Advice on Party Composition Please

[dg55]

I an a newbie at this type of game. I am playing a Bard, as per some hints I received online.
In my game, I now have a choice of Shadowheart, Laezel, Asterion and Gale for my party members.
Given that I am a Bard, which three of these four characters would you recommend to me? Thanks for any advice.

[Raz]

I would suggest Lae'zel, Shadowheart, and Gale. If your Astarion is using Sneak attack to engage into combat with a bow, replace Gale with Astarion.

[Wuorg]

If you are looking for optimization advice, I'll say right at the top that you'd probably be best served by bringing Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Gale, assuming you have some Skill Proficiencies in things Rogues would normally do. If your main isn't proficient in things like Stealth and Sleight of Hand, you could probably swap out any one of them for Astarion. This will change as you gain levels and everyone gets their subclass, though. Edit: Keep in mind that respeccing is very cheap and easy!

All that said, as a Bard you'll be able to cover just about any party role (after subclass), and the game just isn't hard enough to worry about this kind of min/maxing (although there are specific encounters that can be challenging). My advice would be to just bring whoever you like the most.

[Lamprey Unbirthing]

General advice is 1 Str Fighter, 1 Dex martial, 1 damage caster, 1 support caster. Shadowheart is a support caster, Astarion is a Dex character, and Bard can be either/or. If you're going dex martial Bard, pick Shadowheart, if going mage Bard, pick Astarion.

[Detective Costeau]

If you're not aware, the choice of companions is not permanent- you can recruit everyone and swap which three characters you have in the party with you whenever you like.

So feel free to experiment and see who works best for you, the worst thing that's likely to happen is you lose a fight and have to reload a save.

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Detective Costeau:

If you're not aware, the choice of companions is not permanent- you can recruit everyone and swap which three characters you have in the party with you whenever you like.

So feel free to experiment and see who works best for you, the worst thing that's likely to happen is you lose a fight and have to reload a save.

Oh yes, that's a good point. Experience isn't specific to the character; the entire party shares experience (including characters you have yet to recruit). So swapping out is both easy and expected.

[Sonic Titan]

Originally posted by dg55:

I an a newbie at this type of game

Originally posted by Wuorg:

If you are looking for optimization advice

Lol.

Originally posted by Wuorg:

My advice would be to just bring whoever you like the most.

Or dislike, if that's how you... roll

Yeah, any combination of those characters is fine, don't stress about it and try to make decisions more from a RP'ing pov than a long-term tactical one, especially for your first run.

[Bumc]

Generally you want
* One Who Talks (that would be you).
* One Guy Who Picks Locks (that could also be you, but if you're skipping sleight of hands, Asterion is there).
* One Who Initiates Fights (that could be you or Asterion). If all your party has ♥♥♥♥ initiative, you'll have bad time.
* One Who Casts Arcane Magic (that could also be you, but if you want wider array spells pick up Gale).
* One Who Casts Divine Magic (that's probably Shadowheart, although if you don't respec her in some other domain like Life or War she's not very useful)

Rest of the optimization is rather boring honestly and unneeded unless you're doing some challenge run in Honor mode.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by dg55:

Advice on Party Composition Please
I an a newbie at this type of game. I am playing a Bard, as per some hints I received online.
In my game, I now have a choice of Shadowheart, Laezel, Asterion and Gale for my party members.
Given that I am a Bard, which three of these four characters would you recommend to me? Thanks for any advice.

Shadowheart, Lazael and Gale

As in

Bard = Support/DPS

So you get a lineup of

tank/fighter
support/healer/cleric
support/DPS/bard
DPS/bard

As mentioned above by Detective Costeau you can adjust your characters to your liking. So if it happens you dislike a character for their class, but like them for their personality, just change their class and stats to your needs.

You can also optimise the builds for the starting companions, as described here in the section Gather Your party - warning - the guide contains some initial spoilers
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3140103916
Regarding the bard recommendation you got - I am not sure how much you already know. If you need a helping hand with that, just ask. I can also recommend a bard build for you mentioned here - section The Bard
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3124459563
My advice for you for now: play what you want - thanks to the respec opportunity in the game you can adjust the party anytime to meet your needs and liking. So there is no harm in testing yourself out.

Your party does not even have to be "balanced" as every class can excel in their roles.

And if you are unsure: feel free to ask! Happy adventuring!

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Sonic Titan:

Originally posted by dg55:

I an a newbie at this type of game

Originally posted by Wuorg:

If you are looking for optimization advice

Lol.

Haha, damn, you didn't have to call me out like that, brother. I was just covering my bases; noobs can try to optimize too, it just depends on the kind of player!

[Mike Garrison]

Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Gale can carry a party by themselves no matter what the fourth person on the team is, so that's always a pretty safe bet.

Usually the only times I don't have those three on my screen is when I'm trying to shoehorn in somebody else or when Tav is a cleric, a wizard, or a fighter.

[Sonic Titan]

Originally posted by Wuorg:

Originally posted by Sonic Titan:

Lol.

Haha, damn, you didn't have to call me out like that, brother. I was just covering my bases; noobs can try to optimize too, it just depends on the kind of player!

Haha, fair call, sorry - I mean, I agree with your advice, though!

[Raz]

Originally posted by Wuorg:

Originally posted by Detective Costeau:

If you're not aware, the choice of companions is not permanent- you can recruit everyone and swap which three characters you have in the party with you whenever you like.

So feel free to experiment and see who works best for you, the worst thing that's likely to happen is you lose a fight and have to reload a save.

Oh yes, that's a good point. Experience isn't specific to the character; the entire party shares experience (including characters you have yet to recruit). So swapping out is both easy and expected.

Slight correction to this; Inspiration experience gained is specific to a character. More correct to say specific to a character background (certain dialogue choices, or environmental discoveries will only pretain to an Acolyte netting any Acolytes present 30 ~ 60 exp so it is possible to randomly see a party member out level the group then everyone catches up a discover or a kill or three later).

I swap out characters due to spell slots, or a characters potion inventory being low.

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Raz:

Originally posted by Wuorg:

Oh yes, that's a good point. Experience isn't specific to the character; the entire party shares experience (including characters you have yet to recruit). So swapping out is both easy and expected.

Slight correction to this; Inspiration experience gained is specific to a character. More correct to say specific to a character background (certain dialogue choices, or environmental discoveries will only pretain to an Acolyte netting any Acolytes present 30 ~ 60 exp so it is possible to randomly see a party member out level the group then everyone catches up a discover or a kill or three later).

I swap out characters due to spell slots, or a characters potion inventory being low.

Ahh, of course, right you are!

[Metallicus]

Originally posted by Raz:

I would suggest Lae'zel, Shadowheart, and Gale. If your Astarion is using Sneak attack to engage into combat with a bow, replace Gale with Astarion.

I agree with this assessment. Great party composition, although, I tend to use Astarion over Gale unless I can pick locks and Gale if I can't cast arcane spells.