Drizzt= Where is this emergency exit located outside the cavern? I had to walk back the way I came in to get to the surface. How do I lower the difficulty level in game? I will take a look at my cheat sheet to see if it is there. I don't have a mage in my party unless I pickup Xan in the other room first as my party has the following: pc/fighter, Imoen/thief,Jaheira, Khalid/fighter and montaron/fighter. Zxar got killed somewhere inside the mines.

Grandpa,

Please look here

http://www.dudleyville.com/bg1/ar5404.htm

(it is inside the cave --- so you have to find it from the inside). And fortunately, you walked back the way you came. This means that you are ablo to go through the levels of the Nashkell Mines again, and go out through the exit, which will then take you to the Valley of the Tomb.
(as this exit will collapse when you have used it).

If I can remember this correctly, I think this is
the mine you can flood ? (Put you have to talk someone first, who gives an item to be into a certain place which means that the dwarfs can get out?? Apparently, this happens later in the game].

There is nothing wrong with picking Xan up to be used in your party, and then dismiss him along the way. The game won't be punishing you for this.

To lowert the difficulty in the game, please click on your BG1 icon on your screen, then you should see an options menu. Click on the options menu.

Then there should be a slider which determines the difficulty of the game. Please move the slider all the way to the left. This will make the fihgts a little bit easier, (or a lot).
I can't remember is this also means that there won't be as much XP in rewards when you defeat the enimies or monsters in the game.

Is is the Nashkel mines, not the Cloakwood Mines, Karsten.

The emergency exit is located in the big cavern right outside Mulahey's lair. Just go north on the sidewalk that goes along the water and follow it almost as far as you can go. If you move the cursor around a bit you should see the "travel"-icon.

Lowering the difficulty level is not a cheat at all. It can be accessed from the game options menu.

Good luck.

GP68, your party needs a mage! Xan is just fine, although he's got a personality disorder. You can cart him around until you decide you want to trade him in.

I would like to finish the Naskel Mines to get to Chapter 3, as I have started BG2 out of frustration on this one. I found a game editor called "Gatekeeper". Have any of you used this? The reason I'm asking is that I want to beef up my stats( ex: con,wis,intell, etc).

I have used Gatekeeper. It is really easy to use.
Please read the included 'readme' or the hints in the Help Me section.

Just remember to save after each upbeefinf of your stats. The Gatekeeper will then save the modified game save under the name of 00001.

Also, you could try creating a new character.
And keep on rolling the dice until you get
the rolls best for your character which for a fighter would be: STR, CON, DEX . You should have at STR above 16, a CON about 16 and DEX of about 16 too. (STR should best be about 17 or 18, but need not be). WIS,INTEL,CHAR is not that necessary for a fighter character.

I think you will find BG2 combat as frustrating as BG1's combat. I remember having many problems with the Cowled Wizards you meet when you first come out of the starting dungeon. The reason for this is that combat etc. are similar to combat in BG1.

I'm glad you're liking BG2. If you're up to it, try searching for the Ascensiod mod. It is a nifty little modification for BG2 (I think)
which has been written by David Gaider, one of
the (lead) writers for BG2.

I used Gatekeeper to beef up the stats of my characters. Now I will return to the mines and try to kill Mulahey but will pick up Xan first.

Gatekeeper is a great tool, but try to resist the urge to beef up your characters too much. Maybe once you finish the battle with Mulahey you can "un-beef" them.