Any recommended skills, items & talents for the party?

[ManofVita]

What have you decided was the best combat setup for your party members in the game in terms of their stat, item and combat prowess? I find it hard to decide what would and wouldn't work, like if you give your sweeper Gunnulf either 'Forge Ahead' or 'Sundering Impact', or trying to alternate talents with Hakon where he could be a permanent tank, crtical hitter, or a mix of both.

[Aleonymous]

I think brute stats (high STR and ARM) work best, especially if you got many Varl heroes.

Tempest is my favorite ability, and the most OP of all! Forge-Ahead can be useful in some cases, whereas Sundering-Impact is only handy when your hero is maimed (which means you didn't play well!). Give Iver & Hakon & Krumr the Tempest, and rule the board.

Best Talent is Artery Strike (+CRIT chance), imho. You can't really rely on it, but it's major fun in big-hitters :)

My favorite item bonus is +BRK, then +STR.

[Nafeij]

Clasp of Kyn, or any other item that boosts talents across the board. Works great on bolverk since he's so easy to level and max stats for talents (as if he isn't OP enough).

[Fringehunter7719]

Unique Heroes

These guys are all great and I'd recommend making them regular fixtures in your party. Alette and Folka even work well when injured due to their abilities. Bolverk takes some practise and his effectiveness goes down drastically even if a few of his strength points get chipped away, so don't let him get injured if at all possible.

Alette - Strongest hero of them all, and by a long way, due to the interaction of overwatch rank 3, which always does a minimum of 3 damage, and items that grant knockback on attacks that deal 3 strength damage. You can get a Gormr statue for her very early on in the game by tracking a dredge into the woods that sets this up for the rest of the playthrough. Stats don't matter much, once you get rank 10, but strength is the priority and armor second priority up to that point. You can max all her stats and have 1 point in each of 4 talents at rank 10, for interaction with items that boost talents.

Rook - I haven't played a full Rook playthrough yet. He still has decent stats for a ranged unit and good break. Using him as a breaker is probably a decent idea, with armor and strength as backup stats. At least 2 exertion is probably a good idea for mobility purposes.

Bolverk - Probably the strongest melee unit in the game with an awesome array of abilities. Cull the weak is just crazy and it combines phenomenally well with will/turn items, clasp of Kyn (available from shops or by exploring a hole in a late game event) is an ideal item for him. Maxing his strength first is probably advised, followed by break and then armor. A single point in all of the defensive talents he has access to (20% change to resist 1 str/arm damage 5% chance to avoid str/arm damage - the chance for armor/will regen is very weak compared to getting it from items and clasp of kyn covers both those bases) will take him up to rank 4 with +3 to all talents, giving him 20% chance to avoid all damage and 20% chance to knock 4 points off any damage taken, which keeps him going.

Alternatively (or before you get him to rank 10) he synergises exceptionally well with + strength items. Giving him Dundr's hand (you'll need to give it to one of the characters that defects to his caravan at the end of chapter 8) takes his strength cap to 16, for example, which allows a rank 3 cull the weak to eliminate 8/8 units (e.g. basic archers) without any softening up, which is crazy good in at least two ambushes. Str resist items are also amazing to stop his strength being whittled down by abilities like sunstrike or disease that always otherwise inflict a point of damage. Str resist is generally very effective for all characters too, especially against stonesingers as that 1 damage per turn tick from the disease adds up otherwise.

Don't forget to make use of his ability to attack twice even after a string of cull the weak kills. You can use a cull the weak to clear a path to a dangerous enemy, or just to refill his moves allowance on the way to his target. Remember that cull the weak doesn't trigger his second swing and can be used when he's adjacent to allies, but that any basic str/arm attack comes with that second swing, which is usually best in a break+will first attack against a dangerous foe with high strength when Bolverk has no other adjacent target and is thus forced to use his second hit on the enemy with now-broken armor.

Folka
Her ability to transfer damage to armor makes armor her best stat, although getting her to the break cap is probably good to give her offensive options first. She pairs uniquely well with menders who can keep her armor topped off and prevent archers from taking advantage with puncture, which is her biggest liability (never leave her in range of archers if her armor is badly damaged already). She is also uniquely suited to armor/turn items like Björg av Leander. Anything that increases her armor cap is effective too. Mare's cord for r6 or Kolgala for r5 are both great picks, giving her 19-20 armor which allows her to take hits from pretty much anything. Kolgala coming with that 1 str resist will stop her getting whittled down by abilities that bypass armor, so with mender backup she's practically indestructible, the resistance to disease damage with that item makes her a top choice for taking on stonesingers, or whittling their armor down without much risk.

Menders

Each caravan gets 1-2 options for menders. Eyvind, Alette in the first caravan and Zefr and Nikels in the second. Every mender gets the mend ability which restores half of their current willpower in armor to anyone and they get a range of other abilities. I'd recommend sticking with Eyvind and Zefr respectively. Again, that character would be an absolute fixture due to their ability to keep teams going in longer battles.

Their unique reliance on willpower makes will/turn items an absolute must for them. Calabilla (from BS1 - stay outside Frostvellr) is the absolute creme de la creme and I give it to Eyvind throughout. If he takes an odd hit he'll recover over time (menders can't cast mend armor on themselves, after all) and the will/turn means he can keep going without becoming a drag. Eyvind's second ability of chain lightning is incredibly potent, you just need to get used to its 6 range and diagonal jumps (always think about this when positioning your own units or it will friendly fire). Zefr is less offensively powerful, being a full support unit, which makes her harder to level, but getting enough kills to get to r6 (or better yet r8) gives her access to the breeze ability, which can get your hard hitting melee units anywhere on the battlefield next turn, which is really nice.

Jarl's seal is a good purchase and hand off to Bolverk's caravan for Zefr if possible. Failing that the puzzle box of the twin rivers (again imported from BS1 godstone event) works well. Because of the inability to self mend getting their armor to the cap and taking a single point in the chance for armor/turn can be a good move. Other than that I'd forgo all break stats and focus on willpower. The will/turn talent is probably worth taking on a mender too, should you actually manage to cap their will (which is unlikely).

Two-handed weapons varl

I love these guys, high strength and one of the best active abilities in the game makes them super potent. Iver is probably the best of the bunch, followed by Krumr, Hakon then Gunnulf with Bersi and Sigborn bringing up the rear. The only active ability worth worrying about is probably tempest, which half of them start with, the others need to get to r6 as a priority to get the first rank of that amazing ability. Strength is king with these guys, although Iver gets very good armor, Hakon and Gunnulf have an edge on strength and Krumr gets an impressive 4 break. +Strength items are the bees knees on these boys.

I tend to use these as my go to melee units, their ability to cripple multiple targets even before their armor is broken is fantastic and makes battles much safer. Using zefr's breeze ability is a good method of getting them from safety to a devastating position, as is making sure they have 2-3 exertion so they can move further than their enemies to get that crucial first strike.

One-handed weapon and shield varl

I'm much less keen on these guys, who include Mogr, Griss and Fasolt. They are tough and have good break, but their abilities are far more lacklustre by and large. Armor and break are their business, so keeping them topped off with a mender is good generally, + armor or +break items are favorites.

Archers

Another staple class that I love. They make superb breakers if kitted out correctly, due to their best ability - slag and burn. Yrsa gets that from level 1, but Oddleif and Nid will need to get to r6 ASAP to get the ability, if you plan to use them. Yrsa also has an innate extra point of break, at 3 compared to 2 for the others, making her the number one pick for me. Once you get a +break item though, any of them can reach that crucial 3 break to get dredge armor shattering down the line.

Because slag and burn rank 1 only costs a single will point, inflicts break damage, 2 strength damage to the square it hits and 2 strength damage to all sides these guys are just brilliant . They can soften up enemies from range while also trimming off any strength points they have above your heroes armor values, removing them as a threat. +range items make the whole exercise safer, but my favorite of all is the blackfish, which with its almighty +5 break and a penalty to str damage that doesn't affect slag and burn synergises fantastically. You can get a Hunnfang in an event for free, which works well on an archer too, or an imported Farthingjörd makes an excellent pick.

The downside to archers is that they only live in Rook/Alette's caravan.

Landsmen

A slightly more niche class and one I wasn't fond of in BS1. Eirik got a lot of love this time around, he can recruit a unique warbear if you follow stone markers through the bog and his will restore ability combined with a will/turn item (discussed earlier) allows him to be a battery for Alette/Eyvind that can trivialise the game. At r6 Eirik gets the ability to stealth which can completely block enemies and end their turn at no risk to himself. Dytch also gets that ability from the moment he joins Bolverk's caravan. Eirik definitely wants a +will/turn item if you're using him as a willpower battery, he can then rest and use rank 3 rally on alternate turns (and indeed do so from stealth to block enemy from advancing).

Raiders

A solid class, with a wide range of abilities. Stone wall is great defensively and guts is great offensively, synergising well with environmental hazards such as slag and burn, with overwatch and with impale from spearmen. Beefing up their armor is a must and I'd definitely rely on them more for breaking or guts damage than for hitting hard. Stone wall synergises well with +armor, so items working towards that (like a godscale imported from BS1) are not a bad idea, especially with Egil or Gudmundr. I haven't really used Hogun, Mogun, Ekkil, Gudmundr or Oli all that much. Oli is interesting because he gets a 4 range ranged attack, which combined with +range items can make him a safe option once he can shoot from 5-6 tiles and feeding his shield wall +1 armor bonus to your front liners.

Spearmen

Impale is the only ability of note here, which keeps them potent as their strength wears down. Ludin and Tryggvi start with it, but Bak needs to get to r6. Impale is fantastic against slingers as even a single r1 usage will sap about half of their strength away and reduce them as a threat. Works well around slag and burn fires, battering ram varl or overwatch for secondary damage.

Bards

Aleo and Sparr are support units that underperform, the best synergy I can recommend for them is leaving them at home. I just haven't found a use for them that wouldn't be better served by simply using a different character or the turn advantage of bringing empty slots.

Male Horseborn

Good stats across the board, they make good melee units if you feel like a change from varl, with decent strength and excellent break. The best use of all is the Mule kick ability (much preferable to the mediocre trample) Ro'Ech starts with it, but Scathach needs to get to r6. It has all the advantages of break damage, moving enemies (which allows damage from impale, overwatch and fires) and combined with the horseborn passive of a free move after attacking means many melee enemies can be attacked with no risk of retaliation to the horseborn. The stun is just icing on the cake, an extremely potent bonus. You can use that to lock down Trigecannthae too if you feel like farming his endlessly spawning allies for renown in chapter thirteen.

Will/turn or support from Eirik will allow these guys to contribute to the maximum.

Female Horseborn

Again good stats, but with 4 range and without the male horseborn's ability to retreat after attacking they often end up a bit exposed. Poison tipped is a great ability though, doing strength damage (1 guaranteed) on impact and then dealing 1/2/3 damage per turn for 3 turns. That allows felling enemies on their turn instead of yours, especially if you manage the amount of willpower put into the ability. Enemies dying on their own turn is always a huge plus as the turn moves back to your control and avoids the chance of taking damage. Derdriu and Canary both start with the ability.

+range items are going to be the number one pick for these guys, especially Hagn's fall, making them much more easily used and potent. Maxing their strength is a good idea as well, since they can bypass a lot of armor with poison tipped. Canary in particular can do horrific damage when using a +str item, capped str stat and poison tipped. All from range.

[Kain]

Just keep trying new strategies, I'm not the greatest player so I'm not writing an essay, I'll say that variation is good though, you might think that having an all Varl party would wreck anyone, but that's completely the opposite, they're slow, even with trinkets and they occupy four slots on the map, so they're cumbersome to maneuver around other characters.

Also, always keep Alette or Rook on your team, they're both insanely mobile and with great skills. Specially Rook who can be a presence anywhere anytime.

[Mercotroll]

I think we difer on the Bard thing. Having a bard near your archers gives an impressive willpower boost to everyone. Sparr is actually really useful with his insult skill...

[Nafeij]

Afaik, Aleo's active ability also gives a 100% to hit regardless of hero/enemy STR.

[Aleonymous]

Ironically, I find Sparr's ability more handy than my namesake's The Skald's passive is a great boost to archers, indeed; it's just that there's too many nice options around!

[Mercotroll]

What would you recommend instead of Sparr then? I'm just starting Survival Mode in normal, and even though I've played the game a lot, I just can't come up with a dream team. I do feel Sparr "isn't enough" sometimes. What could I use to boost willpower then? (I really don't like playing with Eirik)

[Aleonymous]

Eirik is actually one of the most valuable heroes in Survival Mode (SM), due to his "Call Bear" ability (at rank 6), that call an extra ally to the board, in each battle! Call Bear wasn't so good in regular campaign (due to "special" turn order), but it rocks in SM ;)

Krumr's ability (Forge Ahead) is also super stronger in SM, compared to regular, as the ally unit forged ahead acts immediately after the Warleader.