Is my party lacking...or am I setting myself up for future failure?

[AncientToaster]

I won't put any spoilers here. I'll just say that I've been mostly following the main story and I'm in Act II just now leaving an Engwithan Ruin after learning something.

 

This is my current party:

 

Eder - Tank. Guans Pledge Flail, Fine Large Shield, Full Plate. I have him at 100 Deflection and high saves. He does like...no damage at all but can tank an army by himself. Essential team member!

 

Hiravias - He's dual wielding a unique Mace called raven something and a fine spear. I have him in Fine Scale Mail. His deflection is the next highest in line, I use him mostly for spells and mixing it up in Melee if the need arises (it usually doesn't)

 

Kana Rua - I think he's the weakest link I have right now. I don't know...I have him chanting Sure Handed Ila basically all the time and using an Arquebus. If and when I need his summoning I throw out a Phantom or Wurms (I usually forget about him to be honest in fights)

 

Natalie (Player Character) - Named after my daughter   She's a Cipher wielding Lead Spitter Blunderbus and a Unique Pistol I found somewhere (I'm actually not 100% sure where I got this Pistol, but I barely use it) she's by far the best character in my team. She has the most kills, the most damage, but if the enemy gets a hold of her she goes down very fast. Low defenses, low deflection, very squishy but don't mess with her! Great spells.

 

Durance - I like this guy but I'm not sure what to do with him when he's not buffing or healing. I have him using an Arquebus as well. Should I change this? He has pretty good resolve and Endurance really...Maybe I should start using him more as a Fighter/Priest?

 

Aloth - I like this guy. I think his spells are great, squishy but useful.

 

The problem I have is, I feel like all of my damage is coming from two sources, magic and guns. I'm worried I'm a bit one dimensional with my DPS. If I can't cast spells I'm shooting guns, because Hiravias and Eder aren't putting out a lot of melee damage at all. I'm wondering if I'm going to stumble upon some enemies that just shrug off my guns/magic and then I'm stuck trying to have Eder poke him with this meager flail attacks.

 

Is there a better weapon I can grab for Eder or something, maybe Hiravias?

 

 

[b0rsuk]

Without Sagani and her fox I think you'll need another line holder. Otherwise you can easily become overwhelmed. Kana does this well if you dress him in heavy armor. Pair that with a 2-hander. His abilities will be barely affected, phrases are pretty much passive and invocations are once in a while. Shoot aquebus before going into melee. You'll be especially sorry if something charms or confuses Eder.

 

Note that Hiravias is a Hearth Orlan, and he gets +10% criticals if attacking an enemy already fought by an ally. He can do so more safely if he's wielding a reaching weapon - such as staff or pike. In my game he already had Peasant specialization, so staves. Check character sheet.

 

Unless your Eder has many defensive talents, put a 2-handed weapon or a small shield in the other weapon set. If something goes wrong and Eder doesn't draw as much attention as you want, hit him really hard. In general a good tactic is to switch to shield if enemies are focusing on you, and the rest of your party doesn't use shields for high damage.

 

Durance can take a talent granting +10 sword and arquebus accuracy. You need to satisfy Magran, though - she likes Aggressive and Clever behavior, dislikes Deceptive and Passionate. Once you get the talent it doesn't matter.

 

Another good phrase to chant for Kana is the one that frightens. It works very often, and enemies get -10 to Accuracy. Note that phrases in a chant can overlap.

[mazeltov]

Hard difficulty? Your setup should be able to roll through the game no problem... if not steamroll through. One point of concern might be controlling aggro on the largest packs with only one tank, but all the CC at your disposal should be able to handle the extra adds.

[ShadowTiger]

Its perfectly normal for only two or three of your characters do be doing the lions share of the damage. Spells and abilities will probably make up most of this damage, though if your defenses are high enough you can whittle the enemies away on the front lines.

 

Using a bigger weapon like an Estoc could be a good alternate weapon against enemies where your damage is low. Also remember that debuffing enemies and buffing your allies is just as important as doing damage. If you weaken, blind, frighten, and daze your enemies then you will have a much higher hit/crit chance and thus do much more damage.You will also have less pressure to kill them quickly since their accuracy will be lowered.

Edited April 10, 2015 by ShadowTiger

[ErlKing]

I think you ok, Cipher really empower party. I played almost same, but picked paladin instead of druid, not sure if she much better though. I would say your party pretty optimal.

 

Actually it felt way too easy with chanter and arbalests (prior to 1.03), so I went different way - took Paladin for PC (I like going front line) and took cipher and ranger npc ( I really like characters) instead of chanter and paladin, cipher npc is not as overpowered as min-maxed main char, ranger not as good as chanter, but I still like this run better roleplay wise. I haven't noticed how Kana annoy me, until I got rid of him, and I never liked druids as class,

Edited April 10, 2015 by ErlKing

[AncientToaster]

Thanks for the responses. I think I did give Durance the talent that adds +10 Accuracy for an Arquebus, so he could do something during combat when he's not buffing or healing.

[Slapstick87]

I also found Kana to be lackluster. I run with two tanks though, Edér and a certain Paladin you will be able to pick up during act II. Aloth, Hiravias and myself as a blundercipher deal plenty enough damage. Durance is of course on the team as well You won't need melee damage if you don't want it.

[tnc]

Chanters are kinda meh for me. The fight is over before he's able to cast the second spell, sometimes even the first. Hard difficulty. So that is why i created a barb and he slaughters everyone with frenzied aoe 2H attacks. My party is Monk(main char, dps), Barb, Eder(full tank), Durance, Grieving mother, Hiravias. 3 Melee 3 Ranged. Took the best four companions.(imo) Enough tankiness, lots of buffs, more than enough dps.

[Infares]

Indeed, not every member of your team needs to be flashy, their contributions are more vicarious in nature (especially Durance and Kana Rua) but if you were to replace them with someone else you'd IMMEDIATELY feel the burn.