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Same questions as for the cleric sorceror multiclass...

Have you ever done a cleric/druid before?

What level split did you do (or advise doing if you haven't constructed such a character yourself)?

I'd guess 15/15 for most spells and 17/13 (either cleric or druid dominant) for access to 9th level spells. Personally I'd bet on the 15/15 or the 17 druid/13 cleric....

If you played with such a character how did it perform for you? Or if you never played with such a character then how would you expect it to perform?

-myrophine

I've never played with such a character, but what stands out for me is the huge number of low level spells and relative dearth of high level spells. Also, the DC for offensive spells wouldn't be nearly as good as it could be.

One idea I've seen floated around is to only take a druid to lvl 12, so as to get the maximum AC value out of barkskin - that would free up the rest of the levels to get 18 levels of cleric, a respectable number.

What cleric would you take? I could see a dreadmaster being pretty powerful with the +2 wisdom (twice) for completing that quest as well as the class-granted +1 to DC for clerical spells. The wisdom bonus would help the DC of both the druid and cleric classes, and spells using will saves (or no saves) are the best in HoF anyway. I'm not sure it fits from a roleplaying perspective, though. Selune would be the closest, but in that case why not take all the levels in one class?

I think Myrophine is talking about either adding druid classes to Makados or cleric classes to Fissera. Both characters are in one of the default parties at the start of IWDII (Hands of Fury).

A Cleric/Druid class would have good spell access, especially seeing as they are both drawing off WIS, but less high-level access. It would probably depend on the way of levelling up on how it would affect you though. You could either increase levels as a cleric and druid alternately or stop at a level and start a new class, though this may set off an XP penalty.
This character probably would be pathetic on the front-lines though, so you should ensure there is enough melee talent to survive.

In terms of Cleric domain a Druid/Silverstar of Selune makes the most sense in terms of role-playing as many of the spells are quite similar.

A Druid/Stormlord of Talos or Druid/Morninglord of Lathander would make a decent bombarider as both would benefit from Scion of Storms, Spirit of Flame and Spell Focus: Evocation/Transmutation. From a role-playing perspective Druid/Morninglord makes more sense as Druids and Stormlords are ethically incompatible. I guess it depends on how realistic you wish your character to be.

My first HoF cleric came from a 4 person party, and she was a drow priest of Talos(18)/Druid(12). At the end of the game, it didn't really matter which had the higher level, because the only spells she really used were summons. So long as there are 12 levels of druid, then it's all good. Both druid and priest have pretty good high level summons.

So the difference is a priest gets the symbol spells at level 15, which can make a big difference.

@ Dedigan

Good advice on the symbol spells... so do you think I should go 15/15 or 13druid/17 cleric?

@ Ravager

Yes you caught me! I'm still trying to build the Hands of Fury. I just want to do it (both in normal and HOF) for the experience and curiosity and all.

@all

Roleplaying a cleric druid - I'll agree that some of the gods are harder to imagine meshing with druid: Bane, Talos, Ilmater, Selune are the extremes in alignment. For these characters I would advise leveling as a druid first to whatever level you see fit. THEN take your cleric levels and roleplay it as a conversion where they continue to steal (if evil) borrow (neutral) defend (good) the powers of the earth on ocassion under the protection of their new god from any repurcussions. If its pnp roleplay the repurcussions.

Good advice on the symbol spells... so do you think I should go 15/15 or 13druid/17 cleric?

13/17 would probably be a better combination to give you more priest levels and thus more powerful spells. On the other hand, 15/15 gives you more summons. The choice is really up to you, its a 6 in one, half dozen in the other type of question.

Personally I'd go for 17 Cleric levels (Lorekeeper of Oghma). This gives you tons of Symbols (6th and 7th level domain spells are both useful Symbol spells), as well as Power Word: Kill (great for finishing off big opponents that have been worn down to under 100 HP) and the oh so powerful Wail of the Banshee at 9th.

Even without the Druid levels, this guy will be a very valuable character.

i've tried a few cleric / druids...

1st was a deep gnome c/d, starting wis of 20 and dreadmaster gave a very high wis score, but have to evenly level made this char at once a poor cleric and a poor druid until very high levels were reached. further it's tough to find a sweet spot where you can squat. as you can only squat 2 levels at a time.

this was a very frustrating build. once you get very late in the game you can squat the last few levels to try and hit 13-17 (the most obvious breakpoint imho) as that gives you 7th level spells in your minor and 9th in your major.

later attempts...

taking female drow or human (or 1/2 elf) makes this more simple, you can focus on one 1/2 of your build then squat, or begin to level up your other side, upon completion of the regular game you are looking at aprox levels 13 / 5 which is fairly decent to begin hof.

--

my current druid / cleric is a bit of a viconia clone, poor str & con, good dex, good mental stats, max wisdom. cleric of talos / druid. (imho druid spells mix well w/ talos from a roleplay perspective too)

i took one level of cleric to start, for level one cleric spells - used mostly for healing, and then went all druid. the idea being that she's a support archer, w/ some buffs, some blasting and dirty fighting & rapid shot. she can use shapechage if i really want to melee w/ her. she also gains the use of heavy armour even if she lacks the strength to use most of them.

the downside to starting w/ druid is that she is a poor healer, and should be matched with another char that can handle the healing, most of her healing comes from her level one cleric spells and goodberries. (side note - goodberries is a very good camp spell, cast all, rest to rememorize sunscortch.)

the plan for her is to end at 13 / 17 druid / cleric. imho the 13/17 split druid / cleric is the most effective and gives the most spells (the domain spell @ 9 tips the balance)

i've also tried running up the cleric levels to 17 then going for druid, however imho this means barkskin is not fully effective until towards the end of hof. also most druid spells aren't that great in hof esp if you only have fairly low druid levels.

@ koz-ivan Do you mean that druid spells mix well with the Talos domain because they benefit from similar feats e.g. Scion of Storms, Spell Focus: Evocation and Transmutation?

As from a role-playing perspective the ethos of the druid and stormlord seem completely at odds.

Druids = Promote natural harmony and balance
Stormlords = Believe in chaos and destruction for destructions sake

I remember reading somewhere that evil druids in the FR setting are more drawn toward Kossuth, Elemental prince of Fire, or seemingly within the context of the IWD story Auril (which is kinda pushing it but still plausible).

ah ok fair point raven_song, if you consider the belief of a druid and that of a storm lord perhaps there is a philosophical disconnect.

otoh if you view the multi as a gesalt ie a "stormdruid" it makes more sense, unleashing natural forces to sow destruction. imho there aren't that many "Promote natural harmony and balance" type spells, yet "destruction and chaos" spells abound.

I take your point about the lack of 'harmonius' spells and the plethora of 'destructive' spells, but then given the Icewind Dale's favourment of violence over role-playing i guess that it is to be expected.

Actually to be honest the game may have benefitted from offering a choice of 'natural' deities that clerics could play (Eldath, Silvanus, Mielikki, Chauntea etc.) thus making a cleric/druid multiclass make sense philosophically, as to be honest it is very difficult to justify any of the available deities as having cleric/druid followers.