first time party for almost a beginner

[Saverico]

1. I have played bg1,bg2,icwd2--> i know some things about game system
2. bg1 was a LONG time ago, so memories about set of rules 2.5(2.0) are SCARCE
3. -i want to play it with 6party members
-i was thinking along those lines:
1.member human BARDX, havent used him in ages, but with party this big, and icwd is combat HEAVY
2.member human fighter3/clericX specialized in hammers and such
3.member dwarf fighterX axes, greatswords
4.human ranger3/druidX
or
half-elf ranger/cleric
5.elf mage
or
human fighter3/mageX for HP
6.fighter/thief multiclass not sure about how much you need thief but
straight thieves were never that good, you need to have someone with
thieving skills AND fight decently, but ehat race? dont know

In summary this would give me lots of fighter power , magic skills, bard singing in battles, thief with enough skills(i think). Well what do you think?

[ZFR]

Do you have the HoW expansion?

Your party seems very good. Just some comments.

ranger/druid is not an allowed combo. Fighter3/DruidX is allowed. And I'd take the fighter/druid over cleric/ranger. You already have a fighter cleric, and druids are extremely powerful classes with HoW (just take them with fighter, never single class so they can wear decent armor).

Consider Paladin in place of dwarven fighter. Not really necessary, dwarven fighter is just as good, but you might want to consider a paladin.

Why dual from fighters at level 3 and not 4?

[Aerich]

It's fine. I agree with ZFR's comment re druids. Regarding character #2, I'd make it a straight multiclass F/Cl or R/Cl. Reason being, the cleric lacks offensive punch and yet has some good self-buffs that seem wasted on a single-class cleric. 1 attack/round just doesn't cut it, and the cleric won't be healing every round.

I wouldn't put axes and greatswords on your dwarven fighter, because both weapons do slashing damage. Use flail or mace instead so you can crush skeletons and other slashing-resistant creatures.

Re: the mage, either option is fine. I'd go for the extra HP myself, but if you're playing on normal difficulty level with 6 characters, it will slow up your mage's advancement.

I'd say you need a thief of some sort, purely for convenience - I've done the game without, but it's not fun and some parts are downright painful (Dragon's Eye comes to mind). Never use a single-classed thief in IWD. The F/T multiclass is a competent archer and advances fast enough to cover off all the thieving (especially as you have a bard to cover pick pockets). I don't think it really matters what race you pick for it, although I would steer away from dwarves (a "ceiling" of 17 Dex). There's a good helm for halflings or gnomes only, but elves get +1 with bows and swords, which is always useful.

[Saverico]

1. I have both datadiscs
2.Whats the difference in dualing from 4 and not from 3? thaco? number of attacs?

[ZFR]

Originally posted by Saverico: 2.Whats the difference in dualing from 4 and not from 3? thaco? number of attacs?

You get an extra weapon proficiency at level 4 IIRC.

And remember to download the TotLM expansion.

[Aerich]

With fighters, the extra weapon proficiency is gained on every 3rd level - so you will get another slot at lvl 3. Thaco improves by 1 for every fighter level gained. The # of attacks improves at lvls 7 and 13.

Dualing at lvl 7 can be a nice compromise between a fighter class and spellcaster class, because it only takes 64 000 XP. It slows down the spellcaster's level advancement a lot in the early game, of course, but it gives the caster a legitimate fighter's ability as well, once the levels are regained. Might not want to experiment too much on the first time round, though.

[ZFR]

Originally posted by Aerich: With fighters, the extra weapon proficiency is gained on every 3rd level - so you will get another slot at lvl 3.

You get a weapon proficiency every three levels after the first.
So you do not get a proficiency at level 3.
You get them at levels 1, 4, 7, 10... etc

[Dundee Slaytern]

Actually, Aerich is correct.

You get them, at Lvl 1, 3, 6, 9, etc...

Cheers.

[ZFR]

eek you're right [img]redface.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Forget then what I said about levelling at level 4.

[Aerich]

Just to clarify an earlier post, there is nothing wrong with specializing in axes or greatswords. The difficulty is in having both, with no proficiencies in blunt weapons. A melee-focused character should always try to develop two types of melee damage, for situations where enemies are resistant to a class of weapon damage.