IAv6 party composition, This was bound to come up Options

[lroumen]

With regard to the new adventures into the realm of Improved Anvil I was thinking about a new party composition that would give good results and new challenges for me. Of course there is a standard layout of each IA party that is almost necessary if you want to have a relatively relaxed time throughout the majority of the challenges. So if you do not have this layout you may be destined to have a tough time.

General layout:
1-2 single class warriors for high damage output. Recommended is one going dual-wield (rangers are nice) and one going two-handed weapons (paladins are nice).
1-2 dual-class warriors or characters capable of melee fighting such that they can perform a secondary task like buffing, debuffing, thieving, healing, summoning (R/C, F/C, F/M, F/T, swashbuckler or blades are examples dualled or multi'd)
1-2 clerics or druids for healing, buffing, summoning (use shields)
1-2 mages for dispelling, disabling, damage (three is better)
Anyway.... something like this.


There are going to be a few new developments in v6 and I am tempted to try those out. Here is a grasp of what I found interesting. There is a lot more to be read here of course.
1. Expanded mage stronghold for good-aligned necromancers.
2. Valygar the Protector
3. Improved Riskbreaker bonuses
4. Nerfed Bard spells
5. Improved Swashbuckler HLAs
6. Nerfed small people saves


My own thoughts for a party.
- I did not play protagonist mage properly since v2, so I am tempted to go with the necromancer.
- I have not yet played well with an Auramaster so I was tempted to try that out this time too.
- I'm intrigued by the Protector kit for Valygar (whom I normally just slay).
- Riskbreaker I'm playing right now so I will not be doing that this time
- Swashbucklers never floated for me since I like the backstab too much
- Bards... never really played much with them. I have HD in my party right now but all he does is cast minor spells and sing which he cannot even do properly.

So... as for my party thoughts
1. Goodaligned Necromancer Protagonist (dart staff), spells
2. Valygar (flail, katana), protection and healing
3. Nalia or Jan (dagger, bow or crossbow), thieving, secondary arcane
4. Cernd (staff), summoning, buffing
5. Jaheira (club, scimitar, longsword, dualwield), buffing, melee
6. Minsc/Keldorn (2-handed sword, halberds)

I'm a bit worried about the fact that I only have 3 real fighters and I don't even like the Minsc/Keldorn slot. I will probably make this a custom bezerker, barbarian or kensai instead. I prefer something with AC so it would be a bezerker... in which case I would take Korgan if he had two-handed weapons as profs (though level1NPCs may help me there).
I could probably kick the jan/nalia slot for a F/M instead too, but I am still undecided because these NPCs come with upgrades.
I could also change Cernd but I wanted to try out Auramasters so that will not be likely unless I don't like him anymore.

I am also hoping in this party that Valygar gets some good party healing spells because that is something I may be lacking mid-game until both druids level up. No greater restoration.... I could just take Anomen instead of Jaheira but I just prefer the latter. That will be a problem, I'm sure.

I was wondering what kind of ideas other people had. Any thoughts on nice combinations?

[lroumen]

That is a very nice analysis.

After keeping updated with the v6 topic I also came to the general conclusion that both the necromancer and valygar would be good additions to a party concerning new content.


Concerning the sorceress.
I find it a good way to obtain spells that you have to search for early in the game (spell shield, hand of undoing, that sort). However, as for utility I do not find them to be that much better than a normal or specialised mage.
If you pick the spells of your primary and secondary mage properly to complement each other (and overlap in some parts like breach if you want), you will hardly be pressed for spells that you have not memorised. Most utility spells I also cast from the tons of scrolls that are lying around after you defeat a mage, so late-game I am always lucky enough to have a supply of >10 ruby ray and breach scrolls to relieve my memorisation of those spells and they refill themselves quite well.
I also prefer to nalia or jan because then you have some thieving skills, you can use ranged weapons quite well and they come with upgrades that in my hands becomes better than the sorceress (as in more spells and thus no problems in what to memorise).


Concerning the Riskbreaker.
I first tried him out as secondary fighter and found he was weak. In my current game I am playing him as protagonist with a bit more thought out tactics and he is quite sturdy now that I have reached the mid-teens. So far no complaints, but I'll have to see how he fares in TOB. I can imagine the combination of the truth and cromfaeyr, but at the moment I am using adjathla the drinker and frostreaver until I can get my hands on a good blunt weapon. I find a Riskbreaker to be very good single-weapon style too in order to get in an extra chance for a critical. This is not important against the average foes, but against the bigger and tougher ones with high AC, that sometimes helps more than going two-weapon style.
I don't think you can go wrong with a riskbreaker in v6, but as I'm already playing one right now I will skip it for something else.


Concerning clerics.
I do not find it strange that you only have one cleric/ranger to do the healing for you since with a good playing style you will be negating foes from damaging you. Howver, sometimes in critical times I find it quite difficult to keep some characters alive if their buffs have been stripped effectively by the IA AI. So for me, I need a high level cleric that can cast greater restoration rather quickly and for an R/C you do need to wait quite a bit of time before he gets there. Would not an R/C dualclass be better? In that regard, they also get their holy symbol (nice bonus) far sooner and having many buffs, you do not really need the fighter HLAs (though contact with nature is nice).
In my party setup I do not have a cleric, which I find problematic because that greater restoration can become critical late-game. I think I will be better off if I switch Jaheira for a Ranger->Cleric and just miss out on the ring of wizardry. Do her minor quests and then boot her once I can get Cernd.


Concerning the two-hander
I find that I can never neglect two-handed weapons in IA. They are just too goodlooking.
I never thought about a F/M dual-class with tensers transformation actually. I am wondering though, if you use Tensers, do your spell sequencers and triggers still work? Because if you get stripped, they would be an easy way to replenish the buffs.
I'm guessing that you would use staves, two-handed swords and halberds. If you dual, you do not really get many proficiencies anymore, so I don't think you can max out more than one of the proficiencies and even then you cannot fill the others properly. Would you go with 2 in each (halberd, 2-handed sword, staves, two-handed-weapon-style) or max one (5 in staves), put one to 2 (sword or halberd) and keep the style at 1 (I don't think you can increase it to 2 once you get your fighter part back, correct?).

[Vuki]

Would you go with 2 in each (halberd, 2-handed sword, staves, two-handed-weapon-style) or max one (5 in staves), put one to 2 (sword or halberd) and keep the style at 1 (I don't think you can increase it to 2 once you get your fighter part back, correct?).

See my previous post: yes, you can for sure.