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II.1 race                                                   ppgcr1
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Race gives you an advantage at start and influence you far into the game.
The more important aspect the a race would influence is the quests available in the game. Some quests will result in better rewards if you have a specific race to do the job. There will this never ending discussion about which race is best for which class going in every IWD2 forums.

Don't be discourage by the level adjusment, it will not limit your level cap, which is 30. Level adjusment simply means that a character needs more experience to level into next. If a character has level adjusment of +x, that means at level 1, that character needs xp needed for level 1+x to level into level 2. As for the 'favored class', it doesn't nessasary means that the race excel in that class. It means that the culture of that race has influenced its people in such way that they will not receive an xp penalty while multiclass into the class.

Before i go into it, one thing you have to remember,
It is role-playing that counts.

1 >>> Human
Humans are all around people. They don't have heredity bonuses but they have the finnest educational system to make them as competitive as other races. So they might not have + on any abilities, but they can be train into any class and do a good job on it. a. Human human is very flexable and general. You get an extra feat at start and extra skill points per level. The best part of a human is the 'favored class: any' bonus that it offers. Thus, the higest class in multiclasses will the the favored class.
If you have no idea which race you want to choose, human can't be wrong. b. Aasimar
Aasimar has a +2 on WIS and CHA. cleric, paladin and druid will benefit from this stats. c. Tiefling
Tiefling has +2 on INT and DEX. Rogue, wizard or even fighter+ wizard combination will benefit from the class bonus.

2 >>> Dwarf
Dwarves are very hardcore people. They will slash rather then talk and think. Dwarves give an impression of very hard to damage and kill

Generally dwarf makes good fighter for the +2 CON bonus. +2 saving throw against poison is not that crucial. However, +2 against spells is is a big plus. In addition, +2 search will also makes them a good rogue. a. Shield Dwarf
Just like human (subrace) to human (race), shield dwarf is the general version of dwarf. The advantages are not to heavy and so is the disadvantage. b. Gold Dwarf
It wouldn't be a good idea to make a rogue out of gold dwarf because of the -2 dex disadvantage. gold dwarf is more fighter then other dwarves. They have an +1 attack roll againist underdark creatures.
But then, the underdark is just a part of the whole story. c. Gray Dwarf
Gray dwarf is more rogue then other dwarves. They have +4 bonus on move silent to go with the default +2 search. So gray dwarf would serve best for a figher+rogue dwarf.

3 >>> Elf
Elves are very magical and agile. They are easy to kill, physically, but they are hard to hit. Elves can be great spellcasters, especially using arcane magic (they are very arcane anyway). Elves can be excellent archers as well. you only heard the term 'elven archer' right? have you ever heard of 'orcish archer' or 'dwarven archer'? But, the game does not really promote you to be an archer. so, elves can only show their magical side but not the agile side.

All elves will have a +2 DEX bonus. All elves are immune to sleep. All elves have +2 saving throw against enchantment magic (spells that screw up your mind like charm, confusion, hold person, etc). All elves have +2 search check. In addition, elves are proficient with large swords and bows (crossbows are not bows, they are simple missile weapons).
Since elves are magical, their favored class will be towards spellcasters. a. Moon Elf general version of elves. receives -2 CON. b. Drow
+2 DEX, +2 INT and +2 CHA, you want more? how about 11+lvl spell resistance? Drow does a great job in a lot of classes and multiclasses. To make the game interesting, mixing a rogue and wizard would certainly be fun. the downside is -2 CON so they can't be fighters that take a lot of damage. Also, whenever under bright light, a drow receives -1 on everything. c. Wild Elf just like moon elf, but the penalty is -2 int.

4 >>> Gnome
Gnomes are suppose to be very scientific and rational people (rational doesn't mean serious). Ironically, their favored class is illusionist. Generally gnomes are weak at physical fighting. a. Rock Gnome
Seriously, i don't know what to do with rock gnome. Because their bonus +2 CON conflicted with their penalty -2 STR. if -2 STR makes you no good at melee, then what's the +2 CON for? b. Deep Gnome
+2 DEX and WIS with 11+lvl spell resistance. It doesn't not end here.
+2 to all saving throw, +2 to search and hide. Now this is much better then the rock gnome. Combination of fighter+illusionist or rogue+illusionist will work fine. Don't worry about the -2 str penalty. Or if you want, For the fun of it, deep gnome can be good druid and cleric. Not many race has +2 WIS.

5 >>> Half-elf i wish i have better things to say about half-elf but there isn't much. Personally, i like half-elf for the sake of role playing. In 2e rules, half-elf offers the widest range of multiclassing. Now in 3e rules, since everyone can multiclass, half-elf loses its most important advantage. Furthermore, 'favored class: any' might seem useful, but human also offer this with 1 bonus feats and more bonus skill points. so which would you rather choose?

Ok, the limited advantages of a half-elf. Half-elves are immune to sleep and have a +2 save aganist enchantment magic.
This bonus is best apply to a fighter since saving throw against enchantment magic is a fighter weakness. So, to some extend, half-elf fighter is better than a human fighter.

6 >>> Half-orc
Most people don't accept half-orc and treat them as babaric half-breed. Most half-orc are either abandoned children or raise by their human single mother without acceptance of the society. (Come to think of it, have you ever come across a half-orc of orcish mother and human father?)

Half-orc makes the best hardcore fighter with their +2 STR, the only race with + STR. Who cares about int and cha when being a fighter?

7 >>> Halfling
Halfling are, in simple term, sneaky. They just like to play around. The thought of heroic deeds will never come across their minds. Generally, halfling people are almost equal to rogues.

Because of their sneakiness nature, they have +2 DEX, +2 move silently and +1 to hit with thrown weapon. Because they are all small, they receive -2 str penalty. One special note is that these people are fearless, +2 morale saving throw against fear. They are not that easy to suffer a morale failure to fear. a. Lightfoot Halfling
The key of lightfoot halfling is the +1 to all saving throws. b. Strongheart Halfling
The key of strongheart halfling is the extra feat available at start. *p.s. So it's really up to you for choosing between a lightfoot or strongheart. You want +1 saving throws or +1 feat? Personally, i prefer +1 saving throws because its benefit is more long term. c. Ghostwise Halfling
Favored class is barbarian. Gains extra ability of setting natural snares. Natural snares work just like entangle, nothing fancy.


==CONCLUSION==
Remember what i mention earlier? It is role-playing that counts. Of course, half-orc makes the best fighter. But for the sake of role-playing, pure fun and not following prototypes, why not try half-orc paladin, halfling druid, dwarf cleric? If you have a band of six, the 'not so wise choice' of race and class would not give you much trouble. In fact you can later tell everyone that you finished the game with some most freakish combination.

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II.2 class                                                  ppgcr2
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Because of the freedom that 3rd edition rule gives, most of the time, people would not stay in one class and become a fulltimer. So, as i discuss about each class, i will include a little conclusion at the end of each type of class.

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II.2.1 front-line tanker                                    ppgcr3
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As the name suggest, these people are there to take damage and protect your spellcaster.

1  >>>  Fighter
Fighter is all about feats.

You'll get a lot of extra feats so you can pretty much learn every skill that is available to you. The crucial thing is in the early of the game. You only have a few feats, so you'll need to plan well on what to learn first, and what's next. While deciding what should a fighter's abilities be, generally speaking, minimize charisma, and wisdom. STR and CON are equally important. Of course, if you want to pull down DEX to push INT, you are welcome. Because most likely a fighter will wear the heaviest armor in the game which might negates the benefits of having a high DEX. But beware, some feats require high dex, like 'Dirty Fighting', so don't let your DEX drop below 13.

You have feats, so use them well. At early of the game, you might want to choose 'Snakeblood' if you have a choice, Since this only available in first level. 'Dirty Fighting'is a must have feat later on. Distribute your weapon feats so that you can attack effectively with slashing damage as well as bludgeoning damage. Some monsters have high resistance to a damage type. However, those are open to piercing damage usually cannot resist slashing as well. p.s. Holy Avenger is a long sword. There is an axe that slay construct in HoF mode. 'Club of Disruption' is a club that destroy undead.

2  >>>  Paladin
In the name of law, you smite evil.

First, paladin will have divine spellcasting ability starting from 4th lvl, which are based on wisdom. so if you want to cast a x level spell, you'll need 10+x wisdom.

Second, paladin has 'lay on hand' in 1st lvl. it's a healing spell which determine by charisma. Also, by default, you are immune to disease. At 2nd lvl, you gain 'smite evil' which is also charisma based. It gives you extra damage to evil foes. Also in 2nd lvl, you gain 'aura of courage'. It makes you immune to fear and gives allies +4 saving throws aganist fear. In 3rd lvl, you'll get 'turn undead' which is charisma and lvl based. Also in 3rd lvl is 'remove disease' which can be useful. So basically, you are immune to disease and fear at lvl 3.

Third, you have restriction on multiclassing. if you don't multiclass to your order's favored class, you cannot lvl up in your paladin class ever.

So, if you want to play a full time paladin, you'll need to