I think the best party would have GM (grand mastery) of the best skills in the game. The go-everywhere-do-everything party is:Dark Elf, Knight, Cleric, Necromancer, Dragon
*** may be mild spoilers below: ***
Dark Elf
(GM: Disarm, Merchant, Chain)
An all-around balanced fighter. HPs are rather low compared to other melee characters, but excellent attack power and great elemental magic make this character quite useful in combat. Basically the character of 1001 uses.
Knight
(GM: Sword, Spear, Plate, Repair, Shield, Armsmaster)
Best straight melee figher IMO. Trolls can do slightly better in close combat, but knights get GM Repair Item which is IMO essential for certain areas of the game. Knights have the best AC, IIRC, and there are plenty of knightly artifacts at the end.
Cleric
(GM: Spirit, Mind, Body, Light)
Most powerful defensive and healing magic in the game. Also stuns monsters during combat and can deal healthy melee damage with the proper weapon. Healing power is phenomenal.
Necromancer
(GM: Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Dark, Alchemy, Meditation)
Most powerful offensive magic in the game. Can permanently endow non-magical weapons with the vampiric modifier, mix black potions to permanently boost stats, cast invisibility and fly with ~10 hours duration, and nuke enemies from afar. Low HP but phenomenal MP. Necromancers also get a chance to stun.
Dragon
(GM: Dragon, Identify Item)
Most powerful offensive character in the game, although I did not play one, it's basically common knowledge that dragons are overpowered. Huge, ranged, area-effect damage and wing buffet to push monsters back so the party doesn't take the fire breath damage. No need to invest in weapon skill. GM Identify is useless IMO because the Necromancer's M Identify w/ a Ring of +14 Identify will be sufficient for the most powerful artifacts in the game, but dragons have plenty of skill points to spare, so the necromancer can avoid Identify and focus on his spell skills.
