Help Dualing imoen
GaNoN
Member Posts: 151
I have her currently at lvl 4 with 80 find traps.
Should i rise find traps to 100 and dual her?
that means dualing her at lvl 5
Should i rise find traps to 100 and dual her?
that means dualing her at lvl 5
0
Comments
1) which Thief skills do you want her to have most (mainly locks/traps versus stealth for backstabbing)?
2) is there another thief in the party?
3) do you plan on doing Durlag's Tower?
In your case, you can do Durlag's with lots of potions of perception. Otherwise 80 Find Traps and 55 Pick Locks (assuming you poured all your skill points into those two skills) should be fine for most everywhere else. As a mage she'll be able to cast Knock for the tougher locks. Or she can drink a potion of master thievery.
I would dual her at level 4 if you intend to use her Thieving skills for find/remove traps and pick locks.
If you have another Thief in the party who can take care of the locks and traps, then you can pour her skill points into stealth (Move Silently and Hide in Shadows) and have her backstab. She can buff first with Armor and Strength once she has both Mage and Thief skills together.
Because there are items available that improve stealth, you can even get away with dualing Imoen at Thief 3, although then her backstab multiplier will be x2. On the plus side, you get her Thief skills back at a mere 10,000 XP (total). So you can very soon begin having her backstab and cast spells, both.
If you dual her at level 5 she'll get the backstab multiplier x3. But you'll have to dual her when you reach 10,000 XP. And then you'll have to reach mage level 6 before she can backstab again. Which is 40,000 XP.
In both cases she can reach Mage 9, btw.
So what you are weighing there is 1) having her backstabs be weaker (damage multiplied x2 versus x3) versus 2) being able to use her Mage and Thief skills together for a greater portion of the game.
So maybe i shouldnt dual her yet? or what should i do.
I only invested in imoen: Find traps and place traps.
If my main was a thief, I would work on traps and stealth and leave the thievery to imoen. That way I could be the scout... I always see the "CHARNAME" as the frontliner/scout. Always made more sense to me the PC was a Fighter/Thief Thief or Ranger.
If you are going to have some other thief in the party, you might just want to use her as a good-aligned mage who can use shortbows. In which case there is no reason not to dual her at level 2.
If you leave it to level 6, she will eventually be more useful, but you will have to spend a fair chunk of the game with some other trap detecting thief filling in for her.
Well anyway, I should think it will be okay to dual her at level 4. As mentioned, a Thief can use potions of perception and master thievery, and as a Mage Imoen will eventually be able to cast Knock (or cast Knock via a scroll in a quickslot at any point--even by mid-game you're swimming in cash so you could buy a scroll for that purpose).
The main advantage of waiting one more level to dual her is you'll then get an additional backstab multiplier (x3 instead of just x2). On the downside, you won't get her Thieving skills back until she reaches 40,000 XP (Mage 6/Thief 5).
From what you've described thus far, it sounds like you haven't put any skill points into Move Silently and Hide in Shadows. So you're probably not intending to use her as a backstabber. In which case the backstab multiplier isn't so important. If that's the case, then I would dual her at Thief 4. You can then get her Thieving skills back at 20,000 XP (Mage 5/Thief 4).
Later on I will look to exchange Kivan for Coran. So will rely on those two for Stealth [plus some help from my Familiar]. Just cant see Imoen as a Backstabber!
Assuming that I will need Find Traps throughout Nashkel Mines but wondering about Firewine Bridge, Ulcaster and Temple areas. I am expecting to probably get it wrong on my first run...most likely by having Imoen closer to Level 5 than Level 4 by the time I finish Nashkel Mines. So I will definitely be stashing an early save giving me the option to revise my campaign route so Imoen will be @ Level 4 after the Mines, when I can do without a thief for a fortnight or so....
Cloakwood and Spiderwood... (web traps)
The three traps at the end of the third level of the mines (entrance to the final level) can be carefully side-stepped, after a Cleric reveals them.
There are no containers in the mine (? at least of importance) that require lockpicking.
Also, IIRC re: a Thief's skill level for the Nashkel mines:
At Beregost we have become aware of Bounty Hunters, Bandits, Nashkel Mines and a Dark Cleric, Bassilus plus the [as yet unknown] deadly armored figure, Zaervok. And there is also the question of how/why did Imoen just happen to turn up seemingly aware of the fate of Gorion. Who is she and just why has she also been a ward at Candlekeep?
And Charname would also be wondering why Gorion was headed to FAI in the first place.
My storyline seems to evolving towards frequent comings and goings as first Khalid and later Imoen are dispatched for various purposes [known and possible] with multiple Party changes. And a Merry troupe of 10 current and former Party members, plus my FMCharname, all gathered in Beregost at the beginning of Chapter 3
Khalid, Bless his heart, is the one who comes and goes the most --gathering information and making connections that Jaheira assures PC are essential to what lies ahead in the Gathering Storm. If I were to write a novel about all this...his stuttering, morale failing Self with the devastatingly alluring wife would turn out to play a crucial and powerful role suggesting an incorruptible spiritual courage that simply falters in the face of Physical Violence but is brilliant as an underestimated Double-Agent ... who simply "forgets" to fold his cards when the Bad Guys are sure they have found a Weak Link...
Guess I should recheck his Basic Stats to see what his Intelligence is....