Actually, I think he's talking about about both: " I just picked up this and IWD II" (Key word there being and).

Both games - try to get 18 in your primary attributes. In IWD1, fighters should have maxed out strength, dexterity, and constitution. In IWD2, armored melee fighters don't need as much dexterity (12-14 is good). Lightly-armored and ranged fighters should still max it out, though. In IWD1 you can completely ignore intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. In IWD2 you cannot completely ignore it, and wisdom in particular can be dangerous if it's too low (since a wisdom penalty will make you more vulnerable to mind-affecting spells. And believe me, that's the last kind of spell you want to be vulnerable to). Wizards should have 18 intelligence, clerics and druids 18 wisdom, and sorcerers (IWD2 only) 18 charisma.

For weapons, missile weapons like bows and slings are your top weapons in IWD1. They attack quickly, deal a lot of damage, and shred enemies before they get into range. For melee combat, a sword-and-shield combo is your most reliable, although two-handed weapons remain a good pick. In IWD2 this is very different. Missile weapons are great at the 1st level, but get progressively weaker at higher levels. Either specialize fully in ranged weapons, or discard them altogether after a few levels. In melee, two-handed weapons are the best in IWD2.

As for spells, they generally fall into three categories: spells that help your allies (buffing), spells that hinder your enemies (debuffing), and spells that damage your enemies (blasting). In IWD1, your best approach is to use a mix of the three. Against swarms of weaker enemies, blasting tends to be preferable, while bosses tend to resist your magic so buffing is preferable there. In IWD2 this changes substantially and blasting spells are much weaker. They still function, but you need to specialize in them to get (pardon the pun) bang for your buck. I find you should either go all-in with a Sorcerer, or else go with a Conjuror or Enchanter specialist wizard and eschew them entirely.


My IWD1 party was a Human Fighter, a Halfling Fighter/Rogue, an Elf Fighter/Wizard, a Human Fighter/Cleric, and a Human Mage (generalist). I was very happy with this party.

My IWD2 party was a Human Paladin 1 / Sorcerer, a Half-Orc Fighter 4 / Barbarian, an Elf Fighter (archery specialist), a Human Ranger 1 / Rogue, a Human Cleric, and a Human Wizard (Conjuror). I was unhappy with the Ranger/Rogue and would go with a bard instead if I could remake the party. I could go either way on the 1-level Paladin dip for my Sorcerer. It wasn't that great, but it wasn't terrible either.