Need opinions to help decide.

[McKirsten]

I'm still very recent here and have been playing for quite a short time. My question is simple but would like some more experienced opinions. My party cosists of still on level two)
Paladin (me)
Keldorn
Anomem
Yoshimo
Aerie
Valygar

My doubt is maintain or send Valygar for a hike.(I have done the sphere quest already so is he needed) I have read alot of negative opinions about him. Should I replace him with a mage? Could be Edwin or Viconia but they are evil based (my party is good based) Cernd - Jan? I really don't know. Your opinions are appreciated. Thanks for your time.

[antonius]

Best thing to do is remove Valygar with any other NPC, play with them for a while (do their specific quests) and try someone else. The best thing about SOA is that the NPCs generally stay put. If you decide you did like someone, go back and get them.

[Faceman]

Valgyar kinda sucks, not a very good fighter and can't wear decent armor.
Your party looks like you need a straight mage:
Edwin - great, but you have to keep your reputation at mid-level not to lose him
Nalia - underestimated spellcaster, available very early, can wear elven chain and use sword and shiel due to dual class.
Jan - Nice guy and on long term best thief in game but not the kind of mage you are looking for as he is multi-class and inllusionist.
Imoen - can be used as primary mage once you get her back

So at present I would go for Nalia and think about who is going to leave the party after Imoen's rescue

[Morgan_Corbesant]

i think nalia is better than imoen. they both have 18 dex, and 17 int. nalia has that cool ring, and is a lower level thief, so actually, she is almost a pure mage, that can wield decent weapons. raise her intelligence to 18 somehow, and you are good.

PS-valygar is an awesome NPC, but i hate his picture. i always shadowkeep it to something else.

[Foo]

I would probably keep Valygar, but if you have to replace him, I'd go with either Jan or Jaheira, as they add more versatility...

Druid spells such as Insect Plague, Creeping Doom, and summon fire elemental are very good.

HUGE SPOILER
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Jan gives you strong thief skills, actually the best thief skills later in the game, plus solid backup mage skills.

[Dragon-Killer]

Valygar sucks!
Just change him for Jan so you can get a quite good mage and the best thief in the game!

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Welcome, McKirsten.

Personally, I like Valygar. Of course, I just like Rangers in general.

I think Antonius has the best suggestion. You can tell MOST NPC's to wait for you at the Copper Coronet and then go back and pick them up if you want them later.

I'm on my first trip through, too, and I was worried about getting the "perfect" party. Then...I finally realized that you can keep swapping the NPC's around.

I dumped Minsc and Aerie when I went to get Valygar...but then I left Valygar behind and took Minsc with me to get into Spellhold.

BGII is extraordinarily sophisticated in its design, storyline, subquests, and romances. I've decided to keep a few permanent members...Jaheira for the romance thread, and probably Imoen when I rescue her.

I haven't found a great deal of difference between Keldorn, Valygar, or Minsc. Depending on how you equip and use them, they can all be very powerful. The same goes for Aerie, Imoen, Jaheira, and Nalia. I think all of them are interchangeable depending on their equipment.

I don't particularly care for Mazzy, Cernd, or Haer Daelis...although some people really like each of them. Once again, there is enough equipment in the game to make ANY NPC very powerful.

BTW, I left out Korgan, Viconia, and Edwin because they are evil...however, all 3 are considered to be the VERY BEST in their respective classes from the beginning.

So play around and mix it up....and see who you like.