My Latest Party

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I usually play with a full party and my preference is for single-class characters. Recently I've been challenging myself with different party compositions. Started a new party in HoF a few days ago:

Human Stalker 9 / Cleric * [can't live without Turn Undead in IWD even though I'm attempting it in HoF]
Human Fighter 13 / Druid * [wanted a 3-person party but I love my druids]
Human Wizard Slayer 13 / Mage *
Half-Elf Fighter / Mage / Thief [if only Fighter / Druid / Thief was possible; but 2 arcanists is always nice]

First time I'm playing with a stalker. The text description looks promising but there's always the threat of disappointment with infinity engine. Not bad so far but right now all my primary classes are inactive so I'm hoping it will really shine after I reactivate them. Then I'll have 2 backstabbers

First time playing with a Wizard Slayer too because I'm uncomfortable with not being able to equip a lot of gear. Again, I'm hoping the WS will shine more once the classes are reactivated. I just thought it to be a nice concept that a tanky mage can hobble other mages by hitting miscast magic onto them. So far of course there haven't been many mage opponents.

My main method of survival is summons (and buffs). Lots and lots of summons. And ranged damage from my own characters. Without summons, even those goblins in Easthaven would have killed me in HoF. In so many years of playing IWDEE, I must have not summoned more than 15-20 creatures in total. Now I call upon them virtually every fight. And I need to play in HoF if I am to quickly outlevel my primary classes.

It is quite a fun party. Has totally changed the way I usually approach IWDEE encounters. Also HoF is making me focus more on survival and less on damage output. And because summons take the attention of most monsters, I am more willing than usual to memorize spells with long cast times. I'm even more willing to squeeze out every benefit of spells... like casting Prayer in battle instead of as a pre-buff

 

I was never a fan of Wizard Slayers. It might have more appeal if their Miscast Magic could actually apply to divine spellcasters too. And the Miscast Magic was only any use if it could actually connect, but it will often be blocked by Protection against Magic Weapons or Absolute Immunity. That was BG2 though.

Actual Wizards are very rare in IWD. There's a few skeletal wizards in the Vale of Shadows, and the Severed Hand. Maybe there's a possible "worth it" when you encounter Malavon and Belhifet. I'm not sure that's enough to justify a class choice that, from where I'm sitting, would feel like luggage most of the game.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Yes, none of this is meant to be 'ideal'. It is meant to be challenging. I've found myself falling very easily into the trap of 'classic' party combos and this feels like a whole new game to me -- which is the whole point. Considering how often I play IWDEE, I need to come up with weird stuff to keep me entertained.

@Beren Of course, there is no super benefit to be had from Wizard Slayers. That's why I've never played with one before. When I got to thinking about stuff I would never do in an Infinity Engine game, this was the first thing that popped up. And it was simply chuckle-worthy that a mage can confer miscast magic on another mage in toe-to-toe. I am tempted to try this on BGEE/BG2EE too, but wouldn't dare do it with SCS installed.

@Sorvo I despise paladins because they are too eager to run into battle against evil (e.g., I have to remove them from my party before speaking to Albion in Dragon's Eye L4). Other than that I generally agree that your party is the 'norm'. My parties have to have a druid because in IWD they have awesome spells. Put a gun to my head and I will choose a druid over a cleric any day.
Also, frankly I don't see the point of having a paladin in your IWDEE party. Their fighter skills are severely hobbled (may never go beyond Specialization) so they aren't truly warriors. Their priest spells and TU are also severely lacking when compared to any cleric (single/dual/multi). Their special abilities are meh. I'll concede that an Inquisitor's Dispel Magic and True Sight are extremely good but outside the BG series, where do you really need these?
Okay, I see where this is going... the irony is not lost on me... adding this to the list of challenges I need to set for myself in the future.

@SlickRCBD We've discussed this before... I've always avoided multiclasses because they are too powerful for IWDEE. Only in the last year or so I've started using maybe 1 or 2 multiclasses in my parties.
TU can get extremely powerful after about L12-15 in normal mode, but you will have a bloody hard time affecting even the most basic skeletons in HoF. I read about this on forums but am also finding it out the hard way (though my current playthrough cannot be a benchmark coz I have a very low level cleric relative to the chapter I'm in). If you're playing in normal mode, ignore your inability to turn undead for the first several levels -- it will get much better later on.
And yes, clerics do rely on their buffs. Which is why they have so many personal buffs. If you want better THAC0 and damage output for a front-line cleric (a-la Anomen), you gotta buff your cleric up before combat. Otherwise create a back-line cleric (a-la Viconia) for party buffing and healing (Prayer, Recitation, Defensive Harmony, etc.). A back-line cleric is also useful for spells with long cast times.
Finally, because IWD doesn't offer epic levels I am willing to dual-class so late. There are no high-level abilities to be had so I am fine with maxing out my xp a little late in the game. In the BG series, I would like to have as quick access to HLAs as possible. In insane mode one can level up fairly quickly. In HoF, my kind of dual-classing is possible (but obviously not easy). And I will be playing HoW and ToTL so eventually I will get very good levels. My main worry is Icasaracht and the temple before her, but I'm confident I will be super powerful by then. And I have a druid. What can go wrong?
* I don't know if they ever fixed this -- I never upgraded from v1.4.0 -- but a couple of maps respawn all enemies so one can farm xp. E.g., Every time I go back to Upper Dorn's Deep L1 I get a fresh set of enemies to kill. Same with the Burial Isle caverns.

After you've played it a few times, IWDEE is a very easy game (say, compared to BG series) with a 'classic' party or a 'recommended' party. This party combo once again makes it more than left-click-and-watch for me. (As did my thieves-only party from a few months ago.)

I don't yet know how it will eventually turn out but one thing is certain: I'm much more excited than frustrated playing this way.

 

This is from extremely old memory: my first playthrough with this version (EE 1.4.0: I've never played any other version) had a paladin. I remember reading somewhere that one wouldn't be able to talk to Albion coz the paladin would start attacking outright.

I had the same doubts as you. So I first tried to initiate conversation with a different party member (must have been my Dragon Disciple) but no good: the paladin didn't let the conversation proceed and attacked anyway. Then I tried leaving the paladin a little behind, out of Albion's vision and tried again. Same result. I went back to the previous level, removed the paladin from my party, did all the trading I wanted to do with Albion's crew, got the paladin back and finished the fight.

Never played with a paladin ever again. Repeat, this is old memory. It was traumatic enough to have stuck with me but I am not testing this right now to confirm the behavior.

* FYI, the only thing you lose out on with this method is if you want to rest in Albion's chambers. The paladin doesn't get to rest, which is no biggie at all -- his spells are useless at that point anyway. To me it's more of a play-style struggle. I don't want to have to remove party members to do stuff. Scrolls are rare enough in IWD as is and I don't want to miss out on that shop.

Again, I have to draw attention to "never beyond Specialization in weapons" and "lower-than-cleric" spells and TU. Unless one can find particular advantages from their special abilities, imo paladins are weaklings compared to their warrior counterparts, their cleric counterparts (in terms of abilities not HP obviously), as well as their warrior/cleric counterparts. No matter how much I focus on survival, I want my frontliner/s to have as much damage output as possible.
Pale Justice is nice but comes too far into the game to give the paladin a massive advantage. By that time a fighter or kensai (probably any warrior) is doing as much damage per round anyway.

Of course, paladins can get through the game just fine. I'm not implying that they are dead weight who need to be constantly protected in battle. Only pointing out that the other choices are far more compelling for a 'recommended' party.

 

Quite enjoy the bard kits. Extremely disappointing they can't be multi/dual classed in IWDEE. [If there is a mod that allows this please please please let me know.] I think I've played with every bard kit (including base class) by now and all of them are superb imo.

One thing paladins do have over clerics and fighter/clerics is a much wider choice of weapons. They are not beholden to any ethos. Again, my primary gripe with paladins is their inability to hold a decent conversation with evil characters (or even let party members do that). They can serve a decent role in any party. I don't even care about them refusing rewards, as do monks. If only their tolerance of evil was fixed by a mod, I would be much more happy to include them in my parties.