Baldur's Gate Question

[Jon Miller]

I have Minsc, The Husband and Wife Team (druid and fighter), Imoen, and Kivan

I just 'ran' into the girl who Minsc was trying to save

she is a mage (Starts with D)

oh, me personally? I am a wuss who can't do anything (elf mage/theif 1/2, 6 hitpoints)

Jon Miller

[General Ludd]

Yes.

[Jon Miller]

oh, the question?

I think it is fairly obvious, I have 6 people I want in te party

and I can't get rid of myself

so it is Who do I get rid of

Jon Miller

[Apocalypse]

Get rid of the husband and wife team. They both suck. I'm not too fond of the girl Minsc wants to save either, but she is alright and you can easily win with her. You can use your final slot to pick up a guy named Coran later. Kivan and Coran are by far the two best archers in the game. Later in the game, together they can take out many creatures before they even come close to you.

[Jon Miller]

I currently have the bard with the other 5 (he is not that good, but at elast he is someone)

Jon Miller

[Apocalypse]

Honestly, you don't need 6 people at all times and it can even be counter productive as you're dividing xp quite a bit.

[Dis]

yeah but don't you hit the exp. cap anyways? In BG2 that is less of a concern because if you have the expansion you can keep on levelling forever.

I'm still in the middle of my BG1 game. This post reminds me I need to finish that.

I like Dynaheir (Minc's witch he wants to save) as she is a straight mage (as in non multi or dual classed- not as in hetero ). I prefer straight mages, or mages multi-ed with thieves.

I did dual Imoen to a mage. But I think I'll go back to a save to undo that. As I am a bard, and I really don't need that much mage power. And I'm worred that I won't have enough thief skills to finish the game. So I'll probably leave Imoen as a thief.

I'm also using the Paladin guy and Minsc of course. My cleric is the one you free using a stone to flesh scroll or whatever.

I wanted to form my part early, so I can mold them to my liking. I do think I'll stick with this party. I hear there are a few other good thieves in the game near the end, but I probalby won't pick them up.

[SCG]

i kinda like the husband/wife team - Jaheira is a healer that i don't have to worry about too much - she runs around healing people who get hurt and the goodberry spell is a nice and cheap way to heal, and Khalid is rather versatile fighter who i usually have teamed with Imoen in archery. She does get a little annoying once the party's rep gets to heroic (podering stealing something and bribing a flaming fist to get it off of 20 although the better bargaining on the gold is nice while you are trying to aquire the eq for your party )

I also like to mold my party from the beginning rather than constantly change everyone about since the alignments affect whether a char will come back or not if you ask them to leave to complete various parts of the game. ATM I'm using Xan and Branwen as the other 2 which gives a good mix of clerics and fighters and chars with ranged fighting ability, with a good single class mage and single class rogue. Still debating on some of the other chars out there.

don't like Minsc, and he attacks you if you dally too long, don't like the bard with the evil thespian, and haven't figured out a couple of other chars i've run into like the druid in the forest, the dark elf and a couple of the fighters, but don't have the time i used to to play it

btw, which one is Kivan?

[Dis]

Kivan is in an area west of Beregost. It's near that big stone structure the wizard studies in the middle of nowhere. He is protected by flesh golems.

I hear he's a good archer as well. But I like to have fighter types use swords and axes.

[Traianvs]

Of course all of this is relative, you can finish the game with any character...

Minsc is the second best fighter (well he's a ranger) in the game, especially with a 2 handed sword he slaughters pretty much everything in the game.

Jaheira is good in that she's your healer, and on top of that she can wield a good powerful staff/mace etc.. and she can wear heavy armour (druid/fighter) whereas branwen for example is pretty vulnerable.. In BG1 magic is less important than in BG2.. you can finish the game without spellcasters if you want..
Xan is good in that he can wield a decent sword in melee (only he can wield his moonblade) but due to low skill and low HP that's not much of an advantage.. which spellcaster you pick up doesn't really matter anyway (don't take clerics, always use the fighter/cleric combo)

i'd say get minsc and jaheira and kivan, the rest is optional.. (khalid is a bit weak for a fighter, he's an elf after all )

[NeOmega]

If you are a thief, stay with imoen. I played as a thief also, it is great to have two thiefs, since most of the time you will be assasinating, you will need someone who can detect traps, so you can continue to hone your stealth skills for the backstab.

I later traded the bard for Xan, Minsc is OK, but better will come. Much later you will aslo find Coran, another thief, the more the merrier I say!

One other thief is a bit too evil for my tastes, and too weak, ignore her (unless you are evil).

To answer your question though....

Minsc and Branwen will give you more party flexibility.
Having to have Jaheiria and Kivan is too annoying, IMO.

I chose the weapons shop in Beregost as my headquarters, and that is where I kept all my other party members....

If I found someone new, I would take my party to the weapons shop, drop off a person, and go pick up the person I wanted in my party.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Jaheira is annoying.. dump her .

Coran is awesome. IIRC, he's the only one in the game with 3 stars in the bow. Super accurate.

[Dis]

In my current game I have myself (a bard- not real useful in BG1 but I want to continue her in BG2), dynaheir, minsc, branwen (she's not too hard to keep alive- she's only died on me once), Imoen, and adjantis (a paladin)

adjantis seems to take the brunt of the punishment for some reason. I kind of would like to have a regular fighter, but I don't know where any are.

[Traianvs]

there is a female fighter somewhere in the neighbourhood of the awesome basilisk infested map you could use early on..


btw don't forget that if you take someone in your party, they will always have about the same level, skills etc as your other party members...
If you drop them, and recruit them again afterwards, they will still be at the XP and level they had when you left 'em... if you have gained a lot of experience in the meanwhile this means these characters are useless...

[Dis]

oh yeah, I met her. I reloaded though, those basilisks kicked my ass. They are difficult for my level 5 guys. I can't seem to resist their attacks.

I will have to use those potions probably to resist their gaze attacks.

[SCG]

Originally posted by Trajanus
btw don't forget that if you take someone in your party, they will always have about the same level, skills etc as your other party members...
If you drop them, and recruit them again afterwards, they will still be at the XP and level they had when you left 'em... if you have gained a lot of experience in the meanwhile this means these characters are useless...

I did have one instance where i dumped Montaron and the other evil mage you meet in the beginning after a few excursions, (i think both were still both level 1 at the time), and revisited them later in the game and they did go up in level to match mine again, even though they had done nothing but idle at the nashkel carnival.

Originally posted by Dissident
I hear [Kivan]'s a good archer as well. But I like to have fighter types use swords and axes.

Kagain (the Lawful Evil dwarf in Beregost who runs the escort service to Baldur's Gate) might be to your liking - he has 4 stars in Axe and 20 con the one time i picked him up (he loaded at level 6 with 60 hp)

As for those ballisks, i reloaded there too and haven't revisited the area yet, keep meaning to pick up a few protection from petrification scrolls, or just have 1 character take them on with the potion of mirrored eyes and see how he/she does.

[Dis]

yeah I remember Kagain. If he wasn't evil I'd take him.

I'd have to drop either Adjantis or Mincd for that chick in the basilisk area. I'll have to check out her stats first before I make a decision. If she has better things to say I may take her anyways. I'm tired of Adjantis comments

[Apocalypse]

She has better stats than Adjantis, but she is evil.

[DarkCloud]

And now the BIG LIST of every NPC complete with a description, and where they
are. This list is sorted by alignment, Good first, then Neutral, and Evil
last.

GOOD: S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment
¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Ajantis 17 13 16 12 13 17 Human Paladin Lawful Good
Ajantis is a simple person, all he wants to do is vanquish evil.
Special Abilities: Lay on Hands, Detect Evil, Protection from Evil
Where he is: Farm N of Friendly Arm Inn (x 1572 y 3139)

Dynaheir 11 13 16 17 15 12 Human Invoker Lawful Good
Dynaheir was kidnapped by the Gnolls, and must be rescued with Minsc in
your party. She is also linked to Minsc and if one leaves, the other does
too. She makes a good mage because she already knows such spells as
Fireball.
Dynaheir will disappear if you reject her offer to join.
Special Abilities: Slow Poison
Where she is: Gnollish Stronghold (x 2529 y 1440)

Yeslick 15 12 17 7 16 10 Dwarf Fighter/Cleric Lawful Good
You find Yeslick in the Cloakwood Mines, and all he wants to do is help.
How noble. If you reject him he will leave forever.
Special Abilities: Dispel Magic
Where he is: Cloakwood Mines, Level 2 (x 851 y 1727)

Imoen 9 18 16 17 11 16 Human Thief Neutral Good
Imoen automatically will join you immediately after Gorion's death. Unless
you run away, that is. Sometimes she comes with a Wand of Magic Missiles,
now who did she steal that from?

Khalid 15 16 17 12 10 9 Half-Elf Fighter Neutral Good
See Jaheira below for a description.
Where he is: Friendly Arm Inn, Ground Floor (x 329 y 685)

Minsc 18/93 15 15 8 6 9 Human Ranger Neutral Good
Minsc's life partner Dynaheir was kidnapped by Gnolls, and he wants your
help to get her back! If you don't rescue her in a timely fashion, Minsc
will leave.
Special Abilities: Berserk, Charm Animal
Where he is: Nashkel (x 3387 y 1957)

Alora 8 19 12 14 7 10 Halfling Thief Chaotic Good
You'll find Alora burglarizing the Hall of Wonders at night. Agree to
stand watch for her, then talk to her twice more and she'll offer to join.
Where she is: Baldur's Gate W Section (AR 0600, x 1600 y 2200)

Coran 14 20 12 14 9 16 Half-Elf Fighter/Thief Chaotic Good
Coran wants to go sack some Wyverns in the 4th Cloakwood forest, so do that
immediately or he will leave. After you beat the wyverns, he will stay
forever.
Where he is: Cloakwood 1, On a Bridge (x 1515 y 691)

Kivan 18/12 17 14 10 14 8 Elf Ranger Chaotic Good
Kivan wants to hunt some bandits. If you kick him out of the party, he
stays gone for good!
Special Abilities: Charm Animal
Where he is: High Hedge (x 3652 y 1472)


NEUTRAL: S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Xan 13 16 7 17 14 16 Elf Enchanter Lawful Neutral
Xan is a depressing person, but he is a capable mage (although he has the
very large flaw of not being able to cast such spells as Magic Missile and
Fireball!) and he has a Moonblade. If you're overly rude to him he'll
leave and never return.
Where he is: Nashkel Mines Interior (Fourth Level, Cave x 793 y 588)

Branwen 13 16 15 9 16 13 Human Cleric True Neutral
To get Branwen in your party all you have to do is to free her from the
Petrification enchantment that was placed on her by the Mage Tranzig. Free
her using a Stone to Flesh spell (you can buy them in Nashkel for 168gp or
from Zeke at the Carnival for 500gp). If you reject her, she will leave
forever.
Special Abilities: Spiritual Hammer
Where she is: Nashkel Carnival (x 3253 y 2882)

Faldorn 12 15 11 10 16 15 Human Druid True Neutral
Faldorn wants to free the forest from the evils of the Iron Throne, which
has taken up residence in the Cloakwood Mine.
Special Abilities: Summon Dread Wolf
Where she is: Cloakwood 3, In the Druid Shrine (x 639 y 2885)

Jaheira 15 14 17 10 14 15 Half-Elf Fighter/Druid True Neutral
Jaheira and Khalid were good friends of Gorion, and will go with you every-
where. However, if you say "No" to them the first time they want to join,
you won't be able to get them. Ever.
Where she is: Friendly Arm Inn, Ground Floor (x 329 y 685)

Skie 11 18 15 15 8 13 Human Thief True Neutral
When you first enter the NW Area in Baldur's Gate Eldoth (if he is with
you) will offer to take you up to Skie's father's estate. Go inside the
estate and you will find Skie. She will only join you if Eldoth is with
you, otherwise she thinks that you are thieves come to kill her.
Where she is: NW Section (AR 0100, x 1170 y 1625)

Garrick 14 16 9 13 14 15 Human Bard Chaotic Neutral
Garrick will join you only after you finish the Silke subquest in Beregost.
If you reject Garrick, he will leave, but he'll be back later.
Where he is: Beregost, by the Burning Wizard Inn (x 2564 y 2284)

Quayle 8 15 11 17 10 6 Gnome Cleric/Illusionist Chaotic Neutral
Quayle is an insulting little person, who will join up for no apparant
reason. No matter which direction you say that you are going, he is going
that way too. Can't get him until the Cloakwood mines are clear.
Special Abilities: Invisibility
Where he is: Baldur's Gate Bridge (x 486 y 797)

Safana 13 17 10 16 9 17 Human Thief Chaotic Neutral
Safana wants to find some treasure in the Flesh Golem cave, and afterwords
she will stay with you forever.
Special Abilities: Charm Animal
Where she is: Lighthouse (x 3750 y 2390)

EVIL: S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment
¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Edwin 9 10 16 18 9 10 Human Conjurer Lawful Evil
Edwin wants your help in hunting down and killing Dynaheir. If you talk to
Edwin with Dynaheir in your party you would think that he would attack, or
at the least wouldn't want to join, but he will. Although he has some bad
things to say about Dynaheir. If you refuse him with Dynaheir in your
party he leaves forever.
Special Abilities: Extra Spells, 1st and 2nd Levels
Where he is: Nashkel (x 2883 y 2959)

Kagain 16 12 20 15 11 8 Dwarf Fighter Lawful Evil
Kagain runs a Mercenary business, and one of his caravans has disappeared.
Help him recover it, and you get to keep what you find. Goodie. Take him
to the Area S of the Friendly Arm Inn and he will get disgusted with
looking for Caravans, but will still stay in your party.
Where he is: Beregost (Shop North of Feldepost Inn) (x 1549 y 2031)

Eldoth 16 12 15 13 10 16 Human Bard Neutral Evil
Eldoth wants to join you so that he can "rescue" his lover Skie from her
father in Baldur's Gate.
Special Ability: Create Poison Arrows
Where he is: Cloakwood 3 (x 3181 y 3492) (in the forest)

Montaron 16 17 15 12 13 9 Halfling Fighter/Thief Neutral Evil
Montaron is the dumb half of Montaron and Xzar, and goes where Xzar goes.
If you reject him, he leaves forever.
Where he is: Crossroads (E of Candlekeep) (x 4515 y 2707)

Viconia 10 19 8 16 15 14 Drow Elf Cleric Neutral Evil
When you first encounter Viconia she asks you to help her with a small
matter of the Flaming Fist trying to kill her. Help her out and she offers
to join. However, if you turn Viconia down when she asks to join, she
vanishes forever. Once she joins your reputation goes down 2.
Special Abilities: 50% Magic Resistance
Where she is: Peldvale (x 447 y 731)

Shar-Teel 18/58 17 9 14 7 11 Human Fighter Chaotic Evil
When you first meet up with Shar-Teel she challenges your "Best Male
Fighter" (this seems to be randomly chosen) to a duel. If you don't have a
Male in your party, you can't get her. If you turn her down, she leaves
forever.
Where she is: Area E of Temple (x 273 y 303)

Tiax 9 16 16 10 13 9 Gnome Cleric/Thief Chaotic Evil
Tiax is a very bizarre fellow who believes that he will one day "ascend" to
become the ruler of the Realms. He thinks that that is his "destiny" as
foretold to him by Cyric.
Special Abilities: Summon Ghast
Where he is: Baldur's Gate SW Section (AR 1100, x 1440 y 1610)

Xzar 14 16 10 17 16 10 Human Necromancer Chaotic Evil
Xzar and Montaron will join you on the crossroads right out of Candlekeep,
and they want to go investigate the Nashkel mines (who doesn't). He's also
extraordinarily insane. If you reject him, he leaves forever.
Where he is: Crossroads (E of Candlekeep) (x 4577 y 2693)

[DarkCloud]

Just quoting this now:

Here's the party I like:

You -- as a Lawful Good Fighter
Kivan -- give him a Composite Long Bow +1, or the Long Bow of Marksmanship,
and the Bracers of Archery; and you have a really effective sniper.
Minsc -- a very good warrior
Dynaheir -- a good mage, plus if you get her at the right level, she starts
with Fireball. Edwin is a better mage (higher Int, and better
special ability), however, he is Evil which complicates things.
Yeslick -- a good cleric (you could also sub in Branwen or Viconia here)
Safana -- you need a thief, and I like Safana. (you can also sub in Imoen
here)

And here are some interesting party combinations:

Have Minsc, Dynaheir and Edwin in the same party. Since Edwin wants to kill
Dynaheir, Minsc gets all surly and protective.

Viconia and Kivan have a love-hate relationship, and also Viconia is very
dimissive about Xan.

Put Yeslick and Kagain together to see just how different two Dwarves can be.
Yeslick DESPISES Kagain.

Safana and Coran. Coran will flirt shamelessly with Safana, and she will
rebuff his every attempt, quite humorously.

Quayle and Tiax. These two really don't like each other. Plus they're
fairly amusing on their own.

Faldorn and Jaheira don't like each other either, as they belong to opposing
druidic groups.

Put Eldoth, Skie, and Garrick together for a wild Love Triangle. Heh.

[SCG]

we should probably qualify that some of those leave forevers are based on party reputation. the closer to heroic you get, the more of the evil and neutral characters want to be rid of you. As i stated earlier, i kicked out Xzar and Monteron and was able to get them to rejoin later - i kicked them out at 1st level, before my rep got too high, and they stuck around still wanting my help with the nashkel mines, later they accepted my offer to rejoin. Later (and different game), when my rep was heroic, they left forever when kicking them out. Similar things happen with Jahiera and Khalid - as jahiera is neutral.

[Dis]

dynaheir didn't have fireball when I got her. hmm

[Arcainite]

The reason Dynaheir didn't have fireball when you found her is because the NPC's level is USUALLY (I think there are a couple exceptions) dependent on the current group's level average. So if you want to find powerful NPC help, you will want higher levels in your party at the time. If you want to groom them up in a more controlled manner, you'll want lower levels. It's that simple. Obviously, the computer has made some choices for you if you find them at a higher level.
Arcainite
PS - Reading this prompted me to play for the first time in about a year! I found out that I currently have Shar-Teel as my main fighter, I have got Khalid and Jaheira, Branwen for my main healer, myself a thief/illusionist gnome, and Xan for mage support. But I have to say that Minsc does rule! If you're having problems with him attacking your party members it's because you let him go berserk. If you're just standing around that won't happen. Minsc is a berserker after all. Also, beware of that cursed two-handed sword of berserker you get from the captain of the guard who went crazy (I think?). It's the most powerful sword in the game for almost the whole game, but it will create problems with the berserk user.

[NeOmega]

If you wanna use the sword be sure you have a "remove curse" spellcaster in your party.

[Lord Merciless]

My ideal Baldur's Gate 1 team:
PC: Usually a warrior class with proficiencies in Bow and Large Sword.
Imoen: dual-class to Conjurer after level 6.
Coran: With 20 dex and 3 stars in bows, my number 1 killer.
Branwen: Animate Dead used together with Stinking Cloud is a winner in 90% of combat situations.
Minsc: 18/93 str makes a great frontline tank.
Dynaheir: Backup magic support.


Although Baldur's Gate 2 has fewer NPCs, their quests and interactions make it worthwhile to enlist everyone of them at least once in the team. My party is often consisted of 5 permanent members with 1 flexible lot.

My most favored parties:
PC: Undead Hunter
Jaheira
Mazzy
Aerie
Nalia -> Jan -> Yoshimo -> Imoen
Any

PC: Sorceror
Jaheira
Keldorn
Aerie
Nalia -> Jan -> Yoshimo -> Imoen
Any

PC: Ranger/Cleric
Jaheira
Edwin
Nalia -> Jan -> Yoshimo -> Imoen
Any
Any

Nalia is usually ditched in favor of Jan after cashing in 10,000 gp for clearing her keep. Jan is swapped in favor of Yoshimo before going to Spellhold.

[Traianvs]

I've never managed to find Mazzy... where the hell is she!

[Lord Merciless]

Originally posted by Trajanus
I've never managed to find Mazzy... where the hell is she!

Take the Ranger stronghold quest, go to the lost temple. She's locked in one of the rooms.

[Lord Merciless]

A note about Jaheira: She is totally crappy in BG1, but becomes indispensable to me in BG2:

Druids were completely screwed in BG1, but 2 of the best priest spells in BG2 are Druid spells: Ironskin and Insect Plague.

In BG2, Jaheira's dex score got bumped from 14 to 17, giving her a decent AC.

Finally, there is a quest about Jaheira that goes through almost the entire game in BG2. At the end of the quest, you will receive a very nice item.