Why Nalia?

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Ok, being the perfectionist sort I am, I've been playing through SoA multiple times with different sets of NPCs, both so I can ultimately see what happens to all of them in ToB and because I find it tactically interesting. Each of the available NPCs have at least one real flaw and at least one real strength, vis-a-vis the others.

Except Nalia.

Has anyone found anything Nalia can do better than any of the other NPC mages? Edwin has those extra spells per level; Aerie has cleric spells and can use cleric equipment, as well as having probably the best stats of any NPC; Imoen is a good enough thief to get you through while still being able to attain the highest level of mage; or, if you'd rather have a thief who can advance at his skills there's Jan, who also has all his special gadgets to make him better. What does Nalia offer? Anything?

I've just played all the way through SoA with her, and haven't found her in any way special. Her thief skills are useless except for giving her the ability to shoot a bow, something Imoen also can do only with higher and more useful thief abilities. Her mage skills are completely standard (same as Imoen's, better than the multi-classes, worse than Edwin's). She has no special powers. Her only special item is a ring of protection. What's up with her? Is she really destined only to be a scab replacement while Imoen's gone? Does she have any strengths at all?

 

A little disappointed in the spoiled brat, are we?

I've always considered her as nothing more than a bad substitute for Imoen.
Ususally she will be at a much higher level than Imoen is once you get Imoen back so perhaps that is Nalia's niche?

 

Well, I also can't stand her personality, it's true, but I don't like Aerie's personality either, and after playing her through I can readily vouch for her strength as a party member (even if she made me feel like muting the game sometimes).

Imoen does get set back by the wait in Spellhold, but she still has 8th-level spells by the time I go to kill Jon, which is as high as you can get in SoA. Heck, my character who kept her the whole game was a thief with ToB installed, so you'd think I'd pre-stacked the deck in Nalia's favor, but I had both Nalia and Imoen in the party and they were both equally good, even though Imoen finished the game two levels behind Nalia. They also had exactly the same hit points. I can't imagine why I'd ever take Nalia over Imoen if I was playing anything other than a thief.

But she may have some tactical strength that I failed to notice or use well enough. It certainly took me a long time to figure out how Cernd could be effective...

 

Yes, she's the worst there is, she's made for roleplaying, not powergaming

and I still find her to be the most annoying NPC (she's competing with anomen), so I never pick her up.

 

eugh, Nalia

i couldn't find her a decent role in my party. She just sucks in comparison to the other thief/mages in the game. But doesn't compare to Edwin either. Imoen was always her better, so i let Nalia rot in Spellhold and wished i'd have never taken her in the party in the first place.

 

I heard somewhere that Nalia was one of the romance options. Obviously this is not true, but does anyone know if was she one of the deleted love interests? Not that she'd make a particularly appealing girlfriend for the pc; I was just wondering...

 

She's a poor choice from a role-playing standpoint, too. She doesn't have very many interactions, Imoen's much more integral to the story, and Edwin's much funnier.

I don't believe there was ever a romance intended for Nalia. If you're male you can offer to marry her after doing her keep quest, so as to fix her succession problems, but contrary to some people's belief, it is not possible to actually do this. Nalia will just start laughing and then say "Uh, I mean, no offense. But you're so not my social class. Even I don't like to cause that much scandal." (-:

 

Hmph, yes, I think the same. She is just not a good choice. And REALLY annoying. Just like AnNoYmen

However, Cernd is VERY effective.

 

She has the "signet ring" +2 AC +2 saves +50 fireresistance. In a multiplayer game with a friend of mine we have brought her along with some good bracers her AC is very low and the +2 to saves is really neat. Especially if she tailors her spells to be a fighting machine, Tensers transformation, improved haste mirror image, stoneskin. We have given her girdle of strenght and staff of the Rynn from Ribald.

The ring makes her far better that Imoen both AC and saves Vs. Hold/stun/charm web etc. And our special trick is to make her charge alone, and pump fireballs and other burning stuff at her. It doesn't hurt her nearly as much as the enemy drawn to her attention, cause she is already half way immune to fire and that can easily be boosted. She is one of our key persons. her SPECIAL ring triggered this strategy pondering.

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited September 25, 2001).]

 

Anyway, giving Imoen some minor stuff would make her better, I guess.
And at the point the party manages to kill Firkraag, with the use of the Red Dragon Armor and the Ring of Fire resistance (giving this to Minsc, for example) can make the ULTIMATE charging person against fire-using creatures, or fireballs.

Summary: choose Imoen, leave Nalia to do some good things elsewhere

 

That was fuzzy!

of course Nalia can't compete against both Minsc and Imoen together. But her ring makes her harder to hit than Imoen. She gets a better save Vs everthing than Imoen and she is halfway resistant to fire.

The person on the torture bench should be imoen not Nalia.

 

Excuse me, but I really don't understand something here.

Had Nalia ever told how she is kickass NPC?
Have you heard her ever speaking about herself as a tank?
Have you thought that she is a fighter perhaps?

The problem is not in Nalia - but in you. You expect something without a base. Bah!

Ahhhh, yes, she is whining... So what?
If you had more imagination, you would find where to use her. So drop it, OK?

I don't use her because she doesn't fit in my party. But to say she is a looser, come on!

How many of you finished the game with her in the party through almost every chapter? If at least two of you did that and still say that she is lame NPC, I'll trust it then.

Why do you think I spit on Keldorn? I used him first time all the way in SoA. Next time I haven't used him - and my party suddenly was more powerful than with him. Surprise? After such polls like this, it was surprise to me, yes.

Have a nice day!

[This message has been edited by Extremist (edited September 25, 2001).]

 

Ooooh nononoo..Mr. Not so fast.

Some of us (even it is sooo hard to believe) are not speaking without real experience. In my FIRST party Nalia was all the way there, she was my mage - no Imoen, no Edwin. But you can say anything, there are FACTS: Nalias thieving skills are PATHETIC and in almost all parts of the game USELESS. So she has wasted that exp. as well (not much, that is). No, compared to the other characters ingame she is definetely weaker. Not as a tank, but as a mage/thief. There are better choices all the way, both in gameplay and roleplay.

[This message has been edited by TGM (edited September 25, 2001).]

 

Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh, yeeeeeeeeees...

You kept her to be your mage/thief?
But she is LEVEL 4 thief. What did you expect? To detect illusions?
I don't see here that Nalia is PATHETIC.

What is wrong with her as a mage? Yes, Edwin has more spells - but has not the ring like her. Edwin's STR/DEX/CON/INT = 10/10/16/18.
Nalia is 14/18/16/17. Edwin better? Not very much pal!

Imoen? Imoen better than Nalia with mage levels and spells? Geez...

You get pal!


[EDIT]
See Namuras' post below? I like it. He speaks the truth and nothing but the truth. Not because I agree with the post.

[This message has been edited by Extremist (edited September 25, 2001).]

 

In my first game I had both Nalia and Imoen in my party. They're almost identical, though Nalia had better AC and lower thieving skills (of course). I don't like her very much, though, and I have yet to find a role for her that noone else can play equally good, but I do think both she and Imoen are OK spellcasters.

 

I did play the whole game through with Nalia in the party, Extremist. That's why I started this thread. I was wondering if she had any hidden talents or skills I was somehow missing.

I agree with Namuras; she and Imoen are almost identical mages. I played this game with the two of them side-by-side, and they were practically bookends. But Imoen also has enough levels as a thief to be competent, whereas Nalia does not. Nalia doesn't seem to have anything at all to make her special, or to compete with the other mages. There is that ring, I guess, but there are so many other rings I would rather have my mage wearing that I can't see it as too much of an advantage except at very low levels. I would rather have taken it off at higher ones.

I'm not usually a this-NPC-sucks kind of person. For every other NPC, including the ones I found annoying, I was able to find their special talents which they had and none of the others did. Nalia seems to have gotten the short end of the stick here if that +2 ring of protection is really all she has to recommend her.

 

tjek, but I wouldn't have taken that ring from her. The difference is in playing syle. I see that ring as her talent, and you don't.

But this thread really turned into poll: "Does Nalia suck?"

So, a short answer from me to this poll: no she doesn't.

 

Nalia's what she is - a sort of temporary replacement for Imoen. How? She joins your party with some great spells in store (Yep, her spells can be of great help to a starting party), she's pretty easy to find, she's able to help in battle too, and with her ring she's a bit tougher than most mages. Nalia's perhaps one of the greatest NPC's earlier on in the game... but as the more fitting NPC's come in, and as time passes and experience builds up, she just sort of loses that level of greatness. I can't say I blame her...I've brought her through the game twice, and she's pretty good in her job.

 

I think the answer to the original question is that Nalia does not have any special hidden talents that really justify keeping her in the party past Spellhold. BUT, I would argue that Nalia is one of the best NPCs from a gameplay standpoint and is a masterful creation by the developers

Bear with me on this. Although it is does not appear too heavy handed, the begininig of the game is scripted to be played one way: escape from Irenicus's prison, have Imoen taken away, stop by the adventure mart to sell off items and buy new ones, meet with Galen and then finally end up in the Copper Cornet. The goal is to get you to the CC so you can 1) get a line on several quests and 2) pick up some NPCs to fill out your party. Nalia is the only mage that you come across during this early scripting. If she was not in the CC and you happened to not stop by the circus tent, you would have to undertake your next quest without a mage (assuming your main character is not one). How many side quests might you struggle thorugh without a mage until you get Edwin, Aerie or Jan. She is an integral part of the gameplay because she is not too strong or too special. If she was a better theif you might drop Yoshimo but since she is a theif, you get an NPC that can fire a short bow. If she was a better mage, you would be hard pressed to drop her for Imoen. She provides the magic that your party needs at the beginning of the game and virtually forces you to do the D'Arnise Keep quest very early on. This is a great early quest because it is very doable and you get lots of XP, gold and magic items. What would happen if you ran off to Windspear Hills right away?? Think about this, how many people play the game and don't have her in your party at least for a while before or after the D'Arnise keep.

Utimately Nalia is not the flashiest NPC but I think she is a masterful creation and very necessary to the game. She was not meant for the long haul, but she is strong enought to serve until the end if you don't find another mage you like better.

Just so I don't sound like to big of a fan, she is a whiney pain in the butt. Thank goodness she was not a love interest. Her and Aerie in the same party would drive anyone to soloing.

 

TGM and Tjekanefir.

Imoen has 95% in open locks and Nalia has 60.

Imoen has 85% in find traps and Nalia has 80%

How can Nalia be Pathetic almost all the time TGM and Imoen be good enough? That really puzzles me. The difference is not that big. So the big locks can't be opened by Nalia. so? I have spells, scrolls and potions etc to counter for this.

I think its pure whining to throw away Nalia and keep Imoen. I would stick with the +2 AC +2 saves. Before this turns away from a meaningfull debate what rings would you rather place on Nalia, Tjek?

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited September 26, 2001).]