Cleric/Mage vs Cleric of Lathander (12) > Mage for full playthrough?

jtth

Anyone have any strong opinions on Cleric of Lathander (12) > Mage vs C/M multi? I've read the beamdog and reddit threads debating the two, but wondered if anyone here has had experience in full BG-SoD-BGII-ToB playthroughs? I'm playing with SCS, probably on Core, will have ~3 additional folks in my party (not sure who yet, sort of up in the air, and they'll probably rotate b/c I have the EET Tweaks level up mod thingy on so I should be able to rotate folks in and out without too much penalty, though I'll probably end up with Keldorn/Jahiera/Imoen and maybe something else). Neutral Good playthrough, prolly, item randomizer, SCS's IWD spells. My thoughts are that the C(12)>M lets me play as a cleric through BG1 where it's quite strong and the armor and buffs are quite helpful, and the dual isn't terribly taxing, and mage lategame is where things get wild in BG2. Thoughts against are that I like the idea of having more than 2 or so level 6 spells, and the C/M lets me sort of wander and play however I want, where the C(12)>M requires a little more metagaming, which I want to avoid. (Solo'd SCS insane, don't really wanna do that kind of metagaming/cheese again.)

Do folks have thoughts here? Any input is greatly appreciated.

gorgonzola

why cleric 12 and not 11?
you have a longer down time for a little gain, 1 more lev 1 and lev 6 spell and a slightly longer boon duration and at 11 you can anyway turn most of the minor undeads, at least making them run away, including regular lich.
at 11 you get the second boon, and they can be stacked to give you +2 apr, so probably is the sweet spot unless you want to go at 14 for a lev 7 spell or at 21 for 3 boons, that are quite extreme choices (that i don't suggest).

at 12 you need 0.9 + 1.125M xp to complete the dual so 2.025M
at 11 only 0.65 + 0.75 = 1.4M xp

when you will go mlee you should anyway be buffed with the clerical spells so you will have the thac0 of a fighter and 25 str and you will protect your buffs with spell immunity, but you will have powerful high level mage spells earlier.
imo the whole sense of choosing the dual with the kit is that end game you will be very strong as a mage, while as multi even at level cap you will not have more then 2 lev 9 spells, the dual is more a mage with a certain amount of divine spells and the boon to boost the apr when he goes mlee.

the multi is a more balanced mix of the 2 classes, that even buffed can not have more then 4 apr, buffed and after a certain level he can DW even if has only a pip in the style, but anyway the attacks of a buffed cleric are attacks that hit hard as you have the +14dmg from the 25 str and a kai like effect.

they are both interesting, but imo the better pick is the multi gnome illusionist, you get some interesting shorty bonuses and +1 spell each level, so end game 3 lev 9 spells, and the 3rd give you a lot of more options, ie you can have CC to mix arcane and divine magic, a planetar and improved alacrity, with the not gnome multi you have to chose which one you will miss that rest.
You will miss necromancy spells, but you plan to have Imoen for them, there is a lot a gnome multi can anyway do with his magic.
no down time, plenty of spells to do the tricks that only that combo allows and be at the same time a good secondary mage and when you need more mlee power for a battle you buff and start to bash heads with a couple of maces, hammers od flails, tanking like no other thank to the arcane protections (both the stoneskin-pfmw and wearing an armor after the arcane spells that lower ac are viable ways).

i suggest you to read this thread where we shared our personal recipes for the CM multi, and many of them are also good for a dual.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/47354/superaerie-power-tactics-for-the-c-m-spoilers