It had to come eventually (and probably already has, I just havent noticed it). What is your favorite party to take through the game? Personally, I like to have Dynahier, Minsc, Imoen, Kivan(an amazing archer, if given the right items), and Branwen. Anyone else have a good combination that they would like to share?

I play as a Chaotic Good Warior (archer). my party consists of Azreall, Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, Dynaheir, Minsc and Boo. I liked Imoen, because most other thiefs are or Evil or Horny (Safana). Though she makes irritating sounds. Love Khalid and Jaheira, because there always arguing. Khalid is very funny : "T-Th-thats all Folks", and jaheira is just a Bitch.
Dynaheir reminds me of my girlfriend, and thats not too bad for Dynaheir. She is a good mage. And last but not least, I'm a BIG fan of Minsc, He's just great; the way he talks, acts and looks are COOl. The idea of a Invinsible Full-Plated giant wielding a huge 2-handed sword and packing a (what he believes to be) a miniature version of a Giant Space hamster... And I could'nt stop laughing when he suddenly said : "Boo likes forest !!!"

These are the first 5 characters you meet in the game. I considerd replacing Minsc with Kivan, because he is indeed a great archer. But my own character is a great archer too,
and I just could'nt let Minsc die. and BTW, Kivan makes a very annoying sound. Like he's getting bitten in the balls or something like that : "Noargh".

The tactical part : Khalid is a good Melee fighter, he has a good ballanced Attack-Defnse if you just dress him up right. Minsc can also do some serious damaga, especialy when Berzerk. Dynaheir has very damaging Magic Missiles, Jaheira is strong when you give her the staff-mace. I like to keep her reserve, in case something goes wrong, and so she can heal. and with my archers (Imoen and Azreall) I shoot every fleeing enemy and support the wariors.

Many people play in MP, so theu can import your whole party in BG ][, and you can make it the way you like it. But I think a those people are missing a lot of fun from the NPC's in you party.

Bye

Frankly, i like all the characters to some extent. The one exception might be that first sniveling mage you get a hold of very quickly. My party, at the moment, consists of Ajantis, Minsc, my main character Tanthalas, Imoen, Dynaheir and Branwen. It seems to be a very balanced party, 2 warriors, 2 archers (one a thief), a wizard and a priestess. I can heal myself almost indefinetly and take down many of the weaker characters from afar. Dynaheir is becoming very strong, i acquired fireball and lightening, as well as having magic missle.

The only character I really hate is that gnome cleric/illusionist that you meet just before Baldur's Gate....hes annoying. Hes funny at times, but he's not really very good. Also, is there somewhere I can get either lightning bolt or fireball before the Cloakwood mines? In one of my games, Im just about to head there and I KNOW they both come in handy.

Go to High Hedge, west of Beregost, and speak to the wizard there. You must get to speak to him quickly, otherwise his golems will destroy you! You can buy all sorts of spells there, including fireball and lightning bolt.

My party consists of Alako (my human fighter), Imoen, Coran (elven fighter/thief), Minsc, Branwen and Dynaheir. Funny, but nobody mentioned Coran at all ... sob, sob He's quite a good range/melee (especially backstabbing!) guy to have around, since with his high Dex (20) and his elven nature, he makes a born-to-be archer. As for his low Strength (14), it can be easily circumvented by the gauntlets of Ogre Strength (which single-class thieves like Imoen can't use, unfortunately), making for an awesome backstabbing capability. Outfit him with the Boots of Speed and you will get a killer assassin flitting in and out of the (visible) battleground backstabbing your opponents repeatedly.
Minsc (with the Bracers of Dexterity) and Dynaheir make a good hack/shoot-and-cast combination, except for the fact that Dyn has only 16 Int (compared to Imoen's 17), and is an Invoker by nature. So there goes all the Enchantment/Charm (Hold Person etc) and Summoning/Conjuration (Monster Summoning / Melf's Acid Arrow / Ghost Armour) spells sigh...
The next time I play, I'll probably be dual-classing Imoen (as a generalist mage) and trying out Khalid and Jaheira instead. Hmmm, taking Kivan or Ajantis would also be a nice change ...

I like to have my main character (a paladin) Khalid, Ajantis, Yeslick (a dwarf priest) Safana (useful with the short sword of backstabbing) and Xan. My only regret with a party like this is an inability to use certain spells (lik fireball) because of Xan's mage specialization.

I havent yet made it through the game, but I have Imoen, Khalid and Jaheira, Xan and Branawen, thus far they work great together...we are at the start of Chapter 4..should I think about ditching one of them?

thanks for the input!!

gretch

Gretch, you have not mentioned what class is your main character, but I think two clerics in a party is too much. I would change Xan and Branwen for Minsc and Dynaheir, or if you´re a mage for Minsc and Kivan. But BG is a game to develop characters and parties, so make your decission. And if you are in Chapter 4 maybe you will find that the new fellows you add to your party are too developed because of your high level, and maybe they will have abilities you don´t want them to have, or lack abilities you wanted to have.

Xan is pathetic. He can't cast any really good spells. I love Quale, that Cleric/Illusionist just before Baldur Town, and I also love Garrick, although the best character in the game is Coran by far. That's all there is to it.

I'm his friend and this is what I think:

He is slightly misguided. Xan actully casts all the good spells just because you live by the fireball (and you know what they say about that...)dosent mean the rest of us do. anyways the party I get (and I concider this the perfect party) is Xan, Yeslick, Kivan, and my character which happens to be a Mage/Thief........