Favourite Party Configurations in Legend of Grimrock

Hey Watchers

I'm surprised there haven't been more topics on this fun little game already apart from the newsbits, which admittedly have been very welcome indeed.
I'm really enjoying my time with Legend of Grimrock and will certainly be playing again on the harder difficulty.

My first group of characters are currently on the prison level (12) where the environment changes considerably with an almost quasi-Kinestia vibe from Bard's Tale III. Lots of harsh metallic textures, gear wheels and double-morningstar wielding mechanical warriors to boot, creating a uniquely cold atmosphere to explore and some of the toughest encounters in the game.

As I sense I'm getting closer to the end, already I'm running through my head potential new party make-ups to try out, which is always a good sign for a game's longevity and an illustration of its compellingness.
I was thinking other players could share a few favourite make-ups of their own and maybe a story as well? What was your first group and would you have changed anything skill-wise etc?

My first party has been kind of conservative and standard for this gameplay style I think:

Minotaur Fighter (Axes/Athletics - no armour skill at all)
Human Fighter (Armour/Swords)
Human Rogue/ (Thrown Weapons/Dodge)
Insectoid Magic-User (Frost specialist/Spellcraft)

For my second party - I'm going to try two casters instead. (Anyone tried it with four casters for a true blast-o-rama experience from distance?)

Lizardman Assassin (Daggers/Assassinations/maybe some dodge)
Human Fighter (Maces/Armour)
Insectoid Mage (Air specialist/Spellcraft with maybe some ice magic just until I get Frostbolt..we'll see)
Human/Insectoid Mage (Fire specialist/Spellcraft)

There's so much more for me to find in the second-playthrough - going to take it even more slowly this time! At 13 hours so far for my first game, I'm very happy with the length simply due to the gameplay style. Can't wait for more fan made stuff with the editor either!
Big Kudos to the chaps at Almost Human for making such a fun game.

Current party

Human Fighter - Swords/Evasion
Minotaur Fighter - Unarmed/Head Hunter
Human Rogue - Assassin/Dagger & a bit of thrown weapon
Insectoid Mage - Fire Magic

Seems to be working out so far, although I haven't progressed very far yet. My original party was more classic rpg with 2 spellcasters but that got to be far too tiresome with the rune casting system.

My first party was pretty generic:
Human Warrior (Swords/some armour & athletics)
Minotaur Warrior (Axes/Armour)
Lizardman Rogue (Throwing)
Insectoid Mage (Air/Fire)

If I were to make a party today it would probably be:
Lizardman Rogue
Human Warrior
Minotaur Rogue
Insectoid Mage

i just went with the default since it was late and I wanted to just get gaming asap. Seems to work out pretty well ='.'=

I don't know about "favourite" but this is what I have on my first playthrough:
Human Warrior (swords)
Minotaur Warrior (maces)
Lizardman Rogue (assassination + daggers)
Insectoid Mage (mainly earth spells so far, teeny bit of fire for those immune to poison)

Still romping around 7th and 8th dungeon level…

Quite a few people I've talked to seem to have chosen close to the above race/class configuration. Mainly because the race descriptions tend to lean that way, I think.
I have to say, this is the most fun I've had in a game in simply ages.

When I first started the game I went with Fighter, Rogue, Mage, Mage (so one mage would be like fire/earth and the other water/air, but when I realized I hated the magic system in this game with a passion, I restarted with Fighter, Fighter, Rogue, Mage

Originally Posted by Shagnak
Quite a few people I've talked to seem to have chosen close to the above race/class configuration. Mainly because the race descriptions tend to lean that way, I think.
I have to say, this is the most fun I've had in a game in simply ages.

At first glance that does look like the most logical class combination, with lizardmen getting extra dex, insectoids having stats that works well with magic and so on. But Minotaurs should make great archers/throwing weapon rogues, and Insectoids have that armour trait, that should make them viable frontline fighters.

I went default Human Fighter/Human Fighter/Human Thief/Human Mage to test the game and make sure it worked. I still haven't played around with the options yet though. I was just intending to play a bit, learn the interface, and then start with a more detailed group.

There are a couple of slightly cheesy combat exploits that you can't do in Legend of Grimrock that you can in Eye of the Beholder and Dungeon Master, which I quite like. As a result, I think it makes the combat a bit more balanced.

1. In Eye of the Beholder you could constantly pick up throwing weapons (without moving) and throw them over and over again in the same fight between melee cooldowns to quicken fights.

However, you can use platform triggered fire/poison traps against monsters in Legend of Grimrock, which is lots of fun.

2. In Dungeon Master you could essentially use gates and portcullises as weapons by opening and closing them upon monsters chasing down your trusty party. This tactic saved my skin many a time. Similarly though, you can abuse the "open door" and take a couple of slashes/throw a couple of weapons/spells and close it without taking damage if necessary. I confess that I had to use this tactic a couple of times against the respawning ice lizards.

I've made Minotaur Fighter, Human Fighter, Insectoid Mage, Lizard Rogue. I died pretty quickly.

My weapons were poor, my Mage couldn't cast a single spell with his measly skill point of 1 in the realm skills. My Rogue had a single knife to throw around all day, making him pretty much useless.

What the hell? I used to play Stonekeep, but this is hell.

Finished the game with a really standard party:
human fighter (swords, armors)
minotaur figther (maces, armors)
human rogue (assassination, daggers)
insectoid mage (fire, earth, spellcraft)
The puzzles/secrets quickly became the main draw of the gameplay for me so I didn´t really think about party development much.
If I´ll ever replay the game, it´ll be in solo Toorum mode .

Not saying it's good or anything but I haven't had much problems so far.

Human Fighter (Axe/Armor)
Human Rogue (Assassin/Dagger)
Human Mage (Earth/Water)
Human Mage (Air/Fire)