Balanced Party

[Tyrion]

Ok, im new to this game so I want to get some tips!
I played NWN before but ended up planning the character so long it isnt possible to do so this time.
Can you help me get a balanced party together?

[Klorox]

Well, you can have up to a 6 member party.

You're going to want at least 1 tank, 1 healer, and 1 wizard or sorcerer.

Paladins, Fighters and Barbarians make great tanks. Multiclassing between two of these classes makes them even better.

The best healer is a Cleric, although a Druid will get the job done (I actually suggest taking one of each, or two Clerics, but you NEED only one).

I am a big fan of the Sorcerer class. I suggest one single classed Sorcerer. Oh yeah, before I forget, you'll need someone to handle the thieving duties too. Don't worry, there aren't too many traps around, so I suggest about 2 or 3 levels of Rogue and the rest Wizard for another character. He'll make a fine backup spellchucker to the Sorcerer, and can handle those locks and traps. [img]smile.gif[/img]

The rest is up to you! [img]smile.gif[/img]

BTW, if you plan on replaying in HOF mode, I suggest a few spellcasting levels for everybody.

[wanderon]

Indeed a common theme for a balanced party often means
2 tank types
1 cleric
1 arcane caster
1 rogue
1 utility or specialty class

I highly recommend leaving your main casters as single class as any levels in other classes will take away from their highest levels of spells.

Keep in mind the "normal" game with a full party will finish with characters between levels 15-17 if you complete most quests and that you can pretty accurately subtract any ECL penalties from those figures so plan accordingly. If you plan to go on and replay the same party through HOF then it may not be as critical but you will still want your characters to be "all they can be" in the normal game and do most of your "fooling around" later in HOF...at least thats my take.

I too recommend a sorcerer over a wizard as long as you are fairly familiar with D&D spells so you can make good choices. Wizards have some issues with higher level scrolls usually not being available as soon as thier higher level spell slots are which can be annoying.

Here's an idea for a very useful "second tank/back up cleric" character - try a barbarian X/Stormlord 4X either Ghostwise Halfling or Half-orc will work without exp penalty altho my first one was a halfling and he used hammers for both melee and ranged making use of the +1 bonus to thrown weapons. Theres a returning throwing hammer available for purchase early on (non retruning ones are too heavy to carry enough of) and a nicer one availble later. With a good build he will be able to tank up front - self buff - use the nice Stormlord offensive spells up front and late in the game the extra cleric spells will be quite useful over a plain warrior type thats only good at fighting...

Be aware that good and nuetral clerics can spontaneously cast healing spells while evil clerics spontaneosly cast harm which is much less useful. Also be aware that turn undead is only useful in some areas as opposed to constantly throughout the game.

For specialty classes I like druids as an offensive caster/archer/ summoner and shapeshifter for melee. This means I usually go with lower str (12) higher dex (14-16) high wis (max) builds since the shapeshifts will boost the str/con for melee (after level 5).

I like the bard too - with lingering song as first feat. They make great talkers/singers/archer/ back up arcane casters.

Some people go without rogues I like them especially MC'd with ranger - start rogue then a level or two of ranger then all rogue to 10 then all ranger is my choice. High dex archer finesse DW or high dex med str for more tanky build.

Have fun!

[Mudde]

A good party in my opinion would be:

Cleric with high wis,str,con (main tank and healer. Add 1 level of fighter/barb/Paladin or ranger if not using another full-time tank)

Druid with high wis,str,con (Backup tank, backup healer and backup nuker. Add 1 level of fighter/barb/Paladin or ranger if not using another full-time tank)

Sorc (nuker)

rogue1-2/wiz (backup nuker, rogue)

1 char of your own choice (a good one would be a high-AC-decoy)

1 more char of your choice.

The first 4 chars will both take care of everything important and give you every possible spell. As all 4 are almost straight casters they will have a large amount of spells, making the hard battles "easier" than some easy ones. At least for me that tend to not use spells on easy enemies. In "difficult" fights all my 6 chars starts bombarding, making the fight end in a couple of rounds.

With this party you get to try different casting classes.

[Marty4]

You need a tank, healer, rogue skills, and wizardly AoE.

This can be accomplished easily though multiclassing or single class characters, depending on your preference and whether or not you want to play HoF mode.

For a tank, ask yourself what kind of character you want. I prefer a deep gnome decoy monk/cleric that effectively stops melee combat damage from occuring on both fronts (he doesn't get hit, but doesn't deal much damage) and allows for my casters to bomb the living crap out of the enemies. Other viable tanks are paladins, fighters, and barbarians for more damage but less survivability, or combat-inclined clerics for some melee damage and self healing. Keep in mind, however, that any class can be a tank if they try: even squishy mages have a huge amount of defensive spells that can let them chill in the middle of a melee.

I recomend a single cleric for healing spells, and try either Lathander or Talos for great AoE damage spells. I only like druids for their barkskin spell, so if you can live without that then you should probably stick with cleric.

Lots of room is left over for nukers here. Sorcerers are better for nuking than mages, but I recomend having one mage for versatility, especially since you can easily multiclass it with rogue to handle those skills.

The powergaming party that I am running currently looks something like this:

Deep gnome decoy tank

Human druid11/cleric (barkskin)

Drow rogue/mage

Drow sorcerer

Drow sorcerer

human bard11/sorcerer (war chant)


A more balanced party that I have played looks something like this:

Aasimar paladin

Half-orc barbarian

Tiefling ranger/rogue

Drow mage

Aasimar cleric

Drow sorcerer


Good luck with whatever you choose!

Bye the way, sorry for my rushed post. I'm a bit pressed for time.

[Ultra Marine]

If I wanted to go through the game first time and test all the spells and most of the other fighter and utility classes, which would be the best party to go?

Would it be:
Paladin
Bab and later a level or 2 fighter?
Cheric & one/two monk later?
Druid & one/two ranger later?
2xRogue/Wizzy?
Sorc (what is a good add or should be pure)?

[Dave G]

Generally, 1 level of rogue will suffice, if you can stand that. A Rogue(1)->Wizard(x) is probably your best bet. As for a Barbarian->Fighter, I'd take 4 levels of fighter to get weapon speacialization. So Fighter(4)->Barbarian. Though I guess it doesn't matter when you take those 4 fighter levels, but I'd take them at the beginning.

[Magness]

If I were going to build a rogue/wizzy, I'd probably go for 2 Rogue levels, so that I could get evasion. Also, due to the general lack of wizzy scrolls, the loss of that additional level wouldn't be a serious problem. And having rogue Evasion would be a nice secondary defensive ability (provided that you have a good enough DEX to have a good Reflex save; the Lightning Reflexes feat would be a good option, if one were to go this route) for a wizzy. Not critical by any means, but nice.


Ultra Marine, if you're gonna play a Barbarian, there's not much point in taking only 1 or 2 fighter levels. As Dave G said, if you want to take fighter levels, go for 4, so that you can get Weapon Specialization. And do it quickly, so that you can spend those feat points on whatever specialized weapons you want. OTOH, if you really have no desire to get Weap. Spec., fighter levels are not critical to a barbarian.


Regarding your cleric, don't bother with a couple of monk levels. To keep those meager monk abilities, you'd have to lose your cleric's armor. And frankly, it just is not worth the cost. Keep your armor and keep your cleric pure class.

Ditto for the druid. There's no major benefit to taking a level or 2 of ranger to a druid. Sure, you'll get the virtual dual wielding, but you'll have to wear light armor to get the benefit and you'll lose a level or 2 of upper level druidic spells. Of course, from a roleplaying standpoint, it's a nice combo.