So I just finished my first playthrough in Normal mode and planning to start a new, Hard mode playthrough with a full custom party with min-maxed stats.  I'm thinking the following party composition:

 

Human fighter (tank)

Moon Godlike pally (tank)

Human barb (melee dps, dual wield)

Priest (buffer/healer)

Wood elf mage (debuff/ranged dps)

Wood elf druid (ranged dps/minor heals)

 

1.  Would this party be too caster-heavy?

2.  Would you swap in a ranger or rogue for one of the casters to get more physical dps?  Maybe a cipher to replace the mage and still provide some light melee?

3.  Any other thoughts/considerations?

 

Thanks for any input - been a long time since I've played a game where I could build a full party from scratch like this!

You will absolutely love that party.  Having Priest/Mage/Druid will mean a little bit of micro-managing, but it will be a blast.

 

If anything you might enjoy switching the Mage out for a Chanter or Cipher, but you certainly won't need to in order to beat hard mode.

Can I recommend to just skip right to PotD? I never played normal, so I don't know the specific differences between the difficulty levels in terms of what encounters have more / stronger enemies, but I feel like you're going to get bored of hard pretty fast. Skipping from normal to PotD -- especially with a custom party -- might actually prove to be a fun challenge, whereas hard might just be a breeze. Especially especially especially with a custom party.

 

That party's A+ solid, though.

Hard mode is pretty easy, I must say. If you wanna min-max and challenge yourself, go straingt for PotD mode.

 

Also, anwering your question, I would make the paladin offtank with good balanced between tank and dps (something like 18/8/9/17/14/12; you dont really need as much con, rarely you will be hit, and hit fast is just optional. With the 14 int, paladin aura are big enought to cover a good area in battles). Then, use the mage for cc (the low levels blinds are awesome). Both mage and druid can be replaced for a chiper (best class in the game imo) for some cc and good magical damage.

 

And if you are thinking about it, dont use a chanter. They are useless in hard mode, 'cause fights end so fast, so you cant no even invo once. Only usable against big bosses.

I'd recommend a cipher. Maybe a wood elf priest of magran. Maybe a bleak walker death godlike paladin with zealous aura etc.