I just registered to the site and must say this is AWESOME! I can't believe all of these classic games are available again for cheap and there are forums that are active!

Ok, getting down to the topic at hand.

I am playing a game on normal setting using my disc version that I puchased in 2006 and had to read a few guides on 2nd edition rules and some other things as well as character builds and party compositions. I am a newbie in Dungeons and Dragons, Advanced or otherwise.

The party:

Human Paladin
Human Fighter @ lvl 6 dual to Druid
Human Ranger lvl3 dualed to Cleric
Elf Fighter-Thief multiclass
Human Fighter @ lvl 2 dualed to Mage
Human Fighter @ lvl 2 dualed to Conjurer

I won't get into alignments and don't exactly remember everyone's level but I'm now making my way to Dragon's Eye.

Two things: First is my fighter. He's really weak for being lvl 5. By weak I mean his AC is the worst in the party at 4. He's equipped with Plate Mail, Large Shield +1, helmet (+1 against missile attacks) and Black Wolf Talisman. His CON is 16 which I really wish was higher but the guide I read suggested the remaining points I had leftover should go into DEX. Why is he such a wuss? He is supposed to be the secondary tanker and soon the secondary healer once he duals over to druid at lvl 6.

Next is my Mage. At lvl 5 she barely has any spells at her disposal to memorise or even just stored in her spellbook. I'm working with 4 level 1 spells and 3 level 2 spells compared to my Conjurer who has way more spells and is using lvl 3. Does the mage get more powerful eventually? My Conjurer really isnt that good either. I've got him more as a support/buffer but he does have offensive spells as well. Both magic users have identical ability scores, 18 INT etc.

Lastly, sorry for writing a massive tome here, I want to ask about resting. I rest to full a lot. It could be after every fight depending how it went or it could be after 4-5 battles. Either way I'm doing it a lot. Is this normal? It seems like a cheap game design that I can fully recover just about any time. Sure there is a chance of monsters coming but I usually have pretty good luck.

Thanks in advance and hope to hear from you soon!

AC is based solely on armour and other items, and DEX. Class doesn't really determine AC directly, except Fighter types and Cleric can use heavy armour.

You can buy lots of spells from the mage in the tower in the upper left corner of Kuldahar. There also a few other places where you may buy spells. Some shops change their inventory once a new chapter beings. so make sure to check out the shops when that happens.

As for being able to rest after each battle, yes that's rather lame, but the game is rather difficult the first time.
Once you are more familiar with the game you may want to set your own "house rules" and restrict resting to only once per day, for example, to make the game more challenging.

You are making a choice. It is only normal if you choose to make it normal. Although IWD is not so focused on role playing as Baldur's Gate, you are still developing a persistent character, and therefore role playing. It is entirely up to you whether to rest or not -- the game just gives you the choice. Don't knock the game for a tactic YOU are taking. Don't like the idea? Then don't do it. Role play, and make some ground rules, and stick by them.

This is definitely the case. That DEX is giving him a penalty of 3 to his AC (so if his DEX were in the range of no bonus at all, his AC would be 1, and if his DEX were 18, his AC would be -3)

And don't worry about resting, You play the game to have fun and if you need to rest in order to advance and have fun, then do it.

As far as resting, I recommend being more sparing with your spells in order to maximize the pain you can dish out before needing to rest. A caster in D&D is akin to a BFG in a game of Doom; you don't want to use your ammunition all at once, so ration it out. If the enemy is already close to dying and your guys are handling them without breaking a sweat, hold off on spellcasting and have them attack with their sling or other ranged weapon of choice. If you run into a fight that shouldn't take long , don't go dumping every buff as fast as you can; cast a few buffs as needed and save dumping for exceptionally hard encounters. Too often I get the feeling that players (especially in Pen and Paper games) have grown comfortable with using spells and magic items willy-nilly on the assumption that the DM will keep supplying them with the stuff or only socking them a few encounters per day so that they can rest with a minimum of fuss (not that I think this is the case with you); in IWD, and I'd argue that this is the case for all the Infinity Engine games, you need to conserve your resources, including spell slots. You *can* rest in the dungeon, but if you are low on or out of spells, you risk getting jumped and slaughtered in the ensuing battle, and traveling back to town for a rest is time consuming and may pose the threat of random encounters (it's possible that I'm wrong on this count, though), so I'd advise against doing it too often.

Ok I got ya. It's not that I run out of magical attacks it's more my healing spells that I exhaust. This is probably more due to me not memorising enough. Now that I have a druid in the party this has helped a lot and also just discovered my paladin has lay on hands which is a nice little minor heal too.

Thanks everyone for replying! I'm now about to face the boss of Dragon's Eye. :)