Conundrum

[Catcher]

I'm looking to take a second party through SOA. I want to take the following NPCs

Jahiera
Mazzy
Aerie
Viconia
Nalia ( to be replaced by Imoen )

My problem: with that group I'm short on tankage and thief abilities. I'm stuck between taking a PC Ranger or Multi T/F. The ranger would solve tankage and I could "escort" Nalia when scouting for traps in stealth mode, but can Nalia's thief skills carry the load, especially before the thiefy rings? OTOH, a T/F would certainly take care of the thief load and would take only a small hit on THACO and HPs. Would the party be "too weak" if I went T/F? What would you suggest in the way of proficiencies and equipment. What about possibly dual-class theif into fighter? Much worse on HPs but will get the benefit of putting levels towards positive advancement. After around level 10, thief abilities level out compared to fighters. What to do...

[Stoner Cold]

viconia can be a bit of a tank if you give her a belt of strength and something to improve HP, then go with a T\F as there are no good thieves in the game

[TheDude]

i should take a ranger,
great tank and great game play.
- Jaheira can tank really good, just equip het with a good Club (not very hard just do the Trademeet Quests)
- Mazy is great equip her with a bow and a nice short sword and u have another great tank.
-Nalia is a good thief (imoen is better but u will get her soon), justmake sure knock is a spell u have availeble.
- aarie is a spell caster powerhouse and can tank (with the great cleric and mage protection-spells) and she has the spel find traps (if Nalia fails.)
- Vic is just the cleric and it's not hard to make her for some use.

u need a great tank more then a thief so go for the Ranger (maybe a stalker so u can backstab and have some more mage spells)

and make sure he is a man!!

it is romance heaven that way!!

[UserUnfriendly]

And human or half elf, viccy won't go for elves.

My current and uber party consists of
me
uber sorc, female, elf
jaheira
viccy
aerie
yoshimo
korgan

Romances with all 3 girls are well underway, and life is good....

Thank you shadow keeper!

This party is not light on tabks, with the tanks being jaheira and korgan. Frankly, the best tanks are skeleton warriors, anyway.

[Catcher]

Thanks all for the responses.

@Stoner: Vic really shouldn't be anything more than a third-line tank. For one, with both Mazzy and Jaheira, I'll need the strength belts, gauntlets, fuzzy dice for them first. Second, Vic doesn't have many HP and that can make a real difference especially early on. I scrapped an earlier attempt with a thief dualled to fighter because, even with excellent AC, he just got hurt too much.

@Dude and @UU I've started a half-elven ranger (no Stalker, I'll need to be able to strap on heavier armor if I'll carry the load as a tank). I'm not using the multi-romance patch, just want to see the interactions between the three romance interests. It is a little ironic to be playing the only male in a party considering how male-oriented this particular game is I'm dual wielding ( why not use two free stars?) but with axes as my primary, just to be a bit out of the ordinary

[speedball]

Play whatever you want. I don't think you a short a tank at all. Jaheira and Mazzy should be enough. With all the cleric/druid and mage summons you have available in the party you outline, you should be able to cruise.

Haven't played with Mazzy in a while, but Jaheria makes a fine tank. Belm or Blackblood, good armor, Girdle of Hill Giant Strength, Fortress shield, and the sling that adds your strength bonuses, you are all set. Mix and match rings, amulets, and helments to fine tune your killing machine.

[McBane]

I agree that either way is ok. You definitely have tanks, and with find traps spell, and knock, you are fine with Nalia's thieving abilities. I am always comfortable with a little more magic. I would multi class a wizard.