What do you think the best party composition is for Icewind Dale 2?

If you're looking for a power party, I'd go with the Ultimate Powergaming Party.

I used this party (with one minor change, as I went with a Tiefling Wiz/Rogue instead of Drow) and it kicks serious ass. The game's a serious cakewalk with this party.

If that's not your cup of tea, I'd definitely make sure you have the basics covered (healer, tank, rogue, caster) with something like a FTR, Cleric, Rogue1/Wiz X, Sorcerer, and whatever else you like. Races are up to your taste, but I do enjoy Tiefling for the Wiz/Rogue role and Aasimar for the Sorcerer (Human is a great choice there too).

human sorcerer
shield dwarf battleguard of Tempus
human druid
aasimar bard
tiefling rogue1/transmuter
gold dwarf paladin1/fighter

The best party comp in iwd2 is all fighters with bows. So good that in the ice palace or castle thing it broke the game. When one of the sisters dies she says something before she dies and comes back as a ghost that you have to fight again. The all fighter party is so good it killed her so fast that she didn't get her dialog before she died and she didn't come back as a ghost. It also made it so I couldn't get the item that was needed from her. But what the heck. It was worth it.

Coelocanth, thanks for that link. It was a good read. And Banchet, your tale is hilarious.
The current party is

human paladin2/ fighter13
shield dwarf fighter4/ barbarian11
moon elf fighter7/ ranger8
human battleguard of Tempus15
human rogue15
human transmuter15

I am considering starting HoF mode now.

I beat the game and it was pretty easy with this party. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I have a paladin, a cleric and a fighter for melee.
Another fighter with bow, a rogue with bow and a mage with a sling as artillery.

The game is pretty tough at times Im in the ice palace right now. I only could defeat that half-dragon woman by using dirty tactics.

This a link to IWD1 and following the advice given there will make IWD2 extremely difficult.

The first party I completed the game with (actually I only completed it once) was a human Fighter/Cleric of Ilmater, shield dwarf Fighter, Half-Orc Barbarian, tiefling Rogue/Ranger, human Druid, Gnome Sorcerer and it was a breeze even on harder difficulties. In retrospect, however, I would give the Barbarian and the Druid 4 levels of Fighter and I would make the dwarf a Fighter/Paladin of Helm, just to make the group even more efficient. I like that 3rd edition rules have fewer restrictions on character creation, and I think that half of the fun in the game comes from trying to come up with totally different parties and figuring out what works best for you.

I prefer having a sorcerer as the partyleader, due to the high charisma, two fighters(or one fighter and one barbarian), a ranger for tracking and ranged attack, a rogue for scouting ahead, removing traps and open doors and such, and a cleric for healing. I usually create a dwarven cleric who can pack a punch, making him a versatile fighter as well as a good healer.

I love all of those games, but I personally find IWD1 much more replayable than IWD2 for some reason. I've gone through IWD 5 or 6 times, but I've done IWD1 at least 2 dozen times. It's likely because I like the rule set used in IWD1 better.

I tend to give my main tank a 2-hander in IWD2. They wreak havoc with high STR and the multiplier on damage for a two-handed weapon.

Are you planning on him being able to cast spells? If so, make sure you give him enough CHA. His BAB will be lower than a Fighter, so take that into account if you're using him as a secondary tank as well. Are you planning on going with just these two characters or are you taking a larger party?

I wouldn't look for the remake of IWD any time soon. If you're at all inclined to play it, I wouldn't wait for them to get the remake done.

I've replayed IWD many times, more often than the other games you mentioned. In IWD2 2-handed weapons are much better than 1-handed ones, higher base damage (2-12 for greatsword compared to 1-8 for longsword for example) and 50% extra strength damage, especially if you want to overcome damage reduction. If you prefer longsword and shield I recommend creating lawful good and adding a paladin level early in chapter 5 (also has quest benefits) so you can use the best weapon.
Strength is by far the most important stat and make sure he has 13 dex to be able to take the best feats. Thieves are ok, just make sure they have maxed strength so they can do serious damage. Thief1/wizard mixes are popular among those who don't bother sneak attacking since the maxed int grants bonus skill points and bonuses for searching and disarming traps. Bards can't handle traps and locks better than any non-thief character.
With lingering song bard songs are extremely powerful in IWD2, no need to do anything else during combat once they learned the better songs.
Charisma is the casting stat for bards. It limits the maximum spell levels, grants bonus spells and makes the spells harder to resist.


How well your characters work depends on the rest of your party, there are many roles to fill.


If you haven't played the game before and are planning to play the game with only those two characters it won't work. The game was designed for being played with a balanced party of 6.

So a 2 man party won't work in Icewind Dale 2? That kinda sucks but I'm not sure that makes sense. I soloed up to chapter 2 but the story gets boring then so I usually abandoned back when I was still in bg. I usually soloed the game up to the 2nd chapter with a cleric and thief mixture but Ive had success with a 2 man party in multiple other games.

Is it just that Icewind dale 2 is that brutal. If so then I might as well play something that else as I CANNOT get through a real time pause game with more than 2 characters in combat. Its just too fucking confusing. I don't know how anyone can muster the strength and masochistic nature to get through with a full party of 6. Turnbased is different but real time I don't think will work. Thats why I usually play with 2 man parties as they usually work well.