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I need advices... again! [POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

Hi.

It has been a little while since I stopped playing Baldur's Gate 2.. and I've just reinstalled it for a (last?) run through. This time, I only want to have a few characters arround... 3 would be perfect, 4 might be acceptable too.

I want to play as a sort of Fighter/Druid this time... and here's what I can choose from :

Fighter/Druid (Multiclass)

Pros : Heavy armour, good thac0
Cons : Slow spells progression, restricted to Weapon Specialisation

Berserker/Druid

Pros : Heavy armour, decent thac0, rage (immunities + damages/thac0), Grand Mastery, Fast spell progression.
Cons : Restricted to Proficient with ranged weapons, sitting duck until Berserker's kit reactivation.

Kensai/Druid

Pros : best thac0, best damage dealer (bonus + Kai), Grand Mastery, Fast spell progression.
Cons : cannot use ranged weapons, poorest AC, sitting duck until Kensai's kit reactivation.

Wizard Slayer/Druid

Pros : Heavy armour, decent thac0, spellcasting disruption, magic resitance, Grand Mastery, Fast spell progression.
Cons : cannot use rings/amulet/boots/girdles/etc., sitting duck until Wizard Slayer's kit reactivation.

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My Party :

- PC - (See above)
- Fade - Female Swashbuckler Fey'ri (Elven Tiefling)
- Minsc/Valygar/Korgan/Mazzy/Keldorn/Sarevok ????? (If Sarevok, who would you choose to tank before I get to ToB)
- Edwin/Nalia/Aerie/Imoen ????? (If Imoen, who would you choose as a spellcaster before I save her)

I managed to finish BG2 VERY easily with just 3 characters. It's quite easier since they develop much faster if you had 5 or 6.
My party consisted of my evil wizard, korgan and viconia.

This is in answer to the tank you needed. IMO Korgan is the best fighter in the game, no doubt about. And as a plus he's loads of laughs.
Sarevok is great but by the time you get him (if you play only with 3 characters) Korgan will be a demigod and Sarevok will have a hard time catching up.

For a spellcaster.. i can only say: Edwin, Edwin, Edwin! He's hilarious and the best spellcaster in the game. Again, IMO. He wreaks havok and can bring down hordes of monsters single handedly. Of course when i had my 3-man party i didn't get him since my wizard was all i needed. Didn't even need a thief.

Your character.. what can i say.. Don't like druids much.. If you like them you'll know what to choose. I know this will probabily get flamed or something but I've learnt that the best characters are pure classes. I never dual or multi with my main character or any others for that matter.

Good luck with your game and remember to eat now and then.. a 3 man party will become very powerful very quick so I guess you'll fall in love with kicking the hell out of Irenicus

Your choices should depend on what NPC's you want in your party. If you're going evil then you can get Korgan & Edwin and your character can afford to be weaker. You can then have Sarevok if you wish in TOB but Korgan should be strong enough to hold the line

If you go good you can choose Minsc who makes a great tank and a mage/thief such as Nalia or Imoen, both their theiving and arcane abilities are slightly weaker than single-classes but can progress to be acceptable quickly.

In both cases I would probably recommend Berserker/Druid out of the classes you're looking at, due to the abilities of a fighter and a similar rage to that of a barbarian (with all the immunities that go with it).

Yep. I forgot to mention this. Those characters are the best you can find but they're evil. Minsc and Imoen are the best next choices. Imoen for her thieving abilities besides being a mage. But if you decide to get a good-aligned party get Edwin until you rescue Imoen and watch him make fun of all the others in your party

Pick up Jaheira at the start. She's a fighter/druid. And make pc whatever you want.

Question: why Fighter/Druid?

I only ask because there's a bug in this game. All Cleric/Rangers get access to all Cleric and Druid spells. If you want Fighter/Druid for the spells, the C/R is probably a better combo (if you dual class, only a Ranger without a kit or a Beastmaaster works). If you want to use scimitars, or are looking forward to Druid bonuses at levels 15+, then you need to go with a Druid.

Because I find this class a bit cheesy, and I want druids HLAs (refinements).

I used to play a shapeshifter / fighter. Pretty damn powerfull, especially when dual weilding. Problem is you end up like 24 / 25 or something if you want HLA for the druid and that takes a while....

Why multiclass a fighter/druid but dual the others? Why not dual that one too? The cons you described are ones that you create by multiclassing.

I think creating a Berzerker--> Druid is the right way to go- the rage, the armor and weapon choices... it's the best option because it goes a long way toward undoing some of the sucky druid restrictions. Choose the level you dual carefully (duh!), but other than that, you shouldn't have any problems. My only sticking point would be whether or not to dual weild- there are a lot of good weapons out there, and you won't have enough profs to use as many as you want, especially if you go for grand mastery at any point. Choose wisely! Also, as someone said, Ranger--> Clerics are more powerful, but that isn't really the point if you're not interested in playing one.

As for party members... this is going to sound dumb, but choose who you want. I like Jan because he gives you theif levels (I LOVE the class- truely underatted imo), and also Aerie is a good choice because you won't have any cleric abilities either. Aerie is whiny though, and Jan isn't a single-classed spellcaster... so maybe Nalia. Her sidequest annoys me though... so Edwin? His alignment can be difficult though... you see where I'm going with this - it all comed down to you.

(As an aside, Fable really likes Edwin due to his personality, for what it's worth. If you haven't played through with him and want to be bad, think about it.)

In that same vein, Korgan is by far the best tank- he's beefy, single classed, and has great profs. However, Minsc is loads of fun and Keldorn with Carsomyr is... well... Keldorn with Carsomyr! Mazzy and Valygar aren't tough enough for me. I guess what I would do is choose between Korgan, Minsc, and Keldorn, and then, when I got to TOB pick up Sarevok and IMMEDIATELY dual him to a Theif! That would be great!

Couple of things. First:

I've removed some spam from this thread. Please take a look at the first post, and the requests it makes. Tailor your responses accordingly. Posts that go far afield will be removed.

Second...

(As an aside, Fable really likes Edwin due to his personality, for what it's worth. If you haven't played through with him and want to be bad, think about it.)

Not so. I can't abide Edwin's personality, if you can call it that. He is incredibly immature and lives in the land of denial. But his dialog is amusing, and the bonus of his family heirloom makes him an excellent party member for new players who need the added magical advantage. I suppose my favorite character as a personality would be Aerie: a survivor in the truest sense of the word, on the way to becoming a powerhouse of magical and clerical spells.

@Fable

Sorry about that- I remember you saying something about Edwin being a wonderfully dry and biting character, and recommending that someone give him a try all the way through TOB. He's a pill- don't get me wrong about that- but I think you said you liked the sarcasm. In any case, you've cleared it up, so I'm babbling... You really like Aerie? I think she's okay, but she's not too high on my list. Then again, I personally prefer might over magic, and Aerie's kinda whiny too, don't you think?