Jaheira is of course a Druid, like Faldorn. She's multi-class, which means more tanking ability but less spellcasting ability. She's actually the best tank out of the five. Naturally as a Druid, she's Neutral. You get her the earliest. Unfortunately, she has the lowest WIS score of the four with 14.
Branwen is normally acquired second of the five, relatively near to the start of the game. She's a pure Cleric, which means more spells, however, she's not as good as Jaheira as a tank. She's Neutral. Also, she has the joint highest WIS score of 16, along with Yeslick and Faldorn. The third best tank of the five.
Yeslick takes the longest time to get out of all five, as you have to wait until the Cloakwood Mines to find him. He's multi-class like Jaheira, although he's obviously Cleric instead. His stats indicate that he's a slightly worse tank than Jaheira (they have identical STR and CON, but he has 12 to Jaheira's 14 DEX). He has the joint-highest WIS score of 16, along with Branwen and Faldorn. He's the only Good-aligned character of the five.
You normally come to Viconia third out of the five, but you can still get her from the start of the game. She's a pure Cleric like Branwen. She has 15 WIS, which is second lowest after Jaheira. She is a very weak tank, however a high DEX score is useful to her. Also, she has 50% magic resistance which many people are a fan of. She's the only Evil-aligned character out of the five. She's either the worst or second worst tank out of the five, in compeition with Faldorn, who cannot wear better than leather armor.
Faldorn is the only pure Druid of the five. She's got the joint best WIS score of 16. As a Druid, she's Neutral. You acquire her fourth out of the five characters, slightly before Yeslick, in Cloakwood. She's the joint worst tank along with Viconia, with higher STR and CON but lower DEX. Of course, as a pure Druid, she also can't wear better than leather armor.
Clerics vs. Druids: Clerics cannot use Scimitars and Spears. Druids cannot use Flails, Maces, Morning Stars and War Hammers. Of course, neither of these can use the stronger weapons such as Bastard Swords, Two-Handed Swords, etc. Clerics level up faster (I think!). As mentioned, pure Druids can't use any armor above leather. Clerics have other added spells and feats such as Turn Undead. Druids have a few bonus spells also.
That's their arguments summed up!
In my opinion, pure Clerics or Druids aren't really necessary to make an effective healer. As mentioned, I'm undecided on who's the best, but Faldorn ranks in last place for various reasons (you get her late, pure Druid is unnecessary, bad tank).
