From the posts in the whole forum I see that everyone chooses to be a kind of mage(kensai,jester or sorc)if they choose to go solo.I wonder if anybody tried to solo with a cleric..My char is a priest of Helm and I always prefer to be a cleric in rpgs(BI games,Might&Magic series etc.).Sure a cleric cannot cast destructive spells like Abi Dalzim's but he is an effective warrior and has some good summons and heals in his reach.What can a cleric do against a dragon or a lich or worse-against a group of spellcasters?I would like to hear your thoughts and feedbacks 'cause I seriously think of going solo with either a cleric or a paladin.

Well, you can count me as another cleric advocate. My first preference is always a cleric, although with a warrior base by dualling at the first available opportunity. I usually take care of defence first before offence - yeah, yeah, I know about "the best defence is offence" line but that is just my playing style. Starting off a single player game, I never know when I can recruit a cleric so having a cleric as the protagonist takes care of that. And no, I have not gone solo with a cleric although I think it's possible.

In BG2, dualling a cleric from a warrior class has the following advantages:
1. High base hit points with warrior's constitution 18 bonuses
2. Two or more * in weapon proficiency of your choice (depending on your level before dualling)
3. Higher no. of attacks per round

With the advantages above, the warrior dual cleric can be your melee attacker, and when the situation arises heals his comrade-in-arms next to him.

The cleric in BG2 is much better than BG1 because some of the new spells are destructive spells such as smite (area of effect similar to Abi Dalzim), harm (opponents reduced to 1 hit point unless save) and slay living (death unless save). I have even used slay living to kill Firkraag! :D To those melee attack advocates out there, I know it is not as fun but actually I have already pummelled the dragon to near death and just wanted to try out the spell. I guess it's the equivalent of the Monk's quivering palm.

My personal favourite is Ranger dual Cleric. This combination allows you to use stealth and the full range of Druid spells as well, such as insect plague to disrupt enemies' spellcasting. ;)

Well Ganz, I agree quite a bit with your post. I started playing two BG2 games in October, one was an EVIL party and the other GOOD. I just finished my EVIL party (Fighter/Thief) and I am close to finishing Chap 6 with my GOOD party (Fighter/Cleric).

I must say with all things considered -the Fighter/Cleric just may be the most powerful character in BG2 when it comes to the amount of undead in the game. Let me proudly say that the only opponents I had to fight when retrieving the Lanthorn from the Vampire lair was the Golem, GrimWarders and Bohdi herself. My Fighter/Cleric TURNED EVERYONE else to dust. Literally about 2 dozen Vampires in all. My party never took one swing at anyone other than what I listed above. So throughout the game, Skeletons, Zombies, Shade Wolves, Shade Fiends to Elder Vampires and more have been reduced to dust. I dont know if it has to do with being Lawful Good, Rep of 20 & association with the Temple of Lathander (may be just that) but my TURN rate that causes destruction seems incredibly high. I chose to dual from Fighter to Cleric specifically for the GM weapon proficiency ability and # of attacks. It has paid off! -when needed.

I believe your turning ability depends solely on your level as a cleric...

Almost the same thing with my cavalier. Paladins' turn undead ability is some levels lower than a cleric of equal level though. My level 17 cavalier had a turn undead level of 15. Most vampires died, although I still had to fight the more powerful, named ones. I hit them in the back when they ran in fear :).

Blackthorne you are right...
Well what I meant exactly was going solo with a cleric,just cleric no fighter/cleric.
I imported my char from BG1 and I will use him in Neverwinter so I would like to stay pure cleric.It will be quite a challenge but I will start with full inventory(Crom,Maceof Disrupt) and of course lvl21 :).Any recommendation and any other possible non-mage class to go is appreciated.

A Dual Classed Warrior to a Cleric is kool. I currently have my character Arkayn Freehelm doing so. She is pretty powerful in my estimation, played through BG with her... and now BG2. Fighter/Clerics get a lovely amount of hit points. And of course they can get some nice weaponry such as the "Flail of Ages" and the "Mace of Disruption" are soooooo useful. Oh yeah... buy the "Sleeper" or something from the Copper Coronet after you have freed the slaves... very useful in the first couple of chapters in the game... sends humanoids to sleep.

Anyone know any other good Morning Stars that are about?

Fighter clerics/druids in BG2 can be very nice to play, but I just don't know about going solo with one. I thought about it some, but you just wouldn't have any mage defense until you got the cloak of mirrors. And there are just a ton of mages in this game. I think they would be fine otherwise against any other oponent one one one.