The Adventurers Party Compositions

Party composition in The Adventurers is a wage problem and a hex problem at the same time. Every extra body adds Daily Cost. Every missing role makes a cave fight longer. The eight classes are Warrior, Archer, Thief, Wizard, Cleric, Paladin, Druid, and Warlock. You will not field all eight at once. Keep the roster small enough that wages and Daily Cost stay below contract income from Town Hall jobs out of Prycoast and later forts.

The active roster is shown in the party bar (commonly six portraits in community writes); confirm the count in your 1.0 build rather than treating a screenshot as a hard cap. If gold is thin, three well-fed hires beat six hungry ones.

Origins matter. New Band opens as Warrior, Archer, and Thief. Custom start can unlock the full class list on day one — the developer said so in the January 2026 class-list thread. Lone Wolf and Brothers in Arms exist as other origins; they change economy and difficulty, not the kits.

Starter: Warrior / Archer / Thief

This is the New Band default and the line most demos teach.

• Warrior stands on the choke, presses Come At Me, and spends Strength on Wide Swing, Double Attack, and Wound. Protection versus Reckless is the panic toggle.
• Archer stays two hexes back. Pin stops runners. Double Shot and Long Shot do the work while Agility feeds pierce damage.
• Thief waits until Warrior and Archer have created contact, then Gang Up, Finish Them at 30% health, and In This Together.

Why it works: every role the early goblin caves ask for is present. Why it breaks: no dedicated heal. You will drink, camp, and use Second Wind. Add a Cleric from a tavern as soon as wages allow, or restart Custom if you already know you hate attrition.

Stat split: Warrior Strength and Vitality; Archer Agility; Thief Agility and Luck for crits. Charisma on whoever talks in shops — prices use the highest Charisma in the company.

Custom default: Paladin / Wizard / Cleric

Players who pick Custom and want a “spell company” often land here. It is a legitimate 1.0 line, not a meme.

• Paladin is the front: Divine Fury, Righteous Command, Smite Evil, Lay on Hands. Not as much cleave as Warrior Wide Swing, but the self-heal and party attack buffs (Inspiring Presence) keep three people alive.
• Wizard is the Resolve engine. Fireball, Ice Storm, Chain Lightning. 1.0’s +25% Resolve magic damage is why this line feels better after 31 August 2026 than it did in mid Early Access.
• Cleric is the insurance: Blessing of Valor for Paladin swings, Prayer of Restoration after Ice Storm splash, Divine Mending when Paladin Lay on Hands is not enough.

Swap this in when you expect radiant-vulnerable packs or clustered maps. Swap out when you need a Thief execute or an Archer Pin on flyers that ignore terrain (9.7.7 flying creatures no longer eat difficult terrain).

Balanced four: Warrior, Archer, Cleric, Thief

The four-body line this wiki recommends for a first full campaign.

Slot	Class	Job
Front	Warrior	Come At Me, Slam, Save Them
Pierce	Archer	Pin, Mark, Burst Shot
Heal	Cleric	Mend Wounds through Celestial Heal
Flank	Thief	Gang Up, Finish Them, Distract

Cleric’s Blessing of Valor is +20% physical damage in range — it feeds Warrior and Thief at the same time. Archer Pin sets Thief Hamstring follow-ups. Warrior Unstoppable stops enemy gang-up, which is the mirror of your own Thief bonus.

Daily Cost is the limiter. Four wages plus food plus rush blacksmith orders can exceed a short goblin contract. Walk, do not run, on the overworld when the timer allows; running burns supplies. See travel and world and party management.

Summoner core: Warlock or Druid plus a Warrior front

Summons in this game are not free extra party members. Official kit text: the pet uses the caster’s energy until the end of combat. 9.7.7 later granted experience to the summoner when summons participate — good for leveling, still not free energy.

Warlock + Warrior

Warrior Come At Me keeps enemies off the caster. Warlock Soul Leech and Hex of Weakness shred the marked target. Drop one summon (Imp or Skeleton Warrior early; save Skeleton Giant and Spiked Demon for maps you understand). If the Warrior is down and you still summon, the Warlock is the new front liner with half a health bar.

Druid + Warrior

Same front, different second bar. Druid Warm Embrace / Blooming Renewal replace some Cleric value. Rotting Vines locks a hex. Wolf or Yeti spirit is the extra body. Resolve scales summon quality (developer, January 2026).

Do not start Custom as Warlock / Druid / Wizard with no melee. The hex AI will walk into your casters.

Paladin versus Warrior — when to swap

Pick Warrior when:

• You need Wide Swing and Frenzy to clear packs.
• You want Come At Me as a dedicated taunt.
• You already have Cleric or Druid HoTs, so the front can be selfish (Reckless).
• You are on New Band and cannot reroll class.

Pick Paladin when:

• You refused a Cleric slot and still need Lay on Hands / Radiant Renewal.
• You want Righteous Command (−50% enemy attack) more than a taunt.
• Radiant damage matters (Smite Evil, Blinding Light, Sacred Blade).
• You are filling a fourth or fifth portrait and already have a Warrior.

Running both is a late-gold luxury: Warrior holds, Paladin buffs and spot-heals, Cleric is then optional. Only do this if contracts still cover two heavy wage lines. Born Leader (general ability, −20% tavern and outpost recruit cost) helps that plan; it does not print gold.

When Warlock’s Dark Pact is a trap

Dark Pact (Warlock level 4 bonus): sacrifices half health to restore equal energy. The math looks clean until you remember summons already drain that same energy bar every round, Unholy Nova also spends health, and enemies after 1.0 still hit.

Treat Pact as a trap when:

1. The Warlock is already below half — you are buying energy with a death-mechanic roll.
2. No Warrior/Paladin is holding Come At Me or Righteous Command, so the next enemy swing lands on the Pact user.
3. You just summoned a Wing Demon plus Skeleton Mage; the energy you restored will vanish into pet upkeep.
4. Cleric Divine Energy (doubles other allies’ energy recovery) would have solved the same problem without cutting the health bar.

Use Pact when the Warlock is full health, the Warrior has aggro, and you need one Resolve-scaled Hex or Mark this round — not as a default opener.

Abilities and personalities that break comps

General picks that actually change roster math: Scout (see resistances and extra event text), Gifted (+20% experience), Merchant (10% cheaper buys, 10% better sells), Born Leader (cheaper tavern/outpost hires). Put Merchant on the face with high Charisma. Put Scout on whoever walks into fog-of-war caves (9.7.4).

Personalities (Adventurer, Caregiver, Hermit, Rebel, and the rest of the official list) like and dislike camp chores, tavern spends, and getting hit. A Rebel who hates “no one hurt” will lose morale if you play perfectly safe; morale feeds combat energy. Do not mix a Hermit who hates socialize-in-camp with a Performer who wants it unless you can split camp jobs.

For numbers on Strength, Vitality, Resolve, Agility, Charisma, and Luck, use the party planner. For rank rationale, return to the tier list.