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avernum party makeup and size


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I used to play Exile a lot back in the day. When trying out Avernum, one change that I found kind of inexplicable is that max party sizes have been reduced from 6 to 4.

 

In Exile I usually had a party something along the lines of:

1. human swordsman

2. slith with some kind of pole

3. nephil archer

4. thief + miscelanious skills

5. white mage (cleric) usually with low level black magic

6. black mage (sorceror) usually with low level white magic

 

With 6 party members you have less of a party and more of an army, but that's something I got used to and tended to like, as I'd always have a char very specialized to handle a given situation.

 

In Avernum, I'm having a hard time compacting my traditional party into 4 members. First, I'm curious what Jeff's reasons where for decreasing party size (I for one at least like the *option* of a big party), and second, I'm curious how others have composed their parties in the new system.

 

I notice that there are a lot of classes like "hedge mage" that are somewhat good at a couple of different things, but not spectacular at anything.

 

Oh! also, any idea when we'll finally be able to play as Vanathai?

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You are just stirring up a debate.

 

I use a party of 4 with a swordsman/archer/thief (nephil), pole arm (slith), two human mage/priests where one emphasizes mage and the other priest at the start.

 

You can also play a single character once you know your way around the game. Mine tend to be fighter/mage/priest/thief with a strong priest at the end since the mage spells aren't worth it.

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I used to go with two warriors, a warrior/thief and a mage/priest. It was kind of warrior heavy, but warriors can dish out a lot of damage in Avernum, so I never had any problems with it. Archery is another big difference between exile and avernum, it's actually useful in Avernum. I love using archery in BoA, and since it uses the same damage formula in the trilogy it would theoretically be just as useful (although I don't recall if Jeff gives out any good bows in the trilogy)

 

Oh and singletons are always fun.

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I agree with DV on the last two. You'll want two priests frequently and two mages reasonably often. It's a good idea to have two characters who can do both.

 

The first two characters have to be able to pummel foes and that's about it. Having one thief type is helpful. Archery is okay, but you probably won't do too much damage with it. Giving the fighters a bit of priest skill actually works out nicely, especially against certain enemies who like to pick on casters.

 

—Alorael, who advises using only the berserker out of the premade classes. Custom is much better for everything but a swordsman and works just fine for that too.

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I usually have a party along the lines of this:

 

- human warrior: a lot of melee and strength.

- Nephil archer/warrior/thief: a lot of archery, tool use and pole weapon skill. I have rthe feeling that pole weapons are a lot stronger than melee weapons are, and frankly, I'd rather have more bashing power and no shield.

- Human priest: a lot of priest skill, some basic mage skill.

- Human mage: a lot of mage, reasonable abount of priest skill: i wantr him to cast heal and cure effectively, and bless and such is also quite handy.

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Well, I know what you mean - it took me ages to find a nice party for the trilogy, but a couple of weeks ago there started reports of sightings of a mysterious quartet consisting of a slith couple; a warrior (pole weapons obviously) and a mage; that teamed up with a nephil sharpshooter, who also uses melee weapons decently, and is led (the party) by a renowned slith cleric Assotho, who specializes in priest spells, but has recently started to use pole weapons and mage magic, all over the known and less-known lands of Avernum. Merely months later, the Empire-Avernum war ended.

 

Edit: Oh and sorry i should stick to the topic - all the sliths are around 2 meters tall, a nephil is a couple centimeters higher.

And NO!!!!! THIS IS NOT MAKE-UP ON ASSOTHO'S NOSE, HIS NOSE IS PERFECTLY OK, OK?! DON'T EVER ASK ABOUT IT AGAIN!

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-Human Warrior: High strength, relies on melee wepons, good endurance and dexterity, good cave/nature lore.

 

-Slith Warrior: High strength, relies on pole wepons, good endurance and dexterity.

 

-Nephil Archer: High dexterity, relies on archery, good endurance, not much strength, high tool use

 

-Human mage/priest: High intelligence, relies on magic/buffing up others.

 

My nephil is lovely in A2. Eventually I don't bother picking up any more steel arrows.

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In A1, I started out with:

1. Pole-armed warrior with lots of armor

2. Sword person with shield, bow, tool skills

3. Priest

4. Mage

 

But now that I think about it I could've combined mage with the lockpicking skillz, and then have had two main warriors. I rely on the melee, with spells to boost them smile

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  • 6 years later...
  • 1 month later...

4 humans - i used to it in a1, all are custon chars.

1) Male - swordsmen, strong, with high melee, hardiness, a lot of endurance and some dex.

2) Female - rougelike, a lot of dex, tool use, bows. With decent melee skill and hardiness.

3) Male - cleric with high int and endurance. Having a bit of melee and decent hardiness.

4) Female - magi, hell of an int with decent hardiness and a lot of arcan lore and potion making.

 

As you noticed i love hardiness i found it to be probably the most useful stat no matter what class is character.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My favorite is this-

 

1-Catapult Swordsman-Strong melee fighter with hardiness and gymnastics makes him into catapult. He can flip and twist and turn like a catapult. From there he destroys the enemy.

 

2-Attorney Bard Dervish-This one is one of my favs. You take a character that is usually the first one to go, give somewhat decent dexterity but pump the rest into endurance. Get endurance so high with hardiness that you take the enemies on him. From there the catapult swordsman can attack. This character does not fight, he just tells bad jokes and tries to convince that they are funny taking the aggro onto him and off of your allies. If you lose in battle then the attorney bard dervish failed convincing the enemy.

 

3-Ultra mage spellcaster-Just what you would think. This character has some priest spells but mostly is just a juggernaut of damage.

 

4-Either a ultra priest or I can choose to just go with 3 characters. With less characters more experience.

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Avernum 1 [nephils n/a]

1. NPC Jay - Elite Warrior - Melee damage, tank, 1 Priest spells early

2. NPC Andrew - Natural Mage - Priest, melee/ranged backup, 3 Mage spells early

3. Mage - Fast on Feet, Natural Mage - Mage, 6 Priest spells early

4. Mage, same as above

 

Avernum 2

1. NPC Becca - Elite Warrior - Melee damage, tank, 1 Priest spells early

2. Nephil Priest - Fast on Feet, Natural Mage - Priest, ranged backup, 3 Mage spells early

3. Nephil Mage - Fast on Feet, Natural Mage - Mage, 6 Priest spells early

4. Nephil Mage, same as above

 

Avernum 3

1. NPC Falko - Elite Warrior - Ranged/tank, 1 Priest spells early

2. NPC Hsska - Natural Mage - Priest, melee backup, 3 Mage spells early

3. Nephil Mage - Fast on Feet, Natural Mage - Mage, 6 Priest spells early

4. Nephil Mage, same as above

 

Haste is the key.

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  • 2 months later...

After finally beating the entirety of the first trilogy (now working on avernum 4!) I have a party set up that I love to do. Obviously for avernum 1 everyone has to be human, but here is my typical set up.

 

Slith melee fighter with a pole weapon.

Human priest using a melee weapon and shield

Nephil mage using a bow. melee slot doesn't matter, but I like to find something defensive if its an option.

Either slith or human melee fighter with a regular melee weapon. Either 2 handed sword or sword and board.

 

The mage will also be the one who has tool use skill. Everything else like arcane lore and nature/ cave lore is able to be split throughout the party so I usually do so now that I know this ^_^.

 

I haven't come across one fight that I couldn't handle after enough strategizing with this makeup.

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Why have your second fighter be fourth, rather than second? That seems unusual.

 

Exactly what Nikki said. I ended up losing my mage once to a really easy fight early on in the first game. Ever since then I decided to seperate my melee fighters with one in the front and one in the rear with my 2 spellcasters in the middle. Oh I still die sometimes, but I do a lot better with them seperated like that.

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Exactly what Nikki said. I ended up losing my mage once to a really easy fight early on in the first game. Ever since then I decided to seperate my melee fighters with one in the front and one in the rear with my 2 spellcasters in the middle. Oh I still die sometimes, but I do a lot better with them seperated like that.

 

I actully understand this situation. I had to keep reloading because I needed to be in party mode(as opposed to combat mode), but in party mode my vulnerable mage is at the back and if I'm running with people behind me they tear my mage to shreds.

 

I might actually start having my fighter as fourth...

 

... Wait, can positions be changed?

 

Anyway I feel like contributing the topic, hope that's cool (despite it being years old).

 

My party layout has become:

 

1. Nephil Swordsman/Bowman (Lockpicker/Trapper)

2. Slith Spearman/Javelineer(Chucker? Thrower? What word would be appropriate...)

3. Nephil Priest/Mage (Potion-Maker)

4. Nephil Mage/Priest (Cave Lore-guy)

 

I was a little worried at the beginning with the whole -50% exp on my casters, -60% on my swordsman and a whopping -70% on my spearman... but both casters just hit level 40 and I've only completed 1/3 of the end game scenarios. :D

 

Do humans have any particular bonuses outside of the lack of an exp penalty? (which seems to be a rather unnecessary worry with how thorough I am in games like these)

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