Officer Vai

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Does she return at some point in Baldur Gate City?
Bye the way she left it seemed likr something might happen later

 

Not that I recall.

 

Err no, once you're done with bandit camp, she leaves the next time you talk to her.

 

and doesn't return in BG city, correct?

 

Yep, gone permanently.

 

Thank You!

 

Only if you talk to her (after completing Ch. 3) *without* a bandit scalp in your inventory (in which case she gives +1 REP and, yes, leaves permanently). So long as you speak to her only when you have a scalp to sell, then she'll stay for the rest of the game. Since there are a few more times when you'll meet bandits (a couple of times in the plot, plus random waylays), and especially since Beamdog stopped everyone else from buying scalps (originally you could also sell them in a few other places, such as Feldepost's Inn, although for lower prices), it's useful to be able to keep Officer Vai around to buy them! (I tried to persuade Beamdog to revert this change when they removed all other ways of selling scalps, but they didn't agree.)

 

You're right, that state does trigger before the quest one, so keeping one scalp in the inventory so that she doesn't leave can be useful. Though by that point, everyone probably has enough money to buy just about everything they need.

 

True, but money isn't always the only advantage. When playing a mixed-alignment or "smart Evil" party, careful REP management can be critical, and keeping Officer Vai's parting gift of +1 REP "in hand" unclaimed (until you want it) has often proven useful.

 

When you need to manage your reputation, you rarely want to get it above 18, so you can usually manage it just fine by donating at temples.

 

Hmm, well, more often I need to manage REP down rather than up. But when I can afford to let a mixed-alignment party gain a REP point, Officer Vai's parting gift is free, unlike donating at a temple. (Yes, I know that most players seem to be awash with gold by late-BG1, but my usual playing-style includes expensive habits which often leave me short of money.)

 

The key to getting lots of GP is to return to a store to sell stuff when your packs are full. Granted I don't tend to pick up crap worth only a couple GP until I'm ready to return (then I fill my pack with vendor trash lying on the ground even if it's only worth 4gp it's still 4gp)
I tend to leave a given dungeon several times, at least once each screen/level to sell stuff so I'm flush with cash.

 

I do the same, @SlickRCBD, but nevertheless I generally manage to use up all my gold!

 

Another cash-saving tip for the less Lawful inclined (in both senses of the word in this context) is to use a Potion of Insight, a Potion of Perception, a Potion of Master Thievery, and if your DEX is less than 18 a Potion of Agility at a store that sells expensive stuff you want, then use quicksave to rob the store blind of all enchanted items with a bard or a thief who invested in pick pocketing. Try to run around to other stores in the same town before the potions start to wear off and rob every store.
Any magic items you don't want, sell to a fence. However to save time, stash them in a container while you are shoplifting. Especially armor.
You should be able to loot every store in Bergost on a single round of potions, and you should be able to loot Nashkel AND the fairgrounds this way too.
The High Hedge stands on its own, and Baldur's Gate is so spread out that you probably will need at least two potions of Master Thievery, and possibly a whole second round of potions before you can loot everything.
Tip for looting Baldur's Gate and to a lessor extent Nashkel and Bergost:
Scout the area first to eliminate the fog of war, and have your thief wear Boots of Speed. Have your thief start heading for a store first, and have the rest of the party follow, and use them as mules. Transfer all the loot to other party members, and have the thief proceed to the next store. Send the party members overloaded or with full inventory to stash the loot somewhere while the remaining follow the thief to the next stop, so you're using the whole party moving to different places while the thief/bard goes looting.
Sort the loot out when the looting's done, then load up on stuff to sell and find a fence.
The goal here is to loot everything without using more potions than you need, ideally only a single round of potions per city, although again, you might not be able to do this with Baldur's Gate, and also you'd have to stash loot in multiple areas.
Controlling multiple party members simultaneously is important, and deal with transferring items while others are walking if you can. This is especially important to keep the thief busy, the others can wait although you might want to only give light items like missiles to low-strength characters.

 

The only fence I know of is in BG, so you have to wait awhile for that. I just use that good ole shop keep in Nashkel to sell everything to and steal what I pick and choose