Maybe I'm going about this party creation thing all wrong, trying to create a 6 person party this whole time.

What number of characters is best and why?

TIA

I always go with 6 so i can get all i need.

[ 11-17-2005, 03:41 PM: Message edited by: Vernon ]

I like 6, due to my caster-heavy party builds. However, any number is good. The only number that I'd stay away from would be five, since IMO you wind up with no noticeable xp benefit, at the cost of a party member.

Soloing is possible, as is duoing, and three person and four person parties are effective.

Although I haven't gotten very far into this game, I prefer six as well. I think that's how the game was intended to be played, and I like the versatility of six different guys.

Marty4: Care to enlighten us on (a)your party's makeup and (b)the tactics you use in a magic-heavy party? Thanks dude!

I may be able to answer that question.

Heavy on spellbombers. One arcane caster is a wizard, the rest (probably 2-3) are sorcerors with a bit of paladin. For clerics, at least one is a Morninglord of Lathander. There will be one heavily buffed tank with magic resistance that serves to bunch up enemies for area-effect spell damage. There will be at most 2 levels of rogue in a single character, but many characters may start as rogues for the extra skill points. The characters will have plenty of mix-in classes (particularly wizard up to about lvl 5) to get the best defensive buffs (Mirror Image, Blur, Blink).

I think Aerich is stalking me [img]tongue.gif[/img] .

Thats about right! I only take one rogue level on only one character, and the tank actually takes 12 mage levels for Tenser's, but other than that you outlined the party exactly.

Woah, that is a lot of spellpower there!

Is spellcasting more powerful in this game as compared to the other bioware games, or have you always loved it so much?

I know I have powergamed baldurs gate 1 and 2, and used a lot of tanks/archers to get the job done.

I'd say spellcasting is more powerful in this game than in it's counterparts. More AoE spells are available, allowing for huge amounts of bombardment, casting stats can be raised to huge levels to give many bonus spells, and IMHO the radius of the spells is easier to control. Also, give a spellcaster two or three luck-enhancing items, and watch him hit for MAX damage with each nuke! Having six horrid wiltings with guaranteed 250 damage to each enemy is a great way to burn through the game.

Also, in the late game and HoF, melee-type guys tend to be severely outclassed by the enemies.

I think that as you progress thru the game, your tanks go from being your offensive weapon to being the bodyguards for the spellcasters. This is not necessarily a "bad thing". There are many battles where your party could be overrun without having some tanks to hold the line.

Also consider that often you need your tanks to finish off various enemies who are 99% dead and just need that last hit to go down. (Archers are great for this. "Look at that orc! He can barely stand! Here, have a few arrows, orc scum!")

Wonderful quote. If this is true, then this is the first bioware game to have d&d be the way it should be, at least IMHO.