It's tempting to keep your party of adventurers intact when traveling into the new Throne of Bhaal areas. After all, it's difficult to conceive of abandoning Minsc and his miniature giant space hamster behind when they've been your loyal companions since your party began its adventures through the Sword Coast of Faerun. But it's not always prudent to value historical companionship over immediate needs. A party of characters that was effective in Baldur's Gate II may not be as adept in Throne of Bhaal because of the different nature of the challenges you'll face in the new expansion. You must choose your companions wisely to survive the toughest battles in the expansion. First, however, you have an even more rudimentary decision to make...

Preparing the Main Character

Since you've already played Shadows of Amn, your main character should already be ready to go. You're definitely better off continuing or importing a Baldur's Gate II saved game than starting a new game for the expansion pack, since you'll start off with better equipment and have a more experienced party. While your party will come equipped with some powerful magic items even if you start a new game for the expansion pack areas (as detailed further along in this guide), you won't have access to some of the best items in the game, such as the Carsomyr holy avenger sword, and you can't romance your companions. In Baldur's Gate II, it was possible for your character to become amorous with Jaheira, Viconia, Aerie, or Anomen, and you can only advance relationships that you sparked in the original game. If you didn't get to first base in the original game, you're going to be a lonely demigod through the expansion pack.

For those reasons, most players should continue the adventures of the characters they previously generated for Shadows of Amn or the original Baldur's Gate. However, if you were disappointed with your character or would like to try a character of the opposite alignment, or you just no longer have access to your saved games, you should consider the information in the following sections.

Starting Magic Items

All new characters start out with some formidable magic equipment, but the exact equipment a character receives depends upon character class and whether or not you imported one of the four pre-generated expansion pack characters (a generic fighter, mage, cleric, or thief are available). The following chart details the magic items that will be available to new characters:

Available to these Character Classes:	Name or Type of Magic Item (full descriptions of each magic item are given in the magic item section of this guide)
Druid	Aeger's hide +3
Cleric, fighter, barbarian, paladin	Darkmail +3
Bard	Elven chain mail
Thief, ranger	The night's gift +5
Thief, druid, mage, sorcerer, bard	Shield of harmony +2
Cleric, fighter, barbarian, thief, paladin, druid, bard	Shield of the lost +2
Cleric, fighter, barbarian, ranger, paladin	Helm of Balduran
All	40 to 80 arrows +2
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, paladin, cleric, druid, ranger, monk	Arbane's sword +2
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, thief, paladin, cleric, druid, bard, monk	Battle axe +3, stonefire
All	Blade of searing +3
All	40 bolts +2
All	40 to 120 bullets +2
All	Club +2, gnasher
Thief, bard	Cutthroat +4
Cleric, fighter, mage, thief (only the pre-generated characters, not new ones)	40 darts +1
Mage, sorcerer	Darts of wounding
Thief, bard	Fire tooth +3 (dagger)
All	Flail of ages +3
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, thief, paladin, cleric, druid, bard, monk	Halberd +3: Dragon's Bane
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, paladin, cleric, druid, mage, sorcerer, monk	Hammer of thunderbolts +3
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, thief, paladin, cleric, druid, mage, sorcerer, monk	Katana +2: Malakar
All	Light crossbow +2
All	Long sword +2: Varscona
Fighter, barbarian	Mace +3: Skullcrusher
Paladin, cleric	Mauler's arm +2
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, thief, paladin, cleric, druid, bard, monk	Martial staff +3
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, thief, paladin, druid, bard, monk	Ripper +2 (longbow)
All	Scimitar of speed +2: Belm
All	Short bow +2
Paladin, cleric	Sling of seeking +2
Mage, sorcerer, fighter, barbarian, thief	Sling +3: Arla's Dragonbane
All	Spear +3: Impaler
Mage, sorcerer	Staff of Rynn +4
All	Two-handed sword +3: Harbinger
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, thief, druid, bard, monk	Amulet of 5 percent magic resistance
Paladin, cleric	Kaligun's amulet of magic resistance
All	Amulet of Seldarine
All	Bag of holding
Mage, sorcerer, bard	Belt of inertial barrier
Ranger, fighter, barbarian, thief, paladin, druid mage, sorcerer	Black spider figurine
Cleric, fighter, barbarian, mage, sorcerer, ranger, paladin, druid, bard, monk	Boots of speed
Thief	Boots of stealth
Fighter, barbarian, thief, ranger, bard	Bracers of blinding strike
Mage, sorcerer	Bracers of defense, armor class 3
Druid	Bracers of defense, armor class 4
All	Cloak of protection +2: The Spirit's Shield
Cleric, paladin	Gauntlets of weapon expertise
Cleric, fighter, barbarian, thief, ranger, paladin, druid, monk	Girdle of hill giant strength
Thief, druid, bard	Golden lion figurine
Bard	Harp of discord
Druid, monk	Ioun stone (Dusty Rose)
Mage, sorcerer	Ring of acuity
Mage, thief, bard	Ring of danger sense
Monk	Ring of earth control
All	Ring of invisibility
Thief, mage, sorcerer, bard	Ring of lock picks
All	Ring of protection +1: Ring of the Princes
Cleric, fighter, barbarian, ranger, paladin, druid	Ring of regeneration
Bard	Ring of spell turning
All	Silver horn of Valhalla
All	Five potions of extra healing
All	Two potions of frost giant strength
All	Five oil of speed
Cleric, fighter, mage, thief (only the pre-generated characters, not new ones)	Mage scrolls of haste, flame arrow, stoneskin, ghost armor, shadow door, chain lightning, breach

The amount of gold a new character starts the expansion pack with also varies, but that shouldn't influence your decision, since you can sell the magic weapons and other items that you don't need to get quite a cache to start adventuring. Full descriptions of each magic item in the expansion pack are given in the magic item section of this guide.
 

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