Ultimate Power Gaming Party

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I have read Ken egervari's fact (upp) and Jukka's (jupp) and I have been trying to create my own ultimate pwer gaming party. Although I know it's not ultimate because I've added some personal preference I just wanted to know what you guys think. Here's my party:

1. Fighter(4)Paladin(11)Sorcerer(15)- Aasimar
2. Ranger(1) Druid (29)-Human
3. Monk (30)- Tiefling
4. Fighter(4)Stormlord of Talos(26)-Human
5. Sorcerer(30)-Aasimar
6. Rogue(1) Wizard (29)-Tiefling

I can assure you that I maxed out all the stats required for each character and that they will not suffer multi-classing penalties in the future, except for the fighter(4)paladin(11)sorcerer(15)but i am planning to take sorcerer levels in Hof anyway or a.s.a.p. I want to know what you guys think and what improvements I can make.

 

What sort of Paladin? If it's not Helm then you'll have to take all 11 Paladin levels first.

Otherwise, it's a pretty standard balanced power party like the ones suggested in the documents you mentioned.

There's not much more to say. Your party will have everything available to it that you might need. The trick now is what you do with it.

Personally, I don't think a 6 person party is an ultimate power party because they will level up too slowly. I have found a 3-4 person party that gets to level 20 - 24 by the end of the game to be more effective. But it's up to you!

 

I got to say it's not the ultimate power party , altough it's not bad. There's no real tank in there though , but that might be compensated by the many spellcasters.
I do like number 3 , 4 and 5 , altough I would change 4 to a drow! (would be a shame to have a party consisting of only humans).

I also would change this :

1.Paladin of Mystra(10)/Wizard(x)
2.Ranger(5)/Druid(x)
6.Rogue(10)/Demarch of Mask(x)

But hey that's just me!
If I would be powergaming I'd consider taking a smaller party who levels up faster.
(fighter-type , divine spellcaster , arcane spellcaster , bard or rogue multiclassed), these four would do for me.

 

Hey guys thanks for the replies. Anyway I just wanted you to know that I'm still playing the game with these characters and I haven't finished the game with them. Anyway I would just like to ask why would I make my cleric a drow? I mean that would mean an ecl penalty of -2 and multi-classing penalty because he is a fighter(4)stormlord of talos(26). And regarding my fighter(4)paladin(11)sorcerer(15) I haven't decided yet what order I would choose, any ideas? And why would i add 4 more levels of ranger to my ranger(1) and druid(29)? I mean that would hamper his spellcasting ability. And by the way, I tried to replace the 15 levels of sorcerer for my fighter(4)paladin(11)with 15 levels of cleric, but I noticed that during character creation if I maxed out wisdom I would lose benefits from a high charisma score. Any of you guys tried multi-classing a paladin into a cleric? Thank you for your help

 

You would not get multi-classing penalties if your Drow cleric was female as that is the favoured class for a Drow female.

There's nothing wrong with ECL penalties as they are only an issue for about 5 minutes at the start of the game and even then only if you are solo or have a very small party. The racial benefits combined with the slightly lower average party level easily outweigh the penalty.

But Hellheart is right - I hadn't noticed that you are still missing an out-and-out Tank (unless you count a Monk as a Tank) so that is not quite ULTIMATE powergaming. There are places in the game where a melee specialist is very helpful (e.g. Iron Golems, Guardian of Chult).

 

Oh yeah, now I remeber! I can make my cleric a drow, but she'd have to be female though (no discrimination intended). I think you're right, ECL penalties isn't a big deal, but I just wanted to level-up a little bit faster considering I'm playing with a 6 man party. And regarding the tank I'm "hoping" that my fighter(4)paladin(11)sorcerer(15)and my fighter(4)cleric(26)can cover for me.

And yes I think that monk can be considered as a tank, I mean why not? He can reach high armor classes, and he receives benefits all throughout the game, plus he receives an additional attack for every 3 points of BaB (I think). I maxed out my monk's strength, constitution, dexterity and wisom.

And from Egervari's faq (upp) I based my ranger(1)druid(29) which can double wield a sword and wear an armor called Zuvembie or something like that, that makes him as protected as a fighter wearing a mithril plate (says so in the upp)

Again thank you for the replies!

 

I don't know why you would take 11 levels of paladin. You are one level away from L8 spells. If nothing else, you can take Mind Blank and have him dedicate all his L8 spells to protecting others.

 

Well the reason that I'll be taking 11 levels of paladin is because I haven't seen a paladin in action yet. I know that I'm gonna lose sorcerer spell levels cause of this, but I didn't want him to be a pure caster anyway, I just wanted to reach level 6 paladin spells.

 

Well, maybe you maxed out the stats, but the choice of races and levels has some serious flaws. Not impairing your characters strongly, but just leaving out power that is in finger's reach.

1. It's strange, really. It's not going to be the master of melee, so taking more mage levels could be a good idea. Greater level in mage means more power in all spells - offensive, yes, but also protective magic and buffs. A very good thing is that eagle's splendour will increase both your sorcerer spell power and paladin abilities: divine grace (the skyhigh saves) and laying hands.

2. Get also barbarian(1) if your alignment allows. It will give you some speed Rogue(2) alternatively or, better still, additionally. Benefits: more skill points at the beginning (start this character as a rogue), better skill caps, minor sneak attack advantage. After level 20, the number of druid levels doesn't make a real difference. Contrary to quite obvious benefits from class features available to low-level characters. If you are lawful neutral, monk will get you both speed and evasion, so you could have a ranger(1)/monk(1)/druid(28). An additional benefit is that wisdom modifier adds to your AC and it surely gives more benefit than the crappy light armour you get before late in the game. Note that it places no cap on your dexterity bonus either. Plus, you get something more out of the Eight Chambers in the Monastery, IIRC.

3. Aasimar is better because of two freebie stat points more and 20 wisdom allowed from starts (your AC remains the same with 20 WIS and 18 DEX as with 18 WIS and 20 DEX).

4. A powerful build. Alternatively, you can invest in DEX, get a monk level and raise your WIS (which will improve your priestly spells' power and give you bonus spell slots) for a great AC and free evasion. In fact, you could also take a fighter(4)/monk(3)/Stormlord(23). There's no real difference between Stormlord(23) and (26) as after level 20 you don't get many more spell slots. What's more, weapon specialisation will offset your lacking STR (DEX and WIS having taken the points).

5. A sorcerer, especially Aasimar, needs at least one paladin level if we're powergaming more than roleplaying. That's because your sorcerer is required to have CHA of at least 20 to cast 9th level spells, anyway. CHA 20 and divine grace breed a straight +5 to all saves, irremovable. Besides, in the holy avenger quest, ALL paladins of your party gain +1 STR, +1 WIS, some hit points and XP (IIRC).

6. Change too moon elf to lose ECL penalty, preserve the 20 DEX at start allowance and also get wizard as your favourite class. Then make it rogue(2). As evasion comes to rogues(2), rogue(1) makes no sense if you're not getting evasion from another source or walking in heavy armour. A single ranger level, impossible without XP penalty if wizard isn't your favourite class, would help with dual-wielding and give you bonuses for having a class enemy. Monk(1) or barbarian(1) might be a good choice, for a speed increase. If you are not especially attached to this character, please allow me to propose one more possibility: human wizard(23)/fighter(4)/rogue(3). Benefits: specialisation, sneak attack, evasion, some additional feats from being human and fighter(4), lots of skill points, Mordenkainen's sword with specialisation and sneak attack Such a character could take over searching and disarming while some other rogue-like character would do the scouting.

 

The reason for the 5 levels of ranger is that you get 2 racial enemies. Since the druids spellcasting doesn't improve much beyond level 20 you could even consider taking 10 levels of ranger. That way your fighting skill improves at least.
Choosing Trolls might be a good choice for your first racial enemy.

 

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that is stubborn enough to design UPPs.. For some reason, the powergaming philosophy isn't that well appreciated in certain social groups.

Anyway, without going too much on the repeat mode, I'd urge you to read the new and updated version of the JUPP that I finally managed to complete. There's a separate thread for it, but here are the direct links.

Text-only version:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/~jmikkone/jupp.txt

PDF version:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/~jmikkone/jupp.pdf

 

Hey chevalier thanks man, I think you're ideas are just great. Anyway I can't use your ideas cause I already started playing the game and I don't wanna start over, at least for now. Among my characters my I'd have to say that my druid sucks the most. Well his only at level 7 right now and I'm at the horde fortress.

When I started my party I wanted to level-up fast, I know I could have done this by taking fewer characters (i.e. the power of four) but I just wanted more characters to play with. And I wanted to avoid ECL penalties as much as possible, so that explains my race choices, and my level-up format.

Well I think I can still change my party a bit since they're still at level 7 so if you got more great ideas just keep sending them. THANKS!

 

A little bit of warning about level squatting, which you might be tempted to do to maximize level gain: If you do this too much, you will find that fewer enemies show up. I learned of this in a rather hard way, finding the horde fortress half empty with my drow party.

 

Uh just so you know, I don't do level squatting, trust me the fortress was packed when I got there. I'm now on level 8 and inside the first floor of the ice temple. Regarding my party I plan to add a level of monk to my cleric and my druid to improve their armor class.

 

I'm sure you know that that will only work if they are not wearing any armour.....

 

Yup! I know.

 

I read both UPP and JUPP, here is what I came up with some personal preferences and some just outright wackiness.

1) Shield Dwarf Monk (x).
2) Human Morninglord of Lathander (x)/Paladin(1).
3) Human Fighter(4)/Druid(x).
4) Shield Dwarf Stormlord of Talos (x)/Fighter(4).
5) Drow Rogue(1)/Conjuror(x).
6) Human Sorcerer (x).


Works better when encountering Iron golems and other magic resisting guys then the 2 sorc build since the druid and the 2 clerics combined can really spam summons and your fighters/clerics don't get the living daylights whacked out of them saves on the healing pots that way.

AND the Druid, Conjuror and Sorc can combo trap/nuke like nobody's business.

While the 2 clerics just spam buffs and heals while the monk runs around stunning guys that are targeting the druid, conjuror or sorc.

What do you guys think.

 

What stats does your cleric / paladin have? To get the best out of your one level of Paladin, I would have thought you would have wanted a pretty high Charisma. Does that leave enough to max out Wisdom and still have decent stats elsewhere?

 

As a level 1 Pally (doens't matter which kind since you only want 1 level of it).

STR 17
DEX 10
CON 10
INT 3
WIS 18
CHA 18

She is mainly used as a buffer, nuker or healer.

Maybe I need to mention party duties.

The monk is fire control, he runs around stunning guys that get thru the summons.

The battleguard summons, tanks and heals.

The druid summons, tanks and traps (that is to entangle, sleep, chaos etc, whatever else kind of trapping spells).

The drow rogue/mage does some summoning with shades but mostly does traps too.

The sorc nukes and nukes and nukes, she helps monk by casting chromatic orb on monsters that get thru the summon wall.

 

I would get 2[-3] levels with pally.

2 - aura of courage (immune to fear other +4 save to fear), smite evil

[3 - turn undead - see your high charisma]