Post your party specs here

[The Lurker]

(Yes, this has been done before, but it's been a while.)

 

My current party (which is doing well, I think I'll use it in most scenarios) :

 

Ssschah : Slithzerikai Blademaster/Main Tank. Focuses on both Melee Weapons and Pole Weapons, as well as warrior-type skills like Blademaster and Defense. Has Divinely Touched and Completely Inept.

 

Mmrrr : Nephil Archer/Thief/Secondary Tank. Has no melee skills whatsoever (well, I might consider giving him some melee skills at very high levels, but there aren't enough very high level scenarios out there). Focuses on Bows, Thrown Missiles, Sharpshooter, and Tool Use. Has Divinely Touched and Completely Inept.

 

Cordelia : Priest/Lore expert. Focuses on Priest Spells (and Mage Spells at high levels, since Intelligence becomes useless after a while), as well as Nature Lore, Magery, Arcane Lore, and Pathfinder. Has Natural Mage and Completely Inept.

 

Mycroft : Mage/Alchemist. Focuses on Mage Spells (and Priest Spells at high levels), as well as Potion Making and Magery. Has Natural Mage and Completely Inept.

 

So, why Divinely Touched? Because Divine Aid is ridiculously powerful at high levels, especially on warriors.

 

Why Natural Mage? It really isn't that good a trait, but I'm too fond of the Restore Spell Energy ability to let it go. If a designer ever decides to remove my equipment in a big dungeon with no potions in sight, I'll still have infinite energy (the day counter does work in towns, it's just that time passes verrry slowwwly.)

 

And why Completely Inept? Because it just might be the best trait in the game. The XP bonus is great, and the penalties are insignificant (assuming they exist at all).

[Swimmin' Salmon]

I gave up on maintaining a set party, other than for beta testing. I would rather dial in a scenario appropriate party using Kel's HLPM. After all, I'm playing for the scenario's story, not mine.

[Niemand]

I have a single party which I use for nearly everything. By keeping saves between various scenarios I have a variety of levels of the same party handy, so I often just pick out the appropriate one for testing. If fact, my party is the same general setup as The Lurker's: Slith polearm fighter (Elite Warrior), Nephil archer and melee fighter who also has the lock-picking skill (Nimble Fingers), a human mage who also covers arcane lore (Natural Mage), and a human priest who does potion making (Strong Will).

 

What I like about this setup is its generality; indeed I think I tend to spread my skill points more broadly than most people do, so all four characters are competent archers and hand to hand fighters, and the Slith is the only character who doesn't do both varieties of magic. (In fact he does neither, although I've been meaning to get him started on priest spells.) It's quite nice when I have to fight something I can't reach to be able to have all of my characters shower it with arrows, or to be able to have several characters casting Repel Spirit and Healing.

 

I've never really tried the 'detrimental' character traits, even though most people seem to rely heavily on them. My assumption has always been that I'll gain XP a bit more slowly, but be more effective with what skills I've got. Since I've never had any trouble doing this, I haven't really felt any desire to experiment.

[Callie]

Originally Posted By: Niemand

I have a single party which I use for nearly everything. By keeping saves between various scenarios I have a variety of levels of the same party handy, so I often just pick out the appropriate one for testing.

Same here. Mine is like this:

Shamgar - Slith with sickness prone trait. Lots of pole and strength, and quickstrike and defense, along with high endurance.

Ivanhoe - Nephil with sickness prone trait. High dexterity, tool use, melee weapons, and archery, as well as a little bit of gymnastics.

Dahlia - Human with natural mage and sluggish trait. Priest spells, potion making, intelligence, and dabbling in a variety of skills.

Vanval - Human with natural mage and sluggish trait. Mage spells, arcane lore, intelligence, and dabbling in a variety of skills. (He gets a blessed sling, which doesn't cause much damage, but I think it's funny for some reason)

[Nioca]

I have a few, actually. The one I'm using now is a singleton named Dungeon Dweller that just came out of BoR and is freshly made. It is a Level 34 Paladin-style Divinely Touched Natural Mage Nephil. Fairly standard stats for its build (High Base Stats, Swords and Priest), plus high ranks in Defense and Luck (both 9).

 

Another party I use frequently is the Sniper's Guild. It consists of:

 

Amarfrra - SG's primary fighter and most adept bow-Nephil, with the Elite Warrior trait.

 

Hss - The main damage-dealer of the group. A Nephil Javelineer, this bruiser at a mere level of 7 can dish out over 60 damage with a single javelin. Uses a sling against less dangerous enemies to conserve ammo. Has the Fast on Feet trait, which further boosts damage output. Also is the tinker of the party.

 

Sarah - A human mage. Focuses almost exclusively on Mage Spells and Bows. Has the Fast on Feet and Brittle Bones traits.

 

Michael - A human priest. Primarily focuses on Priest Spells, Bows, and Potion Making. Has Fast on Feet and Sickness Prone for traits.

[The Lurker]

Thanks everyone!

 

Two things I forgot to say about my slith : he also focuses on assassination, and stops training in defense after he has around 8 points (the dodging bonus is minimal - I personally mostly use defense to reduce encumbrance).

 

I find it surprising that there are still people who use Elite Warrior - its (insignificant) bonuses stop after a few levels, but the XP penalty stays, making it one of the worst traits ever.

 

Divinely Touched, on the other hand, gives you bonuses to Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence as you gain levels, and Divine Aid is just wow. Call Spirit can be somewhat useful at higher levels (Fierce Shades and Divine Shades are nice). Regenerate sucks, but hey, you can't have everything, I guess.

 

Nioca - ah, so you picked negative traits for your spellcasters. Clever. Sickness Prone is IMHO the second-best negative trait (the first being, by far, Completely Inept). Brittle Bones isn't too bad for spellcasters... But I personally avoid it, since I heard it increases unblockable damage - I'm going to have to test this a bit more thoroughly. Cursed at Birth isn't bad for spellcasters, but warriors should avoid it. Sluggish is IMHO the absolute worst trait.

[Enraged Slith]

I'm surprised I don't see Strong Back on here anywhere. It is the best positive trait for its cost.

[Niemand]

I'm kicking myself for giving my priest Strong Will instead of Strong Back. It would be way more useful, what with the 160 pounds of assorted herbs I make her carry.

[The Lurker]

Strong Back is indeed surprisingly good - halves encumbrance, and allows you to carry more weight, all for a mere 10% XP penalty. Not bad.

 

Anyway, I always give my spellcasters quite a bit of strength - that makes looting dungeons so much faster. I always end up having around 30000 gold and every level of every spell after beating DWTD.

[Dintiradan]

Strong Back also halves encumbrance? Is this documented? I've never read that before.

[nikki.]

Originally Posted By: Niemand

I'm kicking myself for giving my priest Strong Will instead of Strong Back. It would be way more useful, what with the 160 pounds of assorted herbs I make her carry.

Heh, I do the same thing - on some characters, I've literally hundreds of herbs, but I'm yet to make a potion in BoA.

[The Lurker]

Dintiradan - I screwed up. Strong Back merely substracts 2 from your encumbrance, rather than halving it.

 

Nikki - Yeah, few BoA scenarios focus on Alchemy... There's Frostbite, but it doesn't use "regular" alchemy. Speaking of alchemy, it appears than whenever you make a potion, you get a small chance of making an "extra dose". Hmm. Also, it appears that the invulnerability given by Protection Brews is much stronger than the one given by Invulnerability Potions. Which means that making Invulnerability Potions is a total waste of herbs.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: The Lurker

Hmm. Also, it appears that the invulnerability given by Protection Brews is much stronger than the one given by Invulnerability Potions. Which means that making Invulnerability Potions is a total waste of herbs.

Yeah, Invulnerability Potions were put in as a last-minute replacement for Knowledge Brews because Jeff thought that letting players make Knowledge Brews in BoA would be unbalanced. The whole thing wasn't thought through very well.

[Acky]

I've only got one party for now. I'll have to make another to play lower level scenario's but I've been a bit lazy.

 

Avaion- Human. He's the "leader" of the party and quite good with swords. I've been bumping melee, hardiness, defense, throwing weapons, endurance, strength, assassination and derexity.

 

Shaascks- Slithzerikai. He uses pole weapons, a lot of endurance and strength, hardiness, throwing weapons defense, and assassination

 

Marmaris- Nephil- She's a major bow and tool use junk with the addition of first aid, lots of derexity, assassination, natural lore and occasionally I boast endurance, melee, and strength.

 

Cylana- Human. Probably a bit of an experiment. She uses both priest and mage spells with intelligence, arcane lore, potion making, first aid and derexity. 2 points in pole weapons and that's all she wrote. So far I haven't had any serious problems so far.

[The Lurker]

Ah, thanks Thuryl. I suspected as much. It sounds like he'd have been better off just removing the last potion slot.

 

So, will your next scenario be out before Pygmalion is released?

[Dintiradan]

By The Lurker:

Quote:

Dintiradan - I screwed up. Strong Back merely substracts 2 from your encumbrance, rather than halving it.

Even so, I don't remember seeing something like this. Makes the trait a fair bit stronger than I thought.

[Tre'zar]

My characters are pretty much the same as well as your guys

 

Lenox-Warrior type, mainly trained for the melee fighting and does the most damage, sword and shield type

 

Malena-Archer type, mainly range and a little polearm

 

Zenra-Priest type, also makes potions and is the healer of the group

 

Jarinex-Mage type, pretty much the damage dealer after he gives haste to Lenox and Malena

[Brock The Archmage]

I use 4 mage priests, and each 1 specializes in 1 weapon type except the last one, that one is the potion maker.