Strange parties

[rbeane1]

I was thinking last night.(yes a dangerous thing to do)
That a party of 6 Dracon Valk's could make it to the end!
in the begining having 6 breath weapons would be powerful
and latter they all have cheat death and priest spells!

has anyone tried to make it through the game with all identical
party members?

[The Procrastinator]

I started a party with 3 drac sams on the front line, with the reasoning you did... It was extremely powerful, indeed. So much that it quickly became boring and I dropped it! I think I completed it with a gadgeteer, an alchemist and a bishop.

[yoodaa]

Originally posted by rbeane1: I was thinking last night.(yes a dangerous thing to do) That a party of 6 Dracon Valk's could make it to the end! in the begining having 6 breath weapons would be powerful and latter they all have cheat death and priest spells! has anyone tried to make it through the game with all identical party members?

Haven't tried, but have had this idea for the longest time, just didn't have the...time...to do it. The main reason was to utterly test out how effective Dracon Breath will be. To keep it interesting, some limits will be in place.

The Brood of Dracon Valkyries are proud warriors. They pride themselves on their unique breath ability and will use it whenever a spectacular opportunity is presented. When three or more enemies are in range, Dracon Breath will be the preferred method of attack. These Valkyries believe that if one has finally embraced death, the warrior's journey to the Halls of Valhalla shall not be denied. Thus, the only ressurrection shall be from cheating death. Once a Valkyrie has passed on, a new sister shall then be given the opportunity to prove herself as a Valkyrie of the Brood.

No NPCs are to be used aside from tag-alongs needed for quests. Even then, the NPCs may only provide a supporting role, not to attack.

Normal Party Formation will be three in Left, and three in Center. This simulates having one large group and has the property that every close range enemy is reachable via extended weapon by every party member. NPCs and neophyte replacement Valkyries are in the Back position. There will be a lot of retreat+breathe to get more targets in the spread.

For stat development, VIT will be most important. It'll help with breath damage (more stamina), more hp (ressurrection limitation), and unlocking Iron Skin. Secondary stats will vary between STR, PIE, and INT. For a primarily breathing build, I'm uncertain which secondary stat would prove the best. Resistances will be a weakness, so unlocking Iron Will early will be nice. STR and Powerstrike will still be important, since the party will still be doing melee damage and it's an attribute for developing melee skills. As for INT, I'm hoping that Powercasting might come in handy late game (also need to get those Stamina spells going).

For skills, it'll be a mix of Spears+Close Combat and Divine and Realms, although I suspect that Divine should go up pretty fast. I don't plan on doing any training. What will definitely be lacking is any locks&traps, so some things will be missed along the way. Class changing is not an option, as that's not befitting for a warrior of the Brood.

Some expected problems...slow combat skill learning with the focus on Dracon Breath, low elemental resistance without Elemental Shield, a shortage of money with a full party using the same spellbooks and equipment types (at least all the hand-me-down equipment will be compatible), no lockpicking, no X-ray and chameleon (lots of fights), and slow speed.

[Scatter]

Lotta stuff you won't be able to harm with Breath, and Breath never gets any more powerful.
I once ran a party of three, all Lords. Valks should do just as well, if you let them attack with weapons from time to time.

[yoodaa]

How far did you get, and did Dracon Breath hurt anything later on?

[Scatter]

With the Lords, i ascended.
The only Dracon i played was in a randomly-generated party of 4, that finished as well. Anything with much resistance to Water was essentially immune, and as mobs got more HP the fraction that Breath took kept getting smaller.