Actually, in response to the comments about playing clerics: I always play one, have gone through BG1, 2 and TOB and IWD 1 & 2 with a cleric.
Clerics may not be equal to fighters when it comes to frontline battles (DUH) but that's not really the point - if you want a tank, pick a fighter. If you want a great offensive class with a little something extra, use a cleric. In BG1, it was hard at times, but with the DSOTSC spells (and Holy Water bullets!) added, my cleric was pretty great. Entangle, Command and Animate Dead were the most useful spells, and later on Flamestrike. Being able to use the Wand of the Heavens also helped a lot!
In BG2, you can be a truly awesome foe as a cleric - I had a big percentage of the party kills there. You can use the heaviest armour types, shields and helmets. Often, my fighter type uses two-handed weapons like big swords and halberds, so I wouldn't "waste" him by making him use shields or blunt one-handed weapons, no matter how good they are. So the cleric is a good character to give those shields and weapons to.
De gustibus non disputandem est.
