I must say, I have a hard time with pretty much every character from the Time of Troubles still somehow being alive in 1492. Volo, Jaheira, Minsc, Deekin... I mean Drizzt is drow and could be alive, and Elminster is like immortal, but I feel like it's too much. Somehow, they're all alive and well and haven't aged a day, it seems.
As much as I like these characters, it is a bit too much. It's been over a hundred years since BG2. Some characters should be dead. And if they're not, they certainly should be near godlike in power and strength and such. I mean, I was beyond level 20 in BG2 TOB by the end. Even with age, Jaheira, Minsc, etc. should be super tough and unplayable in BG3. As much as I love both of those characters, it just doesn't make sense to reset them... or at least to reset EVERYONE.
There, again, it's the 'too much" thing. It's one thing to have a one off. Somehow Minsc survived by being frozen in stone for a hundred years. Now, after being released, he's a bit rusty and such from being frozen 100+ years. I could buy that. But having Volo still alive, and Deekin, and Jaheira, and so on and so forth, and they are all somehow nerfed, that's the part I struggle with. And then, to top it all off, you give someone like Jaheira 11 AC armor and baby weapons after she was like a titan? Her quarterstaff isn't even epic in any way. It's like she literally chucked every last good item she ever acquired during TOB. It's Halsin all over again. Here's some supposedly super tough druid who has lived for over a hundred years, but they're babies in comparison to what they should be. Don't get me wrong. She's tough, but she's not tough enough compared to what she should be.
It's like making Darth Vader with stats that a group of Rebel troops could kill. Gang up on him, and blast him until he dies because he's easy to wound. AC 11? God forbid she can't cast Barkskin because of a simple Silence spell. She'd be hacked down in moments by a dozen goblins.
