I've just finished playing using each character, and I've realized the following:
WARRIOR
Good for either tanking, or if you want, a front-line damage dealer. Generally, it's exceptionally difficult to have him do both. I, personally, seriously tone down his armor to make sure that he can use Overwhelm on any enemy. This attack is capable of killing an enemy from the start of the battle using sheer damage without using up all of his mana. For that extra-hard-to-kill foe, Execute can be used. Combining Overwhelm with another character's attack can easily knock out an enemy boss character in the first round.
Equipment and Practical Use
He can dish out major killage, especially if you give him the Minotaur's axe and shoot him up with speed items. This blatant abuse of him may make his speed high as a kite, but it gets the job done. For general use, give him a Death's Edge and a parrying dagger for speed or a good shield for tanking. For those Legendary battles, a Gorgon's Head isn't a bad idea, especially against the Gorgon herself. Heavy Soothing armors of Speed are always preferable, as they enable healing without using up a turn, as well as adding enough speed to get in that opening attack. I don't recommend bogging down your Warrior enough to make him go last. Getting hit with stuns isn't fun, unless you've hocked him up on Tenacity armors. Make sure that he has one accuracy item, as it's always a pain to have 5% (one out of every twenty) attacks miss, which, in this chess match of battle, can mean certain defeat. Use Staggering Gauntlets of Accuracy, for sure. Vampirism is usually important for pretty much any damage-dealing class. Later on, you'll be dealing enough damage to practically totally heal most wounds with 3 vampiric items and a regular attack, removing any need to use up valuable turns for healing. Front row center, he's great with Cleave, causing enough damage to enable the rest of your party to smash through the entire front row of the enemy in a turn or two most of the time, regardless of whether there's a boss there.
For his build, I recommend
For heavy damage to the enemy
Attack-Overwhelm-Power Attack
Inspire-Execute-Cleave
For damage resistance
Attack-Adrenaline-Shield Wall
Inspire-Resolve-Defiance
For balance
Attack-Cleave-Power Attack
Inspire-Execute-Defiance
Notes:
A balanced approach is nice, but in battle, if you are ever forced to use that Defiance without combining it with Shield Wall, which is the only way you can use it, then you're already dead.
CLERIC
A damage receiver, for sure, the Cleric is a unit that should be heavy on the armor and high on the Intellegence. Being able to heal and revive other party members is a must, and keeping this guy alive is essential. His attacks are weak, unless you've stocked up on intelligence, which then will make his Litany of Pain and Smite skills pretty powerful.
Equipment and Practical Use
If you've been keeping up with intelligence, then censers are kind of useless. Might as well give him a good shield to soak up some of that damage he'll be taking, as he's undoubtedly going in the front row to make use of his melee attack. If you REALLY want to use him in the first round, then a censer of Speed can be used, but he's not one for damage, unless you're fighting the undead. Armors of Resilience or Tenacity are a must, unless you're going for speed. A combination of Level 10 Staggering Gauntlets, Punisher, and Gorgon's Head will enable 95% stunnage. Litany of Pain that sucker, and you'll undoubtedly stun someone in your opening attack. Accuracy isn't that useful for supporting characters, but if you plan on using him in any specific attack styles, then you'll need that one accuracy item. Bone ring is good for this, as it also increases his speed, making sure that he isn't the last guy to make a turn. A middle speed of 30-50 will enable him to use his turn in the middle of an enemy volley in a 6-opponent battle, giving you an opportunity to heal critically hurt characters before the rest of the enemy can finish them off in their opening attack. Of course, if you played YOUR opening attack right, several of the enemy should be dead, and the second round should be little more than mop-up of the remaining push-overs.
For his build, I recommend
For tankage
Attack-Heal-Shield of Faith
Heal All-Holy Light-Revive
For balance
Attack-Heal-Smite
Heal All-Holy Light-Revive
For ass-blasting
Attack-Litany of Pain-Smite
Heal All-Holy Light-Revive
Notes:
I have no idea for the life of me why anyone would bother to put strength into the Cleric. He doesn't attack as often as anyone else that you might have in your party, and the only skill that actually makes the strength useful, Fervor, uses up alot of mana. Holy Light is quintessential for most battles in which you don't kill everything in three rounds. Normally, the enemy will miss once every 20 attacks, but with Holy Light, most of them will miss once every three attacks. A serious and very effective means of preventing death when most of the more powerful enemies can kill an unarmored opponent in 2-3 hits.
MAGE
A damage dealer for sure, he is capable of doing large amounts of one-hit damage, as well as stunning the crap outa individual enemies. For whatever reason, he has the Melee skill Enscorcelled Blade, which becomes rapidly useless unless you inexplicable invest all of your skill points directly into Strength. Might as well use another Warrior if you're going to do that. All of his skills do massive damage, but are unlikely to individually take an enemy from full health to zero.
Equipment and Practical Use
Using only the clothing armors, and using a staff that takes up both hand slots, he's got some seriously limited gear options. His speed can be buffed up with cloths of Speed to the point that he can do an opening attack before the enemy has any idea what hit them. A speed rating of 70 is enough to be faster than the fastest enemies, so anything over that is useless, unless you expect to be hit by speed debuffs. Level 10 Staff of Luminescence in combination with Enlightening Hood will knock out a Legendary monster's ability to cause massive damage to your party better than the Rogue's Flash Powder. Other than that, Give him plenty of Runed items, and maybe a Staggering staff of Lethality for general use.
For his build, I recommend
For defensive use
Attack-Invisibiliy-Arcane Armor
Power Siphon-Electrical Storm-Cosmic Prison
For full assault
Attack-Fireball-Arcane Armor
Freeze-Electrical Storm-Cosmic Prison
Notes:
Good for dishing out damage and in combination with the Rogue. After the first round, if you open up a can a Raid with Litany of Pain and Electrical Storm, the remaining enemies will likely still be twitching, so it's best to follow up his attacks with another character. Of course, two mages aren't a bad idea.
RANGER
Essentially, the all-round character. If you want to take two or more with you, shove one full of Dexterirty and another with Intelligence. I prefer using only one Ranger and shoving him full of Dex. He's capable of healing, which can be useful in a pinch, as well as the stunning Pin, which is useful with a Rogue. His Hunter's Prowess enables him to take out the powerful Beast enemies without much of a problem, and his Pierce and Hail of Arrows does quite well taking out multiple enemies. You can also load him up with accuracy items and put all points into strength to make use of his Force of Nature skill, but then you might as well just get another Warrior. An all-around guy, capable of dealing damage, healing, and using the bows, he's a good guy to have around if you're still trying to formulate a good team. If you can't figure out what you want, just take three of them along.
Equipment and Practical Use
Quarrel-Ender and plenty of speed items is a good combination. The inability to use an offhand item without sacrificing all of his ranged abilities is pretty severe, especially with the awesomeness that is the Gorgon's Head or Minotaur's Horn. Regardless, he can use the quivers, which increase his speed up to 15 at level 10. His equipment really isn't all that impressive, but he's fast and can hit multiple enemies from afar. Stick him full of Assassin's junk and he'll accidentally kill plenty of enemies as a critical hit.
For his build, I recommend
For defensive use
Attack-Nature's Blam-Healing Lore
Focus-Swift-Pin
For full assault
Attack-Pierce-Hunter's Prowess
Hail of Arrows-Swift-Pin
For general use
Attack-Pierce-Healing Lore
Hail of Arrows-Swift-Pin
Notes:
Replace Pin with Hunter's Prowess when in Beast levels. A single Hunter's Prowess should just kill off most beast enemies you hit, anyway. Go defensive when you're up against a legendary enemy, especially the Gorgon. Swift is only useful if anyone in your team has a speed of under 70, and even then, it's only good for long battles lasting more than a few turns.
ROGUE
Damage powerhouse if you use 2, otherwise he's kind of alright to use. Poison hits can finish off an enemy, freeing up a turn for one of your guys to go wail on another target while you wait for the poisoned enemy to use his next turn dying and getting his corpse out of the way so you can kill the guy behind him. Thief's Luck use useful to boost accuracy to 100%, ensuring that you don't end up missing a turn because you missed. Useful for taking out individual enemies. Unless you take two with you, their power won't shine until you fight a legendary foe. Sap Strength can take out a Gorgon's grip over your team no problem. Stuff him full of strength so that he can wield strong non-dagger melee weapons whenever necessary
Equipment and Practical Use
The Gorgon's Head is always good to use with the Rogue, as well as Assassin's items. His medium armor enables him to use a Staggering glove, which gives up to 10 stun, which, when combined with the Gorgon's Head and The Shudderer, gives him 85% stun. Since his attack is so high with the addition of Dex to his damage, he can knock out many enemies in two hits. Using Hide, this can be a useful tactic. Of course, the double-pronged Rogue duo will make Assassin's items largely redundant, as a good double Rogue Hide-Create Opening combo will kill many bosses.
For his build, I recommend
For extreme stabbing
Attack-Hide-Create Opening
Sneak Attack-Coup De Grace-Sap Strength
For regular stabbing
Attack-Flash Powder-Create Opening
Sap Strength-Coup De Grace-Thief's Luck
For that "I'm going to backstab him in the front, 'cause with my two rogues, that's the only place left that I can stab" use
Attack-Hide-Create Opening
Flash Powder-Coup De Grace-Sneak Attack
Notes:
If you already have everyone at 100% accuracy with items, then replace Thief's Luck with Sneak Attack. Elusiveness is a useless and highly detrimental passive skill. Don't put any points in it.
BARBARIAN
Not that great, in my opinion. He's all out for attack, even if he doesn't do more damage than a Warrior. If you want damage, just use a Warrior. His ability to do critical damage with his passive abilities is nice, I suppose, and he can use Whirlwind to smack up the ranks when fighting multiple enemies, but his real use is against legendaries. In long battles, he can use Dismember to increase your team's lasting power, Jostle against Minotaurs' Labryinth attack, and Pulverize for extra damage and convenience. His Charge attack is powerful, but it's no Overwhelm. It also only hits targets exactly two spaces in front of him, which requires him to waste a turn with Jostle if you want to Charge anyone else. Might as well just Attack. He's useful, to be sure, but you might as well replace him with someone else.
Equipment and Practical Use
He can't use any offhand items except for the special ones like the Minotaur's Horn. He can't use spears. He's essentially the retarded brother of the Warrior. Use a Minotaur's Axe for damage, some Assassin's armor, maybe, and just hope he doesn't die too quick.
For his build, I recommend
For better viewing of your opponent's insides
Attack-Enrage-Charge
Pulverize-Whirlwind-Dismember
For legendaries
Attack-Jostle-Charge
Dismember-Boast-Pulverize
For dumb drooling around the dungeon
Attack-Enrage-Charge
Dismember-Whirlwind-Boast
Notes:
Boast can be used at a range, effectively acting as a ranged attack. If you wanted a ranged attack, a Ranger would've been better.
CONJUROR
Useful, to say the least. Has the ability to summon Bloodsprite to heal the party, Wall of Shadows to take care of Curse, Eldrich Aegis to increase defense, and most importantly, Call Soul to revive your party members to full health which, in many cases, is superior to the Cleric's Revive. He can also do extra damage with the Vortex skill.
Equipment and Practical Use
Same as the Mage. Avoid using any useless-but-cool looking items like Savant's clothes unless you just like the runage.
For his build, I recommend
For general use
Attack-Wall of Shadows-Eldrich Aegis
Vortex-Bloodsprite-Call Soul
For teams of conjurors
Conjuror 1
Attack-Wargolem-Eldrich Aegis
Vortex-Bloodsprite-Call Soul
Conjuror 2
Attack-Wall of Shadows-Wargolem
Vortex-Bloodsprite-Call Soul
Conjuror 3
Attack-Manasprite-Eldrich Aegis
Vortex-Bloodsprite-Call Soul
Notes:
Yes, a TEAM of Conjurors. It seems that the Conjuror team is extremely useful. You retreat one Conjuror, stick the three remaining ones in the back row, and start summoning like mad. In the unlikely event that you still have a full front row of summoned meat shields, you can smack up the enemy with vortexes. Long, arduous battles ensue, but it's a reasonable strategy for dungeoning, enables you to heal yourself, revive yourself in case of death, and is somewhat unlikely to result in a failed battle, even against harder opponents. Just make sure to take out support enemies quickly.
