Druids

Remove all ads!

Even though I haven't finished Bg2 yet I thought it would be fun going back to the beginning with a new character class and go all the way to the end. My new pick was a druid. What a mistake. Didn't get a roll above 88. Not that it mattered. Even with dex of 18 he couldn't hit a thing. The idiot even broke his scimitar trying to kill the rats. He survived assassination attepts by loading up on npcs and running; thereby losing the services of Garrick, Xzar and Khalid--not that I miss Khalid. Do druids get any better? What happened to shapeshifting? What happened to summoning?(does anyone want any goodberries?)

That mc cleric-ranger is starting to look very good.

 

If You want to go all the way through BG1 ToTSC BG2 ToB then go with a Fighter/Mage/Thief. They have a great deal of possibilies. And lots of fun and new ways to play them will pop up as You improve Your gaming. It never doll to play a F/M/T

As to the druid. Stick with him. Its not a close combat guy, but his powers will be equally brilliant at higher levels as he is poor at low levels. Your shapeshifting abilities will peak in BG2. I say its worth a try. But a druid is in my opinion pretty anonymous in BG1. Not much more than a healer. And they are always great.


[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited August 27, 2001).]

 

Perhaps you should create a new character with different stats (you CAN get higher) and use some new strategies in fights. I've played a druid multiple times and I never had any serious problems. As for summoning, there are animal summoning spells at the higher levels. When you hit lvl 7 you can shapeshift.

 

In general there is nothing wrong with the druid class. The problem is that BG1 does not gave the druid most of they advantages, but does give them all of their disadvantages. It's not until BG2;ToB that the druid is really balanced out. They are fun to play but just a little weak in the first game. And what is wrong with 88 points. four 15s & two 14s not good enough for you or is it four 18s & two 9s? What kind of stats do you want?

 

When I read your story, it seems that you try to let your druid act like a fighter. That's very wrong, a druid is a spellcaster, his powers are not in fighting. A cleric is a better fighter in that case, or indeed a dual classed Cleric/Fighter or Ranger. Shapeshifting comes at higher level...

 

Fighter? nah--he hit the skids running and the early spells stink. For stats I wanted 18 str(to carry loot),18 dex(no armor),18 wis(for more of those great spells),16 con,10 int(needed to use wands?) and that doesn't leave much for cha. Anyway I wanted to fool around with a pure druid, but it appears to be mainly a placeholder until BG2.

 

You're far too demanding. my druid only has strength 11 and she's doing just fine, even with only a +1 staff. Why would anyone want strength 18 to carry stuff around, when that's what the fighters can do? Just for your info, druids can wear ankheg plate.

 

A druid doesn't need high strength.. In the beginning it aint a great class. it can have a good low AC but should use range attack only, he has not too great thaco so choose missile weapons for him and let him fight with slings. In BG2 they will become more powerful, and then you and your druid could even think about some melee attack.

 

Rangstrom, your stat demands are rediculous - for any character class, not just the Druid. When you're generating one take into consideration that you can boost each of your stats up by one at some point in the game, and your wisdom can be raised up to 3 points.

From the sound of your post, you're not soloing so you shouldn't have to worry about crazy melee capabilites, which is not what druids are for. Incidently, they can wear armor, up to studded leather which isn't spectacular, but there's some decent magic leathers lying around.

I found that in BG1 they're not half as bad as everyone says, and in outdoor combat you just can't compete with their Call Lightning spell. Especially in the tougher fights (Cloakwood comes to mind, with multiple Wyverns attacking), the longer the fight lasts the more lightning rains down on your opponents.

In melee, which they can participate in later on, make sure you have a couple of fighters to engage the enemy while the druid casts spells (layering up on Defensive Harmony was a favorite tactic of mine after two of them everyones AC is down by 4). After a few spells he can change into a bear and join the melee for 3 attacks per round and really decent damage (more attacks than a fighter, but hits less often, its a trade off).

Animal Summoning 2 became my favorite spell after a while, in fact I killed Sarevok with 2 of these spells, which summoned 4 Cave Bears that summarily disposed of him (yes a cave bear got the killing blow on Sarevok - 17 points of damage)

The down side I found was that in a dungeon, they lose some steam. Hold animal isn't useful there (whereas outdoors I used it all the time), call lightning doesn't work, and when you transform in to a bear in tight hallways the game has a tendency to relocate you BEHIND everyone you're adjacent too (out of range...) However summoning, and defensive harmony are still valid.

If you continue with it to BG2 the spells get a major upgrade (Insect swarm is incredible!) and if you need more spell power you can convert him to an Avenger, or if you want more melee muscle, a Shapeshifter. But that's for another forum altogther, heh.

I'm rambling.

 

I am of Irish heritage so I'm gratified that the druids are making such a comeback. But imho druids in BG1 are boring. I've finished BG1 as a paladin and as a mage/thief and I'm looking for another interesting class to play through the end of the series. The only fun I've had with this mope was listening to Garrick do his run away, run away song-just before he died.

And high strength is a must. Nothing is more boring than multiple corpse-looting trips. I always need more gold.

 

This is a bit off-topic, but druids in D&D and the druids of ancient Celtic civilization don't share all that much in common. Too bad for students of Celtic myth and history like me.

On the matter of strength: I NEVER create a character with strength under 10 (even mages). I've found that even with that, your character can carry enough if you also have Khalid/Minsc/etc. in your group to act as a mule. And, even with that, Druids can still be used to good effect as tanks, albeit a spell-casting tank, if you have Imoen armed with a bow as backup. Like I said earlier, I've played through several times with a druid, and never had any trouble in that regard.*shrugs*

 

Well hey thanks for the pointers I guess I'll run with my druid for awhile longer and see how things turn out.

 

I wouldn't bother ! In BG1, druids are nigh on useless as a main charachter . there offensive spells only come into play very lat in the game and the only decent one is call lightning which you can only do once or twice a day. There only use is as a healer and after all thats what Jaheira is for. Much better to be a mage and then ALL WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!BWWAAAAAHHHHAAAHAAA!!![coughs] excuse me-carried away again.

 

Hey now, druids aren't so bad! It's useful to have your main character be a strong healer, which is what the druid is. They can hold their own in combat, and have a healthy amount of defensive and healing spells. Plus they can use the ring of holiness that you get off Mulahey's corpse.

 

That's what I already said. the power of a druid isn't in strength, but in spell casting. And in BG, one of the most important spells is the healing spell. What would your party be without a Cleric or Druid that heals you every time? And indeed, in BG2 it will be even more fun, for then you get shapechange and also your druid would be a better fighter with the good weapons in that game.

 

Inferno, keep in mind that not EVERYBODY is a self-styled power gamer. AND, after playing through the game a few times it is more interesting to use a weaker character.

 

It might be worth it to stick it out with the druid if you want to have some decent fun in BG2/TOB, perhaps with the Avenger kit or Totemic kit. But I just can't agree that a druid is good in BG in any aspect, even their main strength: casting. If the designers had given their spell list at least a little thought, they would have been much better, as BG2 and TOB shows. I played a fighter/druid to the end, and they were really fun, particuatly with spectral brand, nice armor (a certain white scale armor comes to mind), and the aura of flaming death. But, regardless, in BG their spells just didn't stack up to the cleric. Too many indoor fights for call lightning to be good. The rest I didn't find a use for. A cleric is as useful to healing, and the rest of their spells are useful as well. But again, if you want to play on through to BG2, you could stick it out with the character.

 

If you do want your Druid to be a bit better at melee earlier on try using a fighter/druid mc or I think a fighter/druid dc. That way you can get around the armor restrictions, helping the druid catch up with the cleric a bit quicker, not to mention having an extra half attack or so for specialization.

[This message has been edited by The DMage (edited August 31, 2001).]

 

what else is there to say but to stick it out