Planning optimized party - looking for feedback

[Fred1]

Barbarian
Heavy Armor vs Light Armor: Heavy armors tend to give high protection, and extra health. Light armors tend to give decent protection, and extra evasion. That being said, the best armor pieces for barbarians are +STR light armors. If I knew this back at the character creation, I wouldn't specialize my barbarian in heavy armor. By not investing so much in armor, I can get an extra 2 to 3 free points to invest somewhere else.

I have advanced further in the game and I have to say that I disagree with this point now. There are two sets of very strong heavy armors that not only provide high protection, but also receive a BONUS when you wear all the pieces of the armor together. The first set bonus provides a ton of damage, the other provides a ton of health. So, while I still agree that for the majority of the game you should focus on LIGHT armors for the Barbarian and invest somewhere else, you better upgrade your Armor skills to 4+ for your last levels. These bonus are so good that I made my dual wield DEX rogue to wear one the armors + the shield of the set.

Here are the builds of my characters:
STR Barbarian => 5 HW, 2+ Critical, 4+ Armor, 4+ Accuracy (Armor set that provides health)
DEX Rogue => 5 LW, 5 Critical, 4+ Armor, 2+ Accuracy (Armor set that provides damage)
Ranged DEX ROGUE => (Clothes set that provides DEX)
Wizard => (Clothes set that provides WIL)

[Jad]

Barbarian
Heavy Armor vs Light Armor: Heavy armors tend to give high protection, and extra health. Light armors tend to give decent protection, and extra evasion. That being said, the best armor pieces for barbarians are +STR light armors. If I knew this back at the character creation, I wouldn't specialize my barbarian in heavy armor. By not investing so much in armor, I can get an extra 2 to 3 free points to invest somewhere else.

I have advanced further in the game and I have to say that I disagree with this point now. There are two sets of very strong heavy armors that not only provide high protection, but also receive a BONUS when you wear all the pieces of the armor together. The first set bonus provides a ton of damage, the other provides a ton of health. So, while I still agree that for the majority of the game you should focus on LIGHT armors for the Barbarian and invest somewhere else, you better upgrade your Armor skills to 4+ for your last levels. These bonus are so good that I made my dual wield DEX rogue to wear one the armors + the shield of the set.

Here are the builds of my characters:
STR Barbarian => 5 HW, 2+ Critical, 4+ Armor, 4+ Accuracy (Armor set that provides health)
DEX Rogue => 5 LW, 5 Critical, 4+ Armor, 2+ Accuracy (Armor set that provides damage)
Ranged DEX ROGUE => (Clothes set that provides DEX)

Huh, what armor gives a set bonus that provides "a ton of damage"?

[steelsoldier]

That Heavy armor set provides fire protection, not tons of damage.

[Fred1]

Huh, what armor gives a set bonus that provides "a ton of damage"?

That Heavy armor set provides fire protection, not tons of damage.

You are right. What happened is that I was searching for the +set bonus and when I added the shield to my DEX rogue, her main hand lost the dual wield penalty, turning the damage from 23-67 to 30-87.

[feathy]

battlemage
lizardman
str/dex/vit
enduring elements/healthy
5 heavy
2 armor
3+ concentration
3 accuracy
total 13

Armor 2 on a front line character is dicey and with a class that cuts equipped armor weight in half it does not even make sense.
You don't need more than Concentration 3 with a character limited to utiliy spells. Without a single combat spell it's also questionable why a Battlemage at all. A knight seems the better choice here.

Yea, Im not really happy with that character. I'm going to go back to tanky water mage with him even if it isn't top dps. Freeze will still be fun.

[Karinas23]

A lizardman in full archmage gear with shield of elements is essentially immune to all magic to, something i think im gonna try on my next run

[Jirodyne]

Plan it however you want, but for me during my Hard, Ironman, single used crystal run, I ran this, going to top left to right then bottom left to right:

Lizard - Knight - Endure Elements, Poison Immune

Minotaur - Barbarian - Headhunter, Rage

Lizard - Alchemist - Endure Elements, Poison Immune

Lizard - Alchemist - Endure Elements, Poison Immune

But that's just me going to completely exploit the game system to make it easy a heck, but very very long and very careful. Especially since I know where most of the weapons I will be using are, along with the Crystal and Meteor Armor

[Karinas23]

Plan it however you want, but for me during my Hard, Ironman, single used crystal run, I ran this, going to top left to right then bottom left to right:

Lizard - Knight - Endure Elements, Poison Immune

Minotaur - Barbarian - Headhunter, Rage

Lizard - Alchemist - Endure Elements, Poison Immune

Lizard - Alchemist - Endure Elements, Poison Immune

But that's just me going to completely exploit the game system to make it easy a heck, but very very long and very careful. Especially since I know where most of the weapons I will be using are, along with the Crystal and Meteor Armor

Im currently doing a run with a single ratling farmer and i am hardcore abusing armour location knowledge lol....like getting a spirit mirror pendant as soon as i got off the beach.

[Jirodyne]

Im currently doing a run with a single ratling farmer and i am hardcore abusing armour location knowledge lol....like getting a spirit mirror pendant as soon as i got off the beach.

I am exploiting the Alchemist ability to multiply plants by having 2 of them, get all the plants early and splitting them among them, and only 1 being a brewer and he rushing Alchemy 4 before I brew a single Health or Energy potion

As for you, using a single Ratling Farmer? Your probably going to die a LOT, even with the best armor and items. Why? Because you will be surrounded a lot, and also the Trolling Lep throwing Firebombs, Fire Elementals, Fire Golems, and Magic Users just plain kicking your ass. And since no Alchemist, you have a very limited supply of potions, and since you probably won't be putting points into high Alchemy, you'll be limited to the small potions which you will chug threw if you have a lot of HP. And if you don't even put a single point into Alchemy, you will REALLY be hurting for potions.

[Karinas23]

Im currently doing a run with a single ratling farmer and i am hardcore abusing armour location knowledge lol....like getting a spirit mirror pendant as soon as i got off the beach.

I am exploiting the Alchemist ability to multiply plants by having 2 of them, get all the plants early and splitting them among them, and only 1 being a brewer and he rushing Alchemy 4 before I brew a single Health or Energy potion

As for you, using a single Ratling Farmer? Your probably going to die a LOT, even with the best armor and items. Why? Because you will be surrounded a lot, and also the Trolling Lep throwing Firebombs, Fire Elementals, Fire Golems, and Magic Users just plain kicking your ass. And since no Alchemist, you have a very limited supply of potions, and since you probably won't be putting points into high Alchemy, you'll be limited to the small potions which you will chug threw if you have a lot of HP. And if you don't even put a single point into Alchemy, you will REALLY be hurting for potions.

All that fire damage isnt going to be much of an issue in meteor armour. also im level 9 after an hour and a half and since as a farmer i dont get XP for kills as it is, so telefragging when ever i can. I never found being surrounded much of an issue before there isnt really anywhere in the game a horde can box you in if you plan ahead. ( like using force fields to block spawn points.) bosses are just gonna get bombed to hell whenever i can.

Besides its supposed to be a challenge. Kinda the point ;p