I've just started playing Icewind Dale II and I'm finding the game ... well, pretty challenging. I've just killed Torak on my way to the bridge thingy, and I'm currently resting up in Targos. This seems to be a pretty common occurrence for my party, as every battle takes 5 or 6 saves to get through and winds up with my party in tatters and in need of healing. It wasn't so bad in the beginning, but the further I get, the more the flaws in my characters are starting to show.

I've typed up the character sheets for each member of my party below. I'm after any tips, and advice people might have on improving them.

So far, I've found that Vince is awesome, Heilyxx does his job and the others are pretty lacking in firepower. I wanted Elisa to be a high speed fighter, but she seems to be unable to hit anything ... ever. After Waxley's spells run out, he's pretty much a one hit kill for whatever enemy I'm facing, and probably the greatest weakness in the party. Heilyxx also seems to take forever to reload his bow. Though, I don't know whether that's the crappy AI or something skill based.

Total party gold: 3374

Vince Brackleback — Lawful Neutral Human Fighter (Level 4)
In it for the booty.

Str: 19, Dex: 8, Con: 18, Int: 7, Wis: 7, Cha: 18
HP: 56/56, Exp.: 7199/10000, Max. Weight: 215 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 16 [Missile +1], Base: 10, Armour: +5, Shield: +2, Dexterity: -1
Wearing: +0 Chainmail Armour [+5], +0 Helmet [+0]
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +9, Reflex: +1, Will: +0

Main Hand: +0 Bastard Sword [1d10], Strength: +4, Proficiency: +2
Attack Roll Modifiers — +9, Base: +4, Proficiency: +1, Abilities: +4
Damage Potential: 7-16, Critical Hit: 19-20 / x2
Off Hand: +0 Tabard's Shield [+2]
Attacks: 1

Skills — Bluff: 7 (3), Concentration: 4 (0), Diplomacy: 7 (3), Intimidate: 4 (0)
Feats — Armour Proficiency: 3, Axe: 1, Bastard Sword: 3, Blind-Fight, Bow: 1, Crossbow: 1, Flail: 1, Great Sword: 1, Hammer: 1, Large Sword: 1, Luck of Heroes, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Polearm: 1, Quaterstaff: 1, Shield Proficiency, Small Blade: 1, Weapon Finesse

Also Carrying: Ghost-Touched Bottle, Expended Teleportation Spell, Highland Gate Key

Heilyxx Ga'adwyloch — Lawful Good Strongheart Halfling Ranger (Level 4)
The serious role play guy.

Str: 16, Dex: 21, Con: 18, Int: 9, Wis: 5, Cha: 8
HP: 66/66, Exp.: 7150/10000, Max. Weight: 160 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 18, Base: 10, Armour: +3, Dexterity: +5
Wearing: +0 Studded Leather Armour of Fortitude [+3, +10 Max. HP], +0 Helmet [+0], +0 Bluestone Necklace [+0]
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +8, Reflex: +6, Will: -1

Main Hand: +0 Arrows [1d6] x360, +0 Shortbow [+0]
Attack Roll Modifiers — +10, Base: +4, Proficiency: +1, Abilities: +5
Damage Potential: 1-6, Critical Hit: 20 / x3
Off Hand: —
Secondary: +1 Battleaxe [1d8+1] & Battleaxe [1d8]
Tertiary: +0 Bolts [1d8] x 38, +0 Crossbow [+2] & —
Attacks: 1, Favoured Enemies: Orcs

Skills — Concentration: 6 (0), Hide: 5 (0), Intimidate: 0 (1), Move Silently: 9 (0), Wilderness Lore: 2 (5)
Feats — Armour Proficiency: 2, Axe: 1, Bow: 2, Crossbow: 1, Discipline, Flail: 1, Great Sword: 1, Hammer: 1, Large Sword: 1, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Polearm: 1, Precise Shot, Quarterstaff: 1, Shield Proficiency, Small Blade: 1

Elisa Sultry — Chaotic Good Wild Elf Rogue (Level 4)
Vince's not-so-secret unrequited romantic interest.

Str: 6, Dex: 21, Con: 10, Int: 11, Wis: 11, Cha: 18
HP: 24/24, Exp.: 7123/10000, Max. Weight: 30 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 18, Base: 10, Armour: +3, Dexterity: +5
Wearing: +1 Leather Armour [+3]
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +1, Reflex: +11, Will: +1

Main Hand: +0 Masterwork Dagger [1d4], Strength: -2
Attack Roll Modifiers — -2, Base: +3, Weapon: +1, Proficiency: -4, Abilities: -2
Damage Potential: 1-2, Critical Hit: 19-20 / x2
Off Hand: +0 Masterwork Dagger [1d4], Strength: -2
Attack Roll Modifiers — -2, Base: +3, Weapon: +1, Proficiency: -4, Abilities: -2
Damage Potential: 1-2, Critical Hit: 19-20 / x2
Attacks: 1+1, Sneak Attack Damage: 2d6

Skills — Bluff: 4 (0), Diplomacy: 4 (0), Disable Device: 6, Hide: 10 (5), Intimidate: 4 (0), Move Silently: 7 (2), Open Lock: 11 (6), Pick Pocket: 8 (3), Search: 8 (6)
Feats — Ambidexterity, Armour Proficiency: 1, Bow: 1, Crossbow: 1, Large Sword: 1, Lightning Reflexes, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Quarterstaff: 1, Small Blade: 1

Also carrying: Gem Bag {Sunstone Gem (1) x3, Andar Gem (1) x2, Tchazar Gem (1) x2, Waterstar Gem (1) x1, Lynx Eye Gem (1) x2, Jasper Gem (1) x1}

Waxley Fernhouse — Chaotic Good Rock Gnome Wizard:Transmuter (Level 4)
Inventor of Neverwinter's most convincing goblin mask.

Str: 10, Dex: 10, Con: 10, Int: 19, Wis: 18, Cha: 10
HP: 16/16, Exp.: 7072/10000, Max. Weight: 70 lb., Spell Resistance: 0, Cold Resistance: 3

AC — 13 [Missile +1], Base: 10, Deflection: +2, Shield: +1
Wearing: +0 Phaen's Robe of Rags [+2, +3 Cold Resist.], +0 Helmet [+0]
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +1, Reflex: +1, Will: +8

Main Hand: +0 Clenched Fist [1d8+1]
Attack Roll Modifiers — +2, Base: +2, Weapon +1, Shield Penalty: -1
Damage Potential: 2-9, Critical Hit: 20 / x2
Off Hand: +0 Small Shield [+0]
Attacks: 1

Skills — Alchemy: 13 (7), Concentration 11 (7), Diplomacy: 2 (0), Disable Device: 5 (1), Hide: 0 (1), Knowledge (Arcana): 11 (7), Search: 5 (1), Spellcraft: 13 (7), Wilderness Lore: 4 (0)
Feats — Combat Casting, Courteous Magocracy, Crossbow: 1, Mace: 1, Quarterstaff: 1, Small Blade: 1, Transmutation: 1

Also carrying: Scroll Case {Protection From Evil (1), Larloch's Minor Drain (1)}, Potion Bag {Potion of Invisibility (1), Potion of Extra Healing (1)}

Known (and Memorised) Spells: Burning Hands (x2), Colour Spray (x1), Identify (x1), Shocking Grasp (x0), Minor Mirror Image (x0), Magic Missile (x0), Chromatic Orb (x0)

For a starters... use 6 players lol. This game is way too hard to go with 4 on a first run through. Check the difficulty... make sure its not "Heart of Fury" mode... as that will decimate you (I got hit with a 80 hit from a normal troll... with my BEST party).

For your fighter guy... this mignt sound wierd but have full stats on STR DEX and CON... the dexterity will help im hit a LOT more and result in higher damage also.

I also see you dont have a Cleric/Druid... these are a must have as you will need healing + support spells a LOT in Icewind2...
Personally if i were you id start over from the beginning.
Use 2 fighters. Ranger or Barbarian. Cleric. Thief/Bard. Wizard/Sorceror
Put the difficulty on easy to start with until you get your bearings... and you should be away

Use six characters ! The game is designed for that many , thats why you're finding it challenging.

Icewind Dale is very battle oriented therefore you will need a healer, at least two fighters (could do with 3 , depends on your style) a mage and a rogue (mixed class)

I usually play with

Fighter
Barbarian
Wizard
Sorcerer
Druid
Rogue

But there are so many combos , you could exchange extra spelling character for a Bard for example.

It is a great game, with some challenging battles so just start again you're not that far in.

A few problems; Elisa's STR score is way too low and will cause her much grief in way of hitting anything with a melee weapon, the redeemer could be taking the Weapon Finesse (need one feat for every weapon though!) which will allow DEX to be applied to attack bouns rather than strength. She could also be wielding a shortsword instead, daggers are best suited either as a last resort weapon for melee weak mages and the like or as an off-hand weapon in two weapon fighting styles.

You also need a cleric, the cleric is a capable fighter in D20, arguably better than a Ranger when you factor in some of the awesome attack spells and buffs they have and the fact that they can wear all armor without suffering loss on innate abilities (as opposed to the Ranger which is supposed to operate in Light and Medium armor). Your Ranger is also quite unbalanced, the Ranger and Cleric uses WIS score to determine which spell levels they can/cannot use and the base rule is that a score of 10 + 1 for every spell level is required in order to wield the spell. A higher WIS score also grants vital skill points which improves your characters greatly and yields bonus spell slots per level. At this rate, your Ranger will not be able to use any of his spells at all and will have very low skill scores compared to some of the others. As a rule of thumb, Halflings make poor Rangers and other Fighter or Fighter dervived classes since they have scaled weapons (size increments cause all their weapons to have considerably less damage) and their racial STR penalty forces you to add more points to STR that could have gone elsewhere right from the start.

Fernhouse has the most well rounded stats of them all, the only one thing I'd change if I could was the CON score, which can be heightened in order to make the weaker classes a little more resilient by lending them more HP. The small stature is of little consequense to spellcasters as it usually just involves losing strength and melee/ranged weapon damage. I would strongly advice, however, to make your spellcaster a Sorcerer instead, as this is by far the best "artillery" class in all of D20 save for a small number of setting specific Prestige Classes.

Your fighter, which will deliver the brunt of damage and also recieve the most hits has a couple of problems; his WIS is such that he also will miss out on skill points that will give him better scores in many rather important skills. I like the fact that you made him human, fighters are among the most dependant on developing new feats as the level up and humans get more bonus feats than other races as well as no racial penalties to any one value in stats, saving throws etc which is a good idea for a fighter. His Dex score gives him a penalty, this reduces his AC and limits his use of feats such Combat Reflexes (which is a lifesaver when fighting large numbers of weaker enemies for instance) and Great Cleave. He will also be slower in Dodging or Tumbling. STR, CON and DEX are the main scores a fighter should excel in, with WIS preferably not dipping into the penalty range (less than 10) so as not to lose skill points. If you see that someone will end up with a 9 in one attribute you might as well remove one more point as the penalty for a 9 and an 8 is the same and rather place it in another stat to heighten the value.

As is, your party will never become very effective since most of them are specced in such ways that their class specific strengths are toned down or gone alltogether (like a ranger without any magic, he gets healing among other things). My advice is to start anew, make the ranger a human or an elf, add one more fighter with both being skilled with bows.

I usually have two fighters, one rogue with both ranged and melee capability, one sorcerer/sorceress, one cleric or paladin as a healer (a cleric would be best in a party with two fighter imo) and a ranger or another fighter type character as a 6th character (ranger, paladin or fighter). I give all of my fighter types (perhaps except paladins) ranger capability as this is very useful throughout the game (being able to deliver perhaps 1-3 ranger attacks with over half the party before the enemies close is invaluable) and make my rogue decent melee and ranged character as well for added strength.

Hope this helps! Been playing D&D and D20 for nearly 17 years (D20 since it came out) so I have a lot of experience to back up my claims and tips!

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice so far, everyone! (Especially Mummelmann.)

I know this is going to sound silly, but I really want to keep the characters I have :(. I've grown attached to them.

Vince is going to get his dexterity upped at the next opportunity, as two of you have recommended. You're right, Mummelmann. He does seem to get a lot of feats! I'm probably going to be upping his dexterity for the rest of the game, and I'll see if I can find some ... bracers of dexterity or whatever magical items I can to help him.

After reading others saying it was important to have a Cleric/Druid, my first though was to cross calss Heilyxx as a Ranger / Cleric. I would have had him off-side during battles, delivering ranged attacks when he isn't healing. Would that work, or would he not get any spells as a cleric? If not, is there something I can cross class him as that he'll be decent at? From what I gather and the advice given here, even taking into account his strength disadvantage, he might still be an okay fighter, is that right?

Elisa's carrying daggers because she can't carry ... anything. I suppose I could swap them for a short swords. I guess I gave her daggers partly because of the whole cloak+dagger cliche for thieves and because I thought they'd be faster :-/. I think I'll be going with some dagger or short sword feats at the next opportunity I get. Could I make her a Cleric / Rogue?

Waxley might get cross classed as a sorcerer. I don't know... he's supposed to be good at this magic thing, yet he's only able to memorise one new spell per level :(.

This is great! Thanks so much, everyone!

I'll start over if it gets absolutely impossible, but I'd like to avoid that.

UPDATE: I bit the bullet and decided to start again with new characters.  I've tried to follow the advice of Mummelmann and others.  How do these look as freshly generated characters?  Some members have changed names, others professions and races.  Is this a good, balanced party?  I have six this time!  I also have a better mix of guys and girls.  I'm a little worried about Astrid ... should I have given her more dexterity?

Vince Hairbrush — Neutral Good Human Fighter (Level 1)
Still in it for the booty!

Str: 16, Dex: 14, Con: 14, Int: 10, Wis: 8, Cha: 14
HP: 12/12, Exp.: 0/1000, Max. Weight: 160 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 12, Base: 10, Dexterity: +2
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +5, Reflex: +3, Will: +0

Main Hand: +0 Quarterstaff [1d6], Strength: +4
Attack Roll Modifiers — +4, Base: +1, Abilities: +3
Damage Potential: 5-10, Critical Hit: 20 / x2
Off Hand: —
Attacks: 1

Skills — Bluff: 3 (1), Concentration: 2 (0), Diplomacy: 4 (2), Hide: 2 (0), Intimidate: 2 (0), Move Silently: 2 (0)
Feats — Armour Proficiency: 3, Axe: 1, Bastard Sword: 2, Bow: 1, Crossbow: 1, Flail: 1, Great Sword: 1, Hammer: 1, Large Sword: 1, Luck of Heroes, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Polearm: 1, Quarterstaff: 1, Shield Proficiency, Small Blade: 1







Leafmore Lessbark — Chaotic Good Wild Elf Ranger (Level 1)
Chasing the perfect shot.

Str: 14, Dex: 20, Con: 12, Int: 8, Wis: 14, Cha: 8
HP: 11/11, Exp.: 0/1000, Max. Weight: 120 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 15, Base: 10, Dexterity: +5
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +3, Reflex: +5, Will: +2

Main Hand: +0 Quarterstaff [1d6], Strength: +3
Attack Roll Modifiers — +3, Base: +1, Abilities: +2
Damage Potential: 4-9, Critical Hit: 20 / x2
Off Hand: —
Attacks: 1, Favoured Enemies — Orcs: 1

Skills — Concentration: 1 (0), Hide: 5 (0), Move Silently: 7 (2), Search: 1 (0), Wilderness Lore: 4 (2)
Feats — Armour Proficiency: 2, Axe: 1, Bow: 1, Crossbow: 1, Flail: 1, Great Sword: 1, Hammer: 1, Large Sword: 1, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Polearm: 1, Precise Shot, Quarterstaff: 1, Shield Proficiency, Small Blade: 1








Jessica Cuddlekin — Lawful Good Human Paladin of Mystra (Level 1)
Raised on cupcakes, bubblegum and sunshine.

Str: 16, Dex: 14, Con: 14, Int: 10, Wis: 14, Cha: 8
HP: 12/12, Exp.: 0/1000, Max. Weight: 160 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 12, Base: 10, Dexterity: +2
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +4, Reflex: +2, Will: +2

Main Hand: +0 Quarterstaff [1d6], Strength: +4
Attack Roll Modifiers — +4, Base: +1, Abilities: +3
Damage Potential: 5-10, Critical Hit: 20 / x2
Off Hand: —
Attacks: 1, Lay on Hands Amount: 1

Skills — Concentration: 2 (0), Hide: 2 (0), Intimidate: 1 (2), Move Silently: 2 (0), Search: 1, Wilderness Lore: 2 (0)
Feats — Armour Proficiency: 3, Axe: 1, Blind-Fight, Bow: 1, Crossbow: 1, Flail: 1, Great Sword: 2, Hammer: 1, Large Sword: 1, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Polearm: 1, Quarterstaff: 1, Shield Proficiency, Small Blade: 1








Waxley Loaf — Chaotic Good Halfling Cleric:Silverstar of Selune (Level 1)
Master of jug magic.

Str: 8, Dex: 12, Con: 12, Int: 16, Wis: 18, Cha: 10
HP: 9/9, Exp.: 0/1000, Max. Weight: 50 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 11, Base: 10, Dexterity: +1
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +4, Reflex: +2, Will: +7

Main Hand: +0 Quarterstaff [1d6], Strength: -1
Attack Roll Modifiers -- -1, Base: +0, Abilities: -1
Damage Potential: 1-5, Critical Hit: 20 / x2
Off Hand: —
Attacks: 1, Turn Undead Level: 1

Skills — Concentration: 9 (0), Disable Device: 5 (0), Hide: 1 (0), Knowledge Arcana: 7 (4), Move Silently: 5 (0), Search: 3 (0), Spellcraft: 7 (4), Wilderness Lore: 4 (0)
Feats — Armour Proficiency: 3, Combat Casting, Crossbow: 1, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Quarterstaff: 1, Shield Proficiency, Small Blade: 1

Memorised Spells: Bless (x1), Cure Light Wounds (x1), Faerie Fire (x1)
Other Known Spells: Armour of Faith, Command, Doom, Inflict Light Wounds, Magic Stone, Protection From Evil, Remove Fear, Sanctuary, Summon Monster I



Astrid Orion — True Neutral Human Wizard:Transmuter (Level 1)
Neither here nor there.

Str: 8, Dex: 10, Con: 10, Int: 18, Wis: 18, Cha: 12
HP: 4/4, Exp.: 0/1000, Max. Weight: 50 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 10, Base: 10
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +0, Reflex: +0, Will: +6

Main Hand: +0 Quarterstaff [1d6], Strength: -1
Attack Roll Modifiers — -1, Base: +0, Abilities: -1
Damage Potential: 1-5, Critical Hit: 20 / x2
Off Hand: —
Attacks: 1

Skills — Alchemy: 8 (4), Bluff: 1 (0), Concentration: 8 (4), Diplomacy: 3 (0), Hide: 1, Intimidate: 1 (0), Knowledge (Arcana): 8 (4), Move Silently: 2, Search: 4 (0), Spellcraft: 10 (4), Wilderness Lore: 4 (0)
Feats — Combat Casting, Courteous Magocracy, Crossbow: 1, Mace: 1, Quarterstaff: 1, Small Blade: 1, Transmutation: 1

Memorised Spells: Burning Hands (x1), Magic Missile (x1), Identify (x1)
Other Known Spells: Ice Dagger




Elisa Sultry — Chaotic Good Wild Elf Rogue (Level 1)
Vince's not-so-secret unrequited romantic interest.

Str: 14, Dex: 20, Con: 10, Int: 16, Wis: 8, Cha: 8
HP: 6/6, Exp.: 0/1000, Max. Weight: 120 lb., Spell Resistance: 0

AC — 15, Base: 10, Dexterity: +5
Saving Throws — Fortitude: +0, Reflex: +7, Will: -1

Main Hand: +0 Quarterstaff [1d6], Strength: +3
Attack Roll Modifiers — +2, Base: +0, Abilities: +2
Damage Potential: 4-9, Critical Hit: 20 / x2
Off Hand: —
Attacks: 1, Sneak Attack Damage: 1d6

Skills — Disable Device: 7 (4), Hide: 9 (4), Move Silently: 9 (4), Pick Pocket: 9 (4), Search: 9 (4), Use Magic Device: 3 (4)
Feats — Ambidexterity, Armour Proficiency: 1, Bow: 1, Crossbow: 1, Large Sword: 1, Mace: 1, Missile: 1, Quarterstaff: 1, Small Blade: 1

Fighter, Ranger, Paladin, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric.

Looks solid to me though I'd suggest giving that Ranger a missile weapon.

I don't remember if IWD2 had Weapon Finesse but get it for your Rogue if it does.

Looks a lot better!
The cleric has a low strength score, but this can be easily dealt with by adding stat points (he should have at least 10 base so as to avoid penalties to hit rolls).
The Rogue's CHA is a tad low as well, but again, you can adjust that by adding points to her CHA stat as you go and reach 10 to avoid penalties to quite a few Rogue class skills.
Looks quite balanced, you have melee force to deal with most enemies, a good lockpicker which can be used a decent melee fighter as well and a good healer!
CHA adds a bonus to Turn Undead (Paladin innate ability) among a couple other things but there aren't a whole lot of instances where you'll use that in ID 2.
If you pick the Weapon Finesse feats with your Rogue and Ranger (for the type of weapon(s) you know they'll mostly be using) they'll become fierce at hitting their opponents (I did this with my Rogue as well) as the DEX bonus will apply rather than STR, they have mad DEX scores!
Your Ranger will get basic healing capabilities around level 4-5 and beyond in addition to the Cleric and your Paladin (Lay on Hands is handy in a tight spot) so you have plenty of healing power here!

This group should allow you to complete the game relatively unscathed (for the most part, bosses are tough regardless).
Just a small strategy tip at the end here; if you're having trouble with masses of enemies at once you can exploit the AI a little as the "Fog" of War which limits yours and the enemies' view and aggravate one and one foe at a time.
I usually arm my Rogue with a bow and go slowly forward till I see an enemy and then pause the game and target him and shoot one arrow, he chases the Rogue down and the other group members shoot while he runs towards you and eventually attack head on, allowing the Rogue to slip away and go around to flank the enemy in melee or keep shooting from behind the fighters!
Spells like Entangle are extremely valuable against a larger group of weaker enemies (which in turn have low saving throws) and can turn things around in a big way sometimes!

If you need any other tips feel free to ask (whether it be rule related, feats, skills, equipment etc. or general gameplay tips)!
Have fun and enjoy what is among the top 5 RPG's ever made in my opinion!