Bravo! Bravo!! **APPLAUSE**
An excellent summary of the game and many strategies, Rusty! I appreciated the part about not needing a Rogue, especially with the Barbarian ascension being so easy; it can be done very early on.
I tend to use a 4-character party because I've found that 6 characters get pretty redundant, but on a 4-character party, a good start would be 2 warriors, a priest, and a wizard. I take one warrior to Paladin pretty quickly, take another one to Barbarian (to double as a thief) and develop the Priest and Wizard until they've gotten most of their major spells, then switch them to Warlocks to get the Moon and Fiend spells quickly. From there it's however I decide to develop them.
One other overlooked skill on Thieving though that you may want to emphasize is Pickpocket. You can get high-level items off of some monsters that they would not otherwise drop. For example, during the Crypt, a character with high Dex and moderate pickpocket skills can get some decent amulets and even ankhs (!) off of the rotting mummies (I think there are 4 of them in the Crypt other than F'Lokis Ra). It also gets you the coveted Treasury Key from Freyedies AND the element of evil from Lysandra without having to kill her or become a vamp yourself.
Thanks, Rusty, for an excellent "high-point" write-up. I'm sure starting players will find it very useful.
-Sazerac
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