I just started in the sewers under the Coronet and I got pansed by the hobgoblins (stupid shaman kept on casting hold person and I only have 4 people right now). Anyway, my question is: Will I need to get another NPC in my group, or is the Hobgoblin fight just really hard? I really don't like using an NPC for one little sewer foray than ditching him/her after I'm done. In my group I have myself(cavalier), Anomen, Jaheira and Minsc, basically a fighter/cleric heavy group. Do I need to grab a theif or mage to help me out?

I would have had a full group of six, but Mazzy wanted to stay with her sick sister and Jan wanted to fool around with his girl :)

Get Aerie...wont hurt to have another caster.
As for the hobbies, just use silence and hold.

youll miss out on loadsa a stuff if you dont get a thief also there are some traps in this dungeon.
the goblin fight isnt that hard there is also a creature down the passage immediately on the right as you enter he can cause problems if he gets involved before you defeated the goblins

I decided to grab Yoshimo, but the only thing he really did was look for traps and scout. The hobgoblins weren't that hard, I just drew a couple out at a time and backstabbed the shamans. I just died cause of stupid hold person and walking right into them without scouting first.