For modded game ( with Spells and Kits revisions and other mods)
1. Taggert, Female Paladin with Kits Revisions (this pals can enchant sword with holy power anr receive spellcasting abilities earlier than unmodded) Weapon specialisation should be swords, for Pale Justice. She joins party then her will receive 3 lvl to make things slightly balanced. Later she'll even receive a special mod created ring with Minor Sequencer per day, for pals only. Overall it will be a powerful and fun build.
2. Rearden, Male Duskblade (from my own mod), a mighty warrior that can channel touch-based spells through his weapon. Weapon specialisation are broad sword and shield or Two-handed weapon, maybe some weapon with stun chance.
3. Female Kensai (pure or later dualed to mage, will see how game will go) from Kits Revisions, she can use bracers. There are two builds: a. glass cannon with as many attacks per round as possible. Weapons of choice - swords (Long Sword of Action +4), katana (not sure if they will be added) or scimitars (+1 attack from Valiant ), Ring of Reckless Action would be awesome.
b. A more damage-resistant kensai for easier gameplay. Weapons of choice should be weapons with bonus to damage resistance, for example Defender of Easthaven.
4. Male Runescarred Berserker, (from my own mod) a warrior that can cast a limited choice of spells by damaging himself (losing 15-30 HP, varies from spell level). I always enjoyed the blood mage idea of gish from DAO, so decided to adapt 3.5 DND prestige class to this game. Weapons of choice will be Axes, or weapons with damage resistances, or those that add HP (Singning Blade of Aihonen?)
Yes, there are no pure spellcasters in this party, I'll always prefer gishes and multi fighters to wizards and clerics
For unmodded game:
1. Berserker\druid should fit perfectly in this game. "Feel the power of Nature WRAAAGH!" or something like that. Oh, and of course it's scimitars, which to be honest are not so powerful in IWD.
2. Sunsoul monk, never played monks in BG series, this should be interesting.
3. Of course it's a legendary fighter\mage multi. To make things interesting, his favorite weapons would be daggers.
4. A half-orc blackguard with greater swords\axes specialisation.
I do Have two big questions though, as im really trying to remind myself how this works. What are the benefits of dual classing over multi classing?
Furthermore, would it be wiser to multiclass my fighter/cleric, or Dualclass it? Assuming I decide to Dual, Whens a good point to break off into my cleric/thief dual? Ive heard 7/9 is best for that, but im curious on opinions.
It's funny, I was all set on running an undead hunter with a bunch of nature lovers (barbarian, stalker, druid, wild mage...)
But when it came down to it, I went with making characters that fit the portraits/voices that I enjoyed the most, so I ended up with a quite different (ragtag) party than what I might normally shoot for (I normally go for elves/halflings, not dwarves, which I ended up with 2 of):
Marl - CN Dwarf Berserker w/axe & shield (even took 2 pips in shield style) dumb and super tough...perfect for the Fighter 3 voice (ARRRRRRRRRRGGHHHH), which never gets old for me.
Grimloc - CG Dwarf Bounty Hunter w/crossbow & short sword...Marl's "smarter" buddy, the only person he'll listen to
Lentnor - CG Human Stalker w/2 longswords or clubs & longbow...grumpy scout who keeps to the shadows (half the loot is mine)
Rilee - NG 1/2 Elf Bard w/darts & shortbow...the charming beautiful leader of the crazy troup
Finn - CG Halfling Cleric of Lathander w/sling & flails...with the smart ass male 2 voice...the wackiest man alive
I fiddled with EEKeeper in two cases to get myself a party I wanted. Otherwise I'd be stuck with all dual-classed humans, which is boring.
Human Inquisitor (Dual wielding, for Dispell Magic) Dwarf Fighter/Priest of Tyr (Sword and shield) Halfling Fighter/Assassin (Archer) Half-Elf Fighter/Druid (2-Hander) (might make her a Berserker/Druid for the laughs) Half-Elf Bard Elf Dragon Disciple
3 melee guys, one archer, one singer, and one spellslinger
Was thinking for an HoF gameplay this setup, what do you think?
Undead Hunter ---> Long Sword Single Weapon Style Archer ----------> Long Bow or Crossbow Swashbuckler ----> Dual Wield Long and Short Sword Ranger/Cleric ----> Dual Wield Warhammer/Flail/Morning Star Kensai/Wizard ---> Two Handed Sword
I've already played the game when it was in beta. There are my characters and some of the memories I have of them.
First party. Core difficulty.
Wielding Kresselack's black armor, blade and helm. Leading the party. Guarding a doorway with Tamoko while the party mages were throwing fireballs into the room.
"I serve *no one*, old man, and Kuldahar can burn."—final words to the dying Arundel.
Kidnapping undead guards, leading them to an isolated room in the keep of the Luremaster where the rest of the party were waiting in ambush. Fighting the stone nuisance alone because nobody else could harm them. Resurrecting with a wand.
I've imported his character file from BGEE. This is my current BG character. Casting fireballs like a pyromaniac with 100% natural fire resistance. Obliterating troll armies. Regeneration. A roll of 98.
I've imported his character file from BGEE. I've first played him in PnP D&D 3.5 with the same stats. I didn't do anything useful with him in IWDEE, though. Casting insect plague on the party during the final battle.
I've imported her character file from BGEE. This is my first BGEE character. I've beaten the game with her. Dual-wielding two rusty unenchanted scimitars. Being able to do everything. Having a bunny in her bag.
I've played this character in PnP WoD. Poking enemies with a halberd from behind the fighters. Standing with her back turned to the fight and singing. Charisma 19 thanks to a tome of Maluradek's.
Second party. HoF difficulty.
I haven't beaten the game with this party yet. They just reached Dorn's Deep.
Leading the party because he turned out to be the most charismatic party member. Chasing a chicken all over the map for that 2000 XP. Synchronized DUHM with the dwarven cleric.
Having a hoarse voice. Singing the imperial march non-stop. Pick-pocketing animals. Carrying a dead cat.
Dual wielding katanas. Having no skills or spells (wizard slayer). "Avenge me"—drops dead. L
Wearing all equipment in the game with charisma penalties. Troll-like regeneration.
A beardless dwarf. Dual wielding Axes. Taking all the blows in HoF mode. I can't imagine surviving without her.
Casting Nahal's reckless dweomer all the time. Most of the spells cast so far are level 1. Filling the lower level of the Severed Hand with skull traps where shadow enemies suddenly appear in every room. Casting mass mirror image. COW-ing herself. Turning Hrothgar into a woman. That squirrel paper-doll.
Solo. HoF difficulty.
Still in Eastheaven. Not sure if I can complete the game solo at all.
Looking up Amelyssan's stats in ToB. Fighting the first party of goblins for hours. Using up all 12 stacks of bullets and dealing the single final blow with a hammer. Casting DUHM on herself so she can carry the enemy loot back to the shop. Getting so much experience in chapter one that she is now multi-class level 7/7 before leaving Eastheaven. Saving up money for a bag of holding.
My current team. Adventuring party led by the legendary Red Sonja. She sets off northwards after hearing rumors of evil spreading. She encounters fellow adventurers on the way.
1) Red Sonja - Fighter; dual wielding longswords). Group leader. Always seeking adventure and ways to defeat evil, Sonja travels north to combat the growing threat in Icewind Dale.
2) Beckla Halfblood - Barbarian; dual wielding axes. Sonja's more barbaric counterpart, a half elven/orc warrior of immense skill, but prone to fits of bloodrage. Sonja promises that if Beckla helps he in the journey northwards, she'll settle their rivalry with a friendly duel of blades.
3) Abbadonna - Paladin (Cavalier); 2-handed swords. Raised by a secret order, Abbadonna is a weapon against evil. She is bestowed a mission to cleanse the growing North of evil, and encounters Sonja's party on the way.
4) Slade Dedshotte - Ranger (Archer); longbow. Ranger of the frozen tundra of the north, Slade helps protect the people from ravaging monsters that plague the North.
5) Sinsarah - Wild Mage; throwing daggers. Ex-wealthy noble mage in hiding on the run from Amn, she has fled north to escape facing time in Spellhold. Sees her time with Sonja could help restore her reputation.
6) Jazdia Songwind - Bard; mace/shield, but just sings songs sings songs la la la all day. She is a happy-go-lucky free spirit that annoyingly tags alongside Sonja to record more songs of valor!
I'm doing a level 1 HoF run with a following party: Cavalier (just because of Pale Justice realy), Bard (songs are godly), Dark Moon Monk (only because I like the class..), Totemic Druid (easily the MVP, awesome summons and other spells, spirit beasts were super useful especially early on), Mage/Thief (who's walking with empty spell slots because in HoF he levels too fast :X) and an Archer (look Monk, lol).
The beginning was super hard, but spirit summons saved the day, and by the time I got to Kuldahar it started being manageable.
This is obviously not the best team I could make for a run like this, kinda went more for what I like and not what's the strongest, but oh well.. it's too late now and I don't feel like restarting.
I was thinking to do an hof run myself, actually I'm playing my 1st run EVER on IWD and, to be honest, I think the game is boring as hell, at least unmodded. Even with insane difficult most of the fights are kind of the same and I'm missing the true feeling of "hard" encounters of bg2 modded.
Btw, this is my insane party run (I didn't min maxed couz I wanted to try some future that I was not used to, like dudu and true bard)
Dwarven Defender Kitted dudu Kitted pally figher/rogue fighter/cleric true bard
For Hof I was thinking, as a core:
Kensai/mage Kensai/dudu Berserker/cleric
Dualed at 9
And I'm still thinking about the other classes. I will min/max but I'm too newbie for IWD to understand what I srly need or not. I'm tempted to do a thief-less run but I don't know if I will be able to go true all the contest, for example.
I started with a party made out of Order of the Stick characters, but decided at the first level of Dragon's Eye to restart and play at the hardest difficulty level. I recycled some characters from the first party since they got some really good rolls.
Party #1: Order of the Stick Mishmash
O-Chul: Male Human Inquisitor Thog: Male Half-Orc Berserker Durkon: Male Dwarf Fighter/Cleric Belkar: Male Halfling Fighter/Rogue Haley: Female Elf Archer Vaarsuvius: Female Elf Wild Mage
Party #2: Hardest Run
Inquisitor Isabel: Female Human Inquisitor Berserker Bernard: Male Half-Orc Berserker (recycled Thog) Father Francis: Male Dwarf Fighter/Cleric (recycled Durkon) Samurai Sally: Female Halfling Fighter/Rogue Melody Full Note: Female Half-Elf Bard Wild Mage Wanda: Female Elf Wild Mage (recycled Vaarsuvius)
I'm quite keen on the Berserker dualled to cleric, but taking one along would mean that I would likely need another cleric to cover while the other one is still a fighter. Or at least, someone with healing ability.
I might investigate using EE Keeper or whatever it is called to allow me to dual class a fighter into a shadow dancer. I think single class thieves are generally a waste of time. And I don't think it is worth dualling from a shadow dancer into a fighter because their backstab multiplier grows so slowly.
Also, someone else pointed out that when you get enough potions of invisibility, the shadowdancer loses much of it's advantage. True?
In EE Keeper you can actually give the fighter a Shadowdancer kit first before dual classing. It won't do anything when you're leveling the fighter levels but when you dual class, it'll behave as if creating a level 1 shadowdancer with all the correct abilities. Just throwing it out there to save some hassles.
So far I have to pretty much purchase most of the invisibility potion. There aren't many free ones around to be picked up.
I do Have two big questions though, as im really trying to remind myself how this works. What are the benefits of dual classing over multi classing?
Furthermore, would it be wiser to multiclass my fighter/cleric, or Dualclass it? Assuming I decide to Dual, Whens a good point to break off into my cleric/thief dual? Ive heard 7/9 is best for that, but im curious on opinions.
The other threads may have already clarified this for you, but either lvl7 or 9 is a good level for dual classing. To make things more challenging, I sometimes dual class at lvl3.
I personally prefer dual class over multiclass since grandmasteries on weapons proved to be more powerful than weapon specializations. However, grandmasteries will spend 2.5x more points on a single type of weaponry than specialization, which means it leaves your character with fewer weapons of choice throughout the game. And, boy, if you happen to have noone proficient in the right magical weapons, those mummies will be a pain.
I started two runs and abandoned them because my party wasn't properly balanced before settling on one I really like (and the information tab shows the kills are very well shared out too). I'm almost finished Severed Hand and going well, fingers crossed. Two melee specialists: a Cavalier with sword & shield and a dwarf berserker using axes. A ranger/cleric dual wielding blunt weapons with skeletal undead as special enemy who makes short work of skeletal types and provides buffs. A bard who mainly sings and IDs, plus some casting. The only one who barely registers on the kill chart, but he's doing other useful things. Crossbow main weapon. A totemic druid who so far has been focussed more on summoning and AoE spells but now I've got Iron Skins she'll be getting into melee more. And a gnome thief/illusionist using shortbow when not casting.
I went through a bunch of options (especially realizing how much more I like straight Bards and Druids in this game; I usually go with Skalds and anything-but-Druids) before I settled on a party I'm happy with for two runs through:
Brynhildr, F/H Undead Hunter. Standing out in front with her long sword and shield. Bragi, M/H Fighter -> Cleric. Right there with his flail. Sometimes turning undead. Fafnir, M/H Fighter -> Druid. Summoning all the things he can to frustrate the enemy. Reginleif, F/H Bard. Singing her songs, identifying items. Occasionally hitting people with an axe, or Magic Missiles. Sigrun, F/E Fighter/Mage/Thief. Many spells, also looking for traps. Ullr, M/E Archer. Runs around, hidden in shadows. Pops out to shoot people and draw them back to the party. Eats arrows.
I normally wouldn't go so heavily human, but the Bard was about the only race I could change and still have what I wanted in my party.
I started two runs and abandoned them because my party wasn't properly balanced before settling on one I really like (and the information tab shows the kills are very well shared out too). I'm almost finished Severed Hand and going well, fingers crossed.
The information tab is a good tool to see if the party well balanced, no doubt. But keep in mind that, depends on what you want out of your characters, some characters who specializes in buffing the party or debilitating the enemies may be behind in terms of kills, but they are just as important as the ones making the kills.
I went through a bunch of options (especially realizing how much more I like straight Bards and Druids in this game; I usually go with Skalds and anything-but-Druids) before I settled on a party I'm happy with for two runs through:
I normally wouldn't go so heavily human, but the Bard was about the only race I could change and still have what I wanted in my party.
Same here, I was never much of a fan of bards or druids, but now I find them fascinating for the utility and different dialogue options they bring. Although my mercenary groups are mostly heavy on humans, and rarely do they find company outside of their race.
Well I had some issues with my original party, so I made a new one and hopefully this one will be quite fun!
Selamin Hollysword - Elven Archer (CG) Male Tylhana - Half-Elf Bard (TN) Female Ophelia Hallswood - Human Totemic Druid (TN) Female Breeza Wispsmiter - Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (TN) Female Sylralei Moonshadow - Elven Swashbuckler (CG) Female (May Dual-class her to Fighter at Lvl 10) Merumira - Half-Orc Berserker (CN) Female
I've never beaten the original IWD, only getting into the Vale of Shadows, so much of the game is new to me. I wanted to cover as many bases as possible with this party, making sure I had a bard to enjoy the special bard songs, a thief for lockpicking who still had combat viability, a non-magic ranged attacker (Archer), A Cleric/Mage to combine my spellcasting into one, A Druid for extra spells and crowd control (summons), and of course a powerful attacker (went with Berserker so I could still use Plate)
As for RP, I tend to go with harem builds a lot, that is one male character and five female ones, though with the exception of Tylhana and Sylralei, the others aren't too "comely to look at". I tried to keep them mostly in the neutral category, avoiding any lawful alignments but still pushed more towards the "decent side of things", they aren't above stealing or pickpocketing but generally do their best to help out. I haven't fleshed out any further biographies yet.
Comments
For modded game ( with Spells and Kits revisions and other mods)
1. Taggert, Female Paladin with Kits Revisions (this pals can enchant sword with holy power anr receive spellcasting abilities earlier than unmodded)
Weapon specialisation should be swords, for Pale Justice. She joins party then her will receive 3 lvl to make things slightly balanced. Later she'll even receive a special mod created ring with Minor Sequencer per day, for pals only. Overall it will be a powerful and fun build.
2. Rearden, Male Duskblade (from my own mod), a mighty warrior that can channel touch-based spells through his weapon.
Weapon specialisation are broad sword and shield or Two-handed weapon, maybe some weapon with stun chance.
3. Female Kensai (pure or later dualed to mage, will see how game will go) from Kits Revisions, she can use bracers. There are two builds:
a. glass cannon with as many attacks per round as possible.
Weapons of choice - swords (Long Sword of Action +4), katana (not sure if they will be added) or scimitars (+1 attack from Valiant ), Ring of Reckless Action would be awesome.
b. A more damage-resistant kensai for easier gameplay.
Weapons of choice should be weapons with bonus to damage resistance, for example Defender of Easthaven.
4. Male Runescarred Berserker, (from my own mod) a warrior that can cast a limited choice of spells by damaging himself (losing 15-30 HP, varies from spell level).
I always enjoyed the blood mage idea of gish from DAO, so decided to adapt 3.5 DND prestige class to this game.
Weapons of choice will be Axes, or weapons with damage resistances, or those that add HP (Singning Blade of Aihonen?)
Yes, there are no pure spellcasters in this party, I'll always prefer gishes and multi fighters to wizards and clerics
For unmodded game:
1. Berserker\druid should fit perfectly in this game. "Feel the power of Nature WRAAAGH!" or something like that. Oh, and of course it's scimitars, which to be honest are not so powerful in IWD.
2. Sunsoul monk, never played monks in BG series, this should be interesting.
3. Of course it's a legendary fighter\mage multi. To make things interesting, his favorite weapons would be daggers.
4. A half-orc blackguard with greater swords\axes specialisation.
Dorn is something of an exception.
2- Evil half/elf female warrior/mage
3- Evil half/elf female warrior/cleric
4- Evil half/elf female warrior/thief
human beserker ---> mage
human beserker ---> druid
elf archer
gnome cleric/thief
human undead hunter
Beautiful game
Priest of Tempus
Bard
Fighter/Mage/Cleric
Fighter/Mage/Thief
Fighter/Druid
Sorcerer.
Fighter/Cleric
Half Elf Bard
Elf Sorcerer
Human Undead hunter
Avenger
Fighter/Thief
I do Have two big questions though, as im really trying to remind myself how this works. What are the benefits of dual classing over multi classing?
Furthermore, would it be wiser to multiclass my fighter/cleric, or Dualclass it? Assuming I decide to Dual, Whens a good point to break off into my cleric/thief dual? Ive heard 7/9 is best for that, but im curious on opinions.
Ailill- Male Half Elf - F/T - T/N
Merryn- Female Half Elf - Bard- C/N
Arran - Male Half Elf - Cleric - L/G
Morvan - Female Human - Sun Soul Monk - L/G
Cynwrig- Male Human - Barbarian - C/N
Made a slight adjustment to my party
Human Inquisitor (Dual wielding, for Dispell Magic)
Dwarf Fighter/Priest of Tyr (Sword and shield)
Halfling Fighter/Assassin (Archer)
Half-Elf Fighter/Druid (2-Hander) (might make her a Berserker/Druid for the laughs)
Half-Elf Bard
Elf Dragon Disciple
3 melee guys, one archer, one singer, and one spellslinger
Undead Hunter ---> Long Sword Single Weapon Style
Archer ----------> Long Bow or Crossbow
Swashbuckler ----> Dual Wield Long and Short Sword
Ranger/Cleric ----> Dual Wield Warhammer/Flail/Morning Star
Kensai/Wizard ---> Two Handed Sword
Last slot for a Bard or another Healer
First party. Core difficulty.
Wielding Kresselack's black armor, blade and helm. Leading the party.
Guarding a doorway with Tamoko while the party mages were throwing fireballs into the room.
"I serve *no one*, old man, and Kuldahar can burn."—final words to the dying Arundel.
Kidnapping undead guards, leading them to an isolated room in the keep of the Luremaster where the rest of the party were waiting in ambush.
Fighting the stone nuisance alone because nobody else could harm them.
Resurrecting with a wand.
I've imported his character file from BGEE. This is my current BG character.
Casting fireballs like a pyromaniac with 100% natural fire resistance. Obliterating troll armies. Regeneration. A roll of 98.
I've imported his character file from BGEE. I've first played him in PnP D&D 3.5 with the same stats.
I didn't do anything useful with him in IWDEE, though.
Casting insect plague on the party during the final battle.
I've imported her character file from BGEE. This is my first BGEE character. I've beaten the game with her.
Dual-wielding two rusty unenchanted scimitars. Being able to do everything.
Having a bunny in her bag.
I've played this character in PnP WoD.
Poking enemies with a halberd from behind the fighters.
Standing with her back turned to the fight and singing.
Charisma 19 thanks to a tome of Maluradek's.
Second party. HoF difficulty.
I haven't beaten the game with this party yet. They just reached Dorn's Deep.Leading the party because he turned out to be the most charismatic party member.
Chasing a chicken all over the map for that 2000 XP.
Synchronized DUHM with the dwarven cleric.
Having a hoarse voice. Singing the imperial march non-stop.
Pick-pocketing animals. Carrying a dead cat.
Dual wielding katanas. Having no skills or spells (wizard slayer).
"Avenge me"—drops dead. L
Wearing all equipment in the game with charisma penalties.
Troll-like regeneration.
A beardless dwarf. Dual wielding Axes.
Taking all the blows in HoF mode. I can't imagine surviving without her.
Casting Nahal's reckless dweomer all the time. Most of the spells cast so far are level 1.
Filling the lower level of the Severed Hand with skull traps where shadow enemies suddenly appear in every room.
Casting mass mirror image. COW-ing herself. Turning Hrothgar into a woman.
That squirrel paper-doll.
Solo. HoF difficulty.
Still in Eastheaven. Not sure if I can complete the game solo at all.Looking up Amelyssan's stats in ToB.
Fighting the first party of goblins for hours. Using up all 12 stacks of bullets and dealing the single final blow with a hammer.
Casting DUHM on herself so she can carry the enemy loot back to the shop.
Getting so much experience in chapter one that she is now multi-class level 7/7 before leaving Eastheaven.
Saving up money for a bag of holding.
1) Red Sonja - Fighter; dual wielding longswords). Group leader. Always seeking adventure and ways to defeat evil, Sonja travels north to combat the growing threat in Icewind Dale.
2) Beckla Halfblood - Barbarian; dual wielding axes. Sonja's more barbaric counterpart, a half elven/orc warrior of immense skill, but prone to fits of bloodrage. Sonja promises that if Beckla helps he in the journey northwards, she'll settle their rivalry with a friendly duel of blades.
3) Abbadonna - Paladin (Cavalier); 2-handed swords. Raised by a secret order, Abbadonna is a weapon against evil. She is bestowed a mission to cleanse the growing North of evil, and encounters Sonja's party on the way.
4) Slade Dedshotte - Ranger (Archer); longbow. Ranger of the frozen tundra of the north, Slade helps protect the people from ravaging monsters that plague the North.
5) Sinsarah - Wild Mage; throwing daggers. Ex-wealthy noble mage in hiding on the run from Amn, she has fled north to escape facing time in Spellhold. Sees her time with Sonja could help restore her reputation.
6) Jazdia Songwind - Bard; mace/shield, but just sings songs sings songs la la la all day. She is a happy-go-lucky free spirit that annoyingly tags alongside Sonja to record more songs of valor!
The beginning was super hard, but spirit summons saved the day, and by the time I got to Kuldahar it started being manageable.
This is obviously not the best team I could make for a run like this, kinda went more for what I like and not what's the strongest, but oh well.. it's too late now and I don't feel like restarting.
Btw, this is my insane party run (I didn't min maxed couz I wanted to try some future that I was not used to, like dudu and true bard)
Dwarven Defender
Kitted dudu
Kitted pally
figher/rogue
fighter/cleric
true bard
For Hof I was thinking, as a core:
Kensai/mage
Kensai/dudu
Berserker/cleric
Dualed at 9
And I'm still thinking about the other classes. I will min/max but I'm too newbie for IWD to understand what I srly need or not. I'm tempted to do a thief-less run but I don't know if I will be able to go true all the contest, for example.
fighter/druid true neutral spe staff.
archer short bow chaotic good
fighter/mage lawful evil scimetar single weapon
swashbuckler neutral evil dagger 2 weapon style
Fighter
Mage
Theif
Bard
Paladin - undead hunter
Party #1: Order of the Stick Mishmash
O-Chul: Male Human Inquisitor
Thog: Male Half-Orc Berserker
Durkon: Male Dwarf Fighter/Cleric
Belkar: Male Halfling Fighter/Rogue
Haley: Female Elf Archer
Vaarsuvius: Female Elf Wild Mage
Party #2: Hardest Run
Inquisitor Isabel: Female Human Inquisitor
Berserker Bernard: Male Half-Orc Berserker (recycled Thog)
Father Francis: Male Dwarf Fighter/Cleric (recycled Durkon)
Samurai Sally: Female Halfling Fighter/Rogue
Melody Full Note: Female Half-Elf Bard
Wild Mage Wanda: Female Elf Wild Mage (recycled Vaarsuvius)
His innate invisibility power synergizes well with his songs
So far I have to pretty much purchase most of the invisibility potion. There aren't many free ones around to be picked up. The other threads may have already clarified this for you, but either lvl7 or 9 is a good level for dual classing. To make things more challenging, I sometimes dual class at lvl3.
I personally prefer dual class over multiclass since grandmasteries on weapons proved to be more powerful than weapon specializations. However, grandmasteries will spend 2.5x more points on a single type of weaponry than specialization, which means it leaves your character with fewer weapons of choice throughout the game. And, boy, if you happen to have noone proficient in the right magical weapons, those mummies will be a pain.
Two melee specialists: a Cavalier with sword & shield and a dwarf berserker using axes.
A ranger/cleric dual wielding blunt weapons with skeletal undead as special enemy who makes short work of skeletal types and provides buffs.
A bard who mainly sings and IDs, plus some casting. The only one who barely registers on the kill chart, but he's doing other useful things. Crossbow main weapon.
A totemic druid who so far has been focussed more on summoning and AoE spells but now I've got Iron Skins she'll be getting into melee more.
And a gnome thief/illusionist using shortbow when not casting.
Brynhildr, F/H Undead Hunter. Standing out in front with her long sword and shield.
Bragi, M/H Fighter -> Cleric. Right there with his flail. Sometimes turning undead.
Fafnir, M/H Fighter -> Druid. Summoning all the things he can to frustrate the enemy.
Reginleif, F/H Bard. Singing her songs, identifying items. Occasionally hitting people with an axe, or Magic Missiles.
Sigrun, F/E Fighter/Mage/Thief. Many spells, also looking for traps.
Ullr, M/E Archer. Runs around, hidden in shadows. Pops out to shoot people and draw them back to the party. Eats arrows.
I normally wouldn't go so heavily human, but the Bard was about the only race I could change and still have what I wanted in my party.
Selamin Hollysword - Elven Archer (CG) Male
Tylhana - Half-Elf Bard (TN) Female
Ophelia Hallswood - Human Totemic Druid (TN) Female
Breeza Wispsmiter - Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (TN) Female
Sylralei Moonshadow - Elven Swashbuckler (CG) Female (May Dual-class her to Fighter at Lvl 10)
Merumira - Half-Orc Berserker (CN) Female
I've never beaten the original IWD, only getting into the Vale of Shadows, so much of the game is new to me. I wanted to cover as many bases as possible with this party, making sure I had a bard to enjoy the special bard songs, a thief for lockpicking who still had combat viability, a non-magic ranged attacker (Archer), A Cleric/Mage to combine my spellcasting into one, A Druid for extra spells and crowd control (summons), and of course a powerful attacker (went with Berserker so I could still use Plate)
As for RP, I tend to go with harem builds a lot, that is one male character and five female ones, though with the exception of Tylhana and Sylralei, the others aren't too "comely to look at". I tried to keep them mostly in the neutral category, avoiding any lawful alignments but still pushed more towards the "decent side of things", they aren't above stealing or pickpocketing but generally do their best to help out. I haven't fleshed out any further biographies yet.
Human Paladin - Undead Hunter
Half Elf Cleric/Ranger
Half Elf Fighter/Druid
Dwarf Fighter/Thief
Elf Fighter/Mage
Half Elf Bard