What character goes best with this party?:

[Klorox]

I'm a huge believer in multiclassed and dual-classed characters. I love being multi-talented, and having a choice between strongholds is really cool. The multiple HLA pools is awesome as well.

I'm also a big fan of a 4 character group. I think it's easier to manage, and I enjoy the faster rate of gaining XP (which helps with the multiclassed characters too!).

That being said, what type of character best fits in with this party?:

Jaheira
Jan
Aerie

Of this group, Jaheira is the only character in this group who can fight in melee effectively. So, obvoiusly my protagonist has got to be character who can tank when needed.

My options are as follows:

Cleric/Ranger: Great tank, but there might be too much divine magic in this group then. I'll also miss out on useing some awesome weapons if I use a Cleric as my protagonist (I mean, do I really want Jan using Celestial Fury?).

Fighter/Mage: Pretty cool. I'm not a huge fan of arcane magic either, but I'd rather have more too much arcane than too much divine.

Fighter/Illusionist: Same as above, but with better saves, a less buggy romance, and an extra spell per level.

Fighter/Thief: Best set of HLAs in the game, IMHO. Might be kind of redundant with Jan in the party, but this is a very powerful character. I do worry about tanking power, since he won't be wearing great armor, and doesn't have stoneskin or ironskin to protect him (as do the other characters). If you choose this option, please give a suggestion on race, since there are so many different great options.

Fighter/Mage/Thief: This is a legit option since I'll have only four party members. While Jan would initially specialize in locks and traps, this character could specialize in stealthy operations.

Fighter/Mage/Cleric: Too much divine still, and I don't dig the weapon restrictions I detailed above. Plus, there's only one Robe of Vecna, and Aerie deserves it!


If you have another suggestion, I'd love to hear it. I also welcome all constructive criticism. TIA

[ 07-05-2006, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Klorox ]

[Olorin]

You might even consider another c/m. It's hard to turn Aerie into a tank because of her stats, but a protagonist c/m can be quite effective. You won't have much ApR, so don't expect to melee enemies to death. Use the huge amount of spellcasting power that your party would have to devastate them. When I played one, I used my c/m as the tank/bait, and when all the enemies converged on him, he fired off a sunfire, while Jan, Aerie, and Nalia dropped fireballs on him. You can try to be really tricky and time the fireballs to hit while you are still immuned to fire from the sunfire spell, or just use fire protection spells/items.

Otherwise, I'd go for the cleric/ranger or the figther/mage. This will give you the ApR's from a warrior class and either stone or ironskins and other buffing magic. The cleric/ranger would have the weapon restrictions, but with only four in your party you can't use all the really good weapons anyway.

Jan should be all the thief you need. Most stealth can be accomplished with the use of invis spells/items/potions anyway.

[Dar'tanian]

have you ever considered one of the many Paladin classes??

Tank

Healer

and they can cast spells progressively...kind of liek a fighter cleric or something, so you can make yourself think you are multi talented : )


Plus whats great is the vast amount of weapons Paladins can use, like armour and weapons that Jan or Jaheria will not be able to even touch


Also, Make sure no matter what class your guy is, to give him alot of strength, your party is weak and with out the *SPOILER?*----bag of holding---, carring stuff is going to be a pain

[ 07-05-2006, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: Dar'tanian ]

[ister]

I'd go with F/T. You have plenty of spell casters, and I don't find two thieves to be THAT redundant. As your tank you want detect illusion skill to be up at 100% quickly so he can take down all the mislead and project images that enemies love to cast. That alone frees up spell slots. You then give him stealth so he can backstab to open combat, and leave locks and pick pockets to Jan. And of course the F/T CAN (and usually should) wear the best armour you can find. He just has to switch armor to hide in shadows (but not to detect illusions).

As to race I rule out dwarf because 18 dex gets you the extra AC and that's what a tank is all about. You'll have plenty of skill points to distribute as Jan will pick up the slack so I wouldn't worry about that too much for race selection. Half-orc is nice, but you get strength items so quickly that it's unecessary. So I'd go with the halfling for the saving throw bonuses (critical for a tank). Gnome is almost as good, but the halfling has better stealth and is harder to poison.

As a pure tank the FMT is probably better. You let Jan and Aerie take the typical mage spells, and concentrate on spells for tanks (the armor spells, mirror image and stoneskin, protection from normal missiles and so on). But I think the F/T is more fun.

[Klorox]

I've been going with the FMT, and it's been a ton of fun.

I'm not quite set on where I'm going with proficiencies yet though. I like the idea of backstabbing, and so Celestial Fury is definitely a great early-game choice.

I'll be missing some great weapons though.

I already have Jaheira pegged for the Firetooth Dagger and Shield, Aerie will get the Staff of the Magi, and Jan will be using the best shortbow I can get for him.

I don't know what "secondary" weapons to go with for my protagonist. I'm thinking about the Flail of the Ages, or possibly the Axe of Unyeilding later on.

I think a great combo might be the CF for backstabbing and Axe of Unyeilding for regular melee for any survivors. Crom Faeyr or The Equalizer will be in the offhand.

[Klorox]

Update:

I've gotten deep into Chapters 2/3 with two different protagonists: a FMT and a F/Ill.

both are fun, both are powerful, but I don't feel like I have enough "tanking" power here. I might be ditching this idea.

[Harkoliar]

bard blade comes into my thought but you would be lacking some thieving skills