I am thinking of actually playing Wizardry Gaiden 4, and I am wondering how a party like this one looks starting out:

Dracon Fighter
Lizardman Valkyrie
Rawulf Priest (to Monk at level 13)
Dragon Thief
Faerie Mage (to Alchemist at level 13)
Dracon Psionic (to Ranger at level 13)

A few things to note:
*: The game uses old-school (Wizardry 1-5) mechanics. This includes the magic system (with the addition of alchemy and psionics as new types of magic) and the way class changes work (except that you do get to retain your class's minimum stats).
*: If you get at most 10 bonus points, you can start at level 4 at the cost of 3 years. Note that age reduction is possible with the IHALON spell (which is now a level 7 psionic spell).
*: Dracon Breath does up to 1/2 your HP in battle, and at level 9, hits a whole group. In other words, this isn't the sort of ability that becomes useless later; it actually outdamages TILTOWAIT at higher levels. Each character is limited to one use per battle.
*: Some races level up faster in certain classes than others. For example, Rawulfs level up really fasts as Priests (fastest rate in the game, tied with Gnome Fighters).
*: Stat caps are base +10, not 18. (So, for example, a Lizardman can get 22 STR and 24 VIT, and a Faerie can get 24 AGI.)
*: Faeries get 5 AC naturally, and for whatever reason, can use most of the oriental (Samurai/Ninja) weapons.
*: Samurai and Monk require lucky rolls (over 10 bonus points) to create, and therefore can't start at level 4. Lord and Ninja are out of question for beginning characters, so don't suggest them as starting classes.
*: Monk and Ninja natural AC stacks with AC from equipment, unlike in other classic Wizardry games. However, equipment availability is limited to compensate for that.
*: Bards do not start with the Poet's Lute; you need to pay 500 gold to purchase one in the shop.

So, with that in mind, how does the party I listed above look?

I have been thinking of a couple changes:

1. Replace Dracon Fighter with Valkyrie. The slower leveling won't be a significant issue until higher levels (after 13), and I may be replacing the character later anyway.

2. Replace Lizardman Valkyrie with Felpurr Samurai. This gives me access to Samurai equipment early, and that particular race/class combo is not that hard to make. Plus, 20+ Agility is incredibly useful; it means enemies will *never* act before you (assuming the mechanic hasn't changed).

Edit: Thinking of replacing the Dracon Thief with a Ranger. This would get me some access to Alchemy earlier, and Dracons actually level up faster as Rangers than as Thieves. I have CALFO for inspecting traps, and I believe thief hybrids are good at disarming them. I just hope the game doesn't have the same design issue WG3 had with locked doors.

Just started the game, and when I went to create my Felpurr, I got a roll of 20 bonus points, so I decided to make her a Monk. I think it will be interesting to see how well this class works at lower levels.

Unfortunately, this means she can only start at level 1, not 4, so I have her in the back row with a Bo, while my Priest goes in the front rank.

Of note, my Mage got unlucky with 2nd level spells and only knows DILTO. My Psionic, however, knows RIOS, which does 2-10 damage plus insanity to an entire group. (Think of it like a mini-Psionic Blast.)

Having 2 characters with DIOS (heals 1-8) and 1 with DIOMAS (heals 2-6) is also nice at this point, even though those spells are rather weak. With DIOMAS, I don't even need to worry about being so unlucky that the spell heals only 1 hit point!

Also, I like having the breath attack. It hits only one target (at this point), but doing half your HP in damage is really nice when you have a lot of HP. (One oddity from testing; the single target breath has unlimited uses (but each use during a fight does significantly less damage), but the group target version that replaces it at level 9 can only be used once per fight.)