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Party Help

Currently I have a party that is getting wiped out in the beginning of chapter 2. I am seriously considering restarting my current difficulty setting is core. I am not a fan of multi-classing but I am open to one or two

My team:
Half-Orc Barbarian
Human Cleric (Priest of Tyr)
Halfing Thief
Elf Archer
Human Mage
Human Invoker

The strongest characters are the Barbarian, Archer, and Invoker. The thief is dead weight and I find the Cleric cannot keep up with all the damage the party receives. Does anyone have some suggestions for me to improve my new party? I am thinking about getting rid of the thief and trying a fighter/their or fighter/mage/thief or ditching the thief all together. Two mages are not as strong as I had hoped. AOE almost always seems to hurt my melee.
JuliusBorisov

Comments

  • DanacmDanacm Member Posts: 950
    edited July 2019
    Basic party what i like is:
    Undead hunter, ranger/cleric (or fighter3/cleric dualclass), archer, fighter (berserker, dwarven defender, your best), mage/thief (or swashbuckler6/mage dual) and a sorcerer.
    If you want more divine magic:
    Paladin, fighter/druid, fighter/cleric, mage/thief, archer, sorcerer

    After that there is evil party combos, duo party, and martial party.
    Martial party(boring for lots of players):
    Fighter, paladin, ranger, fighter/thief.
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,325
    You will definitely need somebody in the party who can deal with traps, and scouting ahead is arguably WAY more important in IWD than it is in the BG series, so I would still recommend keeping a thief of some kind in your party. However, a Fighter/Thief should still be able to fulfill the role of a Thief if you desire a bit more direct damage in combat from them.

    The big problem with bringing multiple mages in IWD is that there's a scarcity of scrolls, so unless you have your mages specialize in different roles (i.e. one is a blaster/CC type while the other is a buffer/debuffer), they're always going to be fighting over scrolls, reducing their overall effectiveness. I think you can safely get away with just having 1 Mage in the party for IWD, and as you might have already discovered, damage/CC mages are somewhat hamstrung in IWD due to the high numbers of undead and elemental-type monsters you'll face.

    My own party for IWD:EE consisted of:

    - Human Female Paladin (Cavalier kit. My main tank. A combination of heavy armor and innate resistances + immunity to fear and poison make her quite capable of handling undead and spiders in the early game without difficulty.)
    - Dwarf Male Fighter (Berserker kit. This guy was my main melee bruiser. Use his Enrage ability before entering big fights and he becomes immune to just about every type of CC out there!)
    - Human Male Generalist Mage (my all-rounder Mage who changes his spells to suit whatever is needed at the time, mostly a combination of CC and buffs, with some high damage spells mixed in here and there)
    - Human Male Cleric (of Lathander kit. The buffs vs undead come in quite handy.)
    - Female Elf Ranger (Archer kit. My Archer was actually by far and away the BIGGEST DPS machine in my party. By the end of the game she had dealt almost 50% of the party's damage! Set her to attack high value targets like enemy spellcasters; she'll usually mow them down within a couple rounds.)
    - Female Halfling Thief (Shadowdancer kit. I tried the Shadowdancer because in theory it sounds fun, but I found it to be too micromanage-y to be truly effective for my needs. If I was doing this again, I'd reroll her as a Swashbuckler and make her dual-wield so she'll be more potent in combat.)
    JuliusBorisov
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Joneser wrote: »
    Currently I have a party that is getting wiped out in the beginning of chapter 2. I am seriously considering restarting my current difficulty setting is core. I am not a fan of multi-classing but I am open to one or two

    My team:
    Half-Orc Barbarian
    Human Cleric (Priest of Tyr)
    Halfing Thief
    Elf Archer
    Human Mage
    Human Invoker

    The strongest characters are the Barbarian, Archer, and Invoker. The thief is dead weight and I find the Cleric cannot keep up with all the damage the party receives. Does anyone have some suggestions for me to improve my new party? I am thinking about getting rid of the thief and trying a fighter/their or fighter/mage/thief or ditching the thief all together. Two mages are not as strong as I had hoped. AOE almost always seems to hurt my melee.

    IWD is a bit different than BG for a number of reasons and creating a party can therefore seem different as well. Looking at your party and your difficulty setting (core without the higher EXP from higher diff and higher exp from that level) you could perhaps argue MCs are less effecient since you will level slower than playing on the highest difficulty setting with increased EXP gains from that (which actually makes the game easier IMHO).

    * So, the barbarian is good, you can keep that.
    * Clerics are decent, though since damage output and damage mitigation/avoidance is on high demand in IWD, my personal favorite is F/C dwarf since they function as both tank/buffer and still do consistent damage as well.
    * Thieves as singleclass is a waste in IWD and any and all MCs are infinitely better; C/T, T/M(I), F/T. Since arcane is less needed in IWD, I actually like C/T so I have two clerics who can summon skeletins (meat walls, ahem.. bone walls).
    * Archers are kings. Choose either longbow for a very specific drop later in the game or xbows IMHO.
    * 2 mages is a waste. One mage and one bard is a lot better, one druid, one bard and multiclassing the thief as thief mage or thief illusionist gnome as well.

    So, avoiding to many MCs, as per your request, this would probably be a well-balanced team (but there are many, many other setups as well of course):

    * Halforc Barbarian
    * F/C Dwarf
    * F/T halforc (for STR to damage) or Dwarf for better save rolls, take your pick. Or elf for THAC0 with bows and swords. In BG I always prefer dwarfs but in IWD I think HO is the better pick for the few times they engage in melee.
    * Elf Archer. Machinegun. Bring a lot of arrows!
    * Bard
    * Druid or Mage. (you can also take Sorc, but IMHO they are too good in IWD since they do not need scrolls.)

    Please also note singleclassed mages will sometimes find themselves without spells to fill up their spell slots, since there's a scarcity of scrolls in IWD, especially on hgher difficulty with increased EXP gains. Hence why I prefer to only have a bard as my only arcane (or a MC Mage/X), the bard can then plink away with a bow if you want to, but primarily sing and sling spells.
    JuliusBorisovDaevelonAerakar
  • JoneserJoneser Member Posts: 12
    Thanks for the help all!
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    edited July 2019
    I would suggest 0 singleclass warriors, 0 singleclass clerics or druids, 0 singleclass wizards, no more than 1 thief, and at least one sorcerer. Perhaps something like this:

    FMT (mainly casts defensive buffs)
    Half-orc fighter/cleric
    Ranger/cleric
    Fighter/druid
    Sorcerer
    Skald (can replace with second sorcerer if desired)
    Joneser
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    Ditch the Invoker for either a Skald, or a Druid (regular or any of the kits). You'll thank me for it...
    Joneser
  • JoneserJoneser Member Posts: 12
    edited July 2019
    Good day, I changed my party but have run into a few problems. First my warrior/thief keeps dying as an off tank. Secondly I do not have someone in the battlefield that can revive me in my case the w/t. Do you guys have any more suggestions?

    My current party:
    Paladin
    Warrior/thief
    Ranger Archer
    Avenger druid
    Bard
    Sorcerer
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    edited July 2019
    Yes, you need 1-2 clerics in the party to be able to revive you instead of the 0 you currently have. Also your warrior/thief would be stronger defensively as a fighter/mage/thief because he could cast buffs like mirror image and (later) stoneskin as well as immobilizing foes with spells like chromatic orb and emotion hopelessness.
    Joneser
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Joneser wrote: »
    Good day, I changed my party but have run into a few problems. First my warrior/thief keeps dying as an off tank. Secondly I do not have someone in the battlefield that can revive me in my case the w/t. Do you guys have any more suggestions?

    My current party:
    Paladin
    Warrior/thief
    Ranger Archer
    Avenger druid
    Bard
    Sorcerer

    Hehe, you went from a SC Cleric to no cleric without passing though the MC Cleric ;) My suggestions still stand, at least one multiclassed cleric in every team. Also, this means the MC cleric (ranger/cleric or F/C) will be your second tank, letting your F/T be an archer instead. It works much better since it's really, really annoying to have to change from plate to leather to do the thief skills. You really do want two tanks in IWD with high AC, well IMHO at least.
    Joneser
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,325
    I would still highly recommend bringing a Cleric in your party, if only to deal with the copious amounts of undead IWD throws at you. There are pros and cons for multi-classing your Cleric, but one advantage to not multi-classing is that it means your cleric's level will be higher, which makes it easier for them to successfully use their Turn Undead ability. A high-level cleric can turn an undead-heavy battle into a pushover if he just waltz into the middle and they all suddenly explode the next round. XD
    DaevelonJoneser
  • DaevelonDaevelon Member Posts: 605
    Zaxares wrote: »
    I would still highly recommend bringing a Cleric in your party, if only to deal with the copious amounts of undead IWD throws at you. There are pros and cons for multi-classing your Cleric, but one advantage to not multi-classing is that it means your cleric's level will be higher, which makes it easier for them to successfully use their Turn Undead ability. A high-level cleric can turn an undead-heavy battle into a pushover if he just waltz into the middle and they all suddenly explode the next round. XD

    Maybe a biclassed cleric from fighter will be the best option: dual at level 7 or 9 will make it a good fighter with fast cleric progression. As you said Turn Undead ability is a fantastic feat in IWD, after passing level 15 almost every Undead is dead without even starting the fight (and undeads are like 70% of enemies).
    Joneser
  • JoneserJoneser Member Posts: 12
    Thanks for the help. I am going to use ee keeper to change a few classes around. I don't want to start over again. Also some of the terminology you guys use I don't understand, I am doing my best to decipher the language and acronyms. :p
  • DanacmDanacm Member Posts: 950
    edited July 2019
    Try to use more warriors as i said before. Like
    Undead hunter
    Dwarven defender or berserker
    Fighter/cleric
    Fighter/druid
    Mage/thief

    4 warriors, 2 single classed, 2 multiclassed and a mage/thief. Lots of divine magic spells, heals. Dwarven defendfer or berserker can mastery/grandmastery in melee weapons. If you wanr add an archer and steamroll iwdee.

    Joneser
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Joneser wrote: »
    Thanks for the help. I am going to use ee keeper to change a few classes around. I don't want to start over again. Also some of the terminology you guys use I don't understand, I am doing my best to decipher the language and acronyms. :p

    Which ones are you struggling with?
    MC = multiclass, SC = Singeclass, etc.. Just ask and someone will reply.
    Joneser
  • JoneserJoneser Member Posts: 12
    Thanks I understand now. The new party is really defensive no one dies anymore. Before I died a minimum of 15 times in the vale.

    I was wondering if a dual wield F/M/T would be a good idea. I miss the Barbarian on the front lines or am I being too greedy?
    Skatan
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    Dual-wielding long swords is a great idea for a FMT. Dual-wielding flails or maces is a great idea for a fighter/cleric or ranger/cleric.
  • DaevelonDaevelon Member Posts: 605
    Joneser wrote: »
    Thanks I understand now. The new party is really defensive no one dies anymore. Before I died a minimum of 15 times in the vale.

    I was wondering if a dual wield F/M/T would be a good idea. I miss the Barbarian on the front lines or am I being too greedy?

    For a single run it's quite painful to make your f/m/t to dual wield, your thac0 progression is slow and you will miss hits quite often.
    I advice you to start with one weapon+shield (there are a lot of great long sword) then add proficiences in flails too (same as before, great flails/morning stars around).
  • JoneserJoneser Member Posts: 12
    edited July 2019
    Daevelon wrote: »
    Joneser wrote: »
    Thanks I understand now. The new party is really defensive no one dies anymore. Before I died a minimum of 15 times in the vale.

    For a single run it's quite painful to make your f/m/t to dual wield, your thac0 progression is slow and you will miss hits quite often.
    I advice you to start with one weapon+shield (there are a lot of great long sword) then add proficiences in flails too (same as before, great flails/morning stars around).

    I ended up building the F/M/T sword and shield due to damage output by the enemy. Death spells are a pain to deal with and they always catch me off guard. This party is a lot of fun but I can understand why so many suggested at least one /cleric. If my cleric dies deep in a dungeon I have no one to revive him. I thought a paladin would have more healing spells. Maybe it is the kit I selected.

    My current party is below. I just don't like MC and would prefer to play on an easier difficulty to compensate. Maybe in the future I might revisit the idea.

    Paladin Cavalier
    F/M/T
    Ranger Archer
    Priest of Tyr
    Bard
    Sorcerer
    Skatan
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,325
    Paladins do have their Lay on Hands ability for a bit of extra healing (although I suggest mostly keeping it reserve so your paladin can use it as emergency healing for themselves in a fight thanks to its 0 casting time), but they won't get cleric spells till they're higher level (and even then, I'd argue that it's better for the paladin to use their limited spellcasting for buff spells like Armor of Faith and Aid rather than using it on healing).

    Note that your Archer should also get a bit of spellcasting as they gain levels, and Ranger spells aren't as useful as cleric buff spells, so feel free to have her slot healing spells instead.
    Joneser
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