Playing as Cleric....

Vintersorg · Post by **Vintersorg** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 12:57 pm

Hi all!
So i just started a Neutral Good Half-Elf cleric to go through the whole saga, and i have some thoughts on early cleric spells.

Command - This spell seems to me a tad overpowerd for a level 1 spell. F.ex. The fight with bassilus, i talked to him and he killed all of his skells and Zombioes (that was cool, never saw that before

) and then he turned hostile. One arrow disturbed his first spell, and then I (Cleric) Cast Command on him, and down to the ground he goes. Then he was dead before he could get up.

All the different Bounty Hunters (Nashkel, red Sheaf Inn) were both extreamly easy, as I just cast Command on them and down they went. I KNow this wont be very effective in the later stages of the game, but it's very good for now on ogeres and the likes.

Entangle - This spell makes hard fights very easy, and as it hasn't got the same effect as in BG 2 (stays active for several rounds) i had major use for it in several hard fights, F.ex. The bridge in the area north of the gnoll stronghold, there is a bridge with 2 Ogre berzerkers and 3 Hobgoblin Elites. I just casted Entangel on the bridge and pelted the ogers with arrows and bullets, just ot go in and kill the Elites in melee. Very nice

Also i have a question. For now (level 4) my cleric is ver good in melee (Better than Khalid) with my 18 str and ashedeena (sp?), i have a Thac0 of 15 and killing most enemies without much trouble. Now my question is, for howlong will my cleric be able to stay in melee? Will he be able to do any good damage without dying in the later stages (Baldurs gate, Cloakwood). With spells like Dra Upon holy might and the lieks i think i would be ok, but my thac0 won't be very good later on compared to a fighter will it?

Thx for your time.

Mister Popo · Post by **Mister Popo** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 3:09 pm

*possible spoiler*

Until you reach BG city itself, you won't have any trouble beating the hell out of anything that comes your way.

Hey, even when your in BG you won't have trouble with Draw Upon Holy might.

But, your TAC0 will begin to annoy you at a certain point in time, not a lot, but it will.

Minsc (in my case) did damage, everytime he hit, but well, as your a cleric, you will have to settle for less.

On the other hand, you can handle Asheenda, you CAN cast Draw upon blabla, you can cast Chant, and other such benificial spells that will make you a good fighter.

For Ex. as cleric I found spellcasters the most difficult, because I couldn't count on spell disruption, but then I got miscast magic and silence.

Big Brutes where a bitt of a problem, but hey, I could heal myself couldn't I.

So just keep it up, don't be the only fighter, but you can go into the fire without getting burnt. Dunno if you want to continue as a cleric in BG2, but I think it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Vintersorg · Post by **Vintersorg** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 3:21 pm

Thx for the input

I'm not the only fighter, as i have Khalid in my party, and he is doinbg most of the damage, with varscona, but still i'm helping him with a hit or 2, and with DoHM i kick butt. Oh and i have Jahiera, imoen , dynahier and Kievan with me aswell, sending in bullets and arrows from behind. It's working well. I'm off for the Mines, cosing in on level 5.

Mister Popo · Post by **Mister Popo** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 3:25 pm

Spoiler below

Maybe it's wise to trade Jaheira in for a fullblown mage (as you won't get any cool druid stuff out of her) or another fighter like Minsc or Coran (but you've ditched Minsc, what are you, a Hamster Hater!!!!)
Because the only good thing about Jaheira and Khalid is the dialogue and even that's annoying sometimes.

Vintersorg · Post by **Vintersorg** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 3:58 pm

Well.. ehem...

Well.. i kind of... ehem.. well... the thing is... OK MINSC IS DEAD! I said i didn't have time to go after his GF and he just attacked me for NO REASON... what an ass... The thing is i am planning toromance Jahiera in BG 2 so i'm keeping her for a Roleplaying point of view.

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 5:29 pm

Re: Well.. ehem...

Originally posted by Vintersorg
Well.. i kind of... ehem.. well... the thing is... OK MINSC IS DEAD! I said i didn't have time to go after his GF and he just attacked me for NO REASON... what an ass... The thing is i am planning toromance Jahiera in BG 2 so i'm keeping her for a Roleplaying point of view.

LOL, that happend to me in my first game,
luckily I had an old save game, and could save dynahier.
That's why you should read dialoge, I believe Minsc gives you 30days to save Dynaheir (not his girlfriend, but a mage he has sworn to protect).

I have to agree with Mister Popo, Jaheira isn't that good (in BG1, in ToB she ROCKS)

I usually have 1 cleric/druid class in my party, 1 thief, 2 mages (although in you're first time trough the game, I would stick with 1 mage) and the rest fighters.
Also have 1 or 2 archers (i usually use a thief and someone else) bows are the best weapons in BG1
Kivan comes in mind (in the highhedge district)

You're cleric will be handy in melee all throughout the game, but not as good as fighters but still, they can do some melee damage, and can wear good armour.
Also with the right spells they get better tac0 and AC, but the realy good cleric-buff-spells are in BG2
(In bg1 I only use clerics and druids as healers and summoners)

Vintersorg · Post by **Vintersorg** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 3:43 am

Stilgar thx for the reply

My party

Antellamon - Cleric level 5 as Semi Tank
Kahlid - Fighter Level 4 as full out tank
Jahiera - Fighter/Drui level 3/3Slinger and spell backup. (Entangle)
Imoen - Thife Level 5Thife and Archer
Kivan´- Ranger level 4 Archer and reserv melee
Dyanhier - Mage level 4 Spellsupport/witch

So i have what i think of as a good party, and even if Jahiera doesn't do very much i'm keeping her for roleplayings sake.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 10:34 am

Cleric

Fwiw, I just played a Fighter/Cleric (Inziladun - Male LE Dwarf) through the entire series, and in BG I had a fairly similar party with Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc & Dynaheir. Dynaheir is pretty annoying - a DIVINER? C'mon Minsc, couldn't Boo do better? - but she did the job ok.

Anyway, being multi classed, I could tussle pretty well, but even single class clerics do reasonably well, especially as DuHM scales up. The big melee drawback for single class clerics is that you don't get the extra attacks later on & your weapons proficiency is limited - but that doesn't REALLY matter much untill fairly far into BG2. Khalid doesn't really get great untill you get him a strength item - then watch out!

I've had horrid luck with Command - everyone seems to always save

Anyway, for me the whizzo spells were Hold Person and Silence 15' Radius - they really helped a lot, plus Animate Dead certainly came in handy, and don't forget Doom - a nice no save debuff. The usual party buffs, of course - Bless/ Chant/ Harmony for the tougher fights, and party buffing is much easier with two priests.

With the plethora of NPCs available to you in BG1, you can really put together all kinds of parties to suit your taste - there are no less than 5 pairs of NPCs as well as all the single ones. In case you care, Jaheira & Minsc were still with me when Inziladun ascended at the end of ToB.

Enjoy!

Vintersorg · Post by **Vintersorg** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 1:38 pm

Hi...

Thx for the input Nephtu. I'm beginning to wonder if i should have started a Fighter, and then have dualled to Cleric once i hit level 7, but i guess that's to late now. As i said earlier i traded minsc for Kivan, but i'm starting to change my mind. Is it possible to warp him back into the game, and make it so that he can join me? With some sort of Clua command. i'm very bad at that, so if someone knows please be very easy when you describe how to do it.

Thx!