I haven't gotten this far yet, but I'm curious as to who you would recommend as the 6th NPC in the following party:

1)Protagonist Human Ranger (2) Dual Cleric

2)Jaheira Half Elf Fighter/Druid

3)Minsc Human Ranger

4)Imoen Human Thief (7) Dual Mage

5)Keldorn Human Paladin


I have used the "assumed" party, and added in Keldorn (he's awesome, one of my favorites!). Jaheira, Imoen, and Minsc have been travelling with me since I left Candlekeep, and we've been through so much together, so they're not going anywhere.

Who would make a good 6th NPC?

Sarevok for your tank. He's an excellent fighter.

Aerie. You have enough tanks already in Minsc, Keldorn and your protagonist who could be tanking as well if he wants.

You have Jaheira for Druid spells, Imoen for mage spells and thievery (although she basically sucks in that), but no other mages (specialist mages, that is). I'd go for Aerie, both Cleric and Mage spells that way and she's decent enough.

Kinda crazy, but what about the idea of having Sarevok, and dual classing him into a Mage?

He could serve as my backup Mage, and eventually be an incredible Tank/Mage for me.

If I were to go that route (I probably won't, that's a long time to get back Fighter abilities), is it possible to bring Sarevok back to Amn to do some quests, or is my only shot at "extra XP" to leave Watcher's Keep until after he joins the party?

Another idea I've flirted with is adding Jan to the party. I wouldn't have to rely on Imoen for my thieving duties (although, IMHO, she's enough), and he serves as a very good backup Mage.

Keldorn is a good tank, and Jahiera is an INCREDIBLE tank once she starts racking up HLAs. Stoneskin + Elemental Transformations + Greater Whirlwind Attack = A stack of dead enemies. You could solo the game as a fighter/druid and it would be cake. Keldorn + GWW + Carsomyr or Purifier, even = Another stack of dead enemies. So we have no needs in the tanking department. From where I sit, your magic could use a kick, though.
I cast my vote for either Jan or Aerie. Aerie, at later levels, can be an incredibly potent spellcaster and you can never have enough Chaotic Commands, Death Wards, and Remove Fears handy; Jan, in addition to being fun to have around, is a mage of no mean power, you can put his points into Detect Illusion and maybe Set Traps and let Imoen handle the rest.
Another possibility is that you don't need another party member... You seem well off enough. If that's the case, take Jan along for comic relief.
Edit- And no, you can't go back to Amn... WK is a fountain of EXP, as are many battles in ToB. You should be fine.

[ 03-21-2004, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: Illumina Drathiran'ar ]

Just incase you got confused with teh first bit; Jaheira would use Iron Skins, not stoneskin ;) . But Illumina is right about Jaheira's HLAs.
BTW, WK will give you more than enough XP.

Have you considered just keeping to five party members?

I agree. You'll level up slightly faster and you really don't need all six to finish the game. Your party is already fairly balanced and shouldn't have a problem at all. Plus, you can always add a sixth NPC in order to complete their specific quests (Valygar -- sphere, Nalia -- keep, etc) and get some of their banter before you leave them at the Copper Coronet.

The "rotating" NPC is an interesting idea. I'll most likely do that until I reach ToB, when I think I'll add the big S. I don't know if I'll dual class him or not, though.

I could just keep him as a fighter, and pump his proficienies into Halberd (for Ravager), and use Minsc as a Dual Weilder. I'm really not sure what to do.

Is one mage (Imoen) enough?

well, if you really want Sarevok in your party and keep the others intact, you may consider dualing him to mage since you've already have enough tanking power (Minsc + Keldorn + Jaheira), and you only have Imone as mage. Personally, I like to have more than one mage in the party and so this suggestion.
Or keep Sarevok as figter and kick out Keldorn (since I reckon you want to take Minsc all the way from BG to the end), and add either Jan or Aerie (Nalia is also a possibility, but you already have a thief -> mage in Imone) into the mix as another mage.

If you can supress the temptation to get Sarevok in (you can always wait for another game), I'd suggest that you just add Aerie to your current mix; not only she'll grow into a great spellcaster, but also Aerie + Minsc + Keldorn is a nice small group :D