Dwarf Vs. Half-Orc for Fighter/Cleric

moopy

In your opinion are the saving throws the dwarf gets better than the half-orc stat advantage (+1 str and +1 dex over the dwarf)?

From both the perspective of just BG1, and also all the way through ToB.

Suiboon

Dwarf wins after the tomes.

Rohndil

I'll take Dwarf even without tomes.

paradigmofheaven

I think the stat advantage for the Half-Orc make him a real beast, and the tomes help to further that advantage.

ReadingRambo

I would choose dwarf, for a single reason if u are talking about BG 2 as well. Crom faeyr! not only is a dwarf wielding it epic (it's a dwarven artifact), but the horc's strength advantage is nullified by it since it sets your strength to 25.

Karez

The Half-Orc will have the advantage in the beginning of the game 19 Str is a huge bonus in the beginning compared to 18/50+ (unless you have the patience to roll for 18/00 and good 90+ Attribute Points). But it will even out quickly as strength spells(Draw Upon Holy Might) become available, although you need to plan in advance/have them in your spellbook).

The shorty-save bonus for the dwarf,which with 18 Con gives a bonus of 5, is more important on the long run. And as soon as you find the Tome of Strength the difference is neglect able (20 STR gives +1 Damage compared to 19 STR)

But in the end, play what you like best

ReadingRambo

also horcs smell slightly worse than dwarves

IchigoRXC

I would go wit Dwarf because of the shorty saves

Quartz

Dwarf. The Saving Throws simply cannot be overlooked. The Tomes, Draw Upon Holy Might and other such abilities/items make the stat advantage a lot less attractive in the long run ... especially since saving throws are not easy to improve. -5 all around for 18 Con or greater? Yes, please.

cory5694

Have you seen the hobbit yet? clearly dwarves are awesome

ZanathKariashi

Dwarf. By level cap (BG1), you're pretty much immune to any spell that allows a save except vs polymorph (which is ridiculously rare in the first place), and by that point the half-orc only has a +1 damage, +100 weight advantage.

HunterOfBounty

I would take Dwarf for a full trilogy run, but half-orc for BG1. The strength tome arrives fairly late in the game, and buffing spells have long casting times and short durations. The strength bonus can be a big deal until that point. Saving throws against the really dangerous effects are best dealt with using immunity items and spells. However, shorty bonuses might save you once in a while if you're not careful. The half-orc strength bonus quickly fades away into obscurity if you intend to play all the way through ToB. In my opinion you should play as the one whose avatar you want to watch on screen. Race bonuses are not that important in this case.

Kortok

Dwarf. The saves advantage far outweighs one point in str and dex.

Isair

Yep, as above. Dwarves get the saving throw bonus - Physical stats aren't as important as you'd think with /clerics, their spells are very keyed towards bosting their physical stats. In later stages you can cast DUHM so many times per day & it'll take you to 25 so a Half-Orc starting with 19 in str isn't stagging. So they'll both be able to dish out a huge amount of damage but the Dwarf has much more staying power.

Philhelm

Unfortunately the clip is rotated 90 degrees, but this may answer your question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAlndv9_zQc

Oxford_Guy

Dwarf, by a long way, because of the save bonuses

Glokta

Dwarfs are awesome :>

moopy

When I played BG a long time ago I didn't pay much attention to saving throws and always played as a human.

Put I've got a dwarf Fighter/Cleric level 6/6 with 20 con and he almost always saves. It's awesome.

Thanks for the advice.

Kamigoroshi

Personally, I prefer Half-Orcs from a roleplaying perspective any day of the week. And my green-skinned favourites have also access to the Cleric/Thief - an awesome multi-class, unplayable by Dwarves. Not to mention female Half-Orcs with their chiseled muscles are way sexier than the adorable bearded dwarven ladies.

Oxford_Guy

cleric/thieves are a nice class

moopy

I had already just run through as a C/T half orc so I was partial to the half orc starting with 19 str, he was killing things in one shot at the first with a sling, but I'm glad I tried out dwarf for F/C.

@Kamigoroshi
I'm not sure that there are any winners in a beauty contest between dwarf and half orc females... only losers.