The skill system in Wasteland 2 is a bit oldschool / opaque. I think I heard it mentioned that the creators actually expect you to use the pre-generated characters, play through a few hours of the game, then go back and create a new party, now that you understand the system.

I'm going to save you the trouble, and help you create a party that will be able to handle pretty much everything the wastelands can throw at them. The tips are arranged, more or less, in order of importance:

* You really want 8/10 intelligence on all your characters. Skill points are hella important (since half the pre-gens don't even have 4 int, they're kinda terrible). The breaking points for new skill points per level is 4/8/10 Int (just for your information when leveling up NPC's). You can increase an attribute by one point every 10 levels to get an extra action point or more Combat Initiative, but you're not going to throw 4 points into intelligence. In my opinion, characters with INT *below* 4 are totally non-viable.

* Aim to have 12 CI (combat initiative) on all your rangers. Having them all go in combat before the enemy does is very useful. Someone with 12 CI gets to act... (counts on fingers)... twice as many times per "round" as someone with 6 CI. This means that any item or status effect that lowers your CI / Combat Speed is really, *really* bad.

* Aim for at least 10 Action Points with the above restrictions in mind. That's 2 regular shots from from a sniper rifle, or a burst and some movement for someone using an assault rifle. As you play through the game, you rather want to invest your attribute points mostly to get more action points.

* You want a different weapon skill for each character. Assault rifles, shotguns, snipers, and one person who splits their points between SMGs and energy weapons, since those have separate specialized uses. Handguns and Heavy Weapons kinda suck throughout.

* One person should have high Charisma and the Leadership skill. (Doesn't have to be the first person you create - no one in your team is "the leader"). This could be the only character with only 4 Int if you're short on points. Leadership stops NPC followers from following their own stupid AI initiative ("going rogue") and boosts your team's accuracy. Very useful when you're low leveled.

* Each character should specialize in 3-5 skills (including the weapon skills). The only overlap should be in Field Medic / Surgeon - everyone can use a point or two in those just to be able to heal each other.

* Perception (which spots traps) and Demolitions (which disarms them) go on the same person.

* Computers charms robot enemies (in addition to opening computer-locked doors and hacking terminals).

* Skills that you can skip:
Barter. The benefits are minimal, and since your party should be capable of looting everything in sight, you'll be drowning in cash and ammo regardless.

Alarm Disarm. Most alarms are in enemy camps - among people you're going to be killing for their loot anyways, and will thus be too dead to react. There's a spot or two where a possible quest solution and an achievement depends on it, but you can just get an NPC for that part.

Mechanical Repair. There are almost no quest solutions that depend on this skill - its purpose is to unjam doors and safes when you critically fail. You might as well invest the same points into Lockpicking / Safecracking and not fail to begin with.

Animal Whisperer. It gets a bit of use in the early game, when animals are an actual threat - but you'll find a lot of AW trinkets that can do the same thing at that stage. Latter in the game, you'll find that only a handful of quests can use this skill (and there's always an alternate solution) and that shooting an animal is far faster and more efficient than using the skill.

Melee. You probably can make an effective melee character... but making a ranged character is much easier and more efficient. Reading guides, you'll also note that "good" melee characters are generally relegated to mopping up after the *actually* effective ranged characters. Why not play an effective character to begin with? The game suggests that assault rifle / sniper characters can benefit from a few points in melee skills, but spending those points on their main ranged skill and just moving away from attackers is much better.

Heavy Weapons. They just never get really good. They use the same ammo as assault rifles, but do way less damage for the investment.

In the starting area (the Ranger Citadel) you'll find a high level NPC who wants to join you. She has (relatively) high levels Brute Force and Hard Ass. The NPC won't stay with your party for the entire game, but if you're short on skill points, you can skip those two skills for a while.

As an aside (irrelevant to party creation, but saves you a bunch of time when you start the game):
http://depositfiles.com/files/3x2hkpqfo
Stick this file into <steamapps>\common\Wasteland 2\Build\WL2_Data to skip the intro sequences.

Having created a diverse and competent party, and with Angela Deth by your side, you should be ready to handle anything the game throws at you. Still, here are some things that can make the early game easier:

* Ctrl+click to add or remove items from the trading queue without dragging. R+X+R+X to reload both primary and secondary weapons for the entire party. Quite the timesaver when someone told me about these shortcuts.

* You are given a choice between saving two areas right after the intro. AG center has a very good high int doctor / computer scientist NPC party member who has a lot of interactions with the world. AG center is also a fairly dull dungeon that consists mostly of combat and skill checks, that you never have to return to. Highpool has a slightly worse shaman / sniper / Animal Whisperer NPC. It's also a town with a variety of different interactions that you'll return to several times for ongoing storylines.

* You can always shoot at things in free aim by clicking on your weapon. This means you can shoot / melee certain flimsy doors, blow up mines (!) you don't feel like disarming, and lure the enemy into ambushes on your own terms.

* This is somewhat exploity - if you explore the map right past Highpool, in the lower-rightmost non-irradiated area (below the Prison) you'll find an "Abandoned Railway". It has a few robot combat encounters that are way too hard for you at this point, but if you follow the rails you'll avoid those and come to a container with an abandoned robot. Use Computers on it, and gain a companion that absolutely blasts apart the starting areas (and the combat in those is really miserable otherwise).

* Once you have Radiation suits, the game kinda encourages you to head for the Prison and Titan Canyon. But before you go there, you can now enter the Rail Nomads camp, which is a more level-appropriate optional area with a bunch of new NPC companions to choose from.

* NPC followers that aren't members of your party will generally rush headfirst into enemy bullets. Either resign yourself to losing them, or play outside (what may be) your comfort zone and learn to rush the enemy. Though the game rewards taking cover and creating ambushes, rushing can catch the enemy off guard and be effective.

* In the late-game, before you head to Hollywood, check your base for a fellow called Thomas. You want him by your side in that particular locale.