An odd party... opinions needed.

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Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums, but not to the game. I've read numerous walkthroughs, memorized JUPP (sue me), been through the game manual endless times. Although, since I've crossed the game with either a crap beginner's party, or parties taken from other people, I decided to give it a go with a party purely mine. And I intend to combine the aspects of powergaming and roleplay as far as possible. So I came up with the following:

1)Human Druid 20 / Monk 3 / Dreadmaster 3 / Fighter 4
Initial Tank, Berserker, Buffer, Debuffer, Bombardier

Stats:
STR 18 --> 26
DEX 18 --> 22 (one potion of Holy Transference)
CON 16 --> 20
INT 3
WIS 18 --> 36 (7 pts, Every God's Ring, 1xPotion of Holy Transference)
CHA 3

Final AC: 61 (Shield Ring, Ghost Armor, generic armor equipment, spells, etc.)

Levelling order:
1 - Fighter
2 - Druid
3 - Dreadmaster
4->6 - Monk (3)
7 - Druid (2)
8 - Fighter (2)
9 - Dreadmaster (2)
10->19 - Druid (12)
20 - Dreadmaster (3)
21->22 - Fighter (4)
22->30 - Druid (20)

Weapon(s) of choice: Initial - any. Late game - Big Black Flying
Death. Take Specialization in Axes, and.. Greatswords. Afterwards,
take Maximize Attacks.

Strategies: Normal mode, as any common tank. Keep Static Charge
and/or Call Lightning active in combat. Keep Stoneskin active. Use
Big Death in case of melee becomes risky. Avoid elemental forms unless
required. Storm Shell is also pretty useful to keep up due to lack of
Spell Resistance. If possible, avoid standing in bombardment area.
In HOF, switch to bombardment with Fire Storms, Flame Strikes, Finger
of Death, or attack with Big/Big Black Flying Death.

====================================================================

2)Drow (F) Cleric 16 / Sorcerer 14
Decoy, Archer, Buffer, Undead-Killer

Stats:
STR 6
DEX 20 --> 32, (7 pts, and Chimandrae's Slippers. 34-40 w/ Tenser's)
CON 7 --> 13 (Draw Upon Holy Might)
INT 13
WIS 18 --> 23
CHA 16 --> 18-21

Final AC: 66-69 (Same as first tank. Except using Drakkas' Chainmail, and this is with Tenser's Transformation active)

Levelling order:
1->16 - Cleric
17->30 - Sorcerer

Weapon(s) of choice: Bows, or dual-wielded Short Swords. Shield is
also possible, assuming no Check penalty.

Strategies: Normal mode, use as archer, buffer and secondary tank.
Later levels can be effective with Mage/Spirit and Ghost Armor. Avoid
attack spells, as we dont have the DC for them. Choose all defensive
Domain spells.
In HOF, start tanking once Sorcerer levels start coming up. Use Blur,
Blink, Mirror Images, Death Armor, Fire Shields, Circle of Bones, Circle
of Blades, Luck when serving as decoy. Keep Stoneskin, Seven Eyes and
Death Ward active. Use Tenser's Transformation when in tight spots. Cast
Mord's Sword if needed prior to Tenser's, and chop opponents apart.

====================================================================

3) Drow Sorcerer 30
Buffer, Debuffer, Bombardier, Initial Diplomat

Stats:
STR 8
DEX 6
CON 14
INT 20
WIS 12
CHA 20 --> 29-32

Strategies: Kill 'em all. With fire.

====================================================================

4) Tiefling Rogue 2 / Bard 11 / Wizard 17
Thief, Diplomat, Utility Infielder, Buffer, Debuffer, Bombardier

Stats:
STR 6
DEX 18 --> 23
CON 6
INT 20 --> 31
WIS 14 --> 15
CHA 14 --> 16-19

Levelling order:
1 - Rogue
2 - Bard
3 - Wizard
4 - Rogue (2)
4->26 - Bard/Wiz equal levelling
26->30 - Level squat for Wizard

Strategies: Memorize buff spells in Bard levels, and attack spells in
Wizard levels. Keep Knock spells on hand, just in case.



Now, what I need is, before I just march into the game, a general idea as to whether this party will work or not. The final AC of both tanks is not good enough for Heart of Fury (I've played through it before, when my main tank had a max AC of 73). But the second one has almost enough AC, coupled with arcane defenses to make it through right? But then the first tank will have to step back before the party's sorcerer begins bombardment, as he doesn't have spell resistance (Evasion is questionable, considering my sorcerer's DC). So, will this work?
Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to the Boards AjaX.

Nice ideas. A little on the dark side of powergaming but nice.

1) I like that one, having a Monk and a Cleric of Bane is very good for a Druid. Monk AC bonus (especially in Wild Shapes), saves bonus and Evasion are sure worth taking a level. The Banite level is good for the bonus to Wisdom.I would drop the Fighter levels altogether so you could save 6 levels and reach your Druid's potential earlier on (otherwise you will complete normal mode with a low level Druid).

2) Maybe Charisma is a little low but 3) will probably take care of that.

4) classic build but efficient.

You should have no problem in normal mode. I'm not good with HoF but it is said that the easiest way to tackle it is to use Summons.
I'd suggest taking some Greater Spell Focus to enhance your party's spellcasting (I'm sure you've planned to do that anyway).

Tell us how your party fares throughout the game, that should be interesting.

 

Thanks.
Well in 1) the Fighter level is pretty much required by my intended design. The char is only an initial tanker, as at later levels it becomes a bit too dangerous. The Specialization in Axes and stuff like Maximize Attacks, Power Attack, etc. will make him a human shredder with Big Black Flying Death, when going into melee becomes risky. Besides, I'll be muling 2 extra characters. So I think I can easily hit Druid lvl 12 before ending Normal mode.
Yeah, CHA is low in 2). But then its not needed. I only need buffs on him. Hell, the only reason I even got the sorcerer levels was primarily for Tenser's.
I don't like using Summons. Shepherding poor beasties to certain death = bad
Still, I've started the game off. Hopefully, #2 will become powerful enough in later HoF to deal with tanking.

 

You seem to know what you are doing. Have you reached Shaengarne yet?

 

Hi!
Nice party you've got there. I love parties with one or several high-AC characters. I have few comments though:

1) I agree with Caradhras that the fighter lvls should either be skipped or taken later. The druid lvls is what makes him useful.
I think he has too low AC to be of much use in HOF. Otherwise he looks quite fun.

2) Has a bit low AC. Would probably be more useful if you build her up more focused to keep up the AC score. With that AC score enemies will chop through your mirror images fast.

3) Just as a sorc should be: Maxed cha (obviously) and int for talking skill i guess.

4) Seems like a good backup character. I wuold move some wis to con for more HP.

So to summarize: the only thing your party lacks is one character with really good AC. It's easier to keep one high-AC character buffed and alive than to try to keep two almost-high-enough characters alive.

Otherwise it's a nice party that could work quite well in most parts of HOF.

 

I guess you'll quit before chapter2. This party is painful.
It's not worth suffering through the game and cheating your level up to 30 just to be powerful in late HoF battles which you could handle easily with a standard cheat-free party.

 

Umm... Am I missing something here? Where did the cheat part come in? And just in case you're interested, I've plowed through HoF twice with (I'm assuming) non-cheat parties.

@Mudde
Yeah, I was worried about the same thing, the AC of #2. But then, if you take into account Malison + Emotion Despair + Prayer + Recitation + Slow + Chaos... I guess I'll be able to handle most opponents except maybe Iron Golems, the Six undeads, Chahopek, and Slayer Knights, and obviously the finale. There, I guess it'll be a test of luck, skill, and how effective magical defenses are

 

Because of the dynamic XP calculation you won't reach level 30 without cheating or exploiting since even the Slayer Knights won't give XP any more when you've reached party level 26.

 

Oh, you regard muling as cheating? I'd just call it exploitation, since you're using the game mechanics to maximize your playing experience and thence enjoyment, which admittedly, is the whole point of gaming in the first place. But, whatever floats your boat... Me, I'm just wanting to play what for me is a rather unusual party.
Anyway, actually the party's start isn't that tough, since I'm fulfilling the "1-2 fighters, 1 thief, 1 mage, 1 cleric" thumb rule.
Unfortunately, Fighter levels for #1 can't be postponed due to possible XP penalties, which I despise. So, I try to make it such that he hits Druid lvl 12 at the earliest (lvl 19) for the maximum Barkskin bonus. Still, it isn't as huge a deal, considering that the real power of the higher levels is a bigger asset from around HoF late chapter one.

 

altering moncrate.2da is like cheating I guess, but if you don't do that, your leveling will stagnate quickly. You could take your party through the game 3 times before reaching level 30, it's ridiculous.

I say alter moncrate.2da to your liking. I made my own to account for level 40 characters, AND always get some XP per level. Not too much though, no more than 30 XP for low level HoF characters.

The party is good, it probably suits your playing style best.Personally I never spent more than 5 levels on mix-ins, so with ECL that's 7 levels behind, max.
Your nr. 1 is 10 levels down, so its druid attack spells have a high fail chance.
And 2 other characters of yours are "multi-class", so also cast low-level spells. It wouldn't suit my play style, since I rely heavily on spellcasting in HoF.
I completed HoF mode - Insane difficulty, now I'm on to Icewind Gate II HoF - Insane. Your party would have a real difficult time in there, you really need powergaming for it.
My advice: Have at least 2 (near) single class arcane spellcasters.

 

Mixing a druid with the Dreadmanster class shouldn`t be possible actually. Druids needs to follow a nature-diety in the forgotten Realms. So roleplaying-wise, your first char is abit off.

 

@coineineagh
Well, I don't use any mods, so I don't have much idea of lvl 40 characters or Icewind Gate.
Druidic attack spells are good from spell lvl 7 onwards, anything before is outclassed by a Sorcerer. And when I hit lvl 13 on Druid (lvl 20 base) I'll have a high WIS score, making spell DCs dangerous, especially with Spell Focus feats. Most effective would be stuff like Whirlwind, Tremor, Finger of Death, etc. Char 2 is all defense, so I'm not bothered about her DCs. Char 4 is actually a support caster. His main purpose is to take care of all rogue and item identification skills, and since that requires INT, I thought it best to utilize the high DC it can provide in Wizarding spells. I'll be having him focus on Enchantment and Transmutation (Chaos, Slow, etc.) rather than Evocation. Sorcerer's good for that.

@Rawgrim
Well, you win some, you lose some
I've never played PnP D&D so I just imagine my characters on my own. I like writing their Biographies though

 

That one is weird for sure but IWD2 allows it. It's not worse than making a Human with 3 points in Intelligence.

 

Good point Caradhras. Or a half-orc with 1 point in charisma.

 

what's wrong with a 1/2-orc with a 1 CHA? so he wants to kill everything instead of trying to discuss things

 

Well, if you were called ugly/brutish your whole life, you'd probably have 1 CHA too

 

1 (or 3) in a stat is a tad extreme. It's not just ugly and bad manners, it's downright hideous and unbearable, most NPCs would puke just looking at that guy.

There should be a weapon that drains CHA just to kill big powergamey uglies.

 

Charisma isn`t just looks, its about how well you comunicate with others. With 1 charisma, your have less than a dog, and a rat. Arguably, the character can`t speak, or comunicate in any way. If he also has his Int score down to 1 as well, he is pretty much a vegetable. He is 1 point away from being brain-dead actually.

 

I would probably say that 1 INT should mean your automatic bodily functions such as breathing no longer work. Seriously, patients in comas technically have an intelligence score, but cant breathe for themselves. The same should be true for half orcs with 1 INT.

 

Damn that's pretty constricting. I always imagined 3 INT and 3 CHA like being incredibly stupid (as in, inability to count, write, etc.) and having no personal magnetism whatsoever. That'd put someone with 20 CHA or 20 INT being a truly powerful (in terms of personality) leader or superbly smart respectively.

Anyway, on topic, am having slight trouble with Orcs, since Iron Blood's (#1) Monk levels haven't started, and Hawkeye (#2) doesn't have Expertise yet.