Dual classing a Ranger to a Cleric

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I've read here on the boards about how dual classing a ranger to a cleric makes for a nice character build, so I've decided to try it. When is the best time to switch them over? I'm hoping to have a caster who can draw from both clerical and druid spheres, and have some fighting ability as well.

Anyway, your input would be appreciated.

[ August 21, 2007, 01:56: Message edited by: Giles Barskins ]

 

Honestly, I would just make a half-elf Ranger/Cleric. I'm not a big proponant of dual-classing, especially in Icewind Dale. But if you must, I'd do it at level 4 or 6 to get the attack boost.

By the time you get to level 9 as a Ranger, a Ranger/Cleric would already be casting 4th level spells and would, in the longer term, be much more powerful in combat. I always play with a RnClr multi-class and they always dominate everyone else in the party, despite being a level or so behind my single-class melee characters.

But that's me.

 

If you want to dual-class, do it at level 7. All warriors get an extra half attack at that level.

 

Access to the druid-only spells as fast as to the cleric spells works only in the pure version, if you have HoW your R/C will only gain access to the druid spells when the ranger level is high enough to cast them.

Dual at level 2,3 or 7, it depends on many things, like the rest of your party and your playing style.
Dualing at level 2 or 3 will be complete in chapter1, while dualing at level 7 will take until the later half of chapter3 (the game has 6 chapters) if you play normally.
Waiting longer isn't worth it, the biggest benefits are already gained at level 2.

 

DR is right BTW, a multiclassed RC is much more powerful than a Ranger > Cleric, unless you really need those Cleric spells early (I don't think you do).

 

I disagree totally. The dualclassed RC is far superior to the multiclass version.
The most important and the multiclass isn't even really better in terms of physical combat and gets less HP. In a normal game (even with all expansions) you'll never get the XP required for getting more attacks than a ranger7/cleric gets and whille a cleric needs only 675,000 XP for +2 thac0 at higher levels the mc needs 1,200,000.

A cleric is for casting cleric spells, as fast, as high level as possible with a high casting level for the level-dependent spell effects.
It's not that important if one party member does a little damage more or less if you could buff up and protect your party members better, yielding a far higher damage output and surviveability for your party, it's important that you can raise dead or heal party members as well as possible.

A ranger7/cleric is the strongest combination once dualclassing is completed, but a ranger2/cleric isn't much worse and will definitely help a party far more than the multiclass version once dualing is complete.

 

I've gotten a multiclassed RC to level 13 as a Ranger. That's more attacks, which IMO is a more effective character.

 

You didn't play normal mode, you played one of those cheesy double XP levels.
In this case multiclassing can make sense in order to avoid your casters to become too powerful to keep the game challenging.

 

That's incorrect. I always play on normal mode, 6 characters, always with 1 Ranger / Cleric, and I'm well above level 13 by the time I reach Behlifat, before moving on to HoW. I do absolutely every quest and kill everything.

 

If you kill thousands of endlessly respawning monsters it's no problem.
But if you don't use such cheese or cheats 1,100,000 XP per character is more realistic, a little more if you squeeze out every possible quest XP, but definitely not the 3,000,000 you need for ranger mc level 15.
Do you remember how many XP you had after each chapter ?
If getting 3,000,000 XP before starting HoW was normal, many hard fights of the expansions wouldn't even be fights, since a cleric with 3,000,000 XP could just turn the enemies (barrow wights, spectral guards, ...) easily.

 

kmonster: so your argument is that playing on a harder difficulty is actually easier?

 

Dude - who said anything about level 15? Both Klorox and I have gotten to and above level 13/13 with a Ranger/Cleric in a normal, non-cheated game. It's tough and pushes things to the limit, but it's doable. Just because you haven't pulled it off doesn't mean we haven't. Deal with it.

I can't think of a reason we would lie about such a lackluster achievement, honestly.

 

Yes, just because I haven't run 100 meters in 8 seconds, this doesn't mean you haven't.
I'm sure that you turned the difficulty slider to another level than normal (like "very easy" or "very hard"), killed respawns or used other "special" tactics. IWD is an open book, you can read nearly everything about it in the internet, there just aren't "normal" ways to gain so much XP.

15 was a typing error, for ranger13 mc you need the 3,000,000 XP which I claimed to be impossible without using cheese. You even claimed to be "well above" level 13 before starting HoW.

PS:
1)A ranger13/cleric13 mc is impossible.
2)Klorox never claimed to have played normal mode


@Klorox: Yes, especially at higher levels. High level spells for example can make the game a lot easier. A simple cast of PW: Blind can disable the mercenaries in HOW.

 

Umm...its my first time taking a Ranger>Cleric, and I dualled it at Ranger level 3...Although I apparently I didn't read the comment well enough, I have HoW & ToLM installed, will my Ranger>Cleric not be able to cast druid spells, if so, this was kinda a waste of three levels of experience...I just did the dual, and druid spells are not in the priest scroll.....

 

Yeah Halasz. no druid spells for you with expansion installed.

 

Yes, no druid spells. With the expansions installed you have to take a druid (or fighter/druid) if you want real druidic spell power, ranger/cleric combos don't work that well (how useful are level 1-2 spells when you can cast level 6-7 spells ?), even pure class rangers gain access to the druid spells faster. For a party without druid a pure class ranger is even more useful than in a party with druid.

You didn't "waste" experience for the 3 ranger levels, a ranger3/cleric is far superior to a pure cleric.
For the 3 ranger levels you gained:
- better rolls at creation
- 18/.. strength
- 6-12 extra HP (depending on your con)
- + 1/2 attack/round, +1 to hit, +2 damage for weapon specialisation
- + 1 attack/round in melee while not wearing a shield

And this for only 4,500 XP, 2 percent of the 225,000 XP you need for an additional cleric level after level 9.

 

Klorox, you're familiar with how the difficulty works in IWD1 right ? higher difficulty means more enemies = more XP.

Meaning that harder difficulty makes the game harder for the first chapter, and a breeze ever after as you're higher leve than planned or intended. If you want to play it as "difficult" as possible then let it stand at normal. (Forgotten what the easier settings did again, as I've never really used them).