Fun Party Build
spiteandmalice
Member Posts: 3
Hi, I'm playing IWDee for the 1st time and I'm just wanting a bit of advice on which character classes are the most fun to play.
I've no interest in powergaming or multiple play throughs. I don't feel a need to have set character roles (i.e. No desire to get the best Tank/Damage Dealer) I may have a go at HOW, but if it's just the same game (albeit harder) then I doubt I'll do more than take a look at it. Essentially I just want to role play and have characters that are different from one another.
NB - While multiclassing sounds like a fun way to try out different classes at the same time, dual classing sounds horrendous, I don't want to spend half the game watching my XP/Level whilst waiting for that sweet spot of when to goto the 2nd class (I know I'd be kicking myself if I went too early/late).
Things I'm looking at so far:
Bard - Skald seems stronger, but does the loss of songs still make for an enjoyable character?
Paladin - This is a definite for extra dialogue options
FTM - I understand that thief on it's own is a waste, and a triple class character sounds unique to play
Ranger/Cleric I like the idea of this giving me 2 more classes in addition to the FTM above, but why would you want to lose the possibility to fire piercing projectiles on a ranger?
OR
Ranger (Elf Archer) - This is my alternative Ranger, but how much of a bind is it to have to resurrect Elves
A Druid multi class - Just to get a full complement of spells, and shapshifting sounds fun. But, do you get shapeshifting on rangers later on?
Wild Mage - I can imagine this making a mess of some situations, but it sounds like a crazy time to have.
That gives me 6, but are there any others which would be more fun/interesting on a first play through? Sorcerer sounds like a tricky limited Mage where you really need to know what spells you're picking (I don't). Is Barbarian fun, or a is it a one trick pony? Monk seems a bit boring.
Any thoughts/help is appreciated :-)
I've no interest in powergaming or multiple play throughs. I don't feel a need to have set character roles (i.e. No desire to get the best Tank/Damage Dealer) I may have a go at HOW, but if it's just the same game (albeit harder) then I doubt I'll do more than take a look at it. Essentially I just want to role play and have characters that are different from one another.
NB - While multiclassing sounds like a fun way to try out different classes at the same time, dual classing sounds horrendous, I don't want to spend half the game watching my XP/Level whilst waiting for that sweet spot of when to goto the 2nd class (I know I'd be kicking myself if I went too early/late).
Things I'm looking at so far:
Bard - Skald seems stronger, but does the loss of songs still make for an enjoyable character?
Paladin - This is a definite for extra dialogue options
FTM - I understand that thief on it's own is a waste, and a triple class character sounds unique to play
Ranger/Cleric I like the idea of this giving me 2 more classes in addition to the FTM above, but why would you want to lose the possibility to fire piercing projectiles on a ranger?
OR
Ranger (Elf Archer) - This is my alternative Ranger, but how much of a bind is it to have to resurrect Elves
A Druid multi class - Just to get a full complement of spells, and shapshifting sounds fun. But, do you get shapeshifting on rangers later on?
Wild Mage - I can imagine this making a mess of some situations, but it sounds like a crazy time to have.
That gives me 6, but are there any others which would be more fun/interesting on a first play through? Sorcerer sounds like a tricky limited Mage where you really need to know what spells you're picking (I don't). Is Barbarian fun, or a is it a one trick pony? Monk seems a bit boring.
Any thoughts/help is appreciated :-)
0
Comments
Comments:
Paladin - My favorite choice for party leader in this particular game, role-playing wise. The Undead Hunter kit feels especially appropriate to me, considering the amount of undead monsters you'll meet, but that's just flavor.
Bard or Skald - Yes, one of these definitely belongs in a "canonical" IWD party. I find the pure-class more fun, due to having multiple songs for different circumstances, and being able to pickpocket on the side. The Skald is somewhat of a one-trick pony, with his one (admittedly powerful) song.
F/M/T - A triple class will lag too far behind, when playing with a full party. It is more suited to soloing. Also, the Wild Mage together with the Bard can cover all your wizard spellcasting needs - in fact you'll find spell scrolls a little too scarce to divide among three wizard casters.
So I'd make this one a Fighter/Thief multiclass instead. He'll level up fast enough to be able to learn the lock and trap picking skills you need, and on top of that some decent stealth skills by mid-game, so he can backstab effectively - which is another thing that can be quite fun...
Ranger/Cleric or Archer - I'd choose the R/C, or even a pure-class Cleric or Fighter/Cleric. Because (1) having a cleric adds something unique to the party that might otherwise be missed, and (2) when I last played an Archer in this game, I found him a little boring to play. Another one-trick pony, basically. Powerful, for sure, but not really fundamentally different from any other character wielding a bow - he's just better at it, and won't do much else.
Druid - Another great choice for this particular game. Druid spell choices are more varied and interesting than in BG2, and add a different feel to combat than what wizards and priests alone can provide. Also a candidate for multi-classing with Fighter, to give you another heavy front-line warrior, so all those epic armors you'll find won't go to waste...
Wild Mage - Possibly my favorite class in this game engine, overall! Some people avoid it like the plague because they hate gratuitous randomness, but I find it loads of fun to play. I've gotten both detrimental and beneficial wild surges that were simply hilarious. Definitely succeeds in mixing things up. (Note: I recommend installing the first component of the Wild Mage Additions mod so he'll have additional fun Wild Magic themed spells to choose from.)
I think that's made my mind up about the Bard type, the Paladin, and the Wild Mage.
Could you give me an idea of how far away from single class characters a F/M/T would be at the end of the game as compared to a F/T?
It's a really good point that you've made about having 3 mages in the party. I hadn't realised that the Bard would also be a Mage, (I thought people were refereeing to them having mage like songs, not songs AND mage spells). So dropping down to 2 mages sounds a good call.
Ranger/Cleric sounds good in the sense of being more interesting, but that lack of being able to fire Arrows with a Ranger type feels really odd to me. Is the Ranger/Cleric build still able to acquire good ranged gear to use (I'm not overly concerned about spoilers).
Fighter/Druid sounds a good call too.
hmm, but now I'm wondering about the Thief/Cleric - That would mean I could have a Fighter/Druid and still cover 4 classes with 2 characters, thus leaving my Ranger firing pointy things. ;-)
lol I don't think I ever got so much into character creation before, I thought Wizardry 8 was bad (In a good way).
I actually walked about the first town with them too whilst I was checking out how the game worked before setting up for a serious play through. Didn't think these guys could actually be the team. (To be fair I like to immerse myself in characters, so I think I will make my own, even if similar).
But yeah
EDIT - I think I'm used to games giving you crappy default characters i.e. Wasteland2, to which I didn't even properly look, but those guys have actually got some decent stats on them.
As you don't get the stories of NPC's, you have to make your own.
So, a berserker with a spear and a sling, a dwarven defender with a penchant for hammers a hunter skald, and halfling fighter thief (with slings and shortsword) set out for glory. Nearing civilisation, they encounter a Kensai wandering to improve her sword skills. Not really knowing one another, they do think they compliment each other sort of, but some things are missing.
The berserker is quickly intrigued by druidism, and dual classes to it. This polarises the party a bit, as the ways of the newly born druid don't exactly jive with what the Dwarven fighter is brought up to believe, and the open dismay of worldly power has the Kensai leaping to the defense of the Skald.
The newfound friendship between the Skald and Kensai interests the latter to the arcane, and shortly after, she puts away the longsword, and takes up the book. The party still holds, and the dwarf and druid have long talks about relegion, until at one point, the dwarf decides to show the druid how her beliefs work by vowing into the faith.
I then have a halfling FT, a dual class fighter druid al l3, a dual class kensai mage at 7, and a dual class dwarven defender (will start up the old eekeeper for that) at 8. No fighters left, but hoping the specialisation and spells compensate.
I should have made the last member a dragon desciple, and still might, I have a mage standing about that I ditched because he did not fit the theme of the party. Rigorous eekeeping could make him into a nice kobold dragon desciple, which would fit this barely civilised group a lot better.
EDIT
I went EEkeepering, and decided every character should just be multiclass, it's easier. I also made the halfling a cleric-thief, not including that option has always been an oversight, and I wanted the halfling to be able to cast as well, otherwise all but one character could cast spells.
Only wannabe lesser deities care about social following and assorted clergy.
Obviously, I also have much more in common with people who spend quality time with frolicking nymphs and widely indulge in the practice of unleashing lightnings on unsuspecting victims.
1) Fighter
2) Barbarian
3) Thief
4 Cleric
5 Fighter/Thief
6 Swashbuckler
F/M/T +mordenkained swrd+sneak attack
can toggle with backstab and tbh its situational, just if you have a big crowd of mobs (inc summons) setting up for backstabs is so much extra faff....depends how lazy you are!
personally found it better to have an fmt, at the edges of combat, rather than in the thick of the melee(cant wear plate and keep spell casting) so lower ac and hps than a proper tank. it also feels kinda funky hitting stuff from 40feet away for 30-40 damage.....about same as archery crits tbh.