What does your party consist of?

[Shantei]

...Do many people here decide to dual or multi class in here? What does you party consist of and why?

Thanks in advance.

[Grombag]

I have never dual classed in IWD (only dual classed Imoen in BG to a mage right at level 2). I dislike the fact that you have a good character for a particulair job and suddenly you don't have anybody on that area anymore. I preffer multiclass to include 2 classes.

My party?
Have made 2 parties:
First party:
1 Dwarf fighter (tank spec in axes)
1 Human Ranger (counter spec in great swords)
1 Half-elf fighter druid
1 Cleric
1 Bard
1 Elf(?) mage thief

Fighter druid was pretty good. Espessially the ellemantal changes later in the game
Mage thief didn't level fast enough (especially the mage side). On top of that I had to send her in front of the group to search for traps

Second party:
Idea behind it a man with his wife on the road

1 Half elf Fighter thief
Idea behind this one was that he walked up front and sniffed out the traps. If they encountered some baddieshe was the first they saw so that worked pretty well.
1 Half elf Mage cleric
Buffs and ranged attacks. Besides that a good tactic seemed to be to drop a web spell at their feet. Thanks to their rings of freedom they could fight all they wanted and their enemies kept getting stuck in it.
Haven't finnished this one yet, still have to defeat the baddie from the main game.


Curious, why do you want to know?

[dragon wench]

Since I plan to do a rerun with this party through HOF, I went for something of a power gaming approach:

Paladin
Dwarven Fighter
Half Elf Fighter/Druid
Half Elf Fighter/Thief
Half Elf Fighter/Cleric
Full Elf Fighter/Mage (interestingly, this character is utterly cleaning house in terms of total kills. Not because of spells but owing to his sniping with a bow)


Story behind the group:

My paladin and her dwarf friend are longtime companions after serving in many campaigns together. While traveling in one of the seedier districts of Baldur's Gate a certain fighter/thief and his half brother.. a fighter/mage made the unwise decision to mug the pair... As the two would-be thugs squirmed to escape from the iron grip of their targets, they begged for mercy and explained they had only needed funds to seek the opportunities offered by the frozen North so that they could leave a life of desperate squalor. My paladin, being more compassionate than rigidly law abiding.. took pity and the four ended up in a nearby tavern...
Seated near them were two sisters, each possessed of a curious nature and a restless spirit.. both warriors with an ability in the healing arts, though they had chosen somewhat different paths...

[CoM_Solaufein]

I always have multiclass characters, I don't care for duel class. I will usually have a fighter/mage or two, fighter, cleric and thief. The fifth of sixth member can be any other class that I feel like playing. In any of my parties a healer and a thief is a must have.

[AvatarOfLight]

Call me a single class brawn party junky:

Human Paladin (tank)
Human Fighter (secondary tank)
Elf Fighter (archer)
Elf Cleric
Human Wizard
Half Elf Wizard

That's right, no thief. No problem!

[Pellinore]

I usually run all single class but one, two at most. My thief is usually a fighter/thief. I like:
1)Paladin or Fighter
2)Fighter
3)Fighter/Thief
4)Cleric
5)Mage
6)Fighter/Mage

[Philos]

Have had a number of parties of different mixes.

I'll list my favorite one: (A couple of possible mild spoilers regarding equipment)
The Order of Light made it through the main game, Heart of Winter, and the download only expansion Trials of the Luremaster.
-Human Paladin (main tank)
-Half Elf Cleric/Ranger (back up tank & handled most of the clerical buff spells)
-Gnome Fighter/Thief (scout, sniper, and back up tank) (I like to use either gnomes or halflings for one character as Conlon sells this great helm that prevents fatigue and grants an extra 3 in reducing your AC.
-Elven Mage (prime arcane caster of course)
-Human Cleric of Lathander (ditto for divine spells and for turning undead into dust piles)
-Elven Fighter/Mage (great allround death dealer)

In another party I decided to experiment with a dual class character. Although Dual classing is not my preferred style my first (and best) dual class character was a Fighter 7th level/ Mage (17th or 18th level IIRC). He was an incredible killing machine. Dual class proponents may say to wait until you reach 9th level to make the switch in order to gain max hit points, but by changing at 7th I sacrificed a few hit points and one extra proficiency slot, BUT I was able to acheive using both classes much much quicker and rise higher as a mage by the game end. He rose so quickly through the early mage levels that I didn't really feel any significant loss in effectiveness. By game end I "think" he was only 1 or 2 levels behind my single class mage. A very deadly combination expecially wearing a set of elven chainmail which allows spellcasting.

So my favorite party had three multiclass characters, but my best single character was a dual class.
At present though I have a party of single class characters with the exception of a Gnome fighter/thief.

[Rhûn]

Dwarf Fighter
Human Paladin
Elf Ranger
Halfling Cleric
Half-elf Druid
Half-elf Mage/Thief

Three tanks is nice to have in IWD, so I went with the Paladin and Fighter for a bit of variety (rather than just two fighters) and a Ranger as the main damage dealer.
I went with two single-classed priests next, with the cleric and druid, because IMO it's not really necessary to multiclass these when you already have 3 warrior classes. They stay back with a sling usually but can hold their own if forced into melee (the druid less so, but makes up for with more offensive spells). It's also nice to have Turn Undead for those few tough battles where you're just surrounded by undead and taking hits.
I didn't go for a single-class thief as I find they just aren't worth it. This is true to all IE games. If you want to use backstab a lot, why not go fighter/thief and make it hit a lot more and a lot harder? Then also, the mage/thief gives is a little more survivable at lower levels due to more HP and the potential to wear armour and stealth. At higher levels, you can cast illusion spells to keep yourself concealed, allowing sometimes multiple backstabs. Plus you're a lot more useful in combat than a single-class squishy thief, being able to cast mage spells. This is usually in support, but this time I have gone for my sole arcane user as the Mage/Thief as I have two pure spellcasters already and I think I can get by.