I think this is the best combo:

Half-elf Ranger/cleric (the tank)
Elf Fighter/thief (the archer)
Gnome Fighter/illusionist (the second tank)

It's the right number to get outfit all the good equipment and specialize in all the worthwhile weapons. I'm starting over to advance the latter two to join the former for the expansion.

I would try this one:

Human Fighter;
Half Elven Cleric/Ranger.
Gnome Illusionist/Thief.

Petrarcus ap Bhaal.

Although a pure fighter is good, I think a fighter-mage is better because he can go straight into the fray with stone skin and mirror image. The gnome fighter-mage also can wear the special 3 AC helm for sale at the smithy, which makes her have great AC wearing elven chainmail (-9 AC, or -11 with a Defender weapon).

Nawh...I think provided you have a Fighter, Thief, Mage, and Cleric covered in 3 people you're fine. A pure fighter is a true tank, on the account that at the final boss you are about level 15-16. Dual class don't cut it really... And you don't need to make use of all the items..a lot of them are pretty useless, and wouldn't be helpful. A Thief/Mage is all purpose, for he can cast excellent support magic as well as offensive magic, he can hide, and backstab, but his spells are really important. A Cleric. Well a cleric is a cleric, great deffensive magics can fight if need be, and healing. So provided those four are covered in some way shape or form you are set.

I can only talk from BG experiance (why the f*ck do you come to this forum then?)

but i'd say

Ranger/cleric (dualed from rangerat level 3 or something)
Fighter/thief (dual directly at level2)
Mage or fighter mage (dual at level 2 too)

You don't dual something over after one level. Then they have poor thacos and don't get more proficiencies.

I am attempting to understand if you fellows are speaking on having only 3 members in your party in total? I can not imagine why anyone would do this if that is the case and dont try and tell me it is easier and less confusing, unless you are somewhat retarded the pause button is more than enough to allow total control easily, over any size party. If this is not what you are refering to then i will shut it.

There are some reasons to have fewer members.
(1) Because there are fewer members, each member gets more experience, so you will probably hit the experience cap (it's easy to do with 2 members). This means your party of three can be just as potent as a party of 6, and each member is more powerful. The one mage will have all the spells you run across in his spell book. The fighters will each have the best equipment in the game. You want to come close to the cap so you will reach the new 2.9 million exp cap in the expansion.
(2) Pathfinding isn't so great so you take a lot longer crawling through a dungeon with a full party. You bounce into each other a lot less with fewer members. You are actually more effective.
(3) I think the game is more challenging and thus more enjoyable. Having six characters, you don't gain an attachment to them. If there are just three, it seems more epic and you grow attached to each one, and treat them differently.

Actually, I'm attatched to all six of my party members.

I actually have one real party member, a Bard, and just need the other five to protect his butt while he's singing, dancing, drinking, and playing his little harp. Actually, I'm sorta serious there. hehe He's my highest level character (13) but he's not too hot in close combat with monsters, so he needs..um...support.

You make several valid points in your argument for three characters but i think what it comes down to is your own style of play. My party is rather basic as i did not read any manuals on character generation or optimal party configurations. Consisting of 2 tanks 2 clerics a mage and a thief.

In truth reaching the xp cap is really not all that important. They dont give any medals out for maxing out your xp and even though my characters are currently only levels 11-13 there is nothing I have encountered so far that we cannot stop with some good planning and wise use of the items we have gathered. I mean its not a competition to see who is the best or the coolest it is a game for you to enjoy playing and have fun with ( I dont want to be able to wade into a fight without concern,its the fear and need to use my brain that is enjoyable to me).

I do agree that a party of three at level 16 can be just as powerful as six of lower levels but the three would lack the flexibility of six in my view more options is always better. The tanks soaking up damage and delivering deathblows (specializing in different weapons allows them to have the best of many weapon types) constantly under the watchful eyes of two fine clerics one of which is stocked full of buffs and heals(also acting as a tank) the other acting as main healer, these two in tandem have provided more simultaneous heals on varying party members in the heat of a raging battle than i can count. this effectively doubles the number of heals in your arsenal. While the mage reaches into his full book o' tricks (due to the fact he is the only mage he does indeed have all the spells we come across) and the thief gets wacky with his backstab and missile weapons, pulling in one at a time what we cant beat in a stand up fight.

I however do not agree that it is so bad dealing with pathing in a full party it is a rarity that someone wanders off in the wrong direction. If they do however i just curse them and steer em back. I dont see why taking longer in a dungeon is bad enjoy the game already.

Finaly i spent a few hours making my characters, each is unique and I have gained a attachment to them. They are my party and they do me proud every time i play, even that simpering Elf.

Oorah for Mourngrim!!! I have a party of six sitting on their asses just waiting for Heart of Winter, which I just pre-ordered. I like them all and its fun deciding who does what. All the great weapons that you have to use its funner using six!

What turned me off having 6 was the fact you might not have enough magic weapons to go around. So when you run into your first mummy, you have two or three people running around like headless chickens trying to avoid getting hit. This is especially true with the druid fighter (no good druid weapons out there until very late). And there aren't enough magic arrows or bullets to be found.

Let's hope they fix dual wield so you can wield two weapons.

i do like small parties too, because all the reasons that have already been explained here. with 6 the game is easy (except maybe the 1st time), and 3 is a fine number to get nice xp and items but not be very weak. I completed IWD first with a whole party, then with 3 elven warriors (especialized in bows) and i started to complete it with a solo fighter/thief but then BG2 appeared and i left it in chapter 3 or so.

Not enough magical weapons to go around? We're talking about the same game now aren't we-IceWindDale-? I had so much magical weapons and armor I was forced to start selling or stowing extra magical junk I had cluttering up my inventory.

We're talking first mummy. You don't even have a +2 weapon by this time, and the sword you receive from the barbarian ghost at the end of chapter 2, the most powerful weapon you should have at that time, is a whooping +1 two hander.

Anyway (being unable to modify my message), when you have three members you change your tactics because you can't absorb as much damage or deal it out as quickly. Speed and control is one thing. Your first encounters with Veebergs you see they hit very hard, and so you have to run away from them and fight at a distance as long as possible. I twinked my characters with chapter 3 stuff though to make the more tedious first two chapters fly by.

Wait a minute. Burn me if I'm wrong, but won't 3 multiclass characters gain as much exp in their two classes as 6 single class characters? True, with 3 you're only splitting the exp 3 ways, but then they have to split it into 2 for each of em. So the exp get's split 6 ways in either case. Am I right or am I missing something?

Yeah, you're right, BUT: three characters will level up much faster. If you kill a monster worth 30,000 XP, each character will get 10,000 XP instead of just 5,000 XP for a six member party. So the three member party will be powerful way quicker (twice as quick as the matter of fact). You could remove the XP-cap to benefit more from this quick advancement.

Petrarcus ap Bhaal.

Run away from Verbeegs? They are easy to whack. Easy exp! So are all the giants.

Giants are easy when you have a -10 ac. Veebergs are a lot harder at -3 ac however.
Anyway, you are right that you do end up in the same spot experience wise had I played through with 3 multiclass vs. 6 single class (though you would probably have at least one or two multiclasses in the game). in my case though, I played it through most of the game with only two characters (triple class, and ranger cleric). Then I did it again with two (fighter/thief, fighter/illusionist). Now I combined the ranger cleric and with the other two to have three characters hitting the exp cap. Can't wait to see how they do when the expansion is out.

Hold on there Bhaal. Using the same example...30000 exp creature dies, 3 multiclass characters. So each character gets 10000 exp, but each class (which imho is what matters) still gets 5000 exp, the same amount if you had 6 single class characters, which is what I opted for. Finished the game with all characters at about lvl 12. I think I'll restart with this party tho: Fighter, Ranger, Thief, and either a Cleric or a Mage. Mage seems more feasible, since you can always retreat and rest...but man that last battle was TOUGH...would have to be pretty high level to beat it without prayer and recitation...with 4 characters though, they each would get 50% more experience points by the end(that is if they don't reach the cap), enough to get them to 14-16 level. Ah well, we'll see eh?

Veebergs in the Temple of the forgotten god seem to be placed there for a challange. Since they only give 420 exp, they're hardly worth it unless you have several tanks in your party. I think the most utility character for this level would be a cleric/thief. Sneak past the veebers, or sanctuary past them. come back later if you really need the exp. I also totally endorse the 3 or 4 member party. Fewer cooks to spoil the soup. However, i have met a lot of "puritans" who push up their nose at the Infinity Browser and multiplayer item imports. The first time i played, sure, i imported a few extra arrows and hea potions. who wouldn't? luckily i enjoied the game enough to play it again, with NO cheats, just to see if it was as easy. All in all, IWD is pretty easy, it can be a bit tedious at times. 6 poeple in a party means 6 chances of someone dying. Hwoever ,its also 6 people to carry all the crap you find. but they were good at placing stash spots in the dungeons; like the chests at the entrance of the Dragon's eye dungeon. I playes a solo character once who had to run up to those chests 3 times to get all the items, then had to run between town 3 more times to sell it all, but at least it was all on the 1st board of Dragon's eye in one of those "chests of holding".
3 multiclass characters ARE more powerfull than 6 single class characters by virtue of less friends to be targeted and attacked. A wise thief can sneak up, suprise all the enemies, then lead them away while the fighters clean up stragglers. Much easier than being thrown into the middle of a muddle of melee.