So if I just take a premade party of standard fighter, paladin, cleric, ranger, thief, mage, will I be able to get through the whole game ok?

What's the fun in that? :P

So I am deep in chapter 2 and its supper hard, is that a fairly normal reaction with a the imported chars? LOL

Im gonna have to edit in a new group similar level i think if its this hard through the whole game?

These groups with 15 monsters and a caster or 2 are brutal ;)

The game is from an era where games were generally harder.
It is not so much who you have on your team, but how you use them.
The first time you play this game, it does seem extremely brutal, but like anything, the more you play it the easier it becomes.

Ok, cool just wanted to make sure it wasn't just me :)

I think I played through most of BG and all of BG2 but that was back when they came out.

Its fine, just forgot how micro managy the battles are, and how hard LOL.

Are we talking about IWD1 or 2 here? Regardless, here's a few changes I would make.

if IWD1, I would multi class the cleric and thief with fighter. Single class clerics and thieves really blow cos they can't hit anything. Mages should also be multiclasses or specialized as a mage can't sling spells all the time so they will probably be using ranged weapons and it helps if they can hit :P

if IWD2, 4 levels of fighter for the cleric and I tend to balance thief and fighter levels. Mages I usually keep single class

IWD1 but thanks, plan to play IWD2 also eventually.

So how many spells do I lose if I go fighter/cleric vs cleric.

Do you also prefer fighter/druid over druid I assume?

When comparing a cleric vs. a fighter/cleric, the multi classed cleric is usually a level behind the single classed cleric in a normal game and at higher levels, the multiclassed cleric ends up 2 levels behind the single classed cleric. You will lose a few spells but they will be negligible. Ask yourself, which is better? A cleric who can cast (and will need to cast) more healing spells because he can't pull his weight in a fight, or sacrifice a few spells for better combat viability? The game is much smoother with the latter.

I've done a few runs with single class and multi classed clerics. Near the end of the games, i checked the information screen for "total experience value in party" and "percentage of total kills in party". The single classed cleric had an appalling 6% for each whereas the fighter/cleric was in the lower 20's for each. I had similar results with the druid though the druid fared slightly better than the cleric (must have been from the entangle/spike growth combo).

Also, a lot of the cleric spells are situational and the combat buffs don't last long enough to be useful (unlike IWD2 where buffs last a long time) so I'm sure you'll be filling a lot of your cleric slots with healing spells anyways. This is just me but I'd rather get the situational buffs from potions.

The same applies for the druid and fighter/druid. The druid gets some spells to summon weapons and some of them to rely on your proficiency with that weapon. Flame blade (great for troll heavy areas) and Star Metal cudgel (great against undead which there are a LOT of in this game) make use of proficiencies and the flghter/druid makes good use of them. The description doesn't say anything about the moonblade but the 1st level spell Shillelagh DOESN'T use proficiencies.

Regardless, both characters can't be casting spells all the time, they will be using their weapons too and it helps a lot of they can hit their targets. So yes, I do prefer my druids and clerics multiclassed. Try it yourself, you will see an exponential performance boost from a multiclassed cleric or druid.

TL:DR version:

good combat viability with slightly fewer spells beats bad combat viability with slightly more spells any day of the week, especially when comparing single and multiclass clerics.

In IWD1, there are areas where as soon as you enter, you get swamped by the enemy, In this situation, all characters need to pull their weight because spell casting is likely to be disrupted, ALL characters need to fight whether melee or ranged. The single class cleric is still inferior because they are usually only a level ahead of the multiclass. That means a multiclass cleric will only be casting (roughly) 2-3 less spells per day but it will not be missed because the multiclass can pick up the slack in combat and not need to heal as much as the single class cleric.

This is a combat heavy game, all your characters need to do damage. A single class cleric will only be useful when healing and will spend the rest of the time missing the enemy. When you are swamped by the enemy (sometimes from all sides), this is the last kind of character you want in your party. In this case, the single class cleric may be able to tank and distract the enemy from the wizards but he won't be able to drop the enemies attacking him. He will need to wait for the fighters to clean up first which weakens the party as a whole.

Seriously, except for the 2-3 extra spells, what can the single class cleric do better than the multiclass cleric?

I think it depends on play style and what your getting out of this great game :)

For me I tend to mele/ranged attack stuff until i get in trouble, then i reload and open a can of u know what(ae spells) on whatever made me reload :) or on a rare occasion lock down a casteer but for this game (IWD1) it seems to be more about mass mobs.

I noticed the same, which is why I prefer fighter heavy parties for IWD1. There's no shortage of areas where as soon as you enter, enemies are coming at you from all sides. This is VERY COMMON in TOTLM. but it happens in HOW and the original game too. If flanked, my ranged characters can switch to melee and know he will hold his/her own while I deal with the squishy mage/bard.

However, some people like the single class mage, cleric whatever for roleplaying reasons and that's fine, it's a game right? It's meant to be fun :P. But for me, giving a cleric a rock on mace and watch him miss over and over with it kinda gets on my nerves. :P

I'm running a 3-char party
human paladin
half elf cleric/mage
gnome thief/illusionist

the start was a bit rough but I'm just breezing through the game now

Not only does the single class cleric get more and higher level spells (at 2,025,000 XP it's 7-7-7-7-5-3-2 (level 17) vs 6-5-5-3-2-2-0 (level 12) for example), spells cast by him also last longer, give better bonuses or do more damage (many spell effects depend on caster level).
And 5 levels do make a difference when turning undead.

You can still cast spells if you are attacked, defensive harmony or holy word have a casting time of 1 for example and in order to get a spell interrupted you not only have to get attacked you also have to get hit while casting.
Not all characters have to do damage in combat, a supporter who helps the others to shine like a singing bard works well too. In some battles it might make a small difference if your party gets 11 instead of 10 attacks per round but the cleric levels will sometimes make a big difference.