Hello. I'm planning to play this game for the 1st time. In games I've played so far (Baldur's Gate, Planescape) you start with just one character and create your party by recruting NPCs while playing. Here you can (assuming from what I've read) create a whole party and also recruit NPCs. They were really important part of the game so it makes me wonder about few things: 1) What is the reasonable party size to start with? Is it a good idea to start with just one character and then build a party just be recruting NPCs? Or maybe I should do exactly the opposite? 2) What is the reasonable party size I should play through most of the game? I don't want to make the game to easy but I also don't want to make it too difficult. 3) Will my choice of NPCs affect the story inside the game? I'm a bit afraid to miss a large part of the content just because I won't have room or won't choose a character in game to join me. Sorry if i'm repeating any of the existing topics but I couldn't find anwers for those.. To be honest i wasn't searching for long but I'm a bit afraid to run into spoilers. I'm also not a native english speaker so I'm not sure I'm using the right keywords. Thanks for help in advance Welin
In general, this game lacks the immersively quirky npcs that were featured in the Baldur's Gate series and Torment. Although the fan made mod "Ronnald Rinnwrathi" (included in circle of eight) might provide an experience similar to those titles (I have not played with him so I do not know for sure). Tower of Elemental Evil Circle of Eight (toee co8) is more of a dungeon crawl, and more similar to the Ice wind dale series. To access the Co8 content talk to the blacksmith in homlet. To answer your questions (for a first time player) I suggest: 1.) A reasonable size party to start with is 4-5 player created characters. I would not recommend creating one character and taking only npcs. In toee vanilla, you were allowed to have a party of eight total, 5 player made characters and 3 npcs. Co8 always you to customize the number of player created characters and npcs that you can have in your party. This option is located in the ToEE Front-End X options menu. 2.) The majority of the game should be played with a total party size of 5 characters. The game difficulty fluctuates; levels 1-5 can be challenging, but the game gets easier as characters obtain spells, abilities, and feats. Depending on how you enjoy playing you might consider recruiting one of the level 3 or 4 recruitable fighter type npcs available in hommlet to make this stretch easier. By levels 8-10 most parties tend to be well adept at handling the temple dungeons. The difficulty will increase again, and your party's strengths and weaknesses will become apparent in part 2. 3.) Npc selection should not affect the over arching story. The only factor that will affect the story will be your alignment chosen during character creation.
To touch on a few thing mrmarginal said: The max number of player characters you can have in your party is 8 while the minimum is 1 (use the Options menu to adjust the party size among other things)- obviously if you create 8 characters you wont have room for NPC's but you can change the characters in your party by using the registration desk book at the Welcome Wench Inn or at the Waterside Hostel in Nulb. Any character past 5 will be added to your party at the creation screen- you just wont be able to see them until you arrive at the shop screen. The default number of characters is 5 if you want to start with that. Playing solo (1 character and no NPC's) is done but you might want a lot more experience with the game before you do that... You can start with 1 character and hire NPC's as you find them- just make sure that only your characters occupy the first party slot, otherwise it can cause problems. Personally I start with 6 characters but some combats react to how large your party is, in that it's easier to move thru a room with 3 characters than with 6. And of course, with fewer characters to divide the XP's, the faster they will level up...
First time through I would go with 6 or 7. This leaves room for an NPC or two if you decide to go that way, but still gives you a larger party size. A larger party accomplishes 2 things, first a larger party means more attacks and more people to divide the incoming hits into. Secondly, a larger party allows you to try more character classes/ races to get a better feel for them. Don't worry too much, you will probably start over a few times when you realize what you like and don't like about the game and then customize your party to your play style. I would suggest a good mix of might and magic. Someone to had out a lot of melee damage, someone to send in the fireballs, someone who can heal, and someone who can control the battlefield (think web, entangle, ice storm, etc). Some of these roles can be the same person. But by having a larger party you can try out all of the cool weapons, feats, and spells faster.
"standard" TOEE allows 5 PCs and 3 NPCs, while the Co8 front end allows you to vary this. Advantages of NPCs: may be higher level when you can first recruit them; may have some interesting kit earlier on; may have interesting story arcs (rare) or vocals Disadvantages: can't act as a 'face' (so recruiting a high CHA bard is not much use for parties lacking in diplomacy for e.g.); may need hiring or pinch loot (might have been modded with 'humble NPC' stuff); if your last PC is killed that's it for the game (more of an issue if taking only 1-2 PCs, and of course you can always reload..); generally not particularly interesting characters but YMMV. For a first timer I'd go with a classic balanced party (one each of Melee'r, Divine caster, Arcane caster, Rogue, + 1 other) and see who you want to recruit. Most NPCs return to their start point if dismissed and can be picked up again later if necessary.
NPCs are pretty underwhelming in this game. Unlike Baldur's Gate, there isn't really any interaction between them. Their builds are usually mediocre, and by the end of the day, the PCs will outclass them in all areas. They're also usually poor substitutes for the essential roles outside of battle like diplomacy or picking locks. As already mentioned though, they are however quite useful in the beginning since their levels are quite high (For some strange reason). The early parts of the game are certainly the roughest, so their help can be quite welcome if you're inexperienced. Five is the default number of PCs you can create, and probably the most reasonable to go though the game. Extra members is a bit of a double sided coin. On one hand you'll have an extra man-at-arms to help out in battles, on the other hand you'll gain reduced XP. NPCs for most part don't have a huge effect on the story. Some NPCs can affect what appears in the ending, and some of them are needed to complete some quests, but in the grand scheme of things, they have little role in the story.
I usually roll with six PCs. There's more than enough XP in the game to get them all to 20th level, even with a healthy amount of crafting (spread between two casters at least).
One of the reasons I like six is that it makes looting large groups easier. Six is also small enough to avoid any NPC/quest issues.
Woah! Thanks a lot guys. I didn't expect that much response I think I'll start a game this weekend with a 6 PC party and see how it works.
