Just decided to start a new playthrough of Bard's Tale 1 to try some new strategies, and with less than an hour (including time spent reloading) I already have a Wizard with the Prime Summoning spell.

I will present my strategy, but there are some assumptions I make here:
* The remaster is the version being played.
* From Legacy Mode, Full XP Requirements is ON, Chapter Differences is OFF. The other settings don't really matter here.
* You are already familiar with the game, and that you have maps or are willing to look them up online.

Anyway, here is how I did this:

First, party selection. The following are important:
* One bard, who should have 18 Dexterity. Also try to get a high Luck. Other stats don't actually matter at this point. (Hobbit is a good race here.)
* One spellcaster, who will be the character who gets PRSU early. Starting class will be either Conjurer or Magician, but if you go with Magician, you'll need another Conjurer to cast TRZP. I recommend high INT, as you will be getting Wizard spells without having the opportunity to get that many level ups, so every spell point matters here.
* (Eventualy) Another Conjurer, who will be our first Archmage (by the BT1 manual's definition, as the Archmage class is not accessible in BT1 without hacking).
* Possibly some other characters to protect our new characters, but they aren't important and will be removed from the party eventually.

Here is how this works:
* Give Marcus's Fire Horn to your newly created Bard.
* Play the Bard Song that lowers AC.
* Go into the Catacombs. (Skip the Wine Cellar, which is normally the first dungeon you explore.)
* Find the battle with 66 Skeletons (make sure to cast TRZP on the trap!).
* To win this fight, use the Fire Horn. This will give you a nice amount of XP (>1000 per character with a 6 person party), as well as a lot of gold. There is a fight near the entrance with 9 Wights that gives you similar XP, but they are a bit faster, so it's actually riskier. (There's another fight with 5 of a stronger undead creature; avoid it for now.)
* Leave the dungeon and return, and the enemies will respawn. Repeat until your caster reaches level 5. (If your Bard becomes OLD, cure this status ASAP.)
* If your caster is a Conjurer and you're feeling brave, go in with just the caster and the Bard for more XP. (This is where that high DEX helps; you don't want any of the 66 skeletons to get to act.)
* Change your caster into the other starting class (Conjurer or Magician), then level up to level 5 again.
* Change your caster into a Wizard (skip Sorcerer); you now have access to Summon Elemental (SUEL).
* With SUEL, you can now summon a monster that breathes. Your new Wizard can fight with a bunch of these monsters, which will always breathe if in the back row; no need for the Bard anymore.
* Fight the Wights (the Skeletons are actually too risky, believe it or not; those Elementals are just too slow and fragile) until your new Wizard reaches level 3.
* Learn Prime Summoning and enjoy.

Now that you have Prime Summoning (albeit on a character who can never learn high level Conjurer and Magician spells), you can use all of those demons to level up new characters. Take that other Conjurer, level them up to level 13 for APAR, and you can now teleport to the stairs down to level 3 of the Catacombs, and quickly get enough experience to master every spell in Bard's Tale 1. (I recommend doing Magician *last*, as with Chapter Differences, Sorcerer and Wizard level up very slowly past level 13 in BT1.)

This strategy relies on some quirks of the remaster:
* Without Chapter Differences, you can summon 6 monsters and go with just them plus one regular party member.
* Monster party members do not take a share of the XP; hence, with a party of one regular party member and 6 monsters, you get as much XP as you would solo; this makes solo leveling incredibly effective. (This is also a powerful strategy in the BT2 remaster, but there it's best to use powerfu spell bound monsters like Scathe Mages rather than summoned demons.)
* Monster party members have some intelligence in their AI routines; they won't try to melee attack if in the back row, and they won't summon if the party is full. For the demons, the only other action they can perform is a powerful breath attack, which they will always use in this situation. (In BT2, a Scathe Mage will always cast Mangar's Mallet; who needs Wacum the Wizard?)
* Prime Summoning is level 2, as the remaster developers decided to follow BT3. However, Lesser Summoning is *also* level 2, making that spell pointless. BT3 classic got rid of Lesser Summoning and had Prime Summoning take its place; this works there, but with the remaster's unified spell list, results in LESU being pointless.

It's also worth noting that, particularly with this style of play, Restoration is not as important as it sounds, so it can actually wait until you have all the other spells.

And I already have an Archmage.

Now, if I am going through the game, what should the rest of the party be?

Bard, second Archmage, and some demons?

Or perhaps I should just go with the single mage, a Bard, and some demons?

Or, any other ideas?

(Keep in mind that I currently have no good characters other than the Archmage, but I have access to every spell and can summon Demon Lords.)

It occurs to me that I will need someone who can use the Crystal Sword in order to get past that one golem in the single-floor tower. (Why call it a tower if it only has one floor?)

So, maybe a good party might be Warrior/Bard/Demon/Demon/Magician/Magician/Demon? (Of course, those Demons optimally should be Demon Lords.)

I could use a Wizard in place of one of the Magicians, but they level up very slowly with Full XP Requirements in BT1 (but they *do* get more equipment options). Or, perhaps only one caster is really needed, thanks to the ability to save anywhere? (Without save anywhere, such a setup is risky, as there's a square on the final floor that possesses a random party member, and if it's the party's only caster, there's no one left to cast DISP or ANDE, unless an item with one of those spells has dropped.)