Ranger+Cleric gets Druid spells?

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I remember reading here somewhere that a combination of Ranger and Cleric will get the Druid spells. Does this work in IWD2?

If yes, how many levels of Ranger do you need? And do the spells show up under the Cleric spells or under the Ranger spells?

 

It doesn't work like in the older games. If you want access to the druid spells, take a pure class druid. Multiclassed spellcasters are crippled spellcasters.

 

This trick worked for BG1 and 2 when you had a Ranger/Cleric, in fact that is the main reason why Ranger/Clerics are overpowered in BG.

The way spellcasting works in IWD2 you will have two different tabs for spells to be memorized so it's highly unlikely this would work.

Rangers have to reach level 4 to be able to cast spells.

The Ranger/Cleric combination is not great in IWD2 because the main advantage of Clerics is being able to cast spells while wearing a heavy armour and Rangers get Ambidexterity and Dual Wielding for free while wearing light armour. So in that case you'd still have to use light armours to benefit from the Ranger class. That being said if the DEX isn't too shabby and if you use Cat's Grace or DUHM it may be very good but as kmonster pointed out your Cleric won't be very good at spellcasting if you invest too many levels in the Ranger class.

Most people will agree that Ranger is a good addition if (and only if) you take just one level. It's good for characters who don't use armours or only rely on light armours. In most cases I'd advocate taking 1 or 2 Fighter levels instead but in certain cases it can be fun especially with a high DEX character and Weapon Finesse.

In my current party I have a Ranger 1/Sorcerer X and she is doing great (I didn't want to take a Paladin level that would greatly benefit saves because I wanted something different). I find that this made my character much better early on (extra HP, two attacks with a decent chance to hit) but it's certainly not a powergamer's choice (it makes my spellcasting level less effective) but it's a nice change of pace from the Paladin 1/Sorcerer.

Even if you are not a powergamer I'd advise you not to take too many extra levels with a spellcaster, a Rogue, a Monk or a Barbarian. IMO the limit is taking 1 level (as for example one Paladin level for CHA bonus to saves, one Ranger level for free Dual Wielding, or one Monk level for Evasion and bonus to saves). One Bard level for Bard only items and scrolls can be nice and one Cleric level for some really basic spellcasting and bonuses depending on the Cleric order is fine. Don't over do it or you'll cripple your build.

The main exception would be a Fighter build with at least 4 Fighter levels, we could imagine a Fighter 4/Monk 1/Paladin 1/Ranger 1/Cleric 1, it would have really poor spellcasting but this character wouldn't lose much regarding fighting abilities while getting a huge bonus to saves (+2 from the Monk class and provided CHA is not too low let's say 12 or 14 would be enough to get an extra +1 or +2 to saves). Of course that would mean at least 11 in WIS and at the very least 12 in CHA. Not to mention the fact that the Ranger level would be a total waste if DEX is too low either (because otherwise that character would be better off using heavy armours instead since Evasion works regardless of the armour type).

One Cleric level can be good: Oghma if you badly need to be able to identify stuff, Tempus for axes proficiency, Mask for Blind Fight and bonus to hide or Talos for electrical resistance. Not to mention Bane for WIS and the bonus from Tyrant's Dictum which can be good for spellcasters who are going to cast lots of spells that require will saves. Of course Alignement restriction applies so in the example I gave above you'd have to pick another Order one that is dependent on level (Helm, Lathander or Ilmater for a LG Paladin mix in).