Party, Feat and Skill Tips...

1. For a TOEE party, it is best to have one character, like a rogue or bard, be the "talker." Have them deal with the NPCs all the time. Make them use their plentiful skill points for "conversation" skills (Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Gather Information, etc.). Save other party member's skill points for combat options.

TIP: Bluff grants you bonuses to the Feint combat move, so it's one of the better "conversation" options.

2. Best combat skills for non-casters are: Listen (helps avoid being surprised), Tumble (if lightly armored, see 5 above), and Spot.

3. Best combat skills for a caster are: Concentration, Spellcraft and the above in 2.

4. Consider Hide and Move Silently for your mage or sorceror, and the Stealthy feat. For one, they should have a good dexterity since they aren't going to be armored. Two, it's a big plus to be able to sneak in on a tightly grouped bunch of foes and launch that area of effect spell.

5. Don't neglect the Use Magic Items skill. Many spells apply solely to the caster, like Shield or True Strike. Imagine a rogue with a good Use Magic Items skill using a scroll of True Strike for his next sneak attack!

6. All-around solid combat feats are: Improved Initiative, Dodge, Power Attack + Cleave, Point Blank Shot + Precise Shot (for ranged).

7. Druids should take: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summons, and Natural Spell.

8. Characters with a high dexterity, but low strength (often rogues) should strongly consider weapon finesse. With a rapier, this is a hot combination.

9. Spring Attack is a wicked feat for those who can obtain it. The ability to move, attack and move again cannot be underrated, especially for rogue-types.

10. Clerics should strongly consider Improved Turning. Why fight undead when you can simply destroy them outright?

11. Weapon focus isn't necessarily a great bet for non-fighters (+1 isn't worth much). Plus, you might feel restricted if you find a nice magic weapon that isn't your focus. For fighters, who can Specialize and Greater Specialize, it's a great choice. Combine with Power Attack and Cleave!

12. Mages should focus on area of effect spells like sleep and fireball. It's their specialty. Let others handle buffing or single foe attacks.

13. Finally... Dual-Wield is cool, but two-Handed is better. For the most part, a two-handed weapon trumps wielding a weapon in each hand. Why? For one, a two-handed weapon often takes no feats to use, or, at most, one. It also means the character gets one and a half times their strength bonus to damage. Dual-wielding typically means penalties to hit, requires multiple feats to be effective (which could be used to enhance your two-handed weapon effectiveness), and requires a small weapon in the off-hand that typically does less damage and gets hit with a half-strength bonus to damage, while the main hand weapon must do "medium" damage (like 1-8 vs. 1-10, 1-12, 2d6 for two-handed). Dual-wielding also requires a full action (both green and yellow "halves" of your turn) to attack with both hands. I've seen analysis on this, and dual-wielding is almost never worth it.

Think about it. A fighter with a greatsword does 2d6. If his strength is 18 (+4), he will do 2d6 +6. Dual wielding a longsword and short sword, he'll get 1d8 +4 and 1d6 +2 (off-hand strength bonus is halved for dual-wielding). The difference in potential damage here is +2 for the dual-wield option, but he must hit both times. With the various penalties to dual-wielding, he will hit less often than with one weapon. And critical hits favor the two-hander as well.

Then add in all the feats the fighter would need to boost two weapons. He could easily Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization that greatsword. Can he afford to do that to both the longsword and shortsword? I doubt it.