Ideal IWDEE Party and why?
Noloir
Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 380
Making my first serious full run through of IWDEE and HoWEE. Already have my chars and party well set and developed but I'd like to know what do YOU believe the best party consists of?
2
Comments
There's a lot to consider here.
If by an ideal you mean powerful, and look at 6-man parties, then I'd go with an Archer, a Sorcerer, a Totemic Druid, a Berzerker, a Skald and an Illusionist/Thief.
I'm in a no-rest-in-dungeons run and doing pretty fine. Just cleared Wyrm's Tooth without major problems. In fact, except for Yxunomei and Joril I didn't had any troubles so far. It's been like a strolling in the park (except for all the ice and creatures trying to murder you).
Archer is great isn't it?! Been pretty simple so far. Waiting for Skald and Swashbuckler specific to gain the use any item HLA but coming to the conclusion that they probably don't exist in IWD:EE :X Next lvl up I might mod them in (particularly for SB) and see what happens from there.
Dwarf Priest of Tempus
Half Orc Swashbuckler Thief
Half Elf Bard
Elf Sorcerer
Elf Avenger Druid (or Archer Ranger, depending on personal preferences)
A bit arcane light party but so far it's a blast. Avenger is my substiute for a mage
Human paladin - undead hunter: Ok tank, he had a regeneration item.
Human berserker: A two handed sword guy, a wonderful character!
Dwarf fighter/cleric: I bet this class works in every game. Could be a half-elf, too...
Human thief->mage: Trap disarmer, caster, crossbow. The only dual class character.
Half-elf fighter/mage: Archer, caster, two weapon guy when defense spells permitted. Initially squishy.
Half-elf fighter/mage/cleric: Jack of 3 trades, master of none, super redundant for this party.
Soooo.... having three arcane casters can be problematic, since not everyone necessarily gets all the good spells. Baldur's Gate this ain't! I think there should be only one dedicated squishy in a party. I'll have to see how my next one does. Just for the sake of variety, I have included a skald, a dark moon monk and an assassin. The rest are "necessary" bread and butter classes.
And I agree about squishy characters, any balanced party should have one. Isn't that one of the unwritten rules of party creation?
Fighter/Mage/Thief -> archer and Mislead powerhouse, longbow and longswords
Illusionist/Cleric -> summoner, metamagics, shapechanged juggernaut
Skald -> buffer, improved haste caster and utility spells
Kensei 9/Druid -> shapechanged tank, AoE DoTs, scimitars
Berserker 7/Cleric -> tank, morningstars, maces
Kensei 9/Mage -> axes, bastard swords
This party has a trick up it's sleeve to trivialise any fight and enough sheer destructive power to steamroll efficiently.
Ideal insane play through (additional xp based on difficulty removed):
Bard
Avenger
Paladin (any except Inquisitor)
Dwarf Fighter/Cleric
Gnome Illusionist/Cleric
Fighter/Thief
The first 3 are the core group to access bonus xp, loot and quests through unique dialogue. I love a Mage/cleric to take advantage of metamagics in IWD. The rest just fill in the blanks while avoiding the game breaking options which while powerful reduce fun IMO (sorcerer, archer, grandmastery).
Amongst other bonuses, Ranger 3 means 2 pips in Flails and 3 in TWF, which is nice for a Cleric without losing many levels.
Human Inquisitor Paladin
Half-Elf Wizard Slayer Fighter
Elf Ranger
Human Ranger/Cleric (dual classed at level 3)
Human Kensai Fighter/Mage (dual classed at level 3)
Human Fighter/Thief (dual classed at level 4)
I went with dual-classing to get extra hit points and bonuses (eg. my Mage ended up with -7 AC, 92 HP's and could wield dual-swords instead of being weak with only a dagger or staff).
Tank:
Human Undead Hunter (longsword + shield)
Front fighters:
Human Ranger 3 --> Cleric (maces, flails, TWF)
Human Swash 5 --> Fighter (axes, TWF)
Elf Fighter/Mage (2H Swords, longbow)
Support:
Half Elf Skald
Wildcard:
Human Totemic Druid (dualled to fighter at 11? who knows?)
Does it look good?
It's just that I wanted to avail of his TWF bonuses.
Few things:
- There are some really good bastard swords while very few good 2 handers
- Avenger rather than Totemic, you've got a solid front line already
- Berserker 3 -> Cleric is much stronger unless you're cheating and allowing Druid spells (though with a Druid on board to heal you could go to berserker 7 easily)
- I'd go to Swash 10 before dualing, Swash 5 is fine but it's nice to use the traps
Are bastard swords wielded 2 handed "automatically" as long as there's nothing in the off hand?
Rangers miss out on Grandmastery which is why the berserker 7/cleric is so much stronger. 3 v 7 is important as the extra half attack rounds the APR to an even number which due to engine peculiarities can often mean an extra attack per round over an above what you'd expect.
Fair enough on the thief thing, I just enjoy laying a trap or two before resting to discourage anyone disturbing my rest (among other strategies).
Bastard swords are single handed only unless you download a mod but there is honestly no reason to have anyone using two handed weapons in IWD as the selection is so poor compared to dual wielding or even single handed wielding.
- Human paladin undead hunter : longswod, axe, flail, shield, my main tank
- gnome berzerker : 2 handed sword, staff, damage dealer
- half orc barbarian : 2 weapons, longsword, flail, damage dealer
- halfling bounty hunter : crossbow
- dwarf cleric of lanthander : sling
- elf ranger archer : longbow
19 / 22 apr
Great damage
Alle the races but one (half elf), i like playing this way
Elf FMT dual long sword/Longbow
Half elf Skald
Gnome Ill/Cler Mace/Flail
Human Kensei 9/Druid Scimitar/Club
Dwarf Fighter/Cleric Warhammer/Flail
Half Orc Barbarian Bastard Sword/Axe
You can hit 24 APR unhasted, 48 with IH, 98 with Mislead, Simulcrum and Polymorph Self and probably more if you put your mind to it ...
Never be satisfied with less! And hey, still 6 different races ...
(1) Have a class which can only get ** in any weapon, and dual wield. That way I can be sure that I'll find something useful.
Example: Ranger/Cleric, Fighter/Cleric, Barbarian, Paladin. All of them can then get ** in things like bastards swords, flails, hammers, etc. They'll find *something* that they can use and can upgrade as things come on down.
(2) Have another class which can get ***** in a single weapon that I know that will drop.
Example: The game is *full* of amazing axes that you know will drop. So have a dwarven berserker with two weapon fighting and let him use axes. He'll end up with an offhand that will give him +2 AC (ie: a +1 shield which gives 10% DR from missiles and which gives +1 APR) and an evolving mainhand (axe of caged souls for +5 vs undead with Celebrant's axe for normal +4. Upgrade in HoW with the +5 axe that you can get)
This lets you ensure that you make the most use out of items. Some warriors get the random drops that push them up in power levels, while others use the great items you know you will get.
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Good proficiency points for *****
* Axes:
Axe of the Defender (+2, +2 AC, 10% DR from missiles)
Axe of Caged Souls (+3/+5 vs undead)
Celebrant's Axe (+4)
Young Rage (+5)
Lonesome Road (+3 two handed, +1 Con. Great for dwarfs and half orcs! Consider having a half orc with this and the +2 throwing axe)
Throwing Axe +2 (best missile weapon in the game)
* Longswords
Everain's Broadsword (early guaranteed find of a +2)
Alamion (guaranteed +3 longsword, also +5 vs salamanders, 10% fire resistance, -5% cold resistance)
Pale Justice (for paladins only, +4/+7 vs evil)
Aihonen (+4, 25% fire resistance, +5 HP)
+ several random finds, such as the coveted +3 longsword of action (+1 APR! Perfect offhand!)
* Maybe greatswords
Kresselack's Sword (guaranteed +1 with 10% cold resistance)
Cairn Blade (guaranteed +4)
Rare few interim greatswords...
* Spears
Spear of White Ash (buy ASAP, because there aren't any random drops, +3 with +1d6 damage)
Spear of Kerish (guaranteed drop. +3, with +1d6 cold damage and 10% fire resistance)
Slayer (guaranteed drop of +5)
* Katanas
+1 guaranteed in Kresselack's tomb
+2 darkened glory guaranteed
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Fun for RP. The lucky Ranger.
lvl 1: ** in Maces and Scimitars
Dual Wield, Scimitars and Maces
Mainhand: Love of Black Bess (very cheap, 10% of all hits cause the target to lose 4 points of Luck)
Offhand: Lucky Scimitar (gives you luck)
If possible, get the girdle that blesses you as well.
This gives your character +2 to hit and +2 damage (from constant bless and luck)
Give another character katana profiency for darkened glory (+2, chance of a critical and casting curse on the entire enemy party).
The enemy bumbles around helplessly as Lady Tamora smiles upon you.
- In the beginning, longsword and flail/morningstar, axe
- During adventure, longsword, flail/morningstar , staff (a + 4 staff only for mage, take a FM).
There's a longbow apr=4, but random, a apr=3 crossbow random too. Best bow to buy is a shortbow apr = 3 (sold in trial of the luremaster)
Bastard sword, i think it's not match, prefered longsword with +1 apr and +1 AC (2 of them in heart of winter)
Weapons with flame damage are great too, mainly for trolls.
There's a longsword +2 early in the game, and flail +3 in trial of the luremaster.
A hammer with acid damage is good too, but random.
Gnome Fighter
Gnome Fighter/Cleric
Gnome Fighter/Cleric
Gnome Fighter/Thief
Gnome Illusionist
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist
Because gnomes.
I completed my last HoF level 1 run (applying enemy AC fix) with the following party:
[spoiler=Full Party]
Fighter/Cleric are Berkerker>Cleric 7>X.
I don't think I could build a more efficient/low maintenance party.
Check the save if you want to know more about proficiencies and such.