Quote:
Originally posted by Alson:
A party composition thread!? Wow, havn't seen one for quite some time now... [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Your problem concers the party's tanking abilities alone - so I'll only refer to your potential frontliners.
I'll assume you're using Mazzy as a ranged attacker - as your front is quite beefy without her, too. I'll assume your DEX score is higher the Keldorn's (a reasonable assumption), and is high enough for you to serve as a tank. Since Anomen has more tanking potential than K's, I'll assume you'll give the Gauntlets of Better AC to him.
So far, we have on the frontline:
(1) A Cavalier with presumable tanking potential
(2) Grampa Keldorn, with no tanking potential whatsoever
(3) Over-pious Anomen - a noteworthy tank
Wasting equipment on Keldorn in effort to make a tank out of him is futile. Ergo, two handed weapons. Ergo, Carsomyr.
So Carsomyr & Keldorn are out.
Anomen, being a Fighter->Cleric, makes for an excellent tank with the right buffs, especially when using the Gauntlets. As for his equipment... I might be biased on this due to my weakness to Ages, but I would advise you to allocate some points with Anomen in Flails and 2 Weapon Style. Then, dual wield Ages on the main hand and the Defender of Easthaven on the off hand. With AoF, you'll have 45% physical resistance all around (25% against missles, but who cares about those). That's more than decent. Get him the best armor, too.
So far, we have Keldorn with Carso from the middle row, and Anomen taking the cr@p in the frontlines. That leaves us with one bloodthirsty Cavalier.
Heh... an oxymoron. 
OK, now we want some kind of hybrid between Anomen and Keldorn (wow... boring and arrogant. Do we really want that? [img]tongue.gif[/img] ) - as in, someone whose ability to dish out damage is just as good as his ability to take a beating. Throw in some M.R. in there, too. I suggest... *drum rolls*
Dual wield Bastard Swords! This should be self evident, but still, since I'm on the roll, I'll go ahead and ramble some more.
In order to have the ability to stand in the frontlines without gulping Superior Healing Potions every other round or so, one must have one of the following:
(1) Stoneskin
(2) Rockbottom AC
(3) Mad physical resistances
(4) Warp-speed regeneration
As a Cavalier, you won't have access to (1), (3) and probably (2), also. We're after (4), then. The arguably best weapon in the game for regeneration purposes, including Sanchuudoku, is Foebane +5 coupled by a high rate of attacks. With 4HP per hit healing you on a consistent rate, and the ability to have your HP float waaay behind your max HP, Foebane +5 is the ultimate stay-alive weapon.
Purifier +5 is nice for the added +30% M.R. and the extra roleplaying points - but is not a must by any means. Feel free to stick any weapon you desire in your off hand. Personal powergaming reccomandation: Belm +2.
Good luck with your new party - theme parties are always fun. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Hmmm...I could also use the Defender of Easthaven for my Cavalier's off-hand, giving both AC and physical resistances. Combined with Ring of Gaxx, Ring of Earth Control, Cloak of Sewers, Helm of Balduran and best armor, he would be quite good as a tank.
Keldorn is a bad tank? I had him as a tank in the party before, and he led the party in kills. And he was alone up front w/ Carsomyr, to boot. Just gave him the gauntlets and a strength belt and he went to town. However, Anomen can buff to make him surpass Keldorn, so your point does have validity. I once used Anomen as my main tank over Minsc (used shadowkeeper to change some of his weapon proficiencies around, so that he could eventually dual wield FoA and Crom Faeyr). He was quite good in that capacity. If I give him the gauntlets and a shield (Sentinel +5), he could match my Cavalier's AC just using the FoA. This makes two tanks with low AC. Your thoughts on that?
I notice no one seems to talk about the Axe of the Unyielding much. It also helps with the warp speed regeneration you were talking about (3 points a round), and the off-chance of vorpalling your opponent is quite nice. Does anyone ever use that weapon? I played an Archer once who dual wielded Foebane and Axe of the Unyielding, and regularly left combat with more HP than when he started. That's why I made that suggestion of that combination, but Defender of Easthaven is also a good one.
And yes, I agree that theme parties are quite nice! Spice up the game quite a bit!
Throw the Imoen romance on there, and it should be quite good!