Builds that can have "multiple playstyles"

[Seven Sons of Sin]

One thing I find jarring with playing NWN in 2018 is the combat system. That's not to say it's unfun, but it's unfun to play it mechanically one specific way for a long time.

So I was wondering what builds allow a player to keep it "fresh." Playstyles can include stealth, melee smashing, casting spells, acting as various roles in the MMO Trinity (dps/tank/healer), providing utility to a party, different ways of moving around the server, interacting with multiple Arelith-specific systems (epic spells, population, or otherwise).

So what do you think are some of the best builds that allow players to experience a breadth of different mechanical experiences?

Extra point if you don't say 26/4 wizard.

[Griefmaker]

I was actually having this exact same issue recently. I have found that melee only characters bore me to death nowadays. Casters (wizard/healer cleric/etc.) are fun, but sometimes you want to just go up and beat at something too.

Two "classes" I think that allow for the flexibility of being a caster and meleer and potentially other misc skills are druid and spellsword (the latter can bump int and be a pretty good caster as well, as I have found, while still being able to fight, even if not as the "ideal of power character").

I am trying a pure druid, but with high int for more skills (some cross-classed since going full druid). Ideally this is a character that can cast like a champ, shift and bite something when there is need or want, and can spot/search/stealth/etc. a bit too...albeit not as well as a class that with those as their skill.

As far as full blown builds, I will defer to others since my builds tend to be more for fun or because "Shoot that sounds like fun. Let's try it!"...which tends to make for less than idea builds, which I am fine with since they are fun.

But those are two classes I think allow for a nice mix of might and magic and minor other skills and help from having a character suffer from mechanical boredom.

[Conversations With Your Car Alarm]

I get a lot of mileage out of STR based stealthers. Rangers, non-20/7/3 WMs, Assassins with lots of fighter levels. You can change your gearing around for the role you want to fill. Wear plate when you want, chain armor, leathers, whatever. I am honestly bored to death with non exciting cookie cutter builds.

[Thanatosis]

I think I might honestly recommend Spellsword, or maybe some kind of fighter-cleric. But at the end of the day an effective build for NWN is effective because they can do a few things really well -- not because they can do a lot of things not so well.

[Opustus]

Rangers, classic corner-sneaking rogue builds (SD on Arelith is booooring, the summon does all the work for you), classic bards heavy on the bard for skill bonuses, and archers (if making the arrows weren't such a chore) are definitely the most fun I've had with different build types. I think there is great potential with the Shifter class to be the true multipurpose tool, which is something that Amia (another server) has achieved well.

[Cortex]

PDKs can serve as supports, tanks and DPS depending the way they're built, I've been tinkering with rogue/BG/PDK.

[Baron Saturday]

PDK really is nice when planning a versatile build. The flexibility Cortex mentioned means it can shore up a build's weakness or improve upon its strengths, and the fact that it has a pretty negligible pre-req and low max level investment makes it really easy to fit into a ton of builds.

[Seven Sons of Sin]

Let me attest that all the new changes to Rangers makes the class super fun and cool. And on top of that, you get to constantly play a minigame (Studied Enemies) and interact with populations via -track.