Hints

General Hints
My Party
How to Defeat Certain Enemies

General Hints

Save Often
Not only should you save your game after every battle or major dialogue, I also recommend keeping several saved game files for each of your games. This will allow to backtrack several saves if you, for instance, find yourself in an area that is too dificult. I usually have one save game from the beginning of the current chapter, one save game from the beginning of the current area I'm working on, and then one or more in the current area. I often make temporary saves if I want to experiment somewhere but don't want my experiments as part of my main game.

Take out enemies one at a time
A strategy I use for nearly all difficult battles I encounter is to take out the enemies one at a time. As you approach the area where the enemies are, take one step at a time. When a single enemy appears, stop and retreat a little ways. As the enemy approaches, have all your archers fire at it. If it isn't dead by the time it reaches your front character, your front row fighters can finish it off pretty quickly. Once the enemy is dead, take another step forward until the next enemy appears. This way you will take out each of the enemies in the group six-on-one instead of being outnumbered. You can even save between enemies.

Ranged Attacks Rock!
I usually find ranged attacks useless in most RPGs, but in Icewind Dale they are quite powerful. I recommend that you have several characters with some sort of ranged attack available. You can usually take out quite a few of the enemy before they come into melee range. Ranged attacks are also good for disrupting enemy spells. I find some of the more difficult enemies use ranged attacks.

Collect Fire Weapons
Some enemies in the game can only be killed by fire or acid, so it is a good idea to keep any fire weapons that you find and equip them to finish off these enemies.

Run in Circles
Many of the enemies in Icewind Dale are quite persistent. Once they have chosen a target, they usually keep after that person. You can use this to your advantage. Have all your characters attack the enemy except for the person who it is attacking. Have that person run in circles around your party. The enemy will keep trying to attack that character but the rest of your party is in the way, so it will have to circle around to catch that person. While the enemy is chasing the character, it isn't attacking but all but one of your characters are. This stategy is particularly useful against enemies with excellent THACO scores.

My Party

Human Male Paladin - A paladin makes a great leader for any party because of their high charisma and fighting ability. Since the leader gets attacked the most, I give him the best armor so that most of enemy attacks are ineffective.
Statistics:
Strength - 18/60
Dexterity - 16
Constitution - 18
Intelligence - 11
Wisdom - 16
Charisma - 18
Favorite Weapon: Long Sword

Dwarf Male Fighter - The constitution bonus dwarves get give me a few more hit points in the front row.
Statistics:
Strength - 18/95
Dexterity - 16
Constitution - 19
Intelligence - 11
Wisdom - 11
Charisma - 8
Favorite Weapon: Battle Axe

Human Female Fighter - An extra sword comes in mighty handy in any battle. Using two-handed weapons, this character does not need to be in the front row to attack enemeis.
Statistics:
Strength - 17
Dexterity - 18
Constitution - 18
Intelligence - 12
Wisdom - 10
Charisma - 12
Favorite Weapons: Two-Handed Sword

Human Female Cleric - A single cleric gives my party all the healing I need. By not dualing or multi-classing her, she raises her level faster and can cast more cure spells.
Statistics:
Strength - 14
Dexterity - 17
Constitution - 18
Intelligence - 10
Wisdom - 18
Charisma - 12
Favorite Weapons: Mace

Halfling Male Fighter/Thief - The dexterity bonus halflings get improves his thieving skills and ranged attacks. Although his thieving levels increase a little slower than a full thief, I have never encountered a trap he could not disarm, nor a lock he could not pick. Because he is also a fighter he can equip with powerful crossbows and attack enemies from the back row. He takes out more than his share of enemies.
Statistics:
Strength - 16
Dexterity - 19
Constitution - 17
Intelligence - 14
Wisdom - 9
Charisma - 13
Favorite Weapons: Heavy Crossbow

Elf Male Fighter/Mage - Elves also recieve a dexterity bonus which gives this character a bonus to his ranged attacks. Because his is only a half mage, his mage level goes up a little slower and he has fewer spells. Like the halfling, though, the ability to carry powerful ranged weapons more than makes up for this. He can take out many enemies safely from the back row and so contributes more than just spells to the party.
Statistics:
Strength - 14
Dexterity - 19
Constitution - 17
Intelligence - 18
Wisdom - 9
Charisma - 9
Favorite Weapons: Long Bow

How to Defeat Certain Enemies

Trolls
Trolls and Snow Trolls can only be defeated by fire or acid. Attack the troll until it falls over unconsious and then finish it off with a fire spell or weapon. I suggest using mostly fire melee weapons or fire arrows and save your spells for other enemies since trolls do not attack your party when they are unconsious and you have a fair bit of time to finish him off before he wakes up.

Magic Users
Attack magic users immediatly with ranged weapons and attack spells to prevent them from casting spells. I'm not sure if this is a bug, but sometimes the enemy can still cast their spell, even though they've been hit.

Bombadier Beetle
Bombadier Beetles release a vapour cloud which damages and paralyses all your party members standing nearby. To prevent this annoying attack, Defeat them from a distance with two or more characters using ranged weapons.

Blast Skeleton
As soon as they are hit once, Blast Skeletons explode, damaging all creatures around them. As soon as they come into range, fire at them with ranged weapons and your party should be out of range of the explosion.