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             |   17    |  5  |  5  |  5  |  5  |  5  |  3  |  3  |  2  |  -  |
             |   18    |  5  |  5  |  5  |  5  |  5  |  3  |  3  |  2  |  1  |
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Having said that, there two spells in particular that make any combination of a Fighter/Mage very potent: Iron Body and Tenser's Transformation.  Below are the benefits and drawbacks to each of the two spells.

Iron Body
                         ---------
100% resistance to electricity.
50% resistance to fire.
25% resistance to crushing damage.
Strength raised to 25.
Can attack 2/round with iron fists (2d4)

And the spell lasts for 2 full turns!  Now for the downsides:

Movement rate reduced to 25% of normal.
Can't cast other spells during Iron Skin.


Tenser's Transformation
                         -----------------------
Double's the hit points of the caster.
Gives the THAC0 of a Fighter of the same level.
+4 bonus to AC.
+2 bonus to all saving throws.


So as you can see, those are tremendous benefits for two little spells.  An even more potent combination is all of the above, plus equipping your character with a set of Elven Chainmail (found in Severed Hand
Area).  In case you don't know, Elven Chainmail, while not possessing the best AC of an armor in the game, DOES allow a Mage to still cast spells and
ALSO allows a Thief to use their thieving skills.  As you can see, this armor is VITAL to the
Fighter/Mage/Thief combination if you want to fully employ all three classes.

Level 19 Cleric:  A Level 19 Cleric is, simply put, awesome!  Add to
----------------  that the fact that with the Triple Class characters, it is only one of three talents. and you are a virtual one-man party!  A Cleric of this level will easily be able to use every spell that is available to them.  Below is the Clerics spell table:

                         -----------------------------------------------------
                         |  Level  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |
                         -----------------------------------------------------
                         |   18    |  8  |  8  |  8  |  8  |  6  |  4  |  2  |
                         |   19    |  9  |  9  |  8  |  8  |  6  |  4  |  2  |
                         |   20    |  9  |  9  |  9  |  8  |  7  |  5  |  2  |
                         -----------------------------------------------------
|   NOTE: You must have a WIS of 17 to use Lvl 6    |
|         spells and a WIS of 18 to use Lvl 7.      |
                         -----------------------------------------------------


Level 22 Thief:  In Icewind Dale, the Thief character class is not too
---------------  amazing on its own, but when paired with one or more other classes, becomes much more formidable.  Besides having earned a LOT of thief skill points by Level 22
(30 at Level 1, and 20 each additional level for a total of 450 points!)  This amount of skill points is enough to raise each of your skills to 112% easily - and that is not counting your race's initial skill level!  Beyond that, having any combination of a
Thief/Mage means that you have a Mage who can attack with spells AND arrows from the back row!

These are just some of the potential reasons why the Triple Class characters are now a viable option, if one is willing to overlook their one drawback:  They go up in level three times slower than a normal character.


The Mage-Cleric
---------------

Mages excel at decimating the enemy forces with terrible magics.  Clerics prove to be valuable support companions, healing members of otherwise mortal wounds - and resurrecting those who do die.  Why not have the best of BOTH worlds - A Mage-Cleric!

There exist three possible combinations of a Mage and a Cleric
In Heart of Winter.  The first way is to Multi-Class a character.  The last two ways both involve Dual-Classing a character, but there IS are several differences between beginning the game with a Cleric and Dual-Classing to a
Mage, and beginning the game as a Mage, and later Dual-Classing to a Cleric.
In my opinion, the most effective combination is that of a Mage-Cleric, that is, a character who begins the game as a Mage, then becomes a Cleric later.
Reasons for this include:

1. The maximum levels for a Mage-Cleric are the most advantageous, at 23 for the Cleric, and 22 for the Mage.  Taking the Cleric-Mage route will only yield a Level 21 Cleric and a Level 22 Mage, while the
Multi-Class method will yield a Level 25 Cleric, but only a Level 20
Mage.
2. The Mage-Cleric combination will receive the same number of Mage spells per level, (assuming INT scores are equal) but the Mage-Cleric will receive extra upper-level spells due to the extra level of experience.
3. Clerics gain levels faster than Mages do.  Thus, it is more advantageous to have the class that levels up be the second class, because the second class must be one experience level higher than the first class in order to once again gain access to both classes.
4. When Dual-Classing a character, the second class is initially VERY weak.  Having the Cleric as the second class allows you to give him great armor and weapons to somewhat offset the weakness.  Also remember that Clerics can cast spells while wearing any armor, while
Mages can not.
5. Both the Mage-Cleric and the Cleric-Mage are restricted to Cleric weapons, which is more advantageous than being restricted to Mage weapons.  This is not exactly an advantage for choosing a
Mage-Cleric, but rather shows that there is no advantage to choosing the Cleric first.

What is probably the most important factor in choosing one of these combinations over the other is the amount of spells each combination will have access to.  In all three character combinations, the Cleric will have access to Level 7 spells, while all three Mage combinations will have access to Level 9 spells.  Below are the Spell Progression charts for each of the three combinations at their maximum levels:


                               ================
The Mage-Cleric:
                               ================


Mage Spell Progression
                            ======================

      -----------------------------------------------------------------
|                Level 22 Mage - 4,500,000 exp.                 |
      -----------------------------------------------------------------
      |  Level  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |
      -----------------------------------------------------------------
      |   22    |  5  |  5  |  5  |  5  |  5  |  5  |  4  |  4  |  3  |
      -----------------------------------------------------------------


Cleric Spell Progression
                           ========================

            -----------------------------------------------------
|          Level 23 Cleric - 3,375,000 exp.         |
            -----------------------------------------------------
            |  Level  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |
            -----------------------------------------------------
            |   23    |  9  |  9  |  9  |  9  |  9  |  7  |  3  |
            -----------------------------------------------------



                               ================
The Cleric-Mage:
                               ================


Cleric Spell Progression
                           ========================

            -----------------------------------------------------
|          Level 21 Cleric - 2,925,000 exp.         |
            -----------------------------------------------------
            |  Level  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |
            -----------------------------------------------------
            |   21    |  9  |  9  |  9  |  9  |  8  |  6  |  2  |
            -----------------------------------------------------


Mage Spell Progression
                            ======================

      -----------------------------------------------------------------
|                Level 22 Mage - 4,500,000 exp.                 |
      -----------------------------------------------------------------
      |  Level  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |
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                               ================
The Multi-Class:
                               ================


Cleric Spell Progression
                           ========================

            -----------------------------------------------------
|          Level 25 Cleric - 3,825,000 exp.         |
            -----------------------------------------------------
            |  Level  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |
            -----------------------------------------------------
            |   25    |  9  |  9  |  9  |  9  |  9  |  8  |  4  |
            -----------------------------------------------------


Mage Spell Progression
                            ======================

      -----------------------------------------------------------------
|                Level 20 Mage - 3,750,000 exp.                 |
      -----------------------------------------------------------------
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The Bard
--------

The Bard.  Not just another pretty face in Heart of Winter.  This character class has undergone some serious renovations since Icewind Dale.  Most notably, he had gained a total of SIX different bard songs that can all be learned by Level 11, which only requires 220,000 experience points.  All of these songs have their uses, but in my opinion, one of them is far more useful than the rest: "War Chant of Sith"  The song will grant the following bonuses to any party member within range:

1. +2 AC bonus.
2. +10% resistance to the following: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing, and
Missile attacks.
3. Regenerate 2 hit points each round. (every 6 seconds)

This is somewhat equivalent to a free Potion of Regeneration, an extra
Ring of Protection +2, and more - all for one song.

In addition to this, the Bard has another advantage: extended spell abilities.  In Icewind Dale, the maximum level for Bards was 18, allowing them to cast spells between Levels 1 and 6.  In Heart of Winter, they will be able to cast Level 7 and 8 spells as well!!  Below is the spell progression chart, taken from the manual.  It begins with Level 18, the last possible level for
Bards in Icewind Dale: