Fab 4

[Target]

I’ve not yet managed to complete wis 8 yet, (mostly due to my computer f’ing up and loosing saved games) I’m determined to do it this time, just spent a lot upgrading my computer so if I get one more crash and loose the game I think I’ll cry!!!

So I need a new party. Was thinking about a ‘traditional’ party of Fighter, thief, priest, and mage or bishop, think I might go for a bish to get the un-cursing skill and all the bluffs in one.

But I can’t decide what races to go for and where to put those skill points. So if you guys could put in your 2 pence worth I’d be most grateful.

Cheers

[Scatter]

Liz or Hobbit fighter (depends on how much Int you think a fighter should have--smart ones learn certain combat skills faster)
Hobbit Bard instead of Rogue (unless you really want backstabbing--Bards can fight plenty well, especially if thier one of only two melee elements. But your Bishop can become a useful Melee person, too, what with the choices in Mace later on...)
Definately a Bishop (Human or Hobbit), especially if you spend any time at all practising magic to build the Skills. With a smaller party you can develop quite a powerful Bishop.
Dunno about the mage, maybe a Samurai instead--another one that can develop much more interestingly in a smaller party. Or a Monk? (Hobbit in either case, maybe Human or Elf Monk) Or a Gadgeteer (Hobbit again, darn), could take the L&T to reduce the Rogue's (Bard's?) load. But then you'd only have one Portal.

[Wereboar]

If you didn't finish the game yet, a 6 character party without RPCs might be better than a 4 character one.
I played a 'traditional' party twice (called it 'simple professions'). One of them was my first ironman win. It was:
front 1: fighter (lizardman)
front 2: thief (hobbit)
middle 1: priest (dwarf)
middle 2: mage (faery)
flank 1: bard (human) (only instruments and shooting, no melee)
flank 2: archer (a missile-only ranger without spells) (can't remember race)

[Target]

Well I’ve spent the morning thinking about this…(hopefully no-one at work has noticed!! )

Thinking about a Liz-man fighter, putting points into STR, SPD, DEX, then VIT. I will put my skill points into a mix of sword, mace (for DE) close combat and dual weapons. Is that a good way to develop a fighter?

Next I was tempted to try either a liz or dracon Rogue. Points for DEX, STR, SPD, and SEN. I’ll put points in for locks, pick pocketing, stealth. Then dual wep, dagger/sword. (can all daggers and swords get the backstab double damage? Dose that work out at X4 damage with bloodlust?)

For the Bish, I’m not to sure. Was tempted by Faerie but am worried about the carrying capacity. Might go for a middle of the road race and plum for human and build up INT, PIE, SPD and VIT. As for skill points I’m at a bit of a loss.

Do I need a priest if I have a bish? Is it good to have for extra cover? Or should I go for a Ranger for the scouting or something??

Thought about starting another 6 person party, but I always have trouble thinking up those extra names!! and I just want to try something smaller, if I'm not liking it or finding it to difficult I can always start again.

[Target]

Well I’ve spent the morning thinking about this…(hopefully no-one at work has noticed!! )

Thinking about a Liz-man fighter, putting points into STR, SPD, DEX, then VIT. I will put my skill points into a mix of sword, mace (for DE) close combat and dual weapons. Is that a good way to develop a fighter?

Next I was tempted to try either a liz or dracon Rogue. Points for DEX, STR, SPD, and SEN. I’ll put points in for locks, pick pocketing, stealth. Then dual wep, dagger/sword. (can all daggers and swords get the backstab double damage? Dose that work out at X4 damage with bloodlust?)

For the Bish, I’m not to sure. Was tempted by Faerie but am worried about the carrying capacity. Might go for a middle of the road race and plum for human and build up INT, PIE, SPD and VIT. As for skill points I’m at a bit of a loss.

Do I need a priest if I have a bish? Is it good to have for extra cover? Or should I go for a Ranger for the scouting or something??

Thought about starting another 6 person party, but I always have trouble thinking up those extra names!! and I just want to try something smaller, if I'm not liking it or finding it to difficult I can always start again.

[babar]

if you're going to go traditional, I'd say make everyone hobbits. If you add up all the attribute points, I think they come out highest.

FIG = STR, VIT, DEX, pick a weapon and stick with it until you can get 2 swings, after that you can play around with others and/or dualing
THI = DEX, SPD, INT, LocksTraps, Crit. Strike, Dagger, dual or shield
PRI = PIE, STR, INT, Divinity, weapon, realms, maybe shield
BIS = INT PIE, Divinity, Alch, Wiz, Psi. supposedly if you pick just 2 you get spells faster.

I like to get the special skills (Power Strike etc) as soon as possible, I don't know if that's best ... sometimes a more balanced char is more effective.

Definitely go for bishop instead of mage. With only 4 chars, you're going to need some who can wear armor or you're going to get carved up like a turkey. Plus you have access to other spells like psionic fire, in case you come across a bunch of turkeys and need to roast them in a hurry.

Priest is nice for small parties in case you need to pray for a miracle. I like to lug everything I find (and I mean everything) around, so I wouldn't use a fairie for 4-char party. If you get a ranger, you may have a chance to run away easier (due to scouting) and search all the time, but no ranger in Wiz1 so not 'traditional'.

As for names, just call them FIGHTER, THIEF, PRIEST, BISHOP, until they do something memorable. Then you can change them. FIGHTER = Sir Allergictoplants, THIEF = SmackedbyLorac, Priest = Rev. Walking Bandage, Bishop = Cardinal Backfire Diapers

[Ziggurat]

Try a hobbit or human rogue, unless you want something diff for a rogue. Bards are almost as good in melee and towards the mid to end have awesome weapons. A 4-party is plenty fun, but if you haven't finished the game once thru, you'll find out their limitations in the big battles. My 2 pence. Zig

[dplax]

For the classes you asked about I would go with the following race choices:
fighter: lizzie or dracon
rogue: hobbit
bishop: faerie or elf
mage: faerie or elf
priest: human or elf

Probably the bishop would more likely be a faerie, because if you use 2 or 3 or maybe even 4 spellbooks then the spellpoint regeneration will count, and the others should be able to carry enough.

[Kzonon]

My two pence....

It all goes to style. I like thumping so heres what I did....


In the front two lizardman fighters (One on swords the other on axes). I left the space in the middle for the fighter you can find in the game. (Trying to be as vague as possible to not spoil it for you).

In the middle a third lizardman fighter ( putting points in polemans or longer weapons) - I tried a human Valkrie here but I found that the lizardman fighter was just as good or better. Also, a faerie ninja....putting points in stealth of course distance weapons or a polearm (my memory is failing, but perhaps there is no polearm that a fairie ninja can use)...and move this char up to the front row when you get the cane and when there's a problem with a fighter in the front. The third spot on the middle is for another Valkrie that you can get in the game.

In the back a Bishop and a Bard. I can't remember exactly what races.

This way of the six chars, I have 3 (the fighters) that do good damge right away, and 1 (the ninja) that does great damage later in the game and 1 more (the bard) who can get in the action if he/she needs to. The bishop concentrates on protection or enhancement spells but can get the attack spells if needed to soften up the hordes before they get into hand to hand range.

I know I haven't really answered your original question about races, and I think most people reading this would think 1) Overkill on the muscle 2)Boring game because there is very little spell casting, but I just like hitting fotr over 100 points 2 or 3 times a round with 3 or 4 characters.

Kz

target - a few thoughts about small parties.

backline: go either mage/priest or bishop/bard

bishops are great choices for 4-man parties, because they are so versatile. they'll cover off every spellbook, including all the buffs. the only downside is they will take longer to develop, meaning you wont have the buffs at as high a level as you would with purecasters early in the game.

a bard is almost a must in small parties, due to three key items: haste drums, heal all mandolin, and soul shield sax. the heal all is invaluable because you'll need to heal more frequently with a small party (they all take more damage cuz there's fewer to share it around), and mana is in shorter supply, so stamina is a cheap alternative. haste drums give you an edge in every combat (no need to worry about conserving fire mana for attacking spells), and the soulful sax allows you to cast both shields in the first round, when working alongside a single spellcaster. on top of this, they are a fantastic third fighter for the party.

the mage/priest combo covers off all the major buffs, will develop shields more quickly than the bishop. plus, by sharing the load, you'll have more mana in total for the party.

on the front line, with the bishop/bard i would go fighter and monk or fighter and ranger. the monk makes for some nice variety and can become a decent spellcaster in the fire and mental realms. the ranger, on the other hand, has that nice auto-search ability, which can be great if you havent finished the game yet.

with the mage/priest, i would go fighter and rogue on the front line. both are great melee'rs, and you'll need the rogue to picklocks (the bard can handle that in the other group).

for races:

fighter: dracon or hobbit. lizardmen have nice stats, but their resistance penalty to mental and divine is harsh and makes them vulnerable to turncoating. the last thing you want in a close battle, with a small group, is a str 120 lizardwoman slicing at your bishop with excalibur 6 times. dont worry about vitality, go for strength and speed first, then dex and senses.

rogue: hobbit is the best choice. 60 bonus points, well rounded stats, flexible enough to develop however you like. if you want variety, tho, a flepurr maxing dex and spd and str is a whirling dervish like no other. similar to the fighter, go for strength and speed first, then vitality and senses.

bard: mook makes a good choice. as discussed elsewhere, they have great physical stats which helps them turn into a strong melee type, and the haste drum can offset their lack of speed. as with the other front liners, strength is first, but for the bard i'd recommend building dex alongside it, then vitality and senses.

monk: elf or human. if you're going to spellcast, the elf has better stats, but the human is well balanced for any hybrid. strength and speed first, then dex and senses. might consider not taking speed to the max (only 90) then working on the other stats.

ranger: mook. their slow speed is actually a blessing, because after you run up dex and senses, you dont want to be burning through arrows so fast that you cant carry enough ammo. and they make good melee'rs later with a sword. dex and senses first, then strength and vitality.

bishop: elf and faerie are the best choices. personally, i prefer the elf, because i dont feel the faerie's bonuses offset their penalties. intelligence and speed. then vitality.

mage: elf, same reasoning. intelligence and speed then vitality.

priest: elf. dwarves are heavily penalised on intelligence, dex, spd, and senses. and piety is just not that important. if you want them to be a strong spellcaster later in the game, you'll have to run up intelligence. a rawulf is an okay alternative, but still suffers. i'm still not confident on how to build a strong priest, so i'll withhold development recommendations

one final note. hobbits only have the second highest total number of attribute points at the start (370). humans have the most (375). but, notably, all other races have less (365, 360). the nice thing about hobbits, though, is that they have more points in the physical stats at the expense of piety, which is probably the least important stat in the game.

be sure and let us know how you go, target! good luck!