How to level up Imoen

LordOfLostSocks

So, not exactly a new player. I played this game 10 years ago, but I notice that I'm rusty these days with old D&D rulesets. I play 4th edition nowadays.

Regardless, how would you level up Imoen? Should I dual-class her? What do you recommend?
How is dual-classing in general? In what situations is it worth it?

sandmanCCL

Dual-classing Imoen is always worth it. If you want to min/max, do it at 6 or 7. Level 7 is the highest you can go as a thief while regaining those thieving skills, but you'll just barely squeek in level 8 mage. Level 6 is the highest you can go while still hitting the highest normally possible level for mages anyway (level 9) so there is literally no downside to this outside of the time it takes to regain those levels.

Literally a third of the game's NPCs have thief levels of some kind so that's easy to replace. She's the only potential mage in the game with max dexterity, and is significantly more durable than any other mage candidate as she has those thief levels for extra HP + 16 constitution.

It does mean you'll have to sacrifice eventually being good at sneaking. Luckily, mages get invisibility so who cares. Rank up find traps and open lock to around 85 or 90 apiece and you're good to go. Just make sure you pick up a thief to cover your trap finding needs in the meantime. Coran joins roughly the same time I hit level 6 or 7 on Imoen anyway, so he's the obvious candidate.

LordOfLostSocks

Oh dammit. I already divided the thief skills fairly evenly, so I won't reach the trap detection and open lock. Oh well. But I can still multiclass her next level(she's 5 atm).

Oxford_Guy

I usually dual her at level 5, with 99 points in find traps and the rest in something else (not usually open locks, as can't get high enough in those at level 5 if go 99 find traps. Safana normally covers for her trap finding while she's regaining her levels.