04-14-2002, 07:19 PM | #1 |
Elminster
Join Date: September 23, 2001
Location: Istanbul (not Constantinople)
Age: 45
Posts: 486
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I've always played with six character/class parties, but I'm looking to create a small party (4 classes max, though dual classes at relatively low levels only count as one class), and I'm looking for tips on builds for those. I have some ideas and want some critiques as well as hear some of your own ideas. I plan this party straight through without exporting and restarting the game.
1st idea: Paladin (longswords, flails, x-bow? and later axes (+2 thrower)) Human thief dualed to mage when thief skills are pretty much maxed. Dwarven Cleric Elven Druid I think this party might not have enough frontline support, but I find a lot of the druid spells really useful and wouldn't want to play without one. Furthermore, I think I might be pretty screwed while my mage is trying to catch up to my thief levels with regards to traps and locks. Paladin Elven Fighter/Thief Dwarven Cleric Elven Druid Here I cheated and have 5 classes, though making my Thief and effective frontliner. Furthemore, the extra class won't screw up the leveling of my other 3 pcs (because all xp is divided equally ad then split for the multis of course), and I'll be sacrificing faster leveling as a thief (though it doesn't matter) in exchange for a solid fighter (which is a big deal) Also, I have no mage. This could be very bad, no? This is pretty much all I have for ideas. I consider the druid and the cleric to be very different classes due to their spell sets, and I'd like to have one of each in the party if possible, single-classed so they're as maxed as they can be. I think that spellcasters are much more effective if they are singleclassed because the faster they acquire spells, the better they can be. What do all of you think? Post you builds here, or make suggestions for changes to what I posted.
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04-14-2002, 07:39 PM | #2 |
Elminster
Join Date: September 23, 2001
Location: Istanbul (not Constantinople)
Age: 45
Posts: 486
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Furthermore, I did a little bit of math to see how significantly a smaller party would effect leveling.
At about the 120,000 combined XP mark (HOW tables) you can have any six of these: L5 Paladin, Ranger or Fighter L6 Rogue L5 Cleric L6 Druid L5 Wizard L4/5 Fighter/Thief L4/4 Cleric/Mage L4/4 Ranger/Cleric Or any 4 of these: L6 Paladin, Ranger, or Fighter L7 Rogue L6 Cleric L7 Druid L6 Wizard L5/6 Fighter/Thief L5/5 Cleric/Mage L5/5 Ranger/Cleric At 1,000,000 combined XP you can have 6 of: L7 Ranger or Paladin L8 Fighter L10 Rogue L8 Cleric L10 Druid L9 Mage L7/8 Fighter/Thief L7/7 Cleric/Mage L7/7 Ranger/Cleric or any 4 of: L8 Ranger or Paladin L9 Fighter L11 Rogue L9 Cleric L11 Druid L10 Mage L8/9 Fighter/Thief L8/8 Cleric/Mage L7/8 Ranger/Cleric Finally, at 5,000,000 combined XP you can have 6 of: L10 Ranger or Paladin L11 Fighter L14 Rogue L11 Cleric L13 Druid L12 Mage L9/11 Fighter/Thief L9/11 Cleric/Mage L9/9 Ranger/Cleric or any 4 of: L12 Ranger or Paladin L13 Fighter L15 Rogue L13 Cleric L13 Druid L13 Mage L10/12 Fighter/Thief L10/11 Cleric/Mage L10/10 Ranger/Cleric It seems to me that a smaller party size only increases the level of a party member by 1-2 levels throughout the game. I'd predict that if you shrank the party size to 3, it would probably only give you an extra 2-3 levels. Is this really very significant considering what you lose from having extra people around (like more total attacks/actions per round).
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04-15-2002, 01:19 PM | #3 |
Zhentarim Guard
Join Date: March 5, 2001
Location: The leafy, green forests of Wisconsin
Posts: 315
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STARVID WROTE:
>1st idea: >Paladin (longswords, flails, x-bow? and later axes (+2 thrower)) >Human thief dualed to mage when thief skills are pretty much maxed. >Dwarven Cleric >Elven Druid This idea looks pretty solid actually. The paladin makes for a good front man. The Cleric can put on heavy armor and rush in to divert a few monsters or stand right behind the paladin as a combat medic. The druid also makes good with the heals and maybe some entangles or alicorns. When your thief becomes a Mage, you still have options. First: always let the paladin lead! They have good saves verses the traps. Second: if you KNOW there are traps about and you need to avoid them, the cleric can cast "detect traps." Though this spell will not disarm them, and it can be annoy seeing as how the spell effect causes the character to stop and "detect" every round or so. Be careful not to cast any other spells unless they're QUICK, or they may be broken. That should at least get you through Dragon's Eye. PS: if you REALLY want the druid to be ELVIN, why not take advantage of the Dex bonus and give him Missle Weapons AND Daggers(of throwing!) |
04-15-2002, 03:45 PM | #4 |
Elminster
Join Date: September 23, 2001
Location: Istanbul (not Constantinople)
Age: 45
Posts: 486
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The thing is that this party would only be 1 level higher than a six person party. Is that such a big deal? Then again, experience points don't get linear until after levels 9-10 so maybe it'll pay off in the long run.
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04-15-2002, 05:45 PM | #5 |
Elite Waterdeep Guard
Join Date: March 27, 2002
Location: South Florida
Age: 37
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I don't see the point of having a cleric AND a druid in the party. You just need one. The cleric casts protection spells before fights when necessary, and heals during the battle. The cleric isn't a bad fighter. I used my Fighter/Clerics as one of my main fighters and he was fine.
The druid also has some helpful offensive spells but doesn't do well physically. I prefer the cleric, but in HoW the druid can rack up levels like crazy, getting more healing spells. Having two priests in your party is kind of redundant. You only need one, and the extra space can be used as a Fighter or a conjurer. Keep in mind that the thief doesn't see much action in Icewind Dale. Unless you really like backstabbing, I would multi-class him with a fighter, a mage, or both to give him some fighting power. My choice would be Fighter (Rangers and paladins have some good abilities, but Fighter can go to 5 specialization (instead of 2), and levels up faster Cleric Fighter/Thief (Bows and crossbows) Conjurer
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04-15-2002, 06:23 PM | #6 |
Elminster
Join Date: September 23, 2001
Location: Istanbul (not Constantinople)
Age: 45
Posts: 486
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For me, the cleric and druid have almost completely different spell sets. The druid has a lot of interesting spells that the cleric can't have. Spiked growth/stones, insect plague, conjure elementals, and creeping doom to name a few.
The only problem I'm having is deciding what to leave behind. I've never played a party that didn't have a little of everything in it. This is basically impossible to do with a smaller party. I have two choices, put some multiclasses in there to cover my bases, and essentially mute the leveling benefits of a larger party, or go without a lot. I don't think having a smaller party, and only have 1-2 extra levels is worth it. But if you do a small 3 PC single classed party, you could generally be looking at an extra 4-6 levels, which is pretty nice. With only 3 single-classed PCs though, I'd be leaving behind a lot.
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04-16-2002, 05:54 PM | #7 |
Zhentarim Guard
Join Date: March 5, 2001
Location: The leafy, green forests of Wisconsin
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you keep revisiting this "only one or two level advantage" thing. Keep in mind that as you gain levels, it takes considerably more EXP to reach the next. Smaller parties reach those levels SOONER. That's the key here, since levels get increasingly more difficult. So with a smaller party, you'll stay ahead of the difficulty curve.
I remember the first time i played solo with the Cleric/Ranger; making cold wights explode in Dragon's eye from the safty of the sanctuary spell. Also keep in mind, you'll have a better chance of reaching max levels with smaller groups. Again, i still say the First party idea, with the Paladin, Thief/mage, Cleric and Druid are pretty solid ideas. Your goal is to level quickly; though one fighter/cleric is vastly superior to a fighter and a cleric togehter. Reason? Call upon holy might increases mele ability. |
04-17-2002, 10:24 AM | #8 |
Elminster
Join Date: September 23, 2001
Location: Istanbul (not Constantinople)
Age: 45
Posts: 486
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That is true. Though, I don't think the 1-2 level advantage is that big of a deal (especially because it's usually only 1 level until the higher levels). However, this is with a 4 person party. If I were to reduce to 2-3 PCs it would be a huge difference. I'm thinking like Ranger/Cleric, Thief/Illusionist, and some other single classed frontliner (dwarven fighter maybe?)
I think for now, I'll just finish with my party of six, and then move one the bigger (well, smaller) and better things.
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04-17-2002, 01:22 PM | #9 |
Ra
Join Date: August 14, 2001
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Age: 52
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Alternatively you can (if you don'y already) play at insane difficulty - double xp and monsters do double damage
Then you can easily have 6 party-members
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04-17-2002, 03:57 PM | #10 |
Elminster
Join Date: September 23, 2001
Location: Istanbul (not Constantinople)
Age: 45
Posts: 486
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That's a good idea, and it similar to something I was already thinking. I was going to take my current party, export them at the end of the game, and then replay in HoF mode. Then they'll definitely cap out.
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