Whats a realy good newbie team?

[CChadwick]

Just about any group of characters covering the 4 basic requirements (melee, locks, offensive magic, healing) will work out great. As always, a little bit of experience will always help in squeezing the most out of your characters, but it isn't necessary. No matter how many times you play the game, you'll probably always think you could have done something a little better (which is why people like Merkin and I have started so many games, no doubt).

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My personal recommendations for a fairly basic and not-too-frustrating party are the following:

Fighter - Lets you use most of the weapons and armors in the game, doesn't take a long time to become "useful" and is pretty hard to screw up. Dracon and lizardman are usually the top choices.

Samurai - Of all the hybrid classes, this is one of the easiest. They're a good front-line fighter with the added bonus of being able to throw a few spells here and there (which also means that if you don't pick the "best" spells, you're not in too much trouble). I've played Dracon, Felpurr and Human and have been happy with all of them.

Rogue - Actually one of the better fighting classes, with the added bonus of locks and pick pocket (if you're into that kind of thing). Hobbit and lizardman make good choices.

Ranger - Having someone good at missile combat is always a big help, and the auto-search is invaluable if you're new to the game. Hobbit and mook are good choices here.

Priest - Healing is absolutely necessary, and they have lots of protective magic as well. I hate reloading, so I always make sure to have a strong healer in the party. Priests also make good front-line fighters if you build them that way. Dwarves are good for the front-line types. Rawulfs are good for a more traditional "spellcaster" role.

Mage (or Alchemist) - The offensive side of magic. Elves and gnomes are both good. I've tried faeries, but I'm always frustrated by their inability to use most equipment (i.e., not recommended for first-time players).

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Possible variants:

Bards and Gadgeteers - Most people would insist that they should be included in any party. Although they're certainly powerful characters (bards are one of the most useful classes in the beginning of the game, gadgeteers near the middle/end), their power is linked completely to finding (and assembling) the right instruments/gadgets. Unless you're familiar with where those items are to be found, you could miss out on some of their options (and therefore not on my list of first-time parties). If you go this route, either can replace the rogue for lock duties and you can promote your priest to the front line (and you pick up a rogue RPC fairly early in the game). Hobbits are good choices for both.

Valkyrie and Lords - Possible replacements for the samurai or fighter. The valkyrie is actually easier to develop than the samurai and the healing spells and extended-range weapons come in handy (and do more damage at first). The samurai's only real edge is the critical kill, which is (IMHO) more fun. Lords are a /little/ more difficult to develop than samurai (although I generally find the priest spells easier to choose from than the mage), but mostly because they usually use more than a single type of weapon (e.g. sword/dagger or sword/mace instead of sword/sword). Both can use more equipment than the samurai, though, which is nice. I generally play humans for these classes (forgoing the more combat-oriented races so they'll have more spell ability).

Monk - The only real downside is the slow development pace and relatively low damage in the early game, which can be frustrating. My first party included one, though, and I didn't have any reason to regret it. The monk/fighter combination is nice because the monks really start to shine about the time you've started to get bored with your fighter. I've had the best luck with felpurr and human.

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About the only thing I'd /not/ recommend in a first-time party is a bishop. Having a good feel for what spells and realms overlap well is fairly important, and knowing which spells are available as books and which you need to spend points on is almost required. Not to mention, they take a lot of practicing, which can be tedious.

I probably wouldn't recommend a ninja on the first time around either. They have so many different options that there's a temptation to try to have them do it all. And that's hard to do unless you're familiar with the game.

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So anyhow, that's my two cents worth (adjusted for inflation). Hope that helps!

-- C

[ 01-25-2002: Message edited by: CChadwick ]

[Megabot]

My party is:

Dracon - Fighter
Lizzardman - Figther
Rawulf - Priest
Faery - Ninja (got the Cane of Corpus later best weapon in the game ONLY she can use it!!!)
faery - Mage

faery - Alcemist!!


The "Gadgeeter" i have tried, i didn`t like them so i if you do you can change the Alcemist with an "Bard" that i find wery useful in my first party, because of all "Instrument`s" you find in the game...

Forget that tief or rogue to open locks the "Mage" get that "Nock nock" spell later that opens 98% of all locks so the remaing 2 % can your Ninja take care of!

With this team i killed DK Savant at level 20!! I only do the basic to go to the "Cosmic Circle" But you can work for both sides also in same time that give you tonns of exp...

Also train your Ninja in staff, speed, strenght and dextery, close combat and so on..

[ 01-25-2002: Message edited by: Megabot ]