Combat in QFG4 is usually weirdly silent. But I'm pretty sure I've gotten the combat sounds to work at least once in the past, and I've seen a playthrough with working sound effects in battle.
Is there a consistant way to get them to work, or should I just shrug it off as one of QFG4's quirks?

Turn Detail slider all the way up.

Had this exact thing happen to me once too. Apparently it's a "feature".

Wow, of all the weird things to set to the detail slider...anyhow, it worked, so thanks!