Ragusa's repsonse in another thread gave me the idea...List your current party members here:

Sir Belisarius: Human paladin of Heironeous, level 5...Weapon focus in greatsword. Easily the best fighter I have!

Thorfin Skullsplitter: Dwarf fighter. Weapon focus and specialization in greataxe.

Valleryn Sunburst: Female human cleric of Pelor. combat casting, wand & scroll creation and spell penetration.

Rem Alewine: halfling rogue. weapon finesse and mobility. A deadly sneak attacker with a poison dagger!

Gandor the Red. Human wizard. Wonderous Item & weapon and armor creation feats. He loves his fireball spell!!!

Followers:

Elmo: Human Fighter?

Zaxis: Elven bard. ( I picked him up on a random encounter returning to Hommlet after clearing the moathouse. He only loots gold, so I don't mind having him along. He's looking for his sister...An original quest! Amazingly, Serena was too! :p

My LG "tester" party is as follows:

A LG scythe-wielding cleric (me!) of Wee Jas (death and law, heh heh)...

...a NG bard, Quintessence, as my spokeswoman...

...a LN rogue, Serenity, for thieving duty...

...a LG necromancer, September, for wizardry...

...and a LN spike-chain-wielding fighter, Josif. I love that spike chain! It may not be a great weapon, but wow, does it look cool! It reminds me of the yo-yo weapon from that old Nintendo classic, StarTropics. If only they could be dual-wielded!

After comparing ToEE's 3.5 rangers and druids to IWD2's 3.0 versions, I'm really starting to covet a ranger and druid to spice up my party. But who would I replace?

Beware the name are un-original and taken from various sources

Korn, male Dwarven Fighter 5 weapon focus in Warhammer well the thank!

Galadonel, female elven cleric of Corellan larathian 5 and my main archer/healer 18DEX and automatic proefiencies in Bow

Dalis, male human bard4/rogue1 thieves duty + speaker

Jaheira, female 1/2 elven druid 5, support healer, capable warrior with spear + nasty spell Etangle + Call Lighting = sweat!!

Yan, male gnome wizards, he's a level 4 so no Fireball arrrr!!! stupid gnome!!! he use...miss everything... with his crossbow and he doesn't have sweat 3rd level spell...

NPC, Elmo the drunken and wimillion the gnome f/r in da temple.

Nice party I though, but I got my ass kicked too many time, plus I find it boring.

My Neutral Evil party: I have stopped playing temporarily while I get my computer serviced. I've just cleared the moathouse and finished a few quests in Hommlet. The evil way, of course.

:evil:

Lancress Stryfe: Lawful Evil male human fighter. Weapon focus/Specialization in Greatsword.

Grief: Neutral male dwarf cleric of Wee Jaas.

Blasphemy: Neutral Evil male elf necromancer.

Suelyne Wraithmoon: Neutral Evil female human rogue

Hellfist: Lawful Evil male half-orc monk.

Shura, are you running the Temple yet? ;)

Soon...soon...

:evil: :evil:

I have started an all human party.

The Party Ambassador
Rogue

"People" Skills:
Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Info, Intimidate, Sense Motive.

Other skills:
Appraise, Disable Device, Hide, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search, Tumble.

Planned Feats:
1 Dodge
1 Mobility
3 Combat Expertise
6 Spring Attack
9 Whirlwind Attack


Arcane caster
Wizard

Specialist: Conjurer
Prohibited: Necromancy, Enchantment

Class Skills:
Concentration, Spellcraft

Cross-class skills:
Heal, Hide, Move Silently, Spot, Tumble

Planned Feats:
1 Improved Initiative
1 Combat Casting
3 Brew Potion
5 Craft Wondrous Item
6 Craft Wand
9 Craft Magic Arms and Armor
10 Craft Rod


Melee Crowd Control
Fighter

Cross-class skills:
Bluff (feint in battle), Heal, Listen, Spot, Survival

Planned Feats:
1 Combat Reflexes
1 Power Attack
1 Cleave
2 Weapon Focus: Glaive
3 Combat Expertise
4 Weapon Specialization: Glaive
6 Improved Trip
6 Dodge
8 Mobility
9 Spring Attack
10 Whirlwind Attack


Melee divine caster
Cleric of Heironeous

Domains: Good, War (Long Sword)

Class Skills:
Concentration, Heal

Cross-class skills:
Listen, Spot

Planned Feats:
1 Combat Reflexes
1 Combat Casting
3 Brew Potion
6 Scribe Scroll
9 Craft Magic Arms and Armor


Undead turner, melee back-up
Cleric of Pelor

Domains: Strength, Sun

Class Skills:
Concentration, Diplomacy, Heal, Spellcraft

Planned Feats:
1 Improved Turning
1 Martial Weapon: Greatsword
3 Power Attack
6 Cleave
9 Craft Magic Arms and Armor

Inspired by Shura, I've started a LE party to experiment with the classes I usually don't pick. To make the experiment more efficient, I'm using them all at once, like so:

A LE ranger, Darwin, for dual-wielding rapiers...

...a LE rogue, Regan-Mireille, as my spokeswoman and lockpicker...

...a NE druid, Simon, with his loyal jackal Buster...

...a LE monk, Tessa, for the taekwondo...

...and a greataxe-wielding NE barbarian, Vinson, for crowd control.

Suffice it to say that this is not a well-balanced group - no mages, no cleric, no pure fighter. I have Spugnoir and Zert for backup, and we've easily cleared the moathouse, but I'm not sure how long the party will stay viable. But it's a fun experiment!

@Grey Magistrate

What do you want a fighter for? Your party is very heavy on the melee as it is.
Clerics look great, but with a druid, the only thing you're really missing is the turning ability. Well, perhaps you'll miss clerical crafting.
A wizard would have been nice, that's the only class I really miss in your party.

I have a straightforward ballanced party human rogue-fighter as frontface and leader sneak attacking with her shortsword dwarven pure fighter using dwarven waraxe half-orc pure fighter wielding a greatsword human cleric of Hieronimus (first level was a fighter level) elven wizardess ... spellhurlingHowever, I still consider to restart the game as I am still curious about how a ranger or a paladin might play like ...

Paladins are actually good in this game! I think he is my best overall fighter. That Holy Sword Meleny's father gives you doesn't hurt either!

I just noticed ... I have created a human lvl-4 fighter becoming a paladin ... she's now wielding a longsword +2, a large steelshield +2 and has a full plate (soon to be enchanted) - she's quite a force and pretty good in conversation skills too, no match for a rogue though.

So you can see ... I started again ... aside form the char mentioned above I have a newly made halfling ranger-rogue focusing on ranged combat using a shortbow (and soon finesse for a dagger) - she'll also provide the conversation skills the pally doesn't has. Except for that I have a dwarven plain fighter with dwarven waraxe, my cleric of Hieronious with his fighter level, and my wizard.

I'm fishing atm ;) and I think I eventually found the party I'll finish the gamne with.

My "Party"
Isra
Female Human - Fighter - Lv 10
Str: 18
Dex: 18 (+2 from gloves)
Con: 18
Int: 14
Wis: 12
Cha: 6 (Isn´t she a beauty :D )

Feats:
Cleave
Great Cleave
Improved Initiative
Combat Expertise
Two Weapon Defense
Two Weapon Fighting
Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Power Attack
Combat Reflexes
Weapon Focus (Longsword)
Weapon Specialization (Longsword)

4 attacks/round plus eventual cleave/great cleave is the way to go =) I´ve killed like 12 people in one round, there are a big bunch of weak Earth Temple Guards in a room... :)

Just cleared out second level of ToEE so I only have a +2 Longsword and a +1 Longsword so far. Green Elven Chainmail is pretty nice.
Also I found a bug considering the usage of shields. Normally you are only supposed to be able to have a buckler while dual-weilding, but if you equip a buckler and then right-klick on the large shield+2 (in my case) it just switches the two :) "Cheater!!" blabla, I know, but alittle extra armorclass doesn´t really equal 4 or more companions...

Bison, a Lvl 9 Half-Orc Barbarian
Borcha, a Lvl 9 Human Monk
Aminias, Lvl 9 Human Sorcerer
Chara Ward, Lvl 9 Halfling Rogue
Keeva Taliana, Lvl 9 Human Cleric

Plus Elmo, who is Lvl 10 Fighter
Wonilion (Lvl 6 Rogue?)
Zaxis (sp?) (Level 5 Bard)

I feel like something of a noob at this game. Currently, my sorcerer chews it up with fireball and magic missile, my cleric summons monsters and sound bursts a lot of monsters, while my rogue fires lots of arrows into enemies. I'm still trying to secure arrows, since my rogue shoots 3 at a time, if there are no other actions that round. My Barbarian is a huge tank but no cleave (Maybe not totally a loss). My monk has so far been something of a disappointment. Potentially, he can do three attacks on any opponent while standing still, but he doesn't hit for a ton of damage and is usually outclassed by my Barbarian. Anyone suggest a good monk build?

I'm satisfied mostly with my sorc and barbarian primarily. My rogue and cleric are okay, and my monk is a little bit disappointing. Great cleave without the killing damage required to use it... btw, didn't monks receive cleave for free at level 1?

My NPCs are a bunch of thieving and useless hoarders. Elmo, however, is a great fighter. I don't know why I'm taking Wonilion OR Zaxis. I can only think of them as puny meat shields. I was taking Otis but looting became a problem, as I suspect it will become with Zaxis. Otis sold his damn longsword +2 and attacked me for "stealing" it (buying it back).

Zaxis loots items from me as does Elmo. I tried the filling inventory with beer trick but apparently they "claim" the items, so you can't pick them up even if the NPCs have no inventory space left. I can only buy back items I need, or try to transfer them while in merchant screens...

My neutral good party:

Human Paladin
Dwarf Cleric of Pelor
Human Druid
Elf Rogue
Human Wizard

I'm not using any NPCs after reading about their looting behaviour. I've just cleared Dungeon Level 1 of the Temple and my PCs are all level 7.

I've also encountered the 'shield' bug. My rogue is able to equip a wooden shield +2 while wielding a one-handed weapon like a long sword (she's elf). It only works on the third and fourth tabs (magenta and red?), IIRC. Not that I'm complaining. ;)

Human Paladin
Human Paladin
Human Cleric
Dwarf Cleric turned Fighter
Half-Elven Bard

It's surprisingly effective, although I never use any cleric spells; only Turn Undead. Nor do I use the Bard Song. I just keep forgetting about spells and songs. I didn't take any henchmen, because they all annoy me.

Ok, here goes..

Swordsaint, lvl 5/3 Chaotic Neutral Male Human Fighter/Barbarian, party's bully, swinging Otis' longsword with deadly accuracy. He's got amazing AC of 29, I don't even remember when he got hit last time. Being barbarian with light enough equipment he can move 40' /turn. A real killer.

Fireflight, lvl 8 Chaotic Neutral Male Elven Ranger, pretty good with sword, unbelievable with bow firing two arrows per round.

Saga, lvl 8 Neutral Good Female Cleric. Party's spokesperson, but not much of a fighter since she never hits, but is a real menace to undead. I think I should get rid of her, but she's the only one that can do healing magic.

Mayfairy (my favourite), lvl 5/3 Chaotic Neutral Female Halfling Thief/Barbarian. Just starting to take part in melee fights after few barbarian levels. Let's see how good she is with those sneak attacks. Attack bonuses with dagger sure are high, so I'm expecting much.

Evilla, lvl 8 Chaotic Evil Female Human Wizard. Doesn't hit anything with her crossbow, and takes a lot of punishment when caught in the middle of the fight, but sure can handle a big bunch of critters with her top three spells, which are web, fireball and ice storm. Damn that level cap.. :mad: , if it weren't for that, she'd be dealing a lot of serious damage with melf's acid arrow and legendary magic missile.

Seems quite easy now that I'm clearing those first levels of Temple, but I sure expect some challenge at deeper levels.

Here is my post-patch party.

Any party, or indeed even solo character, can handle most the game, but this party's main purpose is to have a fighting chance when going up against the Balor without having to resort to cheese like Cloudkill.
I intend to use Scather though. :)

Warning: Using this party might make the game too easy. :heh:

Fig-8/Bbn-2
Half-orc Fighter/Barbarian (Chaotic Good)
Stats: Str 20, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 11
1 F1 Weapon Focus: Greatsword, Combat Reflexes
2 B1 Fast Movement, Rage
3 F2 Power Attack, Cleave
4 B2 Uncanny Dodge
5 F3
6 F4 Weapon Specialization: Greatsword, Greater Cleave
7 F5
8 F6 Combat Expertise
9 F7 Improved Critical
10 F8 Greater Weapon Focus: Greatsword
Skills: Disable Device, Heal, Tumble

Fig-8/Bbn-1/Ran-1
Half-orc Fighter/Barbarian/Ranger
Stats: Str 20, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 9
1 F1 Power Attack, Cleave
2 B1 Fast Movement, Rage
3 F2 Weapon Focus: Glaive, Combat Reflexes
4 F3
5 F4 Weapon Specialization: Glaive
6 F5 Greater Cleave
7 F6 Improved Critical
8 F7
9 F8 Improved Initiative, Greater Weapon Focus: Glaive
10 R1 Track, Favored Enemy: Outsider
Skills: Survival, Tumble

Cle-10
Human Cleric of Pelor (Good, Sun)
Stats: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 18, Cha 18
1 C1 Combat Expertise, Improved Initiative
2 C2
3 C3 Craft Wondrous Item
4 C4
5 C5
6 C6 Craft MA & Armor
7 C7
8 C8
9 C9 Craft Wand
10 C10
Skills: Concentration, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Sense Motive

Wiz-10
Elf Conjurer (-Necro,- Enchantment)
Stats: Str 15, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 8
1 W1 Improved Initiative
2 W2
3 W3 Improved Counterspell
4 W4
5 W5 Craft Wand
6 W6 Spell Penetration
7 W7
8 W8
9 W9 Greater Spell Penetration
10 W10 Craft Wondrous Item
Skills: Concentration, Spellcraft, Heal, Search, Spot, Tumble

Wiz-10
Elf Evoker (-Necro, -Abjuration)
Stats: Str 8, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 16, Cha 11
1 W1 Spell Focus: Evocation
2 W2
3 W3 Greater Spell Focus: Evocation
4 W4
5 W5 Empower Spell
6 W6 Spell Penetration
7 W7
8 W8
9 W9 Greater Spell Penetration
10 W10 Craft Wondrous Item
Skills: Concentration, Spellcraft, Appraise, Heal, Listen, Tumble