Making my own party

[Rapida]

I need to fill it up so far i have:

1.Undead Killer--i dont know his cool plus i have trouble wid vampires
2.Assasin---I like backstab but can u backstab with ANY theif weapon?
3.some bard i guess(?)
4(?)
5.(?)
6.(?)

I know i want at least one mage and cleric,(possible mage/cleric) druid would be nice. others up to u.

[dark soul]

have at least 2 clerics in ur party just in case one dies or a cleric with a druid since both knows raise dead.....have at least 3 tanks in ur party...so ur undead killer, druid, and maybe thief or bard can be ur tanks.....i really cant think of anythin else

[Sever]

I am assuming that you are creating your party from scratch and not using the in-game NPCs.

1. Undead Killer: IMO there isn't enough undead in the game to warrant this as your PC. Having said that, immunity to hold and level drain will serve you well in many situations so if your happy with this, so be it.
2. Assassin: Very handy. You can backstab with any thief weapon but not weapons usable with UAI. Just don't use him/her as a tank.
3. Bard: Can be very handy but is easily rendered obsolete by a fighter/mage/thief. I always have a blade (Haer'dalis) in my party whether good or evil.
4. Cleric: Either pure-classed, kit or multi/dual with the class of your choice, a cleric will serve you well in countless situations. They even make effective tanks at higher levels. Recommended.
5. Sorceror: If you're experienced with magic use, this may throw the party balance of power away from your PC. (i like my PC to have at least 50% of kills and experience in any party). If you don't usually use magic, a non-specialist mage may be a better class to start with. Either way, you're gonna need a primary magic user.
6. Spare slot for quest NPCs.

[9_1_6]

4> Sorcerer <----They are far better than Mages!
5> Cleric <----Can bring the dead back to life and buff up your characters.
But i really dont like bringing characters back from the dead. it just seems very weird. That is why i always reload whenever somebody dies.

[The Ozzman]

The second time through the game I wanted to have certain classes and dual classed characters. But i also didnt want to miss out on the dialogue and different personalities of the NPC's which make the game so much more fun(for me anyways). The solution? gatekeeper of course. In my party I have Viocnia as a Half Elf mulitclassed fighter/cleric, Valygar a straight ranger, Hear'dalis a dual-classed fighter/mage, and Jan as a dual classed swashbuckler/mage. Yeah I bent a few rules but this is great!

[karlosovic]

The Ozzman you might be able to help here.
I didn't like Keldorns class so I tried changing his kit, but then it wouldn't let me give him keldorn-only equipment... ?

[Radek]

1. First, your new party should not be a party of six. Otherwise, you'll be unable to accept Imoen into your party in the Irenicus' Dungeon. Note that you cannot kick out any of your custom characters - sending a custom character away equals losing the character FOREVER. The game cannot re-hire a custom character!
Next, the custom party is a party which fits your play style optimally. Your characters will be much stronger because they will have much better stats and they will cooperate much better than the game characters. A party of six custom characters will turn the game into a massacre.
Therefore, I suggest a party of 4 or 3 custom characters.

2. Consider what you will need in the game:
a) A thief, which will detect and remove traps. It need not be a pure thief. It can be a dual class (the thief part is here only to remove and detect traps) or a multiclass. It depends on your play style. If you like backstabbing, then the assassin can be a trap detector/remover simultaneously.
b) A mage. There is a lot of situations when you will appreciate a mage in your party. A mage can cast Mordekainen Sword, Invisibility, Maze, or protection removing spells, for example. A sorceror or a dual class something/MAGE is recommended. I consider the best choice a kensai/MAGE.
c) A priest, which will heal and cure the party and cast defensive spells. I recommend a dual class something/CLERIC. I consider the best choice a ranger/CLERIC.
d) A warrior. This guy is here to make use of good weapons and armor in the game and show your enemies that a good sword is something that has to be respected.
How will these professions be implemented in your party depends on your play style and on your preferences. For example, an assassin, a kensai/MAGE, a ranger/CLERIC, and and some kind of a paladin. Such party is able of all needed actions and makes use of Carsomyr. It contains four warriors, one mage, one and half priest and one thief. Or you can replace the paladin with another assassin, if you really like backstabbing. In the example above, you need to create an assassin (or two assassins), an intelligent kensai, a wise ranger and a paladin. Naturally, there are many other combinations that will do equally well.

[The Ozzman]

Unfortunately Karlosovic I have had the same problems. I had to dump all of Jan's techno gear and Valygar's armor as well. It's tough to give up on Keldorn's armor because it is a fine piece of plate mail, but there are better pieces of armor you can find in SoA even though they don't offer the free action. I'm not an expert in tweaking though, there may be a way to change a class or kit without the game disabling character specific weapons and armor.

[Klutz]

Preserving your original choices:

1. Undead Hunter: Good primary tank that doesn't have to worry about being drained by Vampires, and can get one of the most powerful weapons in the game. (Learn 2-handed sword and 2-handed style, two points each. You won't regret it.)
2. Assassin: Yes, any weapon your assassin can learn a proficiency in can be used for backstab (including staffs). Katana is the most popular choice but there are plenty of other good ones... don't overlook Dagger, Short Sword, and even Quarterstaff as options.
3. Bard: Blade is by far the most popular, but many like the Skald for early song benefits. Short Swords, Scimitars, Long Swords, and Katanas with at least ** (preferably ***) in 2-weapon style are all popular with Blades.

I'd add:

4. Ranger/Cleric: Gives you full access to both Cleric and Druid spellbook, plus a solid second tank. Dual-class at from Ranger to Cleric at level 9 if you can wait a bit on having your cleric spells and want more long-term spellpower and undead-turning power. Otherwise Half-Elf multiclass Ranger/Cleric for more long-term fighter power and early access to spells. Straight Druids and their kits just aren't that versatile, although multi or dual-class Fighter/Druids can be quite capable characters and could fill this slot if you wanted.
5. Sorcerer, Conjurer (or other specialist Mage). There are plenty of good Sorcerer guides floating around. A Conjurer or other specialist mage will get you extra spell memorization capability without much sacrifice... have your Bard pick up any low-level spells your specialist can't learn.
Or:
5a. Thief/Mage: Assassins get less skill points than regular thieves, so if you want a good backstabber, you won't have many points left over early on for trap disarming, picking locks, setting traps, detecting illusions, etc. That means you may want to consider a second thief in the party to cover more of those skills. If so, a Thief/Mage is a good way of doing that. Dual-class Swashbuckler/Mage for better fighting power/defense but no early Mage spells, or dual-class Bounty Hunter/Mage for better traps, or just plain old multiclass Thief/Mage.
6: Open. This will let you pick up individual NPCs as necessary to complete quests.

Some people mentioned smaller parties... that certainly can work, but will be tough to do preserving all 3 of your original choices and getting everything you wanted out of the 4th character. You could have a multiclass Cleric/Mage as your fourth, with the Undead Hunter, Assassin, and Blade bard. The Blade would be your secondary "tank". You would have no mage that could learn high-level spells that way under the SOA experience cap though. You could also make your 4th character a Mage, Thief/Mage, or Fighter/Mage and forget the Cleric spells. I wouldn't do it myself but you could get by for healing on resting, potions and regeneration items, and temples/scrolls/potions to cover other Cleric capabilities.

[Bardan the Slayer]

Downlaod Weimer's ease of use mod and you *can* kick out and re-acquire PC-created party members. Handy.