Which is the best Paladin kit for IWDEE?

Oxford_Guy

Without giving too much away (I'm playing IWD "blind" unlike BGEE - I've never played IWD before), which Paladin kit would be best in IWDEE? I'm thinking either Undead Hunter or Cavalier, though am not sure whether the special enemies the Cavalier has actually appear in IWD...

Also - would a Druid be better in my party than a Cleric? I'm using the IWD NPCs mod, and one of the characters can be set to either be a multi-class fighter/druid or fighter/cleric or can be dual-classed to a Druid or Cleric from a fighter... I'm leaning towards a Druid, dual-classed from fighter at level 1 (3 would be better, be think I will need the Druid/Cleric's healing powers early on...). If playing a Druid would clubs and spears be okay weapon proficiency picks? My Blade will be using Scimitars (eventually dual-wield).

Oxford_Guy

BTW the NPC who can be a cleric is neutral-aligned, but I could change that in EE Keeper if need be... In fact I could even make the Paladin a Blackguard that way... though he might be scripted as a "good" character, so might mess that up

Jarrakul

Undead hunter will get the attack and damage bonuses very often, but nothing in IWD does level drain, so the immunity is a tad wasted. Cavaliers will only get their attack and damage bonuses on very rare occasions, but their immunities (particularly the poison immunity) will come in handy. And, of course, when the combat bonuses do come into play, you'll be glad to have them. Overall I'd say the undead hunter is probably better, but it's not especially clear cut.

Druids and clerics are both very good. Clerics get better weapons overall, but druids have some very powerful new spells and forms. I'd probably go with druid, but again, it's not clear cut.

6kNNRQ

Take a Druid for roleplaying purposes, and take a cleric for usefulness.

Oxford_Guy

Jarrakul said:

Undead hunter will get the attack and damage bonuses very often, but nothing in IWD does level drain, so the immunity is a tad wasted. Cavaliers will only get their attack and damage bonuses on very rare occasions, but their immunities (particularly the poison immunity) will come in handy. And, of course, when the combat bonuses do come into play, you'll be glad to have them. Overall I'd say the undead hunter is probably better, but it's not especially clear cut.

Druids and clerics are both very good. Clerics get better weapons overall, but druids have some very powerful new spells and forms. I'd probably go with druid, but again, it's not clear cut.

If going for a Druid (sounds more fun), would Undead Hunter be the better pick?

6the6bull6

I have played through with all the paladin kits except inquisitor. I really didn't notice a huge difference in any of them. Although I had the most fun with the blackguard in my evil party. You could easily do without a cleric or a druid for the first 3-6 levels and then dual at that time.

Jarrakul

Undead hunter is probably the better bet if you're going with a druid, just because it does more to counter the fact that you won't have a full cleric for turn undead. Which isn't to say you can't win with a druid and cavalier combo, of course. None of those combinations are at all bad.

Lord_Tansheron

Blackguard > Undead Hunter ≥ Cavalier ≫ Inquisitor in my experience. In IWD anyway, it's different in BG2.

Oxford_Guy

In the end I went with Cavalier and modified the Fighter who could dual to a druid at level one to start out as a Totemic Druid, which seems to fit the character better and I don't really like dual-classing.

Final (?) Party is:

Cavalier (2H swords++, two handed style++)
Archer (longsword+, longbow+++, two weapon style++, racial enemy Skeletal Undead - this is the default for the NPC)
Totemic Druid (club+, sling+)
Blade (scimitar+, crossbow+)
Assassin (shortsword+, darts+) - darts to max number of poison attacks
Bard (axe+, sword and shield style+) - this bard will be singing 90% of the time, so went as defensive as possible. Can use both throwing and normal axes.

Definitely not a power gaming party, but with two bards what can go wrong?! :-)

Lord_Tansheron

Oxford_Guy said:

Definitely not a power gaming party, but with two bards what can go wrong?! :-)

Laryngitis?

Grum

Undead Hunter + Druid is a great RP combination. Undead are unnatural creatures, an affront to nature. So it'd be a paladin of a nature specific deity, fighting alongside the druid.

Add in a ranger (archer maybe?). Dual another ranger to thief (to keep the theme going and for the proficiency points). Throw in a skald for some combat bonuses, and have a 5th member to taste. I'd go for either barbarian or berserker, just for the nature theme.

And with that, you've got a fairly solid party. 2 front liners, 1 backstabber/trap disabler, skald for singing and haste, druid for healing/support, archer to ranged dps.

Wowo

Grum said:

Undead Hunter + Druid is a great RP combination. Undead are unnatural creatures, an affront to nature. So it'd be a paladin of a nature specific deity, fighting alongside the druid.

Add in a ranger (archer maybe?). Dual another ranger to thief (to keep the theme going and for the proficiency points). Throw in a skald for some combat bonuses, and have a 5th member to taste. I'd go for either barbarian or berserker, just for the nature theme.

And with that, you've got a fairly solid party. 2 front liners, 1 backstabber/trap disabler, skald for singing and haste, druid for healing/support, archer to ranged dps.

Can't dual ranger to thief. Otherwise looks good though.