@Kaigen - Considering one is an AOE blindness spell with no save, I'm going to go with maybe. Nature's Beauty really is that epic. But at the same time, chances are the ToB cap will remain and this whole question becomes moot.
See, this is why I like posing these questions, as it gives a chance for someone to give me a reason to play an Avenger or Totemic Druid one of these days.
Now I just need to find an equivalent in the Cleric list and maybe I'll roll up that Priest of Lathander.
Now I just need to find an equivalent in the Cleric list and maybe I'll roll up that Priest of Lathander.
Check out Requiem's kitpack for BG:EE, or the Divine Remix for Vanilla/TuTu/Trilogy. Each of those has fantastic kits for pure Clerics that might catch your eye.
Jaheira is one of the most effective npc's in the game, all the way through ToB. She gets all the armor, APR, and Thac0 of a fighter, plus lots of healing spells, and eventually Call Lightning, Summon Nymph, Insect Plague, and Fire Elemental. These are some of the strongest spells in the game. And that's not to mention Ironskins.
Yes, there are many clerical spells you need that Jaheira can't cast. But this is not an either/or situation. You want Jaheira AND a cleric, not Jaheira OR a cleric.
EDIT: Don't install Divine Remix if you like Jaheira. That mod DESTROYS her by restricting her to leather armor.
EDIT: Don't install Divine Remix if you like Jaheira. That mod DESTROYS her by restricting her to leather armor.
Personal taste.
I like her better with Divine Remix as it keeps her to the armors she's supposed to wear, and she can still rock the animal-type armors like Ankheg. She still gets a great AC, just takes you slighter longer to achieve it. The new spells just make her even better imo - I especially love Alicorn Horn - it's like a Magic Missle and Faerie Fire merged together.
Do you want them at 1.5mil or 3mil? Do you want a decent number of them at 3mil or 6mil?
Those are the two main drawbacks of the Fighter/Druid. Of course, the advantages are all those lovely fighter stats (THAC0, APR, HP, etc.).
Looking at it from the other perspective, the Fighter/Druid is a slightly less effective Fighter that gets a heap of druid spells as a bonus.
The question is, are there any level 7 Druid spells powerful enough to be worth sacrificing Fighter abilities to get to faster?
The way I play typically involves me seeing the caster first and the fighter bonuses second. At level 15 Druid, from memory your one L7 spell slots turns into 6 slots. Even though a lot of the options aren't THAT great (Though some are really nice to have), HLAs are where it will start to come into play. Mass Raise Dead turns you into a late-game Cleric alternative, Greater Elemental Summoning can be potentially an awesome spell as well. That's what I feel you are giving up. Multiple casts per day of stuff like this is really useful in more difficult fights.
On the other hand, the Elemental Shapeshift HLAs could be really good depending on how they work with fighter stats and/or HLAs.
It really depends on how you view the class in my opinion. As a fighter who can cast, the advantages are obvious with a little trade-off. However, as a caster who can fight, the advantages are less obvious and the trade-offs seem bigger (5-6 slots for each spell level delayed 3mil exp), though Fighter stats and later HLAs are huge.
Of course, this is considering BG2:ToB only. For BG1 purposes, you don't need to worry about this and the class is really good to play.
I think Jaheira is one of worsest minimax PC's in BG1:ee. 1. You think you have druid. But when pure Druid can get 5th lvl of spells. Jaheira couldn't. It's Sad. 2. In BG1 we have a lot of better warriors: Kagaine, Kivan, even Coran. 3. Khalid. Khalid isn't bad fighter. But when you can choose between Viconia and Kagaine and Jaheira and Khalid... You are serious? You take J&K? But, yes. Jaheira is good choice for newbies - she have hps, she can cast. But after 1st playthrough i forgot about her. There are many better PCs.
I think Jaheira is one of worsest minimax PC's in BG1:ee. 1. You think you have druid. But when pure Druid can get 5th lvl of spells. Jaheira couldn't. It's Sad. 2. In BG1 we have a lot of better warriors: Kagaine, Kivan, even Coran. 3. Khalid. Khalid isn't bad fighter. But when you can choose between Viconia and Kagaine and Jaheira and Khalid... You are serious? You take J&K? But, yes. Jaheira is good choice for newbies - she have hps, she can cast. But after 1st playthrough i forgot about her. There are many better PCs.
Sorry for bad English.
I have to disagree. A fighter that can heal is really useful to have early in the game. Sure you can live without one because the game is easy enough that we have seen some people solo on the hardest difficulty. None the less I prefer the classic "holy trinity" approach to a group. I like to have a balanced group of fighter/mage/healer/thief. Usually I'll take along two fighters and two healers. I've played games based on this setup that were a lot harder and required the setup to be effective. Either way there is no arguing it's the most effective way to build a group IMO.
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Or you could just go fighter druid dual at 7 and get pretty much the best of both worlds.
Now I just need to find an equivalent in the Cleric list and maybe I'll roll up that Priest of Lathander.
Yes, there are many clerical spells you need that Jaheira can't cast. But this is not an either/or situation. You want Jaheira AND a cleric, not Jaheira OR a cleric.
EDIT: Don't install Divine Remix if you like Jaheira. That mod DESTROYS her by restricting her to leather armor.
I like her better with Divine Remix as it keeps her to the armors she's supposed to wear, and she can still rock the animal-type armors like Ankheg. She still gets a great AC, just takes you slighter longer to achieve it. The new spells just make her even better imo - I especially love Alicorn Horn - it's like a Magic Missle and Faerie Fire merged together.
At level 15 Druid, from memory your one L7 spell slots turns into 6 slots. Even though a lot of the options aren't THAT great (Though some are really nice to have), HLAs are where it will start to come into play.
Mass Raise Dead turns you into a late-game Cleric alternative, Greater Elemental Summoning can be potentially an awesome spell as well. That's what I feel you are giving up. Multiple casts per day of stuff like this is really useful in more difficult fights.
On the other hand, the Elemental Shapeshift HLAs could be really good depending on how they work with fighter stats and/or HLAs.
It really depends on how you view the class in my opinion. As a fighter who can cast, the advantages are obvious with a little trade-off. However, as a caster who can fight, the advantages are less obvious and the trade-offs seem bigger (5-6 slots for each spell level delayed 3mil exp), though Fighter stats and later HLAs are huge.
Of course, this is considering BG2:ToB only. For BG1 purposes, you don't need to worry about this and the class is really good to play.
1. You think you have druid. But when pure Druid can get 5th lvl of spells. Jaheira couldn't. It's Sad.
2. In BG1 we have a lot of better warriors: Kagaine, Kivan, even Coran.
3. Khalid. Khalid isn't bad fighter. But when you can choose between Viconia and Kagaine and Jaheira and Khalid... You are serious? You take J&K?
But, yes. Jaheira is good choice for newbies - she have hps, she can cast.
But after 1st playthrough i forgot about her. There are many better PCs.
Sorry for bad English.