Vuki's experience with IA V5.0, Using a special party composition Options

[Vuki]

I started a new party because I was a little bit tired and bored with the previous one. My previous party was a usual IA party: sorcerer protagonist + barbarian + blade + ranger->cleric (dual) + cleric/mage (multi) + monk. I will surely continue my old game later on but at the moment I concentrate on the new party. Ok, so this is the new party composation (and their current statistics):

Protagonist: Lothar, a half-elf Vagrant: Chaotic Good; lvl 9th; Axe++, Flail++, Club++, two-weapon style+++
Barbie, the half-ork barbarian (he is a male! ): Chaotic Good; lvl 9th; 2H Sword++, Spear+, Quater Staff++, 2H weapon style++
Ince, the Inquisitor: Lawful Good; lvl 9th; 2H Sword++, Halberd++, Quater Staff+, 2H weapon style++
Rancle, the Ranger->Cleric (dual class): Neutral Good; lvl 7/9th; War Hammer++, Club++, Flail++, Mace++, Quater Staff+, two-weapon style+++
Berti, the Berserker->Thief (dual): Chaotic Neutral; lvl 9/10th; Long Sword++, Scimitar+, Short Sword+, Dagger+, Club++, Dart+, two-weapon style+++
Cernd, the Auramaster: True Neutral; lvl 11th; Scimitar+, Dagger+, Quater Staff+, Sling+

Yes, there is no arcane caster at all! And there will be no arcane caster in the future as well. I will replace sometimes Cernd with other NPCs to trigger their quest but not arcane caster NPC. That was my intention from the beginning and it is a concept and not an accident.

I think in a lot of cases it will make my life harder but some battles will be easier. Also I do not have to prebuff as much because I am not able to do as much prebuff as with an arcane caster. Life is good.

I will write here my experience with this party as I advance in the game. I will update my second post here (so, not this one). I will write it from the viewpoint of Lothar. Btw, I have no idea how I was able to find such a name. Lothar. In the other cases I think the naming logic is clear.

Ps. Sorry for my not so good English! I hope it would be still enjoyable.

Update:
Part 1 is finished
Part 2 is finished
Part 3 is finished
Part 4 is partially entered

This post has been edited by Vuki: Sep 1 2008, 09:33 AM

[matti]

Even with all this, extremely biased and unnecessary imo, changes to "short people" saving throws in IA 6, still:

Dwarven fighter/thief > Elven fighter/thief
Dwarven kensai > Half-Orc kensai
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist > Elven Fighter/Mage

;]

[Sikret]

Even with all this, extremely biased and unnecessary imo, changes to "short people" saving throws in IA 6, still:

Dwarven fighter/thief > Elven fighter/thief
Dwarven kensai > Half-Orc kensai
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist > Elven Fighter/Mage

You seem to be replying to your own comment in this post, matti. If despite the changes to short people, you still believe that dwarves and gnomes are more powerful than elves and half-orcs even in v6, it's (by itself) a proof that the changes applied to short people in v6 were welcome and necessary steps towards balance; otherwise the gap would have been even bigger.

@Vuki

If you are practicing for v6, I recommend that you do not use a multi-class mage in your party, because multi-class mages in v6 do not have access to Improved Alacrity and certain options of Wish spell, which is a bigger change than nerfing the saving throw bonuses of short people.

Note that I'm not saying that multi-class mages should not be used in v6; what I'm saying is that playing them in v6 requires a different approach than v5; so, if you want to practice for v6, do not use them as long as your are playing v5.