why small parties?

[killerTeddy]

Hi!

I was wondering why so many here talk about using small parties (3 or 4 members). Of course the game could get more challenging, is that the reason?

I thought of playing a smaller party too, but: they don't level up that much faster do they? After looking at some exp/level table i think they will only be one level higher (3 members) than a complete party, later in the game the difference would get higher till maybe 4 levels at most (at levels between 30 and 40). So, faster leveling up isn't really that fast? Or did i understand something wrong?

Oh, i forgot: is it more fun playing a smaller party? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 05-11-2004, 01:14 PM: Message edited by: killerTeddy ]

[Wereboar]

After doing many 4-character parties, i recently started a 6 set. It was ridiculous easy (in expert ironman). So it might be fun for me to play a party of 6 with 'bad' professions, but a 6 high party with powerful characters is just boring (IMHO)

[dplax]

With a smaller party for the same amount of experience you will achieve higher levels. But the biggest difference will be that you will get much more skill increases.

[Scatter]

And it gets exponentially better the smaller the party. And Solo's don't even have to worry about Insanity or Turncoat!!!

[Ziggurat]

Generally, you may want to try a small party after trying a standard 6 once or twice. Small parties are harder at the beginning but you are forced to make everyone count, making them stronger. It's not for everyone. You miss some of the banter and have more restrictions on weight and armor/weapon choices. I like them because you need to employ more strategy to get by and battles can be more intense. But I still go back to 6 now and then for the variety.

[babar]

I find it more fun to focus on developing a few characters. Usually in a 6 char group, I often find myself setting the bishop to cast a spell, but 75% of the time, it is unnecessary because the samurai (@SPD=100) has already finished making sushi.

[Dedzy]

I did two different 4 character parties recently. It seemed a little cozier with less waste and overlap. Everyone had a job to do, and there was no room to be lazy. With 6 player teams, I found there to be a lot of slack where a lot of times at least one character's efforts are constantly irrelevent or wasted. Like everyone above me mentioned, it also works the individual characters harder and it develops their skills more. I would say that a 4 player team is about 90% as powerful as a 6 player team because of this, and a lot more fun since you need everyone to contribute.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

When I played 4 in my party it was always the most fun. Faster lvl up etc. My fovorite was my 4 Lords; don't ask what race, 'cos I havn't played in months.

[MasterPooBaa]

yep. definately for the difficulty...
then the extra exp (never hire npc's) then the extra stats.

Even a party with 4 chars has to work that much harder to survive, as the numbers of opponents never reduces. more training more skillpoints.

Solo's are the best. Assuming they survive they gain points like crazy, level up insanely fast to 30+ in no time!

Some of my fave games have been:

4 chars: Lord samurai ninja and monk - all hybrids, all good fighters and spellcasters.
3 chars: 3 samurai... had to be real careful with healing, but boy could they dish out the damage!

Single ninja, fighter, lord or bishop.

The single bishop can be very fun, especially if you do 1 level of thief training and get stealth up to 100. magic galore!
The 4 player party of lord samurai ninja and monk was very rewarding also, everyone had a job to do, every player could cast magic, all magic realms were covered, 2 had stealth, 3 could heal, all could do party buffing to various extents.
Only thing it lacked was music and gadgetry, but i dont use them anyway

[ 05-13-2004, 02:13 AM: Message edited by: MasterPooBaa ]

[Krull]

A 4 hybrid party was also one of my better parties. I went with a Ranger rather than a Ninja so lockpicking suffered.

I also went with Atlus 7's build for the Battle Samurai using the Staff of Doom rather than swords. I know you lose the sword bonus but on the plus side you don't need to build the Dual Weapon skill so more points to allocate on your magic skills.

I've used the same character for other parties and he/she has never let me down.

I'm also experimenting with a 4 Alchemist party which was tough at first, lots of running away. But, as you know, Alchemy is easy to raise mixing potions but it's so boring doing it with four Alchemists. I'm at level 7/8 now and aim to change one over to a Faerie Ninja once she has the Portal spell and am debating whether to change the other three once level 18 is reached. Thinking that hybrids have those 5 levels to do before they get magic back so possibly a priest and mage to get all the buffs. Oh, I don't know, what do you think?