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NobleNick · 09-27-2002, 03:51 PM

You guys have much different party compositions and tactics than I; but I like what I see! You rave about the three characters that I did not put into my party: druid, bard, and ranger. You just about have me convinced to drop my current game and start a party of these three!

I have been playing IWD:HoW, on NORMAL; but am only to Severed Hand, on my first play through. (haven't entered the HoW or TotLM areas, yet.) I average like 2 hours a week, so it will be a while....

Anyway, I have a party of six:

1.) Paladin (Justification: Tank with innate resistances to bad guys, turn undead.)

2.) mc: Gnome Thief/Illusionist (Justification: Get thief and magic in one package, saving party slots. Specialist gives extra spells. I am rethinking the wisdom of this, since magic users are typically back ranks players and thieves are often in the front lines. This gal has, by far, the fewest hp of all my characters, yet she is always way out front when the fighting starts and has to spend a good part of the battle high-tailing it back. One of my most valuable characters, since my fighter/mages have not yet dualed over; but I often wonder if a fighter/thief mc or dc might have been better.)

3.) Cleric/Fighter. Dual over to fighter at level 8-10. (Justification: Want a fighter who can heal, if critically needed. Also need to fill the "healing hole" until my "big guns" cleric duals over from fighter. The extra hp won't hurt, either)

4.) Fighter/Cleric Dual over to cleric at level 9. (Justification: get lots [over 100] extra hp, and deep proficiency at clubs, as a fighter before starting on her journey to become my standard cleric.)

5.) Fighter/Conjuror Dual over at level 13. (Justification: Again, lots of hp and DEEP proficiency at swords before dualing over. Specialize to get extra spells. My strategy is to build a spellcaster that can spam spells, augment the party with conjured minions or, if she gets bored with all that, cast blur and mirror on herself [ever try to hit a simultaneously blurred and mirrored character?] before wading into melee to dish out some mondo HUGE punishment.)

6.) Fighter/Sorceror Dual over at level 9 or 13 (haven't decided which level, yet) (Justification: You know the drill, by now -- More hp, DEEP proficiency at bow, specialize for more spells: Play this guy as a ranged fighter, with a lot more than just arrows to zing at the enemy.)

As you can see, this is a magic-heavy party, without the drawback of low hitpoints (except my poor mage/thief mc); and I like that. My basic strategy is to hold lots of skills in ranged combat, and cream most everything before they can close to melee. If outnumbered, high hp on my tanks allows my spellcasters to protect them by spamming area effect spells without worrying about the occasional scorch or frostbite from friendly fire.

After reading your posts, I am thinking of replacing #3 (cleric dualed over to fighter) with either a cleric dualed to ranger, or maybe a druid (can you dual-class a druid?).

I am also trying to figure out how to get a bard into the party; but don't want to give up my fighter/mages nor the Pally (he's not that good, now [and boring, to boot]; but I'm told he'll get more valuable later). Hmm.... maybe the pally. What do you think: Is a bard worth the loss of a paladin?

Edited to add tactics/strategy and correct a few errors.

[ 10-01-2002, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

09-27-2002, 03:51 PM	#4
NobleNick Quintesson Join Date: February 5, 2002 Location: Huntsville, AL, USA Age: 63 Posts: 1,045	You guys have much different party compositions and tactics than I; but I like what I see! You rave about the three characters that I did not put into my party: druid, bard, and ranger. You just about have me convinced to drop my current game and start a party of these three! I have been playing IWD:HoW, on NORMAL; but am only to Severed Hand, on my first play through. (haven't entered the HoW or TotLM areas, yet.) I average like 2 hours a week, so it will be a while.... Anyway, I have a party of six: 1.) Paladin (Justification: Tank with innate resistances to bad guys, turn undead.) 2.) mc: Gnome Thief/Illusionist (Justification: Get thief and magic in one package, saving party slots. Specialist gives extra spells. I am rethinking the wisdom of this, since magic users are typically back ranks players and thieves are often in the front lines. This gal has, by far, the fewest hp of all my characters, yet she is always way out front when the fighting starts and has to spend a good part of the battle high-tailing it back. One of my most valuable characters, since my fighter/mages have not yet dualed over; but I often wonder if a fighter/thief mc or dc might have been better.) 3.) Cleric/Fighter. Dual over to fighter at level 8-10. (Justification: Want a fighter who can heal, if critically needed. Also need to fill the "healing hole" until my "big guns" cleric duals over from fighter. The extra hp won't hurt, either) 4.) Fighter/Cleric Dual over to cleric at level 9. (Justification: get lots [over 100] extra hp, and deep proficiency at clubs, as a fighter before starting on her journey to become my standard cleric.) 5.) Fighter/Conjuror Dual over at level 13. (Justification: Again, lots of hp and DEEP proficiency at swords before dualing over. Specialize to get extra spells. My strategy is to build a spellcaster that can spam spells, augment the party with conjured minions or, if she gets bored with all that, cast blur and mirror on herself [ever try to hit a simultaneously blurred and mirrored character?] before wading into melee to dish out some mondo HUGE punishment.) 6.) Fighter/Sorceror Dual over at level 9 or 13 (haven't decided which level, yet) (Justification: You know the drill, by now -- More hp, DEEP proficiency at bow, specialize for more spells: Play this guy as a ranged fighter, with a lot more than just arrows to zing at the enemy.) As you can see, this is a magic-heavy party, without the drawback of low hitpoints (except my poor mage/thief mc); and I like that. My basic strategy is to hold lots of skills in ranged combat, and cream most everything before they can close to melee. If outnumbered, high hp on my tanks allows my spellcasters to protect them by spamming area effect spells without worrying about the occasional scorch or frostbite from friendly fire. After reading your posts, I am thinking of replacing #3 (cleric dualed over to fighter) with either a cleric dualed to ranger, or maybe a druid (can you dual-class a druid?). I am also trying to figure out how to get a bard into the party; but don't want to give up my fighter/mages nor the Pally (he's not that good, now [and boring, to boot]; but I'm told he'll get more valuable later). Hmm.... maybe the pally. What do you think: Is a bard worth the loss of a paladin? Edited to add tactics/strategy and correct a few errors. [ 10-01-2002, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]