GameBanshee Forums

What are the advantages and weaknesses when comparing the cleric and the druid?

Check the class section of this very site ...

http://www.gamebanshee.com/icewinddaleii/classes.php

or this character developement guide from gamefaqs

http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/ ... ar_dev.txt

I was looking for a more subjective comparison than the mere features of the class.

As in, the classes themselves, or how they will fare in the game?

Playing a party without a cleric is much harder than with one. Cleric is the traditional healer class and none of the other classes can really replace one.

- Cleric is the only class which can use the "raise dead" or "resurrection" spell.
- They can cast one extra deity-dependend spell per level and change all memorized spells into healing spells. They also get most healing spells earlier.
- They have more party buffing spells than druids, bless, magic circle against evil, champion's strength are only a few of them.
- They get the overpowered "animate dead" spell which yields the most useful summons.
- They have the heavy armor feat.

- Druids are not that useful as party supporters.The only important druidic party buff is barkskin.
- Druid is the only class which doesn't start with crossbow feat (which is only useful at low levels). Druids also don't start with heavy armor feat, but they can use spears and halberds.
- The most devastating druidic spells are "call lightning" and "static charge", especially if you have the "GSF transmutation" and "scion of storms" feats and cast them several times in a row. Very useful against ultra-tough enemies with damage reduction.
- My druid was the best character for the battles where only 1 party member had to fight. As buffed up polar and later dire bear who shot electricity while slashing at the enemies she succeeded everywhere.

As party healers, buffers and skeleton summoners clerics have an important role in the party no other class can do.
Druids have some healing capacities, can use offensive magic and many summoning spells other classes can't cast.

Each balanced party should have a cleric and a wizard/sorcerer, druid is one of the possible choices for the remaining 4 character slots.

is a cleric/druid multiclass possible?
im trying to make it work for one of my characters...

Yeah, but it cripples your character for high level spells during the majority of the game. The only way it would be worthwhile is if you took cleric until roughly 15-17th level, and then switched to druid on your second run through for extra spells and abilities. Or vice/versa, druid and then cleric. I would say doing monk and one of the two would be a better way to go, and ditching armor and weapons.

the problem is my drow has cleric as her "favored class", which means i need cleric and since i want druid on her too... monk wont be included... (unless druid and monk levels are same.. either high or low..)

any other combos? 50/50 split wasnt what i intended... any major cleric with druid spell support or better yet, minor cleric and major druid setup ideas?

Multiclassing spellcasters is a bad idea. You'll only gain a crippled character.
Besides the big lack of power (high level spells are far more powerful than low level spells and most spell effects get better with levels) I don't think it is fun having a cleric8/druid8 who can't even cast level5 spells in the party while your pure spellcasters can already cast level 8 spells. Spells which do about 10 damage are good against goblins but nearly useless against level 16 monsters.
If you want both, take a pure cleric and a pure druid. Multiclassing will yield rather nothing than half of both classes. Even 6 multiclassed cleric/druids have less priest power than only 1 pure cleric and 1 pure druid.

i will have to try to work with a multi-ed one... i no longer have room in party...

It's possible, but you'll have a harder time beating the game.
Unless you are very skilled I recommend a pure cleric instead.
I don't think trading level 5-8 cleric spells for level 1-4 druid spells is a good idea.
A pure druid is also far better than the multiclass.

probe53 wrote:the problem is my drow has cleric as her "favored class", which means i need cleric

That doesn't mean you need cleric at all. That just means that if you have cleric as your higher class and you multi-class to another class, it won't penalize your experience growth rate.

kmonster wrote:It's possible, but you'll have a harder time beating the game.
Unless you are very skilled I recommend a pure cleric instead.
I don't think trading level 5-8 cleric spells for level 1-4 druid spells is a good idea.
A pure druid is also far better than the multiclass.

right now i had in mind only 4 levels of cleric spread out through the growth of druid...

i could go for pure druid, true, but i rather go for muticlass even if it is a bit worse off in exchange.
but is there no way a druid can benifit from some of the earlier priest spells?

or vise versa?

Magrus wrote:That doesn't mean you need cleric at all. That just means that if you have cleric as your higher class and you multi-class to another class, it won't penalize your experience growth rate.

yea, i know, wasnt what i ment. i just rather go for the multi class cleric somehow.
it shouldnt penalize me if its the higher or lower of the 2 class... i think

ex. no penalty if its lv. 1 cleric and 29 druid or 29 cleric and 1 druid..
unless your telling me it only not penalize if it is higher and CANT be lower...
i thought i read in manual about it both ways.

Multiclassing spellcasters is a bad idea. You'll only gain a crippled character.

There is an instance (of which I am currently using) where I disagree with this statement. I am currently playing a party with 2 cleric/wizards:
1) Drow Watcher of Helm 10 / Diviner 5
2) Dwarf Stormlord of Talos 6 / Fighter 4 / Conjurer 6
(currently in Dragon's Eye)

I would not call them "crippled" - far from it. The drow is my decoy (AC of 37, max 47+, with Blur, Mirror Image and Blink - never gets hit!), while my dwarf is the damage character (44% of all kills, although the AB is only +26, which I find is now too low to hit without buffing!).

I agree totally with a 50/50 split producing weak spellcasters, but my aim for both of these characters (through playing HoF) is only to get the 6th level spell Tensor's Transformation (11 levels - both already have it written, in preparation) - I have a specialist (almost) pure-class sorcerer that does the real damage!

certain spells say that the effects of the spell strengthens based on the power of the caster (theses are cleric spells).

does this count only for the Cleric levels or the overall player levels?

Not only some, most of the spells get better with levels. (Longer duration, more damage, more HP healed, better summons, ...)
For cleric spells only the cleric levels count, for druid spells only the druid levels count, it's the same with all spellcaster classes.

The best route for multiclassing cleric and druid is taking 20 levels of one class first.
Unless you abuse game mechanics your average party level will be lower than 17 at the end of game, because of the ECL penalty your drow will probably reach only level 15 and be at even lower levels during the game.
So there's no use thinking about how to distribute 30 levels, if you want to take this character over to HoF mode after playing through the game you can add levels of a second class then. You'll have the same character at level 30 but be not crippled through the whole game.
A druid might benefit from one cleric level, if you add a level of battleguard of Tempus he will gain axe specialisation and heavy armor feat. But I don't think it evens out the somewhat slowed BAB progression and gaining of high level spells.

If you want to have both a cleric and a druid I recommend creating one pure class and replacing your party warrior. Priests gain nearly the same offensive power as warriors, you only loose 1 BAB for every 4 levels.
A fighter4/cleric or druid can be stronger in melee than a pure fighter. Even a pure cleric works very well as tank.


@Jelaweb: A pure level 15-16 cleric could cast several "mass heals" which heals the whole party instantly in battle with only one spell. Since there are many other useful high level clerical spells and low level spells which benefit from higher caster level your multiclass clerics are crippled as party healers.

For the defensive warrior role they are better than pure warriors, but that's mainly because warriors are underpowered compared to the overpowered defensive buffs like "mirror image" you get as spellcaster.
The character with the most kills in my party was also a pure cleric of Tempus btw.

whats the reason for 10 of one and 20 of another?
or is that just an estimate?

I believe it is because spellcasters do not receive too many benefits from proceeding past the twentieth level in their primary level. Therefore you theoretically have 10 levels to play with.

so a wizard or socerer that is lv. 12 is done?
what about the 9th level spells?

or is this "rule of thumb" just for clerics/druids.. so i take avg. 10 of one and 20 of another?

"the twentieth level" is not lv. 12.
If you look at the tables at the back of your manual you will see that priests,sorcs or wizards gain extra spells very slowly after level 20, where they already can cast at least 4 level 9 spells.
So they don't loose that much when they take other class levels thereafter.