Favorite party composition in Kingmaker

[Trashos]

So, this thread is for the party animal in you. What is your favorite party composition in Kingmaker? Here are mine:

when Caster:
Jaethal (leveled up as a shield&board tank)
Nok-Nok (DPS, dex off tank)
Harrim (cleric, plus part-time tanking is precious in this game imo)
Jubilost (Jubilost in the role of Jubilost)
Regongar or sometimes Ekun, depending on quest.

^^I literally walk around surrounded by bodyguards.

when Tank:
Jaethal (either shield&board or 2-h Inquisitor, depending on MC build)
Nok-Nok
Harrim
Jubilost
Octavia (covers wizard needs)

Generally, I keep Val around until Nok-Nok becomes available, and then drop her out of the regulars. I prefer Jaethal over Val both mechanically (undead...) and as a companion.

I do not hate Linzi, but I prefer Jubilost over her. And the bombs can be life savers.

 

[Pink Eye]

1. Jaethal. I usually go 3 inquisitor and rest into fighter. I enjoy her as a sword and board fighter. If I'm feeling adventurous I go two handed fighter, with her two handing a scythe.
2. Valerie. Depending on party needs she either goes full bard after her level 1. Or continues with TSS and then goes 10 into stalwart defender, rest into TSS.
3. Harrim. Contrary to popular belief Harrim is a great cleric. I keep him as a pure cleric. Although, mystic theurge isn't a bad set up for him, if you choose that route.You can also dip a couple of levels into fighter, if you want.
4. Jubilost. What can I say, he's a great alchemist.
5. Tiefling sisters. They're op.

Starting chapter one I start to plan out my permanent members. Once I get my team set up, I then stick to them throughout the game.

 

[kelkorkesis]

I play casters (different flavours of wizard mostly) because I enjoy being a Wizard-King.

1. Valerie. She is my go to frontliner. I abandon her first level almost completely though. 1 TSS/ 1 Scaled Fist/ 8 Rogue/ 10 Duelist is my standart low maintenance build for her.
2. Jubilost. Force bombs and sharing personal range buffs are pretty good.
3. Linzi. I feel like bards are almost mandatory for buffs they grant. I turn use her a skill monkey.
4. Tristian. I turn him into perception and buff bot. I also like spamming channel energy to heal only a single person because I am too lazy to manage potions. His aura after his personal quest is pretty good.
5. Ekundayo (Ekun for decent ones). He comes bundled with a frontliner, good stats, good class.

A Goody Two-Shoes party.

Honorable mention:
Amiri the Javelin thrower. 19 levels of slayer. TWF and ranged attack feats. She turns to a machine gun.
Fully respecced Regongar. Sorc 6/ Dragon Disciple 4/ EK 10. It ends up with 16 BAB with 9 level spells. Can tank and deal damage at funhouse with a lot of buffs.
Fully respecced Ekundayo. Sacred Huntsmaster 3/ Monk 1/ Ranged 16. A frontliner Ekundayo which shares teamwork feats with his animal companion.

I am also working on this dual wielding duelist sword build for Amiri but build didn't come online yet.

 

[Pink Eye]

kelkorkesis You should try out Jaethal. She has decent stats. Which allows her to be super flexible in whatever class you want her to be.

 

[ga♥]

W/e class for the MC, and w/e companions. Always a merc cleric. Always.

Octavia and Jaethaifu (with a shield) are usually a constant, they are just too good.

 

[NJClaw]

Druid main character with a mastodon as animal companion and Linzi immediately multiclassed to sylvan sorcerer with an elk as animal companion are the only two obligatory elements in every party I try. The two animals are amazing both as tanks and damage dealers, so the rest of the party can be whatever.

 

[Ramnozack]

Recent playthrough for me was:

MC, 8 Wizard/1 fighter/1 trad monk/10 EK (Great in melee, full caster levels and lvl 9 spells with Eldritch Arcana Updated)
Tristian, full cleric, slightly respecced to improve early feat choice and make fire his primary domain and healing his secondary. Great fire based nuker whilst still providing good support and CC.
Octavia, arcane trickster build, more mages is always good.
Reg, full Eldritch Scion, he's pretty good with turn-based mod and I like his personality.
Valerie, respecced as a normal shield bash based fighter with a 2 level dip in thug and 1 in scaled fist monk. Very tanky and puts out quite a bit of damage.
Last slot is kind of dynamic based on who I want at the moment, usually it's linzi specced as a full bard, jubilost, or harrim.

 

[Chippy]

Harrim, Jaethal, Linzi, Nok-Nok, Jubilost.

The rest are fucktards.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Me and...
Valerie (Bard) and...
Jaethal and...
Female Vivisectionist Merc and...
Female Cleric Merc and...
Octavia

 

[Serious_Business]

MC F2/M7/G7/U3/S11

Char 1 T3/H8/B32

Char 2 Y7/O19/L193

Char 3 Q19/Supercunt33

Char 4 Fuck40

 

[pomenitul]

I rolled a Chaotic Good Necromancer (lulz) and went with Amiri, Tristian, Valerie, Octavia and Ekundayo.

 

[J1M]

Very disappointed to see all of you using the NPC companions instead of buying mercenaries that you can build a custom party out of.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

People who use mercenaries probably play D&D with their realdolls.

 

[LannTheStupid]

People who use mercenaries probably play D&D with their realdolls.

With their Tulpa.

 

[oldmanpaco]

Challenging:

Until House:
MC: Sword Saint
Val -> Kinetikist
Jaethal -> 2h Fighter
Ekum
Octavia
Tristan

Didn't really follow any detailed guides so was a little pissed that Tristan fucked up Jaethal at the end. Would certainly played things differently had I known that was the outcome.

Anyway since she was my backup tank and healer I had to switch things up. Dropped Ekum and finished giant pumpkin with:

MC: SS
Val
Reg
Octavia
Jubilost
Tristan

Reg was a fucking joke. His shitty ability that keeps him going after hitting 0 HP inevitably got him killed multiple times during endgame.

Good thing i had like 99 Mass Heal and Resurrection scrolls that Tristan and Jubilost spammed all battle long.


Started an Unfair run with:

MC - Melee Sorcerer
Vivisectionist
Mad Dog/Sacred Huntsman - Smilodon
Staff Monk/Free Booter /2H fighter
Ecclesitheurge - Mastodon
Ranged Bard

Got to the Monster Den or around there and dropped it. The animals were a pain to keep buffed/alive and I was just burned out anyway. Might try again with non Animal Companion classes after the TB version is released.

 

[RK47]

Main char Grenadier flexible - granting Shield buff for great AC, Concealments, and even Haste. So flexible!
Jaethal INQ/TSS - Tank Role, nice immunities. Solo Teamwork feats, can unlock Combat Expertise.
Harrim Cleric - his AC is horrible but empowered inflict wounds heal Jaethal and he needs to be there, shield in hand to activate Jaethal Shield Wall bonus.
Linzi - a bard always brings a lot to the party. Haste, Good Hope, Heroism. Inspire Courage.
Ekundayo - This guy is broken. Enlarge, Aspect of the Eagle, Hurricane Bow, Vital Sense. Manyshot, Clustershot. Done.

The last one is a wildcard.
But I lean towards Valerie, TSS 1 then go all Feyspeaker - Animal Domain for Boon Companion, Augmented Summons, etc. A lot of druidic buffs are great and there is no druid NPC.
Can cast mirror image, wield Tower Shield and wear Medium (non-metal) armor. Conjure trash stuff to buy time for ranged firepower to lay waste.

 

[NJClaw]

This game offers so fucking many good and interesting combinations that it's so easy for me to get stuck on trying to decide which party to play next.

Two of the groups I had most fun with recently are:

- Monk 2/Paladin 18
- Rogue (knife master) 1/Alchemist (vivisectionist) 19
- Bard 20
- Sorcerer (sylvan) 20
- Cleric (animal/community) 20
- Kineticist 20

and

- Paladin 2/Monk (scaled fist) 1/Sorcerer 3/Dragon Disciple 4/Eldritch Knight 10
- Ranger (freebooter) 10/Slayer 10
- Alchemist (vivisectionist) 12/Monk 1/Bard 2/Dragon Disciple 4
- Bard 20
- Fighter 1/Cleric (nobility/protection) 19
- Ranger 20

 

[Sundevil96]

Doesn't the game get old content wise, even though your party composition is different? Asking as I have this game on my Steam List waiting for a sale or 2 years; whatever comes first.

 

[NJClaw]

Doesn't the game get old content wise, even though your party composition is different? Asking as I have this game on my Steam List waiting for a sale or 2 years; whatever comes first.

It depends on how much you like the underlying system (D&D 3.x) and how much you enjoy tinkering with it. I know people who greatly enjoyed their first playthrough, but weren't interested in replaying it (still, > 100 hours of gameplay is nothing to scoff at), and I know people who are still having fun trying new characters even after 2.000 hours. To me, especially due to the turn based mod(e), the content will never get old: I think I will stop playing it only when Wrath of the Righteous comes out.

If you think you might enjoy it, you should definitely give it a try. It's on sale (60% off) on Fanatical right now:

https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/p...&utm_source=CJ&cj_pid=6305441&cj_aid=13212017

12 € for a game like this basically is theft.

 

[oldmanpaco]

Main char Grenadier flexible - granting Shield buff for great AC, Concealments, and even Haste. So flexible!
Jaethal INQ/TSS - Tank Role, nice immunities. Solo Teamwork feats, can unlock Combat Expertise.
Harrim Cleric - his AC is horrible but empowered inflict wounds heal Jaethal and he needs to be there, shield in hand to activate Jaethal Shield Wall bonus.
Linzi - a bard always brings a lot to the party. Haste, Good Hope, Heroism. Inspire Courage.
Ekundayo - This guy is broken. Enlarge, Aspect of the Eagle, Hurricane Bow, Vital Sense. Manyshot, Clustershot. Done.

The last one is a wildcard.
But I lean towards Valerie, TSS 1 then go all Feyspeaker - Animal Domain for Boon Companion, Augmented Summons, etc. A lot of druidic buffs are great and there is no druid NPC.
Can cast mirror image, wield Tower Shield and wear Medium (non-metal) armor. Conjure trash stuff to buy time for ranged firepower to lay waste.

The problem with this party is Linzi. I'd spec Val into Bard and dump the most annoying character. And two pets are sort of a pain to keep up late game anyway. Lots of buffing. I'd say take Jub as replacement but your MC is already Jub without the chit chat so maybe Octavia? Or the twins? Or recruit a Sage Sorcerer.

 

[RK47]

I took Octavia for spell selections. Improve Invisibility is nice. I also realized the necklace of double-crosses allows ranged sneak attacks by accident - this changes a LOT of things.
I also found that I didn't need the summoning anyway with Jaethal story giving her the ability to summon 1d4+2 skeletons x3 a day.
That's so stupid, with lesser maximize rod I get 6 skeletons as fodders. Perfect for the stupid wisp island.

Use Ekun's dog to draw out the bug zapper, let it get rekt. Then have Jaethal summon the skeletons. Everyone else attacks from range while the bones tank the lightning shocks.

 

[Time4Pizza]

Three character party on Challenging

MC: straight conjuror, because playing a wizard is boss. Max trickery, Perception, persuasion with a viper familiar. Eldritch arcana mod with knock for any locks I can’t deal with

And his two custom bodyguards...

Bepop: Half orc Mad dog Barbarian, smilodon pet. Two handed damage dealer

Rocksteady: Human Crusader. Full Plate, heavy shield. The tank, and buff bot

Bebop and Rocksteady go max strength and constitution, dump the mental stats (except wisdom on Rocksteady). Just like in TMNT.

Three meatshield including the pet, plus summons. MC handles the skill checks. And all that exp is mine

 

[RK47]

Some class kits are just not available from default companions.
Some stuff I liked but not available:

Cleric with Animal & Community domains - the latter's Calming touch can even heal Jaethal. Which is great. A pet at level 4 that can be scaled up with Boon Companion, so good.
Paladin - Super Saving Throws, evil boss killing power what's not to like?
Grenadier - Jubilost isn't bad but Alchemist has nothing over Grenadier.
Freebooter - Full BAB with single target focus that gives the entire party up to +5 Atk & Dmg that stacks with Bard Song? What a good deal.
Slyvan Sorcerer - A full level animal companion with sorcerer. What's not to like?

 

[Desiderius]

Amiri is a perfect Freebooter. The Speed Boost of Barb 1 is the perfect compliment to Freebooter's Bane since it increases Charge range and Bane is a Move Action with Charge as standard. Later on you pick up Barb 2 for Uncanny Dodge and a Rage Power and you're gold. Barb10/Freebooter10 with Pounce and Inspiring Ferocity on top on Freebooter Bane/Bond is sick.

Ekun can take 8 levels of Sacred Huntmaster to get Community domain which would probably outshine your Cleric.

Playing an MC Grenadier now and it's fine but nothing that much better than Jub.

Paladin is the only thing you really can't do with Companions.

 

[Desiderius]

Game is designed to use different party configs for different tasks. All companions keep up with experience so you can sub them in and out no problem.