I'll be running my main first run-through of BGEE with an evil elf fighter/mage, but have been thinking of running a slower parallel game as a Gnome or Half-Orc Cleric/Thief, as I think they might be an under-rated class, if played appropriately, and would like to try one out, but were wondering what others thought...
Obviously they are very limited in backstab weapons - staves or clubs only (plus *some* of the magically generated ones, though I'm not exactly sure which ones work and which don't), at least until UAI, and can only use a sling for ranged, but they can still swap to flails/hammers/maces etc. for melee, which are all pretty good in BG2 (and there's a great hammer in BG1). Unlike a Mage/Thief, the thief can still wear leather armours, and a helmet and shield (when not using a stave).
A Cleric/Thief can scout and find/disable traps and open locks under Sanctuary (though still needs to hide to get a backstab bonus) and can buff for backstabs with Draw Upon Holy might, and there are other spells that work well with this class too.
Obviously they are very limited in backstab weapons - staves or clubs only (plus *some* of the magically generated ones, though I'm not exactly sure which ones work and which don't), at least until UAI, and can only use a sling for ranged, but they can still swap to flails/hammers/maces etc. for melee, which are all pretty good in BG2 (and there's a great hammer in BG1). Unlike a Mage/Thief, the thief can still wear leather armours, and a helmet and shield (when not using a stave).
A Cleric/Thief can scout and find/disable traps and open locks under Sanctuary (though still needs to hide to get a backstab bonus) and can buff for backstabs with Draw Upon Holy might, and there are other spells that work well with this class too.