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New playthrough - class/party size questions

Discussion in 'Icewind Dale 2' started by Varied Sundries, Mar 30, 2014.

  1. Varied Sundries Gems: 3/31
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    Remove all ads!
    Hey all,

    I'm about to break out IWDII for the first time in a few years; going to play through with a semi-evil party this time around (never have before). I know that a four-person party levels up faster, but I was wondering whether you thought that a decreased party size was worth the sacrifice? I'm probably not going to take this party through HoF, so judge accordingly. Here are the two parties I'm considering:

    Six-person party:
    LE Aasimar Paladin (modded to remove alignment restrictions)
    LE Aasimar Dreadmaster of Bane
    NE Half-Orc Druid
    CE Drow Bard
    NE Tiefling Rogue/Wizard
    CE Human Sorcerer

    Four-person party:
    LE Aasimar Paladin 2 / Dreadmaster X
    NE Half-Orc Barbarian 2 / Druid X
    NE Tiefling Rogue 2 / Wizard X
    CE Human Fighter 2 / Bard X

    The first party has the advantage of covering quite a few bases, but I'm using Ease of Use's additional druid spells - the druid can adequately cover the bombardier role, so the sorcerer might be redundant. Do you think the increased experience rate and party manageability are worth the reduction in pure numbers?
     
    Varied Sundries, Mar 30, 2014
    #1

  2. claudius Gems: 5/31
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    You could take 4 up to the ice temple and then add 2 non-ECL characters? They would lower the party level and make the ice golems give lots of xp. Just brainstorming..
     
    claudius, Mar 30, 2014
    #2
  3. Sir Rechet

    Sir Rechet I speak maths and logic, not stupid Veteran

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    You'll only "level faster" until you're about one* level higher than the corresponding six person party would. Once you reach that point, there's just no reason to keep four-manning it - just add two more and get the best of both worlds!

    * Square root of two (level-up penalty) divided by 6/4 (party size ratio) lands at 0.94, together with a decreasing multiplier for absolute level difference as you advance in levels.
     
    Sir Rechet, Mar 31, 2014
    #3

  4. Varied Sundries Gems: 3/31
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    Hooray for math!
     
    Varied Sundries, Apr 1, 2014
    #4

  5. Nifft Gems: 1/31
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    For me the main advantage of having a 4 character party is the reduced pain of having that last one wander off somewhere due to blocked pathing, needing to hit the pause-bar fewer times each combat, and generally the reduced inventory / spells / etc. overhead.

    A 4 character party of Cleric, Druid, Rogue/Wizard and Bard was probably my favorite run ever.
     
    Nifft, Apr 3, 2014
    #5
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