Some Notes on Totemic Druid and Shapeshifter Mechanics
IN2
Member Posts: 2
Druids definitely are an underplayed class in BG:EE, and - at first glance - deservedly so. Extremely weak spell selection at early levels and poor defensive capability in comparison to their Cleric cousins are the most immediately obvious reasons for their relative unpopularity. However, Druids as a class have several often overlooked advantages over Clerics as well:
- Ability to advance all the way up to level 10. The evident corollary of this is comprised of natural THAC0 14 and access to 5th level divine spells; the less apparent aspects include kit-specific abilities, which will be covered in the table below in detail. Clerics stop at level 8, which effectively means THAC0 16 and 4th level divine spells only.
- Strong spell selection at levels 4 and 5. Call Woodland Beings, Iron Skins and Pixie Dust are excellent unique (relative to Clerics, at least) Druid-only spells.
- Ability to use scimitars. Icingdeath +3 is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, and available very early on. Clerics get no weapon of comparable magnitude in BG:EE.
Furthermore, a closer look at Druid kits will reveal they are far from hopeless:
1. Avenger. The kit is discussed in detail in this thread: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/13399/avenger-solo-no-reload-guide-video-walkthrough. Suffice to mention, it's one of the strongest solo characters in BG:EE.
2. Totemic Druid. Best played as a single-class half-elf. While spirit animals were severely nerfed (to be precise, brought in line with the low-level campaign - after all, in BGTutu you could steamroll every single enemy in the first half of the game with level 1 TD), they are still very useful. Spirit summons, their abilities and statistics are detailed in the table below (enlarge the picture if you find it illegible):
http://s8.postimage.org/vpez4uuic/totanim.jpg
I trust any attentive reader will be able to analyze the table and draw the necessary conclusions on his own. That said, it's worthy to note that while Spirit Bear is probably the strongest spirit overall (due to long duration, decent save Panic, level 1 fear immunity, and very respectable statistics across the board), every spirit animal does have its strengths and uses (a lion is an accomplished straightforward fighter, and the best partner for the CWB-summoned nymph; a wolf's Hold is fantastic if the Druid casts Doom; a snake gets some valuable immunities very early).
3. Shapeshifter. Best played as Shapeshifter 2/Fighter 8. What most people don't realize about shapeshifting (both Werewolf, and regular/Avenger) is that IE allows for a dispelling of the default form paws. It is an engine feature/bug. Some attempts to prevent it have been made in BG2 fixpack (https://github.com/aVENGER981/BG2-Fixpack/blob/master/readme-bg2fixpack.html, as G3 site is down), but were subsequently dropped due to a whole bunch of issues surfacing. With a Shapeshifter, paw dispelling can be done at any temple for 200 gp, since he can talk while in Werewolf form; in other forms, a Druid will have to resort to Shapeshift->pause->Dispel Magic trick:
http://youtu.be/FBJCvIyTlKQ
The immediate result of paw dispelling is that the Werewolf can use any Druid weapon now. The most obvious choice would be going +++++ Scimitar, ++ Single-Weapon Style, and picking up Icingdeath +3 ASAP for 7/2 ApR at +9 to-hit/+15 dmg, 10% crit, and -2 AC. Throw in 20% MR and natural AC -2, and you have one of the most powerful melee characters in BG:EE at your disposal.
- Ability to advance all the way up to level 10. The evident corollary of this is comprised of natural THAC0 14 and access to 5th level divine spells; the less apparent aspects include kit-specific abilities, which will be covered in the table below in detail. Clerics stop at level 8, which effectively means THAC0 16 and 4th level divine spells only.
- Strong spell selection at levels 4 and 5. Call Woodland Beings, Iron Skins and Pixie Dust are excellent unique (relative to Clerics, at least) Druid-only spells.
- Ability to use scimitars. Icingdeath +3 is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, and available very early on. Clerics get no weapon of comparable magnitude in BG:EE.
Furthermore, a closer look at Druid kits will reveal they are far from hopeless:
1. Avenger. The kit is discussed in detail in this thread: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/13399/avenger-solo-no-reload-guide-video-walkthrough. Suffice to mention, it's one of the strongest solo characters in BG:EE.
2. Totemic Druid. Best played as a single-class half-elf. While spirit animals were severely nerfed (to be precise, brought in line with the low-level campaign - after all, in BGTutu you could steamroll every single enemy in the first half of the game with level 1 TD), they are still very useful. Spirit summons, their abilities and statistics are detailed in the table below (enlarge the picture if you find it illegible):
http://s8.postimage.org/vpez4uuic/totanim.jpg
I trust any attentive reader will be able to analyze the table and draw the necessary conclusions on his own. That said, it's worthy to note that while Spirit Bear is probably the strongest spirit overall (due to long duration, decent save Panic, level 1 fear immunity, and very respectable statistics across the board), every spirit animal does have its strengths and uses (a lion is an accomplished straightforward fighter, and the best partner for the CWB-summoned nymph; a wolf's Hold is fantastic if the Druid casts Doom; a snake gets some valuable immunities very early).
3. Shapeshifter. Best played as Shapeshifter 2/Fighter 8. What most people don't realize about shapeshifting (both Werewolf, and regular/Avenger) is that IE allows for a dispelling of the default form paws. It is an engine feature/bug. Some attempts to prevent it have been made in BG2 fixpack (https://github.com/aVENGER981/BG2-Fixpack/blob/master/readme-bg2fixpack.html, as G3 site is down), but were subsequently dropped due to a whole bunch of issues surfacing. With a Shapeshifter, paw dispelling can be done at any temple for 200 gp, since he can talk while in Werewolf form; in other forms, a Druid will have to resort to Shapeshift->pause->Dispel Magic trick:
http://youtu.be/FBJCvIyTlKQThe immediate result of paw dispelling is that the Werewolf can use any Druid weapon now. The most obvious choice would be going +++++ Scimitar, ++ Single-Weapon Style, and picking up Icingdeath +3 ASAP for 7/2 ApR at +9 to-hit/+15 dmg, 10% crit, and -2 AC. Throw in 20% MR and natural AC -2, and you have one of the most powerful melee characters in BG:EE at your disposal.
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