I got a question: I'm running Explorer, Barbarian, Paladin, Arcane Soldier, Divine Summoner, Thief. I'm having trouble getting at enemies in the backline and so am considering putting Gaulen in the backline with my summoner and my Thief, meaning I'll have Gaulen and the Thief maining ranged weapons (probably the Thief on Shurikens).
Is this a good idea? Are ranged weapons good enough that this will hold?
While you are really early in the game, I'd suggest you reroll - Arcane soldier is just putrid. He's worse than both soldier and a mage and can do nothing properly. Also, Thief is a so-so backline choice - it's a waste of his 3.5 hp per level, sorta, and shurikens outperform the bows so much that, in really tough combats, you never want to use bows (if you want to reach someone vital, that is). And, if you pump up shurikens consistently, you should have very few problems with reach damage. Not to mention that in a 4-2 formation you can easily have two highly-offensive heralds, Valvet & Taliet (if you're not greedy and don't go for the Golot one - going for that one is interesting, though). Finally, you don't have a cleric and a party without a cleric will just get fucked up over and over in the second half of the game. Apart from Gaulen, cleric is the only mandatory class, pretty much.
