Party comp recommendations

[Kobi]

title, any wild ideas?
the one on the guide works but i'd like to hear what you guys are running and what is your MO for your "A team"

i feel like i cant go without the barrier from the mages, and i am kinda boxing myself in, looking for inspirations for other runs. ty

[Pure_Poetry]

1°) Bard with Born Leader trait. All songs, support spells + Lightning. High Willpower recommended
2°) Knight then Dragon Knight. Melee DPS
3°) High mage then witch. Elemental DPS and AOE. No support
4°) Bishop then Saint - Support + damage
5°) Ranger then Beastmaster - Control tower / turret
6°) Either Paladin (mass auras) or High Mage (same as 3° but other 2 elements) depending on what's available, difficulty settings and personal playstyle.

You can watch episode 50 of my Let's Play (linked in the Guide, and some further episodes where I fine-tuned my team and the Titles). Good luck ;-D

[Kobi]

i turned scouting on, and experimented on a bard, i am using one like it is a ranger with songs. =/

i never had a paladin,
i am wondering about using "dodge tank" with monk/assassin
i tried but i got shafted real hard.

i will check it out thanks!

[joej17]

A few different Ideas for party comps as im playing on very hard and my current playthrough is on 60%/60%/40 for hp/dmg/acc for enemies.

Team 1
1) Poison Ranger (poison title)
2) Bleed Assassin ( Bleed Title)
3) Fire Mage ( Fire title)
4) Reflect guardian ( Doesnt pick up block skills as with my settings block cant get high enough to really prevent getting hit and with the ranger and assassin being perma hidden the goal is to body block with the hidden units to force them to focus the guardian)
5) Bishop ( Life Mender title need big heals for the Guardian)
6) Earth Mage/Swordmaster ( its really a flex spot tbf but for me Earth mage for knock backs and haste support isnt bad with the debuff of stagger for - to enemy dodge/ACC could be useful. I will be trying Daryl for swordmaster because of his lone wolf trait so im hoping he can be a 2nd tank option that runs off on his own or use the SMs good AoE skills to clear out trash.)

First team as you can see fully focusing on damage over time stacking and requires scouting units imo to get the most out of them because its a demanding party comp if your going to try and rival the meta comps and im still at the lvl 8-10 stage in this playthrough so its not even online yet but the first troll fight went super smooth and I can see the potential. No real leader as chain attacks wont apply the bleeds/poison/burns so the option would be what ever you want to get the teamskills you want 6th spot would fill in if wanted.

Team 2
1) Arcane Knight (The Arcane Ravager title)
2) Aura Paladin ( focus on getting as many aura skills and equipment preferably int/end focus for support frontline)
3) Guardian (more defensive support with taunts, The true help comes with the 3rd tier of shield skills for the comp but guardian could be replaced with knight > Dragon Knight)
4) Monk ( full STR/END monk to be a juggernaut with counter. my idea is sadist title at min for lifesteal title)
5) Bishop ( Will use the mass aegis and elemental protection skills to make your front line units even more tanky)
6) Bard/High Mage( Bard is the BIS for this, fills the leader spot and double song teamwork skill gives insane buffs to your melee cleave comp while still getting access to haste. Earth Mage same principle but more of additional dmg while controlling enemy positioning. Give earth mage title and between earth robe equipment skill + title you can get a really beefy front line high mage if you focus on Int/End growths)

Theme of team 2 is have a full on melee cleave comp with support to try and tank through everything and just run over everything. Tried this on my first playthrough with standard very hard settings saw good potential but didnt work out as I used a really low str monk and the AK was my only dmg but I did live through everything so it was more of a damage issue. No haste or no bard either during that version so it wasnt optimized by any means hence why in this playthrough ive reworked it into something better and will keep it posted if it works or not for me but so far its been good even with the 60/60/40 settings.

[Asahida]

Originally posted by Pure_Poetry:

1°) Bard with Born Leader trait. All songs, support spells + Lightning. High Willpower recommended
2°) Knight then Dragon Knight. Melee DPS
3°) High mage then witch. Elemental DPS and AOE. No support
4°) Bishop then Saint - Support + damage
5°) Ranger then Beastmaster - Control tower / turret
6°) Either Paladin (mass auras) or High Mage (same as 3° but other 2 elements) depending on what's available, difficulty settings and personal playstyle.

You can watch episode 50 of my Let's Play (linked in the Guide, and some further episodes where I fine-tuned my team and the Titles). Good luck ;-D

I remember reading at some point or another about someone failing to make a lightning bard at all viable. what are your thoughts on this? do bards MAP scale worse with WP?

[Pure_Poetry]

Originally posted by Asahida:

Originally posted by Pure_Poetry:

1°) Bard with Born Leader trait. All songs, support spells + Lightning. High Willpower recommended
2°) Knight then Dragon Knight. Melee DPS
3°) High mage then witch. Elemental DPS and AOE. No support
4°) Bishop then Saint - Support + damage
5°) Ranger then Beastmaster - Control tower / turret
6°) Either Paladin (mass auras) or High Mage (same as 3° but other 2 elements) depending on what's available, difficulty settings and personal playstyle.

You can watch episode 50 of my Let's Play (linked in the Guide, and some further episodes where I fine-tuned my team and the Titles). Good luck ;-D

I remember reading at some point or another about someone failing to make a lightning bard at all viable. what are your thoughts on this? do bards MAP scale worse with WP?

So far I confirm that dmg-wise, Bard << A-team mage. This is among others due to bards using bows and not staffs (which grant nice MAB and elemental bonuses). However :
- They absolutely excel at support (mass songs + haste mostly), which does not require MAB
- They need all possible AP to support, so moving to get in range is imho not a viable strategy, better let them in the back scratch that guitar
- you are left with either stacking PAB (STR) or MAB (WP for bards)... I am mixed but I believe MAB is better because WP has naturally more impact overall as a bard leader. So since it is always good to have a little bit offensive possibilities, I have granted my A-Bard a melee archer title + Lightning proficiency (and medium storm armor) for those 1% turns where it is more interesting to finish off someone or shocking them rather than playing a song.

[Asahida]

I thought out some party comps as well.

https://imgur.com/a/x34VGar

I went with 2 rules based on balance to have them more or less equally strong:
1. Every class (and every story MC) have to be represented.
2. 2x 3rd tier classes for each party.

Feel free to be ruthless xD I haven't included a bishop in the last party where I have a paladin. Not sure about that or the late-game benefit of a bishop. I could also duplicate a bishop class instead of a high mage and switch them up :D Any improvements, ideas or switcheroo recommendations are most welcome.

EDIT: I have updated the party comps. With a (probably) better version.

[Kobi]

how do you get by without a mage for barrier?

i am using a bishop as a tank substitute when a hole needs to be seriously plugged.

i do not have a bard on my A team but i got one on my B team, maybe i need to shuffle around, your ideas are really eye opening

[Asahida]

Originally posted by Kobi:

how do you get by without a mage for barrier?

i am using a bishop as a tank substitute when a hole needs to be seriously plugged.

i do not have a bard on my A team but i got one on my B team, maybe i need to shuffle around, your ideas are really eye opening

I'm not sure you should tank with a light armored unit xD Mage barrier isn't necessary if you have enough heavies that can take a few hits. Also manipulating the battlefield so that the enemy melee units can't access your backline is pretty key.

I have updated the party compositions so all 3 of them get a more distinct feeling than the rest.
1st party is balanced in regards to ranged/melee and physical/Magic damage.
2nd party has a Guardian + BM Animal companion to tank and protect the other squishes in the party, while the rogue classes can just turn invisible every turn's end.
3rd party is heavily focused on melee to benefit from Paladin Auras. Might have gone a bit overkill on this one xD Switching the swordmaster with the witch from 1st would provide it more balance. Especially since the Paladin's aura isn't great until level 20.

[Pure_Poetry]

Originally posted by Asahida:

I thought out some party comps as well.

https://imgur.com/a/x34VGar

I went with 2 rules based on balance to have them more or less equally strong:
1. Every class (and every story MC) have to be represented.
2. 2x 3rd tier classes for each party.

Feel free to be ruthless xD I haven't included a bishop in the last party where I have a paladin. Not sure about that or the late-game benefit of a bishop. I could also duplicate a bishop class instead of a high mage and switch them up :D Any improvements, ideas or switcheroo recommendations are most welcome.

EDIT: I have updated the party comps. With a (probably) better version.

IMHO you use way too much melee. I have at most 2 per team, and I'm starting to wonder if 1 might not be enough. Best way to avoid taking damage is killing from afar. My greatest DPS are mages lategame, by far. On 50% of my quests I end without taking 1 HP of damage. I don't dodge or use barriers, the enemies just don't have a chance to connect. So why get melee unless for those "Oh ♥♥♥♥" moments where they indeed take some for the team ? Well, that's my playstyle at least :)

[Asahida]

Originally posted by Pure_Poetry:

Originally posted by Asahida:

I thought out some party comps as well.

https://imgur.com/a/x34VGar

I went with 2 rules based on balance to have them more or less equally strong:
1. Every class (and every story MC) have to be represented.
2. 2x 3rd tier classes for each party.

Feel free to be ruthless xD I haven't included a bishop in the last party where I have a paladin. Not sure about that or the late-game benefit of a bishop. I could also duplicate a bishop class instead of a high mage and switch them up :D Any improvements, ideas or switcheroo recommendations are most welcome.

EDIT: I have updated the party comps. With a (probably) better version.

IMHO you use way too much melee. I have at most 2 per team, and I'm starting to wonder if 1 might not be enough. Best way to avoid taking damage is killing from afar. My greatest DPS are mages lategame, by far. On 50% of my quests I end without taking 1 HP of damage. I don't dodge or use barriers, the enemies just don't have a chance to connect. So why get melee unless for those "Oh ♥♥♥♥" moments where they indeed take some for the team ? Well, that's my playstyle at least :)

Yeah, Alpha strikes in this game are pretty crazy.
I'm actually just using every single (advanced) class in this game with the bard and mage/arcane knight doubled xD
This is how it turned out, I'd feel bad not giving everyone a chance especially since you're not constrained by time. Otherwise I'd just copy/paste the main team 3 times.

[Kobi]

Originally posted by Pure_Poetry:

IMHO you use way too much melee. I have at most 2 per team, and I'm starting to wonder if 1 might not be enough. Best way to avoid taking damage is killing from afar. My greatest DPS are mages lategame, by far. On 50% of my quests I end without taking 1 HP of damage. I don't dodge or use barriers, the enemies just don't have a chance to connect. So why get melee unless for those "Oh ♥♥♥♥" moments where they indeed take some for the team ? Well, that's my playstyle at least :)

i also did a 3 melee then went back to 2 melee party, i wish to make a space for a bard.
but i really love a ranger sniping monsters from half screen.

i am having issues making daryl work, granted he is low level.

[Asahida]

Originally posted by Kobi:

Originally posted by Pure_Poetry:

IMHO you use way too much melee. I have at most 2 per team, and I'm starting to wonder if 1 might not be enough. Best way to avoid taking damage is killing from afar. My greatest DPS are mages late-game, by far. On 50% of my quests I end without taking 1 HP of damage. I don't dodge or use barriers, the enemies just don't have a chance to connect. So why get melee unless for those "Oh ♥♥♥♥" moments where they indeed take some for the team ? Well, that's my playstyle at least :)

i also did a 3 melee then went back to 2 melee party, i wish to make a space for a bard.
but i really love a ranger sniping monsters from half screen.

i am having issues making daryl work, granted he is low level.

Daryl needs a bit of love to become a more than capable marksman by giving him some traits early on, like the one from the monk trainer, +25 str, dex and end growth, which are all stats he's lacking one way or another.

In case he doesn't reach acceptable levels by the late game, you can also help him out by using 40 stats legendary items (40 str or 40 end items) which would fix his weaknesses. I really like using story characters so in my run I'm quite happy with him after giving the aforementioned monk trainer trait + the arm wrestler event (+40 str growth).

I'm building him as a Ranger and activating lone wolf most of the time since he always stacks 20% in all stats multiplied to whatever he already has. That can become quite broken as a unique trait on an effective body.

[Kobi]

the problem when i try activating lone wolf is he gets dogpiled
but its probably a me issue

and yeah i guess i can shift some growth traits on him now, i kinda forgot and focused on Elan.
it looks like a bit too late now on my current run,
ill try these on my re run, now that i am wiser.

[buchecker]

Originally posted by Kobi:

title, any wild ideas?
the one on the guide works but i'd like to hear what you guys are running and what is your MO for your "A team"

i feel like i cant go without the barrier from the mages, and i am kinda boxing myself in, looking for inspirations for other runs. ty

Im running (very hard, right before the last fight)

focus on very high init and mobility(teleport) listed in order they act
2 Bards to refil each others bar and to get haste, 6 empowered in round one without the team skill, with no specific traits needed one of them is leader and has Elusive and 3 Movement items, which gives everyone 8 move with one team skill (10 if you pop a potion on her)
1 Bishop / Saint (Alissa) holy wepon damage, true sight or in very rare occasions for healing/barriers and other defensive buffs
1 Knight / Dragon Knight with Demonic Greatsword for that extra AP when you can rest and the sword to debuff bosses with Multi Strike just needs good Str growth
1 Arcane Knight with Ferdinand to get maximum effect with Light Form to apply enchanted blade and holy damage buffs (needs str and int so a talented person is somewhat needed here)
1 Monk as my absolute MVP when it comes to boss kills, high res? Who cares with true damage. Combined with The Brave and debuffs from Demonic Greatsword most Bosses go down before they can act (with one notable draconic exception ;) ), only str needed

Since Mid game i had only one fight(the above mentioned exception) last longer than my initial alpha strike. Which renders healers and tanks completely pointless.

This setup can start pretty early when bards and monks become available. You dont need tanks when you have an "im mostly invincible button" (Heroic Dodge available at lev 4) and i will counter(if i have counter charges) you if you try to hit me while having bards to refill BP

[Kobi]

tbh i have never thought of having 2 bards, ideas here are truly wild