Solo Druid Kit Advice

ariakas2

After my Figter/Cleric dual class solo adventure, i want to start a pure druid in BG2. I want to have an easier time like Fighter/Cleric as he was pretty strong. Which kit would you consider a good pick?

Shapeshifter: Has werewolf form. Melee capabilities sound great.
Avenger: Great spells added. Improved invisibility and web would be decent.
Totemic Druid: Never played this kit. Do you have any experience with it?

I will be playing with latest ScS and added icewind dale spells.

Danacm

Shapeshifter: early game is super easy in werewolf form. The lack of armor is managable by barksin, iron skins and bracers of armor. Problem is in late game, the unmodded claws are in werewolf form is +2 the greater werewolf is +3 only.
Avanger: the added spells are good addon to druids, the shifting forms are good early game. Late game is a simple druid with some mage spells.
Totemic druid: as the vanilla druid with great innate summons, that immune to normal weapons at lvl 10. I think its very easy kit.

All kits are like vanilla druid, all is doable to a point where its very hard.

Michelle

Danacm wrote: »

Shapeshifter: early game is super easy in werewolf form. The lack of armor is managable by barksin, iron skins and bracers of armor. Problem is in late game, the unmodded claws are in werewolf form is +2 the greater werewolf is +3 only.
Avanger: the added spells are good addon to druids, the shifting forms are good early game. Late game is a simple druid with some mage spells.
Totemic druid: as the vanilla druid with great innate summons, that immune to normal weapons at lvl 10. I think its very easy kit.

All kits are like vanilla druid, all is doable to a point where its very hard.

That pretty much sums it up. I don’t think that it will be easier than your Fighter/Cleric, probably harder. Because of the Elemental Princes some battles will be easier but you had elementals anyway so not that much considering sometimes you will get a prince. A fighter/cleric can just fight everything in the game if done right, that will not be possible with a single class/kit Druid. A paladin is much like a fighter/cleric and can easily solo the game, the very first solo run I did was an Undead Hunter. If you want to solo a single class druid Totemic might be the best.

Even though it is challenging it can be fun, I have never been able to beat Melissan with a single class Druid though. Lol, might be because of my poor play more than anything else. Because of the summons many battles even in ToB can be almost easy, so it is a toss up.

gorgonzola

the previous posts are spot on, in early game the kits are useful, but as you progress trough it they become almost useless. few high level enemies get trapped by your webs if there is not also a mage stacking its greater malison with your doom and they will also eat your greater werewolf for breakfast in no time.
some of the totemic druid summons can still be useful in late game, but they will not make a real difference.
soloing a druid is one of the hardest challenges of this game, the last tob battle is borderline to impossible.

i think that the best kit for a soloing druid is an early dual from fighter.
some more hp, access to GM, use of better armors and better apr can really change the situation.
ok, it is not a real single class druid solo, but somehow it keeps much of the feeling of it, the more the game progresses the more your druid magic and summons will be relevant, it is not like using jaheira or a multi, that is both a proper fighter and a good spellcaster, it is only to give to charname, that will be basically a druid and will have to play as a druid does, some useful tools that will help him better than a kit.

DreadKhan

F/C is not nearly as good a spellcaster later game compared to a druid. I find Devas pretty disapointing actually, and usually would prefer an Elemental Prince, but thats not always what you get! Clerics get some really good spells at levels 1, 2, and 3 in particular, and a properly run cleric at low levels is a match for any other class/build, and can beat most of them pretty easily by using Command, Hold Person, Silence, Animate Dead etc, but I find clerics VERY lack luster at higher levels, other than as a tanky fighter after buffing. I had a swash 25 to cleric dual, very powerful when buffed, but when he had only cleric levels he was only a good tank and healer really, as by then his summons were a bit too weak. I wouldn't say Animate Dead is ever useless, and same for Aerial Servants (I use these right into ToB, and they do okay actually, just don't expect them to be a Planetar!), but she mostly buffed up for hard fights, so she had more HP than Korgan, with an AC approaching the cap. Her 1 APR hit really hard, but 1 is still one, and even the gloves only made it 3/2, and those don't seem to stack with Oil of Speed. Anyways, I think you will find the Druid is much stronger in BG2, and maybe even later BG1. An Avenger btw is strong as heck in BG1 as soon as they reach Web. Chromatic Orb is better than any other lvl 1 choice, but Web really blows lvl 2 Druid spells away.

I've tried using an Avenger in BG1, it's insanely powerful. Makes the game too easy arguably. In BG2 Chaos will remain a strong solution to enemy groups, and is usually better vs non-casters than insects in my very limited experience, but insects work better vs casters usually, though a confused caster is a dead caster clearly. If you don't mind the odd reload, Chaos can trivialize most of SoA, though after Spellhold its mostly had it's day. It will still be useful, just not the win button it was, and as a solo, you really want a win button IMHO. The low strength isn't much of a concern, but it can make weak enemies more tedious to beat. 17 str gives crummy bonus', while 19 makes you a dangerous damage dealer. I suppose you could use a strength buffing item maybe? I think druids can use the Gauntlets maybe? Either way, you should have lots of spells to get by with, and your shapeshifting abilities are actually really strong.

As I understand it, Totemic is actually really good, and scales quite well. IIRC, you can beat almost anything in the game with one soloing, I think only the biggest bosses were an issue. @JuliusBorisov didn't you do a solo run with a totemic awhile back? My memory is foggy, but I bet if it wasn't you, you could tell me who it was.

I have no experience with a Shapeshifter, I heard so much bad about them that I didn't put much effort into them. The one time I tried one I was shocked to find even Chateau Irenicus was tough, as I was useless when not shifted, and I could only shift so much. I'd hate to solo a Shapeshifter, but ymmv. I hear very good things about them defensively though, but without a party to take advantage of your tanking, whats the point? I guess tank for your summons?? That's crazy talk!

Edit: I agree that a few fighter levels are a big perk, but I'd hate to lose out on a kit for less than an early BG2 dual. I know you can gimmick a Berserker/Druid dual in BG1 that's pretty insane (if you can manage to role a crazy-high set of stats to allow the dual in the first place), but you'll be useless as a warrior in later BG2. I strongly suggest if you DO do a dual, definitely consider Berserker, those immunities are a godsend. The biggest annoyance later game will be your priest's THAC0, which lags behind a fighter pretty hard eventually. Now, 19 strength will help a lot, as will the Berserker's Rage. Actually, thinking about it a bit more, even a few levels of Berserker is probably a great idea, as you will likely want the immunities it can offer for some of the fights in the game, especially as a solo. Imprisonment is rare, but it does show up a few times in game, and with great rewards if you can beat the enemy using it usually.

JuliusBorisov

Yes, I couldn't defeat the final ToB boss with a totemic druid, but other than that he fared quite well. https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/30553/the-tale-of-the-totemic-druid

@Enuhal is a good druid specialist.

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Michelle

This will be a lot of screenshots so I apologize in advance. I am glad that I missed these guys because I have everything cleared and ready to go to Spellhold with this character.

I agree that the best druid kit is actually a dual, probably berserker but I like Kensai.



AC is the biggest drawback now but later when I am using summons to tank it won't matter at all. That is just with Barkskin.



THAC0 and APR with Boomerang Dagger set to mele main and Staff Mace off hand. I will skip the SS showing Improved Haste it is the same with 10 APR.



THAC0 and APR with energy blades. I won't show the damage SS for that, it can only come close to the thrown dagger damage if you use kai.



8 APR with improved Haste and dagger set to thrown.



Damage with thrown Boomerang Dagger.

I think that a Berserker>Druid may be the easiest dual, Fighter/Druid multi is good too but I love the Kensai>Druid. It allows me to choose to mele or fight behind summons through most of the game. With this character I fought Firkraag with a Deva and one Fire Elemental. (Not sure why he doesn't death spell them anymore)

Anyway they are all viable and they can all be fun. Dual you gotta roll a bunch usually, the stats to dual into a druid are crazy high, I really lucked out on this one. Sorry for so many screenshots.

Enuhal

I definitely prefer totemic druids when it comes to single class solo play. The spirit animals give you a ton of tactical options early on - most of BG1 will be quite easy thanks to their high damage output and various immunities. In BG2:EE (unlike in BG1:EE or the non-enhanced games), summoning spirit animals actually doesn't make use of the aura, so you can summon a full army of them in a single round. They still reign supreme in early SoA and remain somewhat useful later on, mostly thanks to specific immunities, special abilities on hit or just general high damage output. Their initial tankiness does get lost, but they still can draw out many opponent's spells. Additional free summons are alway useful for that purpose. I generally make use of them even in ToB in longer battles, especially against spellcasters - one or two might draw out the initial death spell, and additional ones can actually be quite hard to get rid off for many mages.

A single class solo druid (of any kit) can deal with everything up to the final battle. However, that one is generally only possible with tons of reloads, which can be quite frustrating. Fighter/Druids can do it (quite easily, in fact), but for the single class druid, there just aren't any strong options to deal enough consistent damage without hoping for lucky harm hits (elemental prince and deva plus dual energy blades via simmy might be enough for one part of the battle, but that's about it in my experience).

ariakas2

Thks for advices. I think i am going to go with Fighter/Druid dual. Which weapons would you prefer to gm?

gorgonzola

dagger allows you to use it both ranged and mlee as you get a returning one, and if you don't mind to recruit jan only to steal for you the boomerang one you can have it at the beginning of chap 2. the damage of returning daggers is the one of a bastard sword and they add 1 apr, so with lev 7 and gm you hit like a bastard sword, the most damaging 1 hander, 3.5 times/round both ranged and using a shield.
the problem comes later as when you face enemies that require more than +3 enchanting the daggers are not the most powerful weapons. and piercing damage is the most resisted.

staff allows you to buy pretty soon the ryn one that is a +4 weapon and with ram you have a weapon that hits everything, with high bonus damage, for a soloer the chance to push away the enemy is actually an advantage, not an annoyance, gives you the time for a free spell or whatever. you can use the staff mace with shield but you will lack pips in ranged weapon. crushing damage is the less resisted.

club gives you a +3 one very good pretty soon and when you get and upgrade the wk one the fact that you can trigger random fireballs is not bad if you use the red dragon scales armor or other protecting gear. you can dw and is also crushing damage.

scimitar let you use belm and later spectral brand but imo is a worst choice then dagger, i would get belm and use it as off hand weapon if you plan to dw.

sling lacks of apr but the launcher and bullet thaco (edit: and damage) bonus stack so is very useful if you want to hit things late game, upgraded erinne and +4 bullet gives you -10 thac0. and with good str is a high damaging hit, with specialization and lev 7 fighter + oil of speed you get 3 apr, probably around 60-70 dmg round wearing a good str enhancer. not the weapon to gm, but you have to consider it if you don't choose dagger, for a soloer being able to hit ranged is really important.

i probably would go with the gm on staff and specialization on sling, dagger is really powerful and tempting but gives too much problems late game both against enemies that require more than +3 and ranged. as dual your thac0 will be the one of a druid at that point of the game.

edit: starting with berseker kit you get the rage that is really useful for soloing, but you can not specialize in sling so you will loose 1/2 apr when ranged. you will have a grand total of 12 pips, 6 as fighter and 6 as mage.
a good plan can be 4 pips in staff, 1 in 2hander proficiency and 1 in sling as fighter, dagger and dual welding as mage then gm in sling(edit:in staves ), specialization in dagger and other 2 points in dw.
this way you are powerful in each phase and at the end you have 4 choices, staff with gm, ranged with sling and top bullets for high level enemies, or earlier in soa everard to hit the demilich, ranged with returning dagger to clear minor foe and save the bullets for when it matters (everard's damage without bullets is way inferior as you also loose in apr) and dw a returning dagger and the staff mace or belm in oh for high apr mlee against not bosses.
no overlap of proficiency during the dual time, good weapons for every phase of the game and good versatility as you have multiple options both mlee and ranged.
berseker kit is too good for a soloer, i would choose it instead of 1/2 apr more with sling.