Originally posted by Astafas:
<STRONG>Agreed, Jaheira makes a fine tank. However, Cernd gets more spells and he'll get all those high level spells much earlier.
</STRONG>
True. But for a first run-through, Jaheira is an easier character strategically to play. The first thing Jaheira has that Cernd does not is the ability to ressurect (because she's a Harper). The question always arises: fine, I've got a resurrecting cleric, but who resurrects the resurrector when s/he dies? And when multiple characters die, two rezzers can split the task. (True, there's an item which can deal with this, but I prefer saving the ressurection rod for really tough tasks--like most of my part dying, including my rezzers.)
Then, there's the problem of Cernd's effective fighting skills, which appear only when he's in animal morph; and he can't cast until he returns to human form. This creates a dilemna in battles where timing is important.
So you see three enemy mages in a backrow, all incanting their spells. Jaheira has just been double-teaming with Jan on a melee foe. She steps away quickly, and casts Insect Plague, one of the most beautiful spells in the game, disabling all three mages at once. She's attacked immediately after by a warrior, but has sufficient fighting skills to avoid damage.
Now, Cernd is double-teaming that same warrior with Jan, and sees the mages begin to cast. He has to change from a werewolf or greater werewolf to human, and that takes a round. By the time he's been able to get off that Insect Plague, each of the three mages has gotten off a spell which may well turn the tide of battle. And to top it off, a warrior takes a shot at him and Cernd, having poor physical stats as a human and very poor armor, loses one of his legs and all of his lunch.
I'm not saying don't run Cernd. I'm currently doing just that. But he's a challenge, and I'd only suggest him to a person familiar with the game. Like Haer'dalis, he requires some ingenuity and familiarity to become effective.
[ 01-11-2002: Message edited by: fable ]
