, especially magical arrows. I spent a lot of my character's time using a longsword and shield. If you load up other characters with ammo it's not as much of an issue, though it can be a pain.
Metal armor - like I said, only a disadvantage until you start doing sidequests in chaps 2/3. If you don't kill a dragon (and the two you get hides from in classic BG2 are both optional), start looking for those magical studded leathers.
Overall, a fun kit, and if you get THrone of Bhaal (very highly recommended), practially all of the disadvantages are totally erased (ammo is plentiful and cheap, and you get Greater Whirlwind - I cannot praise that skill highly enough).
If you do make an archer, attribute recommendations:
Strength - if you make it 18 base, you can use composite longbows for extra damage. On the other hand, you can just get a Giant girdle to boost your strength up and use plain longbows in the meanwhile. If I were to remake I'd go with the latter option.
Dexterity - 18.
Constitution - 18.
Charisma - largely irrelevant, as you can get an item fairly early on that sets your Charisma to 18.
Int/Wisdom - not really needed, but if you're going to save points on Charisma and Strength, there's no reason to make your character a total goober. Rangers do get some spells, and I forget which attribute they use, but it's never a bad thing to have a smart main character.
I've heard people really enjoy their Kensai kits, and Bards are supposedly pretty good in BG2 (the only NPC bard you can get is pretty crappy though). I don't know if I'd make my main as a mage, as there's many very good mages you can recruit. Fighters are also pretty prevalent, but there's nothing wrong with having a solid 3-melee party. Don't bother with a thief unless you really, really want one - two of the mages you can get are thief/mage duals, and you really don't need thieves that much in BG2. A cleric could work, as I think the only pure cleric NPC in the game is Viconia, and she doesn't mesh well with Good parties (though I used Aerie the Cleric/Mage, and she was fine, if a bit slow to learn the higher level cleric/mage spells).
Lemme know if you have other questions.</div>
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