Thread: Help a newbie!
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Old 02-20-2005, 12:00 PM   #9
Magness
Quintesson
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Location: Manchester, NH, USA
Posts: 1,025
AK, Initially, you'll think that a party full of fighters seems strong. But as you progress thru the game, you will eventually learn that balance in a party is a very strong thing indeed.

IMHO, the best party mix is along this line:

(BTW, the term "tank" refers to a melee warrior.)

2 Tanks
1 Cleric
1 Thief or Thief multiclass (thiving skills are very useful)
1 Wizard
1 optional

You need a couple of tanks to hold the line and protect your weaker characters. Tanks should focus on skiil in melee weapons, but it doesn't hurt to have at least some proficiency in a ranged weapon. A human paladin and a dwarven fighter always make for a good pair of tanks.

You need a cleric for healing, some clerical spellcasting, and dealing with undead. While they're not great melee characters in IWD1, they are decent enough as 3rd or 4th backup tanks and as a bodyguard to the Wizard.

You need a thief to open locks and disable traps. However, a pure thief can be a bit overkill. A multiclassed fighter/thief or thief/wizard is a good option. The fighter-thief will be a nice backup warrior. And the thief-wizard is a nice secondary spellcaster.

The wizard is important because you will want to have access to the library of useful spells that they can cast. They can be great "nukers", casting big area effect attack spells. They can be great summoners, casting spells to summon monster allies to help your party. They can be great at casting spells that "buff" your party, i.e. spells that strengthen and improve your party's protections. They can do so many things.

The "optional" slot is mostly a reflection of your playing style. Given that you seem to have a preference for "fighting" over magic, I think that another tank would be a good idea. I'd suggest tanking an elven fighter or elven ranger and focus on having this character have good archery skills.


A mixed party is always more effective than a non-mixed one because they'll always be able to deal with just about any situation thrown at them, whereas non-mixed parties are great in some situations, but sometimes a situation will come up where the non-mixed party has no answer, no way to deal with the problem.
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