Combat Class/Caster class help?

Ok, first off, I like to make characters that are usefull for soloing, as an example, my main character is a Paladin/Rouge with the rouge level half of the paladin level so basically at level 6 it would be Paladin 4 and Rouge 2. This, however, is not really important, as this is about a new character I want to make. I have decided to make a Combat Class/Caster class as the title suggests. I have decided I will either se a Wizard or Sorcerer and either a Fighter or Barbarian.

I'm Looking more towards a Wizard for the wide spell range and bounus feets. But I'm stuck on the combat class, as well as what stats would be a decent enough fo such a character, not going over 16. I will likely also be using a human character, but suggestions are welcome.

So how should I go about this?

Well ive had neither a barb or a ftr before but what i think is you should go ftr, However i do see quite a few wizzy/barbs and not many wizzy/ftr so you might not wanna go with my word b/c i havent had either and wait for some one more experienced to reply. Sorry im not of much help but i tried XD Just wait for a more experienced player to reply before making a decision.

The most common class mixes for Battle casters are Wizard/Fighter and Sorcerer/Paladin.

Sorcerer/Paladin just make a good synergy as both classes benefit from an high Charisma.

Wizard/Fighter are more common than Wizard/Barbarian as you can't cast spells while raged. ;)

I just rolled an Elf Fighter/Sorcerer. My thoughts are to make him primarily caster with better HP and melee capabilities. I started with Fghtr for the added Feats and proficiencies and will switch to Sorc at level 2 or 3. I chose Sorc over Wiz because of the greater spell points. It's awesome that Wizards have access to all spells, but I've found myself casting the same select few over and over, so it doesn't bother me that Sorcs don't have as many.

Barbarian would also be a good class to start with, especially for a human. I'm an old AD&D player and I couldn't get used to an Elven Barbarian!

I'm still fairly new to the game, so I'd welcome comments and feedback from more experienced players.

Different play styles will affect what classes you'd like to try and therefore how many levels of each class. If you would like to solo quests think about how you'd like to play:

Magic for offense?
Magic for self-buffs?
Magic for debuffs or crowd control?
Magic just for a few spells with melee as your main means of killing?

I made my own variation of a arcane combatant, 2 Ranger / 7 Wizzy / 7 Rogue. I liked the benefits of high intelligence with wizzy and rogue; I can also use healing wands with no fail with the Ranger levels (not to mention free favored enemy, bow strength, and twf). I use my magic all for buffs except for firewall, slow, and glitterdust. I can cast scrolls of Greater Heroism, Stoneskin (I have the spell Stoneskin but the scoll works just as well), and other higher level magic scrolls just for fun. I have a 1:30 sec of haste and displacement extended. He's AC and sneak-attack focused and can find / disable traps very well.

I decided how I wanted to play with magic added into melee and he's what I came up with. I hope that helps with ideas. Peace!

-Premier

Fighter and Wizard are a good pairing for many builds since you get so many feats to work with its much easier to develop both he combat and casting side of the build.

As noted barbarain doesn't pair well wtih fighting classes because raging stops you from casting spells and barbarian is a class that develops slowly.

Ranger/Wizard is also a good pairing so long as you like Two weapon fighting or ranged combat.

Sorc/Paladin is also good but generaly you limit paladin to 2 or 3 levels.