I have started a game for the first time recently and am not using any mods at all. I have played Icewind Dale and one of the characters in my party is a personal favourite so I would like to recreate her in Baldur's Gate and play her right through the expansions and BG2. What I am looking for is feedback on how well this build will perform. Here's her stats:

human Ranger dualed to Cleric at lvl 3
chaotic good
18/76+ STR
18 DEX
16+ CON
18 WIS
remaining points in INT

wears heavy armor and mace.
racial enemy in IWD is trolls but what would be a good choice for BG series?
without a shield she gets 2 atks per turn.

One thing I don't like is having really poor CHA. It didn't matter in IWD because the leader of the party was a Paladin who handled all diplomatic situations and merchantry. I suppose I can use someone else with high CHA as the leader here in BG.

Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.


I forgot to mention her role in the party was healer/support. She able to deal out good damage and take hits because her AC was very good but also she was the main healer. I had a fighter dual to druid at lvl 6 to back her up with healing

You're not really supposed to minmax in BG2, but I'd say your character is fine. As for racial enemies, trolls are nasty indeed but you won't encounter too much of them during the game. I'd say pick some Undead monster as a favored enemy since some of them have Level Drain (I believe Vampires have Level Drain on touch) and one of the toughest bosses of the game is an undead (Kangaxx the Lich).

Also as a minor spoiler in the circus tent you will have the chance to meet Aerie, a mage/cleric which is one of the best spellcasters of the whole game, even if she's just too annoying for my taste.

You'll get a ring that sets your charisma to 18, that will be useful when Turn Undead is needed.

Min/max'ing aside, what is the point of having a human ranger dual at level 3? That character has nothing to gain, apart from racial enemy (you must even consider cleric restrictions on weapons from the start). The biggest advantage of a cleric/ranger, or more precisely a multi-class cleric/ranger, is that they get access to every single divine spell in the game. Apart from Aerie, who is a special case, a multiclass C/R must be a half-elf. Rangers do not start getting spells until caster level 8, that is why multi is the way to go, particularly since you will be starting in BG1. Although you will seem to level slower, you will nevertheless become a powerhouse eventually, especially with those uber stats, maintaining your ranger advance in THAC0, proficiency points, number of attacks, etc. Aerie, in BG2, is made of glass physically, but she is awesome if kitted out and used correctly, so imagine what your character would become.

Regarding your CHA, use Imoen (16 CHA) as your diplo/merchant. Your C/R is good aligned, so Imoen, who joins you right from Candlekeep, is a no brainer.

Aerie is a Cleric/Mage though right?

Anyway, just play whatever build you feel like and select party members to balance it out.

Yes, of course. I should not type while I'm on the phone. My bad. :(

Personally I think a Druid-Fighter multiclass would suit that play-style better i.e. heals while in the thick of the fighting. A cleric doesn't heal during melee battles as a rule of thumb but yes the stats are more than enough to finish the game with ease… I'd dual at level two as well but troll is alright because there are early ones when you have the weaker trials of dualing. Those stats (and the ranger-cleric dual class in general) lend themselves to fighting at range with spells but each to their own.

To add to that, you can get an item which sets your charisma to 18 while it's equipped very early on in BG2, so you don't need a high charisma for that game either.

Unlike in IWD Ranger's don't get an extra attack if not wearing a shield so you should equip one.
Specialize in blunt weapons and missile weapons at creation.

I would settle for 18/51+ STR, unlike in IWD a strength spell cast at a character with 18/50-18/99 will always raise it to 18/00 and boosts from spells like draw upon holy might or other sources just jump directly from 18 to 19, ignoring the second number. 18/76 is of course still better than 18/51 but I'd even accept 18/01 if the other stats are very good.

Int is the most useless stat for ranger/cleric, 18 cha and 3 int is far better than the other way around, there's no joinable NPC with 18 cha, I'd say try to get 18 in all stats except int.
If you can't get a roll of 90 or better it won't make a big difference whether you start with 14 or 10 cha, even 8 won't hurt and even 3 is playable.

Thanks for the replies everyone!