Is the Avenger a decent kit?
PugPug
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It seems like they have some cool shapeshifts, assuming they are better than unshifted fighting, and most of the mage spells are all right.
But the disadvantages are pretty hardcore. Only leather armor, -2 Str and -2 Con? Basically, you can't wear armor or robes and you can only attack with a sling.
It seems like they have some cool shapeshifts, assuming they are better than unshifted fighting, and most of the mage spells are all right.
But the disadvantages are pretty hardcore. Only leather armor, -2 Str and -2 Con? Basically, you can't wear armor or robes and you can only attack with a sling.
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The penalty to strength is really not much of a set back either. Druids can't specialize in any type of weapon so they'll only have 1 attack per round with fairly crummy thac0 anyways. If you want to fight in melee wait for shapeshift and then with the new forms you're really quite good. The spider form I especially enjoy.
You can wear the ankheg plate. The difference between 16 and 18 strength isn't all that much (+1 to attack, +1 to damage), so the difference is only really apparent after you get the tome of strength/dohm. Constitution difference is only important if you plan on using the claw of kazgaroth. Its not a great up close fighter out of form, unless you have proficiency in single weapons and scimitars (or I suppose two-handed weapons and quarterstaffs). You can use one of Drizzt's scimitars, which helps if you can pickpocket it early on.
1. -2 Constitution : Max hit point bonus for Druids, and indeed every non-fighter class, occurs at 16 Constitution. The only thing -2 Con does is make getting a good roll slightly harder. No Claw of Kazgaroth either but that's getting really nit-picky.
2. -2 Strength : 16 Strength is +1 Damage. 18 Strength is +1 THAC0, +2 Damage. Not a huge loss, although yes, a little bit which is unfortunate. Bigger problem is you can't Tome your way up to 19 Strength like a bamph. However this way I will probably end up using the Tome on someone like Kivan, or something, instead of being all selfish and foolishly putting my caster class at a 19 Strength they barely use. And again, as Avengers are more about shapeshifting, these stats mean little in the end as you change stats according to your shapeshift form.
3. Biggest issue is probably the limited armor choice. There is +2 Leather Armor available right outside of the Nashkel Mines however, which will do you decently until you get to the bottom of Durlag's Tower for some +3 Leather Armor.
4. Good spells: Chromatic Orb scales really well, and Druids level up faster than Mages. That's a big win. Level 10 Chromatic Orb can petrify. Web is a sexy spell, we all know that. Lightning Bolt was incredible in BG1 (albeit risky), only became terrible in BG2 due to mass amounts of hit points and godly saving throws. I'll admit it is a bit overshadowed by Call Lightning however. Improved Invisibility is effective and very awesome. I mean for one you go invisible for two you get that passive "can't be targetted with spells" and -4 AC bonus afterwards. Chaos is mad useful in BG1. Shame we won't get Chain Lightning in BG:EE due to level cap, but balance needs to be there so I understand.
5. A few extra creatures ... a few badass extra creatures! Fire Salamander is decent, Baby Wyvern is nice due to poison ability, and Sword Spider is *totally* epic.
Overall Avenger is the best Druid kit, and by far the most interesting one. It's sort of like a Druid/Mage. You are more focused on the spell-slinging aspect of being a Druid, but you can still hand out a beating by dropping into a Shapeshifting form.
In addition you are unable to actually cast any spells other than special abilities while in this form - which honestly ammounts to a huge drawback when you rely on your druid for some additional healage and what/not. (I'm not trying to say this limitation shouldn't be there, just that it is a great hinderance and something you need to be on the look for as you can only shapeshift into the form you want once a day. At least until you rest)
Spider form is sweet with attack speed - but I swear you move slower than your average party member in this form - total drag!
All-in-all I find myself spending more time in the human form than animal. Chromatic orb is sweet, webbing does help but only if I plan on launching a fireball after it. Lightning - I never really bother to use this spell as I find just lining my party up and shooting the bugger ismore effective.
In the end, it's been okay, but I'd probably rank the Avenger as a 5 on the fun scale out of a 10. This is just my personal opinion however, so feel free to try it out.
I also have Dorn with Spider's Bane and Shar-Teel with a truck load of potions of freedom, so web can work wonders and really turn the tide of the battle.
baby wyvern 16/17/16/x/x/x
fire salamander: 18/75 / 19/15/x/x/x
wolf 18/17/17/x/x/x (this is the only one that has been changed)
both bears 18/100 /12/18/x/x/x
The first character I ever beat BG2 with was an Avenger dualed to Fighter. Loved it. LOVED IT. It required Shadowkeeper to make it work though, because the only way to get the necessary 17 strength to dual class was to use the Strength tome, and if you converted a BG1 druid to BG2, it didn't take away the strength and constitution when you applied the kit.
One of the best things about an Avenger is that you don't feel like a useless waste of space at level 1, the way you often can as a mage, thanks to the bonus spells you get with a high wisdom.