Can anybody suggest good parties for Icewind Dale

I know a thief and a mage at least are must
But after that what ?

Well, I'd go for the following :

1 dwarven tank = fighter with axe
1 elven fighter with bow and long sword
1 halfling (or dwarven) fighter/thief(max out stealth and later on the rest) = scout+assassin
1 human dual ranger(level 2 will do)/cleric = healer with 2* in missile and blunt
1 human dual classed thief(max out find traps=level 5)/conjurer
1 gnomish cleric/illusionist = spell-tank

Haven't tried it out, but they will rock :D

As far as a party goes I'm going to try;

Human Paladin - Battle Axe
Dwarf Cleric - Mace, sling, spells
Gnome Theif/Illusionist - spells
Elf Bard - Crossbow, spells
1/2 Elf Druid - Spear, sling, spells
Human Fighter - 2H sword

Two warrior types in fromt aided by a Cleric who can fight and heal. A Druid & Bard for either missile or spell backup and a Mage/Theif to soout. That's the party I'm going to run.

What do u think i can achieve with this one

Ranger
Fighter
Cleric/Ranger
Fighter/Thief
Mage
Fighter/Mage

I still haven't decide on the races yet.

Male-Human-Fighter (Two handed Sword / War hammer)
Male-Dwarf-Fighter (Battle Ax / Mace)
Male-Halfling or Gnome-Thief (Scout / Bow)
Female-Elf-Cleric/Ranger (Healing / Bow)
Female-Elf-Druid (Healing / Offensive Power Boost)
Male-Human-Mage (Anything and everything offensive)

Pure offensive front with magical & bow backup and two healers when things settle done.

Elf Male Ranger Scimitar
Human Male Fighter Warhammer
Dwarf Male Fighter Axe/Shield
Elf Male Mage/Cleric Mace/Slings/Bow
Human Female Fighter Bow
Halfling Male Thief Bow
Farewell
P.S.Drizzt Do'Urden ,i have done a joke and you take it serious...(i know that the name is Drizzt Do'Urden)

Well, I've been playing the game since Saturday (not nearly as much as I'd like to!), and I'll share the party I've been using. Thus far, they've been extremely successful.

Human Male Fighter - Greatsword/Crossbow - He's an excellent tank, with ranged ability.

1/2 Elf Cleric/Fighter - Quarterstaff/sling - Another tank who can heal. The quarterstaff is just a personal preference, and he's pretty deadly with it, but as magical maces and morningstars are fairly common, he's going to learn these types of weapons next.

1/2 Elf Bard - longsword/bow - Mainly a missile weapon user, he has also identified several magic items for me.

Elf Thief/Mage - bow - Utility character. She finds traps, but retreats to the back of the line when monsters attack, casting spells, using wands, or firing her bow.

1/2 Elf Druid - scimitar/sling - A support char mainly, firing her sling and healing, but can step up and fight with her sword if need be.

1/2 Elf Fighter/Mage - sword/bow - She doesn't have much in the way of offensive magic yet, but can support with a spell here and there, as well as support the team with her bow. She also carries a set of armor, since IWD gives you no penalty for going to the inventory screen and taking it off or putting it on.. so she can be another tank when necessary!

As you can see, I love elves, and every character has some sort've missile weapon. This is the same tactic I used to beat Baldur's Gate, in that we never have to close with enemies to take them down. This gives them great versatility in taking on different types of enemies.

Although I don't own the game yet, here is the party I will probably use.

Human Paladin -
Good Fighter, Charisma for buying stuff, friendly NPC's, ect...

Dwarvish Fighter -
Tank, absorption of nasty stuff.

Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric -
Fighting and post-battle healing.

Human Illusionist -
Dealing out some nasty firepower.
Unless there are good Necromantic spells. (Unlike BG)

Hafling Thief -
Thiefing, Scouting.
Quicker advancement than Ftr/Thf.

Gnomish Cleric/Illusionist -
Healing, magic.
Gnomes get the Illusionist speciality even while multiclassed so it's worth it for the extra spell per level.

How about the complete Mighty Midget Brigade :

2 x Dwarven Fighter
1 x Dwarven Cleric / Fighter
1 x Dwarven Fighter / Thief
1 x Dwarven Cleric
1 x Dwarven Thief

Who needs mages. Well this is the party I`m gonna use when we eventually get IWD in South Africa, besides I prefer themes any way.

1 human fighter
1 human paladin
1 human cleric
1 elven fighter/thief (bows)
2 mages(half-elf/human)
1 mage
1 specialist

Here's my $.02 on character creation:
For those of you thinking of Paladins or multi class fighters, keep this in mind:
Pure fighters can have x5 weapon specialization. Have you ever seen a fighter with a War Hammer +4 and a x5 specialty in hammers? Have you? Have you? It's DEVASTATING!!!!
Paladins and multi class fighter can only have x2 weapons specialties. 'Nuff said. The couple of extra healing spells that a Paladin gives you is just not worth it.

Second, dwarves get to have 19 CON (mucho hit points). And resistance to many types of spells (sleep, poison, etc). Combine 2 of these with above specialization, and you have 2 nearly unstoppable dwarven Death Dealers!!! For variety, have one specialize in hammers, and the other in two handed (great) swords, there are +4 versions of each.

Rangers are good, especially with spectral undead as racial enemy, but I prefer a bard with 18 INT and 18 DEX. High Charisma, Picks pockets, casts mage spells, wields a wicked bow, identifies items 90% of the time, catches criminals, spins a .... er, sorry, wrong song. But you get the idea. The Bard may be one of the most powerful characters in IWD (besides the dwarf "tanks" I described above). Mine is a Half-Elf for no apparent reason (Tannis was my HERO).

Gnome Illusionist is another good one. Gnomes can have 19 INT, for that extra crackle to your fireballs. Unfortunately, they can only be illusionists (no gnome conjurers, my favorite specialist mage, bummer!). He won't be able to cast Necromancy spells, which isn't TOO bad, especially if your bard can learn some of these.

Of course you need a thief. I recommend a halfling because they can go to 19 DEX. A fighter/thief is good, adds a little extra toughness. This is the only multi character I have, and thieves go up faster than any other class, so it's worth it.. Just don't wear anything greater than studded leather or you will not be able to use thief abilities. Focus on traps and locks, the bard will take care of robbing the locals blind.

Finally, don't forget that Clerics can be eqipped with Plate mail and Helms and still cast spells (I went through the entire game of Baldur's Gate without realizing this - d-oh!). Not sure about Druids though, but clerics have more healing spells anyway.

So there you have the ULTIMATE party (in my opinion). Of course, if you want to make 6 evil gnome thieves, by all means do so, the great thing about this game is that everyone can have thier own style. Happy Adventuring!
Lord B.

FYI,

Yes, clerics can be tanks and still have full use of their spells, Lord B. I guess you weren't really into AD&D before? Not that it's necessary to have a blast playing this game, but it does help to know the history. :)

Druids, on the other hand, are restricted to weaker armor. The main rule for them is they won't wear metal, thus studded leather is the best armor they can have (yes it has metal, but it's not entirely metal), and they can only carry wooden shields. The only full metal weapons they can use are scimitars and daggers, which has something to do with the specifics of their faith. :p

I do agree with you on how kick-ass it is to have a fighter specialize in a weapon, but I heard there is a holy sword in the game, which is why I recently swapped out my fighter/mage for a Paladin. Had I another fighter, it would do alot for my team, but I'm not a *total* min-maxer. :D

Incidentally, I'd like to re-state how cool a thief/mage is.. the ability to skulk around, then appear just in the right spot to unleash a barrage of magickal death is just too cool for words. Certainly, a regular mage can duplicate this with invisibility, but a thief doesn't have to waste spells to re-disappear, plus she still has a bow at her disposal when she's all out've emagic.

I'm going to have to agree with The Wretched. The isn't about min-maxing, at least for me. I'm playing a party with one fighter (for mastery in Great sword) but I've got a Paladin in the other warrior stop for two reasons. 1) It's different and not play for mere power. I like the class and variety is the spice of life. 2) Having more healing, the ability to know aligment, and protection from evil, and undead turning ability at will is great. Not to over look the extra priest spells at 9th level. I think IWD is the first game that I have ever seen the Paladin or Ranger actually reach the point were they can cast. Nothing like a Ranger with Magic Missile. Who needs a dwarf with Grand Mastery.

Is there really a holy avenger in IWD? That would rock!

Voltric,

Yes, from several accounts that I've heard, there is a Holy Avenger in IWD, rather late in the game (naturally, for such a powerful weapon). I don't know anything about its stats, or how close it resembles the one in pen & paper AD&D, but I hope to find out someday. :)

And yeah, I do like to go for the RP aspect more than min-maxing when creating a party.. I even wrote a full biography for each character! Of course, that doesn't mean that I don't try to roll up the best stats possible, 'cause let's face it.. the game doesn't care if you're trying to RP, it just wants to kick your ass!

In response to Lord Balduran's shameless bashing of Paladins, I have only this to say. As a Leader, the Paladin is the best character. Who else has Crazily high Charisma, good fighting skills (perhaps not as good as a dwarven tank, but...), good spell power from the begining (lay hands, detect/protection from evil), and the ability to cast clerical spells later on. No one else. A Paladin will be even better if this rumor I hear of a Holy Sword is true. It's not like I'd make an army of paladins but one as leader is sure worth it.

Personally, I too like the variety for simple pleasure of the game. I have:

-A Paladin : Great Swords, and Axes
-An Elven Ranger : Bow, and Crossbow
-A Human Fighter : Sword & Bow (planning on dual classing him to mage once he reaches 9th level fighter; 1 more level to go!)
-An Elven Thief : Dagger & Sling
-A Human Priest : Maces & Flails
-A Elven F/M : Bow & Staff

This still gives me range, variety, and up front power all at the same time. I'll tell you one thing about Paladins though, their granted abilities have come in VERY handy at times.

Well, Ajanis is my favorite charcter from BG, so I'm not "anti-paladin"! :D
In BG, the paladin was a much better class than fighter. In IWD it's the opposite, because of the nearly ridiculous weapon specialization.
I really wish the Paladin could have at least a x3 or x4 specialization.
Anyway, what use are "know alignment" and "protection from evil"? Those are lame spells. :rolleyes: Although Paladins can gain some nice cleric spells later (much later) on.
I don't know about a "holy avenger", but there is a sword called "Pale Justice", usable only by Paladins. It provides total immunity from the following spells: Cloak of Fear, Horror, Dire Charm, Symbol of Hopelessness, and it has THAC0 +7 vs evil creatures, and +7 damage versus evil creatures. My question: what does the game define as "evil creatures"?

Anyway, I'm not emphasizing maxing over story. I have a killer biography for each of my dwarves. They are husband and wife, the lone survivors of Clan Blackstone which was overrun and slaughtered by a giant army. Though many, many giants fell to hammer and axe, in the end there were just too few dwarves, and too many giants. Tharkas and Grendel were returning from a trip buying supplies when they heard the sound of battle. They rushed back, but it was too late to do anything but mourn thier fallen kin. Overcome with sadness and rage, they fled to the Spine of the World. Now they feel as though they have nothing to live for, so they want to take out as many monsters as possible and die surrounded by piles and piles of giant bodies. That's why they charge headlong into every battle with no regard for personal safety. There's more (a lot more), but that's a brief synopsis. P.S. the biography will change as I play through IWD. I have a vague glimmering of how it turns out, so I will be changing the story as the characters develop. I am thinking of saving each bio before I make changes, then I can put it all together at the end.


[This message has been edited by Lord Balduran (edited July 07, 2000).]

You know, a good party always needs at least 1 or 2 mages. Maybe one mage, and one fighter/mage, for there is a long sword for a fighter/mage that will give you double first and second level spells. I think that is a very good weapon for a fighter/mage to have.

Two things; First off I agree with Jerky you can't have an effective party without a mage. You need mage spells and mostly like from more than one caster. I have a Illusionist/theif and a Bard for mage spells. Secondly, the Paladin granted powers are useful. Know alignment will tell you if NPCs are lieing, trying to use the party, or just plain evil. There nothing more important then knowning who to attack. Protection from evil stop attack again you and weakens evil creatures. It is a great defense ability. And you can use it EVERY battle. And that CHA stat is to cool when buying/selling equipment.
Pale Justice sounds like a "kind of" holy avenger and my Paladin would glad to have it.

My group consists of:

Human Paladin: (I've always liked playing them!)
Dwarf Fighter: 5x axe is killer!
1/2 Elf Cleric
Halfling Fighter/Thief: for a little more punch!
Elf Fighter/Mage: She's good with a bow...but a little weak if pressed in combat.
Human Illusionist:

So far the party is doing well...I'm still only in the Dragon's Eye on the troll/beetle level...I'm kind of interested in the Mage/thief Wretched was talking about...It might be fun sneaking up on stuff and busting out a touch-based spell. I might try it the next time I play IWD.

I've never played a bard before How are they? I guess I like to have characters that have specialization, rather than someone who's mediocre at everything...Or am I missing a cool character?

I love all the classes that's why I play a party of them all. I think Bard are good at everything but that's just it they are OK at everything and not great at anything. Jack of all trade, master of none. They can cast mage spells, have some thieving abilities, and can fight OK. I like a Bard because they are a good backup for everyone and they can ID all the loot I get. No paying for that or wasting ID spells.
I also like Druids because they have great special abilities. (not all included in IWD) They have some different spells that Clerics don't get, they can use some different weapons, and can shape change. Nothing like a Winter Wolf or Polar Bear in the party! The only draw back is that they can only wear studded leather. Later on they get crazy powers (shape change at will into anything natural, change age, exist on elemental plains at will) but that's at 15th and again not in the game.

In BG I played Jeheira through the first game...I liked the dual Fighter/Druid...you gain the armor, but lose the weapon specialization. I did like the scimitar option for her! Other than that, she was kind of annoying...But maybe is was just her complaining attitude & voice clips.

I think I might give the bard a try in the next go round of IWD...At the very least, to see what I'm missing. I think I will always have a Paladin in my group, mostly because it was the first character I played in the old paper D & D...I get sentimental I guess.

Here's my party:
--Human Male Fighter
Great Swords and Bow Thinking about giving him a 1/4staff. Also has a good (16) charisma to interact with people.
--Dwarf Male Fighter/Cleric
Maces and Slings the flails and hammers. Also serves as a good back-up source of healing to the cleric.
--Human Female Cleric
Maces and slings. I perfer my main cleric not to be slowed in advancement my other classes.
--Elf Female Fighter
Bows and Longsword. My archer.
--Gnome Thief/Illusionist
Bows and Swords. I remembered this character class when I was rolling up a replacement character for an elven fighter I lost in a pen and paper game in Myth Drannor. I was wondering why it is so rare I see one, so I just had to put one in my parrty.
--Human Female Invoker
Slings. More fun than a barrel of monkeys.
She also has an 18 charisma to do most of the talking when I don't feel immediatley threatened.

Another idea:
"We're on a mission from God"
2 Paladins
4 Clerics (some multi/dual classing)

I believe that you should have 2 fighters, one huge human fighter, and a supporting fighter which would be a paladin. Human fighters are good because they can have a very low AC and good HP. An elven fighter/thief is one of my favorites. You can use a composite or long bow, and use thieving abilities(he can use all his abilities with a chain mail armor). A cleric is always needed, because of their healing and perhaps ressurrect. Two mages are always good because then you don't have to bother with giving one mage all the spells and deciding which ones he can or cannot use.

Two things:

1st, I don't agree with the idea that a party is incomplete without a mage. Mages are nice when they get to higher levels, where they can unleash some devastating magic.. but the magic wears out quickly, so since you don't want to waste those precious spells until things get really nasty, the mage still spends alot of his/her time standing idle (or using a sling, and never hitting much of anything), while everyone else does all the work.

This can be fixed in one of three ways. You can dual class, which is the powergamer's choice, but not mine. You can multi-class, which is cool because you can either increase the mage's fighting power or make him useful in other ways (depending on the other class you pick), or... and this is the best way in my most humble opinion....

You can recruit the most highly useful character in the game, a bard. Below are the many useful things a bard can do for your party:

1) They can use *any* weapon.

2) They get mage spells, and in fact, their power is almost comparible to a real mage, due to the fact that a bard gains levels much faster! (and they have more hitpoints than a mage)

3) Pickpockets. This is a fun skill, which can get you some nice magical items if you use it on the right people. When you have a bard, your thief can focus on important things, like being able to find those TRAPS!

4) Magic items. There are some magic items out there that are bard specific, and you'd miss out on them if you didn't have a bard to use them!

5) Lore. Give your bard high intelligence, and you'll almost never have to pay or waste spell slots to get those goodies you lifted from the monsters' coffers identified.

6) Musical ability. Even when not in combat directly, a bard can play his battle tune, which inspires the rest of your party to fight better!


So who wouldn't want a bard, I ask ya? Out with the mage, and in with our kick-ass musical friend!

:D

[This message has been edited by The Wretched (edited July 08, 2000).]

Don't forget there is no harm, if you are human, starting out as a fighter and then dual classing to thief or mage later. Dualing to cleric is great too, but do the experience point calculations and you see that you won't max out your level with cleric as you still can with wizard and thief.

My party is:

Dwarven tank, straight up fighter with the plus 3 axe that raises constitution one point so he gets to regenerate now. Being a straight up fighter as opposed to fighter thief allows max hit points and level later on.

I got a human fighter who will dual class to cleric at 9th level, or maybe 8th. Still thinking about that.

Another human fighter who will dual to mage at 9th level.

An elven mage thief, very weak in hit points but good to keep in the rear and peg 'em with arrows.

A halfling thief, just cause I like the hobbit and have always had a sentimental partiality to halflings since that was my first character ever.

And a human paladin.

Course there is no one right party and many different variations will do the trick just as well. Best is to choose the combination that is most fun.

My group is made up of (alot of fire power :) 2 fighters, 2 mages, a ranger and a thief. I do just fine without clerics or bards. Thief is just to sneak around and do espionage kinda stuff, attack ranged and very close up. (I've had her die about 30, 40 times ranged! geeze, reloading is a pain.) I do rest alot, up to 600... I think in days and only in the 2nd chapter. (3 years, wow.)

er... 2 years, sorry

I'd say go with a Cleic. Healing spells are your best friend. Even a few cure lights wound have cut your deaths and resting time by 75%

Well, just to add my party into the discussion.

1) Female Paladin
2) Dwarven Male Fighter
3) Human Male Fighter (will dual to mage at 9th level)
4) Elven Male Mage
5) Human Female Cleric
6) Elven Female Fighter/Thief

I've found that this is a good party mix with plenty of firepower.

My party, which has worked decently is:

Ranger/Fighter - Tank that can charm animals
Fighter - Classic Tank, that uses Greatswords, and Hammers to kill undead foes
Theif/fighter - Cant go wrong with a fighter.
Cleric - good ol healer
Mage - good mage!

In my extensive table-top experience I've found there is no substitute for a cleric (or druid). None. I've played every class, in most concievable parties and found that one can improvise around laking everything but a cleric. It's too difficult to keep a party on its feet if there is no cleric. Fighters are nice, paladins and rangers can serve in that role as easily, mages can be helpful, but are not vital, thieves can be useful, but they all do much better when there is a cleric to back them up and cover for the damage that will inevitably be sustained in the course of adventuring.
Of course, this is just the opinion of someone who started playing clerics fifteen years ago. :)

Wow, ive seen alot of great parties here... so why not throw in mine :) here it goes...

1 Human male Paladin, great swords, he is very good at keeping himself alive!

1 dwarven male fighter uses large swords (found a sword better than faithkiller....) basically a tank.

1 halfling male thief uses bow, (100% open locks/detect traps) quite useful.

1 human female cleric maces/morning stars, she helps fighters plus conjures skeletons to soften the blow of brutal fights (lots of those in IWD)

1 human male invoker quarterstaff, offensive spells (blows the **** outta baddies)

1 elven male mage quarterstaff, mostly offensive with useful effect spells, double magic missile with invoker (both get 5 missiles per casting) i really tear into stuff that way.

i find this party quite useful was thinking of using a bard in a later game.
ALSO a quick question, if you delete one of the chars later in the game and start a new one will the new char start at level 1 or at an average with the other characters in the party? also, if a fighter will you get all the weap prof slots you would at the level if you start at the average of existing members? and if a mage or thief would you get all the spells/points for the level you are? or will you hav to in the mages case, buy all the spells you need?

Kindillin: IF you start a new character in an existing game, they start at level one with zero experience. So you definitely don't want to do this too far into the game. Here's an idea, though, that I used. It works because there are quests in Easthaven you can do with hardly any combat:

I decided to replace my conjurer with another fighter. Problem was, most of my chars were on level 5, and I was in the Vale of Shadows, the last tomb, which is a bad place to bring a newbie character into. :eek:

I made sure I had my game saved (not a quicksave), then started a new game.
I created my fighter (a dwarf), then a Bard with max CHA and 15 INT (will explain in a sec). Started in Easthaven with these two (Bard in front). Talk to the Barkeep at the inn where you start, kill the critters (not too hard even for two lv1 chars). Talk to 3 townspeople, using each "extra" option (have your bard play a song for them, have your dwarf get insulted, and have your dwarf ask about old cities and allow as how he/she is treasure hunting). That gets you a nice little stash an some exp.
Then go to the house with the drunk fisherman (Old Jed). If your bard has INT > 15 and CHA > 14, then you can say "maybe just not drink?" and then pick the option to set him on the road to the clean and sober (I think it's opt 3). Trust me, you get more exp from this than you do from getting him some wine.

Ok, now head over to Jhonen (the guy mumbling to himself near the boats on the shore). Keep picking conversation option 1 the whole way through (you will agree to help him). Now, have the fighter stay near Jhonen, and have your Bard walk South to where Eisia is. Talk to her, respond to her song with one of your own. Then when she's done talking, tell her you want her to teach you her song, then say you don't trust her and want proof. She'll give you a sword and a gem. Now, select your other char. He/she should already be standing near Jhonen, so just click Jhonen, and talk to him. (it doesn't matter that the sword is on the bard, who's nowhere near him). Don't tell him to leave town or you will get fewer exp. When he's done, click on the bard and talk to Eisia again, and she will give you some more exp.
You can complete this quest without a bard, but you will get less exp, and since there's a cuple other bard specific bonuses, I create a bard to help me out.

Now go kill the wolf at the scrimshander's house on the docks and get exp from that.
If you feel up to it, go do the little boy's quest near the fishing hole (better buy some bows first). Just quicksave, and if your fighter dies, restart and skip the quest. If you are building another char besides a fighter type, you should probably skip this one.

Finally, when you're done milking Easthaven for exp, select the character record and export the fighter. Since you only have 2 (or 3) characters to split the exp with, they should have enough to go up to lv 3 or so. You can start a new game, and import the char if they need to go up a little more. (when you are done with the second one, export to a different folder (create a new one), just to be safe.

Ok, now go back to your "good" game, then select "modify character", then delete whoever you don't want, then import your "not so newbie" in (along with any goodies you picked up in Easthaven). It's a little work, but it's worth it.

I know someone is going to reply to this and say I'm min/maxing instead of following the game, but, hey you can't go through the game with one guy way behind everyone else. Well, you could but it would suck :mad:

well Lord B., I just want to say I did the same thing. I got my party to where I needed another character, and then did easthaven with them, only difference was I only used one character both times.

and now my thoughts on parties.

I see no need to have all six spots full, use oine or 2 characters, and try it that way for the challenge. If you try this I suggest just a fighter, or a fighter and a cleric

My party is on average 9th level right now... so that wont work too well. Thanks for the tip though if i start a new game and wanna do that i will :)

I always wanted to play a bard in PnP, and never recruited the one in BG, so I figured I'd make one this time around. I have a Female Paladin, a Male Dwarven Fighter, a Male Elven Fighter/Thief, a Female Elven Cleric, a Male Elven Mage, and a Male Half-Elven Bard. I'm very happy with my party, there's not a single thing I would change. I didn't dual class anyone, just kept them straight the whole time. Next time around though I think I'll have a little fun with an all Paladin party. First I need to download the official patch before I go adventuring anymore though.

Here is the most powerful party in the game. However, they have to rest quite a bit.
Elf male fighter
Elf mage/theif
Half-elf mage/cleric
Human specialist mage
Human specialist mage
Gnome cleric/specialist

And, there you go. One bad mother party, but they are weak, very weak, in the beginning. But, toward the middle of the game, they kick some ass.

Sound like your nice and magic heavy with that group. But have you found that if monsters get in close during the early levels that you get ripped up? I like to play a party like that for a real challenge. In the later levels stoneskins plus 4 fireballs and 4 lighting bolts much rock! :)

Orangeteacup, you know, that when you arrive at a group of enemies that are powerful and all have magic resistance, what are you going to do?

Are there any monsters in icewind dale that actually have magic resistance to every attack spell? most get partial resistance to a spell like magic missile at best. anyhow correct me if there are monsters with complete spell resistance in the game.

What ever you do, be sure to include a bard. Escpecially in easthaven. While there a bard can earn tons of extra XP points, and can also get paid.

A bard is also good for taverns, so that when you buy drinks you get rumors and information. The more expensive the drink, the more important the tid-bit.

Well, here's my party........

1 dwarf fighter high STR, CON, DEX
1 elf ranger high DEX
1 elf mage/theif max traps and locks
1 human cleric healer
1 human mage lots o' destruction
1 half elf cleric/fighter

so far it seems pretty cool. I think I like this game better than Baldur's gate. Damn the music is good! Now what I want to see is an Infinity engine game about Dragonlance. Or even the Hobbit!(hey I can dream, right?)

heres my party: its worked well for me:
4 dwarven/half-elven fighters/rangers, proficencies in mainly swords, but one axeman/swordsman, and one maceman

1 half-elven ranger archer

1 human paladin archer

this is the 1st party im using and has worked out well so far:

1 human fighter(high STR. CON. DEX.and CHR)
1 elven fighter/thief(she is my best member)
1 half-elven fighter/druid(ENTANGLE spell)
1 half-elven bard (2nd spell caster/& lore)
1 half-elven conjurer
1 human dual classed fighter/cleric (started as a fighter,went up to level 5 then dual classed, shoulda gone to 6th level to get better thaco and more HP)

i think two cleric types are useful for healing(druids can cast entangle,a great 1st level spell)and at least one mage. fighter/ thieves are good if you get a high STR., then that backstab can be wicked

3 fighters,1 fighter/cleric,1cleric,1 fighter/mage


all the fighters/something are traind in long swords 1 in crossbow the rest in bows

I'm gonna make this short and sweet:

halfling fighter: War Hammer, Composite Bow
human mage: Spells, Staff
elven fighter\thief: Great Sword, Long Bow
human cleric: Staff, Spells
half-elf ranger: Scimitar, Magic Bow
gnome fighter\mage: Spells, Magic Sword

That is my party.

The game default import selection sucks. God, I am having a hard time with the game.

Paladin
Fighter
Ranger
Cleric
Thief
Mage
=****

I've had great success with:

Human Paladin (Axes/Bow)
Human Fighter (Great Sword/Crossbow)
Human Ranger (Large Sword/Bow)
Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric (Mace/Sling)
Elven Fighter/Thief (Spear/Sword/G.Sword/Bow)
Human Illusionist

Only thing I'd change would be to make a Conjurer instead of an Illusionist.

What self-respecting paladin would use a bow and an axe? They're peasant's weapons! I mean for a ranger, dwarf, or a thief sure...

Whoops! I take the paladin thing way too seriously...

Well i guess I'll give my party and then say how i will change it for the next time through and why:

First time:

dwarf fighter
halfling thief
human illusionist
half elf fighter/cleric
elf ranger
human druid

It was a good party i think, but the druid i found weak. He couldn't wear any good armor, and some of his spells were outdoors only and since there are VERY few outdoor places in IWD he wasn't that useful mainly he was jsut a healer with ok hp and weak armor, and throughing his sling. My thief was weak too, he died near the end, he had maxed stealth and was undetectable, so he was great for backstabbing and scouting, and all other thief things, but other than that he was too weak to take many hits, b/c of bad armor and hp. Everyone else seemed pretty good.

Second time through will be:

dwarf cleric
human fighter
halfling fighter/thief
elf bard
human invoker
human conjurer

This party will be very mage heavy b/c I my main strategy the first time through was to have thief scout and be a targeter basically for my mage who would cast area effects just outide of range of the monster seeing him, then the monsters stand there dying in whatever i casted on them. Also another strategy i have is to bring a lot of monsters to a choking point, like a small tunnel, bridge... and have my fighters hold em off while my mage(s) lay down spells on the ones that can't get by. This is how i did most of the tough fights. We'll see how it goes.

There were a couple of posts written about magic heavy parties and what would happen if they ran into magic resistance monsters...

Well, let me settle this for you. If you don't have decent fighters in your party you will DIE!!! Yes, there are magic resistant monsters in this game....they're called Iron Golems, and they SUCK!!! They are 100% magic resistant, take +3 or better weapons to hit, and appear frequently toward the end of the game. They also seem to be able to hit my fighters (double digit -AC's) with ease. Not only that, to add insult to injury, they belch forth poisonous gas!!!

If you don't have any decent fighters in your party, I STRONGLY suggest you either duel class...or start over.

my party:
half-elf(infravision):specialised mage/conjurer :not dual because I want to get faster to higher levels to be able to learn high summoning spells and the beast created are awesome
human:fighter: faster Xp and you can get up to 5 points on a single weapon mastery(it is a fine feeling to see a fighter with 5 points on hammer mastery with a hammer(don't remmember exact numbers and name, but the special is against undead) crushing his way through horde of undead.
half-elf:thief: faster Xp-I need extra percentage on stealth for backstabbing
dwarf:cleric: once again faster going up the level scala and faster getting of more of the ultimate healing magic-Heal
human-dual class:cleric/fighter : few levels on druid to be able to cast more healing and to complete front lines
half-elf:ranger: half-elf because of their "natural love for nature and everything connected"-this just to be more "poetic", after getting the bow and crossbow mastery to max,getting the ultimate heavy crossbow+4,hammer(it has 2-3? shots per turn)and bracers of archery he is the ultimate long range assasin

May the DarkAngel be with you!

x.x

I know this might be considered power gaming, but I found that dualing a human from fighter to mage to boost some HP and at least have the option to wear some armor after casting helps.

1 dwarf male fighter (tank) axe, x-bow
2 human male paladin (healer, fighter, bargain) swords, bows
3 elf female cleric (healer who can stand her ground) flail, sling
4 halfling male fighter / thief (stealth) longsword and bows
5 human female dual fighter (lvl3) special mage conjurer (back row) bow and spells

I am still very early in the game and might start over with just 4 characters leavin my paladin at home (the F/T has surprisingly high CHR :)

Any thoughts about a four char combo? Too hard later on?? I am still undecided about taking a bard, they seem like a lot of fun, but with their amour limits might be hard to keep alive. Can you dual a fighter to bard and wear armor while playing songs??

Relu still searching for style

Human ranger long sword, bow, high str and const
Human fighter 2hand sword, bashing, str, cons
Hafling fighter/ thief stealth, bow, dext, const
halfling fighter/ mage intell, str, const, dext, ;;; magick missle type
human druid magick protection at first...later missle type.
halfling bard entangle and heal....eventually shape shifting