The Elementalist Druid

MalacPok

As the adventure of my solo Jester draws to its end, I'm starting to think about new options. One idea is a fighter-druid multi, who uses (Fire) Elemental Transformation combined with GWW. Did anyone try this before?

Considering how some dump stats need to be high, what would be the optimal distribution of ability points?

I didn't really use spears up to this point, so I figured it's time to give them a try. A more obvious choice would be to use belm with some nice club (like Blackblood), especially since there's a looong way to go before I receive enough HLA points to really start killing stuff in Fire Elemental form.

Any suggestions are welcome.

semiticgoddess

Druid ability scores are hard to get right, with the huge CHA requirement. Just be aware that you can get the Gauntlets of Dexterity fairly soon in the Unseeing Eye quest (in the Pit of the Faithless), which will render your old DEX irrelevant. Gauntlets of Ogre Power are available in the Planar Sphere, on one of the cannibal halflings. The Ring of Human Influence, available from the circus, will grant 18 CHA. And at the end of the Unseeing Eye quest, Gaal will drop the Girdle of Fortitude, for 18 CON.

STR, DEX, CON, and CHA won't matter much in BG2 if you're a solo character (aside from a Wizard Slayer) and can use all of these items.

xscott71x

I'm pret-ty sure that the stats required for a dual class must be naturally rolled in character creation or gained through the Tomes.

joluv

@xscott71x: You're correct, but the question was about a multiclass Fighter/Druid.

MalacPok

The stats I've ended up with were: 18.98-18-18-10-14-15.
Even though there are items to boost certain stats, I prefer to avoid using them whenever it's possible. This leaves space for other items. Surely I could have chosen a lower STR, and then pick up the Girdle, but the mephits in the Irenicus dungeon are already hard enough to hit.

In the case of weapon proficiencies I decided to stick with dual scimitars and clubs for an easier early game. The next points will go into spears.

The real dilemma will come when the first HLA points enter the picture. I have 19 to spend, which sounds like a lot but it really isn't. 10+1 need to go into GWW otherwise my Fire Elemental Form will run out of those vital speed boosts too soon. This leaves 8 for transformation and spells. The Deva and Energy blades are a must. The globe is also great. Looks like the Elemental Prince summoning will be left out.

xscott71x

I would have sacrificed a CON point for an 11 in INT because MindFlayers

MalacPok

Yes, that's a good point.

xscott71x

I agree that spears are a good weapon choice as you can use your summoned creatures/elementals as front liners, and your spear will give you the reach to do damage from behind.

MalacPok

So far things are going fine. Picking dual scimitars and clubs was a good choice, because right after finding Belm and buying the Blackblood, things became much easier. Thanks to fighter thac0 even the simple bear form was useful in the beginning.

One thing is sure, this build could do a solo poverty run fairly easily.

Need 800K more XP to finally get that Fire Elemental form. Looking forward to it.

Arunsun

It is most powerful (I went for Kensai dualed to Druid). It really has a huge damage output. And as shapeshifted forms have their own AC, low AC on Kensai matters not (And you can still barkskin to get a decent AC). It is less good for soloing though.

Mentioning the Solo poverty run, I made one with sorcerer a long time ago, I have always felt like no other class could do this, but fighter/druid should be able to do decent job. The sole problem would be that weapons are not allowed in SP.

MalacPok

The way I see it, this particular build only works in solo mode, because it heavily depends on HLAs. The Fire Elemental Transformation is fun to play with, but only if you have a steady stock of Greater Whirlwinds at your disposal. Considering the odd leveling curve of the druid, you need at least 6 million XP to deal with a medium size horde of enemies. On the flip side, unlike with other solo characters, leveling will be meaningful till the very end.

Yannir

You could go for some Club of Detonation-funkyness if you do WK early. IMO, this weapon was made for solo runs.

lunar

Ooh, very cool idea! Does elemental fire touch hit as +4? I bet it does. Should be a very interesting character, then. I would love to see some videos or screenshots.

MalacPok

lunar said:

Ooh, very cool idea! Does elemental fire touch hit as +4? I bet it does.

Indeed it does. With GWW Kangaxx died in about 1.4 seconds.

MalacPok

Vesuvio Zantimeti is on a critical mission to extract the Club of Detonation and add it to his collection of fiery artifacts.

The Chromatic Demon was hardly a challenge>



Swallowed by the flames>



One of the nice features of the Fire Elemental form is that it makes you immune to normal weapons. Not a big thing in ToB but useful in SoA.

semiticgoddess

@Arunsun: It is indeed possible to do a solo poverty run with a non-sorcerer. I completed SoA once with a Conjurer/Cleric, and got to Suldanessellar, I believe, with a Kensai/Druid, before I got bored. The Kensai/Druid strategy (HLAs and Armor of Faith) had become identical to that of the Conjurer/Cleric.

I don't know about ToB, though. I've done the math and it seems extremely unlikely that a Conjurer/Cleric or Kensai/Druid could handle Melissan. But a Cleric/Thief could probably complete the whole trilogy as a poverty run, using normal traps in BG1 until it gets level 2 spells, then relying on Spike Traps for ToB. A Ranger/Cleric or Fighter/Cleric might have a shot, too, though killing stuff at level 1 in BG1 would be a pain.

Also possible to do a poverty run of ToB with a ToB-created Wild Mage. NRD can be used to cast Dragon's Breath several times in a round, rendering many battles very easy. I've tried a poverty run with a Wild Mage in SoA, too, but I got bored of stacking Blur spells and using Skull Trap on everything. I also got a little ways in with a Conjurer/Fighter before hitting a wall. It might be doable with an XP exploit.

Sorcerer isn't the only option. But if you're not using a sorcerer, it's basically just clerics and druids. And Wild Mages, if you abuse the NRD hotkey trick.

joluv

@semiticgod: What about a Monk?

semiticgoddess

@joluv: No defense against level drain. I'd heard somebody mention that as a reason it couldn't be done, but the Slayer is immune to level drain, so anyone could deal with the vampires after Spellhold. I neglected to add in the Monk because I was still thinking Bodhi would level-drain them into oblivion.

I don't know if they would be tough enough, however. Once they get to epic levels, they can stack Hardiness, and their MR will be sky-high, but until then, all they've got is their AC and HP, and that won't last very long against many critters. The reloading before epic levels might be excessive.

joluv

Hmm... maybe a Dark Moon Monk could do it.

MalacPok

@semiticgod I recently did a poverty run with a half-orc cleric/thief:



He made it happen mainly with spike traps, summoned skeletons, Deva, energy blades and the harm spell. Quite unexpectedly the hardest part was the second pocket plane challenge.

He was also a kind of pervert: collecting the body parts of his fallen enemies.

I think the Kensai/druid can handle Melissan, because of the harm spell makes it possible.

Since I had an older savegame with a monk, I dropped all his items and tried to kill Bodhi without getting level drained. With the help of Drizzt it was quite easy. While the vampires focused on him, I killed them with GWW. The same happened to Bodhi as well. One GWW and she was done for. I don't know whether the last fight can be done with a monk (items or not).

MalacPok

I finished the playtrough and there are some observations worth pointing out:

The Fire Elemental Transformation was a solid ability trough ToB, but in terms of damage output using the Club of Detonation +5 was a better choice for the final encounters. That weapon is just awesome.

Compared to my previous attempt with the shapeshifter the fighter/druid had a much easier time. The Greater Werewolf was a decent tank, but terrible at hitting things. Without fighter HLA and due to bad thac0/APR most shapeshift forms are practically useless when it comes to actually killing enemies.

While the Fire Elemental form + GWW was a great combination, a fighter/mage could do it even better: The Iron Golem shapechange form does 16-52 damage, but with only 1 APR. Give GWW to that mix and terrible things can happen to thy enemies. The only disadvantage of that combination is that it requires a level 9 spell only available in chapter 6.

If you don't have GWW the Earth Elemental Transformation is a better pick.

If everything else fails, Harm can still save you. That spell made my victory possible, especially after I run out of whirlwinds during the last battle. With fighter thac0 it's also much easier to land a hit.