Paladin

I am fairly well along in Baldurs, and have a paladin in my party. My question is what good is he really as compared to say a fighter? At least my fighter is more bow proficient plus has more hit points. I know charisma is nice for buying and selling but what else. I see he can cast spells??? My problem is there are none in his book. So what spells can i cast? I thought after so many levels they would appear, or do i need to buy some?? My guess was curing spells, but where do i find those?

Thanks

I would prefer a plain fighter any day. I don't think Paladins get spell ability until they are a certain level, such as ninth level. They have usually high ability scores, though, and of course charisma. Paladin's can, however, with limited ability, turn undead monsters and they do have the ability to "lay on hands" and detect evil which could help in dealing with NPCs.

I think that both the Paladin and the Ranger are limited in their abilities substantially until they are higher levels. This game does not use higher level characters. Unless you can advance your characters n BG2 I would stick with the regular fighter. He can advance to higher levels of mastery, etc..

[Ryan]

You will get spells, but at later levels. You don't have to buy spells for Clerics & Paladins in BG, they are automatically granted to you by your deity as you go up levels. Paladins also have the ability to lay hands and heal, and turn undead as you gain more experience. I also find their lack of specialisation slots withpons a hindrance, so I've concluded that they are a luxury I can't afford in my party!

Thanks for the notes. I have one in party because i thought it would be nice for some of the spells, plus i had low charisma as i stacked my characters other places. Do you know what level i get spells? I am dam near 110K in experience so he must be around 7/8 not positive right now at work. I guess i will just keep him and maybe he will be better in the sequel. Not bad with a bow, but like you mentioned, bad as compared to the fighter.

Shoot, too late to change!!

Indeed, they aren't as useful in a brawl as a fighter with similar experience; still, having someone with healing powers and the ability to detect/repel evil is useful, though it depends how you approach the game. If you have an offensive/aggressive party, paladins are just dead weight; if you are concerned with having a more well-rounded party with other aims in mind, they could prove to be useful (though I'd take a ranger first).
Choosing the Paladin class is more significant in true AD&D, though I give the BG people credit for translating as much of the rules as possible to computer--no one's perfect, and some things I feel are just impossible to translate to computer (and if they WERE, then why not play real AD&D anyway?)