Begginer advice for a RP focus party

[Mycatismad]

Hi! Although I already completed a few games of PoE1, I still think of myself as a beginner. Today I am considering making another run on hard with a more role play focused party composed of religious folks and would like feedback.

Here's what I have so far :

• Shepherd, Monk, Tank (for instance The Juggernaut)
• [MC] Dinah - Paladin (Off-tank but balanced, for instance Counselor Ploi)
• Ambrose - Paladin (Off-tank but offensive, for instance The Dull Runner)
• Judah - Paladin ((Off-tank but offensive, for instance ****’s on fire OR Bleak Walker)
• Constantine - Priest
• Leah - Priest

Additionally : all humans, Probable cross-bows for Paladins, Eventually arquebuses for priest. I could eventually consider a chanter.

I realize that this lovely party is not going to being optimized and that's not the point. Now I'd be curious to know if you see big red flags or complete absurdity  ? Ways to improve it ? Talent combinations that would be worth it ?

Should I reverse the off-tank / tank and have a very DPS focus Monk with defensive off-tank Paladins ? Any build advices on the Priests ? Cheers !

 

[Chaospread]

Regardless of difficulty (every class can SOLO the game at PoTD) you can beat the game with any party composition (with reasonable and decent builds).

Apart from this, 3 paladin can be good because if I remember well auras stack, and also abilities like coordinate attacks. I'd prefer a paladin as a tank and a monk as DPS, like you suggest.

Two priests are overabundant, I switch one of those with a wizard or a cipher The other Priest could achieve the rule of support (buffing/debuffing) with less attention to healing cause you have already 3 paladins   If you go with arquebus maybe choose Magran as deity.

[Mycatismad]

Thanks Chaospread! Yeah, the more conservative DPS monk idea is growing into me. My two priests are brothers and sisters tho, I can't really separate them And although I love ciphers, they would not fit in that religious party.

[Boeroer]

Two priests can be very benefical - especially early in the game - because their Inspiring Radiance (+10 accuracy in an AoE) will stack with everything, even with each other. That's either "free" and stackable +20 ACC for a shorter time or 2 times +10 ACC (twice the duration). Also a problem of a priests can be the time it takes to put out multiple buffs at the start of an encounter. Two priests speed up that process immensely (for example one is casting Blessing while the other casts Devotions for the Faithful). And of course after a certain level priests also become offensive powerhouses.

[Chaospread]

On 3/1/2024 at 6:13 PM, Mycatismad said:

Thanks Chaospread! Yeah, the more conservative DPS monk idea is growing into me. My two priests are brothers and sisters tho, I can't really separate them And although I love ciphers, they would not fit in that religious party.

Do you consider Druid as a religious class? Because he/she could add CC and DPS more than a paladin. Otherwise a chanter is also good for CC and some other variant abilities of 3 paladins