Party Advice for my Wizard?

[Ecchi Games]

I'm playing a Gnome Wizard, focused on a Good Playthrough. My party is at Level 6 now and I'm nearly at the end of Act 1 (just have to deal with the Goblin Camp). I've been running with Shadowheart as a healer, Karlach as my damage dealer (replacing Lae'zel), and Astarion as my lock/trap guy. I'm a bit unsatisfied with this set-up though:

1) I have lots of good heavy armor stuff but nobody to equip it on (Karlach can't take advantage of rage with it on)
2) Shadowheart is primarily just being used as a healer but she's sub-par on everything, heals aren't keeping up with the damage I'm taking, and she deals the least amount of damage.
3) Astarion I mostly keep around to help me pick locks and disarm traps. His combat prowess however is a bit lacking.

I am willing to respec/multiclass any of the companions but want to keep my main as a pure wizard. I want to keep Karlach in my party (as she's who I am trying to romance), but the other two slots are pretty open. I want someone who can heal, and someone who can pick locks/disarm traps. Ideally I'd also like a party that has a lot of variety in armor proficiency so that I don't collect a bunch of cool armor I won't get to use (I got Adamantium Splint and Scale from the Forge)

Pretty much open to using any companion except Gale (two wizards feels a bit overkill)

Any tips/advice would help!

[hermit0wl]

Originally posted by Ecchi Games:

1) I have lots of good heavy armor stuff but nobody to equip it on (Karlach can't take advantage of rage with it on)
2) Shadowheart is primarily just being used as a healer but she's sub-par on everything, heals aren't keeping up with the damage I'm taking, and she deals the least amount of damage.

You could probably solve both of those by respeccing Shadowheart into War or Tempest Domain.

Originally posted by Ecchi Games:

3) Astarion I mostly keep around to help me pick locks and disarm traps. His combat prowess however is a bit lacking.

Pure rogue is a little underwhelming. I personally like to multiclass Astarion into Swords Bard, and Assassin/Gloomstalker seems to be another popular one.

[wellser06]

You could respec Shadowbay into a storm cleric and hook her up with heavy armor .. and lose Astarion and add Bae'zel with Karlack and that would be strong group lol

[Damedius]

Respec Karlach as a Paladin. Oath of Ancients will give you some extra healing. You could respec Shadowheart as a Light Cleric, it's much better than her default spec. Make her your lock pick as well and ditch Astarion for Lae'zel.

[♂Warrior of Gachi♂]

You don't need a healer and you don't need a thief.

Make shart more damage focused and replace astarion with laezel for heavy armor.

[alanc9]

Thinking of clerics as being primarily healers is a mistake. They have plenty of offensive capabilities.

[TheMasterBlaster]

Originally posted by Ecchi Games:

I'm playing a Gnome Wizard, focused on a Good Playthrough. My party is at Level 6 now and I'm nearly at the end of Act 1 (just have to deal with the Goblin Camp). I've been running with Shadowheart as a healer, Karlach as my damage dealer (replacing Lae'zel), and Astarion as my lock/trap guy. I'm a bit unsatisfied with this set-up though:

1) I have lots of good heavy armor stuff but nobody to equip it on (Karlach can't take advantage of rage with it on)
2) Shadowheart is primarily just being used as a healer but she's sub-par on everything, heals aren't keeping up with the damage I'm taking, and she deals the least amount of damage.
3) Astarion I mostly keep around to help me pick locks and disarm traps. His combat prowess however is a bit lacking.

I am willing to respec/multiclass any of the companions but want to keep my main as a pure wizard. I want to keep Karlach in my party (as she's who I am trying to romance), but the other two slots are pretty open. I want someone who can heal, and someone who can pick locks/disarm traps. Ideally I'd also like a party that has a lot of variety in armor proficiency so that I don't collect a bunch of cool armor I won't get to use (I got Adamantium Splint and Scale from the Forge)

Pretty much open to using any companion except Gale (two wizards feels a bit overkill)

Any tips/advice would help!

Yes, lots of advice.

1. Respec Shadowheart as a Tempest Cleric to gain Heavy Armor AND Martial Weapons proficiency to amp up her damage output. Rather than wasting your cleric spells on healing, use them for buffs and damage spells with lengthy durations - like Spiritual Weapon or Spirit Guardians (one of the best spells in the entire game). Put your Shadowheart Tempest Cleric in the melee mosh pit with Karlach and tag-team your enemies.

2. The Aid spell should be your primary buff/healing spell in most situations. However, it works best when upcasting it with a high level spell slot and when all of your party is already at max hit points. Use Healing Word in emergencies to help a downed character. Otherwise, just using healing potions.

3. Rogue Sneak Attack damage gets really strong at level 5+ with 3d6 extra damage. If your wizard can incapacitate a target with Sleep or a Hold spell, then the Rogue's Sneak Attack will be a critical hit and ALL of the damage dice (including the sneak attack dice) are doubled. Hand Crossbows are a great ranged weapon for a Rogue Thief with Fast Hands because Mobile Shot allows them to use a Bonus Action for an attack if they've already Dashed that turn. Thief with Fast Hands gets 2 Bonus Action per turn, so Dash + Mobile Shot = more damage. You could easily multiclass as a Thief/Fighter with Archery fighting style Action Surge and ALL Armor and Weapon Proficiencies for extra Actions and Bonus Actions and have lots of fun attacking and attacking and attacking and attacking...apply a toxin/poison/coating to your weapon for exta oomph and debuffs.

[MrMoonDragon]

Had the same thinking actually.

My Tav is a warlock caster. So to be able to utilise heavy armor and martial weapons, I respec my Shadowheart from cleric into paladin, for damage and half support. My Karlach from Barbarian to Fighter at lvl 11 for the additional extra attack as the tank/physical damage.

Astarion still a pure rogue assassin with crit items. Things now are more flexible than before. Feel free to try it.

[Ecchi Games]

Some good advice here. I hadn't thought of respeccing Karlach into a Paladin but that actually makes good sense I think, let's me keep her as a front-liner AND give her better armors.

Respeccing Shadowheart to a different type of Cleric is a good thought, make her a bit more beefy in fights.

For the fourth slot I can either respec Astarion into a Bard (or Bard/Rogue multi), or go with Lae'zel. I also have Wyll multi-specced as a fighter so I could potentially use him, and there's also Halsin once I finally get him in my party (he's rescued but I need to finish taking out the Goblin Camp to full-recruit him).

I've never been a fan of full-on stealth style rogues so I'll probably avoid Assassin,

[Ecchi Games]

Originally posted by alanc9:

Thinking of clerics as being primarily healers is a mistake. They have plenty of offensive capabilities.

I don't think of them as that, but healing is the only reason I've kept Shadowheart in my party right now because she's very mid at everything else, so I need to either re-spec her or swap her out with someone else.

[Damedius]

Originally posted by Ecchi Games:

I don't think of them as that, but healing is the only reason I've kept Shadowheart in my party right now because she's very mid at everything else, so I need to either re-spec her or swap her out with someone else.

She's awful offensively in the spec she starts with. More of a buffer/out of combat healer.

You can go tempest and maker her an offensive cleric or go light and get warding flare which turns a lot of hits against your party into misses by rerolling hits against you.

[Meewec]

I made shadowheart into a life cleric so she could wear the helm from the adamantine forge, also had her with the blood of lathander and radiant boosting gear. Act 2 she spent a lot of time running around with radiant spirit guardians up and her channel divinity is a massive heal.

[FunkyMonkey]

In this game system healing is a bit of a trap, at least in fights. I would argue even after. Using your precious few spell slots on heals outside of Healing word to pick up a downed character is wasteful. Healing will almost never outscale the damage you take. Use potions if you need healing mid-fight and use your Cleric for control and damage.

[alanc9]

Originally posted by Meewec:

I made shadowheart into a life cleric so she could wear the helm from the adamantine forge, also had her with the blood of lathander and radiant boosting gear. Act 2 she spent a lot of time running around with radiant spirit guardians up and her channel divinity is a massive heal.

This works on her default build, using the adamantine shield instead. The Luminous Armor is Medium anyway.

[Meewec]

Originally posted by alanc9:

Originally posted by Meewec:

I made shadowheart into a life cleric so she could wear the helm from the adamantine forge, also had her with the blood of lathander and radiant boosting gear. Act 2 she spent a lot of time running around with radiant spirit guardians up and her channel divinity is a massive heal.

This works on her default build, using the adamantine shield instead. The Luminous Armor is Medium anyway.

yeah, but my main guy is a druid and had the shield, lae'zel had the heavy armor. plus the life channel divinity is amazing compared to the trickery one

[Pönnukaka]

Originally posted by Ecchi Games:

Originally posted by alanc9:

Thinking of clerics as being primarily healers is a mistake. They have plenty of offensive capabilities.

I don't think of them as that, but healing is the only reason I've kept Shadowheart in my party right now because she's very mid at everything else, so I need to either re-spec her or swap her out with someone else.

Do a old school re-spec. You think Shadowheart is not ready to heal, support you and be on a front line? You are wrong. You need to make her a Light domain Cleric tank. You do need to respec her first, to change her stats and change domain. Watch this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNaZOkbFlk4