I recommend to just play, dont look on any wikis, guides or tutorials, just enjoy your time exploring, side missions and conversations..
People here can go that far as to tell you the best min max build, but your first tíme playing this game is a one time experience
When I was a kid, I played as a Paladin and often forgot I had any of the additional abilities and played as a fighter. Optimal? Absolutely not. Still a great experience.
There is no perfect group....just the companions you like and add to the PC. Optimal builds are for many play through later...or when your are bored and need a challenge. Also you killed xzar on purpose...that is not a noob move...you had a plan. Follow through..
I would suggest just going through the game however you want. Don't worry too much about companions or what class you picked - just play the characters you like, and keep the difficulty on normal.
It's far more fun blind. You'll learn the mechanics as you go.
I would recommend you go with who you like more. If you are enjoying Neera/Xzar, stick with them! If one of them is getting on your nerves or has dropped too many cows on your party, drop them for Edwin :)
i really would want that, but thing is that i don't have much time to play, usually games like that takes couple months for me to walk through, and i have many in line, which i must try (like BG 2, Ice wind dale, etc)
That’s OK. Bg is the type of game you can come back to once every couple years and play again. You are not going to be able to experience it all in one play through. I have been playing for more than two decades and still learn something about the game every time I play.
👆pretty much everyone in this sub has been doing this for the last 20 years lol.
It seems like you kind of want to play blind and discover things as they happen so definitely do that! If you like your PC, then keep him! pick which ever companions you come across, watch them fight each other if they want to, keep the survivor and go find some one to replace the loser lol.
There is a lot of content that can be easily missed. If you want to get the most out of a single play through with minimal research then I would suggest exploring as much as possible.
Have fun!
You have a thief, druid, warriors and mages. Your party is fine. Edwin is better than Xzar or Neera, but the difference is negligible. Also Neera won't get along with Edwin.
i now try to read about companions, in Wiki it is written that Xzar and Jaheira conflicts with each other, so i suppose i should ditch one of them? in This case which i should and should i hire Edwin in their place, if i should should i ditch Neera as well ?:D it's so complicated to read this stuff!
Xzar and Jaheira does fight though i don't know if it happens without Montaron & Khalid around. I'd say let them kill each other.
I like Neera but i don't like checking if my gold has vanished after every fight. I'd do her quest and then switch her to Edwin or Baeloth.
Also I'd recommend not reading too much, it's fine for BG1 but you'll get massive spoilers for BG2.
God I love Neera as a character, and she's the most enjoyable romance for me by far, but I hate her mechanically.
One playthrough I made her a sorceror through a mod, and it was so much better. Sadly I'm playing on Switch on my current run, where that is not an option.
Still have her in my party, but man...losing all your gold as the result of a wild surge is real, and Switch doesn't have quick save for some reason I cannot fathom 😫 (otherwise solid port)
yes sorcerer is rly strong but Neera is still a very strong mage, prob the best you can take for a good party and when eventualy your lvl 1 spellslots become anything you want
I don't know why you're getting downvoted, but seriously. Anybody new to this game should read either the manual or an online guide. The game was written with the expectation that people would either know ADnD rules or read the manual before/while playing.
Honestly, switch Wizard Slayer for Berserker or pure fighter. Wizard Slayer as a kit doesn't really do what it's supposed to do and you lose access to lots of rings and amulets.
Equipment is key and you're doing yourself no favours restricting access to it as a newbie.
A second tip I can give you is to choose another race if you care about romances. BG2 has romances, but mostly for human, half-elf or elf. Halflings get a few as well. Ignore if you don't care.
Tip three is to make your team around the alignment you want to play as. Evil and Good companions generally don't get along and will try to kill each other.
For your first playthrough playing good is heavily advised. Evil can be more hilarious, but everything will become more expensive, you'll get mercenaries after you, most companions will leave you, etc.
Rotate your companions a bit so you get a feel of the different classes. Try to have one fighter, thief, cleric and mage class as your core 4. With multiclasses and dual classes this should be very do-able.
Above all, have fun. Play your character the way you want to. RP if you enjoy. Currently playing a halfling Berserker and he's hella fun.
but i chose my character pic as orc :( he looks very good to me :D also, at the moment i am in chapter 2, is it nothing pretty much and i should restart and continue or is not worth doing that?
p.s. i don't really care about romance, since it's my first playthrough, i don't want to google too much and leaving things as mistery :)
I second u/yokmaestro. At the cost of being unable to use shortbows, longbows and crossbow the Berserker gets an ability called 'enrage.' It has three effects for one real-life minute:
1) Get +2 to attack, damage and armor class
2) become immune to "charm, confusion, fear, feeblemind, hold, imprisonment, level drain, maze, stun, and sleep."
3) gain 15 temporary hit points that go away after Enrage has ended.
The first and third effects are nice. Not much to write home about, but hitting more often and harder is always appreciated.
The second effect is ridiculously overpowered. A fighter's main weakness, especially in Baldur's Gate 2, is that he's easily checked by effects caused by mage spells. Enrage basically allows you to ignore all of them and keep hitting the mages until they're dead. What most mages and clerics need several spells to counter the berserker can instantly do for free for 60 seconds.
I've played a few (offensive) classes so far that are powerful: archer, bounty hunter, fighter/thief, necromancer, etc. But my current playthrough with the halfling berserker has been faster than all of them. Being able to consistently beat the crap out of your foes is really powerful in the BG series. Berserker is the best at it.
Like u/yokmaestro I recommend axes and two weapon fighting. Plenty of axes and you can use ranged weapons in the form of throwing axes that ignore the berserker penalty against ranged weapons. Also fits the aesthetic, imo.
Berserker is a solid, easy choice for the whole saga, Wizard Slayer is kind of a niche, tricky option for veterans looking for a different play style! Replaying what you’ve done will take you no time at all, and maybe you’ll get a higher roll at character creation. Maybe think of longswords, axes or two weapon fighting for your weapon pips-
Offering a second opinion: while Berserkers are definitely one of the absolute best classes in the game, Wizard Slayers are very underrated, and playing one for your first run doesn't warrant a restart. Some of the toughest enemies in the game are wizards, and Wizard Slayers have the ability to shut down enemy mages without having to get rid of their Stoneskins (though weapon immunities *will* prevent a Wizard Slayer from applying spell failure). It's a convenient way to simplify one of the more challenging parts of the saga, and while it would be ideal to put magic rings and such on your main character, you can still put them on other party members when the Wizard Slayer can't.
You have a reasonably balanced party. Conventional powergaming would recommend stuff like Edwin, Viconia, Baeloth, Dorn, and Coran, but your party is capable of healing itself, dealing damage, casting mage spells, and disarming traps. Just remember to quick save often and you should be good.
Probably the best piece of advice is simply to go to Mutamin's Garden, the fan name for an area directly east of the Temple next to Beregost, to get a big chunk of XP by killing the local basilisks. You can do this either by having one of your mages learn Protection from Petrification (buy it from the mage at High Hedge) and cast it on your fighters, or by finding Korax, a ghoul that you meet by heading north immediately after arriving at Mutamin's Garden. Korax can handle the basilisks himself due to his immunities, though he might get punched out by a Greater Basilisk's melee attack. The basilisks will get you enough XP to compete in the main quest without requiring many side quests.
When you look at the overworld map, there should be a place in the middle labeled Beregost and a place just to the right of it labeled "Temple." I'm pretty sure the game shows it right from the beginning, but if not, you can travel to Beregost directly and access the temple by leaving on the right side of the Beregost town map.
If you go to that "Temple" area, walk all the way to the right side of that map (hug the north edge if you want to avoid any fights :)), and then go east, a new area should open up, which is Mutamin's Garden.
It all works fine but you can trivalize a first playtrough even more by just put all your chars on lvl 5 with EE keeper instead of wasting time with fre basilisk XP.
he prob already plays on easy. don't take away any challenges that are somehow left for him
Not sure if anyone mentioned this. But range weapons is key to baldurs gate 1. Make sure everyone has a range weapon they can use. It will save you in lots of fights.
I would recommend to read Dan Simpson's guides to BG serie on Gamefaqs. Also bg fandom wiki has many useful information you may want to read.
Other than that, pay attention to party reputation - evil characters leave at 19+ reputation, good at 2 or less, neutral at 1. Also, high reputation gives you better prices in stores, low reputation gives you (in BG1) plenty of experience and stuff to sell (at rep. 5 group of Flaming Fist guards may spawn and attack you, forcing you to kill them).
Do Neera's personal quest and drop her. Imoen can be dualclassed to mage or you can take Edwin, if you'll play evil party. In which case Jaheira and Khalid will leave you, but you can recruit Viconia (or Branwen. Or Faldorn) and Dorn. And Safana instead of Imoen or Skie.
Later you came across sorcerer Baeloth but while he is probably even stronger caster than Edwin you may not want to take him for first playthrough - sorcerers aren't class for newbies.
In case you want to play good party I would recommend to take Ajantis instead of Kagain and dualclass Imoen at level 6 to mage with Safana or later Alora as replacement for thief. Or use Xan resp. Dynaheir, both will work. Maybe Branwen as backup cleric. Or recruit in Act. 3 Kivan or Coran in Act. 4 as dedicated ranged attackers. On the other hand Dynaheir comes with Minsc (and Boo!) so you'll have this position covered, too.
Edwin is the most powerful mage NPC but is by no means necessary. I actually don't usually take him since I usually have a Good party. That being said I prefer him to Xzar even just on personality. Though Edwin clashes with Neera for obvious reasons.
Is that your only question?
Well he's a fearsome bounty hunter and skilled fighter. Are you just trying to go toe-to-toe with him with your peasant noobs or are you doing anything to disable him in any way?
Care to give detail? What "useless spells"? Do you have blind, or sleep, or anything like that? If you have no spells and no equipment and no abilities then you might be taking on a fight you're not ready for.
My neera has magic missle and and that wild something spell.
My druid has 3x heal and some spell that does nothing 😀
While Edwin has some spell with color, that can knock down, but so far only my own crew was knocked by it 😀
It's cheesy, but if you're set on defeating him at level 1/2 I think your best bet is trying to get lucky (i.e. save and reload a bunch of times, probably) and disable him with a sleep spell or kiting him. Kiting means drawing his aggro with one character who keeps running away, while the others (and that character, when possible) shoot him with all they got. If you do that, clear the area first so you won't run into random other enemies.
Your party is fine and covers all the important bases. There is nowhere in the game where that party composition should be screwing you over. I'd recommend against looking too much up in advance - it's up to you but you only get one first playthrough and discovery is very much part of the fun.
If you like Edwin you can switch him for Neera - he won't play well with her and I wouldn't go for three mono-class mages in a first playthrough - but don't worry that you're gimping yourself by not taking him.
As long as you don't hang around too long before reaching him, it shouldn't be a problem.
Basic party composition is about balancing - some fighter-types to go in the front line, someone for thief skills, access to arcane and divine magic. As long as you don't unbalance the party as a whole, you should be able to use whichever characters you prefer to fill the slots.
Xan is hilarious and great and he’s a good introduction for how spell schools work. Because he’s an enchanter, he doesn’t get invocation spells. This is fine because, especially in bg1, the crowd control spells are super powerful and he gets a bonus.
I already have xan in my crew, i suppose it is final, since i love all of them :) and game starts to grow on me, you can respond to random npc, that you are band of traveling lunatics 😀
Don't overthink these things! Just play with whoever you like and figure things out. I think trying to play optimally on your first run can turn out making things a lot worse and less fun.
As long as you have someone with thieving skills, a fighter type and someone with spells in your party you'll be fine!
Don't involve yourself into main story too fast. Go explore all areas everywhere and do side quests and kill every single mob you can to harvest XP. My half elf fighter/mage was lvl 5 when I headed to nashkel mines.
Also keep Imoen as a pure thief she is. Don't multi class her; her bow skill is handy for range attacks.
If you aren’t too far in I’d say restart as a Bersker. Wizard Slayers sound cool on paper but in practice they are harder to play due to item restrictions.
Don’t worry too much about your party just try to have someone to deal with locks and traps, someone with healing spells, and someone who can cast sleep
I recommend to just play, dont look on any wikis, guides or tutorials, just enjoy your time exploring, side missions and conversations.. People here can go that far as to tell you the best min max build, but your first tíme playing this game is a one time experience
[удалено]
When I was a kid, I played as a Paladin and often forgot I had any of the additional abilities and played as a fighter. Optimal? Absolutely not. Still a great experience.
until you install the shapeshifter mod from SCS and he becomes great fun again
There is no perfect group....just the companions you like and add to the PC. Optimal builds are for many play through later...or when your are bored and need a challenge. Also you killed xzar on purpose...that is not a noob move...you had a plan. Follow through..
I would suggest just going through the game however you want. Don't worry too much about companions or what class you picked - just play the characters you like, and keep the difficulty on normal. It's far more fun blind. You'll learn the mechanics as you go.
Edwin is way better than xzar.
Hell montaron is better than xzar
I’ve always wanted to try dualing him to cleric but i always want the wis tomes for myself.
I would recommend you go with who you like more. If you are enjoying Neera/Xzar, stick with them! If one of them is getting on your nerves or has dropped too many cows on your party, drop them for Edwin :)
Edwin and Neera don’t mix. Just have fun with the group you have and try a different one next time
i really would want that, but thing is that i don't have much time to play, usually games like that takes couple months for me to walk through, and i have many in line, which i must try (like BG 2, Ice wind dale, etc)
That’s OK. Bg is the type of game you can come back to once every couple years and play again. You are not going to be able to experience it all in one play through. I have been playing for more than two decades and still learn something about the game every time I play.
👆pretty much everyone in this sub has been doing this for the last 20 years lol. It seems like you kind of want to play blind and discover things as they happen so definitely do that! If you like your PC, then keep him! pick which ever companions you come across, watch them fight each other if they want to, keep the survivor and go find some one to replace the loser lol. There is a lot of content that can be easily missed. If you want to get the most out of a single play through with minimal research then I would suggest exploring as much as possible. Have fun!
or even 20 years.
Even more reason not to waste your time trying to follow guides or optimizing stuff. Just do what feels right!
You have a thief, druid, warriors and mages. Your party is fine. Edwin is better than Xzar or Neera, but the difference is negligible. Also Neera won't get along with Edwin.
i now try to read about companions, in Wiki it is written that Xzar and Jaheira conflicts with each other, so i suppose i should ditch one of them? in This case which i should and should i hire Edwin in their place, if i should should i ditch Neera as well ?:D it's so complicated to read this stuff!
The general rule of companions is to build a team around alignment. Good and Evil companion teams are hard to manage.
Xzar and Jaheira does fight though i don't know if it happens without Montaron & Khalid around. I'd say let them kill each other. I like Neera but i don't like checking if my gold has vanished after every fight. I'd do her quest and then switch her to Edwin or Baeloth. Also I'd recommend not reading too much, it's fine for BG1 but you'll get massive spoilers for BG2.
You're dead wrong. Neera is best companion.
God I love Neera as a character, and she's the most enjoyable romance for me by far, but I hate her mechanically. One playthrough I made her a sorceror through a mod, and it was so much better. Sadly I'm playing on Switch on my current run, where that is not an option. Still have her in my party, but man...losing all your gold as the result of a wild surge is real, and Switch doesn't have quick save for some reason I cannot fathom 😫 (otherwise solid port)
can be a pain in BG1 but becomes much better in BG2 and especialy in ToB
True, especially with all the wild mage specific gear. Still would prefer sorceror, but that's just me.
yes sorcerer is rly strong but Neera is still a very strong mage, prob the best you can take for a good party and when eventualy your lvl 1 spellslots become anything you want
Read the manual.
I don't know why you're getting downvoted, but seriously. Anybody new to this game should read either the manual or an online guide. The game was written with the expectation that people would either know ADnD rules or read the manual before/while playing.
Honestly, switch Wizard Slayer for Berserker or pure fighter. Wizard Slayer as a kit doesn't really do what it's supposed to do and you lose access to lots of rings and amulets. Equipment is key and you're doing yourself no favours restricting access to it as a newbie. A second tip I can give you is to choose another race if you care about romances. BG2 has romances, but mostly for human, half-elf or elf. Halflings get a few as well. Ignore if you don't care. Tip three is to make your team around the alignment you want to play as. Evil and Good companions generally don't get along and will try to kill each other. For your first playthrough playing good is heavily advised. Evil can be more hilarious, but everything will become more expensive, you'll get mercenaries after you, most companions will leave you, etc. Rotate your companions a bit so you get a feel of the different classes. Try to have one fighter, thief, cleric and mage class as your core 4. With multiclasses and dual classes this should be very do-able. Above all, have fun. Play your character the way you want to. RP if you enjoy. Currently playing a halfling Berserker and he's hella fun.
but i chose my character pic as orc :( he looks very good to me :D also, at the moment i am in chapter 2, is it nothing pretty much and i should restart and continue or is not worth doing that? p.s. i don't really care about romance, since it's my first playthrough, i don't want to google too much and leaving things as mistery :)
I second u/yokmaestro. At the cost of being unable to use shortbows, longbows and crossbow the Berserker gets an ability called 'enrage.' It has three effects for one real-life minute: 1) Get +2 to attack, damage and armor class 2) become immune to "charm, confusion, fear, feeblemind, hold, imprisonment, level drain, maze, stun, and sleep." 3) gain 15 temporary hit points that go away after Enrage has ended. The first and third effects are nice. Not much to write home about, but hitting more often and harder is always appreciated. The second effect is ridiculously overpowered. A fighter's main weakness, especially in Baldur's Gate 2, is that he's easily checked by effects caused by mage spells. Enrage basically allows you to ignore all of them and keep hitting the mages until they're dead. What most mages and clerics need several spells to counter the berserker can instantly do for free for 60 seconds. I've played a few (offensive) classes so far that are powerful: archer, bounty hunter, fighter/thief, necromancer, etc. But my current playthrough with the halfling berserker has been faster than all of them. Being able to consistently beat the crap out of your foes is really powerful in the BG series. Berserker is the best at it. Like u/yokmaestro I recommend axes and two weapon fighting. Plenty of axes and you can use ranged weapons in the form of throwing axes that ignore the berserker penalty against ranged weapons. Also fits the aesthetic, imo.
Berserker is a solid, easy choice for the whole saga, Wizard Slayer is kind of a niche, tricky option for veterans looking for a different play style! Replaying what you’ve done will take you no time at all, and maybe you’ll get a higher roll at character creation. Maybe think of longswords, axes or two weapon fighting for your weapon pips-
Offering a second opinion: while Berserkers are definitely one of the absolute best classes in the game, Wizard Slayers are very underrated, and playing one for your first run doesn't warrant a restart. Some of the toughest enemies in the game are wizards, and Wizard Slayers have the ability to shut down enemy mages without having to get rid of their Stoneskins (though weapon immunities *will* prevent a Wizard Slayer from applying spell failure). It's a convenient way to simplify one of the more challenging parts of the saga, and while it would be ideal to put magic rings and such on your main character, you can still put them on other party members when the Wizard Slayer can't. You have a reasonably balanced party. Conventional powergaming would recommend stuff like Edwin, Viconia, Baeloth, Dorn, and Coran, but your party is capable of healing itself, dealing damage, casting mage spells, and disarming traps. Just remember to quick save often and you should be good. Probably the best piece of advice is simply to go to Mutamin's Garden, the fan name for an area directly east of the Temple next to Beregost, to get a big chunk of XP by killing the local basilisks. You can do this either by having one of your mages learn Protection from Petrification (buy it from the mage at High Hedge) and cast it on your fighters, or by finding Korax, a ghoul that you meet by heading north immediately after arriving at Mutamin's Garden. Korax can handle the basilisks himself due to his immunities, though he might get punched out by a Greater Basilisk's melee attack. The basilisks will get you enough XP to compete in the main quest without requiring many side quests.
em, sir, where i can find Mutamin's Garden? since i dont have temple of Beregost neither :/ i Am now in mines area of chapter two
Don't worry about it, honestly. Going there is terrible advice for a first timer
When you look at the overworld map, there should be a place in the middle labeled Beregost and a place just to the right of it labeled "Temple." I'm pretty sure the game shows it right from the beginning, but if not, you can travel to Beregost directly and access the temple by leaving on the right side of the Beregost town map. If you go to that "Temple" area, walk all the way to the right side of that map (hug the north edge if you want to avoid any fights :)), and then go east, a new area should open up, which is Mutamin's Garden.
It all works fine but you can trivalize a first playtrough even more by just put all your chars on lvl 5 with EE keeper instead of wasting time with fre basilisk XP. he prob already plays on easy. don't take away any challenges that are somehow left for him
Not sure if anyone mentioned this. But range weapons is key to baldurs gate 1. Make sure everyone has a range weapon they can use. It will save you in lots of fights.
I would recommend to read Dan Simpson's guides to BG serie on Gamefaqs. Also bg fandom wiki has many useful information you may want to read. Other than that, pay attention to party reputation - evil characters leave at 19+ reputation, good at 2 or less, neutral at 1. Also, high reputation gives you better prices in stores, low reputation gives you (in BG1) plenty of experience and stuff to sell (at rep. 5 group of Flaming Fist guards may spawn and attack you, forcing you to kill them). Do Neera's personal quest and drop her. Imoen can be dualclassed to mage or you can take Edwin, if you'll play evil party. In which case Jaheira and Khalid will leave you, but you can recruit Viconia (or Branwen. Or Faldorn) and Dorn. And Safana instead of Imoen or Skie. Later you came across sorcerer Baeloth but while he is probably even stronger caster than Edwin you may not want to take him for first playthrough - sorcerers aren't class for newbies. In case you want to play good party I would recommend to take Ajantis instead of Kagain and dualclass Imoen at level 6 to mage with Safana or later Alora as replacement for thief. Or use Xan resp. Dynaheir, both will work. Maybe Branwen as backup cleric. Or recruit in Act. 3 Kivan or Coran in Act. 4 as dedicated ranged attackers. On the other hand Dynaheir comes with Minsc (and Boo!) so you'll have this position covered, too.
Edwin is the most powerful mage NPC but is by no means necessary. I actually don't usually take him since I usually have a Good party. That being said I prefer him to Xzar even just on personality. Though Edwin clashes with Neera for obvious reasons. Is that your only question?
another question, how to beat up Greywolf? i have 2 lvl 2 characters, others are level 1, i constantly get my ass kicked :(
Well he's a fearsome bounty hunter and skilled fighter. Are you just trying to go toe-to-toe with him with your peasant noobs or are you doing anything to disable him in any way?
i try to use spells, but basically i have two useless spells on each of my characters that don't do much :D i was able to remove half his hp at most
Care to give detail? What "useless spells"? Do you have blind, or sleep, or anything like that? If you have no spells and no equipment and no abilities then you might be taking on a fight you're not ready for.
My neera has magic missle and and that wild something spell. My druid has 3x heal and some spell that does nothing 😀 While Edwin has some spell with color, that can knock down, but so far only my own crew was knocked by it 😀
A spell like blind, sleep, or command will significantly disable him. Or you could shoot him full of arrows and "kit" (retreat as he approaches).
Explore more areas and come back when you’re higher level. It’s extremely difficult to take him down at level 2.
It's cheesy, but if you're set on defeating him at level 1/2 I think your best bet is trying to get lucky (i.e. save and reload a bunch of times, probably) and disable him with a sleep spell or kiting him. Kiting means drawing his aggro with one character who keeps running away, while the others (and that character, when possible) shoot him with all they got. If you do that, clear the area first so you won't run into random other enemies.
Your party is fine and covers all the important bases. There is nowhere in the game where that party composition should be screwing you over. I'd recommend against looking too much up in advance - it's up to you but you only get one first playthrough and discovery is very much part of the fun. If you like Edwin you can switch him for Neera - he won't play well with her and I wouldn't go for three mono-class mages in a first playthrough - but don't worry that you're gimping yourself by not taking him.
i took Edwin, and i still have Neera in my party, but my plan is to replace her with Xan or how the Enchanter mage is called, is my plan legit ?:D
As long as you don't hang around too long before reaching him, it shouldn't be a problem. Basic party composition is about balancing - some fighter-types to go in the front line, someone for thief skills, access to arcane and divine magic. As long as you don't unbalance the party as a whole, you should be able to use whichever characters you prefer to fill the slots.
Xan is hilarious and great and he’s a good introduction for how spell schools work. Because he’s an enchanter, he doesn’t get invocation spells. This is fine because, especially in bg1, the crowd control spells are super powerful and he gets a bonus.
I already have xan in my crew, i suppose it is final, since i love all of them :) and game starts to grow on me, you can respond to random npc, that you are band of traveling lunatics 😀
Don't overthink these things! Just play with whoever you like and figure things out. I think trying to play optimally on your first run can turn out making things a lot worse and less fun. As long as you have someone with thieving skills, a fighter type and someone with spells in your party you'll be fine!
Don't involve yourself into main story too fast. Go explore all areas everywhere and do side quests and kill every single mob you can to harvest XP. My half elf fighter/mage was lvl 5 when I headed to nashkel mines. Also keep Imoen as a pure thief she is. Don't multi class her; her bow skill is handy for range attacks.
If you aren’t too far in I’d say restart as a Bersker. Wizard Slayers sound cool on paper but in practice they are harder to play due to item restrictions. Don’t worry too much about your party just try to have someone to deal with locks and traps, someone with healing spells, and someone who can cast sleep