Just finished it myself, and it was great!
Minsc is the only character I used through out. Actually, I killed him in BG because I didn't find his witch as quickly as he wanted, and he turned on me, but I carried him continuously through SoA and ToB.
My original character from BG was a paladin. He was awesome, but with the new classes added for SoA, I needed something new and chose, a monk, which I saw through to the end.
I think I'm going back to play BG again, it was so awesome, but first I have to get the expansion for IceWind Dale
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An elevator smells different to a dwarf.