Battle Cleric or spell sword?

[illcat]

Just returning to NWN and I was thinking about playing a front line cleric as in vanilla a self buffing wizard isn't a great choice, does anyone have any insight to which is more fun to play?

[PinataPlethora]

If you're referring to Arelith's Spellsword path for Wizards, it's currently disabled, but I'd pick it over a battle cleric since it's ridiculously overpowered in its current state.

For now, I'd go with the cleric, or hold off until it's fixed and re-enabled. Cobbling together a Fighter/Wizard probably won't work too well.

[illcat]

Oh I didn't realize it had been disabled, is there any indication of when it might come back?

[Tourmaline]

A spellsword probably would be best if they come back, but who knows when that will be. I believe there is a trainer in game and if so you could start a wizard character now who would become a spellsword later. But that's a bit of a risk that something would change.

I've always found clerics really boring to play mechanically. Unless I have an angle on their deity I really want to RP, that aspect can be really fun, but while they're OK they aren't exciting and casting endless minor buffs gets annoying.

Some mix of bard, fighter, blackguard or paladin may come close to what you want here. Or even Purple Dragon Knight. Arelith has a lot of changes to paladins, BGs and PDKS that make these classes more powerful and fun to play.

(As to when spellswords are coming back.. Things move very slowly here, I think it is a good idea to not get too worked up about upcoming changes and additions because they can take a long time and may not arrive in the way you'd hoped. I try to just concentrate on playing what I can now, since you can always make another character later.)

[PinataPlethora]

Oh I didn't realize it had been disabled, is there any indication of when it might come back?

I think we're waiting on the NWNX team to port some plugin that makes Spellsword Attack Bonus work. Totally depends on their team, and I haven't heard of any estimated time frame.

I've heard STR Bards can be fun, especially with a Paladin dip for saves and fear immunity. That's kinda spellswordy.

[MoreThanThree]

Do a Battlecleric build.
Tell everyone you're a spellsword.
Sweat nervously and babble about Mystra if someone brings up the inconsistency.

[illcat]

Oh I didn't realize it had been disabled, is there any indication of when it might come back?

I think we're waiting on the NWNX team to port some plugin that makes Spellsword Attack Bonus work. Totally depends on their team, and I haven't heard of any estimated time frame.

I've heard STR Bards can be fun, especially with a Paladin dip for saves and fear immunity. That's kinda spellswordy.

Any tips for building a Str based bard? I've never played a bard, it always seemed like a hybrid support class you'd play if you have a group of friends you know will back you up.

[PinataPlethora]

If you go STR Bard/Paladin, it's pretty inwardly focused. You get good Bard Song, take Curse Song and get high Taunt, use a two-hander, buff yourself as much as possible, and focus on dropping your target's AC. You can make 26/4 or 25/5 work. You might also do 21 Bard/4 Paladin/5 Fighter for EWS and more cookies. Stats are pretty much as you'd expect, with 16 CHA, as much CON as you can squeeze in, and then pumping STR through the levels. To get more specific, you'll have to know decide what combat tactics you prefer, and what weapon/armor combo you want.

[illcat]

If i'm understanding things right you want to avoid taking full plate and a shield then? So maybe a half-elf with chain armor and a great sword would be the go to? I'm not sure if being dispelled as a bard is a big deal, so i'm not sure if the paladin dip is good or not, though RP ways paladin would be limiting either way.

[Dr. B]

Re: Bard builds. Don’t follow Pinata’s advice (specifically, the part where he tells you to go two-handed). Read this thread and pay attention to my suggestions, and PM me if you want a specific build.

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