I like magic-heavy parties. My favourite Light Path party is APCS. The paladin is a pretty decent melée fighter, can wear the heaviest armour available, and is useful as a back-up healer. The archer is a fair fighter, but has the advantage that when fully developed, he can become expert in Disarm, and this, with a moderately good item to boost the skill, should be enough to stop your party getting shredded because all the chests blow up. (Opening chests outdoors is fine with Telekinesis, but my experience indoors is that it's rare to be able to get far enough away to avoid damage and still maintain sight of the chest.) The great advantage of this party is that all four characters get access to the Light spell "Paralyze", which IMHO is one of the most important combat spells for a Light Path party.Dark Path, I prefer ACSS. I like the archer for the same reasons as above. Additionally, he's just that bit tougher than the other 3 members, which gives a bit of safety in the early stages of the game. (Besides, I want somebody in the party who can use all those nice swords etc. that pop up. 
) You do need to keep a selection of potions and spell scrolls handy, however, in cases where your cleric gets creamed before sorcerers get to learn Souldrinker.
