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So, i just bought this game, and felt a little helpless with the party creation stuff. Since i've played Baldurs Gate 2 a lot, i know that it's very important.
I simply don't know which classes to choose, and perhaps which multiclasses. I read a bit of that topic about multi-classing, but it seems pretty confusing with all those different meanings on who to choose.

What party would you see as being the best?
Which classes are recommended?

I've never played the game before, so i need help!

My english may contain grammatic and/or spelling mistakes. I hope you don't mind.

First tme playing IW2, lucky you.

For the first time through i would recommend a balanced party

Fighter: dwarven or human, lots of str. +1/+2 dex i would recommend because you dont get many good armors in this game that are fullplate.

2. tank: your choice of brb, ranger or pally. I like to take a pally then multi to ranger in about chapter 4 or 5. you get a very nice pally sword in the game. Dual-wielding is recommended.

Cleric: This guy is your god. He/she will save the day again and again. best spell, animate dead! i usally take Tempus as god but that is just my fav.

Rouge: Halfling or elf(some people say im crazy). full dex and maybe a point or two in int. get weapon finesse and watch him kill. Should maybe ge t a few lvls of fighter

Spellcaster: wizard or sorcerer. i usually take one of each to fill up my last slot. Very powerfull having one of each. Sorc. takes gets all the destruction spells he can get. And the wiz gets all the spells you find.

All this is just me rambling on about my favoritt setup. If you are unsure about the multiclassing just drop it.

Hope some of this helps

1. run a search for "party" in topic, you'll get a bundle of threads about evaluating diferent parties

2. http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/IWD2/iwd2char.zip

this is an exellent guide into IWD2 classes.


3. once you have thought of a lineup, post it, and let people comment on every char...



other than that, go with Julian's recommendations. you can't really go wrong with classes / kits, as long as you maintain "build" stability of:

Tank (high HP, good saves / SR, high damage)
Divine caster / "enhancer" (cleric is way beter than druid here)
Rogue (traps & locks)
Arcane caster / "nuker" (both classes are good)

these can be of course combined. i also find these roles to be usefull:

Scout (high hide & move silently)
Sniper (ranged attacks)
Talker (high intelligence & charisma, diplomacy, bluff, intimidation)
Magekiller (good saves, many attacks / round, sneak attac)
Loremaster (knowledge: arcana, alchemy)
these can be combined, too.

my suggestion is to try to think of a COMBAT and NON-COMBAT role for each char, as these are the two modes your chars will be:

Sorcerer: talker & arcane spellcaster
Monk or 2-weilding fighter/rogue: scout & magekiller
Paladin: talker & tank
Ceric or bard or bard1/cleric: talker / identifier & divine caster
Rogue/Fighter4: rogue & sniper...


you get the picture!

One thing to keep in mind Estaze is to remember when you are multi=classing to keep it around your favored class and go from there or end up there. Every race has a favored class. You do not get Experiance level penelties for foavorite class but you do if you have two or more classes with greater than 2 levels difference and neither is a favored class. Have fun.

my favourite party

Every "classic" party is composed of 2 groups: "The 3 fighters" and "The other 3". In "the other 3" you must have a rogue (very much powerful in IW2 than in BG2, for sure), the one casting cleric spells (cleric or druide), and the sorcerer. This is the basic structure, although it can be modified in order to create funny partys.

My personal choices:
The aasimar Paladin is a must. He provides the very useful protection against fear, wich comes to be really helpful when you face a dragon or a similar creature. His different abilities as paladin and aasimar are very powerful if you know how to use them. Distribuying the points is more complicated, because there are a lot of ways. The feats are easier, although. I recomend Fiendslayer, Heroic inspiration, 2 profs in large and great sword, some thoughness, heretic's bane...
Don't forget this is not a "killing machine" character, it's an "all around".


Beside this, I love the half orc - barbarian to be the "tank" of the party. Full str & con, high dex if possible. He will be weak against magic, (and probably unable to read & write ) but you got a pretty killing machine against the though-bad-guys you will meet. They simply will not stand a chance. Make him wield the two handed weapons, specially the axes and spears. Critical enhanced, dirty fighting, improved critical, profs in the 2 handed weapons, and don't forget the barbarian features, such as heroic inspiration & resist poison...
In this place, a dwarf may also do the dirty job. Just make sure you make them full of dex. This character must have a lot of HP, in order to support the hand to hand battle.

The 3rd place for the fighters is quite open. There's a lot of options. You are able to place here the monk, if you like exotic players. The ranger is another option (some people like the "eagle eye ranger", they put a bow in his hands and make him a perfect sniper , but my choice is the cool-technique-figher. In IW2, the human warrior receives more skills than other races, so I make him something like the equivalent of the "kensai warrior" in BG2. 2 weapon fighting (full bastard sword and short sword), ambidextretery, don't forget the concetration skill, because you will need it in the future for "maximized attaks", go for the con & str, but don't forget a little dex, just for power attack... Ow, and "cleave", it's important.
Put him in the front of the battle, must be your 2nd choice after the tank. This character is useful for killing a lot of little weak enemys while the barbarian is holding the big ones.

Another choice is the bard, but I personally don't like them. Good in a lot of things, but not definitely great in nothing.

The rogue is much easier than in BG2. Choose the race you like, the elf is not the only option now, you will see why. Go for the maximum of dex, because you have the feature that ables you to use the dex instead of the str, so forget about the str. Some people like dual thiefs into mages, in that case go for the int. If not, make him a 4rth choice in battle and put him as HP as you can.
Always take the back of the enemy while it's fighting against the "big brothers" of the thieve and attack with the rogue sttabing. You are no longer forced to hide the rogue, just attack in the back and he'll do the wonderful stabbing. Just be careful, because some enemys may "become angry" after that...
All the special abilities of the rogue, as you are able to get them. If a mage, 2 profs in bow, if now, short sword of large if he's an elf.

The cleric place: there you can put a druid if you have already the paladin with the ability of turning undead. Personally, I don't like druids, but there are useful because they have a lot of fighting spells. If you had the ranger, choose the cleric. If you don't have the paladin, the cleric is a must. The turning ability has become a lot of more powerful than in the old IW.
Don't forget not to choose any healing spell in the low levels. You may convert any simple spell into a healing one. Don't do this beyong the 4th level, or you'll get a weaker healing spell.

Finally, there comes the place for the magician. Magic is really powerfull in IW2, as in BG2, so I have nothing more to say. If you had the bard, you can choose the specialist, and make the bard learn the spells the sorcerer can't.
I like the drow for this place, because they have +int & +char.
Make him a 20char, because now that's the important for having spells. This character is the one who will speak at the markets or with the NPC, if you have the choice. Make sure you cast on him the Eagle's splendor. Be careful who the paladin talks, the mage must be now your first choice.

"That's all folks"
I hope being helpful, sorry for my awful english, I hope I will be more or less understood.