DO I need a cleric in TOB?

fncruz

I just finished SOA and am starting TOB. My party is F/M/T, Keldorn, Gorgan, Edwin, Neera and Aerie.

Will I get into trouble if I replace Aerie with Sarevok leaving me with no divine spells??

Khyron

That all depends on how actively you use your other strengths.

Fire giants for example do massive damage, but it can be mitigated very effectively if you gear your tank right.
You can also chug a lot of heal pots, but i much prefer having a cleric..

There's always the fun part of using Blade Barrier and Sanctuary with a cleric.. it's like an untouchable meatgrinder and works really, really well against groups of enemies.. which there will be a lot of.

You don't NEED any classes to be honest. You can solo the game with any class.
But having at least 1 character of each archetype (melee, arcane, divine, thief) makes it a lot more comfortable

Nor would i recommend having 4 melee characters (assuming fmt is melee).. it's too much, there'll be congestion in hallways and all that.
At least one will often just stand there and watch.

atcDave

You will go through *a lot* of healing potions without a cleric! That is by far the biggest issue.

I would not ever choose to do it that way. But there’s no reason you can’t give it a try.

jmerry

You don't "need" a cleric ever. I've beaten the game with no arcane or divine magic at all. (From spell slots. Scrolls and other item activations were allowed. Also, one exception out of combat to trigger Neera's ToB quest.)
My party for that one in BG2: fighter/thief protagonist, Haer'Dalis, Keldorn, Korgan, Mazzy, Rasaad.

But, if you're worried about healing ...
- Healing potions are plentiful. Even if you're using a lot more of them than usual, you aren't likely to run out.
- There are several regeneration items you can pick up. Move them around as needed for healing between fights.
- Restoration for level drain is available in scroll form, and anyone can use those scrolls.
- Dead characters can be brought back with the rod of resurrection.

Healing was more of a concern in the BG1 portion of the run; I actually paid for temple healing at one point, and that was with a party specifically chosen to have a lot of healing potential. (Protagonist gets the good Bhaalspawn abilities, Kagain regenerates slowly, Ajantis gets Lay On Hands)

dzyngis

Cleric is helpfull against undeads. There is not many undeads in ToB.

DinoDin

Honestly, my experience is you don't need a cleric for healing spells, nor raise dead or resurrect. But it's such a strong class, an optimized party always includes one. Aerie is enough on her own but you will feel weaker without that role imo, or some other replacement. Cleric spells, even low level ones, stay pretty useful throughout the game. It's really the combo of high level offensive spells, buffing spells and protection spells that you'll miss.

I honestly think ToB drops a generous amount of healing potions that you don't ever need to invest spell slots in healing, except maybe the heal spell for tactical reasons. Gear distribution also always favors having a cleric in your party. The party will feel unoptimized but it's do-able, even on a high difficulty. ToB is an especially flexible part of the saga because you have so many tools.

Lastly, since you also don't have a druid, you'll be extra hurt by the loss of the cleric role in your party.

shevy123456

I came to the conclusion that it should be possible to play without cleric/druid.

For instance, tons of potions. Some mods may also help, as you get some
disposable summons (and you may have mages, such as Edwin; or you pick
e. g. Fall NPC from one mod, and then have some strong summons).

Even ressing should be perfectable doable with some items, like rod, and
items in some add-ons; one of Lava's add-ons I think has an amulet or
something like that. Clerics may make some fights easier though. High
level thief can also pick up cleric gear, though probably is not needed
when you amassed a lot of XP. I tend to pick Viconia, though, in my party,
as I like her, as well as story-addons such as in the underdark or the
white queen mod from Lava. While I tend to pick more useful characters,
I like the storyline aspect a lot. Aerie has a nice story via wings, but she
is kind of weak and I don't need her cleric abilities when I have Viconia.

You could try Anomen, but I can not stand the character, he goes on my
nerves.

deadinside

Perfectly doable without a Cleric. All games (BG1 less so). SoA and ToB have amble healing methods, so a Cleric will rarely be used as a heal bot. Heal is the only healing spell that matters and Druids get that. Some parts may be harder in SoA (undead) but by ToB I find Clerics to be mostly sitting back.

Wisterias

Not really, at high levels you will have Planetars who can heal and do other cleric stuff.

jmerry

Planetars can do a few things. Heal, Raise Dead, Neutralize Poison, True Seeing, Lesser Restoration, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Remove Fear. If all you want out of a "cleric" is a pure healer, that's sufficient. (I don't include Dispel Magic here, because planetars' divine caster level is terrible. And their version of Flame Strike usually isn't better than just attacking.)

If you want to spread around buffs like Death Ward and Chaotic Commands, or even low-level stuff like Bless, you need a real priest. If you want to splat undead without lifting a finger, you need a full cleric. (Anomen qualifies. Aerie doesn't.)