Help with optimisation of a not-so orthodox party setup.

[SirMirrorcoat]

I have 2 Rangers, 2 Paladins, 1 Cipher and 1 Chanter. I really like this setup so far, also, I cannot think of any classes that would make snese for Sagani/GM/Kana/Pallegina aside from their standard one, aside from Eder, who I think makes quite the fitting Kind Wayfarer  Though I could imagine him as a Ranger as well, with his high affinity to animals. But 3 Rangers would be a bit insane I think xD

So, stats look like this:

Orlan Ranger MC: M17 C3 D19 P20 I15 R4

 Arbalest as main (One-Eyed Molina with nexus patch)

Sagani Ranger: M20 C4 D17 P19 I15 R3

 Hunting Bow main (Currently still her personal one)

Eder Paladin KW: M17 C10 D14 P14 I18 R5

 Greatsword main (Justice so far, but Imma buy some others soon) Zealous Focus

Pallegina Paladin: M16 C10 D15 P14 I20 R3

 can't decide and constantly switch between SnS with Outworn Buckler, or dualwield small weapons. Zealous Charge (that thing saved me so many times) is insane.

GM Cipher: M16 C8 D14 P16 I16 R8

 Warbow/2handed main, switch between the 2 depending on scenario. Haven't found any unique Warbow/Poleaxe/Estoc yet, currently she has Durance's Staff and a Fine Warbow with Wilder enchantment on. Quickly became my second-hardest and most efficient hitter next to MC Ranger. Went down only once (against my first encounter with an Ogre Druid - never again), Kills second highest number, deleted Raedric with Soul Ignition after buffs. 

Kana Chanter: M20 C8 D15 P14 I18 R3

 am really not sure how to build him effectively as a support ranged unit. Just Ila constantly is good enough I guess, collecting phrases for an emergency heal or a summon, but eh, I feel like he's a bit underutilzed there, aside from the tangibly ridiculous speed buff he gives my MC. Also, he has Gallant's Focus to buff the backline even more... I thought (and tried) a gunslinger style setup, but it's weird...

 

Kana I feel like I need the most advice with. The others work very well so far and I feel neither like they are carrying the rest of the party nor that they are underutilized, but Kana is in a weird place imo. 

But of course I am open to any kind of advice/criticism

[Boeroer]

Chanters like Kana are better in higher difficulties (where the fights last longer). The phrase/invocation mechanic is rel. slow (at least in the early game). 

However, in some situations even a low level chanter can be extremely powerful given the right circumstances (e.g. using White Worms in Raedric's Castle to clear the whole place). 

From lvl 9 on Kana can become a dps monster: Just sing "The Dragon Thrashed" and nothing else (overlapping phrases do stack on the enemies) and he will melt most enemies easily just by standing there. 

You can also use a pulling tactic to circumvent the slowness of his resource buildup: simply scout forward with a character (e.g. Edér) and trigger combat. The rest of the party including Kana wait further away (not in stealth mode because in stealth mode chanters don't sing). When combat starts Kana will start singing and building up phrases while Edér is pulling enemies towards the group. Once they arrive Kana can be ready to unleash his first invocation (e.g. the Phantom which is very strong in the early game).

[SirMirrorcoat]

Mkay, so I guess Imma just keep him as a backliner for big fights and a DD for mobs once I reach level 9 XD

[Evange]

Just slap the heaviest armor on Kana and give him the best firearm. Done and done.

[Boeroer]

After the early game heavy armor has rel. low impact. But in the early game it's very helpful. And since Kana's chanter mechanics are slow anyway it doesn't hinder him too much, especially once he relies on damaging chants like Dragon Thrashed mostly (because those are not affected by action speed or recovery at all). 

Fun fact: normally, when wielding a single one handed weapon, you'll get +12 accuracy - but only for attacks with that weapon, nothing else. Except offensive chants (like The Dragon Thrashed) will also get +12 accuracy as soon as you are wielding a single one handed weapon. It's most likely an oversight, but it's there and it works. 

I personally often run (or ran) a Dragon Thrashed chanter with hatchet + (small) shield, but if I have trouble hitting enemies with the chant I can just switch to a single weapon setup and instantly gain 12 accuracy.  

Chants have a very interesting side feature: they still work while the Chanter is withdrawn (see Priest spell Withdraw). In fact, of you have a Chanter and a Priest in the party it makes sense to pick Withdraw as a spell mastery later on (turning it from a per-rest into a per-encounter spell).

If you give Kana a shield with the Preservation enchantment (+50 to all defenses while stunned or prone - for example Little Savior or Ilfan Byrngar's Solace) and add another item with that feature (for example Blaidh Golan hide armor) they will stack, giving the Chanter +100 to all defenses. How's that cool while he is withdrawn and can't get attacked anyway? Because Cipher's Defensive Mindweb still works on him. This will give the whole part the defenses of the chanter - who has +100 to all his defenses. At the same time he's the only character who can contribute to the fight with his chants while being withdrawn. It's a pretty impactful combo.

But you can also just place him in a doorway, cast withdraw (doorway's blocked yet he's untouchable) and he'll sing his chants for you while you use ranged or reach weapons to fight the enemies behind him. 

Another thing that is often overlooked is White Worms: the corpses that will explode will not get used up. They can explode over and over again. Turn of the "gib" option in the game menu - gibbed enemies leave no corpses - and don't leave or reload a map and you can lure enemies to a pile of corpses (or former enemies you already dispatched) and use White Worms over an over again on said corpses. Maps with many enemies (who leave corpses like kith) become very easy because you can just pile up more an more enemies at some choke point. At some point it's one-shots every time. You can clear out Raedric's Castle for enormous loot with this "trick".