Well, Unlike Robert bartelt I feel that mages are the best choice for a
Character. Imoen,The Thief that joins you at the very beginning, is a
excellent bow shot. Going to the bottom of the first screen you start on
( not candlekeep) you find the evil guys that protect you even more and
you don't have to go to Naskel at all, you just have to agree so they
will join. Take the spell blindness and you can beat any human mages and fighters because they can't see you, and take Larloch's minor drain to give you a ranged attack that additionally gives you more hit points
temporarily and leaves you back at full if you were hurt before you cast
it. I never used a healing potion and I now have a much more well
rounded party. The first magical weapons you receive is a
Quarterstaff(mage) and you have 4 fighter/thief types to do the grunt
work for you while you stand back casting magic missles and Identifying
all the items you find. the mage is the only character type missing from
the party once you get rid of the evil guys. Additionally when the going
really gets tough later on you'll wish you could save VS spell and wand
and such a little easier. Oh, and the fireballs are kinda nice too.