Neera and stockpiling gems and jewellery?

Oxford_Guy

I'm considering taking Neera in new game I recently started as a Jester and keeping her (last time I dumped her after she revealed Ahoy's Enclave in the map), but am aware that one of her spell surges can potentially wipe out 80% of your gold...

This made me think she has her gem bag for a reason - it's so you can stock pile your wealth in gems and only cash these in when you have enough to buy the thing you want (though working out what your gems are worth without going to a store first could be complicated, this guide, if accurate, may help a little, though: http://mikesrpgcenter.com/bgate/gems.html ). In fact, it's probably worth stock-piling rings and necklaces in a safe storage location (e.g. a container somewhere in an unoccupied house in Beregost).

Would this be a sensible strategy to follow when having Neera in your party, or is this just too much micromanagement for a rare event (though I'm going to try to not reload after her spell surges, so will hang onto that belt of gender change, LOL!)?

KidCarnival

I think I read that a surge-caused gender change and using the belt to reverse it results in a slight mess. No idea about how annoying micromanaging gems would be... I just know this possibility adds another good reason to not brother with a Neera romance, in favor of my everlasting Edwin bromance.

Forse

@Oxford_Guy haha good catch. Likely they thought of that when giving it to her. Or at least that she tends to conjure up gems in her backpack.

I've been meaning to ask this; what permanent changes can a WM cause to herself or party members? The wild surge table is vague at many points. Is there some sort of compiled translation somewhere?

Wilbur

Forse said:

I've been meaning to ask this; what permanent changes can a WM cause to herself or party members? The wild surge table is vague at many points. Is there some sort of compiled translation somewhere?

I would really like to know this too. I've been trying to google more info on wild surges with poor results.

KidCarnival

This chart? http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/bg2/character/classes/tables/wildsurge.shtml

Pantalion

Played through entire game hardcore with a wild mage as the only mage and never had a major negative surge.

But yeah, as with any sensible gambling strategy, always keep a few thousand gold's worth of Star Sapphires etc handy in your gem pouch, gold's rarely worthwhile in BG anyway after you've established yourself, most of the best gear is found via adventure after all.

Oxford_Guy

Pantalion said:

Played through entire game hardcore with a wild mage as the only mage and never had a major negative surge.

But yeah, as with any sensible gambling strategy, always keep a few thousand gold's worth of Star Sapphires etc handy in your gem pouch, gold's rarely worthwhile in BG anyway after you've established yourself, most of the best gear is found via adventure after all.

I think Kagain would disagree! ;-)

mjs

seems like overkill for a one-in-hundred surge!

valky

mjs said:

seems like overkill for a one-in-hundred surge!

Yeah, by the time I had those surges, I had bought the best stuff anyway..so I didn't bother to reload. I think I lost ~60k at all with 2 surges.
Though I tried to not needlessly cast every time I met a gnoll/or similiar minor critters, who die after 1 hit anyway.

Oxford_Guy

valky said:

mjs said:

seems like overkill for a one-in-hundred surge!

Yeah, by the time I had those surges, I had bought the best stuff anyway..so I didn't bother to reload. I think I lost ~60k at all with 2 surges.
Though I tried to not needlessly cast every time I met a gnoll/or similiar minor critters, who die after 1 hit anyway.

Early on, though, if you've been saving up to by some Full Plate Mail or the Light Crossbow of Speed etc., it would suck to loose all that hard-earned gold...

valky

Wild Mages might be really funny in BG2, when you have enough slots to keep at least Chaos Shield nearly perm. active or at least it's much longer lasting. Won't bother to use her again in another BGEE run, it's just annoying to usually get the insane backfires in battles, where it counts to cast every round. (or I just had very bad luck)
I think if my next run is done by my Skald I won't even need a mage, mostly used her for debuffing/disabling spells - can be done by a bard as well. BGEE is just a stepping stone to the bg2 world for me :P

deltago

Wild mages also create gems from time to time. Probably the reason why she actually has the pouch to begin with.

Pantalion

Oxford_Guy said:

valky said:

mjs said:

seems like overkill for a one-in-hundred surge!

Yeah, by the time I had those surges, I had bought the best stuff anyway..so I didn't bother to reload. I think I lost ~60k at all with 2 surges.
Though I tried to not needlessly cast every time I met a gnoll/or similiar minor critters, who die after 1 hit anyway.

Early on, though, if you've been saving up to by some Full Plate Mail or the Light Crossbow of Speed etc., it would suck to loose all that hard-earned gold...

Losing all that hard-earned gold to buy a crossbow would already be pretty terrible, but again, most of your wealth is not fluid gold in the early game, it is in unsold goods. If you want to be careful about it, simply stash your magical goods in a handy container in town without selling them, then sell/buy all in one fell swoop.

Oxford_Guy

deltago said:

Wild mages also create gems from time to time. Probably the reason why she actually has the pouch to begin with.

I didn't know that, but you're right! :-)