A little background on me, I have played every IE game save for this one, so I am very attuned to the actual gameplay, however, I am quite new to 3E having only played NWN and I have no pnp experience. This is indeed my first time playing IWD 2.

The name of the party is just an offhand idea of mine, because I just happen to love the city of Silverymoon and the idea of roleplaying characters who come from there appeals to me. I also do not have the names picked out for all of my characters as of yet, so I only really wish to discuss min-maxing for now.

I would appreciate any advice you have to offer for this party. Any revisions, stat ideas, or class/race input would be appreciated!

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Human Fighter 4/Paladin X
Roles: Diplomat, Mage Killer, Tank
My idea for this char, is for him to be a powerful character to have in the first slot, and yet simultaneously having the diplomacy skill to handle all of the talking in the game. The 4 levels in Fighter would be speccing in 2H Swords. I have been informed however, that Paladins do not make very good tanks, because they spread their points so thin, so please offer any alternatives to this char or stat ideas that you have.

Alt : Some form of a fighter/barbarian

Human Monk
Roles: Tank, Mage Killer, Scout
Nuff' said really, I love the 3E monk, and feel that later on this will be one of my fav chars.

Human Morninglord of Lathander
Roles: Secondary Tank, Healer, Bombardier
I absolutely love Lathander, and the idea of roleplaying a character who worships him feels great =)

Human Ranger 1/Rogue X
Roles: Secondary Tank, Thief
My idea for this character is to dual-wield short swords and tear it up with sneak attack, although I have been informed that sneak attack doesn't work very well in IWD 2, so I was thinking that an alternative character could be...

Alt: Drow Rogue 1/Wizard X
Roles: Bombardier, Summoner, Loremaster, Thief
I actually read about this character in a power gaming FAQ over at GameFAQs, and although I am not a power gamer, the character really appeals to me.

Wild Elf Fighter (Archer)
Roles: Sniper, Secondary Tank
This character is based off of the idea that a sniper is a great addition to a party in IWD 2, however, I am unsure if this is true, so please help me out here, I'm open to any fill in suggestions as well.

Human Wizard or Sorcerer
This character is dependant on whether I take the Ranger 1/Rogue X or the Rogue 1/Wizard X. Obviously if I take the rogue/wizzy, then I will exchange the pure wizzy for a Sorc.

Some my thoughts of your party:

Human Fighter 4/Paladin X

If you take aasimar instead of human, you get 4 more ability points (+2 wis and +2 cha), which helps much.

Stats: high charisma and strength, better-than-average wisdom and constitution

Human Monk

And again, if you want better stats, you could choose more powerful race (like aasimar, tiefling or drow)

Stats: high wisdom, better-than-average strength, dexterity and constitution

Human Morninglord of Lathander

In my opinion Lathander is the best deity choice. Improved turning, Lathander's renewal and fire based domain spells make Morninglords powerful.

Stats: high wisdom, better-than-average strength, constitution and charisma

Human Ranger 1/Rogue X

This character sounds also good, although rogues aren't very good tanks.

Stats: high strength and dexterity, better-than-average constitution and intelligence

Alt: Drow Rogue 1/Wizard X

Rogue 2/Wizard would give you more skill points and evasion ability. Also, make sure that you max his intelligence and that his first level is rogue (much more skill points)

Stats: high intelligence and dexterity

Wild Elf Fighter (Archer)

Yep, sounds nice. You will get lots of feats.

Stats: high dexterity, better-than-average strength and constitution

Human Wizard or Sorcerer

Sorcerers are great. They get more spells and they don't have to memorize spells as wizards do. Although, if you are going to take only one magic user, I'd still take wizard.

Stats (wizard): high intelligence and dexterity, better-than-average constitution

Stats (sorcerer): high charisma and dexterity, better-than-average constitution

Human Fighter 4/Paladin X
Roles: Diplomat, Mage Killer, Tank
The Aasimar makes for a better paladin and is probably worth the one level penalty for the enhanced charisma and wisdom. Paladins have high requirements in wisdom and charisma, which are otherwise unnecessary in a tank. Also, you'll be disappointed when you use a paladin as a diplomat: they aren't very diplomatic. They don't know when to keep their big mouths shut and they will graciously refuse rewards.

For my money, a bard character makes for a better diplomat. Dual the class after level 11, because the bard doesn't get any better than this.

Human Monk
Roles: Tank, Mage Killer, Scout
Monks are not as powerful as they look on paper. When I played IWD2, the monk character was the one that I was always having to worry about and get urgent help to. She couldn't cut it all in HOF mode.

Human Morninglord of Lathander
Roles: Secondary Tank, Healer, Bombardier
Why not? One consideration is that IWD2 is unusual in IE games in not having too many undead creatures to combat. Clerics of Tempus have rather splendid bonuses, and may be more suited to the tank role.

Human Ranger 1/Rogue X
Roles: Secondary Tank, Thief
Good way to get dual wielding cheap. Thief characters don't make great tanks, though. Sneak attacks are much better than 2E backstab because you can use them continuously so long as you're flanking an enemy.

Alt: Drow Rogue 1/Wizard X
Roles: Bombardier, Summoner, Loremaster, Thief
I think you'll find that the main use of this character is to ensure that you'll continue to get XP from weak creatures long after the rest of your party should have stopped - he will simply be miles behind everybody else in levels. Drow characters level up really slowly, anyway. Dualling them simply makes them even slower. You'll find that the day blindness is a major pain as well.

Wild Elf Fighter (Archer)
Roles: Sniper, Secondary Tank
Devoting a fighter character to archery is a waste of a fighter, IMO. Take advantage of a fighter's high strength by whacking things hard with big weapons. Leave archery to high DEX characters (rogues, bards, maybe rangers).

Human Wizard or SorcererAasimar sorceror. Rocks all the way. Apart from sneak attack, you may find that a wizard can take the place of a rogue. High intelligence means lots of skills and you can spend a few points on finding and removing traps and opening locks. There aren't that many traps in IWD2, happily (another refreshing change from other IE games).

You may find that your party lacks in the fighter department. Pure fighter characters are the best here: half-orcs for the extra strength, dwarfs for the extra constitution (although I had fun with an elven finesse fighter). Two handed weapons do more damage than dual wielding when you've got high strength so you can spend the extra feats elsewhere.

I've done some thinking in regards to the responces to this thread (on this and several other forums) and my party has changed quite a bit because of it. Thank you all for your help.

Actually I could still use some help refining the party, but I do need to eliminate one of the characters and since it has taken a new direction I am going to make a new thread... please see "The Weakest Link"