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Difficult party in IWD:EE

saoxsaox Member Posts: 106
in Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
Hi,

What number of party members make the game the hardest? Is it 1 or 4 or 6? What is your opinion?

I was thinking about a northern team consisting of:
1) Beast Master
2) Priest of Tempus
3) Archer
4) Wild mage - from an RP perspective a barbarian-mage who sometimes looses control over his power :)
5) Avenger
6) <-----------(idk - suggest please :-) )

Comments

  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    6. Barbarian for Northern team or Sorceress specializing in cold elemental spells.
  • ZyzzogetonZyzzogeton Member Posts: 526
    edited November 2014
    Solo Thief. HoF. Level 1. No dual/multiclassing. Final Destination
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    I think 6 wizard slayers might be pretty tough.
  • saoxsaox Member Posts: 106
    And how many party members are more dificult to play with?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    FinneousPJ said:

    I think 6 wizard slayers might be pretty tough.

    Surprising, a party of 6 wizards will be pretty tough as well, taking into account the situation with mage scrolls in this game.
  • saoxsaox Member Posts: 106
    Okay, but speaking just numerically and taking XP distribution into account, how many team members makes the game more difficult? Is it when we have a big distribution between 6 characters, or when we play for example only 2 ? Or somewhere inbetween? :P
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    Archers are far from weak in IWD, if that is what you are looking for.
  • saoxsaox Member Posts: 106
    I want a challanging game. I want to have some unique/difficult classes or just know the number of party members that would make my game difficult :).
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    edited November 2014
    Elven Wizard Slayer archer
    Halfling Barbarian duel wield bastard swords
    Wild Mage
    Gnome Axe Kensai
    Shapeshifter
    Jester

    That would give a good balance of unusual and challenging, without feeling like you where completely gimped.
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    Halfling Barbarian
    Elf Kensai
    Gnome Vanilla Cleric
    Half-Orc Assassin
    Human Shapeshifter
    Half-Elf Blade

    This isn't actually bad, but would be better describbed as suboptimal. Avenger and Archer are both VERY good.
  • RedViiperRedViiper Member Posts: 48
    edited November 2014
    I'd reckon the smaller your party assuming no class with summons the more challenging the game is due to its zerg rush tactics.
  • RedViiperRedViiper Member Posts: 48
    edited November 2014
    An alternative would be to super optimize and then play on Heart of Fury. Myself I usually create a team I think looks fun then set the difficulty as I go along so no matter the party I have its challenging but not impossible.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    Decreasing party size can paradoxically make the game easier because of faster leveling, and fewer "mouths to feed" with your gold resources as far as buying potions, scrolls, weapons and armor.

    The extra xp can cause the party to start outleveling the content. However, I'm currently playing with a party of four pure classes on core rules, and I find it reasonably challenging and fun.

    Some people like the extra challenge of keeping six people alive - keeping six alive is harder than keeping four or two alive.

    As has been said, try Heart of Fury mode. You can also avoid using the + and - buttons on character creation - no triple 18's in STR, DEX, and CON. Give everybody at least 10 on their "dump stats" - no lowering to animal level 3 INT or WIS. Use pure classes and stay away from fighter multi-classes and dual classes.

    Try no-reload and minimal reload. Live with the consequences of battles gone bad. I personally only reload in the event of a TPK.

    There are a variety of ways to increase challenge. Once you know the ins and outs of all the mechanics though, the game is never going to be super challenging no matter what you do.
  • WowoWowo Member Posts: 2,064
    saox said:

    Okay, but speaking just numerically and taking XP distribution into account, how many team members makes the game more difficult? Is it when we have a big distribution between 6 characters, or when we play for example only 2 ? Or somewhere inbetween? :P

    I think the answer lies along the lines of it being relative to your progress through the game.

    6 characters results in the lowest overall level and the most bodies to distribute items between but after a certain point this is overcome anyway by diminishing returns on leveling and excess magic items.

    1 character gets plenty of items and xp but at the end of the day is only one character so needs to fill multiple roles and will struggle to have the satisfactory damage output compared to a party.
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