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I think I might pull out BG2 again for another run from dungeon-be-gone to ToB, been a while and I fancy doing something a bit different to the parties I've completed the game with previously. I think I've got the ideas for the party sorted out I was just wondering if anyone could suggest ideas for equipment.

Char1: Kensai (to level 9 or 13) > Druid, specialising in spears and 2handed weapon style. Thinking Druid buffs will cover the kensai equipment restrictions a bit, previously I've used the classic Kensai/Mage so this is a bit differnet but still fairly familiar. If someone could advise me on the start requirements for dualling to druid as well that would be great

Char2: Blade. A bard has always been the corner stone of a party to me and the blade should give a lot of power. Ring of freedom of movement is a must here but I'm not sure where to go with weaponry. 2 weapon obviously, I'm thinking axes and something else maybe.

Char3: Swashbuckler 10 > Cleric, I've never played a cleric/thief type before but I think the idea could be quite fun. Cleric of mask style character. Wondering about going for clubs as a weapon when I was thinking backstab before I realised that Swashbucklers don't get a backstab modifier. Wondering about going with clubs anyway just because I've never really used them before

Char4: Assassin > Fighter level switch undecided, 5*s in shortbow makes this guy my archer, Tuigon's bow plus poison should cripple most things that get in my way. Short sword, plus a big backstab modifier, plus a good THAC0 makes for a good infilrator.

My concerns are a relative lack of mage spells, high dependancy on light armour types might lead to a shortage of the best possible armours, no real tank, overload on thief skills. Tactics and summonings should make up for the lack of tank, a lot of divine magic plus a bard means I should be ok for spells in general. Overload on thief skills should be ok by specialising on different areas and then dualling out.

Any thoughts? cheers in advance
Figners

I'd dual the kensai to a druid a bit later and have him use scimitars for extra speed. If you were soloing, I'd suggest mid twenties, but currently it's best to do so at level thirteen. With two handed weapon style, your only weapons of choice are spears and staves, while good, aren't for a front line fighter and better used by someone else.

For the Blade I'd use longswords, scimitars (ones that the kensai/druid can't use) and axes with this one. Technically, you can start out with longswords and use Magical Weapon to give yourself two +3 longswords at the start.

The swashbuckler/cleric is another tank, so heavy armor for him. As for clubs, there is only one decent club, and even then, it's not much compared to other weapons. I'd choose flails, then hammers, dualwielding.

This character really isn't that great. First of all, in order to reach x7 backstab, you need to be level 21, and you just can't pull it off with four characters, not until end game at least. For a powerful backstabber, you'd want a Kensai/Thief, dualed equally late. Instead, try a stalker. The can tank and backstab, while still having a good THAC0 without buffs which they still have access to.

Your Blade can take on the role of a mage and a fighter. Mage spells aren't necessary to beat the game, so don't worry. With armor, you're fine. The Kensai/Druid can't wear any armor at all. The Blade doesn't need any armor either, you'll end up using Jan's armor or Robe of Vecna towards the end anyway. The Swashbuckler/Cleric will use heavy armor while the Stalker will use light and transition into medium armors once you get the types he can use.

A kensai needs to be true neutral and have at least 15 str, 17 wis and 17 cha in order to be able to dualclass to druid. I don't think it's worth waiting until level 13 instead of level 9. 1,000,000 XP is a lot. The spear you can get in the fishmen city is a great high damage weapon, in ToB you can get an even better one.

A bard is sufficient to handle arcane spellcasting. For the off-hand weapon I'd take a weapon which grants an extra attack to the main hand, the kundane short sword, the belm scimitar or later maybe the scarlet ninja-to.

Clubs are ok as weapon for your swashbuckler/cleric, the club you can buy in Trademeet after solving the quests there is often underrated. I recommend starting with ** in clubs and dualwielding and putting points into slings, hammer, mace and flail during the dualing period so you can stay flexible.

I'd dual the assassin at level 13 after you got the *5 backstab modifier. You'll be without a party thief for about 235,000 XP however, but waiting until level 17 for the next boost will take too long and yield too many disadvantages. Keep in mind that the proficiency points you spend before and during dualclassing don't stack with each other and you'll need them since you can spend up to five for each weapon type, so put points into short bow and your backstab weapon of choice during the dualing period, but not before.

Pre-level 21, an Assassin is a terrible Thief Kit. Trust me on this, I beat the game with one a while back with him as my main thief(Baaaad times). 15%(!) of thieving skills means that he can't fit the bill as a main thief(lock picking, trap disarming etc) without a crap-ton of Thieving ability increasing items. Coupled with a generic thief backstab multiplier until 21 and lack of weapon specialization(Only * instead of **, and therefore mediocre thac0), the Assassin is very poor unless you plan on taking(and dealing with) it all the way.

His redeeming quality is the poison, which if you can manage to actually hit a mage with, will screw with the mage for the poison's duration. A fun tool to play with, and the reason I rolled an assassin. Once you get to level 21, you get a x7 backstab multiplier, and this, coupled with a generally less mediocre thac0(make sure you use only one weapon if you plan to backstab at all) means that the Assassin instantly jumps from "sadly mediocre" to "pretty great." Throw a poison on your Short Sword or Dagger(or a fast Long Sword/Katana/Scim), get behind the nearest mage, and rip him to shreds. These late-level gains are the reason that Assassins do not Dual-class well, since it takes many extra levels to fully utilize the class.

I like the rest of the party though. If you're really inclined to take an Assassin with you, get another thief to do the actual thieving duties.

EDIT: Ignore the part about the backstabbing if you just want the poison on a bow to cripple casters from a distance. It could work, though the thac0 would still be pathetic. Just remember that the poison gets stronger every few levels, peaking at level 16 I believe. Another inclination to not dual-class, but I'll leave that to your perrogative.

EDIT 2: You could also dual-class at level 21, if you can wait that long...