I'm considering another run through the series and I'm planning out the party I would use. I'm not going for optimal powergame-ness, though, but a more completionist run. For example, in IWD1, I'd need a druid for that dialogue with the ogre. And, I'd take a paladin for Pale Justice. What I'm wondering are what race/class combinations are necessary in order to cover all the little race/class specific interactions/etc. in the game for each game. And, I know you can't carry over your party from IWD1 to 2, and about the different rule sets, so I'm looking for two different parties. Who would you recommend? Or, what special encounters did you have that required a particular race/class character? Thanks.

Without being overly spoilery, offhand I can think of encounters in IWD1 where you need a:

Cleric
Druid
Bard
Paladin

There are also a couple dialog options that only appear if you have specific stats (high INT and CHA for one, high INT for another).



For IWD2, there are a number of things that depend on your skill values (alchemy is one I can think of right away). There's a specific Paladin-centered quest as well, if memory serves. Also in one area it's very advantageous to have either a character with a number of invis spells/potions available or a character that can sneak. A specific convo option will appear in one encounter if your party leader is a 1/2 Orc, although it does not result in any experience gain.

Errrrrrr, this is a tough one.

The pally for sure. I like 4 fighter / X paladin of helms the best. Sacrificing those cruddy 6th level spells and +1 to each saving throw for longword specialisation is a good trade off. The pally has the side quest as well as a knack for picking fights early :)

The cleric should be a Dreadmaster of Bane as they have a quest. Make em human so he gets two points for diplomacy and concentrate, he's also a good character for a diplomat if not taking a bard.

The bard has two options I think. One was dealing with the barrow wight, the other dealing with the librarian in the severed hand (not sure about the latter though).

The Transmuter also gets a quest in the underdark. Pump his intelligence and he can also help out a deep dwarf with his crossbow.

It's worth noting that some dialog options require the speaker to be a dwarf or a drow. Also some dialog options are stat specific but that was mentioned already.

There might be more but those are the only ones I can think of right now

In IWD2 there are so many race/class/gender based options that you can't get them all.