Suggestions for ideal party

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NO SPOILERS PLEASE!!!

I've had IWD (and HoF) for a while but I've never really given it a serious try. I'm looking for advice as to what the ideal party should be. I've searched the archives but found so much conflicting information that I decided to start a new topic instead of "resurrecting" an old one. Also, I imagine that you guys have more experience with the game now than, say, in 2001.

No spoilers as I said, but feel free to mention anything along the lines of "If you don't take a bard along you'll regret it at some point" or "There are many items that only Rangers can use", etc, etc. If it's vague, it's ok.

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

The Ideal Party by Death Rabbit

This party literally covers all the bases. Literally EVERY class available is represented, so there's no single item in the game you can't use (alignment/race restrictions aside), and really no situation in the game you can't handle. I feel this group gives you the absolute best bang for your buck, and provides the most complete IWD experience.

-Human Paladin; main tank and party leader

-Half-Elf Ranger/Cleric; 2nd tank, main healer

-Elf Fighter; Specializing in Bows, backup tank (sub in a Dwarf if you like)

-Human dual-class fighter 2/druid x; awesome offensive spells, healing and backup tank

-Gnomish Illusionist/Thief; best mage character ever IMO, all the thief you need

-Half-Elf Bard; tons of options, secondary spellcaster, interesting and helpful songs, decent in combat

In my experience, there's no real need to have a dedicated spellcaster, or a dedicated thief. Taking a Gnome allows you to be a specialist and knock your INT all the way up to 19. She can still cast any spell from a scroll in a pinch.

Giving your druid 2 levels of fighter is enough to give him access to heavier armor and shields, which is nice. But no more than that, because it will delay the Druid's awesome spellcasting abilities, which are IMO some of the best in the game.

NOTE: Bear in mind that I didn't like Druids or Bards at all until I got the HoW expansion, where both class are beefed up considerably with extra options. If you don't have the expansion, this party will still be good, if only slightly less fun.

 

That's exactly what I was looking for. And I do have the expansion, so hooray.

Thanks Death Rabbit!

(P.S. I remember in the old Quest for Glory 4 game there was a monster called a Vorpal Bunny. He was just like a normal fuzzy-bunny, except of course for the huge teeth dripping with blood. Just thought you'd like to know.)

 

Mage scrolls are hard to come by so multi or dual class mage or bard is not a bad idea.

But I don't mind having either at least a straight cleric or druid (or at most a level 3 fighter if you want to give them that class) though I recommend both to start. You will find that the first few areas have a ton of undead for which their spell repertoire is pretty durn nifty (magic stone, sunscorch, moonblade and animate dead of your own).

You may also want to mix alignments (not all chaotic or lawful, not all good or evil) so you can make the best use of the various items in the game.

[ January 21, 2004, 23:39: Message edited by: jeremiah ]

 

Yeah, just take one of everybody. And multiclass as many people as you can, mostly without overlapping classes. With the expansion, everyone can achieve level 30 in all their multiclasses.

It makes it tough to level up on normal difficulty, though. You'd probably want to start a normal game, play to chapter2, then restart in Heart of Fury.

 

Paladin - leave on automatic, no need to worry about him.

Fighter[9]/Druid[27] Human, if you play on insane. On normal go till Fighter[3] for *** in slings

Cleric/Ranger Half-Elf
Since you are a going anew at it this is the best. Druid Spell levels 1-3 come handy.

Illusionist/Thief Gnome
You will start missing Cromwell. Too much stuff to choose from.

Bard Human/Half-Elf cosmetic difference
IWD was by Bards for Bards, it not funny.

Most important : Fighter
Pure unadultrated fighter.
If you think Dwarves look silly with GreatSwords take a Human. Only if!

 

@ Shirkanth

Isn't that pretty much exactly what I said?

 

And I say you don't really need a single meatshield. It's enough if you have decent casting and some characters able to survive a bit of punishment. Fighter/clerics, ranger/clerics, fighter/druids, fighter/thieves and the like will do. If you're not sure if you want to take that risk, take paladins or rangers. Well, roleplaying-wise fighters are nice characters, but well... not like you need them power-wise.

 

Main Tank
Paladin / Elf Ranger / Dwarven Fighter / Human or Half-elf Fighter (whatever you do until the end you'll get one hell of a tank, so..: +/+/+/+)

Party Healer
Half-elf Fighter/Cleric / Dwarven Fighter/Cleric (for me the dwarf is the better one, due to his higher constitution +/++)

Druid (the Druid can also be one good party healer)
Half-elf Fighter/Druid

Bard
Human or Half-elf (no difference)

Thief
Elf or Halfling Fighter/Thief (they almost have equal abilities, but I prefer the Halfling +/++)

Backup Mage
Gnome Illuzionist/Thief / Elf Mage/Thief (equal abilities +/+)

 

For bard, since it can't be dual classed anyway, go for half elf for the added resistance to certain charm spells.

For fighter/thief, halfling is great as you can use Raise Dead on them (assuming you are the type that doesn't keep on reloading until no character dies LOL) as Resurrection costs more and comes later. They can use Helm of the Trusted Defender (haste them as much as you want).

 

Well, I went ahead with Death Rabbit's suggestion:

- Human paladin - sword & shield
- Half-Elf cleric/ranger - morning star & shield
- Elf fighter - comp. longbow & halberd
- Human fighter 2/druid x - sling & staff
- Half-Elf bard - crossbow & short sword
- Gnome illusionist/thief - short bow

So I have 2 tanks and 4 ranged attackers, and I'm just breezing through so far, though I'm only at the beginning of ch.2 (Dragon's Eye).

In retrospect, I think I would have changed the cleric/ranger for a dwarven fighter/cleric and the fighter for a pure ranger. Also, I would have waited a little bit longer before dualing the fighter to druid to get an extra * in slings.

And druids and bards totally rock the kasbah, even at low levels.

And how overpriced are the weapons at Conlan's? 40000 gp for a vanilla +3 weapon? gimme a freakin' break!

 

The depressing thing of IWD is that there are hardly any mage scrolls, and the ones that are there are super expensive. Seriously, my mage for a long time literally had only one or two spells per level in his spellbook. So yeah, you might as well go for an illusionist/thief as there aren't many scrolls to get, you'll level slower, and at least you'll be able to cast the one spell you can memorize on that level more than once.

 

I have to say that I prefer a 4 member party rather than a 6 member one. What do you think the "ideal 4 member party" should be? I had been testing for some time and then I chose the following party: Human Paladin, Dwarf fighter-cleric, Elf ranger and Gnome thief-illusionist. But another possibility is: half elf bard and elf warrior-thief instead the fighter-cleric and the thief-illusionist.

 

Based on my limited experience, here is what I think could be the ideal 4-member party.

Either:

Paladin (or other single-class melee type)
Fighter/Cleric (multi)
Fighter/Druid (multi or dual)
Illusionist/Thief (multi)

Or:

Paladin (or other single-class melee type)
Fighter/Druid (multi)
Fighter/Thief (multi)
Bard

Anyway, I wouldn't pass up on a druid now that I've tried one. Better than cleric from what I've seen.

 

This all Human party may be a bit weird but its interesting:

Paladin
Cleric[9]/Ranger[x]
Thief[9]/Specialist Mage[x]
Bard

Paladin as your main tank, talker, part healer.
Cleric gets the level 5 spell 'Raise Dead' and Ranger can cast Druid spells up till level 6.
Thief has skills at 20-110-25-115. Bard does pick-pocketing and Ranger is stealthy. For specialist mage Conjurer may be a good idea.
Bard does eveything he can and sings to his hearts content, specially after he gets 'War Chant of Sith' at level 11 (now you no longer need those heal spells).

 

Bumpage on one of the greatest "Ultimate party" threads.

[If you're going to play a thread necromancer you should provide a good reason why you think this thread is so special that you needed to bring it back from the dead. -Tal]

[ December 28, 2005, 17:10: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

Maybe 'cause I need it now?

 

For me I would do this.

Bard Half-elf
Fighter Dwarf
Cleric Ranger Half-elf
Fighter/Illusionist Gnome
Thief 13 - Necromancer Dual Classed Human
Fighter 9 - Druid Dual Classed Human

This would make the party very uber.

Truly the only reason I have ever seen given for having a paladin is the holy avenger sword and for me that is not a good enough reason to have such a lame character.

The first time I played IWD and I've played it a lot, I made a paladin and it was always owned. The normal fighter always outdid that character.

I think that they would have to have done a lot more than put in one sword for me to pick paladin.

Single class ranger is lame. Ranger at all can be dispensed with. A cleric ranger will make a better cleric though.

The gnomish fighter illusionist was a cool tank that has uber items. There are some items that are so good for this character that he had the best AC of the party and also all the mage buffs like stoneskin and mirror image. He is a machine of death.

 

I'll have to give the Fighter/Illusionist a try at some point. It looks fun. I'm always loath to make a dwarf in to a Fighter/Cleric because I would miss Axes so much. Trying the Fighter/Illusionist would satisfy that craving, I would think - especially once I find a suit of Elven Chain.

I still prefer my original line-up, but other successful mixups I've test-driven include...

Paladin and Bard are static in all (since they can't be combined). So those two, plus:

- Ranger/Cleric (half-elf)
- Fighter/Thief (elf is best IMO, though halflings will do)
- Fighter2/DruidX or Pure Druid, though I would avoid a multi-class
- Pure mage, Conjurer

---OR---

- Pure ranger (elf - easily)
- Cleric/Mage (any, but a Gnome would be great here)
- Fighter/Thief (your choice)
- Pure Druid (or try the Fighter2/Druid trick)

Feel free to get creative - but the key to the fun of this party is to have as few repeats as possible. Having 3 fighters or figher-based multiclasses may be powerful, but IMO - boring. This is of course all about your personal taste, but I've never enjoyed an RPG as much as my original Ultimate party.

It should also be noted that if memory serves, taking on 3 levels of fighter will get you the extra sling proficiency you're looking for in the Fighter/Druid combo, but it may be level 4. Anybody know for sure?

 

I've just started a party of two fighters, two clerics and two mages, and it's doing very well so far