[Aerich]

Good tactical tips from NobleNick. Between us I think we've covered everything in these three posts.

The real trick, once your party has had it's butt whipped, is to sit back and think what went wrong and how to counter it. Yes, sometimes you need a bit of luck, but good tactics win out. NobleNick's most valuable piece of advice, IMO, is to use the pause button. You can also set the game to autopause whenever a character has finished a round.

If you have to (I often do this), rest on the level below so that you have exactly the spells you want for the fight. You may also want to switch up the party formation. If you change it to the triangle so that your best fighter-type is in front, that should help keep the wights away from your most vulnerable characters. You can also move that character forward if he has Free Action, so that the charging wights focus on that character alone. A couple Web spells dropped in there will help immeasurably.

I think you'll find that Web + the rings of Free Action are one of the most effective techniques you can use. Combine it with the Protection from Fire + fire spells, and it should get you through 90% of the battles.

I do have to disagree with NobleNick's assessment of your party. IMO, your front line is fine if it gets adequate support from the back and takes advantage of its strengths. Although your party is not absolutely the most efficient, it should do just fine. Rangers get an extra melee attack per round if using a single-handed weapon and no shield (simulating the dual-wield), and a F/C is a decent tank. I went through this area on insane with no single-class fighters and a multiclass F/C as my lead, and I did just fine (granted, I had 5 spellcasters at the time, but the point still stands).

One great tactic with a F/C is to cast Protection from Evil, Draw Upon Holy Might (DUHM), and Chant (in that order) before entering combat. Do this on the level below. You might be surprised how much this adds to the durability of your character. For extra-tough results, drink a potion of giant strength (or cast a strength spell of some kind) before casting DUHM.

One final thought? I'm not sure if you have a cleric other than your F[5]/C[5] tank, but if you do, try using Turn Undead.