OK so after a few false starts of trying to play evil parties (sorry, the whole rep system just kills the joy out of evil parties for me) I've settled into playing the hero... and to my surprise I found I could even setup my 'ideal' party with only one Dual Class with a good/neutral party... something I couldn't come close to doing playing evil.
OK, guess I better talk about what my ideal party is...
2-3 melee
1-2 ranged (not really counting mages at the back with sling/dart here)
2 divine casters
2 arcane casters
1+ thief for traps/locks
So to linchpin all this I decided to do a fighter/cleric, originally looked at a dwarf, but then I wondered if half-orc could do it in this...
...OMG....
A child of Bhaal indeed, 19 Str/Con 18Dex/Wis and this without abysmal Int/Cha (7 and 9 respectively), flail/sling/shield skills... Just, downright insane... with only Imoen, Xzar and Monteron managed to kill a Dreadwolf outside candlekeep. At lvl 3/3 -2 AC in splint armour and a large shield, 32 HP, 14 THAC0 and 11-16 damage with a standard flail. All this unbuffed.
OK, so the party...
Ajantis - Party leader (17 Char) and been trained for 2-handed sword.
Domara Dawnbreaker - PC
Branwen - Primary healer, wielding Ashideena +2
Kivan - Primary archer until I can get Coran who will then also handle thief duties for a while
Imoen - Primary thief for much of the game, will be dualed to a mage at lvl 7 once I pick up Coran, also trained her in crossbows so she can use The Army Scythe when I can afford it.
Neera - Primary arcane caster, and wild magic hilarity.
So I've 2 1/2 melee (wouldn't really count Branwen as a full melee character with her stats but a solid half point, maybe a full with GoOS) 2 ranged (if Coran hasn't been altered he'd almost be a 1 1/2 on his own) 2 1/4 divine casters (Ajantis may get a spell or two) 1 solid arcane caster throughout joined by a second once Imoen starts stacking on the mage levels at the same time will have one thief throughout then 2 at late game.
Honestly it's the BGEE changes that make this party so awesome... a dwarf fighter/cleric would be a solid character, but the half-orc takes it to a whole new level and Neera gives good parties a pure arcane caster NPC who doesn't suck, AND is available early.
OK, guess I better talk about what my ideal party is...
2-3 melee
1-2 ranged (not really counting mages at the back with sling/dart here)
2 divine casters
2 arcane casters
1+ thief for traps/locks
So to linchpin all this I decided to do a fighter/cleric, originally looked at a dwarf, but then I wondered if half-orc could do it in this...
...OMG....
A child of Bhaal indeed, 19 Str/Con 18Dex/Wis and this without abysmal Int/Cha (7 and 9 respectively), flail/sling/shield skills... Just, downright insane... with only Imoen, Xzar and Monteron managed to kill a Dreadwolf outside candlekeep. At lvl 3/3 -2 AC in splint armour and a large shield, 32 HP, 14 THAC0 and 11-16 damage with a standard flail. All this unbuffed.
OK, so the party...
Ajantis - Party leader (17 Char) and been trained for 2-handed sword.
Domara Dawnbreaker - PC
Branwen - Primary healer, wielding Ashideena +2
Kivan - Primary archer until I can get Coran who will then also handle thief duties for a while
Imoen - Primary thief for much of the game, will be dualed to a mage at lvl 7 once I pick up Coran, also trained her in crossbows so she can use The Army Scythe when I can afford it.
Neera - Primary arcane caster, and wild magic hilarity.
So I've 2 1/2 melee (wouldn't really count Branwen as a full melee character with her stats but a solid half point, maybe a full with GoOS) 2 ranged (if Coran hasn't been altered he'd almost be a 1 1/2 on his own) 2 1/4 divine casters (Ajantis may get a spell or two) 1 solid arcane caster throughout joined by a second once Imoen starts stacking on the mage levels at the same time will have one thief throughout then 2 at late game.
Honestly it's the BGEE changes that make this party so awesome... a dwarf fighter/cleric would be a solid character, but the half-orc takes it to a whole new level and Neera gives good parties a pure arcane caster NPC who doesn't suck, AND is available early.