Dual class cleric for whole story (BG 1&2)

Zarkhes

I want to play whole campaign with cleric (Lathander).Normal playground, no min-maxing or solo run.I got few question.

1.I understand that there is a level cap.To avoid wasting xp, I plan to dual him with maybe warrior?Maybe few levels(7), but mainly focusing on cleric.
2.I plan to roll play a bit so if shield and sword isnt so bad, I want that.Also can cleric go 2 handed?
3.Stat distribution.I played this years ago, so I have no idea...
4.Spells to avoid?Any general advice?

Thanks for any help.

DJKajuru

1- I didn't get the part so well. You wish to dual a cleric to fighter ? If that's the case , you can dual at level 7 and reach level 8 in the new class until the end of BG with a party pf 6, as long as you do all the "expansion" quests, specially Durlag's.

2- Both weapon skills are doable for a cleric, although you can only place one pp in it. Sword and shield's bonus to ac vs missiles is very good in BG1 because it protects you from kobolds commando , blacl talons and elite hobgoblins.
2 handed weapon prof makes you cause more damage with a staff (there's the bonus to weapon speed, but staves are already fast weapons so it doesn't really male much of a difference.). The good thing about is that there are plenty of good staves in both BG1 and BG2.

3- the best attributes will be wisdom, dexterity and constitution. Strength is only relevant if you have 18 and then use a tome, but remember that you need 14 to wear plate mail.

Iglosnof

You need 15 strength to dual from a fighter to cleric

Zarkhes

1.Yes, I thought start as fighter and then continue as cleric all the way up.Is 7 lvl as warrior significant threshold?
2.Sounds good, ill go with shield and made then
3.So 15 strength minimum from fighter to cleric.Any minimum wisdom so I can use all clerics abbilities?

Iglosnof

If you dual at fighter level 8 you can't get your cleric level to 9 during the first game, which means you won't regain your fighter levels. You also need 17 wisdom to dual into cleric.

If you're ok with a bit of powergaming I'd take the following stats:

18 str
10 dex
18 con
10 int
18 wis
10 cha

That's a roll of 84, shouldn't be that hard to get.
You can get some nice bracers very early on that will give you 18 dexterity. There is nothing worth equipping in that slot anyway as far as I know if you are a fighter/cleric dual.

Skatan

Zarkhes said:

I want to play whole campaign with cleric (Lathander).Normal playground, no min-maxing or solo run.I got few question.

The guys above have given solid advice, so I'm just gonna add that you can't dual INTO a kit without the help of e.g. EEkeeper. If you want to be a cleric of lathander you therefore only have two options;
1: start as one, then stay as one, or dual into plain fighter.
2: start as fighter, dual at 7 into cleric, keeper the cleric into lathander kit.

Cheers//skat.

Zarkhes

Skatan said:

Zarkhes said:

I want to play whole campaign with cleric (Lathander).Normal playground, no min-maxing or solo run.I got few question.

The guys above have given solid advice, so I'm just gonna add that you can't dual INTO a kit without the help of e.g. EEkeeper. If you want to be a cleric of lathander you therefore only have two options;
1: start as one, then stay as one, or dual into plain fighter.
2: start as fighter, dual at 7 into cleric, keeper the cleric into lathander kit.

Cheers//skat.

Oh...I didnt know that.That is a bummer.Well, pure paladin it is then.

BelgarathMTH

Myself, I'm not a fan of dual classing anyway. I tried to build a berserker>cleric once. I decided to dual to cleric at level 7. After that, I found that I was right at the point in the game where I was really starting to need that berserker rage to defend myself from magical disablers, and that was right when I didn't have access to it.

I think true class berserker is better, especially for minimal and no reloading, because that rage protection is too good to do without. And that probably belongs in the "unpopular opinions" thread.

alceryes

BelgarathMTH said:

Myself, I'm not a fan of dual classing anyway. I tried to build a berserker>cleric once. I decided to dual to cleric at level 7. After that, I found that I was right at the point in the game where I was really starting to need that berserker rage to defend myself from magical disablers, and that was right when I didn't have access to it.

I think true class berserker is better, especially for minimal and no reloading, because that rage protection is too good to do without. And that probably belongs in the "unpopular opinions" thread.

Zerk-cleric is an awesome build! That combo has some great synergy for the 'dual-lite' (dualing within the first few levels) strategy. Go zerk till level three to get that third proficiency (three in hammers, two in dual-wield). When you go cleric put a pip in sling and some other blunt (flails maybe?). When I play this build I usually unlock my zerk while I'm clearing the gnoll stronghold (before the Nashkel mines).
The end result -
A cleric that can fight MUCH better than any pure-build cleric (hammertime!)
More hit points (fighter and CON bonus)
Exceptional strength
Always having an ace (enrage) up your sleeve
You'll still always be at or near your other party members levels

Roleplaying -
During a bar brawl, CHARNAME almost killed an innocent tavern wench because he could not control his rage. Disgusted with what he'd become, he donated he last few gold pieces to a temple and began feverishly praying. After a day in prayer he is forgiven by his new deity and receives a vision showing him how he'll use his 'gift' to vanquish the enemies of his god.

Eadwyn_G8keeper

I would suggest going with Dwarf Fighter-Cleric the whole way with at least 18/51 Strength and 18 Constitution. 16 will be enough for Wisdom as that can be boosted by Tomes. Ashideena and Shield with Sling plus the key asset of Shorty Saves with high Const. Dexterity you really want as high as possible because some other Party Member can probably benefit greatly from the sweet Gauntlets.

Why make it complex when simple gets the job done so well??

On the other hand...Ranger/Cleric Multiclass becomes a Powerhouse in BG2 because it will have access to both the Cleric and Druid Spellbook.

Wowo

Pure Priest of Lathander is a very strong class and quite well suited to both games. I'd definitely argue that it's stronger than most dual class options (only a dual to Mage would be better imo).

alceryes

Eadwyn_G8keeper said:

On the other hand...Ranger/Cleric Multiclass becomes a Powerhouse in BG2 because it will have access to both the Cleric and Druid Spellbook.

Are you referring to the exploit of unlocking all druid spells at ranger level eight? I think that was fixed. Still a very powerful build though.

ThacoBell

Cleric/Ranger has recently become my favorite charname build. The "unlocking full druid spell list" thing was fixed in a way that is super simple to edit. A lot of people (myself included) saw/see it as a feature rather than an exploit.

who_is_daniel

Personaly i consider Multiclassed Cleric/Ranger to be second only to the Fighter/Mage/Thief and Fighter/Mage/Cleric.

If you are going to play all the way through, BGEE, TotSC, SoD, BG2EE, ToB, then there is no shortage of experience for Multiclasses.

Those are just my thoughts.

drjekl

thedamages said:

Cleric/Ranger has recently become my favorite charname build. The "unlocking full druid spell list" thing was fixed in a way that is super simple to edit. A lot of people (myself included) saw/see it as a feature rather than an exploit.

Can you please elaborate on how to edit "unlocking full druid spell list" please. I would like to do this.

alceryes

Edit the Baldur.lua file.
I *think* you need to change the 1 to a 0 on this line - SetPrivateProfileString('Game Options','Cleric Ranger Spells','1')
Someone else can confirm.

Since I normally play BG1 this option doesn't come into play. It will only take effect when your ranger part gets his first druid spell at level eight.