Does anyone have a killer party combo for Icewind Dale 2? I was thinking 1/2 Elf Paladin, 1/2 Orc Barbarian, Elvin Ranger, Human Cleric, Human Sorcerer and Human Wizard.

I have played Icewind Dale 1 4 times and the latest Party I have is Paladin, 1/2 Orc Fighter, Dwarf Fighter /Thief, Human cleric, 1/2 Elf Wizard/Cleric and Elvin Wizard.

I'd drop one of the arcane casters for a Rogue.

GameFAQs has two rather excellent resources for all your IWD2 powergaming needs:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/552350-icewind-dale-ii/faqs/21354
http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/552350-icewind-dale-ii/faqs/28063

The first one generally is a well-rounded, not too ridiculous guide to a party that will absolutely blaze through the normal game with no problems at all while the other is, well, hell-bent on (ab)using every nuance of IWD2's 3E implementation and will see you through Heart of Fury easily, assuming you don't sneer at level squatting.

Enjoy. :)

Your party will do. Don't multiclass and keep in mind that strength is even more important for physical combat than in IWD1.

OK I will not, normally in D&D and Pathfinder I mufti class a lot.

I was going to suggest adding a few rogue levels for the ranger. Any particular reason why not?
(For casters no multiclassing is understandable, if that's what you meant).

And yeah, min-max the stats all the way.

That party will work just fine. Some optional comments:

* Half-Elf is pretty much just straight-up inferior to human. However, it's close enough that it's not a deal-breaker if you really want pointy ears.

* Barbarians work well when multi-classing Fighter.

* If that Elf Ranger is going to be an archer, multi-classing Fighter may be a very good idea (or just stick single-class Fighter). Unlike Pathfinder, rangers do not get combat style feats, there is no equivalent of the deadly aim feat, and enhancement bonuses on bows apply only to accuracy and not damage. The net result: archer rangers have terrible damage output, and multi-classing Fighter for weapon specialization is a very good idea.

* If you want to have a Rogue, work it in as a multi-class dip for one of your other classes. I personally regretted investing an entire party slot on a Rogue on my IWD2 playthrough.

You get inferior ranger spellcasting and favored enemy bonuses (But it's no big loss).

If you ever want to multiclass with rogue start the first level as rogue because of the extra skillpoints.


If you add 4 fighter levels to your barbarian you get weapon specialization (+2 damage) but you loose greater rage and damage reduction.

Well, assuming you don't get to the point where you can have Greater Rage during the course of the normale game while multiclassing, Weapon Specialization gives you more bonus damage than Greater Rage does when compared to Rage, and the additional feats & proficiencies you get from those initial 4 fighter levels more than make up for what essentially is a temporary gain of +2 STR, CON and Will Save, a difference of 1/- DR and 8 hit points.