Starting up a Cleric/Ranger, tips?

JumboWheat01

So for some unknown reason, I have the desire to make a Cleric/Ranger Half-Elf stuck in my head. I don't know why, but in a way, I'm glad it's pushed out the Strength-Based Rogues that have been stuck in there for the longest time. Oh obsessions...

Anyway, I've never played a Ranger in the BG series (believe it or not,) much less this particular multi-class. Any particular proficiencies I should snag quickly? (Besides the obvious choice of Sling, of course.) Can I hit all three pips of Dual Wielding? Should I worry about staying in Studded Leather or will my Stealth never really be good enough?

And believe it or not, I don't actually care about the whole lack of all the Druid spells that was patched out a while ago. Sure that was tasty, but that always struck me as not intended.

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abacus

Sanctuary is a solid replacement for Stealth, so I wouldn't worry too much about wearing beefier armour.

JumboWheat01

Right, I keep forgetting about Sanctuary. Though not Command, it's a favorite of mine.

moody_mage

JumboWheat01 said:

And believe it or not, I don't actually care about the whole lack of all the Druid spells that was patched out a while ago. Sure that was tasty, but that always struck me as not intended.

It's not patched out, it's an available option in the Baldur.lua file, it's just set to off by default.

ThacoBell

My favorite Ranger/Cleric build dual wields maces/hammers.

Balrog99

I usually start with two pips in maces and slings myself. The pip at level 3 goes to 2WF. I like to use that freebie mace in Beregost, especially if I'm soloing. I've been saved quite a few times by a lucky stun!

SloaneRanger

JumboWheat01 said:

So for some unknown reason, I have the desire to make a Cleric/Ranger Half-Elf stuck in my head.

I would concentrate on a dual wielding ranger who is a cleric second. Unless you can roll something in the 90's. Then you have enough points to be both a formidable fighter and cleric. You get a nice cleric spell to make your ranger super strong early on, so he will be a very good melee fighter. I would only put one point in sling and the rest in melee weapons. The best in BG is a war hammer. One of the best in BG2 is a flail.

Personally I prefer single class characters for the fastest level promotions but this is a decent combination as the game is a bit short on easily and early found clerics.

OrlonKronsteen

If I was playing a C/R I'd ditch the light armour for heavy plate mail and tank. Their cleric buffs are just too good. Personal preference: I'd start with one pip in sling, two pips in maces, and one pip in flails. At level three (ranger) I'd add the third dual-wielding point, and at level six I'd add a second point in flails. Then you have the kick-ass maces of BG1 to enjoy and you're ready to dual-wield flails out of the gate in BG2. But as was noted earlier, there are also nice hammers to be had. The three wisdom tomes will allow you to start with a mediocre wisdom score.

ThacoBell

An R/C in full plate with buffs is almost unkillable.

SomeSort

OrlonKronsteen said:

If I was playing a C/R I'd ditch the light armour for heavy plate mail and tank. Their cleric buffs are just too good. Personal preference: I'd start with one pip in sling, two pips in maces, and one pip in flails. At level three (ranger) I'd add the third dual-wielding point, and at level six I'd add a second point in flails. Then you have the kick-ass maces of BG1 to enjoy and you're ready to dual-wield flails out of the gate in BG2. But as was noted earlier, there are also nice hammers to be had. The three wisdom tomes will allow you to start with a mediocre wisdom score.

I'd agree with this pretty much across the board, except I almost never wind up putting a third pip into two-weapon fighting unless I've maxed out literally everything else I might ever want to wield. +2 THACO for my off-hand, which is wielding my weaker weapon and which is only attacking once per round, (compared to my main which will eventually be attacking 2.5 times as often), really isn't doing much for me. I'd probably put that level 3 pip into Slings, instead, since I doubt I'd switch over to dual-wielding for a while still (shields are too useful in BG1 and early SoA, especially for the party tank), but improving my ranged output by more than 50% is always worthwhile.

OrlonKronsteen

SomeSort said:

OrlonKronsteen said:

If I was playing a C/R I'd ditch the light armour for heavy plate mail and tank. Their cleric buffs are just too good. Personal preference: I'd start with one pip in sling, two pips in maces, and one pip in flails. At level three (ranger) I'd add the third dual-wielding point, and at level six I'd add a second point in flails. Then you have the kick-ass maces of BG1 to enjoy and you're ready to dual-wield flails out of the gate in BG2. But as was noted earlier, there are also nice hammers to be had. The three wisdom tomes will allow you to start with a mediocre wisdom score.

I'd agree with this pretty much across the board, except I almost never wind up putting a third pip into two-weapon fighting unless I've maxed out literally everything else I might ever want to wield. +2 THACO for my off-hand, which is wielding my weaker weapon and which is only attacking once per round, (compared to my main which will eventually be attacking 2.5 times as often), really isn't doing much for me. I'd probably put that level 3 pip into Slings, instead, since I doubt I'd switch over to dual-wielding for a while still (shields are too useful in BG1 and early SoA, especially for the party tank), but improving my ranged output by more than 50% is always worthwhile.

An interesting take. I tend to find the third point in dual-wielding to be useful. -2 is nothing to sneeze at and I've noticed I hit a good deal more with my off-hand with that 3rd point (though I've never recorded stats to measure the true empirical effectiveness). I also use shields in BG1 and BG2, but I like to line up the dual-wielding points for later since I never use anything other than flails and maces for melee with a fighter/cleric type. The extra pip in slings will certainly help your ranged game, but as I rarely use ranged weapons with tanky characters past the early levels of BG1, I don't tend to invest more than a point in them. I find that a good AC is so effective in BG1 that I can go into full tank mode by level three, and let other characters handle the ranged stuff.