Party Creation

There is no one Party that is the best. There are Parties that you might find easier, or Parties that suit your style of play, but what's best for you won't be what best for others. Here are some tips and tools for forming your Party.

If this is your first time through the game, go for a balanced team. Choose a Party that gives you a wide selection of talents. Study our Spells and Skills sections. Refer to pages 11-17 of your manual, but note that there are some important corrections that have been noted on 3DO's Support FAQ. Decide which Skills you really want to Grandmaster in, but be ready to change your mind. You'll have to make some compromises.

Also note that most Grandmaster Skills come late in the game, so you won't be playing with them for long. For many Skills, Master ranking will be good enough.

Next, check out pros and cons for each character type in the table below. This table is far from complete. Please feel free to e-mail us with your thoughts.

Class	Pros	Cons
Knight	With GM of Sword &/or Spear, GM of Plate &/or Shield, and GM Armsmaster, the Knight's use in melee is second to none.	Building this character up will take most of the game, but progress is not seriously held up by the promotions.
		No Magics.
		GM in Repair is effectively equivalent to Master level 10 and Expert Level 15.
		Other Miscellaneous Skills which serve the group are weak.

Thief	The only character to GM in Disarm Trap…	…which is effectively equivalent to Master at level 14 (Ninja only) or Expert at level 20 (Ranger; also Archer, but only after second promotion).
		Only the Basic levels of the Elemental Magics are available, and only after the first promotion. Very limited Spell Points and can't learn Meditation.
	The only character to GM in Stealing…	…and worth it only if you're so inclined.
	GM of Dagger, Master of Sword and Master Armsmaster makes the Thief a pretty scrappy fighter.
	Nice access to high levels of Miscellaneous Skills…	…but don't spread your Skill Points too thin.

Monk	For Unarmed combat, the Monk is the one.	The necessary Skills take a while to build up, leaving the Monk vulnerable in the early game.
		Only Magics available are low levels of Clerical, and not until the first promotion. Very limited Spell Points and can't learn Meditation!
		Basic Bow Skill only. This, along with the above, makes the Monk a poor fighter from a distance.
	Note slight advantages given to Clerical Magics for the Light path and to Miscellaneous Skills for the Dark path.

Paladin	With high levels of Sword, Mace and Shield available, the Paladin does very well in close combat.
	Access to Master levels of the Clerical Magics and Basic levels of either Light or Dark…	…but has very limited Spell Points to use. This will have to be built up.
		GM in Repair is effectively equivalent to Master level 10 and Expert Level 15.
		Other Miscellaneous Skills serve mostly the Paladin, not the group

Archer	The only character with access to GM of Bow…	…which many can live without.
	Master Spear is a good melee talent, and a Dagger can be used in the left hand at Expert ranking.	The Archer is vulnerable because Spear's Armor Class bonus only comes with GM and the Archer can't learn Shield. GM Chain as soon as possible.
	Access to Master levels of the Elemental Magics and Basic levels of either Light or Dark…	…but will have limited Spell Points to use. This will have to be built up.
	Only character who can GM Perception, a very useful Skill in MM7…	…which is effectively equivalent to Master at level 14 and Expert at level 20.

Ranger	A must if you want to GM in Axe.
	Second only to the Archer with the Bow.
	Access to Expert levels of Elemental and Clerical Magics after the first promotion…	…but has limited Spell Points to use. This must be built up, but only Basic Meditation Skill is possible.
	Broad access to Miscellaneous Skills makes the Ranger a good jack-of-all-trades…	…but mostly at low levels. GM of Identify Monster only and Master of Perception only. Don't spread your Skill Points too thin.

Cleric	Can GM in the Clerical Magics and either Light or Dark.	Can't learn the Elemental Magics.
	With Master levels of Mace and Shield can hold his/her own in melee.
	Only character to GM in Merchant. Without this Skill, buying at cost will be much harder than it was in MM6...	...but there's so much loot in this game that having enough gold soon stops being a problem.
	Relatively few Combat and Miscellaneous Skills are open, but high levels can be reached in those that are -- saves Skill points.

Druid	A must if you want to GM in Alchemy...	...although Black Potions can be bought (expensive) or found (rare) later in the game, which is when GM is possible.
		GM Alchemy is the only high-level Miscellaneous Skill which benefits the entire Party.
	Access to Master levels of the Elemental and Clerical Magics...	...but only after the first promotion. Expert only before.
	The above and GM in Meditation make the Druid a spell-casting workhorse...	...but mostly after the second promotion, when the Druid has the most Spell Points.
	Second only to Cleric as a healer.
		Best melee Skill available is Master Dagger. Basic Bow Skill only.
		Expert Leather and Shield only. Boost AC or expect to get beat up.

Sorcerer	Can GM in Elemental Magics and either Light or Dark.	Can't learn the Clerical Magics.
		Combat Skills are weak at best -- Master Staff, Expert Dagger, Basic Bow, and Expert Leather. Might as well carry two Daggers since the Sorcerer can't carry a Shield.
	GM Identify Monster is very useful in MM7, especially if you follow the Light path...	...but not necessary if you don't mind referring to a Monsters list. Detect Life (Spirit #1) also helps.
	Good selection and levels of Miscellaneous Skills...	...but don't spread your Skill Points too thin. You'll need them for the Magics.
	Only character to GM in Identify Item...	...which is effectively equivalent to Master level 10 (Thief only) and Expert level 15 (Druid only).
	You don't want to be without the Sorcerer's strong Magical attacks...	...but with low Hit Points and weak Armor, the Sorcerer takes a lot of protection and healing before coming into his/her full power late in the game.

As you read and re-read the above points, there are three major considerations that you need to keep in mind. The first and most obvious is how your Party will hold up combat. Do you have strategic options for close and ranged encounters? Against Monsters with different weaknesses? This is not a question of Arms & Armor vs Magic -- damage can be dealt and averted by either means. This has to do with your Party's ability to deliver and avoid Damage in a variety of situations.

Next, will your Party be able to acquire and divide resources effectively? Your Party must first be able to find treasure. Once found, you must decide how to assign the items. If your Party doesn't have a wide distribution of Skills, you'll need to haul the treasure to town and sell it for gold to buy things you need. Either that or listen to your characters squabble.

Lastly, you will want to be able to heal your Party when necessary. What do you require from your healer -- just enough to be able to retreat, or enough to finish a dungeon without resting? One healer is seldom enough since sometimes you'll have to revive the healer, but how strong your healers are must reflect your playing style.

It's understandable that you would want to have at least one character GM in each of the Miscellaneous Skills. Although this is not practical, you should know that you can hire certain NPCs or acquire certain enchanted items that will boost your skill levels -- hence the equivalents given above. You needn't make yourself crazy trying to GM everything.

There is one more source of technical information which might help you in choosing one character Class over another. Take note of the chart on page 17 of your manual. It lists the increases in Hit Points and Spell Points that your characters will receive for each experience level. You need to know about these strengths and weaknesses before you expect a certain character to to be able to do something that he or she can't.

Have you made your picks? Good. Before you choose Races for your characters, you'll want to move put them into the most advantageous positions. Unlike in MM6, your characters will not be able to shift positions once you start the game.

Targeting in MM7 is line-of-sight, but that's from the character's point-of-view, not yours. Your point-of-view is from a place between the heads of your second and third characters. The best place for your characters depends on your style of play.

For example, if you rely on ranged attacks in Real-Time mode you'll want to put your strongest long-range attackers in the center to make aiming easier. If you often find yourself shooting around corners in Turn-Based mode you'll want your favored attackers on the ends. Make sure that they're well-armored, though, because they'll be getting shot at, too.

In any event, give character placement some serious thought. You'll have to live with your decisions for the rest of the game.

Now you need to choose Races. Unlike MM6, the character Classes in MM7 don't affect the default Starting Attributes. The Races perform this function instead. All character Classes of a given Race will have the same default Starting Attributes.

Refer to page 17 of your manual again or check out our page on Races. Human characters start with a balanced set of Attributes, or Primary Statistics, but the other Races start with certain strengths and weaknesses which might make them more suitable to some Classes than to others.

For example, an Elf's strengths might make it a good choice for a Sorcerer, Druid or Archer. A Dwarf might make a good fighter or Cleric. However, there will be trade-offs with both of these Races. You will have to spend many Bonus Points in order to raise up their weaknesses.

The only no-lose choice is the Goblin Knight. Since the Knight can use no Magic, the Intellect and Personality Statistics don't need to be improved. You might even want to lower these Attributes in order to save points -- as long as you don't mind adventuring with a dumb, boring Goblin.

One final note. It is desirable to chose characters of different Races. So as to give away as little as possible, suffice it to say that there are several circumstances in the game in which having a diverse Party is beneficial. This goes for genders as well.

As you allot your Bonus Points among your characters you'll want to keep two things in mind. First, be aware that the benefits of the Attributes are awarded in breakpoint fashion. Breakpoints are integer threshold values which, when met or exceeded by one variable, result in the step-wise change in another variable. The Breakpoint Table is only slightly changed from MM6.

These are the values that you'll need to allot your Bonus Points. The full table will be included in the Combat section at a later time.

The other thing you need to know is that the strengths and weaknesses of the Races only affect the Party creation process. Once you start the game, an Attribute boost will affect all Races the same way -- not by double or one half.

There is one more bit of information that you might find useful, but you'll have to look in the Sneaky Tips topic of the FAQs section if you want it.

Attribute Value	Bonus Value
5	-4
7	-3
9	-2
11	-1
13	0
15	1
17	2
19	3
21	4
25	5
30	6

The last step in Party creation is to choose your character's starting Skills. By this time you probably know which Skills you want them to have. Go for it!

Of course, if you knew what Skills could be purchased in the first town you might choose something that wasn't so readily available. Again, you'll find that information in the Sneaky Tips topic of the FAQ section.

Remember that the best Party for you needs to reflect your playing style. Creating a Party is like choosing a new pair of shoes. Take your Party for a walk around Emerald Island for a few hours. Then, if you want to make some changes, you should be able to get a better fit next time.

ps: For further thoughts and some recommendations on Party Creation, check out the information at Tennessee Ernie Ford's Guide to Erathia.