NPCs Q. Where Are the NPCs? How do I Get Them?
To acquire
Imoen,
Minsc, and
Jaheira, just sit through the movie sequence in the beginning of the game. Imoen will release you from your cage, and to the North Jahiera and Minsc are also being held. The key to Jaheira's cage is to the room that Imoen came from (The one with the Golem). The key will be in there. Meanwhile, Minsc's cage has been forged closed, you you must "insult" him into overpowering the bars. Just don't get carried away.
Yoshimo is being held in the lower layers of Irenecus' layer. When you step through the portal the first time, he will automatically encounter your party.
Aerie is in Waukeens Promenade, the Athkatlian district you are in as soon as you leave Irenecus' layer. Find the circus tent with the guard outside, convince him to let you in, and procede until you meet with an Ogre in the tent.
You can find
Korgan,
Nalia, and
Anomen in the Slums district, in a building called The Copper Coronet. Nalia and Korgan will have quests that you will have to address up-front to get them to stay in your party, while Anomen's quest will occur later on.
Viconia DeVir and
Jan Jansen can both can be found in the Government district. Both of these charactors have quests that will have to be completed up front (Especially in Viconia's case) before they will join with you. Following that, Jan has a larger quest.
Follwing the quest given to you by the Temple of Helm in the Temple district, you will meet up with the paladin [U]Keldorn Firecam[U/] in the sewers. Take care of the Unseeing Eye quest, and he will accept your invite into the party. If you decide to delay his joining with you, he will be in the Radiant Heart afterwards.
To get
Haer Dalis', go to the Playhouse in the Bridge district. Go downstairs and witness a would-be play in action. Following the actress' request for a group of adventurers, procede to the backstage for information on the bard. He can be found in Mekrath's Tower, and will join you after you kill Mekrath.
Edwin Odesseiron, the red mage from BG1, will join with your party after you've initiated in dialog with Mea'Var in his giuld in the Docks district and perform a series of quests.
Mazzy Fentan,
Cernd, and
Valygar Corthala are more difficult to find. Mazzy is being held hostage in the Shadow Temple Ruins. Cernd is in Mayor Logan's dungeon in Trademeet. Valygar is hiding in his home in the Umar Hills.
By the time you find the above three NPCs, you will probably have already gotten your party formed and trained. If you're interested in any of them, you'd probably do best to hunt them down early in Chapter 2 before waiting until you encounter them during your free time.
Random Questions and Buggy Things Q. Who is Malchor Harpell? Why does he follow me, and why can't I kill him?
A. Harpell is one of those cheese charactors in the game. If you decided to slay Drizzt the Drow after you left the Elf camp outside the Underdark, Harpell will come to you and take Drizzt's stuff off your hands. However, should you have spawned Drizzt's weapons into your inventory at some point during the game, Harpell will always follow you, saying nothing and being immortal. THe only way to get rid of him (that I'm aware of) is to drop Drizzt's belongings and move on.
Q. How do you make Dog Stew? Why and how do you use it?
A. Dog Stew is one of those stupid little ways to avoid a tough fight early in the game. Nalia's "cellar" (dungeon) is home to a few Umberhulk. Instead of fighting them, go up to the roof (You have to, anyway) and kill the four guard dogs for their meat. Run back downstairs to the kitchen area and boil the meat into a dog stew at the stove.
Back in the dungeon send your invisible or sneaking charactor with the dog stew ahead into the room of umberhulks and down the first hallway to the South. You'll reach a pit at the end, where your charactor will quickly dump the dog stew and run for his or her dear life. Return to the party and seal the gated doors for an XP boost.
(I'm still working on this.
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