First, I'm sorry if this was covered elsewhere in the forum, but I couldn't find it.

I'll be getting the game soon, and I'm wondering if this starting party is feasible:
Paladin
Cleric
Rogue
Druid, maybe with some Fighter levels
Wizard (??)

I read that you can get a good wizard in the beginning who doesn't steal too much stuff from you; can he travel with a Neutral Good party? If so, maybe I'll take him instead of using a party slot. I think I'd replace the wizard with a ranger in that case.

Thoughts?

Your party seems fine to me, you may need to use some tactic though.

And btw, that Wizard will just take any wizard scroll you find, so that's probably not a big deal if you don't have one.

Hope this help

Spugnoir is a decent wizard, he can scribe scrolls for you, so if he takes scrolls it's not too big a deal.

The biggest problem is the feats he takes...I had him in my party for a while, and he never takes any of the creation feats...They are essential in this game.

The idea behind this is probably to prevent a certain sort of player to make an NPC sacrifice xp in order top preserve their PC's and to equip them with premium stuff ...

As for your party, it looks good; and I agree, you'll certainly need some tactics. My parties are usually much more melee oriented, so I never play with less than two tanks.

I like tactics. But if that NPC wiz doesn't make items I'll be taking my own because I definitely want to make stuff. Thanks for the input!

If Spugnois is the only wizard/sorcerer in your party I don't think you can get Fireball, because there are no Fireball scrolls in the game. Just something to keep in mind.

For what it's worth, I've found it more useful to create my own wizard/sorcerer than to take Spug. along. That way I can choose what feats and spells I want. I also create my own Cleric because there isn't any available. I play a melee heavy party. I need the cleric for the healing and the arcane caster for the good spells later on.

Same here, early in the game healing is crucial. Weird enough, now after the 3rd or 4th start (I haven't yet finished the game :rolleyes: ) my chars become better and better and they get hit much less because I worked on getting them a superior AC. The right armor and an enchanted tower shield do wonders there ...

While I before was limping along on the edge of death for the largest part of the game, I'm now playing much smoother. Practise makes a big difference.
I found that hindsight doesn't spoil the fights as the initiative and turn based combat make it combat pretty unpredictable :) for better replayability.
I admint the lack of story and the extensive fed-exing is an issue though.

That's a really promising party, but when it comes to melee orientation, I think that's enough. Paladin, Cleric and Fighter/Druid should handle fighting quite well, at least when you replace that wizard with a ranger.
I had one fighter and a cleric with lousy fighting skills in my party early on, and it was enough. Ranger with bow and a rogue dealing damage with bows, and wizard just standing there trying to miss anything she can with her crossbow.
Now that I'm in Temple, I my ranger has started to take part on melee, and my rogue also, after taking few barbarian levels. So I think you will do just fine with that party.

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but your own wizard should do fine in combat. Make them an elf and give them the holy longsword from meleny (called the radiant longsword before ID) and he will be one of your best fighters. My mage deals 20-30 damage at least, and kills most things in a single hit. If your not facing an evil enemy then you may only do 12-18, but this still chops. He's no tank, but he doesn't need to be.

My initial party consists of:

Alignment: Neutral Good

Trevain Kehdor (male)
-Human
-Paladin of Heironeous
-Lawful Good

Aryanna Varlain (female)
-Bard/Rogue
-Half-Elf
-Chaotic Good

Karriandra (female)
-Wizard
-Elven
-Neutral Good

Krieg (male)
-Barbarian
-Half-Orc
-Chaotic Good

Peridoc Harfoot
-Cleric of Pelor
-Halfling
-Neutral Good

So far I have created three other parties with different starting alignment, and each alignment had its own starting cinematic hook.

Wow - I have pretty much EXACTLY the same party as Reyvn_Darknight, except my Rogue/Bard is my party spokesman and my cleric is a dwarf. I learned the hard way that my Paladin can't dual-class to a fighter without being able to take more levels of Paladin, which sucks. But oh well. Too lazy to start over.

I may try again with a Druid in there somewhere. I have no interest in taking any NPC's.

My Rogue/Bard is my spokeswoman. ;)

I am severly reconsidering the NPCs I have right now. They get first dibs on loot and that sux :rolleyes: It sux cheese whiz right outta the can.

Sucking cheez whiz... now that's a vivid picture. :p

I think I might actually replace the rogue with a ranger. No, I haven't gotten the game yet; still waiting for my new computer. So I've got all this time to plan a party. I'm thinking a neutral good party, with:

Paladin
Cleric
Ranger
Druid/Fighter or Druid/Barbarian
Wizard

Paladin, cleric and wizard are all definite. And forget NPCs. I don't like people I can't control :borg: