help choosing last member of party

beckettss · Post by **beckettss** » Sun May 06, 2007 2:04 pm

I'm about to jump into my first IWDII run, and have what I think will be a pretty fun party in my head. The problem is, the 6th slot is as of now up in the air. I can't decide to have a pure fighter or a backup specialist mage.

I have:

Gold Dwarf Paladin3/Fighterx
Wild Elf Barbarian1/Druidx
Human Cleric (unsure of which domain)
Human Ranger1/Roguex
Drow Sorcerer

on one hand, an extra spellcaster would come in handy, but in IWDI, you really needed a bunch of frontline fighters. Any suggestions?

Grombag · Post by **Grombag** » Sun May 06, 2007 4:01 pm

Well that would depend on your playing style.
If you play very magic heavy, get another wizard.
If you play fighter heavy, get another fighter.
You could look at your experience with similar games to decide what is best. If you are new to D&D computer games my advise would be to get another fighter. They are (in my experience) less complicated, but that could be just me.

BlueSky · Post by **BlueSky** » Sun May 06, 2007 4:06 pm

I've always found that when in doubt, go with another tank,

this seems to work for me in these situations, they take some hits while the rest of the party can be used to the best advantage...worked in this game, worked for me in the past in the BG series.

kmonster · Post by **kmonster** » Sun May 06, 2007 4:22 pm

A shield dwarf (or maybe human) diviner (best spell choice) or transmuter (he'll get an useful extra option during the game) is the strongest choice for your 6th party member, but anything is doable.
For the cleric I'd take battleguard, you'll benefit from the axe focus all the time.
The barbarian level will weaken your druid.

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Sun May 06, 2007 5:45 pm

Go with a Bard! They're really cool!

beckettss · Post by **beckettss** » Sun May 06, 2007 7:29 pm

Well I think the level of barbarian on the druid will give him a rage/shape****ft theme going on, so i'll stick with that.

Hmm, a battleguard would be solid; they can tank, right? I would like to have 3 manning the front, with the sorc, rogue, and (probably) wizard taking the back.

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Sun May 06, 2007 7:49 pm

Let me add to my original post:

Just about anything will help you.

Why not try something a little weird? A Deep Gnome Monk, for example (single-classed, they're best that way). I only suggested a Bard because they fill the "back up spellcaster" you're looking for, plus they help all of your characters in combat with their songs (choose lingering song as your first feat). He can also handle all of your talking, which can net you a lot of little extras throughout the game.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sun May 06, 2007 8:18 pm

Sorceror rocks so hard that two wouldn't be bad at all. I've done it and once they get their spells you pretty much have a nuclear war going on.

beckettss · Post by **beckettss** » Sun May 06, 2007 10:59 pm

haha, i think i added an unecessary "t" to "shapeshift".

but yeah, I think i may go with the extra muscle. In IWD I had one mage and he worked fine by his lonesome. I figure I may be limited in terms of versatility with just the sorc, but It will be ok.

Are there any other solid cleric domains? If I have another fighter that's 3 front liners, and I could keep the cleric back...

kmonster · Post by **kmonster** » Mon May 07, 2007 1:03 pm

Any cleric domain is solid, the differences between the domains aren't big. Just make sure your cleric isn't evil. Talos and Bane are liked by many players.
Battleguard is actually great for keeping in the back, because throwing axes do far more damage than crossbows on the long run.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Mon May 07, 2007 2:31 pm

The disadvantage of evil cleric is that they cannot 'heal on the fly' sacrifice a spell for a healing spell with shift click. Thats a disadvantage but I can think of reasons why its good for any character to be evil.

Spoiler (highlight black text) Immune to blasphemy spell

Another one is priest of mask can be LE (I think) and still multi to monk but cannot be LN. Priest of mask can be a decent tank in spots with the Mirror Image spell.

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:56 pm

If you want a multi monk/cleric, Bane is the powergamers choice (and Deep Gnome or female Drow)!

Wraith[x] · Post by **Wraith[x]** » Wed May 09, 2007 9:18 am

The way I see it, you have two melee (Pally/Fighter, Druid/Barbarian) and two that could be melee or ranged (Rogue/Ranger, Cleric) and only one caster (Sorceror), so I'd probably choose a caster as the last member. My current team has a Wizard and a Sorceror, and when they open up with the fireballs not much survives

You should go with what you enjoy most - personally, I find it more fun managing the spells than simply having a fighter charge in and hack at everything. Having said that, I'm loving my Fighter(4)/Rogue(3)/Barbarian(X) at the moment.. She's a one-woman killing machine - 49% of total XP value in the party! :devil:

DEMONIO GUERO · Post by **DEMONIO GUERO** » Thu May 10, 2007 8:25 pm

You have no wizard, and sorcerers cant read scrolls.

So you would basically be putting every single non-cleric spell scroll you find to waste in the game.

beckettss · Post by **beckettss** » Thu May 10, 2007 9:37 pm

point taken. transmuter it is.

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:43 pm

DEMONIO GUERO wrote:You have no wizard, and sorcerers cant read scrolls.

So you would basically be putting every single non-cleric spell scroll you find to waste in the game.

WTF are you talking about?

Sorcerers can cast the spells from scrolls.