Choosing the best class for beginners

Hi, I just got BG2 few days ago and started the game as a Berserker class. Im went up to the Planar Spehere Quest, but i am having a really really hard time defeating the enemies. The only way i was able to defeat the enemies in there was by using the "Cloud kill spell" with the conjunction of "Web" from far away where they didn't see me and it would kill them easily. I really feel crappy about this and I was thinking of starting a new game. But i want some suggestion from u guyz which class and attributes i should choose. I am a total newbie to Baulders Gate and i have no idea what kind of class is good for a newbie. Please help me out here!!! i was thinking of Paladin, but what do u guyz think?????

It may not be so much what is the best class but which weapon proficiencies did you choose and did you find the right weapons before the encounters. In my case, in my first game, I chose long swords and two weapon mastery. That worked out well; bought the blade of roses after freeing the slaves, and found a great weapon (the Daystar) in the gate section. Then it wasn't hard.
You may want to work more on character development. Try to get 18 in dexterity, strength, and constitution if you are a fighter, reduce charisma to 3, and keep wisdom at 6 or 8 or 15, intelligence 8 or higher. For strength you really should shoot for a 18/00 score if you are just a fighter. I can spend half an hour rolling a character to get that. Don't reroll because you didn't roll an 18, take away some charisma and punch up the strength and check to see if you got the 18/00 (or 18/91+ at least).

Oh by the way, the Planar Sphere is a lot easier if you take one of the stones and throw it in the burning hole. I went through it with two player characters. The second time around I forgot to throw the stone back in the hole and it was nearly impossible. Then I realized the mistake. When there's a puzzle, it's nearly impossible to win if you don't follow the puzzle.

Whoops, that's the wrong planar sphere (i was thinking of the theater quest). Never mind the last post.

[Magness]

You've got to remember that a D&D party is nearly always a team effort. Most battles require contributions from most party members.

A straight Fighter class character is about as simple as it gets. Tank'em up (i.e. lots of AC-lowering items armor, shields, etc.) and give the best weapons. Then go forth and slay everything in your path.

GW is correct about proper character creation. A kick-ass fighter needs very high STR, DEX, and CON values.

The real key to succesful combat in BG2 (and any other AD&D game) is not just the proper creation of the player's character, but proper construction and management of the entire party. You need a proper mix of physical and magical skills.

For example, assuming a party of 6 characters...

You should have at least...
2 tanked-up warriors skilled in melee combat
1 mage
1 thief
1 cleric or druid (the "medic")

I like to have my 6th character be a a warrior who is strong in both melee and ranged combat. I like to use this character as a sniper who can join the tanks if required.

Of course, with the various NPCs available, various combinations are possible. Furthermore, with multi and dual class characters, you can fill multiple roles with a single character.

Two examples...

Jan Jansen is a good thief and a very useful secondary mage.

Jahiera is a fighter/druid who can fill the "medic" role, but tanks up well and can join the melee or snipe with a sling with the best of them.

I realize that I went a little off-topic....

In line with Magness, I look to a party as ideally having 3 fighters, 1 to 1 and half healers and 1 and half mages, plus someone who can do the thieving skills. You really need two fighters with over 18/76 THACOs, and then another who can at least still hit things. Don't forget to use your defensive spells before a big battle. Spells like chant, resist fear, protection from fire (for both their fire attacks and your own), stone skin, minor deflection, globe of invulnerability, etc, all have their uses, and just about every caster should have 1 dispel magic memorized.