BG2 Thieves

Severon

Hello's.
Does anyone know if it possible to go through BG2 with just Imoen with disarming all traps and being able to unlock all locks. Preferably without having to rely heavily on potions and buffs. She's short of 100% in both lockpick and find traps which is quite annoying as in BG1 I would have them maxed out at 100% each before duelling.
I'm not really prepared to have Jan as that's another Mage/Thief in the party and somehow he doesn't feel...canon to be in my main party for the main part of the game.

DinoDin

Yeah Imoen is solid enough to cover all your thief needs, especially in SoA. If you add the thief gear to her you should be able to handle just about every lock/trap in SoA without having to use potions.

Though potions of master thievery (lockpick/pickpocket) are abundant. Potions of perception (for traps) are less common.

Imoen only has some problems in ToB, but even this is resolvable with potions, and again equipping the thief gear.

bbear

just keep the 2 rings (ring of lock pick and danger sense) and Imoen should be able to disarm all traps in SoA (except 2 notable ones) and open all locks.

Severon

Ah ha. I didn't know about the two rings. Haven't played BG2 anywhere near as much as the first one. OK that's good to know. Just to confirm there's no need to raise lockpick or detect traps beyond 100% is there?

TJ_Hooker

Severon said:

Ah ha. I didn't know about the two rings. Haven't played BG2 anywhere near as much as the first one. OK that's good to know. Just to confirm there's no need to raise lockpick or detect traps beyond 100% is there?

Correct.

shawne

The problem is that Imoen is absent for most of BG2; I recommend using Yoshimo while she's away.

Oxford_Guy

Severon said:

Hello's.
Does anyone know if it possible to go through BG2 with just Imoen with disarming all traps and being able to unlock all locks. Preferably without having to rely heavily on potions and buffs. She's short of 100% in both lockpick and find traps which is quite annoying as in BG1 I would have them maxed out at 100% each before duelling.
I'm not really prepared to have Jan as that's another Mage/Thief in the party and somehow he doesn't feel...canon to be in my main party for the main part of the game.

Jan is actually one of my favourite characters in BG2 and one of only two thieves that can improve their thieving skills during the game.

Corvino

Jan has some great banters and of pretty useful as a second caster. He's a regular in my parties but some people don't like his character.

He mocks just about everyone, and it's good to hear Anomen taken down a peg or 2 by a cheeky gnome.

Delvarian

Jan is one of my absolute favorites. He rocks as a thief, makes his own amazing amo, has funny turnip stories and entertains the group at every turn.

Kenji

The lack of single class thieves in BG2 often baffles me... But then I don't have much to worry about since my PC is often a dual-class'd Human Fighter/Thief.

When I'm an evil Mercenary with no thieving skills, though, I always go for Fade.

The author also has a redux version of her portrait:
http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/274127190#/art/BG2-Fade-Redux-270894701?_sid=2dfe136d

shawne

Of course, it's worth noting that all signs point to a new thief being added to BG2:EE, so you might want to wait for that one...

Nifft

I too recommend giving Jan a try.

His banters are brilliant.

emjay

Kenji said:

The lack of single class thieves in BG2 often baffles me... But then I don't have much to worry about since my PC is often a dual-class'd Human Fighter/Thief.

When I'm an evil Mercenary with no thieving skills, though, I always go for Fade.

The author also has a redux version of her portrait:
http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/274127190#/art/BG2-Fade-Redux-270894701?_sid=2dfe136d

I thought it was for quite a straightforward reason really. There's plenty of incentive to use yoshimo and then imoen, who can deal with thiefy things well enough, and that way you experience the plot as most intended

TJ_Hooker

emjay said:

Kenji said:

The lack of single class thieves in BG2 often baffles me... But then I don't have much to worry about since my PC is often a dual-class'd Human Fighter/Thief.

When I'm an evil Mercenary with no thieving skills, though, I always go for Fade.

The author also has a redux version of her portrait:
http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/274127190#/art/BG2-Fade-Redux-270894701?_sid=2dfe136d

I thought it was for quite a straightforward reason really. There's plenty of incentive to use yoshimo and then imoen, who can deal with thiefy things well enough, and that way you experience the plot as most intended

Considering Imoen to be sufficient is based on the assumption that all you use your thief for is basic lockpicking/trap detection. If not, then you're pretty much out of luck after

Yoshimo dies

amftron

I wish they'd had a proper sneaky trap laying backstabbing thief. Jan just doesn't cut it for me, so i'm stuck either playing a thief or shadowkeeping an npc. (not that i mind doing that, i tend to change Nalia to a monk anyway)

the_spyder

For a considerable amount of time in SoA, Yoshimo would serve the purpose you indicate. Just not after that point.

In my current play through, i am finding out exactly how powerful Yoshimo is in the group. Korgan opens the door and draws out the baddie. Then Yoshimo sneaks up behind them and hey-presto guts em. He is actually tracking at something like 48% of total damage dealt so far.

PawnSlayer

bbear said:

just keep the 2 rings (ring of lock pick and danger sense) and Imoen should be able to disarm all traps in SoA (except 2 notable ones) and open all locks.

Out of interest, what are the two?

I always use Jan anyway, so I've never got any thieving issue (I don't bother backstabbing or any other thief micro)

Corvino

Ring of lock picks from the Shadow thief cellar and ring of danger sense from the planar sphere. They add 25% to lockpicking and find traps respectively.