Help me with my party draft

Infiltrator

Ok so I've played IWD in its original form but only briefly. I am not sure how much XP you get, how it's split, or what am I supposed to hit by end game, I also do not know any items that you get which probably can alter my decisions.

My basis is 3 front row 3 back row party members.

1. I always play a thief archetype. My plan here was to go fighter for 7/9 levels then switch over to shadowdancer with EEkeeper. Obviously human, my questions here are mostly about when to dual (depending on the game length I guess) and what weapons are most prominent. I was thinking to invest in long swords + single weapon style and go with backstabs instead of sneak attacks.

2. A frontal fighter. I guess either barbarian dual weilding (axes?) or dwarven defender (hammers?). Not sure what is more optimal or interesting because I never played these classes.

3. A frontal hybrid. I hear druids are far more interesting than in BG so I was thinking either a druid/fighter multi or Undead Slayer/Blackguard.. or maybe even ranger/cleric. If I choose druid I am not sure if that's enough healing considering he's multi, or if he can handle melee as a single class?

4. Sorceror or Mage. Not sure which one is better given the spell additions/differences (perhaps multi with cleric?)

5. Bard. I hear they are really powerful here. Plus their songs heal so that can help.

6. An open slot. Another caster or archer I guess? Suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Belanos

You've completely missed a Thief, so you should have one for that final slot. You don't really need a pure class, but you do need someone who can disarm traps and open locks. One option would be a Gnome Illusionist/Thief. That race gets bonuses on their thieving skills, and having the magic ability as well would make them quite useful. And I wouldn't recommend a Cleric/Mage. You should have at least one pure class Arcane caster, otherwise it will take awhile before they start getting into the more powerful spells.

Infiltrator

You're right I'm missing a thief early on but I guess if I devote one completely to traps/detection I can focus on other aspects on my "main".

RAM021

1 - I prefer Ftr13 duals, but Ftr9 is quick enough.

2 - Barbarian TWFing axes is good. Barbs get some conversation options.

3 - F/D is decent compromise and keeps access to the Druid conversations.

4 - Either would work, but stay pure.

5 - True Bard yes.

6 - Ranger/Cleric: backs up the Druid and has unique options as well.

hexxactly

If you're gonna use EEkeeper you might as well do whatever you want off the bat.

Belanos

RAM021 said:

4 - Either would work, but stay pure.

I've been reading about how hard it is to get scrolls in this game, so a Sorcerer may be the better option. Just be sure you know what you're doing when you pick spells since you'll be stuck with them for the rest of the game.

RAM021 said:

6 - Ranger/Cleric: backs up the Druid and has unique options as well.

He really needs to use up that last slot for some kind of Thief. A multi-class will do.

Infiltrator

For sorceror.. I'm used to the BG2 spells, is there anything special I need to pay attention to?

I have a main thief but not before I am done with the fighter dualing off.. so yeah I get your point, depending on how many traps/locks I get during the first portion of the game.

bob_veng

1. good idea

2. the best frontal fighter is fighter/mage. gnome fighter/illusionist is maybe the best, kensage is great too and can be leveled up easily if you go right places at the right time. fighter/druid is also good and so is cleric/ranger.
barbarian isn't that amazing in my opinion.

3. blackguard is not great because there are more undead than living enemies to use the poison on (i'm playing with one right now so i can attest to that, but when there are living enemies he's absolutely sadistic). if you're thinking paladin, undead hunter is the way to go. other than that, fighter/cleric is devastating.

4. sorcerer. dragon disciple is even better maybe because of better physical attributes and the breath weapon works great in many parts of the game. there's a fire damage boosting item too for great flavor.

5. skald. unkitted bard is better if the party is less defensive, but as soon as you have a fighter/mage defense concerns are history.

6. another arcane spellcaster. try priest of tempus/mage dual at level 7. very easy to level up and uses of holy power that you get means he will fight well too.
the chaos of battle buff/debuff is very good, it's like an additional bardsong.
he'll also have a lot of hitpoints which is great in iwd. later you can tenser him for 200 hp (sounds banal but that's what iwd is about)

RAM021

@Infiltrator‌ @Belanos‌

Belanos said:

RAM021 said:

4 - Either would work, but stay pure.

I've been reading about how hard it is to get scrolls in this game, so a Sorcerer may be the better option. Just be sure you know what you're doing when you pick spells since you'll be stuck with them for the rest of the game.

RAM021 said:

6 - Ranger/Cleric: backs up the Druid and has unique options as well.

He really needs to use up that last slot for some kind of Thief. A multi-class will do.

4 - Correct. It is true scrolls can be tough to locate; however, knowing which spells are good for a Sorc is also difficult. As he indicates he has limited knowledge of IWD proper Sorc spell selection could be equally challenging. Of course because he has a Bard we too would lean towards a Sorc, but that was not his question.

6 - He already has plans for a Thief (#1). As one is not explicitly required, inflicting a second Thief (even a partial) upon him is short sighted. Now certainly Evasion is a great ability, but the Thief duals/multis (Cleric/Fighter/Mage) do not otherwise complement his party without major changes.

Considering this, we could suggest #4 become a Thief7+ dualed to Mage or #2 a Thief7+ dualed to Ftr/Barb/Defender; however, a more radical idea would be to repurpose #1 as a Shadowdancer multi: Fighter/Shadowdancer or our suggestion a Fighter/Mage/Shadowdancer as this would free up #4 to be a Sorc without issue.


#1 Fighter/(Mage)/Shadowdancer
#2 Longsword TWFing Undead Hunter (or Cavalier)
#3 Barbarian/Druid multi
#4 Sorcerer
#5 Bard (Skald for the melee buffs; True for versatility/healing - we would suggest Skald for this party)
#6 Ranger/Cleric multi

Infiltrator

I was planning on using long sword on my figher/shadowdancer in order to abuse backstab and I was thinking longswords are the best deal for that?

RAM021

There are more than enough Longswords to go around, but while there are a number of good backstabbing weapons Longswords are nevertheless the best Paladin weapon.

Infiltrator

I see. So what do you suggest for the figher/shadowdancer as a stabby weapon? Something other than Long swords? Katanas maybe? I don't know the items on memory like in BG2 so I don't know what to expect.. also, I didn't know I can multi barb-druid?

RAM021

If you wanted a TWFing Paladin, then we would suggest Shortswords for your Fighter/Shadowdancer. Katanas are a decent choice, but have a very limited selection.

kensai

bob_veng said:

1. good idea

2. the best frontal fighter is fighter/mage. gnome fighter/illusionist is maybe the best, kensage is great too and can be leveled up easily if you go right places at the right time. fighter/druid is also good and so is cleric/ranger.
barbarian isn't that amazing in my opinion.

gnome\illu is not so great nowadays because of the oppoisng school, Abjuration.
Yes, kensage is great but must be harder to level up than in BG.
Cleric\ranger is fixed and receive Iron Skin seriously later.
Agree about barbarian, personally think bers is better.

bob_veng

damn, forgot about that... just fighter/mage then. elf, longsword?

you're right about cleric/ranger getting iron skins very late but he still rocks hof

Infiltrator

RAM021 said:

If you wanted a TWFing Paladin, then we would suggest Shortswords for your Fighter/Shadowdancer. Katanas are a decent choice, but have a very limited selection.

So say I replace barb with Undead hunter - isn't short swords inferior to long swords since stabs rely on mults and obviously they arent that good on short swords as they are with long ones.

Also, why two weapon fighting with pally, I thought that was more worth it on fighers/barbs/rangers?

I guess you can't multi barb/druid.. or Im missing something.

RAM021

Yes Shortswords are inferior to Longswords, but then Longswords are inferior to Ninja-to & Wakizashi which are themselves inferior to Katanas... however, there are far fewer magical Ninja-to, Wakizashi & Katana than Short & Long swords. Not to mention that your Druid may want Scimitars.

TWFing is generally mathematically better from a statistical DPS perspective; especially once AC enters auto-hit (and auto-miss) categories. You could certainly go Sword & Board with the Paladin no problem, and that would make it easier to use Longswords for the Ftr/Shadow as well.

Also, there has not been any discussion about the fighting style you indeed to use on your main char. If you are going Single Wpn for the increased crit chance there would also be more than enough Longswords. However, even if both the Paladin & your Fighter/Shadowdancer TWF'd there would be sufficient Longswords for both, but there are a few specials that would be split between them.

Well no you cannot natively dual or multi Barbarian & Druid, but since you are already using kEEper to fix up/create your primary character, why not also use it to make a Barb/Druid?

Infiltrator

Thanks for the tips. Are you sure about #6 being a cleric/ranger .. that means that he's tanking it from the front pretty much (with 3 other chars), unless im using like.. slings?

RAM021

Yes, the front is where the R/C belongs: use a 3 up/1 back formation with the last 2 supporting from the rear.

If you want to get really cheeky you could give the R/C one of the new Cleric kits ;-)