Picking a Good cleric kit - Lathander or Tyr?
Arishal
Member Posts: 13
This shouldn't be as hard as it is, but here I am. I'll try to keep it short.
Boon of Lathander is strong enough to justify picking the Priest of Lathander kit. The bonus attack per round is a huge buff for pure classed clerics and it combos well with other spell buffs and weapons. Outside of combat, it has the benefit of its own stronghold.
The Priest of Tyr has the advantage of being a shiny new kit with shiny new abilities. Exaltation removes all the negative mind effects like Confusion and Domination. Anyone with experience knows how devastating those effects can be in a party based game, and having free, clean removal (unlike Dispel Magic) is a great tool. Divine Favor's 2 round duration makes its use in combat very limited - landing Harm spells and not much else.
Outside of combat, Priests of Tyr don't get their own stronghold - they piggyback on Lathander's or Helm's depending on alignment. This bothers me more than it should, but it's better than the Shaman's lack of stronghold.
So it comes down to Lathander's combat bonuses against Tyr's utility.
Boon of Lathander is strong enough to justify picking the Priest of Lathander kit. The bonus attack per round is a huge buff for pure classed clerics and it combos well with other spell buffs and weapons. Outside of combat, it has the benefit of its own stronghold.
The Priest of Tyr has the advantage of being a shiny new kit with shiny new abilities. Exaltation removes all the negative mind effects like Confusion and Domination. Anyone with experience knows how devastating those effects can be in a party based game, and having free, clean removal (unlike Dispel Magic) is a great tool. Divine Favor's 2 round duration makes its use in combat very limited - landing Harm spells and not much else.
Outside of combat, Priests of Tyr don't get their own stronghold - they piggyback on Lathander's or Helm's depending on alignment. This bothers me more than it should, but it's better than the Shaman's lack of stronghold.
So it comes down to Lathander's combat bonuses against Tyr's utility.
2
Comments
Bear in mind that Acclamation/Exaltation does not remove all negative mind effects, as it won't cure stun or hold effects (though you still have Remove Paralysis and Free Action for that). It is quite unique, however, in that it can cure charm, confusion, and sleep. Also bear in in mind that it cannot be cast on self, which means a Priest of Tyr cannot make him or herself immune to charm, confusion, and sleep using Acclamation--he or she would have to use Chaotic Commands.
If you dual-class each kit to a mage, Boon of Lathander and Divine Favor can shift the power balance back and forth between them. Boon of Lathander is excellent for high-damage, low-APR attacks like the ogre form, Iron Golem form, or Black Blade of Disaster, while Divine Favor works better for high-APR attacks like Melf's Minute Meteors, Energy Blades, spider form, and Mind Flayer form.
Both Divine Favor and Boon of Lathander are stackable. The Wand of Lightning trick can also duplicate their effects by six.
Lathander make problem. Trust me, Tyr better
That said, Helm is also a serious consideration - Seeking Sword along with Righteous Magic is a hell of a combo, turning your cleric into a powerful fighter for a while.
I'm currently using a Priest of Tyr in a no-reload playthrough and I have to admit she has saved other characters at least 4 times already (the party is in the Candlekeep catacombs right now). Yes, Chaotic commands is a must spell, but if you're playing from the start in BG1, you don't get this spell until much later. Even in BG2, this spell can be dispelled, and your only chance to save a character may involve the Priest of Tyr. Confusion, Sleep-esque and Charm spells are used very often by enemies in both games.
But if your cleric is going to fight on the front line, Boon of Lathander and Divine Favor may be better picks.
The Cleric has ways to have high STR, having 3 APR hasted and 4 improved hasted he can do serious damage also ranged, even if, at high level, see him better with FoA and an other good weapon dealing 6 mlee APR with 25 STR.
That is why find Lathander better than Helm for an offensive cleric, Seeking Sword is very good, but there are weapons just as good or better early in SoA, and is not easy to increase cleric's APR if he is not also mage, probably only the cloak of sewers. And if is possible to use the Seeking sword in the troll form, i never tested it, it would be really strong in SoA.
Tyr is for the defensive, utility oriented, one.
The only reason I don't want to make a Priest of Helm is because you always work for Helm when you're not playing a Cleric. I want to see the Unseeing Eye + temple quests from a different perspective this time.