I would say a cleric is fine early on, but you might want to go for a damage focused build (tempest) or a heavy debuffer-wizard hybrid (light domain) if starting with a Paladin.
The optimal party composition mostly depends on if you want one that requires a little skill to play, is item dependent, and various personal preferences. Even on honour mode, you only "need" 3 strong (not perfect) builds at best. If you're struggling in a fight, you're usually:
A) underleveled
B) badly positioned
C) all of the above and have not figured out the "trick" to an enemy.
Gaining gold the "honest" way is ironically theft. There are never in game consequences for stealing (gold) other than arrest, but unless you want to devote hours into loot goblin behavior, it's just the best way.
That being said, there are a couple powerful items in Act 1 you'll need to get the most out of many builds. You'll also want to know if you want minor spoilers early on or not.
