Imoen v. Nalia?

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I'm going to have to make a choice soon about which mage I want to keep in my party. It's been nice having both Imoen and Nalia in the Underdark to cast spells, but I want the thieving skills of Yoshiro back, and I'm going to have to kick out Nalia or Imoen when I resurrect Yoshi. Nalia has served me well, developing a decent repertoire of spells and possessing good carrying capacity. OTH, Imoen has seems to be more central to the main story of the game, and I am concerned that she may be indispensable in later quests. So who gets the boot, Imoen or Nalia?

 

SPOILERS
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You cannot ressurect Yoshi. However you can take his heart to a temple of Illmatter(spl?) to take 200,000xp.

END SPOILERS

With that in mind Imoen is by far a better choice:

• Dualled at lvl 8 (better thieving skills than Nalia0
• It has more dialogues (due to the fact that she is a Bhaalspawn herself)
• Don't worry there aren't any quests that need Imoen to be done (Her presence just adds more to the depth of the game in my opinion)

The choice is yours.

 

Defenetly kick Nalia, shes a so-so mage and a terrible thief. Get Aerie or Edwin as your mage, and convert Imoen to a pure thief, as she's much more useful that way. Either way Nalia = bad.

 

The main thing to be said for Nalia, if she's been in your party this long, is that her spellbook is probably fuller than Imoen's and she's probably also higher level (though Imoen should be able to catch up). Personally I kept them both - Imoen did all the thief-type stuff, and Nalia acted as the main mage, with Imoen learning quickly enough to become a support mage, then eventually two powerful mages working in tandem - very powerful.

 

Yes, convert Imoen to a thief as she should be. Also change edwin to a fighter/mage with 25 in all stats because 'I think that represents his character better'. And feel free to add the killsword to your main character as 'Bhaalspawn are *supposed* to be powerful anyway'.

 

Come on Volar , Alex had only said to edit Imoen's class. He hadn't cheated. It's just like a game when you construct the whole party by yourself. Is that cheating? Maybe some people find Imoen more useful like a thief.

 

I would keep Imoen the way that she is. Give her items to improve her theiving abilities.

 

Like Alex said, definitely choose Imoen over Nalia.

Imoen
Move Silently: 10
Hide in Shadows: 10
Open Locks: 70
Pick Pockets: 0
Find Traps: 75
Set Traps: 0
Detect Illusions: 0

Nalia
Move Silently: 0
Hide in Shadows: 0
Open Locks: 36
Pick Pockets: 10
Find Traps: 70
Set Traps: 0
Detect Illusions: 0

I think Imoen is the obivious choice. She is more proficient in the thieving skills you'll need the most, Open Locks and Find Traps.

Also, as Alex said, take Edwin or Aerie. Better yet, take both of them if you can. With Aerie's combination of mage and cleric/priest spells, she can be quite formidable. And Edwin's cool, if you can get over his additude. BTW, there are two spells called Knock and Find Traps that may be useful, should you decide to kick both Imoen and Nalia out.

[This message has been edited by Xirev (edited June 05, 2002).]

[This message has been edited by Xirev (edited June 05, 2002).]

 

But I want Yoshiro back! I can't believe the game has you invest all this time, gold and effort to outfit the guy and improve his stats, only to kill him off just as he was getting really useful. He was good at the backstab, and I didn't worry if he took a few hits. And he had great carrying capacity. Imoen just doesn't compare. What a downer!

 

The dearth of capable NPC thieves in this game is, indeed, disappointing. Thank god for SK, my friend. I don't think I've ever played Imoen as a mage.

Carrying capacity? You pick your NPC's based on carrying capacity? Really?

And no, Yoshi's not ever coming back. Kiss his rotten cadaver good-bye...

 

I see where Knock and Find Traps are useful. Is there a spell to disable traps as well?

 

I guess it all depends on your definition of cheating. If it's changing a set part of the game to something else you'd prefer, then changing classes does count as cheating. I guess you can transport your party outside Irenicus's dungeon, giving your party the items and exp they would've gotten inside. But it still is cheating, and not any different than giving your party Carsomyr and 64000 exp (with misc. items) and not killing Firkraag. That there aren't more thieves in the game isn't a good excuse. There aren't *any* monks, sorcerers or barbarians, but just changing characters with ShadowKeeper isn't the solution. That's what multiplayer games are for. Or if you simply want a thief, nobody forbids you from making your main character one.

And yes, you can play your game however you want, but don't go around saying you're not cheating.

 

Hmmm. Well i have to admit that i like continuity in my game. Since i usually go through BG first and import my character from there, so anyone in my party who i happen to get in BG2 is edited to how they were at the end of my adventures in BG. Taking into accout any stat changes like they got +1 to a stat from a tome for example. Personally i don't care if people think it's cheating because hey, it's me thats playing it and i want continuity i'll damn well have it .
Honestly though, thats the only thing I change in the game, any new characters or whatever, they're 'as they are'.
On the Nalia/Imoen note, i always found that both in a party compliment each other perfectly and worked well as a team. Adding some items to them both to improve both theiving and mage skills helped a lot it has to be said. Doing this helped me have a sneaking backstabbing spellslinging pair of party members flanking enemies in fights.
(okay i admit, i just wanted to use the new smiley )

 

I never found much use for Nalia, I always tried to get to Imoen as soon as I could and I never tried it otherwise. (I didn't change Imoen into a pure thief). Nalia's thieving skills are not so good, and if you get to Imoen fast enough, Imoen will also be a better mage.

 

I'm not sure if there is a spell for disarming traps or not. There should be, if there isn't.

On the Imoen and Nalia situation - Neither one of them are good thieves, or good mages. If you want a thief (besides Yoshimo) just create one. And as far as mages go - Edwin and/or Aerie. Having a mage and a cleric/mage in your party is a real helper.

 

If you are going to use the NPCs as they are, then Imoen is a good choice. With potions of master thievery, she does quite well. The mage-thief dual class is also quite useful. Imoen's skill points are concentrated into open locks and disarm traps as I would prefer. (I like warriors more than backstab, and [ToB noone-cares about ability] can be done with rangers or spells.)

As pointed out by others, the mage-cleric multiclass, represented by Aerie, is nice, particularly in TOB. Of course, Edwin is the most capable mage of the NPCs.

I wouldn't keep Nalia...

P.S. Besides, I believe I would rather bring my sister along on our mutual quest than a stranger - as a role-player.

[Um, what was that ToB rangers' ability again? Climb walls or Leap on trees?] -Ex

[This message has been edited by Extremist (edited June 09, 2002).]

 

Don't keep Nalia.

Imoen is better and more skilled whereas Nalia can't do a lot in battle. also Imoen is a good thief.

Sorry Nalia!

 

I kind of like Nalia actually, but I would much rather have Edwin.

Only thing is that he complains so much about my all good team with reputation 20 that I am worried he will leave. Will he do that after a while of complaining or does he just stay and complain?

 

But unfortuantely, my goody-goody part of Rep. 20 has to do without the best mage in the game...

 

When I played, It was Nalia who had to go. I let her go in the asylum, but instead of her going to the copper coronet, I could only select the "stay here option". So I couldn't have her in my party again. I know it doesn't really matter, but anyway...