Alternative Party

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I'm planning on going through SoA once again, mayby ToB, but probably not (got it installed for HLAs etc). I decided to go with a slightly alternative party, consisting of classes whom are not that widley used. I got three characters ready:

* Undead Hunter using two-handed swords. Only played a paladin twice, never through the whole game. After searching around, I found that most people either played a Cavalier or Inquisitor. I can see why, though I found the UH most appealing. Great bonuses vs undead; paladins are always good fighters. With a minimum of 17 charisma, they make the perfect leader, just gave her another point to boost her up to 18.

* Stalker dual-wielding short swords/scimitars/katanas. Played a Stalker once, alot of fun indeed. Can backstab up to x3, a free two stars in dual-wield. Fun character, not over-, nor underpowered.

* Barbarian using halberds and crossbows. The main tank obviously, half-orc and all. Any ordinary fighter would be too "normal", I already have a paladin and a ranger.

Haven't figured the rest out yet. 'been thinking about a wild mage, avenger, jester, etc. though I can't make out a balanced party out of it. I feel like I need atleast two arcane casters and a divine caster. However, I still need a thief, and I want as "unusual" classes as possible.

Any tips?

 

Try going for unusual races as well then, or dual classing at unusual levels.

 

There is no unusual thief; they've all been played. I might suggest a C/T, though, as slightly unusual, and a good divine complement to whatever druid you go with.

A wild mage is also not a good idea if you want to go unusual; it's been done. The most unusual thing would be to go with one of the lesser-used specialties, like Abjuration or Divination or Transmutation.

 

Undead Hunter
Stalker
Barbarian
Cleric/Assassin (MC; SK to Assassin)
Cleric/Wild Mage (SK to Wild Mage)
Totemic Druid

Or better yet, download the Semi-Multi Mod and change the Cleric/Wild Mage to either a straight Wild Mage or a Sorceror.

 

Those are commonly used classes (Undead Hunter is the easiest class to take through the game). For the unusual use:

Beastmaster
Jester
Transmuter
Wizard Slayer
An SK'ed Half-Orc Cleric/Assassin would be good (especially if that's your only thief).

 

How about a plain paladin? Though I've never used an Undead Hunter, I bet noone has bothered with a plain pally. The Inquisitor and Undead Hunter have more advantages than disadvantages, and the Cavalier's disadvantage is very nearly non-existant; Azur Edge, anyone?

Wizard Slayers aren't that uncommon, and the Half-Orc C/T has been done to death. Something that most people don't bother with is a Cleric of Talos, or a plain single-classed cleric (since the alternatives are better). But you're still stuck with what to do for the thief, since all options are used to some extent. So I suggest going for race: humans are common for dualling, elves for their DEX, halflings for their DEX and skill bonuses, and gnomes for the I/T multi-class (including Jan as the only continually advancing thief NPC in the game). Dwarves, OTOH, are the only race with a maximum DEX of 17, and no really good bonuses. New suggestion:

Paladin (no kit)
Beastmaster
Jester
Abjurer or Diviner or Transmuter
Cleric (of Talos?)
Dwarven Thief (kit?)

 

Jester is definitely the way to go for an unusual class.

 

... and no rogue rebalancing kit to make the jester more powerful.

Dwarven Assassin to really make it tough early on.

 

There was a mod for wild-mages, introducing an unique kit named as spell weaver or osmething like that. Never tried it yet but it sounded all too interesting and chaotic and even more unreliable than wild-mages!

 

IMO, the least-used classes are:

Jester
Beastmaster
any kind of Druid (no multi or dual)
Bounty Hunter
vanilla Paladin (perhaps not 'underused' per se, but all the kits are better than the base class)
Diviner (though really, I don't see people using any specialist mages except Conjuror and Wild Mage)

 

Thanks for all tips!

However, I chosed both an Undead Hunter and a Barbarian simply because it's unusual classes to me. I never, ever play as a Paladin or pally-like classes - not in a pc-game nor PnP. Played it once, no more (well, I'm about to now). Most people seem to go with a fighter, single, dual or multi-class.

A thief is badly needed throughout the game. I assume that C/T's can't backstab due to the weapon restrictions. Backstabbin' is something I always use, so that would hurt my soul badly.

I know people've played as Wild Mages, as well as UHs, though that's not the only way I look at it. I also look for classes whom are not common in Faerun (etc.). I think that Stalker, Jester, Wild Mage are some examples.

I might go for an assassin, since they aren't exactly encouraged by the law, hence not by most people.

I still feel like I need seven members to cover it all. Dunno' how I'm going to pull it together.

Undead Hunter
Barbarian
Stalker

Jester
Assassin

Wild Mage
Cleric/Druid

Any additional tips are appriciated!

 

i dont think you can make a ranger/druid

but a C/T can backstap, or backwack as it is with clubs and staves, so switch it out with that

 

1. I think he said Cleric/Druid (indicating some type of priest, whether cleric or druid) rather than Ranger/Druid.
2. A ranger/'druid' is possible as an R/C of a nature deity. In PnP this works fine, and in the BG games you just need to roleplay it, since you get both sets of spells. You would need a mod for being able to use druidic weapons, though; Drew knows where to get it.

@spetsnaz:
I'd drop the Stalker; just look at Valygar and you see how common it is in Faerun. And I'd go with a Cleric of Talos (as I said before), though perhaps a Totemic Druid would be more rare in Faerun; Cernd is a Shapeshifter and Faldorn is (presumably) an Avenger, but no Totemic Druids that I can recall.

 

I agree with most of what Fel said. First off, if you're going for unusual kits, MC and DC combinations, it basically eliminates any kit that an NPC has, so the stalker is out due to Valygar. I also think with Yoshimo, it kind of eliminates the need for a Bounty Hunter.

I think a barbarian is a good call, as most people prefer the berserker over the barbarian because of the barbarian's restriction to using plate and full plate mail, and the inability to go beyond specialized in weapon proficiencies.

I have played an undead hunter, and I have to admit, the immunity to level drain does come in very handy. Basically, in any area where there are vampires, wraiths, etc (and there's tons of them in SoA), the UH just wades in without fear. I have played UH before, and the fight with Bodhi I usually just send him in first and have all the vampires target him, with predictably ineffective results.

The most unused thief is probably the Swashbuckler, as most people I know love to backstab. However, as Fel has said, "unused" when speaking of thieves is a relative term, as there aren't many uncommon ones. Actually, the most uncommon would be something that Fel mentioned taking a dwarf, and perhaps keeping him as a vanilla thief - take no kit at all.

For your arcane magic, I believe any mage kit beyond Conjuror, Illusionist (because of the gnome I/T MC), Wild Mage or Sorcerer would qualify as unusual. Enchanter, Transmuter, Diviner, Invoker, or Necromancer - any of them are seldom seen due to the restrictions you get from the opposing school(s). If you want two arcane users, take two from the above list (it will kind of defeat the purpose though of taking the kit, as you can simply take kits with different opposing schools, and therefore have access to all the mage spells anyway).

Having said all that, I think if you remove the stalker from the 7 person party you listed, you'll have a workable party of 6 that should cover all your bases. I don't think the Stalker is all that unusual, and it's the one member of the party that is completely unnecessary, as his skills are superfulous to the assassin.

 

beastmaster is rare, though for a good reason