Which NPCs can you keep for the longest time while playing through the trilogy?

I'm planning to play the Big World Project version of the Baldur's Gate games. I'd like to have a standard party with one fighter, one thief, one priest, and one mage.

Which of the NPCs should I take if my goal is to keep them as long as possible? What should be the class of the main character?

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6 Answers

The only rejoinable recurring characters between BG1 and 2 are:

• Imoen: Thief (Thief/Mage in BG2)
• Minsc: Ranger (and a decent fighter)
• Viconia: Priest
• Jaheira: Fighter/Druid
• Edwin: Mage

So they would last you the longest. They're also a lethal combination. The only thing is, I'm not sure but I think you may have trouble keeping this party together if you have low charisma and low or high reputation.

EDIT:

Choosing the player's class:

• You already have 3 decent fighters: Minsc, Jaheira, and Viconia (with a strength boost)
• 2.5 healers: Viconia, Jaheira, and Minsc once again
• And the most powerful mage in the game: Edwin
• I don't remember how good Imoen is but I'm sure she's not terrible.

Point being you can choose any class for the PC. I usually go with one of the thief variants or a sorcerer in DnD games.

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The NPCs you can keep the longest, are Jaheira, Minsc, Viconia, and Edwin. (For a significant portion of Baldur's Gate II, Imoen is kidnapped, but otherwise she is available through the campaign in the same way.)

I would avoid carrying your Baldur's Gate player over to Shadows of Amn. The reason being that there are some new classes and kits in the second game; you may want to try one of them for your main player character. Most of the items you could get in Baldur's Gate are available in Shadows of Amn, and if not, there are newer more powerful items.

Note on lack of Thieves

Shadows of Amn seems to stand in stark contrast to its predecessor. Whereas Baldur's Gate had an abundance of acceptable quality thieves, Shadows of Amn does not. This is one of its more unusual qualities. The only 'acceptable' thief is Jan who happens to be a multiclass character, which may be an unacceptable choice for some gamers.

Consider making your own thief to play through the game with. A dual class Fighter/Thief, Berserker/Thief, or Mage/Thief should be fine.

Note on NPCs

Jaheira

If this is your first playthrough, I would take Jaheira for storyline elements. She has low strength, but this can be rectified with a girdle fairly early in the SoA campaign. She's a multiclass fighter/druid, so she'll use up a lot of XP without advancing terribly far. Though she can still reach Druid level 15 early in the Throne of Bhaal segment of the game. She has a very dramatic presence in the game; she has multiple side quests, a romance opportunity, and, despite being a bit of a bitch, she's a very interesting character.

Aerie

Aerie is a reasonable choice if you don't mind having a multiclass character in your party. As a mage/cleric, she will have a wide repertoire of spells to choose from. She has at least 6 separate interaction arcs with other party characters.

Anomen

Anomen is a Cleric with 7 levels of Fighter. He can perform Viconia's role just as well as her, with an added bonus of Fighter level hitpoints.

Keldorn

Is a useful candidate for wielding several of the +5 Two Handed Swords that you collect, if your main character doesn't already have that ability. He has access to the True Sight spell several times per day, which makes numerous battles much easier. He has low dexterity, however, and you may find yourself expending a copious quantity of dexterity potions throughout the game.

Edwin

The problem with Edwin is that you can't remove his amulet, so that precludes the possibility of combining the Robe of Vecna, The Amulet of Power, and the Level 10 spell Improved Alacrity. Combining these items and that spell, allows your mage to cast multiple spells without any delay between casts. Nevertheless, Edwin's extra memorization slots are enticing.

Viconia

Viconia will prove problematic due to her low hitpoints. She will routinely die due to high level death type spells (and spells such as Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting). You have to ask yourself if it's worth having the extra few level 1-4 memorization slots. Her hitpoints problem can be rectified to some degree with a constitution Ioun stone, or with a Girdle of Constitution. Nonetheless, even with these items, she'll still have horribly low hitpoints. A Cleric with some fighter levels would make your life easier.

Option 2, pick whoever you want beat the game, make duplicates of them using shadow keeper, then when you get to BG2, the ones who aren't playable, add them in a multiplayer game, save, and move it to the single player save folder, viola.

Baldur's Gate's only failing is railroading you in BG2 with who finished the previous game with and putting such heavy early story significance on non-player character, and killing off or only having cameo's for most of the other characters. If not that for one failing, it would be perfect.

I don't know how that mod affects things, but here's what I did that worked pretty well: I created a dual-classed cleric/mage for my main character, then kept Minsc for the fighter, Imoen for the thief, and Dynaheir for the mage. I would typically pad out the other slots with Khalid/Jaheira or Ajantis for some extra healing and undead management. I found it really helpful to have two tanks to tag-team and/or kite some of the bigger enemies and often relied more on healing potions than clerical spells.

Just for the fun of it:

• Imoen: Joins you party first in BG1 but is gone for a long period of time in BG2. Starts with you in BG2.
• Minsc: Found at Nashkel where you usually go quite early in the game in normal playthrough. In BG2 starts with you.
• Viconia: Found at Peldvale which is close to Candlekeep but in normal playthrough you don't go there very soon. In BG2 you get her back from Goverment District where you don't usually go as the first thing.
• Jaheira: Found at Friendly Arm Inn and normally you go there straight away. In BG2 Jaheira can be gone for some time from your party (Harper Hold quest). Starts with you in BG2.
• Edwin: Found at Nashkel, see Minsc. You get him back in BG2 from the docks where you don't go as the first thing. For some time Ewdin is Edwina who I suppose is the same person during that time.
• Sarevok: You can get him very, very late in the game.

Also, in BG2, if you romance with a NPC, they can be away from the party for some time (captured by Bodhi). Of the above you can romance Viconia and Jaheira.

So the NPC you can keep with you the maximum time is ... :

drum drum drum

Minsc

(Fast to get in BG1, starts with you in BG2, doesn't go away :)

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But of course you can do Nashkel very late and get Vicky as the first thing in the game. You can skip Harper Hold quest. You don't have to romance Jaheira or Viconia. Etc.

I think, except for the 1st one (forgot her name) and Yoshimo, most of the others you can keep (unless they have different alignments).

I suggest you don’t worry too much about them, and carry the Necromancer (Edwin I think it was) and Aerie (the priest/mage). Then you can be an Orc/Warrior/Berserker or something that really can make damage.

Those two will fight all the time, but you can manage them. Edwin will open you a few quests (when he turns into a woman) and such which are funny.

It’s important to know that those two are not available right away. Aerie is in the circus and the mage is available in the docks I think (don’t remember right now).

The 1st two, (when you start) are a little bit annoying, but you can keep them for a very long time. I don’t remember now, but one of them peels it at some point in the Sphere. Not sure tho.

There are good walkarounds on the net that usually give all this info at the beginning.

Being a sorcerer is also nice, they are OP with magic misile :)

Always have a priest (Aerie will do) that can heal/Rez.

A rogue is nice (XP from traps/Etc).

As with any RPG, try to have a balance.

Good adventuring!

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