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i have been thinking of playing NWN again, and so far i am at this:

class: fighter/cleric
statistics: STR 14, DEX 10, CON 14, WIS 16, INT 10, CHA 12.
skills: concentration, diplomacy, spellcraft.

the thing that bothers me is that i don't know how many fighter levels i should take. if i take 2 fighter levels, i gain +2 feats, but i also thought that i could take 4 fighter levels to get +2 feats and weapon specialization (+2 damage i guess?). is the +2 bonus damage worth it, or is it enough if i just take weapon focus for +1 bonus damage, therefore taking just 2 fighter levels?
on top of this, the biggest problem is that i don't know which weapon i should take for the focus... i will use shield + weapon, but what weapon? i am undecided between longsword, bastard sword and katana (the last two would require me to take the exotic weapon feat which doesn't bother me tbh).

all in all, my cleric will be a balanced cleric, a spellsword. all my points will go into WIS at later levels to enhance my spellcasting, and i will mostly boost STR and WIS to enhance both the melee and magic area.

note: i have both expansions installed, so i will go past lvl 20.

In general, there seem to exist two prevalent opinions among NWN players, regarding the addition of fighter levels to a cleric character:

1. Don't. Use (extended) divine power instead - preferably with a cleric with the "strength" domain, so you gain access to that spell easier. It will give your character an attack bonus equal to that of a fighter of the same level, as well as bonus hit points. The downside is that you have to cast a spell to activate your extra power and you'll run out of uses eventually. But then, resting isn't really a problem in the campaign.

2. Add either 1 or 4 levels of a warrior class (fighter, ranger, paladin, barbarian...) to your cleric. Just one will get you access to all martial weapons, but 4 will also raise your characters base attack bonus high enought to receive an additional attack per round - similar to a single-classed fighter or paladin. Of course, you can still use the divine power spell if you want some additional boni. The downside is that, unless you play in a campaign/on a server that allows for epic characters, that your cleric will not be able to cast level 9 spells (required cleric level: 17) and their caster level will also only be that of a level 16 cleric, regarding the duration and effectiveness of their spells.


That said, I prefer the second option, simply because I don't like buffs very much and the less a character has to rest, the better in my opinion.

Regarding weapon specialisation: In my view, the two points of damage are not worth it. In most cases not even for single-classed fighters.
Unless you play a module that you've played before, the chances of specialising in e.g. longsword only to find an awesome battleaxe some time later, are quite high.
I usually skip weapon focus & specialisation for that reason, with the exception of weapon masters, monks and similar "single weapon tuned" characters.


Finally, because I think it fits the topic and might be of interest to you, I really like a "Battleguard of Tempus" cleric build for the Neverwinter Nights campaign.
Basically, it's a cleric (domains: strength & knowledge) with a level or two of fighter and one of barbarian added.
Besides the strong image of a battle-raging warrior-priest of the god of battle, it is a quite flexible build and can really do anything:

- The fighter level adds martial and exotic (bonus feat) weapon profiences, meaning they can use any weapon you might come across and also wear any armor (but you'll probably usually settle for heavy armor anyway), barring alignment restrictions.
- The barbarian level (taken as the first one for the skill points) is mostly taken for the gain in speed, but in the early game, the rage ability can come in handy.
- Having 17 or 18 cleric levels under their belt, they can cast any cleric spell (assuming you reach level 20, which is unlikely in the campaing).
- Clerics receive the 2nd level spell "find traps", which disarms any trap they come across. By taking the "knowledge" domain, they also receive the "knock" spell (and the useful "identify" spell), which lets them open any locked door or chest. Meaning you won't need a rogue to accompany you.
- If you prefer, you can play it as a barbarian2/fighter2/clericX build, like I described under point 2. earlier.

So, you can cast defensive, healing and offensive spells, fight with any weapon, wear all armors and better any traps and locks.
Power, versatility and a strong character concept. What more do you want?

In any case, have fun playing the game!