Hello,

I am receiving this game soon and have begun to think about my party. My preference is to do as much as possible at range, so this is what I was thinking:

Male Hobbit Fighter
Male Mook Ranger
Male Human Ranger
Female Hobbit Gadgeteer
Female Hobbit Bard
Female Farie Bishop

Thinking:

1. Hobbit fighter: his senses won't be so low as the Lizard or Dracon. Important (?) because he will learn both sword and bow.

2. Two rangers - they are ideal ranged fighers, no? The mook for the Great Sword and the Human for higher magic stats, to act as an alchemist.

3. Having both the Gadgeteer and a Bard - seems like two "pseudocasters" will be good, given that I only have one bishop. Also, the ranged party should have an omnigun. I'm reading that the bard's power is too great to ignore.

4. Bishop will study all schools. Maybe will follow something like the following: http://www.geocities.com/shau185/bishop.html

5. Bard, fighter, and rangers will learn bow.

6. I will recruit robot monk for the front and vi for the flank, for additional melee power.

I am seeking general comments but also answers to some specific questions:

Does anybody think a purely thrown-combat ninja beats the second ranger?

Can one get two Great Swords? Then maybe two mook rangers is better?

Any problems with the hobbit as the fighter?

Will I have ammo problems?

Thanks in advance.

I had a mook ranger my first time through -- he was a real money maker via his alchemy potion mixing. He pretty much maxed out on magic skills as well as ranged skills.

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3. Having both the Gadgeteer and a Bard - seems like two "pseudocasters" will be good, given that I only have one bishop. Also, the ranged party should have an omnigun. I'm reading that the bard's power is too great to ignore.

I had a bard in my first group. I'm playing again with a bard and a gadgeteer -- both are very good and contribute a lot (although not as many kills -- they disable, others kill).

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6. I will recruit robot monk for the front and vi for the flank, for additional melee power.

I like them also. There are only a few places that they do not like to go with you.

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Can one get two Great Swords? Then maybe two mook rangers is better?

I think that you are guarenteed at least one, but I got and sold several my last game.

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Will I have ammo problems?

I had a tendency to buy all the advanced arrows and quarrels available and then stock pile them in the chest near Antone Rapax. You will do decent damage & learn skill with ordinary arrows and quarrels for most average monsters -- taking a stock of advanced ammo with you for new sections with bigger monsters.

Here's what I suggest. Make your Rangers Female as well. Tripleshot crossbows are big stamina drainers, and you find a few medicine bags later on to go with the necklaces of endurance you find early on.

Instead of the Fighter, I'd like to suggest a Samurai. Have him use Bloodlust for most of the game (to get the fighter's berserk) and develop his magic for range.. If you want a ranged party, then this will help while you're still at range. Hobbits make great Samurai.

As for great arrows, Sadok in Martens Bluff sells Viper Arrows... best in the game till you can get lightning bolts and mystic arrows consistently. Anna in Arnika and Crock in the Swamp sell plenty of Hunter Quarrels though and they do fine. Crock is also great for Impaling stones for your gadgeteer.

I found out that a Human Monk do perform better then a Hobbit. You better take a Elf Bishop, they can where much more armors and weapons. The Ferie race bonus is only worth at the very begining of the game. After Arnika it's not a real bonus anymore :(

for the Giant's Sword: you can get them from several Death Lords (Sea Caves, South East Wilderness) .. the Swords seem to be guaranted in the loot ... futhermore you have a small chance to find it in the Queen's Chest in Rapax Castle..