Favorite Paladin?

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Arctodus

I always use vanilla classes in IWD. I just have the feeling that kits tend to break the game otherwise. Archers, Sorcerers and Dwarven Defenders come to mind. There's so many items that give damage resistance in IWD that you can make the DD an almost unkillable character. I use kits in BG1, but we have SCS there. The day we'll have an SCS equivalent in IWD, I'll not only be one hell of a happy camper, but I'll also gladly use kits.

DreadKhan

I'd think the Undead Hunter has an edge, there are a ****-ton of Undead.

tbone1

A cavalier is what I always envisioned a paladin to be. I don't even equip them with throwing axes or throwing daggers.

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Raduziel

Undead Hunter.

Since I mostly play P&P in Ravenloft, I value everyone who is capable of hitting hard those profane creatures. I even created a ranger kit devoted do destroy undeads.

Jarrakul

I just really like cavaliers. I won't argue that they're the strongest, but they feel so very much like the iconic paladin archetype.

DreadKhan

Jarrakul said:

I just really like cavaliers. I won't argue that they're the strongest, but they feel so very much like the iconic paladin archetype.

Which is bloody ironic, since Cavalier iirc in 2nd ed is a kit that is open to warriors in general, and can in fact be evil. They're like prissy noblemen or something.

Kamigoroshi

Fallen Paladin: the only Paladin that faced reality and pulled out the classy stick out of their arse.
Least I want is freezing to death within the depths of Icewind Dale while listening to sermons.

... and Blackguards would be in a really bad mood since they cannot raze the Ten Towns to the ground. Worse still is that they must defend Kuldahar from ewul inkarnadu. As dictated by the game's script writers. Only a matter of time until said Blackguards looses it and slaughter their whole parties just for the heck of it. Not my first choice when picking up companions to travel with...

RVNS

I would say undead hunter for icewind dale. Inquisitor for bg and b2 every time though.

Jarrakul

DreadKhan said:

Which is bloody ironic, since Cavalier iirc in 2nd ed is a kit that is open to warriors in general, and can in fact be evil. They're like prissy noblemen or something.

This is true, although the lack of alignment restrictions on the Complete Fighter's Handbook Cavalier is a bit odd, since they're sworn to fight evil and uphold justice and such. They're also kind of sworn to be jerks to people of lower station, so maybe that's why?

Also, the description of the CFH cavalier contains this little gem,

Complete Fighter's Handbook said:

Therefore, a paladin who wants to look every inch the shining knight should take the Cavalier Warrior Kit.

which... does seem vaguely demeaning to every non-kitted paladin who fits that archetype, but I suppose it's also kind of what I was saying.

It's also worth noting that the CFH Cavalier is, first and foremost, a mounted warrior, and the BG Cavalier is of course not. While some of the CFH abilities definitely relate to the BG Cavalier kit, enough that I think the line of inspiration is pretty clear, it's not clear that they're the same thing in any sense stronger than general "knight in shining armor" archetype.

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Calmar

I like the cavalier, because I like dragonslaying and they're rather good at it.

batoor

Blackguard probably...But I would have gotten rid of use poison ability altogether or at least made it function a bit differently.

Once a day a blackguard can call upon his patrons power to imbue his weapon with a vile sickness something something..

Or get rid of use poison altogether and give him a unique innate summon that improves with levels.

I mean it's alright as it is, but why on earth even in pnp was using poison a decent idea for a blackguard ability? You could presume it's something every unscrupulous fighter would be clever enough to do anyway.

DreadKhan

batoor said:

Blackguard probably...But I would have gotten rid of use poison ability altogether or at least made it function a bit differently.

Once a day a blackguard can call upon his patrons power to imbue his weapon with a vile sickness something something..

Or get rid of use poison altogether and give him a unique innate summon that improves with levels.

I mean it's alright as it is, but why on earth even in pnp was using poison a decent idea for a blackguard ability? You could presume it's something every unscrupulous fighter would be clever enough to do anyway.

Without the Poison Use ability they would risk poisoning themselves. Iirc, there were some great poisons, especially if your DM let you use giant insect venom to make poison. Sky high damage + DC, but really expensive.

Its seen as ultra-evil in DnD to use poison. Dunno why precisely.

jsaving

Seeing the inquisitor fare so poorly in this poll is probably a surprise to BG2 fans who are picking up IWD for the first time. But mage battles are so simplistic in IWD that the inquisitor's ultra-powerful dispel magic ability isn't needed, whereas turn undead (which the inquisitor gives up) is actually pretty good in IWD due to the sheer number of undead in the game.

I use cavaliers, myself, mainly because IWDEE hasn't yet received the engine upgrade that lets you dual-wield while having a bow in a different weapon slot (which means a paladin in my party wouldn't be using missile weapons anyway). But undead hunters are very solid as well.

Dev6

The Cavalier has bonuses over the classic Paladin, without any drawbacks (who the hell uses ranged weapons with Paladins???), so, yeah.

Zaghoul

I gotta go with the Fallen Paladin myself, if I went that route. It's just too tempting to write up a bio/background for that.
It's a shame he can't progress like a fighter, skill wise, while keeping the 'I did it my way' title of 'Fallen Paladin' on the info page. I mean it's not like he has to divide his time anymore with handin out tracts n such.

Nimran

Vanilla Ice is the greatest paladin in history.

rede9

DreadKhan said:

I'd think the Undead Hunter has an edge, there are a ****-ton of Undead.

Unfortunately there is not level drain in IWD. It's a waste of Undead Hunter's immunity.

DreadKhan

I'll take that nice big +3 vs all undead happily, thsts plenty of bonus. Not many things sre more annoying than Drowned Dead.

Raduziel

I made a mod that rebalances the Undead Hunter

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/65700/kit-pack-i-hate-undead-iwd-eet-bgee-bg2ee

karl_maulder

My first character that i played through BG2 with, was an UH. I really like the kit as a whole, as it got great bonuses aswell as being interesting from a roleplaying point of view. And with the next patch, being able to switch from sword and board/dual wielding to bows, is gonna make it much more interesting and powerful than the Cavalier, for sure.

recklessheart

I have yet to play as a Paladin, you know! If I were to, however, I feel like I would choose Undead Hunter. It doesn't deviate from the original class very much, and fills the classic Paladin role in a way that is persistently useful without ever feeling overpowered.

brunardo

One of my fav classes and first one I played for BG 20 yrs ago...I chose inquisitor if its BG2/TOB but cavalier is really the classic..undead hunter if im playing iwd or the old ravenloft dos game...

Redrake

True class for me. Undead hunter is neat, but undead in IWD does not held you too often, except for ghasts (all 5 of them from the whole game). And level drain is non-existant (no vampires). On top of that the undead are not too deadly, the worst being the Drowned Dead from Burial Island, which are best taken care of with spells rather than hack&slash.

True class OTOH... It has Smite Evil ability which is never capped. At high level you can blast enemies in one shot without any chance.

Lay in hands is also nice to have.