I need help with my starting party

[Sharr the Bard]

Just got Wiz 8 and tried it out for a bit. Now I am really going to start. However, with so many options of classes and races, I need some help deciding which to go for.

I really want to play a :
Dracon Fighter
Elf Bishop
Felpurr Samurai

but I am undecided about the rest of the party.
I need to choose 1 more spellcaster. Should I pick a mage, or another bishop ?

Also, out of the 2 remaining slots, should I choose a bard, ninja or ranger ?

Any help, advice of classes and races would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !!

[Beowulf of the Geats]

Great choice in purchasing Wiz8! It's an excellent game. I think your first three choices are good. However, If I were you I'd deffinatly pick up the ranger because their senses are real high and can easily spot creatures/items. Whether a mage/bishop I chose a mage. I made her a Faerie, and I am sort of regretting it, due to the lack of HP, but still a good choice. Actually with your second two spots I'd either choose a Gageteer and maybe an alchemist. I like the alchemist 'cause he learns from all the spell books...but it's all about what you want. I'm more of a melee with supportive magic RPGer, but that's me. I also believe I had a Valkeiyer instead of a Samurai, but the samurai gets two swings per round, so that's nice. Anyways, that's my take, and I seem to be doing well. Hope it helped.

Btw, when picking class to meet professions, i chose which gave me the most points to distribute.

[ThulsaDoom]

lol...it took me about 2 days to decide who i wanted in my group . best thing i can tell you is choose wisely my son , jk

i'd say go for a mage and a ranger since i dont have either of those and i would have picked them before . make sure you have at least 2 dudes with ranged attack capabilities

[Skrewloose]

I would go with:

Frontline:

1.Dracon Fighter
2.Felpurr Samaurai
3.Felpurr Rogue

Back line:

4.Mook Ranger
5.Elf Bishop
6.Elf or Faerie Mage (Elf is more durable, but hey, faeries are cool)

All of those are always useful. You can pick up Vi for extra fighting/healing, RFS for extra fighting, or Madras for a gadgeteer.

If you REALLY want to play a bard, swap out the Felpurr Rogue for a bard, because the RPC bard won't go in nearly half the game.

Have fun!

[LethalBlade]

Definately go with a Ranger, and don't forget that you can have 2 more
NPCs join you-

tiny spoiler:
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you will get a thief and a valkyrie in Arnika (first town)

[Arlie]

I would recommend adding a monk instead of the ninja or Valkerie. He needs little equipment and gets numerous multiple hits fairly early. My team is around level 8 right now and the monk is a better melee fighter than my Dracon fighter, Valkerie (NPC) or Rogue (NPC). Plus, he has an 11 AC as compared to my fighter (12). I've spent around 7-8K on armour equipment for the fighter and he is only 1 greater than my monk (spent about 500 on equip).

Plus, he gets the Psionic spell group and critical hits.

[MaskedFrog]

You have to choose what works best for your style of roleplaying.

For spell caster here is a quick pro/con

Bishop (I have one)
Pro - can learn any spell
Con - Advance slowly, generally takes longer to get spells

Mage
Pro - Good Damage spells, Enchant Blade, Good hindering spells
Con - Limited to just mage spells

Psionic (I have one)
Pro - Insanity, Haste, Immune to fear and mental conditions
Con - Not many spells that affect area or all.

Alchemist
Pro - Can cast while silenced, make potions
Con - Spells tend to linger but do less damage initially.

Priest
Pro - Great defensive spells
Con - Not many offensive spells

As for your other picks it is really up to you.

I would take a ranger for ranged criticals and scouting and either a bard or a gadgeteer for their ability to use instruments or gadgets to do spell effects at the cost of stamina.

In the end, just make a group that you like and have fun.

[stillwater]

Something to consider-

I've got a dracon samurai (I couldn't resist the idea of a dual-sword wielding dragon), but he's probably the weakest link in my party. Even after leveling up and getting his strength/speed/dex bonuses, he's just not carrying his weight. I'd recommend another fighter.

[clcwolf]

I would agree that RP is important in picking a party. I chose a monk and a rogue because I love the RP aspect of it, though a samurai and a bard would probably have been a 'better' (read: statistically stronger) choice. However, it does turn out that she gets multiple hits now, as mentioned before, quite early. As for the second caster... I can't escape recommending a priest. I have not seen anyone else mention it, but I wouldn't want to go it without mine. Vi (the aforementioned Valk) is fine as a backup. I could not see relying on her as my main healer though. Also, my priest and mage can put up a wonderful array of out-of-battle buffs that would just about drain all of Vi's MP to do. Anyway, just don't dismantle your 'Dream Party' because another person says it won't work. Of course, you might want to balance this with reason (like 6 farie fighters would be pretty bad), lest you end up quitting in frustration. But your lineup already looks like you are working with the bounds of reason.

[Aeolian]

since you already have a bishop, which spell caster you pick depends on how you develop your bishop. i think its not wise to spread your skill points on all 4 spell schools. if you are going to focus on just 2 or max 3 schools, then your other spell caster should be from the school that your bishop isn't specialising in.

my bishop specialises in psionic and priestly spells. so, my other caster would be either an alchemist or a mage; i picked an alchemist. mid-game (levels 6-12), i got quite frustrated with my alchemist because of a lack of spells relative to my bishop. all she could do was cast acid bomb and noxious fumes which didn't do much damage whereas my bishop was casting all sorts of wonderful spells left right and centre. about levels 16-17, my alchemist started to pull her act together (once she had access to level 6 spells). a single level 4 quicksand can wipe out an entire party of mid level monsters. meanwhile, my bishop is still casting level 4 and level 5 spells that merely tickle and tease those monsters. eventually, my bishop will have access to level 6 and 7 spells but for the next few levels (and probably a few hundred thousand exp pts) my alchemist has stepped into the role as main spellcaster in my party.