Pangaea666: Not a lot of NPCs to choose from when going evil, but the only time I've played through the whole series was with a super-good party, so I want to go with evil this time.

Korgan, Edwin and Viconia are the obvious choices, in addition to my sorcerer self. Imoen kind of buggers off for a while, I don't fancy Yoshimo for... reasons, so we need a thief. Jan seems to fit the bill best, even if that makes us a bit heavy on mages.

I've then been struggling for a 6th party member. In the evil playthrough that stranded in the Underdark a good while back I took Haer'Dalis, but he was a bit underwhelming, squishy, and bards kind of suck (and he's not that easy to recruit). Then thought about Jaheira. She definitely feels 'good' in my book, but is technically neutral, and would add another fighter to the group. Unfortunately druids kind of suck too, they were better in IWD, though Ironskins and Insect Plague are pretty sweet spells.

However, do I really need a 6th person? With one full playthrough under my belt I'm hardly experienced, but maybe the slightly faster levelling will compensate for less fire power?

Hickory: The obvious solution to your thief problem is to play one yourself, maybe as F/T. That would leave you with one spot to think about, assuming you're saving a spot for Imoen. Jaheira is integral to the storyline, like Imoen, so it makes sense to go for her rather than the squishy bard. Or you could look at npc mods.

Pangaea666: Bit odd how much different XP people will join with. Jaheira started with 161,000, while Minsc had 800,000. Rather big difference at this stage of the game.

Hickory: Wait... you're playing BGT. They should have the exact XP earned during BG1. Even if you never used either, Minsc should also have 161,000 -- that 800,000 figure is two 'creature file' levels above starting level. That would make that a big bug.

Pangaea666: I think it's based on the level of the PC when you meet the characters. My sorcerer had just tipped 250,000 XP, so was level 10 at the beginning of BG2. So with that in mind it fits with the various creature files for Jaheira and Minsc. If they are supposed to have the XP they had in the BG1 portion, however, they'd be massively underpowered, maybe 2000XP each. It came out a bit odd here, though, with such a big difference. Also, I do wonder what happens with Imoen. She started how she ended BG1, as a pure thief with around 250k XP, so it was a bit amusing to see magic missiles from her hands in the cutscene. When I find her again, if she stays exactly the same, she'll be well underpowered, but if one of the creature files is used, she'll be a mage.

Hickory: The whole point of BGT is that your character and those that transfer to BG2 do so with precisely the XP, stats, health etc. that they had in BG1. There is no swapping out; if Jaheira and Minsc were in your BG1 party, they should be in BG2 just as they were... just as Imoen is. I think if they are not in your party they get a 'reevaluation', but otherwise no.

Regarding Imoen, don't worry about her XP. When you meet up with her again she gets a generous XP boost to 'catch up'.

Pangaea666: In BG2, even via BGT, aren't you supposed to get x thousand XP per spell you scribe? Edwin learnt Mislead, and we only got 60xp for it. Pretty sure this was supposed to be 6000?

Hickory: BG2 gives ridiculous amounts of XP, so BGT incorporated an experience nerf (DEF JAM?) for things like scrolls, lock picking, traps etc. If you really feel you need those back, get hold of the BGT Tweak pack, which has an option to restore XP bonuses.

ussnorway: Theres also Anomen... just fail his test and he should fit right in if Jaheira dies?

Pangaea666: Thanks for the advice. I've played a bit now and have rounded out the party with PC-sorcerer, Korgan, Viconia, Edwin, Jan and Jaheira. Works okay so far, but I'm still in the beginning, and have hardly done anything beyond picking up these people.

In BG2, even via BGT, aren't you supposed to get x thousand XP per spell you scribe? Edwin learnt Mislead, and we only got 60xp for it. Pretty sure this was supposed to be 6000?

Aymoz: What happened to the proficiencies of the characters you didn't play with in BG1 that you have now (so Jaheira, Korgan and Jan)? I'm playing through BGT, still at the start of BG1, and I was wondering if you think I should get a party filled with characters that are also in BG2 (for example Minsc, Viconia and Edwin) or just play whatever party I want and then start a new one at the start of BG2? The reason why I asked about the proficiencies is because I want to know what the consequences are of doing the latter (play whatever party I want).

I'm keeping Imoen no matter what, though.