Since most games never progress much further past level 10, what do you think is the best party composition for tiers 1-2?
Some housekeeping:
Multiclassing is allowed
Tasha's, CR content and custom lineages is allowed.
Here is my claim.
Twilight Domain Cleric - Twilight Sanctuary on a class which is already very good is amazing. High AC, lots of heals and buffs and just all round goodness. WIS covered.
Divine Soul Sorcerer (1 LvL dip) | Elequance Bard | Cleric spells such as bless and an amazing Face and buffer plus jack of all trades and bardic inspiration. CHA covered.
Vengeance Paladin | LOH is one of the most consistent heals in the game. Solid platform, great spells, high AC. STR covered.
ArtiChron | LvL 1 Artificer | Chronurgy Wizard | CON saves, Medium armour and shields, cantrips and spells that use INT and arguably the best Wizarding subclass. INT covered.
Bladesinger LvL 2 | Arcane Trickster Rogue | Stealth, high AC, skill monkey, awesome spells and features. DEX covered.
I'd say you focus too much on spellcasting which means that your one tank (the Paladin) is going to have a bit of a rough time. Also, you might have some problems with large amounts of enemies. But it's hard to make a really bad party in 5E. Especially since a lot of the "quality" of the group depends on a combination of races, backgrounds and choices made when levelling up. Still a fun game to play though.
If I would make a group using Standard Point Array (just so that it doesn't rely on good rolls) for fun and profit it would probably look something like this:
Custom Lineage Abjuration Wizard with the Telekinetic and Resilient Con feats. Max Int at level 4, +6 (at least) on Concentration check at level 8.
Half-Elf Lore Bard. Probably just max out charisma or take a fun feat.
Yuan-Ti Paladin (Vengeance or Conquest). You could easily get a +3 Aura of Protection by level 10, which is awesome.
Variant Human Gloom Stalker/Scout with the crossbow expert and Sharpshooter feats. Ten skills with proficiency of which you will have expertise in seven (if my calcuations are correct). Sure, you will not be the best at hitting your targets but you can use the Aim bonus action for a pretty awesome Nova snipe on turn one.
Satyr (or other race of choice, doesn't really matter) Battle Smith Artificer. Just go for whatever you think is fun. Youcan't make a bad Artificer. :P
As you can see, this a bit of a defence group with a lot of overlapping redundancy. Everyone but the Abjuration Wizard can heal, you have two skill monkey that can complement each other. You don't have a dedicated healer but that shouldn't really be needed. Both the Bard and the Wizard can counterspell, and with the amount of buff spells, Auras and magic resistance available you have a very solid defence. The Battle Smith, Steel Defender and Paladin makes a very solid front line and the rest can just stand back and blast away. You also have A LOT of fantastic roleplaying options.
Now, if you just want pure cheese I give you this:
Mountain Dwarf Abjuration Wizard. You want a tough Wizard? This is how you get a TOUGH wizard!
Yuan-Ti Paladin as per above.
Warforged Twilight Cleric. Do you want a heavily armoured, super tough flying death robot? Because this is how you build a heavily armoured super tough flying death robot.
Half-Elf Lore bard as per above.
Warforged Gloom Stalker with the Shadow Touched feat. basically the T1000, an Alien and a Predator all rolled into one.
This group isn't as all-round as the first one but they are really good at what they do, especially in a dark enviroment. The Twilight Cleric gives everyone darkvision at a much longer range, the gloom stalker will be invisible to everyone with darkvision which means it can infilitrate the enemy ranks to attack spellcasters and such (advantage on attacks since they're invisible!) while the Wizard just blasts away at stuff. This group doesn't have as much offensive spell options as the first one due to not having a Battle Smith but each individual member is probably a bit tougher. Wizards in armour are durable as hell.
Hello wonderful people of DnD Beyond!
Since most games never progress much further past level 10, what do you think is the best party composition for tiers 1-2?
Some housekeeping:
Here is my claim.
I'd say you focus too much on spellcasting which means that your one tank (the Paladin) is going to have a bit of a rough time. Also, you might have some problems with large amounts of enemies. But it's hard to make a really bad party in 5E. Especially since a lot of the "quality" of the group depends on a combination of races, backgrounds and choices made when levelling up. Still a fun game to play though.
If I would make a group using Standard Point Array (just so that it doesn't rely on good rolls) for fun and profit it would probably look something like this:
As you can see, this a bit of a defence group with a lot of overlapping redundancy. Everyone but the Abjuration Wizard can heal, you have two skill monkey that can complement each other. You don't have a dedicated healer but that shouldn't really be needed. Both the Bard and the Wizard can counterspell, and with the amount of buff spells, Auras and magic resistance available you have a very solid defence. The Battle Smith, Steel Defender and Paladin makes a very solid front line and the rest can just stand back and blast away. You also have A LOT of fantastic roleplaying options.
Now, if you just want pure cheese I give you this:
This group isn't as all-round as the first one but they are really good at what they do, especially in a dark enviroment. The Twilight Cleric gives everyone darkvision at a much longer range, the gloom stalker will be invisible to everyone with darkvision which means it can infilitrate the enemy ranks to attack spellcasters and such (advantage on attacks since they're invisible!) while the Wizard just blasts away at stuff. This group doesn't have as much offensive spell options as the first one due to not having a Battle Smith but each individual member is probably a bit tougher. Wizards in armour are durable as hell.
I suggest a party of five halfling wizards. OP as heck!
/s