Well, Thank you Black Isle, NOT, for giving me a nasty question to consider:

Do I take Imoen, and if so, who do I get rid of.

I could get rid of Nalia, a level 14 mage with almost every spell you can get.

I could get rid of Aerie, a level 12 mage with about two thirds of every spell you can get.

I could maybe get rid of Jan, a level 13 mage, with lots of spells as well, and a remove traps skill (after items) of over 140%.

All this to add Imoen, a level 11 mage with almost nothing in her spell book )I think she has 6 or seven of each level, if that).

And this is at a time when I have no chance to return to any town and buy scrolls.

I'd like to take Imoen - after all, she's been with me from the very beginning, skeaning our of Candlekeep, following Gorion and me. But her skills and stats suck bady, at a time when I need all I can get.

So, what would you do? What did you do?

^#%% speeling mistaks.

I'd get rid of Nalia. What did I do? I figured that the whole reason I was going to Spellhold in the first place was to rescue Imoen, and planned accordingly.

I did, i needed another NPC after that evil yoshimo turned traitor.

It depends on some things, if you have Yoshimo in your party you have a free spot anyway (which is why I think it's crucial to have Yoshimo when going to Spellhold- also because of the traitor-storyline which is nice I think). If you haven't done the De'Arnise stronghold quest yet, you can ditch Nalia and then you can always pick her up again when going to the De'Arnise Stronghold. I think storyline-wise you should definitely keep Imoen, but with regard to stats and abilities you're right that she's not the best NPC in the game, so it might not hurt to lose her. Still, I think in highter levels she's quite a decent mage. Her mage skills are even better than Jan's because he isn't an allround mage but an illusionist, but of course Imoen could never even come near him with reagrd to thieving skills