What sort or party would you put together?

[Jarmo]

I'll definitely go with the flow and pick whoever happens to come by,

when I have to choose, I'll choose based on personality.

 

But if I'd build my own team:

 

Base four

 

Fighter

Priest

Mage

Rogue

 

Bonus characters

Paladin

Chanter

 

The first four are self explanatory, the bonus characters give bonus effects.

----

 

Oh, silly me. Didn't even think about the races. All human.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Jarmo

[Greensleeve]

Let's see... Haven't actually thought too much on this, as I imagine it will change quite a bit based on actual class mechanics, as well as companion personalities. But I imagine I'd like a party looking something like this: 

 

Fighter (me. Playing as a sticky, crackdown-style fighter, probably using an estoc or similar weapon)

Priest/Paladin (depends a bit on stamina restoring capabilities. I would like to have a paladin around for close-combat support, and if the paladin can also do stamina healing, that'd be great)

Chanter (from what I've seen of chanter mechanics, they seem awesome, and I'd love to have one in my party)

Monk (probably most dedicated damage-dealer in the party. Might be replaced by an unorthodox rogue though)

 

The remaining two are undecided, and I'm unsure of. I could see myself taking druid, ranger, cipher, barbarian. Highly unlikely I'll take a wizard, as it's probably my least favourite fantasy class, ever. It's somewhat unlikely I'll pick a druid, though if AoE spell damage is highly useful, I would consider picking a druid for that. Might prefer a barbarian though. 

[ShadySands]

For my pants party I think it will go a little something like this

 

Me as a Wizard or possibly even a Druid (was originally planning to go with Cipher but Cipher update killed that)

 

That's all I got, depends on the potential companions more than their class for me

[Lephys]

Yeah, I'm another person who kinda has to see who's who before I pick. Same thing with any set of options. I'm that weird person, who, when someone talks about a game and says "Yeah, the such-and-such class sucks," or "this character is useless," I kind of think "Challenge: ACCEPTED!". Haha. Now, sometimes the rumors were true. But, I'm naturally drawn to the things that typically get labeled as inherently crappy or just sort of avoided because they're strange/different.

 

Either way, no matter how much I end up knowing about the classes and the game at large before I play it, I can't decide until I know the personalities and such of the characters.

[Yonjuro]

Yeah, I'm another person who kinda has to see who's who before I pick. Same thing with any set of options. I'm that weird person, who, when someone talks about a game and says "Yeah, the such-and-such class sucks," or "this character is useless," I kind of think "Challenge: ACCEPTED!". Haha. Now, sometimes the rumors were true. But, I'm naturally drawn to the things that typically get labeled as inherently crappy or just sort of avoided because they're strange/different.

 

 

 So, you had Garrick in your party in BG1?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

 

Yeah, I'm another person who kinda has to see who's who before I pick. Same thing with any set of options. I'm that weird person, who, when someone talks about a game and says "Yeah, the such-and-such class sucks," or "this character is useless," I kind of think "Challenge: ACCEPTED!". Haha. Now, sometimes the rumors were true. But, I'm naturally drawn to the things that typically get labeled as inherently crappy or just sort of avoided because they're strange/different.

 

 

 

 So, you had Garrick in your party in BG1?

Did anyone keep a Bard in their party at all? IMO, that was easily the worst class in all of 2E. Hopefully Chanters will be useful.

[rjshae]

 

 

Yeah, I'm another person who kinda has to see who's who before I pick. Same thing with any set of options. I'm that weird person, who, when someone talks about a game and says "Yeah, the such-and-such class sucks," or "this character is useless," I kind of think "Challenge: ACCEPTED!". Haha. Now, sometimes the rumors were true. But, I'm naturally drawn to the things that typically get labeled as inherently crappy or just sort of avoided because they're strange/different.

 

 

 So, you had Garrick in your party in BG1?

Did anyone keep a Bard in their party at all? IMO, that was easily the worst class in all of 2E. Hopefully Chanters will be useful.

 

I tried to force myself to try one for a while, but it basically played like a party of 5.1. That experience wasn't unique to BG1 though.

[Lephys]

So, you had Garrick in your party in BG1?

Are you kidding? I hacked the game, just so I could have a full party of nothing but Garrick. Yes, even the main character was replaced with Garrick.

 

 

Nah, but, in serious response, I haven't actually played more than about 10 hours through BG1 (well, enhanced edition) yet. But... I THINK Garrick is Lady Silke's man-dude? In which case, I know what you're talking about. I believe he was in my party for a brief period. He might still be, but... maybe not. Basically, I don't have enough empirical evidence of his crappiness yet, one way or another. Or of bards in general, for that matter (2E bards, at least). Of course, I think enhanced edition is kind of a bastardization of 2E? Maybe? *shrug* I should stop typing now.

[PIP-Clownboy]

 

 

Yeah, I'm another person who kinda has to see who's who before I pick. Same thing with any set of options. I'm that weird person, who, when someone talks about a game and says "Yeah, the such-and-such class sucks," or "this character is useless," I kind of think "Challenge: ACCEPTED!". Haha. Now, sometimes the rumors were true. But, I'm naturally drawn to the things that typically get labeled as inherently crappy or just sort of avoided because they're strange/different.

 

 

 So, you had Garrick in your party in BG1?

Did anyone keep a Bard in their party at all? IMO, that was easily the worst class in all of 2E. Hopefully Chanters will be useful.

 

 

Yeah, 2E bards are pretty awful but Haer'Dalis is the most broken character in BG2. 

[Jarmo]

I dragged a bard through Icewind Dale and the follow-up, he worked out just fine.

Basically a walking buff mule, but made the whole party that much more effective.

 

Were the songs IWD only or did BG as well?

[BruceVC]

Good topic Op

 

My typical party is

 

Wizard\Sorcerer (me)

Fighter

Ranger

Thief

Cleric

Druid

[Greydragon]

I'll probably start with a druid, and try out the various companions on offer to find the ones I prefer.

Then second playthrough cypher with the other companions I dismissed as less interesting.

Then wizard. Then explore different classes/race/companion combinations that will affect story events. 

Then settle into general exploration of seldom seen areas/choices/dialogue. 

 

To Jarmo; BG had only a single bard song (that leveled up to produce extra effects)

Edited October 11, 2013 by Greydragon

[Yonjuro]

 

So, you had Garrick in your party in BG1?

Are you kidding? I hacked the game, just so I could have a full party of nothing but Garrick. Yes, even the main character was replaced with Garrick.

 

 

 

 Wow, six times the awesomeness.

 

 

Lephys, on 10 Oct 2013 - 5:08 PM, said:

 

 

 Yes, that's right, he's with Silke.  He is useful for one of the maps directly on the coast (the lighthouse map or the one to the north of it). 

[Yonjuro]

 

Did anyone keep a Bard in their party at all? IMO, that was easily the worst class in all of 2E. Hopefully Chanters will be useful.

 

 

 

 In one game where I rolled the whole party, I had a jester. The jester song confuses enemies who fail the saving throw --  combine with invisibility and just about everyone will fail the save eventually. Plus they can use wands; in BG1 that makes any character brokenly powerful by the end of the game -  even Garrick, I suppose.

[Kjaamor]

I'm not really sure about the use of Bard-type characters (constant party buff) in single-player rpgs. At a risk of coining the most absurd sentence of all time, there's something vaguely binary about their usefulness. Other party members you swap in or swap out, but Bards and their ilk always seem to sit in either the 'Not as useful as a full character' (2E) or 'More useful than a full character' (3E) camps.

 

I'm sure there are a number of very logical reasons why the above either isn't true or is true for all classes, but Bards have always felt that way to me (and I'm not even particularly powergamey).

[Messier-31]

Bard is fun to play in a pen-and-paper roleplay. Totally one of my favourite characters back in the day. Sure, in computer games it would be either too weak or too strong for some events, but I believe there is a way to find balance. I always thought that BG2 bard subclass (called "blade" I believe - not sure) was pretty close to perfection. Not useless, not overpowered. Simply cool.

 

Bard - still better fantasy story than monk.

[forgottenlor]

 

 

Yeah, I'm another person who kinda has to see who's who before I pick. Same thing with any set of options. I'm that weird person, who, when someone talks about a game and says "Yeah, the such-and-such class sucks," or "this character is useless," I kind of think "Challenge: ACCEPTED!". Haha. Now, sometimes the rumors were true. But, I'm naturally drawn to the things that typically get labeled as inherently crappy or just sort of avoided because they're strange/different.

 

 

 So, you had Garrick in your party in BG1?

Did anyone keep a Bard in their party at all? IMO, that was easily the worst class in all of 2E. Hopefully Chanters will be useful.

 

On my second playthrough I went with an evil party and played him. In my first playthrough I used a fairly ineffective main character (a good necromancer), but ended up using the better npcs. In my 2nd playthrough I played a fighter with 18/96 strength and specialized in 2 handed swords, who basically mowed everything down in her path and I took Garrick. It was actually an easier playthrough for me since I knew what I was doing.

I agree about Bards though, they are rather lackluster characters. Even in Pathfinder, if you want such a support character, you're probably better off going with an alchemist or inquisitor.

Edited October 11, 2013 by forgottenlor

[forgottenlor]

I'm not really sure about the use of Bard-type characters (constant party buff) in single-player rpgs. At a risk of coining the most absurd sentence of all time, there's something vaguely binary about their usefulness. Other party members you swap in or swap out, but Bards and their ilk always seem to sit in either the 'Not as useful as a full character' (2E) or 'More useful than a full character' (3E) camps.

 

I'm sure there are a number of very logical reasons why the above either isn't true or is true for all classes, but Bards have always felt that way to me (and I'm not even particularly powergamey).

The games where they really shone were in  the original Bard's tale series. Bard songs were like spells. You could have one on outside of combat, and one on in combat. There were a very limited number of songs, but most were very useful without being overpowering and offered bonuses that no other classes gave (such as improved health and spell point regeneration, being able to run from combat before it began, et.)

[Oner]

My party:

 

My Cipher

Orlan Cipher detective guy

Edair

Paladin

Cadegund

Sagani

 

I'm hoping the companion Cipher will be good at range and he'll be the 'wizard' of the group.

[Failedlegend]

Well we don't know much about the classes themselves beyond the cipher but based on what we do know and how the classes work in the other Infinity Engine games I'd go with the following

 

W/o Multi-classing

 

Fighter or Barbarian

Monk or Paladin

Cleric

Wizard

Chanter

Cipher

 

 

 

With Multi-classing

 

Fighter/Cleric or Paladin/Cleric (preferably a dwarf or other race that has a naturally militaristic or "tough" society although I might go Dwarven Godlike simply to have one)

Barbarian or Barbarian/Druid (shaman type character- likely Savannah Human or Wild Orlan)

Wizard/Rogue (illusionist/Assassin type character)

Chanter (I like having a bard along, usually roleplayed as my PCs buddy for fun roleplaying - I like having them as more of a "chronicler" as opposed to a "story teller")

Cipher or Cipher/Monk (master of their own mind and everyone elses :D definately thinking Orlan, 'm loving the lore of those secret detective...I might roleplay it as the others think he's just a wizard and he's there to "watch" the party)

Ranger/Rogue (I always have a bow user...I love archery IRL so I always like to have one)

 

Most likely have my PC as the Monk/Cipher or Wizard/Rogue but I may be a Dwarven Godlike Fighter/Cleric. I would like to have at least one of each race within my party.

 

I'd really like to see the option to customize companion builds at the adventurers guild I hate having the "Automaton" Sack of stats custmoized NPCs but I also hate having companions not fit into my party. (ie. there 3 clerics and they hapen to be the 3 I wan to chill with for my first playthrough)

 

Also the multi-class party is FAR mor einteresting to me so I hope the devs find time for that.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Failedlegend

[Larkaloke]

Four of them will almost certainly end up being some kind of fighting class, though exactly what mix of those I'll decide at the time. One will probably be a cleric or possibly a wizard, and the last one will be a rogue.

 

I expect I'll then proceed to change that a fair amount during the course of the game, but that's generally more or less how my parties end up. I tend to prefer the fighting classes, and only have one or two of the others around.

[Sarex]

First party will be:

Paladin

Paladin

Paladin

Paladin

Paladin

Paladin

(adventure hall op)

 

second party:

Paladin

Fighter

Rouge

Mage

Cleric

Druid

 

third party is whatever I think is good from the previous playthroughs, but I don't know what can beat an all paladin party.

[morrow1nd]

First party

 

Barbarian with dual wielding flails

Barbarian with big hammer or mace

Barbarian with greataxe or dual axes

Chanter 

Wizard- me

Cleric or rogue

 

Fully buffed raging barbarians. Rofl-stompin till i have a good idea about combat efficiency for the wizard

 

 

Second party

 

Wizard- me (after learning the combat mechanics)

others will be picked for rolepay

Edited October 29, 2013 by morrow1nd

[jeffnindo]

Wizard (me)

Priest

Paladin

Fighter

Druid

Chanter or Cipher

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Most powergaming party I can create.