Five man party ? idk... let's discuss

[Blades of Vanatar]

I like six. Mostly because it's another build I can create. But replay also solves that problem.

 

Ranger wise I can live with 10 plus summons instead of 12 plus summons.

[PangaeaACDC]

I like 6 because I can fill out my group with more companions, and it allows for more leeway in terms of how you build your group. With only 5 people, there is less room for trying out various things.

 

But it depends on what the plans are for the game. If the idea is that we're able to have temporary companions for bigger stretches of the game, maybe it's needed. Also for rangers. It did feel a little crowded when I used Sagani+Ituumak and 5 others.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Also six allows leeway for RP builds that aren't OP. But the game probably shouldn't use that as the major determining factor on party size.

[rjshae]

I like the approach some other cRPGs have made of allowing additional recruits to be added to the party, but only for specific purposes. I think it adds to the role-playing feel of the game and makes tactical combat more interesting. So, while I can still enjoy play with a five-character party, it would be nice to expand the party size at least some of the time using pre-built NPC add-ons, if only to mix it up a little.

[kanisatha]

I'm also on the side favoring six and am extremely unhappy with the decision to drop to five, but for me it has nothing to do with gameplay or combat or "covering roles." The single most enjoyable aspect of playing these games for me is evolving my party over time as a group, expanding their stats, skills, feats, etc. in a complimentary way with each level-up, and distributing weapons and armor and items across my team again in a complimentary optimal way. As such, by definition, the smaller the party size the less my enjoyment of the game, even exponentially less so. This is why I truly hate non-party based/solo games and don't care to play them. And furthermore, in a party based game, I will always max out my party size at the earliest opportunity, which is why I dislike the early part of PoE for not having enough companions to max out my party (tavern-rolled NPCs don't count). So for me: 6 > 5 >> 4 >>> 3 >>>> 2 >>>>> 1

 

On a related side-note, does anyone have recommendations for RPG/adventure games that are largely about party management?

[rjshae]

On a related side-note, does anyone have recommendations for RPG/adventure games that are largely about party management?

 

Do you mean like Battle Brothers? Iron Oath sounds like it could be.

[kanisatha]

 

On a related side-note, does anyone have recommendations for RPG/adventure games that are largely about party management?

 

Do you mean like Battle Brothers? Iron Oath sounds like it could be.

Thanks. I checked these out, but they're both heavily about tactical combat as the focus of the game. I'm looking for something that is about party management as the point of the game, sort of a "party/character builder" game along the lines of 'empire builder' or 'city builder' games.