Hi again, out of curiousity I decided to try he twisted rune quest to check if it's do-able before you leave for Spellhold. I did it right after I got the amulet of power. Result: success
My party was as follows:
PC kensai 10 - mage 12
Minsc level 12
Keldorn level 11
Anomen fighter 7 - cleric 13
Jaheira fighter 10/druid 12
Jan illusionist 11/thief 12
Is this considered low level or the norm?
Anyway,had to re-load once because the beholder petrified Minsc once and I didn't know how to get him back (not sure if the spell would run out after a while and couldn't be bothered to wait). Also, I didn't kill all the monsters, as I mentioned above; just let them kill one another wherever possible.
Firkraag was much tougher... for me, at least.