Wow, thanks for the detailed responses. Gave me some very good ideas.
My dislike for melee classes is based on role-playing reasons, basically (i.e. don't like my characters to be "all brawn and no brain".) Also because I appreciate the versatility and overall fun that a wider array of abilities bring to the table, making the game play less straightforward. That said, I recognize the necessity for tanks and/or being tanky, especially for a play through like this one. Are there builds for "intelligent" fighters (or any melee class) that do more than just hack everything in front of them? I was actually just looking at the build section before making this thread and reckon I went through those two as they caught my interest. Good shouts! My only question when following those builds is: how loyal do you have to be to the guide for it to work well? I don't like tying myself to them and, in particular, having to depend on very specific gear (because I won't know where or when to find them and fret over them.)
You know what, my original plan was precisely that. Build a tanky chanter who can soak up enough damage and buy enough time to invoke summons to do most of the fighting, while the druid does his things from the back or joins the combat in spiritshift. Would that work fine?
That's a good point. I want to say I've played enough to understand that, but since I've always played with a full party the weaknesses of characters were covered by another's strength. So I never paid really close attention to understand many details of the game's mechanics, which make it hard for me to plan this. Particularly, building a balanced yet strong character for the long run in a small party (or even solo.)
Melee wizard and priest looks pretty fun and challenging at the same time. Just how much micro-management is required there? Ha! I don't think I can mind having to rest much because it's almost inevitable with such a small party. Tanky druid sounds good too, and may force me to change my style a bit because I usually have my druid spell casting a ton.
How do you effectively play a cipher? For some reason, I never seem to make them work or enjoy them. Gotta be doing something wrong. I really want to like that class because it ticks my boxes very well.
Thanks again for your responses.
-meditabundo
EDIT: Taking your suggestions and looking again at the builds posted here I've selected a few that seem to be perfect. 1. The Royal Battlemage (suggested above, of course) 2. The Unfaithful (a priest - also suggested) 3. Counselor Ploi, the paladin
