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I am up to day 50 or so and just putzing around. The Nashkel mines have been cleared through level 3. I dualed Imoen to mage then (she was lvl 5 thief at that time) and am sort of stalling until my character (fighter/thief) reaches lvl 5 thief to gain some more trap detecting ability before doing lvl 4 in the mines.

In the meantime, I have been exploring various areas trying to decide if I should ditch Jaheria and even possibly Khalid to make room for Minsc and Dynaheir. My understanding is that if I remove Khalid and Jaheria they are gone forever, correct? I know if I remove one while the other is in my party, the remaining one will leave unless it is done by either death or by leaving the about to be removed one behind in a house (never to return) first.

Am I hurting myself in later stages of the game by just wasting time exploring and leaving Chapter 2 kind of stagnant for the time being?

SpitfireV wrote:I dualed Imoen to mage then (she was lvl 5 thief at that time) and am sort of stalling until my character (fighter/thief) reaches lvl 5 thief to gain some more trap detecting ability before doing lvl 4 in the mines.

IIRC, the traps in Nashkel Mines are detectable and removeable using a very low Traps percentage. I suppose it was assumed that parties traversing those mines would consist of a beginning level thief.

SpitfireV wrote:My understanding is that if I remove Khalid and Jaheria they are gone forever, correct? I know if I remove one while the other is in my party, the remaining one will leave unless it is done by either death or by leaving the about to be removed one behind in a house (never to return) first.

IIRC, Khalid & Jaheira will walk away and disappear forever if you dismiss them while you have a really high (or low) reputation. I think most neutral NPC's will do this, too. If your rep is closer to average, they will chill right where they're standing when you dismiss them, instead of walking away and disappearing forever. And yes, dismissing one of an NPC pair makes both NPC's leave your party, if that NPC can successfully initiate the "farewell" dialogue with your main dude.

SpitfireV wrote:Am I hurting myself in later stages of the game by just wasting time exploring and leaving Chapter 2 kind of stagnant for the time being?

IIRC, the only quest having a time issue (before entering the city of Baldur's Gate) is with Minsc. If his quest isn't done in ten game-days from the time you pick him up, then he'll flip out and attack you, leaving no other option but to smoke him. (I've also heard that if you don't enter the Nashkel Mines in a certain amount of time, then Khalid & Jaheira will book forever.)

I for one had Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, and Dynaheir all in my party. With my main dude being a cleric, and Imoen dualled to a mage at level 7, my party had alot of everything: a couple tanks, a couple arcane spellcasters, a couple of divine spellcasters, and 4 outta 6 with a really good AC. The only pain was needing to revisit a handful of locked chests from the middle third of the game, when Imoen's thieving abilities were inactive because of dualling.

Thanks for the info. I guess it really isn't a case of having to get it all right the first time, it is easy enough to start a new game and try a different strategy. My current party is:
fighter/thief
Khalid
Jaheira
Imoen (thief/mage)
Branwen

I like the healing and so far, chant, and even tank abilities a cleric adds, Jaheria adds a couple more heal spells, but having both her and Branwen (or any other NPC cleric) seems to be too much overlap. Next try I will play a cleric.

Years ago when BG was new, I got a party to somewhere within BG city before stalling out so I have vague memories of parts of the game. It is fun to have come back to BG and no longer have to worry about having sufficient playtime,at the right hours to find a group or do a raid.

Khalid and Jaheira are a couple like Minsc & Dynaheir so if you dismiss one you will lose the other. However, you can kill the one that you do not want without any negative effects and all will be well.

You may wish to replace Jaheira with Minsc to get a bit more fighter power. If you do pick up Minsc but do not want Dynaheir, you will still need to rescue Dynaheir otherwise Minsc will leave after 10 days. Branwen is capable as a cleric and is able to cast Bless and Chant on the party for the big battles and can use Ashideena. I never use any of the healing spells as there are plenty of potions available for that along with the temples.

FWIW, I was able to dismiss Khalid and Jaheira at Feldpost's Inn. Jaheira immediately poofed but Khalid stayed around and was willing to rejoin the party. Could it be because he is good and Jaheira is neutral while my party rep is 20+? (20 seems to be the highest reputation that shows although I have received a couple more rep points that are not appearing)

I once had Khalid and Jaheira walk out on me. I think it was a timeline/charisma/reputation thing. If your charisma is high enough, I don't think you need to worry about them leaving. as it has only happeed once in about 100 games, it probably won't be a problem for you, just a warning that it might.