thieves, fighters, and illusionists.

[StarVid]

basically I have my planned party setup like this:

Human Paladin
Elven Fighter/Thief
Human Fighter(3)/Cleric
Elven Druid
Gnome Illusionist
Half-Elven Bard

The two spots I'm unsure of are the Illusionist and the Fighter/Thief. I was considering changing the Fighter/Thief to a dwarven fighter and the illusionist to an ill/thief. The only problem with this is my illusionist (which levels slower than any other class) is going to suffer from even slower leveling which means waiting even longer for high level spells. The advantage though is that I'll have a much stronger front line (and I feel my front line is a bit weak). Frankly, I'd do away with the thief if I could, but with all the nasty traps in the game, I don't think it's a bright idea.

Also, I have considered cutting the bard, but I like the songs (I can't wait to try out the war chant of sith so my party will regenerate) and the extra spellcasting, as well as the ability to identify anything in the game.

edit: the other option is to dual a thief over to a mage, but I have another post about that below.

Any tips? Thanks.

[ 04-15-2002, 07:39 PM: Message edited by: StarVid ]

[NihilisticCrusader]

It's nice in IWD to have more than one mage. Your party is based more on spellcasters than fighters, so you don't need two priests for healing. I would cut out the cleric or the druid entirely, and stick in some kind of Mage/Thief in addition to your Illusionist. Then you could change the Fighter/Thief to whatever fighter you want.

[StarVid]

I definitely don't want more than one mage. Scrolls and such are way too rare in this game. I tried it once, and I didn't really like it. I think that having the bard in as an extra arcane spellcaster is more than enough for me. Most of my spells are to buff the party anyway. I like the cleric and druid because they have really different spell sets. I still have the same amount of healing in my party, it's just spread out between two healers so they can spend more memorizations on buffing spells. Later on in the game, when all the baddies will more often make their saves than not, this is going to pay off.

[Sir Moosington]

I like your party mix, and I agree with your comments about mage spells. In fact I very rarely use any mage spells above third level.

One suggestion. Why don't you have a cleric/thief (dwarf) and two single class fighters / paladins? It will give you a better front line, keep your illusionist 'pure' and make your thief a much better scout. If he gets into trouble just cast Sanctuary, and if you do accidently step on any traps he can heal himself.

Just a thought.

[Yukon]

Looks like a pretty good party... when I started I wasn't sure about making a Druid, but now I'm glad I did! The druid gets some pretty cool spells, can shape change, can heal your party, and can fight with a scimitar. The only thing is, if my memroy serves me correctly, you will need to make your druid either Human or Half-elven. I think they are the ONLY 2 races that can be druids. Whatever you decide for your party, one word of advice.. make sure you use plenty of missle weapons!

[StarVid]

One suggestion. Why don't you have a cleric/thief (dwarf) and two single class fighters / paladins? It will give you a better front line, keep your illusionist 'pure' and make your thief a much better scout. If he gets into trouble just cast Sanctuary, and if you do accidently step on any traps he can heal himself.

I don't want to multi-class my spellcasters if I can help it. I want them to have as fast level advancement as possible giving them quicker access to higher level spells.

The only thing that is screwing up my party is the thief class. If there were no traps in this game, I probably wouldn't even play with one. As is, my fighters have a high enough strength to break most locks (though I still have my thief pick them so he doesn't feel so useless). I know, I can probably just walk through traps, but some of them are kinda nasty. In the severed hand, I remember traps that poison AND hold the victim. I'm thinking I should have my thief dual over to a cleric instead of the mage, but I don't want to waste any 2nd level spell slots with find traps.

[Leafy]

A Stright classed illusionist? do you'll need 2 clerics just to ressurect that guy when he dies (repeatedly). Personally, i'd choose the gnomish cleric/illusionist; the cleric class lets him wear a helm and large shield (to protect against missle attacks while casting), gives more hit points, and he rarely runs out of spells then has to stand there like a light weight geek. Plus; at higher levels, the cleric/illusionist becomes so powerfull that he can even step in as a most powerful fighter. (Tenser's transform is cool, but let the bard have it. I'm talking about casting Mirror image,cat's grace,haste, stone skin, call upon holy might, protection from evil and shield of lathander all on the cleric/ill to make him POWERFUL.)
But you want the mage to level quickly? then here's an idea. Try a Human fighter who duals into a mage after about 3rd level. This makes him a bit fatter, allows the mage to wear that helm and shield and gives him a better choice of weapons. Mages with composite bows rock. Rmember; mages run out of spells.
Though a thief who duals to a mage can also get short bows, though i found that class to still be a bit weak and prone to squishing.

Don't worry about not having the mage class right away in the game. You have a bard! Early in the game, bards progress much more quickly than mages. Give the bard any spell that improves with level; save the rest for when the mage comes around.

IMO the party would be solid as:
Human Paladin
Gnome Cleric/Illusionist
Evlin Druid
Half-Elf Bard

now you get 2 slots to fill. You want a straight cleric? ok. The Cleric/illusionst will not be very effective at turning undead; and the "animate dead" spell is so cool! lots of summoned goons will eliminate the need for frontline guys. (better yet, summoned fodder does not need to be healed later).
Then; a low level thief who becomes a fighter? I tried this class before (thf8->fighter) and found it to be one of the weaker classes in my party. if you do this; specialize in AXE. if you find the nifty axe in dragon's eye, you'll be set for the rest of the game.

[ 04-16-2002, 06:51 PM: Message edited by: Leafy ]

[StarVid]

1 1/2 clerics? That's a bit heavy though. The same with having 1 1/2 mages and a bard. I'm not worried about people falling in combat. It hasn't even come close to happening yet, and I'm up to Dorn's. Here's what I got:

Human Paladin
Dwarf Fighter
Human Fighter(3)/Cleric
Elven Druid
Human Thief(7)/Illusionist
Half-elven Bard

I usually send my paly and fighter ahead to engage hoardes. If it's really swarmy, my mage casts a web or my druid casts and entangle on them (they both have rings of free action). If somehow, baddies get through and attack my backliners my cleric and druid (who has just gained the ability to shapechange into a fire elemental) can hold them off. If it's a toughie that gets through, then my cleric engages while my druid casts alicorn lance (for the AC penalty) and then shapechanges and engages the baddie. Then my cleric falls back and has bless, curse, blah blah blah. I'm actually surprised at how well the two of them hold up in battle. In fact, if I ever go with a small party in this game, I would probably do it with cleric, a druid, and a fighter/thief. My mage is really only there for web, slow, an occasional supportive magic missle...and just bad ass overkills spells like fireball and cloudkill.

The bard is of key importance to this party, believe it or not. His "War Chant of Sith" is what makes this party works. As long as the party survives the battle (no matter how much damage they take), it's all good because then my bard can sit around and sing to them until they heal. This makes my cleric and druid even more potent because they memorize less healing, and more offensive spells.

Thanks for all the tips though. In the end, I was basically trying to find a way to cut my thief out of the party as much as possible.