Astarian -- I never fully recruited him as I think the idea of a vampire companion is inherently lame. I did briefly try including him once, and he was insufferable to point where I reloaded.
Minsc -- I paused my playthroughs in early Act 3, so I may never rescue this guy -- which is fine because he sounds ridiculous. I never played BG1 or BG2, so there's no nostalgia for Larian to mine from me with this character.
Honorable Mentions: If I wasn't 'gaming the game' to see their story lines, Minthara, Shadowheart and Lae'zel would likely all be dead.
Shadowheart - Her dialogue options and reactions with
the Nightsong introduction
virtually dictated that I would have to kill her unless I meta my selections in a unnatural way or roll a natural 20 in one key exchange. There has been discussion on these forums about how poorly this sequence was handled.
Lae'zel - If I miss a persuasion roll when
she threatens to kill everyone at camp
, she has to go. I save scummed until the roll was successful. Additionally, the entire Creche storyline seemed to require that I react unnaturally - arguably absurdly so - just to get the narrative to unfold, so that likely should have been the end of Lae'zel as well.
Minthara - I find her interesting despite her grimdark ethics and, fortunately for her, the game gives the option of recruiting her even on a 'good' playthrough. By all accounts, though, she should be dead along with the others at Goblin Fest.
Halsin - I've read about his fan service kinks and proclivities along with what potentially happens to him in Act 3; it should suffice to say that I will not be in any real hurry to save him -- particularly after how undistinguished he was in Act 2.
