I have tried just about every combo for this game, but seeing this game is VERY combat oriented, I find this the most effective: Aasimar Fighter/Paladin, Half Orc Fighter/ Barbarian, Human Fighter, Human Battleguard of Tempus, Human Rogue and a Human Necromancer. I would be interested in hearing on anybody else's power combo and why it is effective.

[ April 19, 2005, 05:46: Message edited by: Newfie ]

Too many characters IMO ... at least for the start of the game.

I finished the regular game with 5:

Start:
Dwarf L4 Fighter/X Battleguard(bad combo I know)
Elven X Cleric of Lathander
Tiefling l3 Thief / X Wizard(1 too many thief levels)
Human X Sorcerer

At the Yuan Ti Temple I added a Deep Gnome Monk

At the beginner of Heart of Fury I added a Drow Ranger(prolly should have gone with paladin or pure fighter)

I also started a second game:

Start:

Male Drow Paladin2/X Conjurer
Female Drow Morninglord of Lathander

after the end of first big goblin fight I added:

Deep Gnome Monk. He'll go to 2 then switch to illusionist.

I plan on mixing in rogue, fighter, bard, and sorcerer levels to the male drow. The Female I may add Bard levels to, but will prolly just stay a pure cleric. The gnome may get a couple of fighter levels at some point to up his survivability. I tried not to powergame the stats too badly(the gnome has a Cha of 4 ... that's a the worst I got), so unfortunately they're a little underpowered.

I'll be adding another character at the Yuan Ti temple I think. The gnome is 3 real levels behind the drow, and with the extra ECL penalty he'll stay behind for a while, keeping me from getting screwed too hard on the XP penalty for kills.

I don't know if it's the most effective, but this always seems to be my favorite party:

Human Paladin
1/2 orc Fighter 2/Barby X
Dwarf Fighter 2/Battlegaurd of Tempus X
Halfling Ranger 1/Rogue X (I personally love having a rogue in the party!!)
1/2 Elf Druid
Tiefling Wizard

I always have a lot of fun with this party (I call it "Band of Brothers" and have a cool little rp story to go along with them), though it is certainly not the most effective:

Hum Sorc
Hum Fighter 4/Rogue x
Aasimar Pal 2/Cleric x
Aasimar Pal 2/Sorc x
Hum Druid
Hum Wizard

I don't really have a usual party because I'd have a different one each time. But I would generally gravitate towards something like:

Human Rogue 10 / Fighter X
Aasimar Fighter 4 / Paladin X
Drow Dreadmaster of Bane
Aasimar Sorcerer

I never go with more than 4 members any more as I'm too lazy to manage any more characters than that. I usually avoid Wizards because I can't be bothered with scrolls. I quite like monks and often try and fit them into my party where possible.

In my last run I had this party:
Aasimar Paladin of Ilmater[3]/Sorcerer[x] (The only one to step of the Wench)
Human Battlegaurd of Tempus[8]/Barbarian[x] (Assigned by Isherwood to help the lady)
Drow Bard[11]/Lorekeeper of Ogmaha[x] (Oswald's assistant sent out to find the right ingredients for the mending spell)

I used to take a Confused Gnome along with me to take all the hits but found it too boring to repeat. He was:
DeepGnome Rouge[1] /Monk[1] /Ranger[1] /Fighter[2] /Illusionist[11] /Dreadmaster of Bane[x] Dementedly high AC this fellow had.

I run a modified JUPP arcane party:

Deep Gnome Rogue 1 / Monk 1 / Dreadmaster 1 / Illusionist 27 (High AC decoy)
Deep Gnome Cleric 16 / Druid 14 (Tank / Healer)
Drow Sorcerer 30 (Blaster / Diplomat)
Drow Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 30 (Blaster / Rear-guard tank)

Four characters is the most I run because I have found that six characters is too much trouble to given the game's terrible pathfinding. Early on melee is the order of the day, but by midway into the game in normal mode (and all the way through HOF) blasting is the best/easiest way of getting through the game.

My favorite party so far is probably Human fighter/cleric of Lathander, Half-elf ranger focusing on archery, Half-Elf druid, SH Halfling theif, Moon Elf sorcerer, Gnome evoker.

Right now, to experiment, I have Human bard, Human ranger, Tiefling monk, Elf druid, SH Halfling Theif, Wild Elf Sorcerer. It actually works fairly well and I got through the goblin fort without casualties.

6-member Bard (band?)party. It was well worth it once they all got to level 11. I keep a permanent save of when they finally did - perfect time to multi-class.

I had a lot of fun with:

Human Paladin 2/Fighter X
Human Ranger 1/Rogue X
Tiefling Monk X
Half-Orc Barbarian 1/Battleguard X
Wild Elf Sorcerer X
Human Wizard X

I can't remember what level I was at the end but had no problems at any time in the game. The barbarian/cleric was a great combo for half-orc.

Moonelf Silverstar of Selune13/Invoker 17 (has all useful spells and definitely ther strongest of the party)
Human Fighter 20/Barbarian 10 (protector of the moony)
Aasimar Paladin of Helm26/Fighter 4 (for weapon mastery)
Drow Ranger20/Druid 10 (cool)
Tiefling Rogue 30 (for 15d6 sneak attack)
Human Necromancer 30 (duh)

Any supporters of the Priests of Oghma? I intend to make one in the party next time I try...
Aside from that, do you think having a drow as a spellcaster will be a good idea, given the level penalty?

Any supporters of the Priests of Oghma? _annoying nerd imitation_ Me! Me! Pick me! :banana:

Pair up the Lorekeeper of Oghma with a Sorcerer.
You have no idea how satisfying it can be to throw two Wails at the same time. Or have someone at the frontlines who can cast Executioner's Eyes when the Sorcerers spell runs out and you dont want him wandering into the fracass.

The Drow ECL+2 penalty has never ever bothered me. You need a few thousand more XP to get to the next level but the Magic Resistance more than makes up for it.

I tried a lorekeeper when I first started the game. One day I shall give one a go once again. Yes indeed...

Like many others here, my party changes as my whims dictate. So much, in fact, that despite the huge number of games I've started I've never got beyond the Jungles of Chult. :s My current party is planned as:

Duregar Fighter x - As good a tank as any, and I wanted to see what this funky axe is all the walkthroughs hint excitedly about. No spoilers please folks.

Aasimar Paladin 2/Painbearer of Ilmater X - Field medic and someone to use the Holy Avenger.

Wild Elf Ranger 1/Barbarian 1/Sorcerer X - Surprisingly good spellsword (at least in the early parts of the game when a pure sorc is most vulnerable). Dex based, but barbarian rage will give a nice post-mirror image boost in power when needed. Will most likely be relegated to pure bomardier duties when he gains overwhelming amounts of sorc levels and enemies get tougher.

Human Bard 11/Druid x - Trying out Scythesong's summoner/shapeshifter/singer build. Looking good so far.

I'll probably add a Deep Gnome monk when they start not getting any exp from kills. It's shaping up to be a fun party and that's all I'm concerned about. :)

Actually, I've just realised that I actually use an average of about 12 characters per game. I usually start with #1 in Targos, add #2 in the Palisades, add #3 and #4 somewhere in Chapter 2 and 3.

By the time we start to get towards the Black Raven monastery, I usually dump one of the characters in order to bring in another level 1 character.

I do this because I want to try new characters but don't want to start over again. Because I'm always bringing in new level one characters, this keeps the average party level down so everyone levels up quite quickly and I can easily get to having used 10-12 characters by the time I reach the end. Sometimes I even dump a character for a while and then bring them back a bit later.

I love the party I came up with and am surprized of how well they're doing.

Aasimer Male Paladin
Shield Dwarf Female Fighter
Aasimer Female Cleric
Aasimer Female Druid
Strongheart Male Halfling Rogue
Moon Elf Male Wizard

Simple? Yes, but so am I.

So far, the party I'm playing with (getting around level 12) is:

Aasimar F. Pal. of Helm(x)/Fighter (4) - for weapon specialization, and a few extra feats, fights with longsword/shield or greatsword - whichever is better.

G. Dwarf M. Fighter/P. of Tempus (will keep a 1 to 2 ratio in levels) - the idea is of a secondary divine caster, mostly for healing and buffs (the bless derivative tree, so far recitation works well) - axe + shield stereotype, with a flail for bashing damage when the time comes. Clerics of Talos and Bane get some insane domain spells, but I tend to gravitate toward good/neutral parties.

Drow F. Fighter(5)/Thief(5) - just had the idea. The main problem is the level, which leaves her with the least HP bar #5. Goes for 2-weapon fighting with short swords, but for lack of a good second blade so far I'm with the Thy-dynag and the footman shield. Backstabber/anti-mage specialist.

HE F Barbarian (1)/Druid(11) - primary divine caster/summoner. The barbarian level is for the rage, although I don't polymorph her before the spell repertoire is exhausted. Mostly geared towards summons and druidic damage spells. BTW, is it just me or druids miss on the stoneskin/ironskins? That'd be a bummer. Moonblade/sling + shield combos.

H M Wizard (12) - arcane spellcaster. The lack of good spell shops is annoying, I still don't have stoneskin. Maybe I should have gone with a sorc + bard or thief/mage combo. Couple of spell focuses (double on evocation, single on enchantment). Crossbow-toting and already lusting for a certain duergar contraption...

There was a #6 - a H M. Barbarian who'd be the bodyguard for the druid, but he got dropped early for the experience gain. I'm thinking of soloing him a bit and re-adding him, come HoF...

Yeah, I always find its best to give a mage couple of levels of rogue or (if you dont need the thief skills) make him a drow. I find the two level penalty times it just nicely and i find the spells more or less as I need them.

I never change my character's classes...I don't really understand the rules of D&D so I don't want to mess with it.

I have a battleguard of Tempus...she's pretty awesome....my most dominant character is my sheild dwarf fighter...she totally kicks butt. :)

@ Erisad

Thats fair enough, but there's lots of fun stuff you can do by just adding a few levels here and there to an otherwise straight classed character :) Any warrior character, for instance, benefits from 4 levels of fighter because it gives them some extra feats and opens up weapon focus and maximised attacks. Just take note of your character's favoured class, and you're away.

Of course, if you want to just use straightforward characters thats fine; everyone has their own style of play. However, if you've got some spare time some day might I recommend making a save game, levelling up a bit and experimenting with mixing up the class levels? In my opinion, experimenting with class combinations that are fun and powerful is the best bit of Icewind Dale II.

That said, the battleguard is great just the way it is. Thats one thing I would never mulitclass.

The battleguard is good... but I think the clerics of lathander or bane seem to be better, especially with the spells they have (lathander misses a bit as IWD isn't very undead-heavy, though), and mask and ilmater are also very good.

Selunites seem to have it hard btw. With all those elemental summons...

Alright, I may do that someday.

A great advantage comes from adding either 2 levels of Rogue or 1 level of Monk: Evasion. Being able to take no damage any time you make a reflex save is a very nice thing.

Yeah, although it can be simply offensive in terms of character believability (monk + paladin = evasion in full plate), it is powerful.

Try this set
Tiefling - monk of the old order/thief
Wild Elf - monk of the dark moon/sorceror
Drow - monk of the broken ones/painbearer
Drow - mystra paladin/wizard
Half Elf - ranger/druid

have found that with three monks in the party, one does not have to worry about weapons so much, or even armor
found also taking the first class and then either what racial favoured class or what the present class allows works very well

another set that works well is the following
Half Orc - Stormlord/Barbarian
Duergar - Stormlord/Fighter
Tiefling - Monk of the Old Order/Rogue
Tiefling - Fighter/Rogue
Drow - Necromancer/Stormlord
Drow - Dreadmaster/Sorceress

having fun with neutral evil and lawful evil

It surprises me that almost 90% takes 6 characters... We feel like it's a lot easier taking only 4 guys along the trip...

our party:

Human female Fighter
Thiefling female Rogue
Shield Dwarf male Dreadmaster
Drow male Sorcerer

they are all about level 10 now, gonna start multiclassing when problems start to occur... (which is the case with our thief, we're gonna make him a fighter too...)

Spliff, you are better off multiclassing the rogue to a wizard sonce they both share a common prime requisite (int). Plus, more arcane power is better then more melee in the long run, especially as you progress to HoF.

A pure fighter is going to have trouble in the long run. Multiclass her to a cleric for much needed buffs. If you find your wis too low, the EveryGod Ring at kuldahar pass can boast that wis by 5 and the Holy transference potion at rank 2 of battle squares offers +2 more wis. Sure, your dreadmaster can provide buffs for you fighter. But considering the fact that dreadmasters have great enchantment spells, he should focus mainly on those instead of buffs. So multiclassing cleric to that fighter for important buff spells is worthwhile.

As for that sorceror, it is fine that you keep him as a pure sorceror until lvl 29, then add a lvl of paladin for a hefty saving throw boost.