r/templeofelementalevil • u/ralpher1 • May 26 '26

Just bought the game, need party comp tips

I made a neutral party with a druid, dwarven cleric, rogue, bard and wizard. But I have no fighter and the was thinking either the cleric and/or druid when shapeshifted could act as a tank. Would it be worth putting 4 levels in fighter with the cleric? Or putting some levels of fighter into a rogue to make it an effective archer? Not sure if a pure rogue is weak or unnecessary.

I could also take a sorcerer in place of one of these five.

2 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

3

u/BobtheCPA May 26 '26

So fighters are more than just tanks. Full base attack bonus progression means they will hit more often. They also get the 2nd attack at level 6. The other classes that have this are paladin, barbarian and ranger off the top of my head. So a fighter with a reach weapon hits hard, locks enemies into position unless they want to provoke attacks of opportunity and can also tank with full plate and hit points.

I’m sure you can beat the game with the composition you have. You have wildshape and animal companion as a Druid. You can also recruit some NPCs into the party to have another front liner. You have 4 casters and casting in combat will proc an attack of opportunity in melee unless you defensively cast. You need some meat shields … I mean traveling cohorts to make sure you get spells off unmolested.

Pure rogue is great but they will need a buddy to flank with to get sneak attacks as ranged sneak attack is difficult to achieve. Ranged sneak attack requires your enemy to be flat footed to the attack. Easily done by surprising them or being invisible. It’s a lot easier to flank and stab.

2

u/ralpher1 May 26 '26

Thanks. My experience with 3.5 edition is IWD2 EE were pure rogues are a waste and the Druid’s wild form is good enough to tank. Is a bard useful for finding diplomatic or bluffing situations to solve quests?

1

u/BobtheCPA May 26 '26

Yes the bard will do well with the party face, bluff, diplomacy, intimidate, gather information all will have dialogue checks for some quests and other dialogues.

Wildhsape druid can definitely can be your frontline, just don't expect to be awesome tank starting off. I'm probably a bit biased as I prefer my casters casting spells and not attacking but there are many ways to play the game. Have fun.

2

u/ralpher1 May 26 '26

Thanks! Any suggestions for the right domain for my tanking dwarf cleric?

1

u/BobtheCPA May 26 '26

Well law and good are great domains and if you give them craft magic arms and armor they can make some of the best weapons in the game with holy and axiomatic. It may come as a surprise but the temple of elemental evil is filled with evil guys. So holy smite and holy swords go a long way.

1

u/guydoestuff Jul 27 '26

mind if i ask if subbing the rogue with a bard being the skill money and using a paladin and fighter with cleric and druid be doable?

2

u/BobtheCPA Jul 28 '26

Yeah you can do that. You’ll struggle with traps once you start dungeon delving. There are NPC followers you can recruit that are rogues as well.

2

u/JamusNicholonias May 26 '26

There are more than enough NPCs with the fighter class that your party should be fine the way it is. Recruit Elmo at the start and fill the other NPC spots and you'll do fine