I have Druid character ( IW2 ) in my group and this one is very strong although she is only level 8 she is extremly powerfull - I have +4 strengh and when I change form to Panther I deal great amount of damage.

Next thing about this character is that Druid has very powerfull spells - deals a lots of dmg and also can protect other characters like - Tortoise shield - it gives you around 100 HP shiled although person cannot perform any action during the shield - it is great anyway.

I recommend you guys playing Druid class - I would like to try him play solo :O :O :D That could be fun.

Sorry for my grammar :D

All the best for adventures !

Rupert

Druids are in fact very useful if used properly. Great that you found it out. Future level ups will add even more options.

Druids are indeed great. A nice middle ground character that can switch up between mage and cleric spells without the mage's problem of finding/buying spell scrolls or the clerics problem of having almost no useful offensive spells. Keep them single class to make full use of their spells or mix in fighter levels and have them focus on transmutations spells (most of them are just as effective as a pure druids as their power isn't tied to druid levels). Both work very well.

Never used tortoise shell though but it seems like a good spell to cast on the enemy to take them out of the fight for 10 rounds, I'll have to try it sometime. I usually use my third level spell slots for call lightning, spike growth (nice alternative to the mages "slow" spell) or healing (if I'm not using any other spells at this level).

I was always a major fan of Druids in this game, such a good choice :)

Well I used Tortoise shell many times in the beginning - I send one of my characters to the front so all enemy creatures attack him - then i cast tortoise shell on him, cast fireballs and other AOE spells so I destory most of enemies - after that ending some rest of them is pretty easy.But I consider this spell great also for saving some weak/low health member of party.There are surely many more uses of this spell :)

Does hold well into late game? Just thinking of those slayer knights of Xvim as those guys can just chew through 200 HP

Has anyone played SOLO - Druid ???

Druids are peculiar. Their magic defies established tropes. They're healers, buffers, de-buffers, summoners, AoE casters with damage and crowd control capabilities. They can tank sufficiently with or without a second or third class. I think they're the most diverse class in 2e. About the only thing they can't do is thief, but they still get a detect trap spell (no Knock though)

High level druids are a force of nature unto themselves.

IIRC, the polar bear form can bash open any lock in the game :P Otiluke's Resilient Sphere is OP so some people prefer not to use it. Also, my next IWD2 play through will be without an arcane caster so that's why I was asking about the T shell ;) I have quite a few favorites and listing them would make a very long post :) SO i'll try and keep it short where I can. Apart from pure druid and 4 fighter / X druids, here's a few of my favorites

4 fighter / X Paladin of helm is a nice front liner. I specialize this one in long swords for obvious reasons
4 fighter / X barb (half orc) with specialization in a 2 handed weapon is very reliable :)
Pure dreadmaster of bane is a very good cleric, make sure this one has enchantment spell focus feats

I know I'm in the minority here but my favorite arcane caster is an elven enchanter. Okay, so no evocation spells for this character but to me, this is good as then this character can focus on support (buffing, debuffing and summons) which means their spells won't run out as fast. I find mages casting evocation magic tend to run out rather quickly which means frequent resting which I don't like to do. The Enchanter can also save 2 elemental feats to use elsewhere (like rapid shot for the bow) and using their excess skill points for conversation skills makes RP sense too. With the enchanter filling this role you can have a....

.....sorc that focuses entirely on evocation spells and just let this character rip. They don't need to worry about saving castings for buffing or what not, the enchanter has it covered :). Enchanter/sorc is an awesome combo, i recommend giving it a go ;)

I really underestimated the power of druids until I played one in my IWD 2 game.

I agree - Otiluke's Resilient Sphere is very OP sometimes and it uses the computers low AI - enemies atttack character with Sphere and you cast fireballs and other funny stuff on them.I try not to use this if it is not necessary - but when there is a tougher fight - I must use this great spell - I wonder if that will work on higher levels - last chaper and so on :D