Need advice on Berserker -> Druid Build
sdb92
Member Posts: 4
Want to make a berserker with the intent of dual wielding into a druid long term. My struggle is what kind of starting stays I should have? As a berserker I know I want Str, Dex, Con. But having to have 17 in both Wis and Cha makes it pretty tough to balance. Which stat would be the best to take points away from in order to achieve this? I would guess Int is a dump stat at this point, but it I had to choose between Str/Dex/Con what is most to least important?
Also wondering what would best for weapons choices? I am thinking scimitars
Thanks!
Also wondering what would best for weapons choices? I am thinking scimitars
Thanks!
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Going through the stats one by one:
Strength. 15 needed for the dual. 18/xx lets you use the strength tome to reach 19, and will get you some good bonuses early on. Lower numbers will have you using strength boosters such as potions or the various belts throughout the game - but those are abundant enough that it's not a serious hardship. You could go as low as 14 if you're dual-classing late enough, but that starts to restrict your equipment choices in the early game - full plate requires 15 strength. I wouldn't recommend that; either start at 15 or go all the way up to 18/xx.
Dexterity. No minimum requirement. Scores of 15 or more boost your AC, with a very powerful 4-point bonus at 18. Potions can set your DEX to 18 for three hours (agility) or increase it by 3 for 12 hours (mind focusing). The latter stacks with itself and is available in large numbers in BG2 shops, though of course that game also has a lot of dispels. You can also get gauntlets to set your dexterity to 18 while worn, though you'll most likely have someone else that really wants that in the party. If you choose to dump dexterity, you can go all the way down to 6 without any penalties.
Constitution. No minimum requirements. Scores of 15 or more boost your hit points, and of course that's a big deal when dying is game over. There are potions of fortitude that set your CON to 18 for three hours at a time, and a belt in BG2 that sets your CON to 18 for eight hours when activated (once per day, not dispellable). If you choose to dump this stat, you can go down to 8 before you start running into penalties.
Intelligence. No minimum requirements. A score of 9 is needed for some useful items like wands of fear and the heavens, and illithids in BG2 use INT-draining attacks (5 pts drain, 5-round duration) that kill you if you drop to zero. Aside from that, you don't gain anything really notable from higher INT scores. This one's your most obvious dump stat - just make sure to drink potions for temporary boosts when facing illithids, so you don't die like a chump.
Wisdom. 17 needed for the dual. High values mean more spell slots, once you become a druid. There are three wisdom tomes in BG1, so you can start as low as 14 if you're dual-classing later. Of course, that'll cost you some good spell slots later on. Anything from 14 to 18 can be justified here.
While temporary boosts exist, they're not really useful; any such boosts will wear off before a rest can finish and thus not let you memorize extra spells.
Charisma. 17 needed for the dual. The tome for it is available early, so starting at 16 is perfectly reasonable. Higher values make you better at playing the party "face"; 20 CHA or better is optimal for shop prices.
As for weapons ... yeah, scimitars are pretty solid all the way through. You might have to dip into other weapon types occasionally - it takes a long time to reach the point that a +3 scimitar is available in BG2, for one. Daggers are another good option, giving you melee and ranged attacks with the same proficiency. Clubs are powerful enough, but very thin; there are only a few magical clubs out there. And the most powerful club in endgame BG2 has the drawback of occasionally setting off fireballs in your face - it's not for everybody, and definitely not for fighting near friendlies. Then you have your ranged and two-handed options - slings, darts, staves, spears. They're fine, but there's no real way to compensate for the APR bonus of dual-wielding in the late game when you don't have warrior HLAs.