A Compromise: Nalia or Aerie?

I currently am trying to assemble my party that will be with me through most of the game. I have my main guy, Minsc, and Jaheira as mainstays, but the other 3 slots are up in the air. I wanna get rid of Yoshimo before going into the D'Arnise holding, despite his trap skills. I will then need a replacement thief.

But my main problem is choosing between the two most annoying character/mages in the game. I am probably gonna fill the empty slot that this decision makes with Korgan, as he is a great fighter and I love his wit and personality ( as well as his threats of bodily harm ).

So let's recap. I need a replacement thieve, one close to Athkatla and I need to know which of these two mages is going to be more useful. Keep in mind that the first time I played up to end of chap 2 with Aerie I mostly used her supportive spells like chant, barkskin, cure poison, and others like summon moster and flame blade for trolls. Could I easily get Nalia the lesser Restoration and chant spell that Aerie already has? Which of these two will become the more powerful mage with time is the question that is probably integral to my dilemma.

Thank you all.

I would personally pick Aerie. Not the best but I dont really like Nalia. Some people say that nalia is the second best mage in the game (after Edwin) but I dont really like her. Also, if your good alignment and want a romance, then pick Aerie

[Jerome]

Get Jan Jansen, theif\illusionest

Funniest npc in the game, one hell of a theif and good as a supporting mage to Edwin or Aire\ Naila

In my first game my party was composed of

Jerome-Paladin
Minsc-Rager
Jaheira-Druid\fighter
Anomen-Cleric\Fighter (dual)
Jan-Theif\illusionest
Airie-Cleric\Mage

if i played it again i'd use the same party but drop anomen for edwin and arie for Vicona but thats me

Well I think you answered your own question. Those spells that you like so much on Aerie can not be replaced by nalia because those are cleric spells. However, if you wish for those spells and don't want Aerie, well pick up Viconia. Just be careful you don't get your rep too high or the high and mighty drow leaves in a hostile huff. Of course if you think you're getting too high a rep, like mine at 18, 1 more strike I'm out, just have her sneak off without anyone knowing to kill a worthless peasant for a whopping 9 rep drop. Heck, you want rep, you can always buy it back anyway. If you don't want Viconia I guess you can (shudders) Pick up Anomen, though he isn't a pure class cleric like Viconia. As for thieving, I suggest Jan as well.

I am curious though. Is the plot twist with Yoshimo really THAT interesting? Should I keep him till he ( spoiler ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )

...screws me over, or should I just drop his arse now and go get jan, as I havent even seen or heard him yet and I already like him.

Oh, and Aerie and Nalia just conversed for the first time, and I must say it (shudder!) never have either of them sounded more annoying. I do wanna keep Aerie around for Minsc, as I really like Minsc and she does help him out emotionally. Nalia is just so f*ing annoying. I just wanna leave her in a room alone with Korgan for a few days (nights) I'll bet he'd set her straight.

[Yorick]

I try and go with this balance

Fighter (Tank)
Fighter (Melee + 2nd Tank)
Healer
Theif
Spell Caster
Multi-roled char.

When you have a dualed or multi char it's often not the skills that are important but how you use them. Take Jan. With Edwin in the party he could be a played as thief with spells as a bonus. With Yoshi in he fits the mage role.

I personally like this party:

Korgan
Keldorn
Viconia
Jan
Edwin
Jaheira

With the relative main character instead of an NPC (ie Player Sorcorer for Edwin etc)
At the moment I have a Jester, named Ruadh, instead of Jaheira

However for ROLEPLAY purposes I enjoyed this party, which was my first completion.

Francis (Monk)
Mazzy
Aerie
Imoen
Jahiera
Valygar

I LOVE conjecture on the possible combinations, I like each of the characters and find it hard dropping them once they're in my party.

Yorick

2 most annoying characters in the game are

edwin-who considers you to be just barely above mustard slime on a good day
nalia-who blurts out just how bad her snobbery is every other sentence.

I also dislike jahira, however am currently playing with her because I want to explore her romance thread, and

spoiler










I've heard both the aerie and virconia threads are too short.

hey, if you've played out the aerie or jahira thread to the end, at the end of the game is there a scene where you and her and imoen wander off to find a new home?

[Yorick]

Userfriendly,
Yes, but the good thing about Edwin is that he thinks your enimies are below mustard slime, and acts accordingly.
Nalia is a good mage who can max out and can use a shortbow.

Finally in answer to your last two SPOILER questions

No, I didn't think so.

No.

Yorick, how can you part with Minsc? His personality is great, he's funny, and he does much "Butt kicking for justice."

I have decided on the following party now.

Jander Sunstar ( half-elf/Kensai ) [anyone recognize that name by any chance? hint: Ravenloft]
Minsc ( because he is the Baldur's Gate 2 equivalent of Mort from planescape, and he kicks arse too )
Jaheira ( she is the normalest of the characters, to me. I also think she'll make a good...."Companion" )
Jan Jansen ( he should do as a thief and I would really like to confuse and demoralize my enemies )
Aerie ( she and Minsc need eachother and I love the stock spell suite she currently has, despite possible future shortcomings. )
Korgan ( he may be evil but he's oh so likeable and tough )

This setup should give me more than enough muscle power ( Jander, Minsc, and Korgan ) with plenty of spell power from Jaheira's healing and support magic, Aerie's combination of healing, support, summoning, and offensive magics, and to top it all off-Jan can confound my enemies with his Illusion spells, thus incapacitating the enemy while my muscle stomps them into the ground. This also leaves me the option to have Jaheira join the fighting, since she is good in a fight. That would give me not only strength in fighter quality, but sheer numbers to protect Aerie and Jan from several different fronts.

Just one question remains. Is Jan able to fight effectivly?

[Jerome]

Best to keep him to the back & cast spells.

With me i used jan as a kinda confusor©harmer (dosent that sound intresting?)
I loaded him out with all the confusion type spells so he was able to deck most of the enimeys without much fuss then proceed to implae them with his hand little crossbow.

In an answer to your question: !yes!