Help with party formation and multiplayer

I need some help making a balanced party

I decided to make a multiplayer game and using 2 pre-made characters that I really wanted to use. A monk and a kensai\mage (duelling at level 9)

What npc's would work well in my party because I have no idea.

Also, when i load a multiplayer game I keep on having to pick the characters in that window, is there anyway to bypass it?

Thanks

[Tobbin]

Unfortunately, no there isn't a way to bypass this screen. It's what allows multi-player to be as flexible and valuable as it is. You have to click on the characters that you want in the campaign and then click on the button at the bottom of the screen to start the game. It's kind of important here, but do not discard NPC's on the multi-player screen, if you do, they will be gone. You can not export a NPC. Just something to note.

[Tobbin]

I would recommend that you take everybody you meet as you start the game, cause there is Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, and Yoshimo later on. If you leave them behind in the dungeon, except for Imoen, they will be lost forever. I never left them behind, so I'm not for sure that is the case, but it's what I've heard. Imoen is a thief/mage. Never hurts to have this. Yoshimo is a bounty hunter. Specialized thief class. Minsc is a berserker (and proud of it - LOL). He's a good tank. Jaheira is a druid/fighter. She will help you heal after fights and is a weak tank, but a decent target distract. Eventually, you will find other NPC's, and you will need to decide what is best for your party who to keep. But by taking the others out of the dungeon, you will at least have a choice. I liked Yoshimo myself. As the thief. Other than him, I really didn't need the others (at the beginning.)