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As others have already said, I guess you don't really NEED anything--not even one pure spellcaster. But in my opinion, having 2 casters really makes the game a lot more fun and 'playable' for most people. I went for an uber-party once upon a time, used an alchemist & 5 hybrid fighters to get me through the early stages, then cut the alchemist to replace him with another monk. No pure spellcasters were left, but by that time the others were casting spells pretty well.
My wife couldn't stand playing with that party because I insisted on taking advantage of every opportunity to tweak a magic skill (since, in the absence of a pure spellcaster, I really needed to). So she and I started the game over with a party that she wanted to be more 'playable.' As far as hassle-free parties go, it's really nice to have at LEAST 2 pure spellcasters so that by level 11 you can portal to a safe haven (say, Crock's shop) and then portal back to wherever you were in terms of your progress through the game. We ended up with an alchemist who converted to bishop after getting the essentials (read portal) and a mage who will probably remain a mage until she gets nuclear blast. Because I don't like lugging around all those instruments that bards use, I don't consider them fun to play, so we went with 4 fighter hybrids in the other slots: monk/sammy/valk/ranger.
The mage and alk/bish don't have the hitpoints that I'm accustomed to in my uber-party, but it's hardly as if they're having any trouble surviving. And the game with my wife moves worlds more quickly than the ones I play on my own.
[ 02-12-2002: Message edited by: sloucho ]
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