HELP PLEASE!!!!

[gconstable]

Hello folks,

I am currently in Chapter 6 and am currently trying to reform my party. I'm not a power gamer and am more interested in the story. For that reason my party has stayed the same pretty much throughout. However now that Yoshimo's gone I have no quality thief and am not sure if I need one. I have also got rid of Jahiera. I still need to complete the Planar Sphere quest so will need Valygar at some point. My original party was as follows:

Minsc
Jahiera
Aerie
Nalia
Imoen (originally Yoshimo)
PC (Mage)

As you can probably tell, very spell oriented and that's how I'm used to playing. I'm keen to change tactics (three fighter types perhaps). However I am VERY worried about experience levels for newer party members - Minsc, PC, Aerie and Nalia (all of whom I want to keep) are lvl 12 to 15, while the newer characters are as low as level 9. Does anyone have any ideas for:

a) The best balnace to have in the latter stages?
b) How to level up characters quickly so late in the game?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Memnoch]

If you want another tank Korgan is a good choice - high HPs and high damage potential even if he doesn't max out. I'd stay away from Edwin at this point as you already have 3 and you won't max out your new mage. You might consider Keldorn if you have Carsomyr and want a third tank.

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[Kinslayer]

First off, any new characters joining your party will have a level that fits in with the rest. It's done by working out the average level of your party. The only exception to this is if you have taken a character into your party then let them go, there level will stay the same. If you are going for the fighter option then Keldorn is a great addition and his dispel magic ability is a life saver. as for Yoshimo, don't worry too much as Nalia is OK as a thief until she can be replaced with Imoen. Anomen can also be a good swap for Jaheira if you want a more fighter based group and his sub quest to become a paladin can be quite interesting. The main difficulty will be in kicking someone out for Valygar as he's not a great character but the Planar Sphere quest can still be done. Just kill him and collect his body to get into the sphere!

[Gustave]

All you need Valygar for is to open the initial door. Then you can drop him off, grab someone, and then do the Planar Sphere.

[gconstable]

Wow, thanks guys, I'll give that some thought. However, I'm not the sort of party that will kill someone just to get some big XP award and a nice base of operations! ...mind you I could change my ways *insert evil grin here*. What do you guys think of the following line up then?

Minsc
Keldorn
Anomen
PC (Mage)
Aerie
Nalia

Also, does anyone have any useful tactics for fighting with a balanced fighter/mage party - I often find my fighters hit by high level holding type spells, i.e maze, stun etc which puts them out of action really quickly. As you can probably tell, I'm used to fighting with a mage heavy party with lots of lovely anti magic spells,

Thanks again,

Geoff

[WizWom]

Fighting against holding attacks takes magic items:
Keldorn's special plate mail
Ring of Free Action

Other major dangers are charm and confusion spells.
Lilacor and Adjatha the drinker come to mind.

The 5th lvl Cleric spell Chaotic Commands is a must.

Also spell turning - but this is only good for mages, and very short times.

Note that ONLY Chaotic commands works against psionics in real D&D; there should be no saving throw against a psionic blast. Luckily you get on in BG2. Also, there are a lot of effects which are amazingly slow to occur: things like magic missile, psionic blast, fireball, confusion, etc. can be guided to a less dangerous place is the character who is the primary target is wearing boots of speed.

[Avatar]

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do not have these in your party as they will fight to the death!

Aerie Korgan
Anomen Viconia
Minsc Edwin

Memmnoch didn't mention this and I am not sure why!

I think you have the perfect party!
P.S. Same as mine totally indentical!!!!!!!

[gconstable]

Yeah, I read that in the strategy guide - I think I'll stick with what I said. Seeing as that's your party, what do you use to stop your tanks getting confused/mazed/stunned etc???

[Cavern Sniffer]

Exactly the same party for me too except I dumped Imoen and kept Yoshimo throughout the game.

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It's bleedin dark down here, slippery too.
Man, that's a pisser.

[FallenPaladin]

Well, you said yo are more interested in the story so I have to ask. Why did you dump Imoen for Nalia. Nalia is not half the character that Imoen is, and with Imoen being your sister, she is way more important as a story character in the game. She's also a much better thief than Nalia will ever be.
Other than this I find your party jusr great.