I really want to finish a party with these classes, but I need to figure out what builds I'd like to use. I'd say part of the fun of a lord is dual wielding, and a ninja throwing. So maybe, going with primary skill or special ability weapons would be more fun. Pumping senses on at least one character for searching fun. And maybe even going for powercast to see what happens, but that's even more opportunity cost than eagle eyes. Flurry of misses ho! Worth trying though.

So, giant's sword and lightning strike—heh—don't mix that well, so maybe sword and board. Yes, weapons skill is nice for dw, but if the monk is going ma, and the lord mauler/diamond eyes, that's enough. And the enchanted wakizashi is low damage and just instakill chance, which, meh. I prefer melee and ranged, so no cursed weapons, and that means the ninja will not be using throwing as much as I'd like, even though it falls off anyway. Since the superior ma is enough. So I guess she'll end up sling and spear, still use bombs and can swap to stars when needed. That level of management might be fun. But we'll have enough melee... Actually, swap out for sling at times would be better. The ranger could go giant's sword, might be nice if going int/sen early. But ranger is one of the best slot for a dracon, low sens is annoying. But, dracons are even better when multiple. Any spearman could go stun rod late game, probably don't need the extra swings anyway, and—with no fighter—the more k.o./paralysis, the better. But that's an argument for a mook sam. (or, Zatoichi on either.) No, having a shield would be quaint. Well, the mindblast rod is probably too cheesy. It could carry the party through a bit of the game, but, not that fun to just nuke the problem. We could rebuild/grind for stronger weapons later on, but I think that forgoing some strong weapons might be more fun. We'll still use some strong weapons. Have to check races, but this might be more fun. I'll try it at least. Even with powercast, it should be enough melee in the long run.

You want to talk bad-@$$? Have a Fighter and Rogue up front dual-wielding. No hybrid can compete with that. Granted, you have magic (penalized at -4 caster levels). The Fighter and Rogue, working together up front, totally dominate the game.

You can have hybrids and casters with extended range weaponry, but there is no greater combination up front.

Doesn't work so well at the start of the game on Expert difficulty. (In particular, you might want to wait a bit before you start dual wielding, and in the Fighter case, before you start going berserk.)

Exercise: why would I want the strongest single-target damage in the game given the preceding discussion. Think, mammal, think.

I disagree. The problems with dual wielding don't really become an issue until Arnika Road, it is amazing throughout the Monastery. And berserk is worth it, even at level one with a fighter. Remember, I only play on expert. It's usually my Valk that hits herself, or one of her fellows, which is just observational bias. It's like that one recorded run where the one mook ranger seems to be hit a lot less by conditions.

I don't know why either of you two would ever want a powerful party. To each his/her own.

Are you missing a "not" there?

I don't know what you mean by *not*, but the most powerful party typically consists of a few powerful characters. Am I the @$$hole here?