Did you played BG2? Seems that you never played since for you DA:O is 3d BG2 when BG2 is way better in any aspect. BG2 doesn't have cooldowns and bullet sponge enemies which are the two main problems from DA:O.
There are a LOT of strongholds depending on your class
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/StrongholdIf you are a BArd, you gain a Theater, arcane caster gain a mysterious sphere and they hand crafted quest for each PC class in a way that is hard to do the quest to get the stronghold.