Black Pits - Best Party? How many PCs?
Nifft
Member Posts: 1,065
I just finished the Black Pits with a party of six. Some of my PCs were more useful than I thought they'd be, others were less impressive than expected. I'm curious about what the "best" party would be for this scenario, and how many PCs would be optimal. What level do you end up with a party of 4 or 5?
Here's my list of characters, with some notes on how I felt they performed.
* Cavalier (human)- Awesome in the core game, awesome in the Black Pits. Ignoring poison & fear, and reducing fire damage, came in very handy. A perfect tank.
* Archer (elf) - Godly. Needed protection, of course, but this guy synergized so amazingly well with all the de-buff spells I'd throw (Horror, Confusion). When he picks his bow up, people fall down, especially people in the back trying to cast spells.
* Skald (half-elf) - Very useful. Because you can buff before each fight, his limited spell casting was perfect for one-off buffs (like Haste) and formation-breaker spells (like Horror). At 10th level he was able to do some useful things like Minor Sequencer, and when his spells ran out he'd stand around singing his song of butt-kicking. His scroll use was 1/3 of what won the final battle.
* Werewolf Druid (half-elf) - Surprisingly awesome! The XP for a 6 character party put her at 11th level for the last few fights, which means she had Iron Skins and Insect Plague for many of the end fights. Specifically, Insect Plague was 1/3 of what won the final battle. She was great in early fights just using her werewolf form, and great in end battles slinging insect spells. Her single 6th level spell slot went to Wondrous Recall, which would restore her two 5th level spells (Iron Skins and Insect Plague), on the off chance the insects needed to be re-applied. Between Barkskin, a ring of protection and Iron Skins, she was able to handle human-form combat in the late game, and this was a good thing, because her werewolf form attack couldn't affect lots of late-game enemies. (Final battle she did get use out of her claws again, which was very satisfying.) She also summoned some Nature's Allies which is where I got my Confusion and Hold Monster spells.
* Ranger 3 / Cleric (human) - Surprisingly not awesome! The XP for a 6 character party left him at Cleric 8, which was shy of what he needed to get the best Druid spells (Iron Skins and Insect Plague). His Clerical buffs were still good (DUHM on a front-line fighter is seldom bad), but the cheese didn't really work out as well as hoped.
* Sorcerer (elf) - Great in the core game, but I think she was less awesome in the Black Pits, where sustained casting is less important than a powerful alpha-strike. I'm thinking it'd be better to take along another archer (elf Fighter/Mage, gnome Fighter/Illusionist, or human Fighter>Mage).
Here's my list of characters, with some notes on how I felt they performed.
* Cavalier (human)- Awesome in the core game, awesome in the Black Pits. Ignoring poison & fear, and reducing fire damage, came in very handy. A perfect tank.
* Archer (elf) - Godly. Needed protection, of course, but this guy synergized so amazingly well with all the de-buff spells I'd throw (Horror, Confusion). When he picks his bow up, people fall down, especially people in the back trying to cast spells.
* Skald (half-elf) - Very useful. Because you can buff before each fight, his limited spell casting was perfect for one-off buffs (like Haste) and formation-breaker spells (like Horror). At 10th level he was able to do some useful things like Minor Sequencer, and when his spells ran out he'd stand around singing his song of butt-kicking. His scroll use was 1/3 of what won the final battle.
* Werewolf Druid (half-elf) - Surprisingly awesome! The XP for a 6 character party put her at 11th level for the last few fights, which means she had Iron Skins and Insect Plague for many of the end fights. Specifically, Insect Plague was 1/3 of what won the final battle. She was great in early fights just using her werewolf form, and great in end battles slinging insect spells. Her single 6th level spell slot went to Wondrous Recall, which would restore her two 5th level spells (Iron Skins and Insect Plague), on the off chance the insects needed to be re-applied. Between Barkskin, a ring of protection and Iron Skins, she was able to handle human-form combat in the late game, and this was a good thing, because her werewolf form attack couldn't affect lots of late-game enemies. (Final battle she did get use out of her claws again, which was very satisfying.) She also summoned some Nature's Allies which is where I got my Confusion and Hold Monster spells.
* Ranger 3 / Cleric (human) - Surprisingly not awesome! The XP for a 6 character party left him at Cleric 8, which was shy of what he needed to get the best Druid spells (Iron Skins and Insect Plague). His Clerical buffs were still good (DUHM on a front-line fighter is seldom bad), but the cheese didn't really work out as well as hoped.
* Sorcerer (elf) - Great in the core game, but I think she was less awesome in the Black Pits, where sustained casting is less important than a powerful alpha-strike. I'm thinking it'd be better to take along another archer (elf Fighter/Mage, gnome Fighter/Illusionist, or human Fighter>Mage).
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A possible lineup:
Half-elf Fighter 9/Druid 11: Level 6 spells, can't go wrong.
Half-elf Ranger 9/Cleric 9: Level 5 cleric and druid spells, still can't go wrong.
Gnome Fighter 9/Illusionist 10: 'nuff said.
Human Inquisitor
Elf Archer
Elf Fighter 8/Mage 9/Thief 10 (less certain about this one, just throwing it in to round out archer and arcane needs with backstabbing as a bonus).
1. Archery is broken in the latest patch so replace the Archer in my lineup with a Barbarian (or something else).
2. Katana is the best weapon choice for pure damage. Warhammer is great for blunt weapon type and the +1 electrical for spell disruption. Two handed weapons would seem to not be a good choice as the weapon types available are identical to single handed varieties (+2) though cost might be a factor if you prefer not to repeat scenarios.
3. No idea how you hit level 11 as a were-druid. Have you removed the XP cap? Usually black pits is capped at level 10.
EDIT: or at least I don't remember them capping, they may have in the very end but who cares - I'd say four people is great for this short romp. Possible three if you like fancy multi/dual class combos.
Please talk to me about your interesting Black Pits party.
Seems something funny is going on, maybe they fiddled with it in the last patch?
Back on topic, I posted my lineup, anyone got anything to top it?