Does anyone not Dual Class Imoen at all and take her to level 9 theif for the theif points?

Debaser

I'm just curious if anyone does this or if it's really not effective at all as far as the majority feels about it.

badbromance

Yes.

[Deleted User]

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Madhax

I'm currently in a multiplayer game with my brother, he's a sorcerer and I'm a blade. Assuming we don't replace Imoen altogether with a different thief, she'll likely stay single-class for the whole game. We just don't need more arcane casters.

Dazzu

A multi-class thief as a backup character can work, like Tiax or Coran, in that they're more valuable than just their thief skills, plus you can specialize them in different thief skills from Imoen.

Deucetipher

I never take Immy as a pure thief. I think she's actually a better thief if you dual her to mage. Invisibility+Detect traps is fantastic, since disarming traps doesn't cancel invisibility. Throw knock into the equation, and immy doesn't really need to go above 4 or so before you dual her. I generally use her as a scout in the more dangerous dungeons, invisibled and detecting traps.

My current run is with a f/t, so I'll dual her at 4 with traps maxed. With a non-thief, I'll typically take her to 6, dual her and grab safana to cover while immy relevels.

sepotter

Absolutely, I've recently completed a playthrough where I did just that, now that Neera can be my mage. See, Imoen is essentially the best theif in the game AND the best mage in the game (save for maybe CHARNAME), but Neera is also a pretty good mage, so why not get the best of both worlds?

deltago

The first time I saw Imoen as a mage was in BG2 and I was quizzically trying to figure out why she was made a mage.

Infern0

With Neera it is no longer required, nor will it be in BG2:EE

Quartz

Yes. And actually, the level cap for thieves is 10.

CoM_Solaufein

I keep her as is even if I may be playing as a thief.

Lemernis

Yes, with the party line-up I have for my first game I need her thieving skills the whole way through.

elminster

yes I often keep her as a thief

Michail

I always keep her as a thief. Never dual classed her. Not once.

Lennis

The first time I played BG1, I kept Imoen as a thief the whole way. Now I'm playing through BG:EE and the thought of dualing her really isn't crossing my mind. I need her as she is to tackle the really tough dungeons. If Charname was a thief I might think differently, but...

The Shadowmaster's armor in Beregost is another reason not to dual her. Combine that with the boots that boost stealth (available early in the game), and she can have passable scouting ability without putting any points into stealth. (Dynaheir was a more than capable mage my first playthrough. Now I use Neera.)

Even considering her thief/mage build in SoA, it's hard to justify having it in BG1.

irendie

Yes, I always keep her as a thief. And i spend points to find traps and lockpicking.

kdali

I'm deciding on that right now, but I usually regret it when I dual her.

Oxford_Guy

Yes, I'm doing this in my current game. This is what I posted about this in another thread (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/13056/do-not-be-afraid-of-dual-classing-in-bgee/p1 ):

I'm keeping Imoen as a straight thief in my current game, in an otherwise exclusively evil party. I even have Montaron as well (focused on stealth for backstabs, then will go onto pick-pockets), but I already have a fighter/mage CHARNAME and Edwin, and feel my arcane spell needs are covered, and it's just alot less hassle keeping Imoen a straight thief. Once she's maxed out on Find Traps/Open Locks, I'll be focusing her on Set Traps and she has the archery gloves and light crossbow of speed for ranged attacks. For backstabs she'll rely on invisibility potions and Edwin's spells, using the +2 dagger of venom, whilst Monty will use the +2 (later +3) shortsword and towards the end of the game the Staff of Striking for backstabs.

I've tried dualing before on many occassions, but find it distracts from my focus on the game.

Oxford_Guy

Deucetipher said:

I never take Immy as a pure thief. I think she's actually a better thief if you dual her to mage. Invisibility+Detect traps is fantastic, since disarming traps doesn't cancel invisibility. .

Yes, but Imoen doesn't have to be the one casting invisibility, I use Edwin for the casting...

paradigmofheaven

Yes I do. My team is more than capable of dishing out damage. And I just need Imoen for disarming traps and picking pockets and locks.

Oxford_Guy

paradigmofheaven said:

Yes I do. My team is more than capable of dishing out damage. And I just need Imoen for disarming traps and picking pockets and locks.

Give her the +1 Lightcrossbow of Speed and the +2 archery gloves and she makes a decent ranged damage-dealer too...

Silverstar

Her dual-classing in BGII was a decision I did not agree with and one I would not have made. So I do not dual-class her. With any luck, BGII:EE will use my skill point distribution on her when the time comes.

gabilturgh

Infern0 said:

With Neera it is no longer required, nor will it be in BG2:EE

This is the main reason I didn't dual Imoen in BG:EE, Neera is a decent spellcaster for my good party

LordRumfish

I have never dual-classed Imoen. Even two thieves in the party isn't too many for me, that way I can cover all of the various important skills and still manage to backstab some!

Oxford_Guy

LordRumfish said:

I have never dual-classed Imoen. Even two thieves in the party isn't too many for me, that way I can cover all of the various important skills and still manage to backstab some!

Same for me too, e.g. Monty and Imoen (my current party), or in the past CHARNAME Assasin or a thief multi class and Imoen or Safana. In BGEE having two thieves is the only way to have a decent scout/backstab thief *and* a good open locks/find traps one, and you can still have points later for pickpockets and set traps, which can be fun.

manero

Imoen is cute thief. Don't need another mage. Edwin or Neera are enough.

marfig

I always dual class Imoen. But not at level 9 (if I understand the original question). That doesn't give me a good enough Thief/Mage for BG1 since I will hardly be able to have her regain her thief skills before the end of the game. I dual-class her around level 5 or 6. As soon as I can max disarm traps.

Why? Because then I can get rid of the other mage on the party (usually as soon as Imoen hits level 4 or 5 on her Mage class). This gives me a bit of freedom and get in another thief/archer.

This is strictly for good parties. I never take Imoen on evil parties.

PS: Concerning the first phrase, I did misunderstand the question. Didn't see the *not* in the topic until just now. In any case, no. I never take Imoen as a pure thief. I can never come to terms with wasting two character slots with a thief and a mage, when Imoen can play both roles equally well.

ScotGaymer

I before E except after C.

Now to your question. In my original playthrus of BG, and BGtutu (modded) I never dual classed Imoen. Always used her as a pure thief, and then pretended she dualled after the game.

But in my first play thru on BGEE I have dualled her. Just to see what it is like.

Oxford_Guy

marfig said:

I always dual class Imoen. But not at level 9 (if I understand the original question). That doesn't give me a good enough Thief/Mage for BG1 since I will hardly be able to have her regain her thief skills before the end of the game. I dual-class her around level 5 or 6. As soon as I can max disarm traps.

Why? Because then I can get rid of the other mage on the party (usually as soon as Imoen hits level 4 or 5 on her Mage class). This gives me a bit of freedom and get in another thief/archer.

This is strictly for good parties. I never take Imoen on evil parties.

I have Imoen in my evil party, she grumbles about hanging out with "riff raff", but won't leave unless my rep drops to 2 or less (I try to maintain it around 6-8 usually). I justify it in RP terms because she got along with CHARNAME in Candlekeep, and also because:

she's CHARNAME's (half) sister...

Ashendil

I used to never dual-class Imoen and was quite surprised when she suddenly was a mage in BG2. In my current run I did dual her, but I kinda got a problem with not being able to open a lot of containers right now.

Debaser

@Ashendil, grab a Knock scroll...make sure she learns it...and just memorize it constantly. Reserve Level 2 Spells for Knock until she caps and regains her skills.