Ok I need an outline of What to Do

[Cowled Kensai]

Ok I know i have been gone for a awhile now, but i have been busy with my World of Warcraft guild, friends, school, and other reasons. Since my shaman is around level 47 and leveling is getting very slow I thought it be time to get back on BG II and actually finish it again. I have BG ToB on it too. I plan on recreating my kensai/mage but I need an outline of what quests to do up until I get into the Aseylm. Also any adivce to which NPCs I should have with a good aligned protaganist would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Squee]

an NPC you must have is Jan Jansen! He is sooo coola nd funny, and he's definitely not bad thief, and he's quite profient in the ways of magic too! he's great! Aerie is also good because of Robe of Vecna. She's got both mage and cleric spells and she throws them at lightning speed. I could also recommend Keldorn for the Casomyr +5. I'm too tired to say anymore....

[fable]

Minsc or Keldorn (as a tank)
Anomen
Jan Jansen
Aerie
Jaheira

These are good, solid picks for somebody who doesn't want to spend a lot of time strategizing how to work around party flaws. Still, you may want to look at some of the NPC mods, such as those you can find here. I don't necessarily recommend any particular one, but there's quite a fine collection on that site.

[VonDondu]

I'm not sure which of the NPCs you'd enjoy having in your party. But for a Good party, you could stick with the standard cast of Minsc, Jaheira, and Imoen and add a Thief to the party in Chapter Two (Jan and Yoshimo are the best picks). Minsc epitomizes heroism, Jaheira adds a rich subplot to the game, and Imoen is an essential part of the main storyline. For flavor, you could leave your sixth party member slot open and recruit NPCs temporarily to do their personal quests. You could keep Valygar in your party while you do the Planar Sphere quest, for example. Or you could add an NPC who interacts with the other members of your party, such as Aerie (she also has the best romance in the game, in my opinion), or install an NPC mod that adds lots of new dialogue to the game, such as Keto, which I highly recommend. The Pocket Plane Banter Pack also adds a lot of new dialogue to the game, and unless I'm thinking of a different mod, I think it allows Jan to create several new items (which he should have been doing all along).

On the subject of mods, the Unfinished Business Mod adds an especially interesting sidequest for Minsc, and the Gibberlings Three Anniversary Mod adds a lengthy but hilarious sidequest to the game.

If you want suggestions for other mods, just ask and I'll point you to a detailed list with links I recently posted for someone else.

So here is a basic party outline:

Kensai/Mage
Minsc (or another tank such as Valygar, Keldorn, or Mazzy)
Jaheira
Jan Jansen or Yoshimo at least for Chapter Two and Chapter Three
Imoen after Chapter Three unless you want her to take a hike
Aerie (a better romance than Jaheira, IMO)
Keto (NPC Mod) or leave slot open for sidequests with Nalia, Valygar, Keldorn, Cernd, etc.

For the order of the quests, I suggest:

Chapter One: Irenicus's Dungeon (meet Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, and Yoshimo)
Chapter Two: the Circus Quest (pick up Aerie if you want her in your party)
meet Mencar Pebblecrusher's gang (a tough but quick way to acquire some equipment)
meet Gaelan
get some potions, rob the town blind, and find a fence
pick up the NPCs you want in your party--Anomen, Nalia, Korgan, Jan, Viconia, and several new NPCs like Keto are readily available
loot the Graveyard (don't go downstairs just yet)
meet Wellyn, the Paladin and the orphan, and the man who is buried alive
head for the Bridge District and solve the kidnapping quest
solve the Bridge District Murders
fight the street thugs you run into
go to the Copper Coronet and accept Nalia's quest (obtain the Fighter stronghold)
come back to the Copper Coronet and free all of the slaves
Harper subplot (ongoing)
Renal's quest in the Docks District (meet Edwin)
now do a major quest--I recommend the Unseeing Eye/Rift Device quest (be prepared for beholders and undead creatures)
(you'll run into a few sidequests along the way, such as the Sea Troll, as well as Keldorn and possibly Haer'Dalis)
do the Temple quests (Sir Sarles, etc.)
now do the labyrinth under the Graveyard District (and/or Korgan's quest and Edwin's quest)
Planar Sphere quest (Mage stronghold--requires Valygar to enter)
now decide whether you want to start Chapter Three or do more quests in Chapter Two
Note: if you want Imoen in your party, I'd stop there and go rescue her

The remaining quests, in no particular order (you can do some of them any time you feel like it), include:

The Fallen Paladins
City Gates lich, Elemental Lich, Shade Lich
The Twisted Rune
The Guarded Compound
Chapter Three: the Guild War (fight Kangaxx when you acquire the Mace of Disruption and his assorted parts)
Chapters Four and Five: Spellhold/Sahuagin City/Underdark
Umar Hills
Trademeet/Druid Grove
Astral Prison (make sure you have some +3 weapons)
Note: you can meet the tollkeepers and Mekrath a lot earlier in the Temple Sewers
Windspear Hills (probably the hardest quest you can do in Chapter Two)
The Sewer Key "quest"
Chapter Six: Rhynn Lanthorn
Forest of Tethir
Chapter Seven: Suldanessellar

I don't do everything strictly in that order, but it's a rough guide. Sometimes it just depends on which stronghold I want or which NPCs I have in my party, or it just depends on what I feel like doing at the time. But the first few quests I suggested ought to get you started, and you can go from there.

Good luck!

[Cowled Kensai]

Thank you very much everybody. I might not make a Kensai/mage becuase I am reading the riftwar saga and I want to make a mage named Pug, but I will just see what happens.

[dj_venom]

How closely are you going to base it on him, as in, will you make the mage human? If you are going for the best results, go gnome illusionist.