My story with MM7 repeats in the same manner as MM6 - it took me some time before I started to play, had some silly problems at the very beginning, then when I made another attempt and I finally overcome first parts of game, I'm playing in it with passion and for hours :)

However I admit that no matter what choice of classes (even considering later promotions) I've made, I'm still not "fully" satisfied.

The least troublesome seem to me choice for 3rd and 4th character - cleric and sorcerer. Their ultimate goal is of course grand-mastery in their respective spell schools (elemental for sorcerer and body/spirit/mind for cleric) and it gives a HUGE difference. And of course they can take the Light/Dark magic on the table (although Light Magic with its supportive spells seem to be sufficient for one character per Team, although I always have that possibility to train both).

For me personally the problem begins with first character (minor) and second (major).

Knight is awesome with possibility to reach (after promotions) GM in Plate, Sword or Armmaster. But at the same time can't train bow above expert (why?) and has zero magic inclinations. Wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the fact, that I prefer to have "supporting", additional character with healing/removing debuffs spells, and in MM6 I was happy with Paladin/Crusader/hero path, with very well knowledge of "clerical" spells and very well developed fighting skills.

Here I also have Paladin/Crusader/Hero branch, but... he has much worse possibilities for development in fighting skills.
Armsmaster only on expert max. No Master for Chain or GM for Plate (Master on Chain/GM on Plate are levels where penalties for armor are no longer occuring). And expert max for bow.

Second character is the wild ride. I've decided to have Thief, to have GM with disarming traps (Leather and Dagger on GM are also very nice features in the final class promotion). Buuut... He can't GM Perception (why? why?). Bow for expert max. And the even worse thing - Magic on only basic level. My promoted ranger in MM6 was a great addition with well trained "thief" skills, bow and elemental magic. But here I don't have any of those with thief. I can have stealing for GM, but frankly, I don't use it at all. I've researched a bit other classes and now regret a bit not taking Archer, who would be much better in terms of bow and elemental magic (still, much worse for disarm traps).

Seems like I was utterly spoiled with freedom of choice in MM6 and system from MM7 is for me much more restrictive and "punishing".

Just wanted to share that with others, but would be happy to hear your thoughts as well (no matter if you agree or disagree)

They definitely removed the ability to have everything in a single party for MM7, which I respect as a game design choice. The player is going to have to pick where they want to focus, and some sacrifices will be made in the process.

A lot of the skill mastery restrictions are probably to keep other classes feeling a touch more unique. The Knight is the only one who GM's Plate; a Paladin can be good at it, but you're definitely losing some physical ability to get that Mastery in Self magic (unlike in MM6, where you only lose a little HP per level to get full Self magic with a low-ish MP pool). You want GM in Bow? You'll have to take an Archer, though a Ranger is also a good shot. Armsmaster is for the melee focused classes (Knight, Thief, Monk), not for anyone who can use more than Basic magic (except the Light Monk, with Expert Self).

Something I hadn't really noticed before: Very nearly every skill has only one class that can GM it, and most only have a few classes that can (viably) Master it (ex. while Knight can M Leather, the only real reason to do so is because you want more challenge). Id Monster, Repair Item, Body Building, Light/Dark, and Shield are the only skills with more than one GM. Interesting.

I mostly only look at certain skills when picking my party, deciding how much expertise I'm willing to sacrifice in each: Self Magic, Elemental Magic, Repair Item, Disarm Trap, and Alchemy. I think these are the only ones that really change game play around. Light/Dark are good, but they basically provide strong buffs/nukes and you're pretty much only using them if you have a Cleric or Sorcerer (thus GM Self or Elemental). Disarm Trap dictates how much of a workaround you're going to be dealing with all game when opening chests, Repair Item dictates how easy it is to fix gear mid-dungeon, while Alchemy determines how easy it is to get those Black Stat potions. Everything else either boosts a character's numbers or gives you more wealth, except ID Monster.

I think being a bit forced to choose between things and every character not being able to do everything is pretty good. it is comfy to have someone to heal your healer and remove debuffs but having this removes the need for scrolls and potions.

I think the main reason for having to pick and choose the skills you want to max out is that skills outside of magic are far more powerful in mm7 compared to 6. your might characters will already be far superior to their mm6 counterparts so if they had access to more skills at a high level it just wouldn't really be balanced.

the hybrid classes do feel kind of bad because you miss out on the main skills at a GM level but thief actually out dpses the knight at a very late game point and running 3 or 4 archers is very strong with GM bow, probably also the reason other classes bow skill is kept low so archers can exist.

The hybrid classes simply didn't work for me in M&M 7
Druid in MM6 over powered
Druid in MM7 under powered

as an example.

You know, after thinking a bit about it - while I understand, that GM should be in general reserved to single classes (with some exceptions, as mentioned by Bookwyrm627 - which is a nice thing, for example I didn't even expect that my Knight/Champion will be main repairman for all gear my Team. but when I trained him in it - it was making life much easier.

On the other hand, I feel like the gap between Expert and Master is quite big in many skills, and that "Mastering" skills is still quite rare.

In the end - if I knew everything I learned during my first completion of the game, I would probably change Thief/Rogue/Spy on someone else, Probably Archer. Yes, he can train trap spot only on expert (which would be an annoying thing), but still can train perception on GM, and having someone who can master elemental spells (aside from my main wizard who obviously aims into GM of elemental), GM the bow and Master the Chain would be an absolute blast. And being more useful than Thief in general view.

As and mentioned mac Ailpin - the typical "mixed" classes seem to be very underwhelming in MM7. At lest looking at their mix of skills and proficiency.

And small addendum - I recently finished MM8. I was at first completely confused with this new classes/races mix. But in the end it turned out that I could have extremely cool setup, with choice of Knight, Necromancer, Priest and...Minotaur (surprisingly, I considered his M of Disarming Traps + GM for perception + GM for Axe, as quite weird, yet satisfying combo). I left fifth slot for Dragon, but he is a bit overpowered :P Probably in second run I would take as fifth one, either Vampire (levitate) or Dark Elf.

Recently ran 6-9 with knight thief cleric mage. 8 was the only exception. The most disappointing character was the mage. For me cleric is a must for any party and I tend to lean on physical violence to settle disputes. Ran thru 6 again with knight knight cleric and archer. Archer can do everything mage does, except light and dark, wear better armor and use more powerful weapons.

I'm trying 7 with knight thief cleric archer. Its been a challenge especially getting ultimate bow without master level spells. Took several tries and allot of running. Having a blast.

MM6 mostly differentiates the classes by what weapons and armor they can use, and good their hp and mp growth is.

I like having a Cleric and a Sorcerer for 7 to reach those GM level utility spells. Hours instead of Minutes for those utility spells is wonderful for quality of life, as well as Lloyd's Beacon.

I was concerned about not having Lloyds Beacon and not being able to portal out of a hairy situation. It has become manageable and creates a bit of a challenge that gives the game some new life.

It is absolutely manageable, I just really like having those spells available. :)

I did a Knight, Monk, Ranger, Archer run once. That one was painful.

I'm just here to inform you all that the beacon is cheating, thank you for coming to my ted talk