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#917407 21/10/23 05:10 PM
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I have so far been playing with Bard and I'm not really loving it. I gravitate towards druid as main. My party - I want Karlach and Shadowheart in my party. Is Shadowheart too redundant? I want to play good playthrough, so only good companions are in my party. I like idea of Jaheira as druid/fighter multiclass, but I don't know do I have spot for her in my party. I'm not into Minsc, but he can be in the camp.


So, is druid good choice for main character, assuming I really optimize my party and boot Shadowheart and Jaheira out of party
Is spellcaster druid a good option - I don't really care for shapeshifting, and I understand frustration with moon druid, but I don't need to shapeshift.
How does spore druid fare? Is it viable option?
I like idea of playing druid because of roleplay with druid grove and I heard there some roleplay with act 2 with druid? Does that same apply to ranger class?
Is ranger better class? If I go with Ranger, shadowheart, karlach, Gale, is that viable or good?
Does ranger have talk to animals or same reactivity as druid?


I think my main problem with this game is that I don't really cheese my way.

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Druid is fine, I have played it several times. If you don't care for shape shifting then Spore Druid is the way to go. It's my fav of three classes and can be offensively powerful, summoner, defensively strong all at the same time. It's a great build no multiclassing needed. You can use one of your feats to get heavy armor, use a shield and with your built-in extra hp, be unassailable.

If you want to wait until Act 2 to recruit Jaheira that works fine and you can respec her to Spore, but fine to start as main/Tav.

I use Shadowheart every playthrough as Tempest Cleric but also works great with Light or Life and you get heavy armor but she does develop slowly and it'll be lvl 5 until she starts to bloom.

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The druid class is fine, in all three forms, just not as flashy and/or gear supported as, say, sorcerers or several of the cleric domains. The druid subclasses also tend to offer less MC'ing-wise than other classes. The shapeshifts want levels for the better forms and higher hp totals. Spore also needs enough druid levels to have a decent temp hp pool. And the early benefits aren't up there with what you can get from the likes of fighter, rogue, or a couple of the cleric domains.

As far as clerics go, they fill different roles. Cleric party support relates more to hp and modifying some rolls, while druids are more about shaping the battlefield, adding pets to the mix, and increasing party mobility (though also some healing). Cleric domains are also so varied that you can run multiple clerics without feeling this issue, even without MC'ing them. The life cleric as the healer, the War Cleric wading into melee, while Tempest and Light Clerics are nuking with damage dealing spells... Yeah, that bit about clerics being flashier wink But a cleric can also easily support the druid. For example, starting right at level 1, you can have the cleric summon water to give enemies the wet status, and then have your druid hit them with an ice knife for double damage.

Circle of the Land gets you a variety of spells, at the ready, but the ones you use most will probably be the standard druid spells, and with a bunch being concentration spells, including ones you have to spend an action to use/move (like Moonbeam or Call Lightning), you'll often find yourself limited in actual quantity/variety of spells cast. Shapeshifting being a full action also means that using it in combat is pretty much giving up a turn, so this greatly limits its usefulness. Though using kitty for various reasons is handy. Overall, this is the subclass I think will actually feel the most lackluster, due the nature of BG3. Being able to rest easily makes resource management less of an issue, and that in turn leads to more of a focus on going nuclear over playing a more limited resource efficient way. Which in turn means that classes/subclasses like sorcs, warlocks, paladins, Battle Masters, and Bards come out ahead.

Circle of the Moon is nice because shapeshifting becoming a minor action. That means you'll be able to cast, then shift, or shift and right away use your form. Plus more forms to play with. However, it does not play well with MC"ing. You want lots and lots of druid levels, so you get access to the later forms as well as bigger temp hp pools. But that shapeshifting will see you wander more into melee and such, over using your spells, because you can't cast while shifted. So while I feel that it is overall the superior classic (not zombie pet) druid, well, it is the shapeshifting subclass, and shapeshift you likely will. So if you do want the spell focus, go with Land, not Moon, regardless.

And spore has its minions, and works well when combined with various weapon based classes. You'll often see it used this way, combined with ranged weapon attacks or wading in melee. However, it does want enough druid levels to bolster the temp hp it needs for its thing. Definitely not a "splash of X" type MC option.

Last edited by Talismina; 22/10/23 05:35 AM.
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Circle of Land gets a variety of spells otherwise unobtainable to Druids, including Haste, Cloudkill, Cone of Cold, Invisibility (greater and otherwise), hypnotic pattern, and more. While not as flashy as the others, a CoL druid is an *excellent* party support option.

Circle of Moon, as a note folks have done literally thousands of damage with the Owlbear jump. Also your entire HP pool is effectively bonus temp HP, so you're ridiculously tanky, especially if you give it a bit of help with AC, and options exist to do so. Web off your Spider form is fantastic at providing advantage early game. While any Druid can use those abilities, none do so as well as Moon Druids thanks to the bonus action wildshape.

Circle of Spores, the summons and so forth are nice, but the armor of the sporekeeper is nicer. Being able to provide haste to your *entire party and all summons you may have* is an insane boon. It alone is good enough to make Circle of Spores Druid one of the most powerful subclasses in the game. Just 2 levels can unlock it, so there's definitely MC options there fwiw.

Tough to go wrong with Druid, they're pretty great regardless.

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Well in My Games i always Use this Build on Jaheira becouse i really love her dual wielding..
so i Went Always with 7 druid her Main Sub is Perfect to get Misty Step and other stuff to make your melee better
3 Thief to get a extra action on combat (Becouse she is a Harper and dosent Play any instruments like she says to yu if yu bother to talk to her..)
2 Fighter to get another extra action with action Surge.. Meaning if yu Build this The Right Way she will Slash like a God..
For Itens i always get her Legendary Sword from the Old Games in her House (but yu will have to find her Sanctuary speak with all her Kids and yu will find it..)
i Normally gave her the Minsc Quest Armor becouse of the Shield Passiv, The Cloak yu Buy from the dude in the Harpers Hideout (becouse she become untocheble in the starting turns, ring i always gave her the ring yu get from the dude yu kill in act 2 defending Isobel His Ring gave yu invisibility and the other Spell like the Cloak so yu get it 2 times to always make yu Safe when life go to low.
and Boots i always gave her the Misty Step one when i get the Teleport better ones from Gortash or i gave her the one yu Buy in act 3 next to where yu get the Shadowheart quest but for that yu have to save the Thieflings if not. they will not be there in act 3 the boots gives yu acrobats pretty cool for Her and the Gloves i gave her the legendary one yu buy from Cresch just to put her dex in 18 without spending points so i can realocate the rest the best way i can..
and Helmet i gave her always the one yu get from the Dude in Act 1 that gave yu 17 Intel.. just to make her spells a litle stronger.

(Fun Fact since she is the High Harper the entire Set Looking Blue Feels amazing..)

Last edited by Thorvic; 22/10/23 07:16 AM.

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