How many leves must I complete??

Healing portions will run out sometime [img]graemlins/awcrap.gif[/img] . Now those small bastards shoot fire arrows. Ok you asked for it [img]graemlins/rambo.gif[/img] .

It has been about a year and a half since I played Baldur's Gate and tales of the Sword Coast but from what I remember you must clear out all the levels of the Naskel Mine in order to go to the next chapter.
SPOILER >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I think there are three maybe four levels and
when you finish the mine make sure you read all scrolls and letters you find in order to find out what you need to do next.
SPOILER >>>>>>>>>>>>at the end of the mine you will meet the best Wizard in the Game but you have to go all the way to the end of the mine to find him held prisnor in the last cave.

After the first area in the mines, there are still 3 levels. The last one contains a doorway to the "boss" of this quest; beware: he's not the last enemy you have to defeat in the mines!

Well I hammered some big boss. No I have another problem. I have 6 in my party:

Khalid
Minsc
Jaheira
Kivan
Edwin
And myself a mage/thief.

This Xar guy or something (some kind of mage wanna join my party). Who should I give the boot?

(bit of a) SPOILER
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Depends...

What alignment are you? Jaheira and Xan are neutral, so they can become a real pain in the *** if you have a high reputation. Edwin is evil. I never play with Edwin, unless I'm evil.

Xan has a problem: a very good sword; quite good mage. The problem: mages and swords don't mix. If you're of good alignment dump Khalid for Mister Helm (can't remember his name; the one on the ankhegg map above friendly arm). Dump Jaheira for the stone priestess at the nashkell carnival (I'm not so good at remembering names apparently [img]smile.gif[/img] ). Don't buy the scroll from the little guy, but in a temple. She's neutral to but better but just as annoying ;) . The only priest of good alignment is in the cloackwood mines.

Keep Kivan!

If you're not a good mage yet, temporarily keep Xan, and later replace him by Dynaheir. Anyway I'd sack Khalid, but remember: Jaheira goes too!

some spoilers (small) ahead
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The main feature or problem of Xan is, that he is an enchanter. OK, it is only one more specialist mage, but he cannot cat any evocation spells like fireball, magic missile, clod kill or other nasty stuff. This has not to be a drawback (i finished the game 3 times with him as my only mage) but you should take this into yor account.

The nashkell mine has 3 mine levels (2 populated by miners, the 3rd one only by kobolds and some other critters. The 4ths level is only a big cave with one exit and the entrance to the bad guy of the mines. This small dungeon is a kind of 5th level of the mines.

Don't take Xan, he's a very weak mage with a low capacity! I would go and find Edwin, or Xzar, or even Dynaheir. It really doesn't matter if you, or other party members are good-alligned, just manage your reputation so that it stays between about 8 to 15, but I wouldn't exceed these limits. It's really not that hard, there are simple ways to quickly increase or decrease your reputation. It is true however, that in comparison with say, a Hero rep (20), item cost will be quite a bit higher for you. But even this doesn't matter much because most of the very good items in the game can be either found, won, or stolen. Like Saoric said, kick out jaheira and go get Branwen. Not only is Branwen a better warrior, but she has some really powerful and benificial Cleric spells. Khalid is not all that bad either, when I played with him I had him as an archer and gave him a two-handed sword (Spider's Bane) for when he needed to jump into melee combat. However, Shar-Teel is probably a better choice than Khalid. I can't recall her exact stats, but I think she is about second to Minsc as far as fighter/NPCs are concerned. Keep Kivan, he is a winner as well. Blah, blah, blah,....
Enough of my ranting... go experiment and have fun. Remember, you don't need to see and do everything the first time you play BG. If you are like most us, you'll be playing this game over and over and over again. ;)

[ 09-01-2002, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Sir Heinrich Godfrie IV ]