So now that I have gotten over my love with spitting acid and decided against going with a troup of dracons due to some feedback in a seperate post I am thinking of the following:

Lizard Fighter (Str 3, Vit 3)
Dracon Valkyrie (Str 3, Vit 3)
Felpurr Samurai (Speed 3, Str 3 or Str 2 and dex 1?)
Hobbit Ranger (Senses 3, Dex 3)
Felpurr Bard (Speed 3, What else?)
Faerie Alchemist (Int 3, Pie 3)

Some of those choices seem a bit odd, but here is what I was thinking: Samurai needs speed from what I hear, but I don't know what is the main stat for getting critical hits (help me out here). Most people seem to go with a Mook for their ranger because his Senses are so high to start and he gets a huge amount of bonus attribute points, but I thought speed and dexterity were important to a Ranger and a Mook starts with very low speed and dexterity. So I thought a Hobbit might make a better ranger (true?). I initially thought a hobbit should be my bard too, but I read somewhere that if I want my bard to be have good pp skills and be able to undo locks and traps then speed would be important, and the Felpurr is the speed master (Felpurr Bard?).

So tell me what you think about the party decisions, and also please let me know about the attribute allocation (in parenthesis after each party member) that I have in mind. It is hard to know what attributes are more important to pump for some of the classes.

And is it true that my alchemist will be able to combine potions and powders etc. using the combine items button in the inventory screen or is that a button that only a gatdgeteers can use?

Thanks,

You have it right on the combine thing for potions and powders. The party will work as well as most other will. I left the valkyrie out, and recruited Vi when I got to Arnika - lets you put in another magic user - I would go with a Bishop. I would also make the ranger a Mook so that they can use the Giantsword as an extended waepon in the mid to late game. But hey, like I said - each race and class has it's benefits - your balance looks OK as it is.

Your party composition and its development really depend on what you are want. Your choices seem very sound. I did not try to find the "best" race for each class. I just picked whatever looked good at the time.

Critical hits are based on Speed and Senses for Samurai. For a ranger it is Senses and Int.

You can make an effective Mook Ranger with decent speed by taking 1/3 of your bonus points and applying them to speed at character creation. Also in applying points every character in my party with the exception of my bishop got points in speed. I prefer a party that hits first as opposed to harder. For my samurai I applied 3 points to strength and speed until they maxed. Now I am working on vitality and Dex. For the ranger it was Spd and Senses.

I cannot comment on the other classes as I have not played them but I still would favor speed.

Note: All personal opinions

Rangers like dex and senses. The big advantage a Ranger have is that they can insta-kill with a bow/crossbow. That needs senses.

Samuri are hard because they need senses and speed for lightning strike and critical strike, but vit dex and str for hard hitting as a front line fighter. Check this website, this guy has put together the best threads on development and races for each class.

http://www.geocities.com/jandrall/

Also, you may want a little more magic as previous poster suggested. You might want to drop the valk and add a caster. I like the combination of a wizard and a Bishop who focuses, at least initially, on priest and alchemey. Just a personal preference...

I'g go with the Mook Ranger and a Hobbit Bard. Bards Rock. Here's a hint on your Bard. When you get to the first town, you will fing a musical instrument in one of the rooms in the inn. Use it to charm Heli over and over and reasonably quickly you can build you music ability to 65.

Your bard should have a good amount of stamina, thats his mana.
So pushing vitality and piety ( afects stamina too I think ) would be a good idea.

Sences on a ranger should be pretty high, because that atribut is relatet to his crital hits.

As long as a character has Alchemy skill he/she can combine potions,powders, etc. (meaning your ranger will be able to do this also)the ingredients that you can successfully combine depends entirely on your Alchemy skill. What makes an Alchemist unique is that they can create potions while resting.

Strength, Vitality and Piety all contribute to your stamina. Personally, I would opt for Strength and Vitality over Piety for your bard (because bards have no use for spell points but they do have a use for extra hitpoints and depending on what you plan to do with your bard - attack rating). Also, don't forget that Intelligence augments your Music ability (and you will be using this frequently). Speed, as you said, will aid in thieving abilities (as will dex in some cases) and it will also raise your initiative and AC. If it were me, I would probably allocate my starting points into INT, STR, and VIT, and depending on what sort of weapon I intended to equip, stick with INT and STR (if using a melee weapon), or INT and DEX (if using a ranged weapon) for level-up allocation. If you just want to sling songs with your bard and focus on thievery skills (don't forget that spells like Knock Knock and Divine Trap can help with this), then I'd probably go for INT and SPD instead. Note, however, that Power Cast (the reward for reaching 100 INT) is useless to the bard, so if you do decide to raise INT, only do so up to 80 or so. You will find items that can augment your INT, and this will allow you to concentrate on other attributes.

I'd want my Samurai critical hitting as often as possible, and as soon as possible, so I'd probably up DEX, SPD, and SEN at character creation, and then focus on SPD and SEN (you could also opt for DEX, and SPD). Given the fact that Felpurr's start with high SPD, it probably wouldn't take you very long to max this attribute, and you could move on to the next. That's just my personal choice, however. I'd imagine there are plenty of ways you could develop a character as versatile as the samurai, and how you develop him/her would also depend on the rest of your party configuration and your personal tastes.

I'd stick with SEN and DEX on my ranger, with SPD as a close third choice.

Like others have suggested, I'd probably trade your Valkyrie for a Bishop, or if you absolutely do not want to do that, you could always make your Alchemist a Bishop instead. Keep in mind that once your Bard gets some toys, he/she will closely resemble a caster themselves, but it will take time to acquire those toys. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Erydian ]</p>

Thank you all, that was some excellent information, just what I was looking for. I started the party last night and OMG, they are doing sooo much better than my 1st party.

And as far as being light on magic, the way I see it, my bard will eventually resemble a caster (and a powerful one at that because every time she practices, the only skill that gets raised is Music, no matter what "realm" the "spell" she is casting would have come from if she were a mage or Bishop). Plus since most people including me save spell points for higher level spells, developing any magic user is very slow in the beginning. Right now my Alchemist pretty much just practices during battle by healing people who don't need it all that badly and casting light etc. as well as throwing darts and stuff to bump up his throwing skills (apparently need for some of his spells like fire bomb). Plus my Samurai is going to be a hybrid caster, eventually using spells as his ranged wepaon rather than a bow or some such similar thing. Same thing but to a lesser degree with my Valkyrie and my Ranger will help my Bard in casting buff/disabling spells. So really once I get going my fighter will be the only person that won't be casting. I think this party is gonna rip! I will find out tonight if they are really gonna do as I hope...I haven't slept yet and I am about to go up the ramp to the second story of the lower monestary where I will meet the gregor and maybe a huge pack of seekers, that should be a good test.

Thanks again!

congrats on being happy with your party!... for a lot of people here that seems pretty hard to do so soone :)
i had an idea for a interesting party that might be hard to play later on, but really neat.
Sam, Lord, Monk, ninja, gadge, and then bard... no true casters
it would take most of 'em forever to level up, but man... they'd be powerful with both bard and gadgeteer.

Brak,
Ignore all these people who keep pushing a mook ranger. Yes, his chance per hit will be a bit higher than your hobbit, but your hobbit will fire off a lot more arrows than their mook, and in the end you'll have a better ranger; just remember to keep your quiver well stocked 'cuase you're gonna go through a lot of arrows.

I like your idea about the felpur Bard. Please keep us informed on how he works out.

I agree a bit with some of the posts that mention you might want more magic power, but I wouldn't replace one of your fighters, instead I'd switch the alchemist to a Bishop. I played through the game with a party very similar to yours using a Faerei Bishop as the only primary magic user and she was all the magic I needed.

All and all, it looks like a good setup. Have fun with it.