most powerful custom party?
messy
Member Posts: 40
i realize this is a completely silly, highly subjective question, but i'm asking anyway. ?
my first thought was a half orc fighter and five elf archers. i'd love to hear other ideas.
my first thought was a half orc fighter and five elf archers. i'd love to hear other ideas.
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Presumably you're thinking of the fighter to act as a tank, but a dwarf berserker or dwarven defender is much better in that role. A sorcerer can provide a lot of arcane potential, while a halfling fighter/thief provides decent fighting support with the added bonus of dealing with locks and traps. Depending on your play style you might want a divine caster as well - say a Priest of Lathander, who most closely meshes with a combat heavy party. For the rest I wouldn't object to archers - they actually complement casters really well, once their called shot ability starts nerfing saving throws. It can be amusing to have a party with a couple of archers render even ToB bosses helpless against simple spells.
dwarven defender x3
human fighter ( that will dual over to cleric )
human swashbuckler ( that will dual over to fighter )
human kensai ( that will dual over to mage )
in bg1, you dont ever need the help of a cleric or mage, there are SO many potions of healing in that game it actually can make clerics pointless ( since drinking a potion can't fail while casting a spell can ) and for any good mage buff a potion can do better
plus with good gear and stats in bg1, 99% of all battles can be won with point and cleric with this team combo, and for harder fights, load everybody up with amulet of missiles ( or is it fireballs? ) and throw in some fire first, and if somehow still alive, drink a potion or two and clean up
now in bg2, this is where things get interesting and wonky because for your dual class characters you have to level up at the exact right time and place, and depending on where that happens it can make your play through tricky
but first;
x3 dwarven defenders; they continue to kick butt by basically being immune to everything with good saves, tons of HP and tons of resistance
the swashbuckler is the first to dual class into a fighter, and i usually go; swash 11 -> fighter and go with short bows, and once that fighter level surpasses swashbuckler, holy moly does this character tear it up from the rear
the kensai is second on the list to dual class, and this is where things get kind of wonky, first for this team to be as optimal and less pain in the butt as possible, you basically have to run to spell hold as quickly as possible, which means the time you give gaelan bayle his money, your kensai should be level 9 and its time to swap over to mage, but the caveat is; you can only grow to level 5 and have to wait until you can gain enough XP to skip all the way to level 10 so you don't waste that precious proficiency point, and while that is happening you have to fight some vampires with no cleric and no level drain protection except for a level 5 mage wearing the amulet of power, but if you can get pass that, piece of cake
then last but not least is the cleric, where you dual your fighter at level 13 and then turn into cleric, and stop at level 7, and then wait until you have enough XP to skip to level 14 ( so again you do not waste proficiency points ) luckily though at this time, even having a level 7 cleric for the rest of the game need be is enough because the rest of the party easily picks up the slack, and best part is; even dualling at level 13 for your fighter, you can still hit level 38 in your cleric class under the ToB XP cap
so, once all is said and done, what do you have?
3 melee chums with the good gear that have godly HP, AMAZING saves, to hit, to damage, and attacks per round without even casting a single spell
then for the back 3, the cleric is on sling, the thief on short bow, and the mage on throwing knife, and all three of them also have amazing HP, to hit, to damage, AND attacks per round, and again this is all without casting a single spell, and they can ACTUALLY hit things, and when they do, they ACTUALLY hit it hard
this team is especially useful in ToB where enemies become more resistant to magic so instead of worrying about lowering resistance and casting spells you just come out of the gate kicking butt without a muss or fuss
for me, when it comes to power, i like to think of it as; who can do the job quickly and efficiently as possible, with as little weakness and battle prep as possible, and i think this is the team to do it
in theory you could argue that a team of fighter/mages and cleric/mages or fighter/clerics would be stronger because of buffs and what not, but the problem is, you can't always use buffs ( dead magic zones ) and there will be times when they get dispelled, and while you are still buffing your mages away screwing around in candlekeep dungeon with your "unstoppable team" i've already been there, done that, bought the T-shirt and im facing of melissan in ToB because i didn't have to wait 10 years to buff up every battle to get going
that is why i don't consider any multi-class caster the most powerful because its only their spells that are making them powerful, without their spells some of them are just shooting nerf bullets at reinforced titanium while my heavy fighter team doesn't need to use of spells to be useful and can just start kicking ass right out of the gate
Fighter/Illusionist, Gnome
Fighter/Mage/Thief, Elf
Cleric/Illusionist, Gnome
Kensai -> Thief, Human
Fighter/Mage/Cleric, Half-Elf
Blade, Half Elf
The first 4 are the core of the group and are pretty set in stone. The F/I is a traditional spellsword, complete with shorty saving throws. The F/M/T is a Swiss army knife that can fight, cast, pilfer and abuse Mislead like nobody's business. The C/I is an underrated class, a magical artillery gun that fire a never ending battery of spells and then wishes them all back. Once the K-T activates UAI and can wear armour, they become a powerhouse capable of 100% MR and Kai powered backstabs (although sadly not at the same time).
The F/M/C is perhaps slightly shaky - the 'fighter' part doesn't contribute too much to this multiclass, but it does give the group another divine caster and wizard capable of casting level 7 and 8 Necromancy spells. It's important to stagger the arcane users since there are only so many scrolls of powerful spells in the game (although you could arguably go more all out than this group does). A blade can just about earn their keep since with Enhanced Bard Song, they can boost the whole party while also providing level 40 Dispel/Remove Magic services (one of the only spells that does scale past level 20). If someone was to present a strong argument, I'd consider replacing them, though.
What's the group missing? Druid-exclusive spells? They're nice, don't get me wrong, but I can live without 'em. Archer? Yeah, not having Strength-draining called shot kills is a bummer, but unless you're dualling 'em to a cleric (impossible unless you tinker with your EE files), they lose their lustre a bit towards the end... and having 3 clerics in the group would be too much! Sorcerers don't cannibalise spell scrolls and would provide a level 31 dispeller - you can never go wrong with adding a Sorcerer to your party - but they can't provide anything that can't be covered by the others. It's true that Dwarven Defenders have incredible, undispellable defences... but a F/I with Stoneskin and Spell Immunity: Abjuration also has incredible, undispellable defences (apart from arrows of dispelling, and how many opponents use them?!).
Truth be told, you can make a decent argument for many party setups (one of the reasons why the game is so fascinating). But that's my two cents.
there are well known powerful individual classes – like kensai mage. beyond that, however, it’s possible to optimize by gear. for example, 6 archers would have a hard time finding bows for all parties, also armor and tanking would be difficult. many individuals specialize in a specific type of fight which isn’t representative of the total game experience. recommendations are only for the original games, where glitches like choosing a class and kit then using the back button to select a multiclass would create a multiclass with a kit. however in EE, both shadowkeeper and a custom script can do this.
mage assassin: firetooth dagger, aslyferund mail, harper amulet, shield of the order, montolio’s cloak, gauntlets of extraordinary, lavender stone
poison weapon + melf’s is great against mages. Spike trap will handle all of the dragon encounters. this character also uses many items that are otherwise unusable because of suboptimal classes like ranger. the somewhat limited mage progression is still good enough to handle weak to medium groups of hostiles with a single AOE spell. shapechanged backstabs can work if needed. the 2 attacks of firetooth become 3 with the gauntlets.
fighter shapeshifter: darksteel shield, sling of everard, helm of balduran, gauntlets of expertise
greater werewolf gets 5 attacks with any weapon, use potion swap with ideally shakti figurine. sling of everard is a +5 item that can use spare bullets if you have them, but also adds strength damage. greater whirlwind is thus replaced by improved haste. the use of critical strike would effectively be 20 apr. the druid part is still insanely useful against multiple casters - creeping doom and insect plague are still available for caster encounters. none of the stat rolls are relevant. wisdom adds nothing and relevant stats are bypassed by greater werewolf: str=21 dex=20 con=25. the werewolf form is permanent if desired, so no need to constantly monitor forms.
fighter: gesen bow, shuruppak's plate, bracers of archery, sewer cloak, ring of earth
the plate is good for archers with +dex. gesen's bow is a great weapon. with the use of the 'guard' button allowing fighters to shoot through walls and infinite range, this weapon is equally good against individual strong monsters as well as mages due to its element. adding infinite +2 arrows late game makes this weapon even stronger. great against beholders.
cleric conjurer: vecna robe, bracers 3, vhalior's helm, ring of protection +3, gaxx, reflection cloak, reflection shield, amulet of power
using the robe to get near instant casts of priests spells and adding contingencies filled with priest spells is useful. this is the main simulacrum / pi abuser to overwhelm beholders. chaotic commands is somewhat essential if you don't want your 20 apr fighter slinging +5 bullets into your backline when confused.
this still leaves k'logarath axe, firetooth crossbow and enkidu's plate. a 5th party member is sustainable, but ultimately there isn't quite enough good items to go around imo. the rings and amulet selection is already sparse. sentinel shield, woundrous gloves and amulet of the seldarine can really help make the character viable.
strategy: use of summoned creatures as tanks. most party members will have -10 ac to avoid the occasional arrow, not for sustained battle in the front lines. the efficiency of this party comes mostly from the cleric/mage which can use images to equal several casters and/or tanks with stoneskin. the fighter shifter is also the effective damage of 2 fighters but at range. a fire elemental with otiluke's and protection from magic will be immune to physical for 10 rounds and immune to magic for 100 rounds. this is effective against fire giants, for example. the gesen fighter is good in individual duels to protect party members, but is also useful in assisting the cleric mage against beholders. sending a weak summons and guarding it will result in the fighter killing at least 1 beholder even without line of sight. the mage assassin has use any item, which means the use of all harps. with the wand of lightning, harps and figurines become much more dangerous. images using protection from magic scrolls will neutralize liches in short order, making this party able to handle most threats without serious risk. this party doesn't really struggle with clay golems, provided melf's meteors are available. all other golems are not a problem.
For a veteran who wants a quick ride? One fighter/illusionist for Charname and one or two sorcerers who spend most of the game dead. Grab a thief for Durlag's Tower, fill up the party for SoD, and then stay solo in SoA until you have level 9 mage spells. Resurrect your sorcerers, add other NPCs, and let the fighter/illusionist do the work while the rest of the party gradually gains strength to help with ToB.