Just thought i'd start a thread about tiny little wee parties, just so a few of us minimalists can share our findings...
My first smaller party was 4, imported from W-7 with many goodies, most importantly, Spellbooks, which meant i could Charm Burz until i maxxed Psi, and other similar feats, and they finished easily.
Hobbit Bishop Faerie Ninja Rawulf Lord Gnome Monk.
Now i'm working with 2 different sets of 3. I like 3, from the formation (all in the middle) to the compromise between high XP and enough damage-to-mobs.
The most recent start is my favorite by far:
Mook Ranger
Mook Bard(-to Fighter at L8)
Rawulf Lord
The other one is:
Felpurr Bard (-to Fighter at L11)
Mook Ranger
Mook Gad (-to Fighter at L11)

I'm pretty sure i won't finish the trio with the Gad, i'm just not pleased with the lack of practise opportunities. I'm gonna go at least till she can make Tripleshooters; i'm inclined to believe i'll actually settle for the Doubleshooters i can get Madras to make. Which was the only reason i wanted a Gad anyway.
As much fun as it was to rotate through all the Realms' Group Instakiller spells, i can make the Fighter and Lord almost impossible to hit and the Ranger very close behind, where the Bishop's AC trails miserably. That is, in fact, what i pared down from my parties of 4.
In both cases, i guess it's pretty clear i'm hooked on the Giant's Sword idea. I can't wait til i get a couple of'm.
I'm switching the Bard, i've done this before and by the end of the game the ex-Bard Fighters have all done much more Berzerk damage than the Bards i've had stay Bard and use offensive Instruments. Even without Light Sword. (If it weren't for Heal-All, the one in the latter party would go at L8, too.) I'm also doing without my otherwise everpresent Faerie Ninja, all my finishes so far have had her...except the solo Liz Ranger.
I'd like to read about anybody else's experience with their favorite smaller parties!

[ 06-29-2002, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: otter ]

Love the increased levels with smaller groups, and enhanced speed at which skills are learned.

Even a party of 5 gains a lot over parties of 6.

Currently playing a 4 person, all hobbits: sam, valk and 2 bishops. Working quite well, though we're only in Arnika.

Oru

Usually, i play a full party of six, and i have trouble deciding what classes to be left out.

Currently, i play a pure spellcaster party - priest, alchemist, psyonic, mage.

And i have a fighter/bishop party that is very powerful.
I included one rogue level for stealth training, but i think that was a mistake. Made things too easy.
Initention was to have a caster with all spells, and a fighter that is master in all waepons. Well, the bishop is about maxed, but the fighter still trains his first melee skill (axes).

I like the all-Hobbit idea, but i dunno about trying to practise up TWO bishops...tell me how that's going! You can get the Merchant inventories to reload if you save just before kissing the NPC, maybe better than camping for months to get all the Books. Are you going for the Staff o'Doom for one Bishop? I'm trying to think of what else there is...
My trio with the Rawulf Lord is in Arnika now, most important thing now is to get Music up, rather boring, but the Bard is ready to switch now, everybody's going on L10. The Road was a breeze, i was surprised. Not even a Sige.
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The Fighter-Bishop party, is that just the two of them? That sounds like fun. I wouldn't have tried it without the stealth, though. In fact, all my parties have had Stealth since i discovered that the AC stays when you switch.

[ 07-04-2002, 02:04 AM: Message edited by: otter ]

Went against my usual style and saved 3 and 4 early spell picks, now their magic is progressing slowly due to lack of manna and practice spells, and Croc, curse his rumpled hide, refuses to get any level 4 books into inventory.

Still, have to say the group seems to be developing well: very rarely have a death, and the speed at which they level is most gratifying.

Am off to see Sadok, will try the re-load deal on him!

Oru

Yes, its just that pair.
My rogue level was around levle 5, and it was pretty hard before. Often had to run from fights after i killed one or two opponents, then rested and came back. A single low-level caster isn't much help for the fighter.
After stealth building, things got more easy.
And then, after reaching Arnika, my bishop was suddenly quite powerful. He runs out of mana fast, but once i had a few mana stomes, that wasn't a problem anymore.
And to my surprise, things didn't become difficult, although i didn't use really powerful weapons.

My intention was to use vampire chain (with light shield) with the fighter. I expected the bishop to die a lot, but he would be very useful for non-combat spells (missile shield...). Thus the chain would keep the warrior alive.
I switched to the chain in a few fights (when bishop was knocked out - didn't have smelling salt with me). But quite often, i don't have to heal during a whole fight. Thus my remark about stealth training being unnecessary.

Oruboris;
Yah, Crock's a pain, your party average has to be L11 before he'll sell the L4 Books. If you got the right version (i think any but the lates patch), you can PP one each of them before then, though. You should be able to get Books in Arnika that have the good practise spells, if you just do the boring work, you can max 3 Schools in a few game days with Charm for Div, Knock-Knock for Wiz, Mindread for Psi, and you can max Alc by mixing potions, but that takes much more game time waiting for Merchants to restock. Last time i had a Bishop, i used Knock-Knock to pump Alc to 50, mixed the powders i'd been saving (PP'd 40 or so Sneeze & Flash) and a bunch of potions, got up to 70-something, went back to K-K-ing the Vault Door until i had 100 Alc (and Earth). Then i took a level as Mage to K-K Wiz up to 100.
For Fire, you can practise with HypnoLure (the manual is wrong on P88 but right on P108) you just have to be near an NPC, and you can get Skill increases if you recast every time it expires or fizzles. For Air, i really like Shadow Hound; Mindread and Charm will take care of Mental (plus you can use Divine Trap over and over for instant gratification); Magic Screen for Divine. Unfortunately, Water is lacking in practise opportunities, just Heal, Cure and Rest a lot, but you only get increases if someone needs help.
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Wereboar;
yah,i usually use L5 for Stealth, that's when you can generate groups of Seekers in LM, they're my favorite, if you back away from them until you're at their max range, they rarely hit, and they don't retreat as much as Slimes and Spiders, AND they don't pass out as often. If you can cast (or play) Sleep, you can get the combat to end for a save just standing there, or maybe to run away for some rest.
Are you playing the Caster quartet without Stealth?...EEK!

yes... small parties are fun.
my usual is my old wiz7 party
a lord, samurai, ninja and monk
import them, level up to 5th level to start getting spells, change over at 6 to rogue to train all in stealth till 100, then change back and begin practicing ones skills/magic.
with 100 stealth + armourplate + bless they are very tough and on expert level the game is good.

Yes, for sure.
(I started again, with a bishop too, so now its a quintett)
With stealts, the game went very easy with my fighter-bishop duo. Too easy. Maybe i'll train stealth when trying a new solo, but with a whole party, its not necessary. If i want an easier game, i could just play normal difficulty.

Ok, i reload when a fight goes very bad.
(For example, my level 12-13 party just encountered a group of level 18 monsters in the swamp. I reloaded and fleed).
And i buy ressurrection powders, instead of selling them. But i don't have that many deaths. Guardian angels on my front-liners (priest and alchemist) helps a lot.

I like the Hybrid Rainbow, M. PooBaa! I ran 2 of thos through, once with: Rawulf Lord, Felpurr Samurai, Faerie Ninja, Elf Monk, and once with four Hobbits.
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Yah, Guardian Angel! Rah! That's become my second favorite spell. (Haste)

[ 07-09-2002, 01:52 AM: Message edited by: otter ]