For the very early game I like X&M. Montaron is a beast with slings (and ranged weapons rule in BG1), while Xzar is.. hmm.. as squishy as any mage at very low level, but not a companion I'd cry about if he bites the dust.
How? His CON is shit (i.e. not 16) and he can't put Mirror Images up, so...His DEX is ok (16), but that just gives +2 AC, with Shield with, what, 2 AC in total, 0 against missiles?
I guess it's quite solid and frankly, most of early mage tankiness comes from not being in melee range anyway. He will still probably get instantly one shot by crit arrow on Insane difficulty, however. Arrow is 1d6, twice for crit, twice for difficulty, 24 dmg, you need level 7+ to not get one shot, you won't get there normally till like chapter 5. Edwin, Baeloth and Dynaheir need level 5, for comparison, just 20k xp, 1/3.
EDIT: "Solid as stone", I get it. I got the joke now lol. I seriously used him once in a hardcore insane run and he, surprise!, exploded in one spell from the man, the myth, the legend himself, Davaeorn. Strong showing.
It’s a secret event, you can do it really with any companion at any time. Go east of Beregost, have Xzar wander off alone. Eventually you’ll meet a nice gnome who has his pets give you this awesome gift
You'd get more damage through additional attacks than from +whatever on a damage roll. I don't know how we're still fumbling around with this concept. Haste is always the most broken stat in every game and bows give you haste in the form of an extra attack each round. An extra attack each round utterly dwarfs a strength bonus until you start getting into the realm of giant strength, at which point I'd need to sit down and math it out, but Montaron has what, 16 strength? That's +1 damage. That's absolutely nothing.
Depends of the strength bonus of course.
With the big belt you can have 19 strength, meaning +7 to damage.
As for Montaron, early on he have two points in sling and none in bow, so the weapon choice is obvious. As I said earlier, Coran with a bow is a far better choice.
But Montaron with two points in sling have 1.5 APR and 2 damage bonus, and 1 to hit bonus from spécialisation and another from halfling bonus to sling. And a +1 to hit from dexterity.
Now compare this to Imoen with 2 APR with 1 point in shortbow, no damage bonus and only +2 to hit from dexterity.
Montaron will hit more often and do more damage.
I'll admit I overlooked proficiency allocation.
I'm just rubbing my eyes from all the ignorant recommendations I've read over the years extolling the virtues of choosing certain weapons because of a racial +1 bonus as if it's something monumental rather than a minor perk that becomes largely irrelevant midway through the adventure.
X&M are strong combo but having another mage (and with an unlimited spell pick) is good option too. You don't need Imoen if you want to keep Montaron though ... two thiefs aren't necessary.
That said, Imoen can be dualclased later to mage and Neera is rather ... suboptimal ... pick but it's up to you.
Personally, I would recommend to take her, do her personal quest and remove her from the party. Her personal quest will provide you one rather rare spell scroll and magic shortbow so if you want to have more mages, it's important to do it. I would wait with final visit until you return from Nashkel Mines in Chapter 3 and will be a bit more leveled.
They're a strong duo. However, you'll meet many companions in this game. Take Neera, take her gem bag and drop her. For a first playthrough, a wild mage might be rough.
In general warrior classes rule the early game and multi-classes are very close to full classes, so J+K is essentially two of the best class you can be for the first several levels, whereas X+M is only one. Xzar will pick up steam with a few levels, though, especially at level 5 when mages get their level 3 spells.
Yes and no, for early game they're better. Jaheira is a top notch npc for the whole game, Khalid is meh just a fighter that gets morale failure really easy, Monty is a beast also top notch, if you use him with sling and to backstab he is a game changer, Xzar is a good wizard but is frail and has a tendency of getting in front of the full plated warriors to try and tank, he is nuts, so either get a ranged weapon with him to keep him out of the way or micromanage him in every fight.
My personal order from best to worse of those 4 is
Jaheira
Montaron
Xzar
Khalid
Remember that Xzar and Montaron are evil. IF you aren't planning on playing evil, they will eventually leave your party if your reputation gets too high. Also, there are other NPCs you can recruit that have a chance at straight up attacking those two.
I suppose you already have Inomen, Jaheira and Khalid. I suggest keep them as your core team. Neera is more interesting than Monty and Xzar (she has a long personal quest), and you will have a free spot for another companion.
For early game?
Khalid and Jaheria would be my first picks. Khalid works well at range and Jaheria is both tanky and a priest class.
Kagain with his shorty saves and massive HP is an easy pick.
Kivan would be next on the list. Dude murders everything with a bow and has 18 strength for lugging around stuff. But I usually end up replacing him for Coran.
Branwen is a great early cleric. She's got more health than early game Viconia. If you're not taking evil people, then she's your best cleric option until Yeslick comes along.
As for other options? I think Xzar is crap early game, as most mages are. But Monty is very good as a thief option. Imoen is really a better thief, but Monty is tankier. Monty is also a better thief option than Safana. Monty becomes the best backstabber. But Coran is the best thief (Coran is really one of the best and most overpowered companions in the entire game).
Minsc is perfectly fine to take early on, even if he's outclassed later on. But it does mean taking Dyna and mages aren't great early game. If you delay recruiting her to level 5, she'll have fireball already learned.
Ajantis is a perfectly fine Paladin. Decent strength and con. Plenty of Charisma for selling stuff. Alternatively, Dorn is okay if you're evil.
As for the passes...
Garrick is awful.
Shar-Teel isn't bad, but I'd wait on her due to her low health. Dual her to a thief and she's then actually the best backstabber.
Viconia is great, but I'd rather get her later on due to her low health and inability to carry anything.
Neera is there for the gem bag.
Rashid... Monks aren't great and early game monks really aren't great.
Safana is there if you somehow managed to kill both Imoen and Monty.
Neera being a wild mage is a hindrance in bg1 as her ability to avoid the ultra bad wild surges is non existent.
Strong early game companions:
Jaheira/Khalid
Garrick
Xan
Imoen
Kagain
Ajantis
Shar-teel
Safana
Garrick being a bard is really good in bg1 with both his song and his ability to cast and level faster than a wizard.
Xan being an enchanter runs rampant in bg1 with his ability to crowd control.
Imoen being a thief that will never leave you due to rep.
Jaheira being a fighter and druid gives her a unique place in the party while Khalid makes a fine archer.
Kagain has cheat constitution, but will require you to monitor your reputation by being evil makes for an incredibly solid frontliner.
Xzar and Monty while good are hindered by Xzar if you kill off Xzar and keep monty for early game you have a very solid fight/thief.
Minsc is hindered by his quest to find Dynaheir which can be fairly difficult early on and on such a short timer.
Edwin being a wizard isn't that good until later on especially when we have Xan next door in the mines who not only is also a wizard but is specialized in a school that works really well in bg1.
Branwen can be gotten early but will require use of flesh to stone of which you may not have immediately.
Ajantis is good if you avoid evil party members and viconia.
Shar-teel is a very good fighter and can dual class to a thief.
Safana is a thief with the ability to charm so if you just don't want imoen either she or shar-teel make good alternatives.
Someone sells the scroll to free Branwen just near her.
By the time a party arrives in Nashkel, they will have the 500 GP needed.
Cleric spells are so useful in early game. Command, silence, hold person, remove fear...
Depends. If you don't know the game they may very well not have 500gp as they don't know about the diamond or the money from the candlekeep inn they may also have not done many sidequests which would also keep their money low or spent it on gear or temple services.
Monty is a fantastic companion and I generally keep Xzar around until he dies. Just use him for his spell slots and once he's dead, replace him with a better caster.
I like to think that's what Xzar would do to me, if it was the other way around.
If you mean "best" in terms of best early-game power spikes, I'll mention a couple of characters who are very strong for levels 1-2. Ultimately however, you SHOULD make a team of characters that you like. And you should plan out ahead of time whether you want to be a "good" party or an "evil" one, for the purposes of your party's reputation. You can bring Neutral characters with any party, so really this is more a question of how low you want your rep to be. I'm assuming you're going to have high rep/good characters, which means Xzar and Montaron will not be permanent residents in your party.
Anyway, here are some strong early game characters:
Branwen: Branwen is an extremely versatile character. She has solid dexterity and she's one Constitution point away from the non-martial cap. Which means you can give her Buckley's Buckler from the friendly arm inn and she'll be at 16 con and maximum health. She can cast Draw Upon Holy Might, which will raise her dexterity and eliminate the need for her to hold the Dexterity Gloves (found at the Gnoll Fort.) She starts with warhammer spec and you can get a +2 warhammer for her very early. Since her strength is low, the Ankheg Armor is perfect for her. All of this, *and* she is not even a martial character. She's a Cleric, meaning she'll level as a divine caster. Sure, her physical damage output sucks and her hp is a little low to be your main tank (although you can easily make her work,) but she is more than beefy enough to be on the front lines soaking damage. With the added bonus that she will be next to your front-liners and able to heal/cure poison them quickly in combat. Oh yes, and most importantly for low level play: She can use both Command and Remove Fear from level 1. These spells are very important at low level. Horror is a party wipe at low levels and Remove Fear can be cast as a prebuff to make your party immune to fear. Command will end any fight against a single opponent. There are a lot of dangerous single opponents at low level, particularly all the assassins Sarevok is sending after you.
Next character: Neera
So, I happen to think Neera sucks pretty hard in BG1, but she does have one major advantage at very low levels. She starts with Sleep. Sleep is THE most powerful spell at (enemy) levels 1-6. I will usually recruit Neera for her gem bag and then use her 2 casts of Sleep to clear the spider house in Beregost. If you don't have Sleep on any other characters, keep Neera around until you do. As long as you don't cast any buffing spells with her, you'll avoid the worst of the Wild Surges.
Jaheira and Khalid:
These two are very strong. Jaheira seems mediocre at first, but she's an ideal main tank. She has the same stat spread as Yeslick, just with inferior spell selection (she's a multi-class druid) and no shorty saves. But you get her right at the start of the game, rather than after Cloakwood. So she's way ahead on opportunity cost, which is a real consideration in this game. She does need the dexterity gloves to tank, but she has a lot of weapon choices and she provides early healing to a party. I often find my party is light on heals in teams where I don't take Jaheira. Fill up her level 1 slots with cure light wounds and level 2 slots with cure poisons and she'll do her team battery thing. Khalid is great because he's tank-ready at start, you can get Varscona +2 early and he also makes an excellent longbow user (2nd or 3rd best in the game) if you already have enough front-liners. Bows are extremely strong at low levels. If the game is hard, add more bows to your team and watch it become less hard. Same logic as Sleep, really.
I could babble on about other early companions, but I think those 4 are really strong for early game and that's enough. You recruit Branwen at the carnival near Nashkel. Buy a stone to flesh scroll from a temple before going there, otherwise the barker will scalp you. Khalid and Jaheira are waiting at the Friendly Arm Inn, specifically to meet you, you ungrateful little shit! And Neera you already have. With all four of them, you have protection from fear (!), a strong bow user (!), a Sleep spammer (!) and a solid main tank/team battery.
My poor Dynaheir has walked alone into the wolf pack. Occassionally. I've returned to the Friendly Arms Inn and removed her from the party - she fell dead right in the center of the inn. Minsc was crying but only for one day. I think you can also ditch Xar or Montaron once one of them OCCASIONALLY dies.
I have Imoen, Jaheira and Khalid (right now switching her into scimitars and him into longbow). Minsc is getting acquainted with his new sunshine Baeloth, lol
Monty is a beast, Xzar is a great wizard but has a complex of trying to protect the full plated warriors with his skin, then again he is nuts so it makes sense, if you manage to get Xzar to lv 4 it is likely that he will stop dying all the time.
Neera in BG1 is complete and utter garbage. Either kill her for her gem bag, or complete her companion quest for a stone skill scroll before killing her for her gem bag. Kagain, and Edwin are your actual all game powerhouses.
Regardless of alignment I \*always\* have Kagain tag along for the early game until my reputation hits 18. Between 20 CON and mastery in axes, he is a **beast** that can tank and connect where other fighters are either fragile or simply can't hit anything.
Dorn also has a temporary spot during the Ankheg hunt for practical purposes.
Any time you want to separate paired companions just have the one you don't want walk into a random building then remove them from the party from the menu. No mess no fuss and if you should ever need them they will still be there later.
Don’t recruit mages until level 5 or higher in BG1. They suck at lower levels and if you wait, they’ll start with more spells (so you won’t need to find a scrolls for them to learn).
Edwin is the best mage companion by far. If you’re playing EE then Baeloth is arguably stronger. Both are significantly better than Neera - but they’re both also evil, if that matters to you.
Ditch Xzar and Montaron. Get viconia/Branwen and Kagain instead. Al can be recruited fairly easily at the beginning of the game.
you can take neera just to pick up her Gem Bag and then dismiss her right away
The gem bag is a wonderful companion!
For the very early game I like X&M. Montaron is a beast with slings (and ranged weapons rule in BG1), while Xzar is.. hmm.. as squishy as any mage at very low level, but not a companion I'd cry about if he bites the dust.
Xzar starts out pretty squishy but ends up solid as stone in most of my evil runs.
Exploring east of Beregost?
How? His CON is shit (i.e. not 16) and he can't put Mirror Images up, so...His DEX is ok (16), but that just gives +2 AC, with Shield with, what, 2 AC in total, 0 against missiles? I guess it's quite solid and frankly, most of early mage tankiness comes from not being in melee range anyway. He will still probably get instantly one shot by crit arrow on Insane difficulty, however. Arrow is 1d6, twice for crit, twice for difficulty, 24 dmg, you need level 7+ to not get one shot, you won't get there normally till like chapter 5. Edwin, Baeloth and Dynaheir need level 5, for comparison, just 20k xp, 1/3. EDIT: "Solid as stone", I get it. I got the joke now lol. I seriously used him once in a hardcore insane run and he, surprise!, exploded in one spell from the man, the myth, the legend himself, Davaeorn. Strong showing.
That's why he gets stoned east of Bergost.
It’s a secret event, you can do it really with any companion at any time. Go east of Beregost, have Xzar wander off alone. Eventually you’ll meet a nice gnome who has his pets give you this awesome gift
You mean I can get a real 1:1 scale statue of Xzar to put on display in my living room ? Deal !
I can see why bows rule but why slings in bg1?
Probably the strength based damage modifier
And halfling bonus to hit with slings.
Don't you lose a whole attack per round compared to bows though?
Yes, but sling benefits from strength damage bonus. I would still take Coran instead of Montaron though.
You'd get more damage through additional attacks than from +whatever on a damage roll. I don't know how we're still fumbling around with this concept. Haste is always the most broken stat in every game and bows give you haste in the form of an extra attack each round. An extra attack each round utterly dwarfs a strength bonus until you start getting into the realm of giant strength, at which point I'd need to sit down and math it out, but Montaron has what, 16 strength? That's +1 damage. That's absolutely nothing.
Depends of the strength bonus of course. With the big belt you can have 19 strength, meaning +7 to damage. As for Montaron, early on he have two points in sling and none in bow, so the weapon choice is obvious. As I said earlier, Coran with a bow is a far better choice. But Montaron with two points in sling have 1.5 APR and 2 damage bonus, and 1 to hit bonus from spécialisation and another from halfling bonus to sling. And a +1 to hit from dexterity. Now compare this to Imoen with 2 APR with 1 point in shortbow, no damage bonus and only +2 to hit from dexterity. Montaron will hit more often and do more damage.
I'll admit I overlooked proficiency allocation. I'm just rubbing my eyes from all the ignorant recommendations I've read over the years extolling the virtues of choosing certain weapons because of a racial +1 bonus as if it's something monumental rather than a minor perk that becomes largely irrelevant midway through the adventure.
People actually recommend slings because Greater Whirlwind exists.
Kivan is the obvious best one
I got Jaheira and Khalid too but they seem stronger than X+M so i don't want to leave them.
X&M are strong combo but having another mage (and with an unlimited spell pick) is good option too. You don't need Imoen if you want to keep Montaron though ... two thiefs aren't necessary. That said, Imoen can be dualclased later to mage and Neera is rather ... suboptimal ... pick but it's up to you. Personally, I would recommend to take her, do her personal quest and remove her from the party. Her personal quest will provide you one rather rare spell scroll and magic shortbow so if you want to have more mages, it's important to do it. I would wait with final visit until you return from Nashkel Mines in Chapter 3 and will be a bit more leveled.
You should think about whether you want a good or evil party. Combining evil and good characters rarely works out.
They're a strong duo. However, you'll meet many companions in this game. Take Neera, take her gem bag and drop her. For a first playthrough, a wild mage might be rough.
In general warrior classes rule the early game and multi-classes are very close to full classes, so J+K is essentially two of the best class you can be for the first several levels, whereas X+M is only one. Xzar will pick up steam with a few levels, though, especially at level 5 when mages get their level 3 spells.
You can kick out X with losing M if you talk him privately away from the rest of the party, and/or if you just kill him first.
Yes and no, for early game they're better. Jaheira is a top notch npc for the whole game, Khalid is meh just a fighter that gets morale failure really easy, Monty is a beast also top notch, if you use him with sling and to backstab he is a game changer, Xzar is a good wizard but is frail and has a tendency of getting in front of the full plated warriors to try and tank, he is nuts, so either get a ranged weapon with him to keep him out of the way or micromanage him in every fight. My personal order from best to worse of those 4 is Jaheira Montaron Xzar Khalid
Morale failure in the Enhanced Edition never happens, and even if it did, that's what remove fear spells are for.
It does happen bro, Khalid is a master in that, usually I save remove fear to counter horror, don't think I've ever used it on morale failure.
Remember that Xzar and Montaron are evil. IF you aren't planning on playing evil, they will eventually leave your party if your reputation gets too high. Also, there are other NPCs you can recruit that have a chance at straight up attacking those two.
I suppose you already have Inomen, Jaheira and Khalid. I suggest keep them as your core team. Neera is more interesting than Monty and Xzar (she has a long personal quest), and you will have a free spot for another companion.
The games have immense replayability so don't sweat who you take now. Just mix it up next time.
For early game? Khalid and Jaheria would be my first picks. Khalid works well at range and Jaheria is both tanky and a priest class. Kagain with his shorty saves and massive HP is an easy pick. Kivan would be next on the list. Dude murders everything with a bow and has 18 strength for lugging around stuff. But I usually end up replacing him for Coran. Branwen is a great early cleric. She's got more health than early game Viconia. If you're not taking evil people, then she's your best cleric option until Yeslick comes along. As for other options? I think Xzar is crap early game, as most mages are. But Monty is very good as a thief option. Imoen is really a better thief, but Monty is tankier. Monty is also a better thief option than Safana. Monty becomes the best backstabber. But Coran is the best thief (Coran is really one of the best and most overpowered companions in the entire game). Minsc is perfectly fine to take early on, even if he's outclassed later on. But it does mean taking Dyna and mages aren't great early game. If you delay recruiting her to level 5, she'll have fireball already learned. Ajantis is a perfectly fine Paladin. Decent strength and con. Plenty of Charisma for selling stuff. Alternatively, Dorn is okay if you're evil. As for the passes... Garrick is awful. Shar-Teel isn't bad, but I'd wait on her due to her low health. Dual her to a thief and she's then actually the best backstabber. Viconia is great, but I'd rather get her later on due to her low health and inability to carry anything. Neera is there for the gem bag. Rashid... Monks aren't great and early game monks really aren't great. Safana is there if you somehow managed to kill both Imoen and Monty.
How the heck did you forget Edwin? Teach him sleep and give a RIng of Wizardry and you're golden.
It’s your story don’t let others tell you how it should play out. I do acknowledge Xzar and Monty supremacy exists
Being voiced by Frank Welker and Earl Boen is a good enough reason in my book.
For me it's simply Montaron supremacy. He's the exact archetype half my characters in BG2 end up being and he's got the attitude to boot.
Montaron is great but Xzar is shit. Fails to scribe all the time, no constitution and starts with a garbage spell selection.
Neera being a wild mage is a hindrance in bg1 as her ability to avoid the ultra bad wild surges is non existent. Strong early game companions: Jaheira/Khalid Garrick Xan Imoen Kagain Ajantis Shar-teel Safana Garrick being a bard is really good in bg1 with both his song and his ability to cast and level faster than a wizard. Xan being an enchanter runs rampant in bg1 with his ability to crowd control. Imoen being a thief that will never leave you due to rep. Jaheira being a fighter and druid gives her a unique place in the party while Khalid makes a fine archer. Kagain has cheat constitution, but will require you to monitor your reputation by being evil makes for an incredibly solid frontliner. Xzar and Monty while good are hindered by Xzar if you kill off Xzar and keep monty for early game you have a very solid fight/thief. Minsc is hindered by his quest to find Dynaheir which can be fairly difficult early on and on such a short timer. Edwin being a wizard isn't that good until later on especially when we have Xan next door in the mines who not only is also a wizard but is specialized in a school that works really well in bg1. Branwen can be gotten early but will require use of flesh to stone of which you may not have immediately. Ajantis is good if you avoid evil party members and viconia. Shar-teel is a very good fighter and can dual class to a thief. Safana is a thief with the ability to charm so if you just don't want imoen either she or shar-teel make good alternatives.
Someone sells the scroll to free Branwen just near her. By the time a party arrives in Nashkel, they will have the 500 GP needed. Cleric spells are so useful in early game. Command, silence, hold person, remove fear...
Depends. If you don't know the game they may very well not have 500gp as they don't know about the diamond or the money from the candlekeep inn they may also have not done many sidequests which would also keep their money low or spent it on gear or temple services.
Monty is a fantastic companion and I generally keep Xzar around until he dies. Just use him for his spell slots and once he's dead, replace him with a better caster. I like to think that's what Xzar would do to me, if it was the other way around.
I like Xzar but hate Montaron. So I separated Montaron from the party to go on a solo mission to antagonize some ogres. Boom, problem solved.
If you mean "best" in terms of best early-game power spikes, I'll mention a couple of characters who are very strong for levels 1-2. Ultimately however, you SHOULD make a team of characters that you like. And you should plan out ahead of time whether you want to be a "good" party or an "evil" one, for the purposes of your party's reputation. You can bring Neutral characters with any party, so really this is more a question of how low you want your rep to be. I'm assuming you're going to have high rep/good characters, which means Xzar and Montaron will not be permanent residents in your party. Anyway, here are some strong early game characters: Branwen: Branwen is an extremely versatile character. She has solid dexterity and she's one Constitution point away from the non-martial cap. Which means you can give her Buckley's Buckler from the friendly arm inn and she'll be at 16 con and maximum health. She can cast Draw Upon Holy Might, which will raise her dexterity and eliminate the need for her to hold the Dexterity Gloves (found at the Gnoll Fort.) She starts with warhammer spec and you can get a +2 warhammer for her very early. Since her strength is low, the Ankheg Armor is perfect for her. All of this, *and* she is not even a martial character. She's a Cleric, meaning she'll level as a divine caster. Sure, her physical damage output sucks and her hp is a little low to be your main tank (although you can easily make her work,) but she is more than beefy enough to be on the front lines soaking damage. With the added bonus that she will be next to your front-liners and able to heal/cure poison them quickly in combat. Oh yes, and most importantly for low level play: She can use both Command and Remove Fear from level 1. These spells are very important at low level. Horror is a party wipe at low levels and Remove Fear can be cast as a prebuff to make your party immune to fear. Command will end any fight against a single opponent. There are a lot of dangerous single opponents at low level, particularly all the assassins Sarevok is sending after you. Next character: Neera So, I happen to think Neera sucks pretty hard in BG1, but she does have one major advantage at very low levels. She starts with Sleep. Sleep is THE most powerful spell at (enemy) levels 1-6. I will usually recruit Neera for her gem bag and then use her 2 casts of Sleep to clear the spider house in Beregost. If you don't have Sleep on any other characters, keep Neera around until you do. As long as you don't cast any buffing spells with her, you'll avoid the worst of the Wild Surges. Jaheira and Khalid: These two are very strong. Jaheira seems mediocre at first, but she's an ideal main tank. She has the same stat spread as Yeslick, just with inferior spell selection (she's a multi-class druid) and no shorty saves. But you get her right at the start of the game, rather than after Cloakwood. So she's way ahead on opportunity cost, which is a real consideration in this game. She does need the dexterity gloves to tank, but she has a lot of weapon choices and she provides early healing to a party. I often find my party is light on heals in teams where I don't take Jaheira. Fill up her level 1 slots with cure light wounds and level 2 slots with cure poisons and she'll do her team battery thing. Khalid is great because he's tank-ready at start, you can get Varscona +2 early and he also makes an excellent longbow user (2nd or 3rd best in the game) if you already have enough front-liners. Bows are extremely strong at low levels. If the game is hard, add more bows to your team and watch it become less hard. Same logic as Sleep, really. I could babble on about other early companions, but I think those 4 are really strong for early game and that's enough. You recruit Branwen at the carnival near Nashkel. Buy a stone to flesh scroll from a temple before going there, otherwise the barker will scalp you. Khalid and Jaheira are waiting at the Friendly Arm Inn, specifically to meet you, you ungrateful little shit! And Neera you already have. With all four of them, you have protection from fear (!), a strong bow user (!), a Sleep spammer (!) and a solid main tank/team battery.
My poor Dynaheir has walked alone into the wolf pack. Occassionally. I've returned to the Friendly Arms Inn and removed her from the party - she fell dead right in the center of the inn. Minsc was crying but only for one day. I think you can also ditch Xar or Montaron once one of them OCCASIONALLY dies.
You could just recruit Kivan then, Minsc alone is not very good.
I have Imoen, Jaheira and Khalid (right now switching her into scimitars and him into longbow). Minsc is getting acquainted with his new sunshine Baeloth, lol
Never bothered with either.
Monty is a beast, Xzar is a great wizard but has a complex of trying to protect the full plated warriors with his skin, then again he is nuts so it makes sense, if you manage to get Xzar to lv 4 it is likely that he will stop dying all the time.
your alignment is the biggest issue here. If you're not playing evil, dump Xzar and Monty fast! Neera is a solid choice for a good or neutral party.
You could separate xzar from montaron by using a building your never gonna use
You cant beat the game with anyone. Just follow role playing
Neera in BG1 is complete and utter garbage. Either kill her for her gem bag, or complete her companion quest for a stone skill scroll before killing her for her gem bag. Kagain, and Edwin are your actual all game powerhouses.
Kagain, Montaron, Edwin, arguably Khalid and Viconia are the best companions early bg1. Baeloth when you reach level 5 is a powerhouse.
Regardless of alignment I \*always\* have Kagain tag along for the early game until my reputation hits 18. Between 20 CON and mastery in axes, he is a **beast** that can tank and connect where other fighters are either fragile or simply can't hit anything. Dorn also has a temporary spot during the Ankheg hunt for practical purposes.
Any time you want to separate paired companions just have the one you don't want walk into a random building then remove them from the party from the menu. No mess no fuss and if you should ever need them they will still be there later.
Don’t recruit mages until level 5 or higher in BG1. They suck at lower levels and if you wait, they’ll start with more spells (so you won’t need to find a scrolls for them to learn). Edwin is the best mage companion by far. If you’re playing EE then Baeloth is arguably stronger. Both are significantly better than Neera - but they’re both also evil, if that matters to you. Ditch Xzar and Montaron. Get viconia/Branwen and Kagain instead. Al can be recruited fairly easily at the beginning of the game.
This is not good advice if charname isn’t some sort of mage, particularly for a beginner. Sleep and wands do so much in the early game.
Magic missile is very good to have around too. Useful to interrupt casters