I am also not a veteran player the last type of game I played like this was baulders gate II back in like 1995. I started out on Path of the damned difficulty with Expert mode checked to see how hard it is and I gotta say it was difficult but not impossible. Learning what a campfire was and the aoe size of spells has been a challenge but fun at the same time. I'd never played the beta and I didn't look anything up so my choices may not be ideal but they are what is working for me. I love trying to figure out the role play answers for my paladin it's so much fun! I usually use 1-2 priest spells and 1-2 mage spells in tough encounters but not on every one. Mostly because I can only camp 2 times. I agree that you need a full hireling party as soon as you can afford it. My party is: Paladin, fighter, Mage, Ranger, Chanter, Priest Main character Paladin tank with Max con/might using Flail w/draining and buckler with heavy armor. (I keep a Mail, Brigadine and Breastplate in the inventory to swap them depending on the enemies I fight) High athletics and some survival skill points. My off tank is Edgar with a 2 handed sword he also has max con/might. I toggle his defense mode on and off as needed to keep threat away from my paladin for a a few seconds to cast lay on hands or if there are more than 3 mobs to tank. He wears Medium armor. Athletics and survival skills Aloth is a wizard he stays on the back lines in his robes using a wand or rod. His skill is maxed lore. I will pick up some athletics and survival later. But I want him to have all the lore dialog as well as cast high rank scrolls asap. He is the character that I have to worry the most about because his skills require aim and monsters seem to love teleporting and eating him in 2 hits. Sometimes I have Edgar stand next to him shooting a bow waiting for a monster to teleport so he can swap to his sword and defense mode to aggro it wile Aloth runs away to a better position. I have a ranger with a bear companion for my 3rd line of melee tank. It's useful to throw into the fray for flanking or to soak up a spell like mind control. The ranger is max dex/might with stealth and survival skills using an arbalest for big damage. She scouts before a fight. Next is my chanter in medium armor. She's a dwarf in medium armor with high int and medium con/resolve. Her weapon is a lance for reach. I position her behind my paladin and attack over her shoulder from range while using defensive chants and summon a phantom behind the enemy to flank/offtank. She has high mechanics and lore for traps and scrolls. I have a priest in my party. I don't use Durance because of his high resolve. But my priest also uses a quarterstaff for the reach and stands behind my fighter in robes to buff/debuff/heal endurance when needed. High Int/might for buffs and heals. He has athletics and survival. I tried including a druid instead of a priest but I've killed 3 of them so far and decided it was time to try a priest instead. Much better sucess for me with the priest in my party. I could drop the priest for a rogue or barbarian but I feel like the increased dps isn't nessasary since most of my characters are dps focused already. Everyone except my paladin has a ranged weapon in case they are out of melee positions (I have 5 melee) TL/DR Path of the damned isn't that hard. Micromanagement and planning are necessary as well as juggling resources but it's totally fun small guide included.
