As somebody who has played a lot of 5E, both as a player and as a DM, I find the classes to be exquisite. Each class has a distinct identity and set of mechanics, but many can be built in a variety of ways to fulfill different rolls in the party. I’m personally a fan of building warlocks into quasi-rogues. My first 5E character was a multiclass rogue warlock, and there is some great synergy there, and it’s also fun to roleplay.
I think the smaller party size works quite well. In 2E, fighters and low level warriors didn’t have much to do besides hold the line. In 5E you have broader action economy, so each individual character is doing more. A 6 character party in BG3 would lead to more tedious fights, I think, and would be more difficult to balance.
Party composition matters in BG3, but if you want to build an odd ball party the game is still doable. You just need to more carefully consider your tactics. I’ve played without tanks. I’ve played with no casters. I did a really fun solo warlock run. I did one playthrough that was a small assassins guild, with a warlock and three rogues. That the system affords all of these approaches lends the game a great deal of replayability.
My personal favorite composition is a tiltshifted classic party.
Barbarian
Druid
Trickster Rogue
Warlock
I think my first run of the finished game will be:
Monk
Jaheira
Minsc
Karlach
This also isn’t THAT different from the older games, where you could also play with non-traditional compositions just fine. My first party in BG1 was:
Fighter
Imoen (rogue)
Branwen (cleric)
Viconia (cleric)
Yeslick (fighter / cleric)
Kivan (ranger)
Not balanced at all but still functional and I had a good time. Just ended up summoning swarms of undead around enemies and ranging them down while they were locked dealing with my army of the undead. Good times.
