Fun Party Build

[SpiteAndMalice]

I'm playing IWDee for the 1st time and I'm just wanting a bit of advice on which character classes are the most fun to play.

I've no interest in powergaming or multiple play throughs. I don't feel a need to have set character roles (i.e. No desire to get the best Tank/Damage Dealer) I may have a go at HOW, but if it's just the same game (allbeit harder) then I doubt I'll do more than take a look at it. Essentially I just want to role play and have characters that are different from one another.

NB - While multiclassing sounds like a fun way to try out different classes at the same time, dual classing sounds horrendous, I don't want to spend half the game watching my XP/Level whilst waiting for that sweet spot of when to goto the 2nd class (I know I'd be kicking myself if I went too early/late).

Things I'm looking at so far:

Bard - Skald seems stronger, but does the loss of songs still make for an enjoyable character?

Paladin - This is a definate for extra dialogue options

FTM - I understand that thief on it's own is a waste, and a triple class character sounds unique to play

Ranger/Cleric I like the idea of this giving me 2 more classes in addition to the FTM above, but why would you want to lose the possibility to fire piercing projectiles on a ranger?
OR
Ranger (Elf Archer) - This is my alternative Ranger, but how much of a bind is it to have to resurrect Elves

A Druid multi class - Just to get a full complement of spells, and shapshifting sounds fun. But, do you get shapeshifting on rangers later on?


Wild Mage - I can imagine this making a mess of some situations, but it sounds like a crazy time to have.

That gives me 6, but are there any others which would be more fun/interesting on a first play through? Sorcerer sounds like a tricky limited Mage where you really need to know what spells you're picking (I don't). Is Barbarian fun, or a is it a one trick pony? Monk seems a bit boring.

Any thoughts/help is appreciated :-)

[查内姆]

half-elf bard for elven chainmail and recording scroll
elf sorcerer ,free of scrolls
human druid multi class to fighter with spear+5
half-orc cleric/fighter as main tank
halfling fighter/rogue as a archer who can do a lot of damage in early game
maybe a paladin for pale justice or monk or barbarian?

[Alexander]

Ranger/cleric is extremely powerful and you can always use slings. Lose the extra attack with bow, but slings give you bonus based on strength. So with draw upon holy might, you can do MASSIVE amounts of damage with a sling late game.

Only problem is the slow leveling up. It's a huge problem if you're doing the core difficulty but not much in heart of fury or insane.