If you were creating all 6 party members what would your ideal party look like?

[Nixl]

The Spanish Inquisition. All priests with red clothing. 

 

Alternatively:

1.Priest: dedicated to buffs and damage spells.

2. Priest #2: Dedicated to stamina healing (and more buffs). (can rely of both priests for stamina healing in bad situations).

3. Ciper for master of puppets.

4. Barbarian.

5. Paladin.

6. Barbarian.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Nixl

[Marceror]

I guess this one is overly obvious, but what the hell.

 

The Fellowship:

 

Gandalf: Godlike (Human) Wizard - Probably Moon, but with a human looking portrait.

Boromir: Human Fighter

Gimli: Dwarf Fighter

Strider/Aragorn: Human Ranger

Legolas: Elf Fighter/Archer

Frodo: Orlan Rogue (Frodo will proxy all of the little folk)

 

Would be conspicuously missing a healer, but this is about as accurate as I could think to make it.

[Mayama]

Min/Maxing wise my party would be 6 ciphers, one shoting everything.

[Wintersong]

 

Now that we're getting our arms around the game a bit, I'm curious what everyone's "ultimate" player created parties would consist of. 

 

I have no idea. I'm avoiding the Chanter for now due to being Total OP BBQ so I don't want to waste time with it. I haven't tried Monk because PoE version isn't... convincing? Tried Ranger a bit but buggy buggy. Every other class? All of them seem interesting/useful.

 

Right now, I'd lean toward:

- Fighter as tank. And knocking down enemies is fun! Most probably Mountain Dwarf for anti poison bonuses.

- Priest as healer/buffer. Probably melee too. I really like Priests in this game. Maybe Moon Godlike for Siver Tide extra healing.

- Paladin as secondary tank. Which comes with aura buffs and some extra healing when needed. Maybe Mountain Dwarf too.

- From a starting skills point of view, Rogues and Ciphers are much the same. Rogues are more oriented to melee and go about criticals, while Ciphers are oriented more to ranged and go with spells. Right now I'd probably select Rogue because I'm still trying to figure out how to use the Cipher spells properly, but I may prefer a Cipher (plus it's Psi class!!!). Interrupting Orlan Rogues sound nice. For Cipher I would choose a Wood Elf for ranged attack and defense bonuses.

- Wizard. Probably. A ranged weapon of some kind and some spells. Damage dealer (Might & Intelect?) or controller (Perception & Intelect?)  would depend on me knowing better the spells in the game. For damage dealer maybe I would pick Human. For controller maybe Orlan.

- Need some more edge for the team so a Barbarian could work. But Druid with its Altered Beast forms seems awesome too while offering some spells (including some later healing?).  Right now, I would pick Barbarian. Aumaua race for Barbarian. No idea for Druid.

[Marceror]

After playing the backer beta quite a bit, my ideal party has changed quite a bit. I no longer feel the need to include a wizard or a rogue, since I feel other classes are overall more useful.

 

At this point my ideal party would look like:

 

Front Line

• Fighter - Tank who goes "sword and board"
• Paladin - Secondary tank with a big, two handed weapon
• Barbarian - Melee damage dealer who fights with 2 weapons

 

Back Line

• Priest - The ultimate healer and buffer. Will primary use firearms.
• Chanter - Great buffs and some spells. Will use a bow as her primary weapon. Will invest in the mechanics skills, thus easily replacing the role the rogue would have otherwise filled outside of combat.
• Cipher - Will use a wand/rod as his primary weapon. Basically this will replace the role that would otherwise have been filled by a wizard, with less damage and more crowd control, and a lot more spells being cast overall.

 

At the moment, this seems to be the ideal PoE party.

[Seari]

BG2 style!

 

1. Human Paladin + 2hander

2. Dwarf Fighter + dual wielding

3. Human Priest + shield and 1h

4. Orlan Rogue + 1h

 

5. Aumaua Cipher + bow

6. Elf Wizard

[Roarkkk]

All muscle NAKED wizards. All the time.

There, fixed that for you

[Fiebras]

1. Ranger-Bear

2. Ranger-Stag/Lion

3. Ranger -Bear

4. Priest/Wizard

5. Chanter

 

Seriously.

 

 

On the other hand:

1. Ranger-Bear/Paladin - Second Front Liner + Ranged DPS/ Second Healer+ Second Front Liner

2. Chanter/Wizard -AOE spells and CC. Chanter doubles as Third Front Line

3. Barbarian/Fighter -Main Front Line Fighters

4. Priest/Druid -Healing and CC + Third/Fourth Front Liner

5. Rouge/Cipher -ranged DPS

 

And if we include a 6th member it would be any of the ones listed but not selected.

[Marceror]

 

5. Rogue/Cipher -ranged DPS

 

 

Fixed. Sorry, that particular misspelling is a bit of a pet-peeve of mine.

[Fiebras]

y youre so concernd about speling dud? Theres beter thinggies wich are more important.

[Marceror]

i no. It jsut bawthars me wen sumwun cawls a sneekee RPG careactor woemans maycup.

[illathid]

 

 

All muscle NAKED wizards. All the time.

There, fixed that for you

Did someone say naked muscle wizard?

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2014 by illathid

[Seari]

...is this some kind of joke? I don't get it. Or do you just have a hard on for Sasuke(or whoever the **** that is)?

[morhilane]

hmm.

 

Chanter

Cipher

Barbarian

Druid

Priest

Rogue

[Elerond]

Currently my ideal party would be party of six chanters and 18 skeletons.    

[Lioness]

Chanter

Druid

Priest

Cipher

Paladin 

Wizard

 

Synergies and buffs oriented.

 

 

Alternatively 6 Rangers with different pets.

[Lasweetlife]

Paladin - High CON + whatever attribute ends up controlling deflection, with all the "tanking" talents (hold the line + whatever else gets added in the final game).

Cipher - melee DPS Gish

Barbarian - Very Barbariany Barbarian

Priest/Druid - I want my healer to double as my Offensive AoE dude

Chanter - with a huge ass gun

Ranger - Just cause I want my party to have a lion as a pet/mascot.

[illathid]

...is this some kind of joke? I don't get it. Or do you just have a hard on for Sasuke(or whoever the **** that is)?

It's a wizard from the show Fairy Tail that compulsively strips. It seemed relevant to the discussion.

[Macrae]

6 chanters....just for the pleasure of seeing 6 idiots valiantly go chanting and charging into adventure just to get gloriously crushed by the first lion encounter.. xD

[aeonsim]

Wizard

Cipher

Chanter

Priest (Maybe a Druid)

Paladin or Barbarian

Fighter

[Shevek]

Hmm..

 

Barbarian - two hander

Paladin - two hander

Ranger+Bear - speedy bow

Chanter - long gun or xbow

Cipher - pistol

Priest - long gun or xbow

 

Decent front line, buffing, ranged damage, heals, summons, etc.

[Kjaamor]

As of v278:

 

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

 

Snarks aside, looking at what the classes are conceptually like and having played around with their ideas:

 

Slot 1: Fighter

It is clear that the Fighter is the only dedicated tanking class, and I think conceptually the optimal party needs a dedicated tank.

 

Slot 2: Fighter

I also think the game intends you to benefit from an off-tank, to help create a wall when the tank is overwhelmed, or take the pressure off if they're low on health. In v278 I used a heavily armoured Barbarian recruit who performed the task well, and originally I was going to suggest a Paladin for the role, but I think running a Two-handed fighter who switches to sword and shield when the moment requires will probably provide the most consistent bang for buck in both categories, with added flexibility.

 

Slot 3: Paladin

Performs buffs and dps, and can help out with the tanking if things get really bad.

 

Slot 4: Cipher

Even when they are appropriately nerfed, I think the Cipher will still be a must have for their repeated use spells, and combination of dps and crowd control.

 

Slot 5: Chanter

I haven't tried out a chanter yet, so this is a bit speculative, but since the dps of my party sits almost exclusively on the front lines more buffs are always welcome.

 

Slot 6: Priest/Barbarian

The last one I have to provide myself with two options for because I don't know where Obsidian are going with the priest. At present, I would regard them as being of minimal worth when your front line is fighter-led, but they could just as easily become absolutely mandatory depending upon the importance of their stamina replenishing spells. It also depends upon whether the chanter is able to perform the stamina boosting role alone.

 

If the Priest isn't mandatory, then Barbarian almost in protest at how bad wizards look in this game. Having heard some of Josh's opinions regarding the Quadratic mages of D&D, I'm inclined to think that their inadequacies are not a bug but instead a feature.

 

Conspicuous by their absence:

 

Rogues: I'm not convinced from what I've seen that the damage spike the rogue is meant to provide is necessarily as effective as the sustained dps of an aggressive fighter. Also, you lose the tanking capabilities. I think Rogues are a class that the system is inadvertently nerfing.

 

Rangers: Similarly, while the Ranger concept is good, the reality is they have two places on the battlefield where they can be hit, and I am wholly unconvinced by animal companions on a mechanical level. To effectively dps the animal must be present, but if the animal becomes engaged the Ranger is in a lot of trouble. I get the sense that this will only get worse the further into the game you go. I've chosen a melee-heavy party, but if I did go ranged then my dedicated ranged people would be fighters, rogues and ciphers.

 

Druids: I've not played the Druid yet, so I can't say with certainty that I won't fall in love with them, but I've never liked the way shapeshifting works (occasionally shapeshift to perform a role that another class could do better) and I prefer to avoid limited spells.

 

Priests: As I say, it depends upon the implementation. Right now, a well-defended Fighter in a party with good CC will have enough Stamina coming in that health is the bigger problem. I can imagine that when the defence bugs are ironed out, Stamina may become a huge issue for all front-liners at which point the Priest becomes mandatory.

 

Wizards: I don't like how they play, and I don't think they will ever change to an extent where I want to use them. If Aloth is still in the game his chances of making my party have taken a massive hit with the beta. Their spells are limited, they're difficult to aim and as often as not end up doing more harm than good, and the general PoE combat speed mechanics mean reliance on slow casting puts you in a vulnerable position. BB wizard is carried by the other party members during my playthroughs while the Cipher runs the show with his magic.

[Marceror]

 

 

As of v278:

 

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

Cipher

 

Snarks aside, looking at what the classes are conceptually like and having played around with their ideas:

 

 

Slot 1: Fighter

It is clear that the Fighter is the only dedicated tanking class, and I think conceptually the optimal party needs a dedicated tank.

 

Slot 2: Fighter

I also think the game intends you to benefit from an off-tank, to help create a wall when the tank is overwhelmed, or take the pressure off if they're low on health. In v278 I used a heavily armoured Barbarian recruit who performed the task well, and originally I was going to suggest a Paladin for the role, but I think running a Two-handed fighter who switches to sword and shield when the moment requires will probably provide the most consistent bang for buck in both categories, with added flexibility.

 

Slot 3: Paladin

Performs buffs and dps, and can help out with the tanking if things get really bad.

 

Slot 4: Cipher

Even when they are appropriately nerfed, I think the Cipher will still be a must have for their repeated use spells, and combination of dps and crowd control.

 

Slot 5: Chanter

I haven't tried out a chanter yet, so this is a bit speculative, but since the dps of my party sits almost exclusively on the front lines more buffs are always welcome.

 

Slot 6: Priest/Barbarian

The last one I have to provide myself with two options for because I don't know where Obsidian are going with the priest. At present, I would regard them as being of minimal worth when your front line is fighter-led, but they could just as easily become absolutely mandatory depending upon the importance of their stamina replenishing spells. It also depends upon whether the chanter is able to perform the stamina boosting role alone.

 

If the Priest isn't mandatory, then Barbarian almost in protest at how bad wizards look in this game. Having heard some of Josh's opinions regarding the Quadratic mages of D&D, I'm inclined to think that their inadequacies are not a bug but instead a feature.

 

 

 

Conspicuous by their absence:

 

Rogues: I'm not convinced from what I've seen that the damage spike the rogue is meant to provide is necessarily as effective as the sustained dps of an aggressive fighter. Also, you lose the tanking capabilities. I think Rogues are a class that the system is inadvertently nerfing.

 

Rangers: Similarly, while the Ranger concept is good, the reality is they have two places on the battlefield where they can be hit, and I am wholly unconvinced by animal companions on a mechanical level. To effectively dps the animal must be present, but if the animal becomes engaged the Ranger is in a lot of trouble. I get the sense that this will only get worse the further into the game you go. I've chosen a melee-heavy party, but if I did go ranged then my dedicated ranged people would be fighters, rogues and ciphers.

 

Druids: I've not played the Druid yet, so I can't say with certainty that I won't fall in love with them, but I've never liked the way shapeshifting works (occasionally shapeshift to perform a role that another class could do better) and I prefer to avoid limited spells.

 

Priests: As I say, it depends upon the implementation. Right now, a well-defended Fighter in a party with good CC will have enough Stamina coming in that health is the bigger problem. I can imagine that when the defence bugs are ironed out, Stamina may become a huge issue for all front-liners at which point the Priest becomes mandatory.

 

Wizards: I don't like how they play, and I don't think they will ever change to an extent where I want to use them. If Aloth is still in the game his chances of making my party have taken a massive hit with the beta. Their spells are limited, they're difficult to aim and as often as not end up doing more harm than good, and the general PoE combat speed mechanics mean reliance on slow casting puts you in a vulnerable position. BB wizard is carried by the other party members during my playthroughs while the Cipher runs the show with his magic.

 

That's a nice synopsis. At this point I do feel that a priest is largely essential.

 

Your party is very similar to my most recently proposed party. I too have excluded the usually indispensable wizard and rogue. Cipher can basically take over for the wizard. Chanter can take over for the rogue, and do a whole lot more.

 

Like you, I like the idea of having 3 "tanks" though I proposed a single fighter, a pally and a barbarian for that front line. A second fighter to replace the barbarian could certainly work too.

 

And the priest, because I don't really think you want to go without a healer.

[Matt516]

Alternatively, 6 Barbarians, each with completely maxed out Might, Dexterity (in Josh's new system that gives attack speed), Perception (or wherever Accuracy ends up), and the rest in Intellect. 3 for Constitution and Resolve. 

[Marceror]

Reinforced-glass cannons?