Sixth party member recommendation

[falkenstein]

Hi,

I'm a beginner to Pillars of Eternity, although I've played lots of dnd-based games in the past (Icewind Dale 2, all of NWN games), so I'm not entirely inexperienced. Playing on normal difficulty, some time into the game, I'm totally enjoying it. Currently I'm on level 5 with my main character and 4 with most adventurers.

I'm doing a custom party without any premade companions, i.e. main character and adventurers. I have five-man party and I'm going to add the final team member, but I have no idea which class to choose.

 

So far my party is:

Druid (main) - nuker - built with high Intelligence, Might and a bit extra Resolve, with her Wildshape she is fairly effective on front line in trash fights, in bigger fights she mostly casts.

Fighter - tank - 100% tank with maxed Constitution and Resolve, works wonders as a tank, but lacks any offense whatsoever.

Rogue - the opposite of the fighter, pure dps. The Rogue has balanced Might/Dexterity/Perception and prefers melee. Excels in eliminating key enemy targets (such as magicians) quickly, but can't take a punch.

Priest - healer - balanced Might/Dexterity/Intelligence - currently feels like the weakest team member because of limited amount of healing spells available - I've lost one fight (the one from bounty hunter against xiatls in Valenwood), simply because the Priest ran out of healing spells and couldn't keep the Fighter up any longer.

Cipher - nuker/crowd control - Might/Dexterity/Intelligence (maxed) based, I'm very happy with this one - the class is extremely fun to play

 

The point now is that I have no idea which class to add as the sixth team member. On one hand something tough would be useful, as now it feels like the Fighter is the only one able to take a beating, on the other hand it feels like a bit more dps also couldn't hurt. I'm thinking either a Paladin or a Monk, but I'm far from certain (I didn't read any spoilers, so I have no idea what's in store for future fights) and that's why I'd like to ask here for help.

 

Thanks in advance

[omgFIREBALLS]

I like your civil tone combined with a Belkar avatar

 

I'm a huge fan of paladins, so that's what I recommend. You'll have a strong single target heal through Lay on Hands and a handful of great exhortations. At higher levels they do good AoE damage, and already at a low level they'll provide a zealous aura. I recommend Zealous Endurance; Zealous Focus doesn't stack with your priest's Blessing and Zealous Charge is IMO more for advanced kite playstyles. There are also two shields that only paladins can use, that provide another defensive aura (called Herald; +5 to all defenses). Plus they have great defenses themselves.

 

I am not. at. all. a fan of the monk concept so I can't comment on monk vs. paladin.

 

BTW, you might experiment with using your priest more for buffs than healing. Especially against the Valewood bounty, Prayer Against Fear (1) will do wonders, as the drakes will spam frighten your party. Other than Prayer Against X spells I'm very fond of Blessing (1), Dire Blessing (3), Devotions for the Faithful (4) and Crowns for the Faithful (6). An ounce of prevention...

[Elric Galad]

A secondary tank would be nice.

In addition, you already have solid single target damage dealers, so an AoE character would be useful too.

 

The obvious choices are Paladin with Sacred Immolation or Dragon Trashed chanter.

A tanky barbarian or a monk focused on Torment Reach could also work.

[falkenstein]

Hi, thanks for your replies - based on it I went with Paladin as the sixth party member and I'm pretty satisfied with that choice. While not dishing out too much damage, the Paladin can take a few hits and extra heals per encounter are also very welcome. I'm very curious as to how the game will develop, but imho the party can beat it fairly well.