choosing a druid right (through BGEE and BG2EE) – pros, cons of kits and combinations?
BelegCuthalion
Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 454
Dear readers,
i'm considering to play a druid through BGEE and BG2EE, but i can't really decide which flavour it should be ... i am an experienced player with many runs from candlekeep till the end of TOB, but i can't remember ever to have played a druid all through the saga, so this is new to me and i'd like to have some fun and challenge alike.
what i'd like to have is:
– no totally weak and useless character that needs to be carried through the game by his companions due to poor kit decisions by bioware/overhaul.
– no cheesy aspects to exploit that make the game easy or boring.
having heard of druid kits to be unbalanced, weak, cheesy, useless, non-scaling etc., i don't want to run into one of these, but play the one that's just right – if there is. so i'd like to ask for opinions, pros and cons of
– non-kit pure
– the official kits
– potentially mod kits too (if they work now in EE 1.2 versions?)
– dual classing / multi classing (what combinations, when to switch, ...)
if possible, i'd like to play a female character that is romancable by hexxat (as i have not met her yet), non-human slightly preferred.
what i don't want is advise not to play a druid :-)
thanks for your opinions and thoughts
Beleg-Cuthalion
i'm considering to play a druid through BGEE and BG2EE, but i can't really decide which flavour it should be ... i am an experienced player with many runs from candlekeep till the end of TOB, but i can't remember ever to have played a druid all through the saga, so this is new to me and i'd like to have some fun and challenge alike.
what i'd like to have is:
– no totally weak and useless character that needs to be carried through the game by his companions due to poor kit decisions by bioware/overhaul.
– no cheesy aspects to exploit that make the game easy or boring.
having heard of druid kits to be unbalanced, weak, cheesy, useless, non-scaling etc., i don't want to run into one of these, but play the one that's just right – if there is. so i'd like to ask for opinions, pros and cons of
– non-kit pure
– the official kits
– potentially mod kits too (if they work now in EE 1.2 versions?)
– dual classing / multi classing (what combinations, when to switch, ...)
if possible, i'd like to play a female character that is romancable by hexxat (as i have not met her yet), non-human slightly preferred.
what i don't want is advise not to play a druid :-)
thanks for your opinions and thoughts
Beleg-Cuthalion
0
Comments
Just jokin... Though as a fan of dwarves and paladins, I really don't know much about Druids. I do remember reading something about Druids being a human thing, so u might have a problem with the non-human thing.
(elfs are not though, which is somewhat strange after all :-)
If you dual at level 7 you get your fighter skills back before the end of BG1, and still hit level 9 driud inside the XP cap netting you level 5 spells. If you dual at level 9 you get your fighter skills back very early in BG2 and may be more optimal for the entire series but means you just play as a fighter in BG1. I don't recommend the multi - there's a big XP gap between levels 12 and 14 and splitting your XP makes it even bigger. If you feel masochistic you could dual at 13 for the most truly optimal build but you won't get your fighter skills back until TOB realistically. You can either dual-wield scimitars and clubs or whack stuff with a quarterstaff.
The biggest drawback of the dual is the stats required. You need a minimum of 15 STR, 17 WIS *and* 17 CHA. Considering you'll still want decent DEX, CON and WIS you'll need a beast of a roll. You can offset it a bit using tomes in BG1 and starting with CON 17, WIS 14 and CHA 16, or could have 15 STR and rely on strength boosting items.
If you plan on going for a Kit then Avengers are interesting. They're much more back-row caster than other druids and play a bit like a mage. You get a couple of nice extra spells and a couple of cool extra shapeshift forms. Not exactly overpowered but pretty characterful.
Totemic Druids are pretty much vanilla druids who trade in fairly useless shapeshifting forms for a decent summon. They're better than unkitted but not overpowered by any means.
Shapeshifters are an odd one. You start out pretty OP at BG1 levels and become steadily less good as the game progresses. The werewolf and greater werewolf you shift to do not have the same stats and abilities as the ones you meet ingame, and you don't scale with gear as well as most classes. BG:EE has changed it so that rings of protection, immunities from weapons and so on now continue working while shapeshifted though, which is a nice boost.
Overall I'd recommend either a fighter->druid dual for a solid but not completely overpowered melee character or an Avenger for a back-row dedicated caster.
Avenger: Loss of strength/constitution isn't too big of a deal (though it does mean you can't equip the Claw of Kazgaroth without losing health...if you have a base constitution of 15-16). Can't use Studded Leather or Ankheg armour (but can use most of the dragon armors in BG2) so in BGEE it does take an AC hit there. Its spider form is particularly good. Getting access to Web is probably the most handy thing about the class. Improved invisibility is also a handy spell to have around (especially to free up casting room for your groups mage). Chromatic Orb's save vs spell is too high for it to be a reliable kill spell, but as a level 1 spell you aren't losing too much by having it available.
Shapeshifter: Can't wear armour (though it can wear a helmet) and gets access to werewolf forms. Loses access to the traditional shapeshift bear/wolf forms (not that big of a deal). The inability to wear armour is a loss since you won't have as low an AC as you could otherwise (though it still can be somewhat made up for with bracers of defence, a shield amulet, or barkskin/iron skin). Normal Werewolf form is solid in BGEE and not good in BG2EE. The stretch between the start of BG2 and getting him/her to level 13 is probably going to involve hand holding, as his/her Thac0 progression is slower than a warriors and paw damage is only 1d6 (+7 from strength bonus). Greater Werewolf form is good enough to carry you through SoA though its going to get pounded by enemies in ToB because it has no physical damage resistance and its claws still only do 1d6 (+ strength) damage (though it will have access to Iron Skins and Regeneration at that point which will help).
Totemic Druid: Solid choice. Its downside is that it can't shapeshift into the usual bear/wolf forms, which isn't that big of a loss. Having extra summons is pretty handy, especially given that they eventually will become immune to normal weapons. Otherwise it plays out like a vanilla druid.
Highly underrated class and even did very good melee damage when dual wielding Belm + Club of Detonation in the end game.
Basically I agree your level 1-3 spells are inferior to Clerics, but after that you totally outstrip a Cleric's potential - just so so many level 4+ spells which rock.
Call Woodland Beings is amazing and grants you access to Mass Cure before clerics get em... Also Domination etc. It just owns so hard in BG1 and Early BG 2.
Iron Skins makes you great at dual wielding melee. Insect Plague makes Wizard battles a breeze. Fire Elemental rocks mid BG 2. Then it just gets better and better. Loved the class and versatility.
Even shapeshifting had some uses, being fire immune/ cold immune or when you couldn't cast magic. It was fun.
The totemic druid is superior to the standard druid.
In general, I see no reason to take either the standard druid or the shapeshifter. The totemic druid and avenger are more interesting options.
The berserker/druid dual-class is probably the most powerful 'druid option' overall, though I'm not a fan of it, as I don't think it makes much RP sense. The kensai/druid makes more sense, but probably is less powerful.
While I'd prefer barbarian druid, berserker druid makes plenty of sense for me. Tempus would be the likely god if you went cleric, but rages can also be very primal in nature lending credence to druid. The though of a grand master spear using druid is kinda nice honestly.
But at any rate, the only "penalty" really the Avenger kit gets is limited ability to dual into a fighter... And dualing away from caster to Fighter is probably not a good idea to begin with.
If you want a truly meatier druid experience, then either dual-class from a Fighter to a Druid as a human, or go Half-Elf (only option) multi-class Fighter/Druid. This lets you wear plate mail and put more pips into weapon proficiencies so you can actually hit crap when you run out of spells. If done right this can actually let you front-line with your druid.
If you're going a pure druid, always go Half-Elf for standard race bonuses that humans don't get. You only get the choice between both of those races anyway when it comes to druids.