GameBanshee Forums

I was reading at gamefaqs the walkthrough which had some good party setups but I don't want to take 6 people. What's a versatile setup for fewer party members? Thanks.

I should add, I really don't want to level squat if I don't have to. There are some excellent ideas found when I searched this forum but the majority of them incorporate xp squatting. Thanks!

As long as you have a pure cleric and a pure sorc/wizard in your party the game shouldn't get too hard.
A 3-member suggestion:

Shield dwarf battleguard 18-16-20-3-18-1
Human sorcerer 10-14-18-12-4-18
Aasimar paladin3/fighter x 18-13-18-3-8-20

Thanks! Is it true that sometimes 6 members are better than 4 in terms of getting xp? I've been searching here and reading and someone warned someone else that it might be so.

EDIT: I have settled on 4 members as the limit, maybe 5. Can anyone recommend an all-multiclassed 4 person party? I would really like to try to incorporate monk, druid, and specialist wizard since in other D&D games I never mess with them. Also, are deep gnomes worth the ECL penalty? Thanks again.

Gaining fighting XP in this game works the following way:
The fighting XP you get depends on your average rounded down party level compared to the level of the monsters you defeated.
You'll gain XP until you are 7 levels higher than the monsters you face, afterwards you'll gain 0 fighting XP until you face higher level monsters.
A 4 character party will just reach this 0 XP points a little earlier and get 0 XP longer (can be frustrating). They'll have the same level when you face the next type of enemies.
If you add 2 characters who lower your (rounded down) average party level, the first 4 party members will level faster.
If you play 4 humans they'll be level 16 at the end, if you play 4 humans and a drow the humans will be level 17 and the drow level 15, because of the dynamic XP calculation.

I don't recommend multiclassing like in 2e games. Especially monks and spellcasters get crippled.
You'll be in serious trouble later in the game if your casters should be able to cast level 8 spells but can only cast evel 4 spells because of their multiclassing.

ECL-penalties aren't as bad as they look, the character with the penalty levels slower but the others level faster. Creating ECL warriors to make your non-ECL casters level faster is a way to make your party stronger.
A deep gnome barbarian can survive longer than the human version, but he'll do less damage since he'll be missing 3 levels.

Suggestion for a 4 person party:


1)Human druid 18-16-18-3-18-3
Take the GSF transmutaion and "scion of storms" feats. Put skill points in concentration and spellcraft(until you can select the elemental feats).
You can add a monk level (to add wisdom to AC) or barbarian level (to be able to use any weapon) but I don't think it's worth the slower spell progression.

2)Human sorcerer 11-18-18-3-8-18
You'll need someone with high charisma for cheaper shop prices and more pleasant dialogues. You'll also want to be able to cast the important spells forbidden to your specialist. You'll gain higher level spells faster since you don't have to find a scroll first. The high charisma (especially with eagle's splendor) is enough for getting the positive dialogue options even without spending skill points.

3)Tiefling rogue1/transmuter x 11-20-18-20-8-1
Because of the high int your transmuter gets enough skill points for the thieving skills, taking 1 rogue level at the start grants many skill points, although it's not neccessary.
The slower levelling because of being a tiefling and the rogue level isn't that dramatic since you won't find scrolls fast enough anyway.

4) (optional)Shield dwarf cleric 18-16-20-3-18-1.
Can tank very well and gets the important cleric spells. Choose whatever deity you like, but don't make him evil. The game is playable without cleric but it's harder.

5) (optional)Half-orc monk 20-18-18-1-18-1
A deep gnome monk 12-20-18-3-20-1 can be a nearly invulnerable tank, but he won't do much damage since monks need levels for damage improvement and new special abilities.

Awesome, thanks for the ideas. Would you say it's better to go with 4 characters instead of 6?

I recommend 6 characters. So you can get the best of everything.
Since the average party level is rounded down at XP calculation I'd take exactly 1 chracter with ECL penalty.

As sixth character I'd take a bard for the powerful bard songs, but other characters are playable as well.

Okay, can I add two characters to the party you previously suggested? What are two good choices?

Ok, if you pick a 6-character party, you will not really need to do any multi-classing. kmonster says it is a bad idea. Well I disagree, simply because I like to take advantage of the multi-class system the 3e rules provides. Otherwise I may as well just play BG1!
If you take a small party (1-4 - I never play with more than 4), multi-classing allows your characters to perform those functions that the extra party members would possibly provide.
As for the multi-classing, arcane spellcasters normally become crippled, if you they are the main spell-slingers. You can use a few mix in levels (3 levels for a tank with Mirror Image can be so useful). I don't believe divine casters become crippled - just get 11 levels for a cleric and you will have Heal (or 13 for a Druid). I personally rarely need any more. Monk levels are only useful if you either pick just one level for the AC boost (good for arcane-caster-come-decoys) or for having a single class Monk (as kmonster's 5th suggestion eluded to).
Simply, tanks are best for multi-classing - their development is linear (weak at the end), whilst a spellcaster is exponential (weak at the beginning).

As for extra characters... pick a Bard (elf for roleplaying, aasimar/drow for powergaming)! If you pick 4 of the 5 choices that kmonster gave, then perhaps you might want a tank - maybe a paladin (aasimar for powergaming, any other for roleplaying).

I put in a another cleric (human) and a human bard. Was this ok? I am getting beaten down at the moment.

EDIT: Also, my tiefling rogue/transmuter can't cast any spells.

EDIT2: I just remembered that I need scrolls for him

Anyway, I think I am going to start over.

Heres what I am thinking...

1)Pal2/SorcX
2)Monk1/DruidX
3)Cleric?/Wizard?
4)??

Your party was nearly a powergaming party. 6 half-orc would have been easier at the beginning, but the game would have gotten much harder later.
Chapter1 is probably the hardest part of the game, your low level party is facing hordes of enemies.
Once your cleric has reached level 5 and can cast "animate dead" the game gets much easier.
If you get beaten down you have to use the powers of your characters, pause the game often (or use auto-pause) and assign commands to your characters. Spells like sleep, entangle, charm person or web can help to avoid being outnumbered, it's obvious that everyone should have a missile weapon, rapid shot helps a lot.
If you have problems with a 6 character party I don't think you'll have an easier time with only four.

As for your party:
Clerics and sorcs get extremely powerful at higher levels, so it might indeed improve your party balance if you slow down their progression by taking paladin or wizard levels.
Take whatever you want as 4th character, you've already tested many classes and should have gotten an idea of what you like. We can't play the game for you.

I appreciate your input, I went with a 5 person party which includes a Deep Gnome and a Drow so leveling is slower but I am having (frustrating) fun