Fighter/druid strategies

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I'm thinking of starting a game with a fighter/druid.

How do you play them?

And before you say that a ranger/cleric is better, I've already tried one and I think level progression is to slow - and furthermore I like the weapon restrictions for a druid... they rule out the uber weapons we usually go for: Celestial, Crom, Flail of Ages, Staff of the Magi and Carsomyr.

I'll probably be up front, once I get Iron Skins that shouldn't be a problem, and Insect Plague will take care of magic users - but what other spells would work for a figtherish druid? Cloak of Fear?

And should I go for spears (Impaler and Spear of Withering can do some nice damage) or should I dual wield Belm with another scimitar?

 

Why not go for a single-class Druid? The problem with a Fighter/Druid is that the high-level bonuses and spells, kick in at about 3000000XP, so you will have to wait a long time before getting these as a F/D.

Try a shapeshifter, they are cool. Even the standard werewolf form is fairly impressive and the GWW is awesome. Plus, if you have single-weapon style then the shapechange form gets this AC bonus as well. You can cast Iron Skins and other protections then shapechange for a killing spree.

Alternatively, go for a dual-class fighter-druid as druids level up real fast and you can gain access to the high-level skills faster than a MC F/D. Just remember you'll need Wis 17 and Cha 17 for this.

If sticking with a F/D, then I would recommend staff and two-weapon style, as the best staff in the game is a Druid staff.

Scimitars aren't that good in SOA, so you might want to use daggers if you want to use a shield.

A lot of people use slings with Druids, but I have had great success with darts plusthey have 3 attacks per round.

I would stick with more offensive and protective spells when playing a F/D and leave the healing to the cleric(s) in the party. Just power-up and wade in.

 

You think ranger/clerics progress slow? Fighter/Druids, at least the druid portion, progresses VERY slowly after level 12.

The one time I ran a F/D, I used scimitars and slings. Iron skins and any of the insect spells will work wonderfully. Cloak of fear is ok but easy to save against as the game progresses. Call lightning is a good spell, but it only works outdoors. Depending on who's in your party, Call Woodland Being is helpful for a little extra priest/druid assistance. If you don't have a priest in the party, you'll need to have a couple of healing spells at hand, as well as Harper's Call (similar to Raise Dead).

 

I've already played a single class druid... he was Totemic but that's another story.

I'd forgot about the huge xp-gap for druids after level 12... can prove to be rather annoying.

The reason why I won't dual class is that I have ToB installed (so maybe this should have been in the other forum).

Staff of the Woodlands is nice... so I'll probably go for two handed weapon style, staffs and spears...

I think I'll stick with the mc though - last night I rolled a pretty good half elf f/d:
STR: 18/85
DEX: 18
CON: 18
INT: 10
WIS: 18
CHA: 15
Around ToB he'll be a god...

 

You powergamer

 

Fair enough. Remember to put a point into single weaon style, so as to give your shapechanges an extra point to AC.

Are you going to do the fighter and druid strongholds and have both?

And more importantly, who will be your romance?

 

Problem is the Staff of Woodlands comes soooo very late in the game

There's the Staff of Adrundel or something from the bonus merchant that you can consider for the early parts - then you can make better use of your quarterstaff proficiencies. Plus you get an extra level 5 and 6 druid spell to cast.

 

Well, a lot of opinions out there already, so I'll just go for weapon selection. I would definitely stick with your idea of going for quarterstaves first, then two weapon fighting style, then spears. It is true that weapons like Blem give you an extra attack, and that they therefore improve combat damage, but keep in mind that it is a +2 weapon, meaning your aren't going to be able to hit a lot of creatures in the game. The Staff of Arundel is +3, so it hits dragons, golems, etc. and gives you extra spells, which is nice. Alternatively, if you need a good weapon before you can afford the Staff of Arundel, go for the Staff of Rynn in the Adventurer's Mart. It's only about 1/3 the cost of Arundel, but it's a +4 weapon with no special abilities. For spears, the best spear in the game probably isn't the Spear of Withering, but rather the Impaler (from the fish King). The Spear of Withering does 1-6 +4, +4 poison, for a maximum total of 14, and an average of 11 before strength, and weapon proficiencies are factored in. The Impaler is 1-6+3 +10 magical damage, for a maximum of 19 and an average of 16 before the bonuses are applied.

 

I'm rather interested in the Impaler - if I'm right it should do the following damage:
1d6 +3, +10 = 14-19 (+ strength bonus and weapon style bonus). Pretty nice.

Single weapon style gives AC when shapeshifted? I didn't know that (and since my stats go down when I'm shapeshifted I probably wont use it). Does that work for Shapeshifters too? That would be nice...

And I know it's kind of a powergaming roll but I just hate to have an INT score below 9...

I haven't thought much about my party yet - or romances... I'll probably ditch Jaheira from the start and I'll probably make a neutral/good party (but that's not final) so maybe I'll romance Aerie?

@Aldeth:
It seems I'm repeating you - I really must learn to write I bit faster

 

Single weapon style does indeed work for shapeshifters. This helps the WW form especially, as it changes your base AC from -1 to -2. Plus your rings, etc improve AC as well.

I worked out the my shapeshifter druid with Bracers AC3 and Dex18 would have AC-1, same as a WW so there is no loss in using this form. Plus the GWW gets even better bonuses - AC-10 (-11 with SWS).

This is one of the reasons I decided to stick with the shapeshifter instead of a F/D.

The Single-Weapon-Style bonus also works for the high level TOB shapes as well. So if you are going to use these then it may be worth investing in.

For ranged attacks you could try one of the throwing daggers or darts that are available.

 

I've been playing with a fighter/druid for a while now and i'm still using the Staff of Curing you pick up in the Graveyard district. Ive got the staff of rhynn when i need it but the staff of c is totally overlooked for its quick healing and bonus AC. I admit its not much of a weapon but I really don't like using overpowered equipment.

Anyone else think using the best of the best makes the game a little too easy and a bit boring?

Anyway, I cheated alittle and made my druid half an avenger kit, and combos of doom and chromatic orb works wonders.

 

@ Malovae

How did you do that?

 

@ Death Rabbit

With shadowkeeper probably

@ Malovae

Are the mage spells making a difference?

Will you side with the thieves or bodhi? Two thoughts on this one for you:
1) Side with the thieves as vampire are an afront to nature - good argument
2) Side with the vampires and wipe out the thieves the wipe out the vampires later on thus keeping the natural balance of things and getting rid of two opposing forces - there's nothing quite like being neutral. he he he!!

 

@Malovae
I think some of the items from the bonus merchants are overpowered - Robe of Vecna comes into mind.
And the Staff of the Magi but it is, however, pretty hard to come by (at least the first time around).

Actually I have an elf fighter/mage and I'm proud to say that he is going to use the Bladesinger Chain and not the Robe of Vecna (but maybe I go a bit for looks too?)

Anyways, as I wrote earlier, the reason why I wanted to try a fighter/druid and not a fighter/cleric was partially that the weapon selection are a bit more limited - the f/c would obviously go for the Crom or Flail of the Ages... or both.

@Bard
I for one have always found that the quests in the Baldur's Gate saga offer few - if any - options if you want to walk the neutral path...

 

@ Victor Eremita
You are right. I hate the fact that you can't be truly neutral at the end of SOA and choose some good some evil choices in the tests - to stay neutral you have to pick all good.

I haven't tried doing the evil options, but if your alignment changes do you lose your druid status?

Has anyone found the Golden Lion Statue of any use. It seems so much weaker than the Ranger's moon dog statue.

 

I didn't use the Lion Statue much - but the lion is ok in midgame, I think, with it's ability to cast a few buffing spells (haste and a few others I really can't remember). But you really don't need another summoning spell or item as a druid...

When I played a Totemic Druid I'd decided before Hell that I would choose some evil and some good solutions... but when I got there it seemed that the good path always was the one where you maintained balance in yourself - do you allow your greed overcome you? No. Your fear? No. Etc. So the good path seemed to be the logical choice.

But I miss some quest options that match the game's description of a true neutral character - the part about switching allegiance if balance is compromised.

 

@ Bard

Yeah they make quite a big difference to the way i play the game. Jaheira was good with her iron skins and insect plague but having chromatic orb and doom for instant death is handy (took out the shadow dragon in seconds).
Web is good at times but i don't use it much.
Lightning bolt is a good spell to have (I always thought the druids early offensive spells were rubbish)
Improved Invisibility is great for when your fighting mages and sneaking about. Thank heavens it was this spell they gave, although greater malison would be useful.
Chaos is a decent spell but I never use it!
And finally, I really like chain lightning but the damage is never that much


About who I would side with? Hmmm... if I was roleplaying which is most of the time, I'd probably go with the theives because although the vampires are the weaker power, the thieves are having a tough time against them and would most likely lose in the end. Also, the fact that you would destroy both thieves and vampires if you took the evil path and sided with Bodhi is irrelevent because the PC would not be aware of the outcome of their actions at the point of the game where they have to choose.

I like to see that not everyone hates druids that arent of the "oh look at me, I can shapeshift into a big canine and scratch at things for every encounter i meet" type.
I have to admit though i've never tried the single class kits except for the shapeshifter, which I didn't really like because I like wearing armour.

 

By just playing with Jahera, I don't see this combo as being weak. If you want to limit the use of power weapons, I'd stick with staffs, as there are more than a few good ones. A druid with a sword just doesn't seem to go together in my opinion, but being part fighter, well, it's your call. Druid spells work well, casting web to imobalise and then insect plague can do wonders, not just against enemy wizards. Nice roll on your stats too ...

 

I think the only Druid class I don't like much is the totemic druid. The avenger is pretty cool as you've said - I like the spells, but haven't tried the shapes out yet. Have you tried Doom(x2) and Chromatic Orb against dragons yet. It's a pretty awesome combo.

I must admit that the Druid has some great staffs available. I have issues using a staff as I can't visualise my character with a staff (or sling - hate those).

If you love melee you could try dual-wielding scimitars/daggers. Okay, scimitars are quite weak in SAO, but wait til TOB. Check out the daggers though - low damage, but fast and some have great abilities.

 

Ok I was gonna try soloing as a druid but I want to be able to do well in melee and I'm not sure that druids and really good in close combat. So I was thinking that I might dual class from a fighter with grand mastery in staves (there are some pretty nifty staves for druids) and then dual her at 10th level. I have the x-cap removed as well. Do you think this is a good idea or should I just go straight for the solo druid? If I dualed a wizard-slayer/druid would I be able to use magic items? Cause a fighter druid can use any armour (which a druid cannot) and they can use longswords to (which a druid cannot) well I think they can anyway.