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Klutz · 09-26-2003, 02:45 PM

Nothing whatsoever wrong with a good Paladin... or a good Fighter for that matter. As compared to Fighters and Paladins, Rangers are generally more versatile, giving you more options than being a straight-up tank character, while still being able to fill the straight-up tank role. The free two points in dual-wield is definitely a huge benefit. The ranger kits allow you to delve a little further into their various alternate roles... Archer for ranged combat, Stalker for stealth, and Beast Master for more animal/nature affinity. I have nothing to add to Six of Spades's discussion of the Ranger/Cleric multiclass; keep that in mind as another solid Ranger option.

Keep in mind that there are two NPC Rangers available in the game, one a straight Ranger and one a Stalker. So if you want to try the class out a bit without making your PC a Ranger, feel free to invite one or both of them into your party and see how you like them. There's one NPC Paladin (Inquisitor), and there's four NPC Fighters (Fighter, Berserker, Fighter/Cleric dualclass, Fighter/Druid multiclass).

One more note: several posters have painted the Fighter's ability to put 5 proficiencies in a single weapon rather oddly. In the straight unmodded BG2 game, yes a Fighter can put 5 proficiencies in a single weapon, but it really adds very little over the same basic 2 proficiencies that Paladins and Rangers can do. It's certainly not like a Fighter is forced to pick a weapon and put 5 slots in it. In fact, I never allocate more than 2 proficiencies to any weapon my Fighters are using until they have 2 in every single weapon and weapon style that I ever want them to use. Even if you do want to go with the Fighter that is the grandmaster of one weapon and dual-wield, you can have that Fighter dual-wield two weapons of the same type (say 2 Long Swords)... and you can reach perfect mastery of that fighting style with only 8 proficiency slots (5 in one weapon, 3 in dual-wield) at a much more reasonable 12th level. If you have no mods installed, the bottom line is that although technically the ability to put 5 proficiency slots in a weapon is a Fighter-only advantage, in practice it's not a very big one and, at least in my opinion, not worth choosing a Fighter for over a Ranger or Paladin.

[ 09-26-2003, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: Klutz ]

09-26-2003, 02:45 PM	#8
Klutz Manshoon Join Date: November 9, 2002 Location: Houston, TX Age: 52 Posts: 240	Nothing whatsoever wrong with a good Paladin... or a good Fighter for that matter. As compared to Fighters and Paladins, Rangers are generally more versatile, giving you more options than being a straight-up tank character, while still being able to fill the straight-up tank role. The free two points in dual-wield is definitely a huge benefit. The ranger kits allow you to delve a little further into their various alternate roles... Archer for ranged combat, Stalker for stealth, and Beast Master for more animal/nature affinity. I have nothing to add to Six of Spades's discussion of the Ranger/Cleric multiclass; keep that in mind as another solid Ranger option. Keep in mind that there are two NPC Rangers available in the game, one a straight Ranger and one a Stalker. So if you want to try the class out a bit without making your PC a Ranger, feel free to invite one or both of them into your party and see how you like them. There's one NPC Paladin (Inquisitor), and there's four NPC Fighters (Fighter, Berserker, Fighter/Cleric dualclass, Fighter/Druid multiclass). One more note: several posters have painted the Fighter's ability to put 5 proficiencies in a single weapon rather oddly. In the straight unmodded BG2 game, yes a Fighter can put 5 proficiencies in a single weapon, but it really adds very little over the same basic 2 proficiencies that Paladins and Rangers can do. It's certainly not like a Fighter is forced to pick a weapon and put 5 slots in it. In fact, I never allocate more than 2 proficiencies to any weapon my Fighters are using until they have 2 in every single weapon and weapon style that I ever want them to use. Even if you do want to go with the Fighter that is the grandmaster of one weapon and dual-wield, you can have that Fighter dual-wield two weapons of the same type (say 2 Long Swords)... and you can reach perfect mastery of that fighting style with only 8 proficiency slots (5 in one weapon, 3 in dual-wield) at a much more reasonable 12th level. If you have no mods installed, the bottom line is that although technically the ability to put 5 proficiency slots in a weapon is a Fighter-only advantage, in practice it's not a very big one and, at least in my opinion, not worth choosing a Fighter for over a Ranger or Paladin. [ 09-26-2003, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: Klutz ] __________________ ->Klutz