Avenger and Beast Master

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I'm taking a druid through BGI and I'm planning to make him an Avenger (people seem to like them and I've never played one) - any suggestions on that?

(my fighter druid is having a break at this point)

Also, the Beast Master seems to be - who am I kidding, he IS the weakest ranger kit - but he's also the most rangerish kit of them IMO... Have anyone played one and how was it? Weapon selection is very restricted, bows and staffs is about the only way to go, and the perks he gets in return is only useful in early- and midgame(?!): (+15% stealth, animal summon I, II and III and find familiar which means +12 hp)...

But nevertheless he seems (sounds) like a cool class if it's possible to play him succesfully. Skulking around in the shadows, raining arrows on his foes while his army of animals keep them occupied - but does it work? Or are the summoned animals simply to weak?

 

I have not complete SOA with a beastmaster before, but I think the tactic you stated is one of the sensible one, if not the best one. A beastmaster maybe not be a very powerful class, but with a right party(one that you are familiar with), you shouldn't be have any problem playing with a beastmaster. Anyway, playing game is for fun! No need to be too serious!

 

Don't forget that weapon restriction isn't as limiting as it first appears. Bows are always cool for Rangers to use, so no loss here. There are some very good staffs available and there is a +4 staff at the very beginning of the game in the shop. If you want to dual-wield then you'd need to use clubs and although not brilliant they imrpove drastically in TOB.

The summons will be weak later on, but anything that gets between you and the enemy is a good thing. And they may just keep the enemy long enough for you to pick them off with arrows.

 

Yeah, he'll probably be ok to play. And the Beast Master in the Copper Coronet is built like that - use animals as a shield, fire arrows as back up...

It would be unwise to dual wield and not have the ability to use a bow - and dual wielding two clubs sounds sounds a bit silly too...

 

I played a Beastmaster all the way through, he used a really good martial staff (or staff of the ram) backed up by a Talarash +5 longbow w/ quiver of plenty +2.

I don't play Baldur's Gate II to get the best character. I play for fun. The Beastmaster Kit is a very fun class. No class is so weak that you can't beat the game with it, remember that.

Avenger is a cool class because you can cast really good spells. For example; you can take out an annoying archer with a split-second casting of chromatic orb, then just continue fighting. You still have druid spells so you can heal.

But just remember, have fun.

 

The Beastmaster kit did turn me off a bit in the beginning, but now I think I may give him a try thanks to the Item Uograde mod. It lets you upgrade and combine several clubs in the game, making them worth having. It upgrades several staves, spears, and bows, too. The idea of a Ranger dual-wielding clubs now seems less lame, and a lot more rangery. Check it out.

 

Do you get Staff Maces or Spear Maces like you do in TOTSC? If so, a couple of Staff maces would be cool.

 

You can get a staff spear from Xzar, and if you join the Shadow Theives you can also get a staff mace. I think there is only one of each though.

I played through with a beastmaster and actually found it quite nice. The staff +4 from the Adventurer's Mart served me very well, and I found spears to be alright as well. And of course there are a lot of good bows.

And of course the avenger is quite nice as well. A little extra offensive magic makes it pretty powerful. I once killed a Balor with just a single Chromatic Orb. nothing else, no lower resist, just the orb. Talk about lucky.

 

I carried my ranger from BG1 - Dolina, she's a beast master, and she used longbows and quarter staves, so I was okay, and I always wanted a pet for her, and I got one

 

I'm playing through with an Avenger as my PC for the first time and it's a blast so far. The extra wild shapes are great at lower levels, especially the sword spider. Using it against mages rules, because they attack as +1 weapons, about 4 attacks per round, and they inject poison. I did the Renal Bloodscalp quest last night where you have to kill the cowled wizard for Edwin. He cast a fear spell on my party, leaving me to deal with him alone, and I just kept stabbing away until his protections came down. Once I got my first few licks in, he was screwed. The poison and speedy attacks disrupted his spells (and he's a fairly high level caster). Awesome. We'll see how it goes...

 

I've just completed SoA with Thomas, the Avanger Druid

It was fun it's cool. have a group of Druids! Thomas, Jaheira and Cernd! shifting at will and protecting nature!

EDIT - missed a rather bad typo.

[ July 25, 2003, 19:46: Message edited by: 8people ]

 

@ Death Rabbit
like you said, the avenger shapes are good "at lower levels", but they become pretty much useless later on. Then youre just left with the druid and extra mage spells

 

True. But I have a certain expansion installed, which will allow me to change into more interesting things in 3 more levels than I am now. Plus the item upgrade mod, which really benefits Druids in the weapons and armor department. I still think the Avenger is the best druid class, and I'm enjoying my game despite a few challenges. The interesting druid-only items make up for quite a bit too. I'm not really in for powergaming this time around.