Crafting is incredibly powerful, I dunno why there's so much flak about it in the thread. Yeah, the inventory interface is kinda shitty for that, but the resulting weapon (and note that you need both blacksmithing & crafting to make melee weapons - blacksmithing to make them, crafting to sharpen them) are many times better than the shit you'll find in the chests. And weapons are pretty much the only thing you want to craft - scrolls & potions can be just bought, it's not like you're starved for money, and the crafted items are generally only useful in the early-early game (with only exception probably being the super-rabbit rings for melee fighters, but even those don't last past the midgame). The only issue here is that some items have randomly applied buffs when crafted at skill level of 5 and, well, not all those buffs are equal. For example, at crafting 5 a bow may give you dexterity, speed or max ap bonus. Max ap bonus is crap (because it doesn't scale with the level), dexterity bonus is good but redundant if you want to apply a tormented soul to that weapon, speed bonus is awesome. And so on.
http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=506737
You can always check stuff like this to know the available options.
As for the characters:
My personal favorite archetype is an armored rogue. Basically, you start with 8 dex, 7 str and then you go on with the dex & speed, never pumping more points into strength. You do invest into the shield skill, though (3-4 levels, depends on your tastes) and you wear a lot of strength-boosting equipment so you can wear shields (you go with shield&dagger, obviously) and metal helmet-gloves-boots (armor is a no-no, it slows you too much). So you deal as much damage as a normal rogue (with a decently crafted dagger - as much as a 2-handed knight) and also you're incredibly survivable - high armor, high defense, good blocking rate. And, if you want, you can also pump man-at-arms to 3 so you can cast Nullify Resistances (which is the most broken warrior skill and, since it doesn't last too long, you nearly can't have them enough in your party). This all works because strength bonuses are rather common on the equipment, so it's not that hard to reach 12 strength that way (the best 12-strength shield I saw provided 42% blocking chance which is more than enough).
There isn't a way to do reverse build, unfortunately. All rogue's skill require either a dagger or maxed-out dexterity to be efficient. So that 2-handed guy won't benefit much from rogue's skills. I guess you can try to take 8 str, 7 dex and, without further pumping of dex, raise it up via items to sufficient levels just so you can wear good leather armor (and benefit from extra mobility). But I'm not sure if it is worth it because it can be achieved by easier means - once again, super-rabbit rings (which eventually provide something like +1.5 to your movement each) or any other items with similar enchantments (boots at crafting 5, for example).
For the battlemage build, I prefer splashing - I think that trying to do a full-hybrid isn't that viable in this game, but splashing is ok. So, if you prioritize strength, you go with 8 str, 7 int starting stats and you don't touch intelligence after that. You don't pump it via items either (apart from the cloaks - one of the benefits of such splashing is that all magical cloaks in the game require int, so by splashing you kinda open up an extra item slot; I think that pretty much every character should have 7 int for that reason - magical cloaks can add +1 to both your willpower and bodybuilding and that's kinda awesome), you just focus on strength. And, in terms of magic, you pick 1 point in each school (maybe 2 in Earth & Water - they're more tolerable to low int and have good buffs at level 2) and that's it. And instead of casting battle spells, you focus on buffs - because they, unlike combat magic, profit much less from having higher than required int. So as long as you have 100% chance to cast them, they're as good as it gets (apart from the cooldowns). So it's kinda cleric-type character.
If you prioritize int on your battlemage, then you make him pretty much the same as an armored rogue - 8 int, 7 str, no further str pumps, just rock on with the shield. Once again, it combines great utility of a mage with the survivability of a warrior.
And, as for the pure mages, I think they're at their best when you, instead of focusing particular schools, just go for the archemages - getting 3 skill levels in all 5 schools costs you as much as getting 5 skill levels at 2 schools. But, because the majority of high level spells are actually awful, you gain much more by going the 5 school route. The only schools that are worth maxing out are either water or fire. And, well, you have enough skill points to do 4 schools on 3 and one on 5.
As for the rangers & rogues - another option they have is to splash for each other. You don't even need to invest much into it - just 2 points for each will suffice. Ranger gains access to the invisibility, couple of self-cures and a charming touch (so he has 2 charms). Maybe even the summon. Rogue gains access to the tactical retreat (cheap teleport), couple of healing spells and, most importantly, the rapture (so he also has 2 charms). My party had both rogue and ranger who splashed for each other and, well, 4 charm is a fucking imba. That may be too powerful, though.
