I've been really trying to get a party that works well as a power unit, and that I am really comfortable playing. I beat the game on regular mode, but kinda pushed myself through it, because there were characters I didn't really like.

Before starting, I'd like to thank the members of this board and the guys who made the UPP and JUPP (which you can download at gamefaqs.com), because they really helped me make this party what it is. I think it's really cool that all four of my party members have a "special bonus" in their future (two have Cleric of Bane levels, two have Paladin levels). My tactics include a decent amount of squatting, but I'm not a fan of mules. I think that's just too cheesey.

Anyway, my party uses two decoys, one of which is a (almost) complete ripoff of one of the characters in the JUPP.

Here she is:

Character 1: Gneelixx
LN Deep Gnome
Clr(Bane)24/Monk1/Rog1/Ftr4
S:16 D:20 C:14 I:3 W:20 Ch:1
The idea here is to go through regular mode as a Cleric only, maximizing WIS at every opportunity. When I get near the end of the game, I can add 1 level of Monk. To minimize XP penalties, the Rogue level isn't added until the Underdark in HoF mode, and the 4 Fighter levels are all squatted at the very end, just to specialize in Axes. Her only skill is Concentration.

Character 2: Gnick O'Thyme
LG Deep Gnome
Ftr4/Rog4/Pal(Helm)3/Rng3/Ill16
S:16 D:20 C:13 I:18 W:6 Ch:1
This is my decoy, right from the very beginning. He'll be a dual-weilding guy who chips away at the enemies HP. I hope to get levels Ftr2/Rog2/Pal3/Rng2 and the rest in Illusionist for regular mode. This guy (if you count the Ranger Feats) has a total of 18 feats by the end of the game, which is outstanding. His skill responsibilities are basically all of the thiefy skills(Hide, Move Silently, Disable Device, Search, Pick Pocket), as well as Alchemy.

Character 3: ZellMae
NE Drow (Female)
Brd11/Drd18/Clr(Bane)1
S:8 D:6 C:14 I:18 W:18 Ch:16
This is my "booster" character. She's responsible for singing, identifying stuff, and buffing the two decoys. Her offensive Druid spells will help in the higher levels, but most of her lower levels will be spent singing that level 1 bard song and firing (and usually missing) with arrows much of the time. I plan on getting to Bard level 5 (for the Luck song -- it's so good!), Cleric level 1, and then squatting for Druid level 4 or 5. Then it'll be a 1 for 1 level advancement between Bard and Druid. When I reach Bard 11/Druid 12, I'll squat for a while too, in efforts to reduce XP penalties. I put a lot of skill responsibility on this character as well. I expect all of the talking skills maxed out, as well as some Wilderness Lore, Spellcraft, and Knowledge(Arcana). I was hoping to get away with less points on the knowledge skills because of Bardic Knowledge, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

Character 4: Viktoriia
LG Aasimar Pal2/Sorc28
S:10 D:15 C:18 I:12 W:5 Ch:20
This is my blaster-master. Her spells will be very powerful and destructive. I'll take some of the buffing spells for her as well, since they'll have better durations than those of character 3. The Paladin levels are there to eliminate Fear from affecting the party and for that nice "Lay on Hands" ability. The bonus to Saving Throws is the big one though. I wouldn't add the Paladin levels until after the Sheangarne Bridge, and might push it further. I'd really love to have a casting of Fireball before the bridge, it makes that scene a whole lot easier. Her only skills are Spellcraft and Concentration.

a. The JUPP is available on this very website, last I checked

b. Six characters is more powerful than four; the JUPP exp calculations about this subject are plain wrong.

c. Diversity for the sake of diversity is not powergame-y. Character 3 seems bad.

d. Second paladin level is pointless, what with sky-high Will saves and Mind Blank. Also Assimar is worse than Drow.

e. Just once I'd like to see a powergaming guide that doesn't assume massive level squatting and muling, and isn't based on the party reachng level 30 to be effective. How about a level 22 (I think that would be chapter 2 or 3 in HOF) powergaming party? You can always include suggested surther level increases...

Overall a solid and interesting party. Here's just a few comments and questions. You might have trouble maxing armor on both decoys with this setup. Here's my armor math (which assumes both are getting the best gear.)

#1
Character
Deep Gnome
24 Banite
1 Monk
1 Rogue
4 Fighter
Str 16
Dex 20+5-2+6 Slipper-Pot+Level+Cat's Grace
Con 14
Int 3
Wis 20+5+4+4+1 Every God's+Pot+Banite+Level
Cha 1

10 - Base
4 - Race
1 - Dodge Feat
9 - Dex
12 - Wis
20 - Spells (Spirit Armor 6, Ghost Armor 5, Bark skin 5, Haste 4)
5 - Brazen
3 - Sunfire
3 - Swing From Mast
2 - Bard song
69 AC


Character 2: Gnick O'Thyme
LG Deep Gnome
Ftr4/Rog4/Pal(Helm)3/Rng3/Ill16
S:16+2 Pal
D:20+5+7+8 Slipper+Level+Tenser's
C:13
I:18+2 Pal
W:6
Ch:1

10 - Base
4 - Race
1 - Dodge Feat
15 - Dex
25 - Spells (Shield 7, Ghost Armor 5, Bark skin 5, Haste 4, Tenser's)
5 - Brazen
3 - Sunfire
3 - Swing From Mast
2 - Bard song
68 AC


Gneelix:
You may wish to take those fighter levels a bit earlier for maximized attacks. I'm not sure if those last level squats will give you the 3 feat pips you need. Otherwise solid. Maximing armor with this char should bring you to 69, pretty respectable.

Gnick O'Thyme:
Gneelix is getting swing from the mast, you're down to 66 armor. Might as well just drop rogue levels and either get to 20 illusionist, or mix in sorc levels so you can get access to all spells.

ZellMae:
I'd drop the cleric level, doesn't seem to do any good. (Does the Banite quest help all dreadmasters? or just 1? I can't remember). Seems like a waste for race complexity. 20 Druid means an extra slot for tremor or the summons.

Drow seems unnecssary here. There's really no point in taking the day blindness ECL penalty where there doesn't seem to be a need for it. You could just suck the points out of Dex to 3 since there's no armor and no sniping skills anyways. There's no maxing char, int, or dex, might as well make it human. Plus this is skill driven so human is nice

Another option is to make use Aassimar and drop the cleric.

Viktoriia
I'd only take 1 paladin level. You already have the aura, and if you really get feared, you've got the bard song for fear. Lingering song takes care of the switch anyways. An extra sorcerer level gives you an extra learned lvl 7 spell.

For character3 14 int is more than enough.
Even if max out the conversation skills (although it's useless getting them that high and it's inconsequent only taking 16 cha for the perfect diplomat) you still get additional 32 skillpoints which are more than enough to handle the rest (only 8 spellcraft for the elemental feats you can't take before level 15 is useful besides concentration which doesn't help singing).
I'd even take int down to 12.

JT: point b: I prefer 4 over 6, not for power reasons, but for my own comfort level. Just makes things easier IMO.

Point d: The Paladin level allows me to scribe all spells, even those usually prohibited by the Illusionist specialist.

DrEm314: I've tested these guys out, and reached AC 72 with each. I'm not sure where you went wrong in your math (did you include DUHM for char 1?).

ZellMae's Bane level helps more over the entire game (a total of +4 to WIS) than 1 level of Druid. I don't think day blindness is a big deal, since she'll probably never hit anything anyway.

I had considered making her a Tiefling and starting as a level 1 Thief, for a ton more skills though. I figured, in the end, a fragile character could use the MR.

Viktoriia may only add 1 Pally level. The extra Lay on Hands shouldn't really matter in the end.

kmonster: losing some INT might be worth it for char 3. I plan on maximizing spellcraft though, because when I can identify what spells are coming it's a big help. Maybe I won't really max it on second hand, since char 4 will have it maximized already.

Thanks everybody!

i probably screwed up somewhere then. What was DUHM again?

Draw Upon Holy Might. It boosts a characters stats by +1 for every 3 levels. That's a +8 to STR, DEX, and CON for my character #1.