Quote Originally Posted by Yogibear41 View Post
On another note, I think people give wizards way to much credit in the power department, sure they can do unbelievable things and have X number of contingencies and defenses in place, but at the end of the day those d4 hit dice will always leave them squishy and potentially vulnerable.
Even if Wizard has 1 hp, he is still Tier 1, because Tiers are not power. Tiers are potential.


Quote Originally Posted by death390 View Post
if your looking for a balanced party and need a spellcaster, make sure there is more than 1 or he has to be OP and split focused as all hell. not to mention i had to do trapfinding, knowledge checks, stealth play, magic detection/ identification, battlefield-control, damage [god i love reserve feats now], and generally help move the plot along.
You also need a player who understands casters. Otherwise you'll get Wizard who'll be preparing maximized Fireballs instead of Anticipate Teleportation, Greater.


Quote Originally Posted by Vyanie View Post
As people have stated above balance is not about everyone doing the same exact thing the same way. Balance is about everyone being able to contribute meaningfully to a group.
Wrong. You can "contribute" even as a level 1 Commoner.

"People above" are also wrong, since they think only that balance is all-encompassing quality that is applicable in all games under all circumstances. However, their "balance/disbalance" exists only within the specific paradigm. Without understanding this any discussion will be nothing but an endlessly repeating circle of "but I had fun in disbalanced party/but I didn't have fun in disbalanced party".