[Aerich]

You got most of it right. Casters is where it's at, but IMO truly powerful parties have to have all, or at least 5 out of 6, characters combining magic with durability (AC and HP), above-average melee skills (good Thaco and more than one attack/round) and excellent ranged attacks - that means warrior classes.

Therefore, avoid pure-class characters, except for the paladin - and perhaps bard if you go that route. You will max out single-class characters on HoF, even ones with high XP requirements, like paladins. In my HoF game from scratch (the party starts HoF at lvl 1), the paladin was at lvl 29 before starting TotL, and the bard maxed out on Burial Isle. Note, a paladin will have the same HP as a fighter - the only downsides of a paladin vs a fighter are experience requirements (won't be a problem for you) and lack of 5-star specialization (2 stars max for the pally) - but both negatives are outweighed by the paladin's extra abilities including spellcasting.

If you want to do a regular run through the game then go to HoF, consider playing on Insane for double the normal XP. The downside of this is that it makes HoF (at least the first couple of chapters) too easy. Exploding scores of HoF undead in the Vale of Shadows with a paladin's turn undead skill gets kind of boring.

Also consider using one high-level dual class character, even though I know you said you want your characters pulling their weight throughout the entire game. A Fighter/Mage dual class that goes to at least fighter level 13 is a terror on the battlefield when it regains its fighter levels at mage lvl 14. It's also not any more of a liability after a few levels than a pure mage, and it will retain its fighters HP during its time as a mage, reducing its vulnerability.

An elven fighter/cleric is a bad idea if you are really going to powergame it. The -1 Con of an elf means this character won't be as good of a melee fighter as some other races - the +1 Dex only helps that character' ranged attacks, not AC. Go for a gnome, because they can buy a special helm. A dwarf is fine too, because of the saving throw bonuses. You could also make the F/C a half-elf R/C instead, gaining the ranger's class-based extra melee attack per round with no shield equipped.

To sum up the changes I'd make to your party listed above, make the druid a F/D multiclass, and make the pureclass mage a high level dual class F/M. The F/C should be a gnome, dwarf, half-elf, or a R/C. I'm not overly happy about the lack of a fighter class with the M/T, but you do need thieving in there somewhere. As an alternative, you could dual the M/T too, going to about thief lvl 9. One of the three mages could also be a specialist - illusionist is probably the best choice. You could use a gnome illusionist/thief to replace the M/T, or use a gnome fighter/illusionist, or dual class the high level fighter into an illusionist.

Be warned that with three mage-spell casters, you will have to plan out who gets what. For example, there are only two Stoneskin scrolls available, so one of your characters won't have it.

[ 02-19-2006, 03:23 AM: Message edited by: Aerich ]