Going for my second run and want to start fresh as much as possible, ie not the same setup as my first run which was pretty basic and on standard difficulty:
Devotion Paladin (melee dps), Battle Cleric (backup melee + heals and debuffs mostly), Shadow Caster Rogue, Shock Arcanist Mage.
I am considering the following setup for my second run which will be at max difficulty: Duelist Fighter (Champion), Cleric (Elemental ice), Mage (Green mage), Darkweaver Rogue. Any thoughts? Not looking for the most hard core group, but one that has a good deal of versatility and won't be lacking vital spells, skills etc.
I don't look for well-rounded.
I think...Navy Seals....blow your shit out of the water!
I thoroughly enjoyed: Motherland Paladin (half-elf Aristocrat), Battle Cleric (sylvan-elf Acolyte), Shadowcaster Rogue (high-elf Academic), and Shock Arcanist Wizard (high-elf Sellsword). Group was basically unkillable, and laid down solid AoE or single-target damage with plenty of utility and heals and such. About to do it again with similar configuration, but shifting the Cleric to be an Academic and the Rogue to Spy (I also made some questionable cantrip picks on the cleric I’ll fix this time around). For future runs, I want to use a Green Mage Wizard (lowlife half-elf) and/or Hunter Ranger (lowlife sylvan elf) and/or Sun Cleric. None of the Fighter options interest me, and Sorcerer just looks like a weaker Wizard to me, I could only see bringing a Sorcerer if I weren’t bringing a Paladin, and I’m almost guaranteed to always be bringing a Paladin (gotta use Tirmarian Paladin at some point just to see if it’s really stronger than Motherland given how I play). Right now, it really feels like yoi get the most bang for you buck with Paladin+Cleric+(Rogue|Ranger)+Wizard as your party (there’s an excellent thread here detailing why Ranger usually edges out Rogue in the current main campaign, but I prefer Rogue in general).
Well in my view ALL the Paladin choices are good.
I also share a similar view about the Clerical Domains having used most of them. Though I think two of them aren't very good, its the knowledge one and the oblivion ones, but its moreso because they're too specialized. Oblivion though is pretty strong.
Wizard side I only run Shock Arcanist or Greenmage, not enough to recommend the other one over those two.
Fighter side I only run Mountaineer or Spellblade, again just not enough to recommend the Champion over those two. Mountaineer for defense, Spellblade for both, and I tried everything to make Champion work.
Thief I tend to run Shadowcaster as it has the most benefit over the other two. Though Dark Stalker is not bad. Thief again just doesn't have enough to recommend it since you never really get to use the verticality of the movement much.
Ranger I've really only played Hunter because the other two just don't interest me.
Party wise, I prefer these Combos...
Paladin (insert specialty), Fighter-Mountaineer, Shock Arcanist, Life Cleric
Fighter/Mountaineer, Ranger-Hunter, Shock Arcanist, Elemental Cleric
Fighter/Mountaineer, Life Cleric, Shock Arcanist, Rogue-Shadowcaster
Paladin (insert specialty), Ranger-Hunter, Green Mage, Battle Cleric
Paladin (defensive), Fighter-Spellsword (dual wield), Shock Arcanist, Elemental Cleric
My favorite two are
Paladin (Arun), Paladin (Arun), Ranger dual wield, Wizard Shock arcanist.
or
Paladin A), Paladin (A), Fighter Spellblade Wizard Shock arcanist
Both teams ride with heavy crossbows and flaming arrows and I do many a fight where my Wiz never casts a spell. He's actually one of my better archers..jut doesn't have multiple attacks.
Well that certainly explains why you had some troubles in my modules specifically with mass mob encounters.
That party is specifically set up for Official Campaign for mostly high single target damage.
That said, at least you did have the Wizard and Spellblade, who are capable of using AoE attacks to beat those types of encounters. So I'm sure you figured out how to use them to make it through.
Yeeah, they made it.
But one of them was pure luck.
It was the little goblin assholes.
Everybody dead, down to the Wizard, only his bow left and it boiled down to who missed the most...and he simply lucked out.
The green mage can't cast Misty Step to get to chests...lore and shock can.
I am almost running your exact first party...the exceptions being that I have the Trimar Pali, and my rogue is dual classing via mod.
Currently Rouge Dark Weaver 3 and Fighter 1. I picked up Fighter at level 2 and chose Archery. I will switch back to fighter now and become the Eldritch knight equivalent. At level 13 (16 overall) they would get Haste (for a total of 4 attacks). The rest would finish out with Rouge.
The character alternates between bow and sword / board rapier. Studded leather with full dex bonuses (AC 19...roll at least one 18 and add two for sylvan elf to get 20 Dex out the gate. Even with point buy you start at 18 for AC 18. I chose spy to make a very capable scout and respectable "hold the line" fighter. Action surge and Fighter healing, sneak-stacks via flanking, utility spells, and height damage (add proficiency for each attack). Would ranger be a better compliment...maybe. I like this rogue.
I just finished the main campaign with a party of two clerics (Battle and Oblivion) and two paladins (the two non-SRD oaths). One paladin and one cleric were spec'd for Dexterity, so I had some ranged ability, though not a ton. Aside from that, and the fact that I had to go back to town to identify any magical loot we found, it was a ton of fun. The battle cleric was very close to a third paladin, and with two people smiting and two people keeping concentration spells up, enemies just melted.
I didn't love how the Oblivion cleric played, but that's more on me than on the game. (I didn't love the spells it gave me, and the special abilities didn't end up being anything I used often.) I might try the Insight domain next time (although honestly next time I should also just have a Wizard in the party).
I don't know about well rounded, but I take my cue from the marines, so I am running 4 Paladins of Arun, all two-handers, all with heavy crossbows. The goal is..overwhelming firepower.
I randomly create 3 characters Race/Class/Background/Specialization with dice rolls (1 reroll/character) and then "custom" build a 4th character to 'glue' the party together.
Some of my parties do not survive and everybody is deleted.
Well, here is my vote.
I'm running 4 Paladins of Arun, all two-handers, all carry heavy crossbows.
No magic, no clerics.
They go through everything like a dose of salts.
Update on the 4 Paladins.
They went through the Soraks (to get the Crown) in 5 rounds, using crossbows with flaming arrows. One of them had to use his two hander in the first found when one of them got too close, but after that it was all artillery.
If you want to live the artillery dream, it seems like Ranger (or even Fighter) would be a superior choice for you over Paladin. Longbows with flaming arrows, Archery fighting style. Assuming point buy or standard array, by making them Sylvan Elves and take the Uncanny Accuracy feat at 4, they’ll be 18 DEX and ignore all but full cover. If you want heavily armored artillery and don’t care about the Ranger utility/stealth, Sylvan Elf Fighter is probably even better for what you describe as wanting for your party as you’ll get extra feats/ASIs and heavy armor (it’s 1 AC ahead of the heaviest medium armors even with your high DEX).
If you want to live the artillery dream, it seems like Ranger (or even Fighter) would be a superior choice for you over Paladin. Longbows with flaming arrows, Archery fighting style. Assuming point buy or standard array, by making them Sylvan Elves and take the Uncanny Accuracy feat at 4, they’ll be 18 DEX and ignore all but full cover. If you want heavily armored artillery and don’t care about the Ranger utility/stealth, Sylvan Elf Fighter is probably even better for what you describe as wanting for your party as you’ll get extra feats/ASIs and heavy armor (it’s 1 AC ahead of the heaviest medium armors even with your high DEX).
Spellblade Fighters also have another benefit I've noticed; magical bows are somewhat rare at lvl 3-5 in my experience. Unlike shortswords, daggers and battleaxes there doesn't seem to be guratanteed drop primed short- or longbows early on and buying a magical bow is expensive. Having every weapon attack count as magical is useful for some of the fights in that level range, especially if you do the Academic background quest.
For all Fighters, Second Wind and Action Surge are awesome, awesome abilities that recharge on short rest. With the upcoming DLC possibly increasing the level cap to 12 (or so a slip in a patch some time back indicated), Fighters will scale better than Rangers due to more attacks.
Typos happen. More so on the phone.
For sure. Level 11 will raise the stock of fighters considerably. might have to give spellblade a whirl after all…