The party I have chosen at least for me provided flexibility, strength and good defense.

Chewie Mook Fighter Dual Wield Sword and Mace Light Sword / Diamond Eyes
Sensei Wu Hobbit Samurai Sword / Sword Murramassa Blade and Enchanted Wazikashi
Stormshadow Faire Ninja Cane Of Corpus
Deadeye Hobbit Gadgeteer Omnigun / Gadgets
Lady MacDeath Hobbit Bard. Bloodlust and Instruments
Elrond 4 School Power Trained Bishop

That looks great! I have some questions about it please -

- What RPCs did you find to be the most useful/complimentary to that party?

- Were there any RPCs that you met that were still good, but you didn't recruit them because you felt you had the right party members anyway?

- Did you play the game to completion on normal difficulty level?

- Are any of the weapons you list cursed, and if so, did that cause you any inconvenience?

- I notice you have no ranger. Does that mean that hidden items can only be spotted if you use the search function, and if so, did you use it much? If you did, do you find that monsters spawn quite regularly, perhaps a bit too often? (Is there a way of using the search function without attracting too much attention?)

- Did you go for more of a 'speed run' approach to finish the game, or did you take your time and grind up the levels?

Thanks for any comments!

(Edit just corrected a minor grammar error.)

For your Bishop, which spells did you spend your spell picks on?

That party is pure overkill.
Since you aim for op items: where's the Light Shield? It is extremely good and probably the Bishop's and/or the Bard's best choice.

Probably give it to bard.

The Gregor Fight was tough and Arnika Road was unforgiving as always when first going to Arnika. The trick is to save your levels and enter Arnika Road at level 5. But the party know is really coming into it's own and kicking major a$$.

Personally, I don't like multi-classing into Bishop, as that puts you one level behind on the other 3 schools of magic. What I have done with Bishops is the following (separately, not on the same Bishop, of course):

1. Take only Mind Stab and Holy Water, and save the remaining spell picks for level 6-7 spells (except Banish). Great in the late game, but rather lousy early game; I recommend only doing this if the rest of the party can handle it.

2. Pick a few early spells that are particularly useful (for example, Missile Shield if there's no Mage, Noxious Fumes or Freeze Flesh when available). I believe I have even played with the self-imposed restriction that spell picks can't be used for spell levels that weren't available when the spell pick was gained. (For example, only picks from level 14+ may be used on 6th level spells; I only restrict based on level, not on skills.) This restriction makes the choice of spells at higher levels more interesting, while keeping the Bishop more viable at lower levels, and able to cover important spells like Missile Shield early.

3. Use a different character, geared towards the early game, in that slot. (For example, a Fairy Mage who ignores Intelligence would work there.) Once I get past the beginning, I *replace* her with a Bishop, then go with approach 1. This means I have somebody who is useful in the early game, and I have a powerful late-game character with maximum spells known in the endgame. A good time to switch is right before talking to Vi Domina for the first time (as you get an XP reward for doing so).

Out of these options, I think I prefer 2, especially if the party has other spellcasters; it makes the choice of spells more strategic and results in a more even relative level of usefulness throughout the game.

Incidentally, I have another character idea to try once I decide to try playing this game again: Create a mage (ignore Intelligence), then, perhaps on reaching the Trynton Intelligence fountain (but before using it), replace that character with a Gadgeteer. (I note that Fuzzfas sells the Missile Shield spellbook, and he also has the ingredients for a nice gadget for sale.) This would let me get a Gadgeteer in the party, but avoid that class's early game lack of gadgets issue. Personally, since the *Light* *Shield* looks overpowered, my rule is, if I happen to get this shield by chance, I don't use it (but I keep it as a souvenir). Yes, I have obtained the shield without really trying.

As a relative novice to this game, the concept of leaving spell picks until a character reaches a certain level hasn't crossed my mind. That sounds like a tactic worth pursuing, as am I right in thinking, those picks will allow you to bypass accumulating less powerful spells earlier on, but then get a greater number of powerful spells later on instead? (I've only played the game once, not to completion, and I'm only at the early stages of it.)

dtgreene, please can you too list what you would consider to be a killer party member list? If possible, please can you include what RPCs you would recruit, and also if possible, what member class(es) you would change in-game (if any), and also what weapons sets you would have them use. Thanks a lot if possible! Gods' and your lists will almost certainly prompt me to restart my game, as I now realise that my party isn't half as optimal/efficient as I'd now like it to be.

Also, regarding your point 3) above - when you say *replace*, do you mean that you recruit an RPC Mage, then dismiss that character, then recuit an RPC Bishop? (I'm trying to understand what the difference is between replacing a character, and changing a character's profession during the levelling up process.)

No, I am talking about replacing one of your regular party members.

On the status screen, there is a way to edit your character's cosmetic aspects, like the character's voice. On *that* screen, there is an icon that allows you to replace the character with an entirely new one. You will be sent to the character creation screen, and when you finish, you will be given the option to buy the new character's starting equipment.

Now, the difference between class changing and character replacement is as follows:

Class changing: You still have the same character, and she still has her old abilities; she's just in a new class. (I note that you can't change race or gender when you do this.) The drawback of this option is that the character's old levels still count against XP requirements. For example, if you class change at level 5, the character will only be level 1 in the new class, but will still need the XP to level up that a character in the new class would need to go from level 5 to level 6. Note that skills the character had that are not part of the new class are still available (though some weapon skills might become useless), but the character will not be able to increase them, and the 25% primary skill bonus from the old class is lost. Changing from a pure caster (like Priest) to a hybrid (like Lord) will result in a character whose spellcasting will not improve for 4 levels, but once the character reaches level 5 in the new class, her spellcasting will pick up right where it left off (minus the primary skill bonus).

Character replacement: You no longer have the same character. in your party, and all of that character's abilities are lost. The new character is a level 1 character with the same stats and skills that a new level 1 character would have. While the new character will be weak at first, the character will also have the XP requirements of a new level 1 character. Because XP requirements double each level up through 11th level, by the time the rest of the party has gained 1 level the new character will only be 1 level behind.

The reason to replace a character is if you have a build that is poor early on, but is powerful later on; this way, you avoid having a weak character early, but still get a powerful character later.

I like multi classing the bishop as the mage gives the bishop some sorely needed realm skills early on.