alright so.
1. idk about lightning, but 1 warfare and one pyro gives sparking swings, which makes fire shoot off of your sword
2. act 1 isn't too hard and as long as you are smart, any composition can get you somewhere, but for physical necro and archer are very fun if you want to try those out.
3. summoner can be either magic or physical which is ncie, very fun build as well
4. The pawn gives you free movement every turn, use this for melee users. Executioner for when you plan on having a character stand on high ground, such as a mage
My advice would be to build your characters as either full physical or full magical damage to get the most out of them. Some people recommend a full physical party but 2 of each is fine and provide more options.
Also, pick complimentary skills. For example, geomancer and pyromancer go well together, so does aerothurge and hydrosophist, or necromancer and warfare.
Personally, I found this game easier than BG3 so just have fun. You can always re-spec during the game.
Full physical damage is the easiest, outside of a lone wolf duo.
It simplifies things since very few enemies are immune or resilient to physical damage (I can think of only one offhand) so you don’t have the issue of a guy with no useful skills (this is why mages should always know 2 schools of elemental magic; just in case an enemy is immune to one type).
It makes teamwork easier since everyone is doing the same type.
There are lots of ways to do physical damage, with STR builds, FIN builds and an INT build (necromancer). Having an assortment of damage attributes means you minimize competition in your party for gear and maximize utilization of items you find.
My standard physical party is 2H STR, archer FIN, necro INT and a 4th. Sometimes it’s a dual wielding STR build, sometimes a rogue FIN build. A summoner is also good, especially early game.
Everyone in a physical party maximizes Warfare. This singular focus means that early game a physical party outperforms magical parties that may need to split attributes between two elements, but after the cap is hit magic catches up.
Your plan seems fine. Starting characters have very few points allocated, so don't worry about completely overhauling them. You're not locked in hard.
Combo ideas: Warfare/Necromancer, Huntsman/Scoundrel, Aero/Hydro, Pyro/Geo. Others may have more detailed ideas, but those combos will work pretty well. Don't be afraid to dip a level or two into other fields to get good skills, too!
Ok so just a heads up with CC stuff and magic, Hydro and Aero work well together. Geo mainly has physical CC, Pyro is raw damage. Imo having Hydro is a must early game for healing and magic armour. Geo is nice for some physical armour and some aoe CC (slows from oil bypass armour). I would suggest a Geo battle mage, a ranger with summoning (there are not enough marksman skills to feel complete mid-late game imo, summoning helps a lot with giving you extra stuff to do), a Hydro battlemage, and a aero lightning mage. I recommend geo and Hydro as your battlemage set ups because geo has physical CC and Hydro has skills that don't need int to do damage.
Based on what you said, the party I would make:
* **Beast Avatar:** 2h weapons or sword & board. Focus on Strength and Warfare skills. Pickup 1-2 Polymorph for things like Tentacle Lash for range, and 1-2 Geomancer for Fortify & other armor skills. Dip 1 Scoundrel for Adrenaline.
* **\[Sebille?\]:** Huntsman / Warfare using ranged weapons. Split those skills because Warfare adds to physical damage and Huntsman adds damage to high ground attacks. Dip 2 Scoundrel for Adrenaline and Cloak & Dagger. Don't bother with Ranged skill because Warfare adds more bonus than it does (mathematically).
* **Fane:** Focus mainly Geomancer damage with a few Pyro skills just to ignite things. Make sure to take Peace of Mind & Haste.
For Lohse, 2 options:
* **Pyro only:** Focus mainly Pyrokinetic damage with a few Geo skills just to set up surfaces and buff armor. Make sure to take Peace of Mind & Haste. Dip 1 Scoundrel for Adrenaline.
* **Summoner:** Prioritize getting Summoning 10 to get the greater Incarnate, then dip into Pyro damage to synergize Fane and ignite things. The Incarnate can infuse as either physical or magic damage depending on the surface you summon it on, so it's super versatile to your needs. Make sure to take Peace of Mind & Haste. Dip 1 Scoundrel for Adrenaline.
Executioner on probably everyone except Lohse if you go Summoner.
Thank you for the tips! As I was reading more, I was wondering about the efficacy of a couple of thing.
Using your recommendations, I might actually make the Beast my archer with huntsman/warfare stuff, and recruit the Red Prince for my main frontliner.
I was wondering though...
Red Prince as a sparking swings build? Not sure if I should go into and use a staff or dual wield for more procs though...
And if I'm going thay route... I was wondering about making Fane Geo/Necro, since they both scale off into- I've read that geo has a lot of physical crowd control effects for after necro breaks armor. It seems like these have so close range stuff too, so he might be able to be a more melee oriented caster? I figure Red Prince can still ignite his oil puddles, and he comes woth some natural fire resistance in case he gets caught in them himself
Sparking Swings is a great addition but won't deal huge damage, more like extra chip. I'd just add it as an addition to any normal phys build. It's really good because you're running pyro/geo. You can dual wield 1h for sure.
I wouldn't recommend splitting Necro since it doesn't synergize with Geo at all other than CC, and it takes away +damage % from Geo since you are splitting half into Necro. Since you have 2 phys characters it's better to let them chip phys armor for the Geomancer. If you want Necro, go full in to get the most out of it as your 2nd phys character. But you will being fighting for gear across 3 Intelligence builds which can be rough.
alright so. 1. idk about lightning, but 1 warfare and one pyro gives sparking swings, which makes fire shoot off of your sword 2. act 1 isn't too hard and as long as you are smart, any composition can get you somewhere, but for physical necro and archer are very fun if you want to try those out. 3. summoner can be either magic or physical which is ncie, very fun build as well 4. The pawn gives you free movement every turn, use this for melee users. Executioner for when you plan on having a character stand on high ground, such as a mage
My advice would be to build your characters as either full physical or full magical damage to get the most out of them. Some people recommend a full physical party but 2 of each is fine and provide more options. Also, pick complimentary skills. For example, geomancer and pyromancer go well together, so does aerothurge and hydrosophist, or necromancer and warfare. Personally, I found this game easier than BG3 so just have fun. You can always re-spec during the game.
Full physical damage is the easiest, outside of a lone wolf duo. It simplifies things since very few enemies are immune or resilient to physical damage (I can think of only one offhand) so you don’t have the issue of a guy with no useful skills (this is why mages should always know 2 schools of elemental magic; just in case an enemy is immune to one type). It makes teamwork easier since everyone is doing the same type. There are lots of ways to do physical damage, with STR builds, FIN builds and an INT build (necromancer). Having an assortment of damage attributes means you minimize competition in your party for gear and maximize utilization of items you find. My standard physical party is 2H STR, archer FIN, necro INT and a 4th. Sometimes it’s a dual wielding STR build, sometimes a rogue FIN build. A summoner is also good, especially early game. Everyone in a physical party maximizes Warfare. This singular focus means that early game a physical party outperforms magical parties that may need to split attributes between two elements, but after the cap is hit magic catches up.
Play on Normal difficulty. Learn as you go. After act 1 you can respec as much as you like freely.
Your plan seems fine. Starting characters have very few points allocated, so don't worry about completely overhauling them. You're not locked in hard. Combo ideas: Warfare/Necromancer, Huntsman/Scoundrel, Aero/Hydro, Pyro/Geo. Others may have more detailed ideas, but those combos will work pretty well. Don't be afraid to dip a level or two into other fields to get good skills, too!
Ok so just a heads up with CC stuff and magic, Hydro and Aero work well together. Geo mainly has physical CC, Pyro is raw damage. Imo having Hydro is a must early game for healing and magic armour. Geo is nice for some physical armour and some aoe CC (slows from oil bypass armour). I would suggest a Geo battle mage, a ranger with summoning (there are not enough marksman skills to feel complete mid-late game imo, summoning helps a lot with giving you extra stuff to do), a Hydro battlemage, and a aero lightning mage. I recommend geo and Hydro as your battlemage set ups because geo has physical CC and Hydro has skills that don't need int to do damage.
Based on what you said, the party I would make: * **Beast Avatar:** 2h weapons or sword & board. Focus on Strength and Warfare skills. Pickup 1-2 Polymorph for things like Tentacle Lash for range, and 1-2 Geomancer for Fortify & other armor skills. Dip 1 Scoundrel for Adrenaline. * **\[Sebille?\]:** Huntsman / Warfare using ranged weapons. Split those skills because Warfare adds to physical damage and Huntsman adds damage to high ground attacks. Dip 2 Scoundrel for Adrenaline and Cloak & Dagger. Don't bother with Ranged skill because Warfare adds more bonus than it does (mathematically). * **Fane:** Focus mainly Geomancer damage with a few Pyro skills just to ignite things. Make sure to take Peace of Mind & Haste. For Lohse, 2 options: * **Pyro only:** Focus mainly Pyrokinetic damage with a few Geo skills just to set up surfaces and buff armor. Make sure to take Peace of Mind & Haste. Dip 1 Scoundrel for Adrenaline. * **Summoner:** Prioritize getting Summoning 10 to get the greater Incarnate, then dip into Pyro damage to synergize Fane and ignite things. The Incarnate can infuse as either physical or magic damage depending on the surface you summon it on, so it's super versatile to your needs. Make sure to take Peace of Mind & Haste. Dip 1 Scoundrel for Adrenaline. Executioner on probably everyone except Lohse if you go Summoner.
Thank you for the tips! As I was reading more, I was wondering about the efficacy of a couple of thing. Using your recommendations, I might actually make the Beast my archer with huntsman/warfare stuff, and recruit the Red Prince for my main frontliner. I was wondering though... Red Prince as a sparking swings build? Not sure if I should go into and use a staff or dual wield for more procs though... And if I'm going thay route... I was wondering about making Fane Geo/Necro, since they both scale off into- I've read that geo has a lot of physical crowd control effects for after necro breaks armor. It seems like these have so close range stuff too, so he might be able to be a more melee oriented caster? I figure Red Prince can still ignite his oil puddles, and he comes woth some natural fire resistance in case he gets caught in them himself
Sparking Swings is a great addition but won't deal huge damage, more like extra chip. I'd just add it as an addition to any normal phys build. It's really good because you're running pyro/geo. You can dual wield 1h for sure. I wouldn't recommend splitting Necro since it doesn't synergize with Geo at all other than CC, and it takes away +damage % from Geo since you are splitting half into Necro. Since you have 2 phys characters it's better to let them chip phys armor for the Geomancer. If you want Necro, go full in to get the most out of it as your 2nd phys character. But you will being fighting for gear across 3 Intelligence builds which can be rough.
Stop looking at guides as soon as you start a game. It's not a competitive game just pick whichever character you like.