I was wondering what you all would recommend to a new player for race/class combinations for his very first group. As much fun as groups with several characters of one class or race might be, I was thinking that at the start it would probably be best to cover all races and classes, so that you can use all the items you find. Now going with stereotypes one would think elven wizard, dwarf warrior, and then human priest. But I was thinking that an armored warrior wouldn't actually need all that many hit points, while a dwarf as warrior is somewhat handicapped by his low speed. So what would you think of: Dwarf wizard Elf warrior Human priest for starters? What kind of party would you choose at the start, when you don't have much equipment yet?
My goto party would be Human Warrior, Elf Wizard and Dwarven Priest. I have been entertaining the tought of elven warriors, but those are more item reliant I'd say.
Assuming one of each race and class I'd go: Human Warrior - I think the default movement card will keep pace with most enemies in the campaign and you don't want your warrior going down early because at the beginning of the game I found my priest had trouble dealing damage. Elf Priest - High movement is useful for flanking with the warrior. Low HP is less of an issue thanks to unholy cards that drain life, such as Spear Of Darkness on the Hand Of Melvelous. Dwarf Wizard - More HP is always better and the longer range on wizard attacks offsets the slow speed. Interestingly none of us have picked the same combination yet!
That was my first party. Around level 3 I noticed it was all male, so I went back to the tavern and recruited an Elf Warrior, Elf Wizard, and Dwarf Priest. Then I got the free starter pack (Dwarf Warrior, Elf Wizard, Human Priest), so I went to the tavern once more to get a Dwarf Wizard and Human Warrior to complete my set. Now that I've seen the starter packs, I realize I can get all the race/class combos without spending any gold. You will have to spend 100 pizza, but Gary gives you at least 150 and spending it all on starter packs seems like the best deal. So next reset I'll get an Elf Warrior and Dwarf Wizard right away. A Human Priest would give me all the races, but an Elf Priest would let me get the full set using Fierce Dwarves instead of Holy Healers (either way I need Bash Brothers for the humans). And I'd have enough pizza left over to buy Elven Magic.
Hmm. I would have to say Elf Warrior, Elf Priest, Human Wizard. The dwarf walk isn't enough to get superior position early levels with a wizard for me and the priest needs to be flexible between both melee and healing. Warrior needs to be able to move in fast and create a difficult terrain line to aid in positioning enemies. Will load lots of armor cards on him early so he can still move with encumber as Plate Mail equipment is best bang for the buck.
The costume shop allows you to "sex change" your characters, by simply buying a figurine of the opposite gender. Unfortunately that costs 80 pizza per character.
I think an all human party, one of each class. The human racials of group and multiple movement really allow you to engage and disengage en mass if you get stuck or need to capitalise on locking someone down. The elven high movement appears to be too high, and I am not really sure that the low movement of dwarves offsets the extra couple of hit points. Especially when you face a team that places terrain altering damage spells or uses whirlwinds
I would think about recommending 3 elves, for generally good movement, but especially for Elvish Insight and Elven Mobility. I'm not sure that the racial abilities are as big a deal as all that. Long after finishing the campaign, I've found some amazing human and dwarf cards, but I think you just want to budget gold on buying reasonable common/uncommon ones. That might make a good tip. Insight is common, and amazing. In addition to popping a lot of blocks, it's really really nice on a first play through to see a whole hand of cards, and it makes lava seven stronger. In the worst case, you just cycle your deck faster. Apprentice Evasion/Wariness are both uncommon, and only level 7 and 5, and Elven Mobility is amazing with 3 elves. The ability to move teammates, and to move your whole party at once can both get you out of a *lot* of trouble, and lets you have a lot more opportunities where 3 of your guys are hitting one of theirs, instead of the reverse. It's also super useful for getting your warrior on the opposite side of an enemy to your cleric and mage, so you can have your party take it in turns to hit them in the back. Also, as Surgeonfish mentioned, there's Plate Mail. It's only really an option for elves, but for elven warriors it is an unbelievably good common level 6 item. Double heavy armour is so ridiculously tanky, there are some levels that you basically win as soon as you draw them both. Some levels are going to be harder with squishier elves, especially the trogs and white star, but for the trogs, at least, the elves might help steer you towards the right sort of approach.
I really loved my starting party, and it was very successful throughout the campaign. Human Warrior - The pinnacle of flexibility during the campaign in regards to speed, health, and mobility Elf Priest - Able to keep up with the Warrior to heal if necessary, or fast enough to get to victory points or behind cover when required (I hate tree's so much). Dwarf Wizard - The Wizard's squishiness is offset by Dwarfism It served me well, and I didn't lose a single fight until MONKIES!!!!!!
I like my priest as a human, all the movement utility is best spent on getting the warrior into position. I will try the all elf party as soon as i have enough insight/mobility items, it sounds fun
