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Jan Jensen or yoshimo?

who's the better thief to have on-board? I like Jan's quirkiness (the custom crossbow -- huge fan of crossbows!), but dislike his poor carrying capacity. Equipping him with armor will also unfortunately disable his spells.

Yoshimo has a better carrying capacity and A/C-without-penalties, but I find him pretty boring overall.

Then again, I'm not immune to the idea that both have the potential to evolve in interesting ways.

I'm also rocking a gnome fighter/illusionist NPC, plus Jaheira, Aerie, and Korgan. So quite a magic-heavy party as is.
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Comments

  • ZanathKariashiZanathKariashi Member Posts: 2,869
    edited September 2013
    Yoshimo is good for at least the first playthrough. He has some interesting story elements, but it doesn't really change from playthrough to playthrough so once through is enough, unless you just enjoy his character or the Bounty Hunter kit, but don't want to play one yourself.

    Jan on the other hand banters with everyone and in order to experience the full awesomeness that is Jan Jansen, requires multiple playthroughs with different party members.

    In order to get those most out of both though, it requires a willingness to learn how to properly handle a thief as opposed to just using them for disarming traps/Opening locks.

    http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/258273-baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn/faqs/27550

    Has some excellent advice for taking full advantage of everything thieves have to offer. Jan in a pinch can be played as a normal mage, but to unlock his full potential requires learning the thief class as well.
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    Yoshimo's more relevant to the plot, though having him in your party also guarantees a late-game substitution you might not be happy with (and won't be able to change for quite a while).

    Jan is comic relief, but if your PC is already a gnome multiclass he might be redundant in terms of functionality.
  • RagingOrcRagingOrc Member Posts: 63
    I'd go with Jan personally, I find him hilarious, he has lots of party interaction and as a multi-class mage/thief he's a good utility npc to have about.
  • setsunaluvrsetsunaluvr Member Posts: 29
    I like Yoshimo, his dialogue is great, and his task acknowledgements are the best in the series. I will admit I am biased. I don't find Jan quirky, I find him annoying. The fact that he can't cast Finger of Death or Horrid Wilting is pretty much the back breaker.
  • KaltzorKaltzor Member Posts: 1,050
    I still think Jan Jansen is the best thief NPC of BG2 so... if you want a Thief, I'd say go with Jan. On the side you'll also get a not too bad mage with him being a Illusionist/Thief multiclass.
  • ShrimpShrimp Member Posts: 142
    Whatever the question, the answer is always Jan.

    He's a pretty good thief thanks to his gadgets (probably the best recruitable one, unless you really want Yoshi's traps), and in BG2 there's no such thing as too many casters. The way he pisses off Anomen is a good enough reason to take him as well. His only drawback is that as a multi-class, he'll have a somewhat slow progression.
  • RagingOrcRagingOrc Member Posts: 63
    Shrimp said:

    The way he pisses off Anomen is a good enough reason to take him as well.

    Hahahaha! Yes, I love how he winds up some of the annoying npc's :)
  • doggydoggy Member Posts: 313
    Jan is in my opinion the funniest npc there is.

    Though you should take yoshi just one time. You'll find out why in the later chapters
  • BaldursCatBaldursCat Member Posts: 432
    Jan Jansen = legend, or is that leg end? I dunno, either way, as someone else here so succinctly put it 'I love the little nutter.' My only trouble with taking him is deciding whether to then switch to Imoen. I never really worked how to effectively use traps (hints would be good) but his other skills are great.
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    Jan definitely!

    Didn't read the topic but I assume the question was; 'Which thief would you like to gut and force feed his own entrails?'
  • DelvarianDelvarian Member Posts: 1,232
    Jan! He's second only to Alora in thieving awesomeness.
  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    edited September 2013
    Definitely play through once with Yoshimo for story reasons.

    You should really try Jan at some point though. He divides the player base - you either love or hate him. If you like him, then he continues to to get better and has great interactions with other NPCs. If you find him annoying then go with Yoshimo until you get Imoen back.
    Post edited by Corvino on
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,582
    It depends on what you're looking for IMO - Jan is better in terms of efficiency/usefulness IMO, but Yoshimo is very crucial to certain plot elements.

    I usually keep Yoshimo for the latter reason, but if it wasn't for that, I would probably have Jan instead - although I personally find his personality more annoying than "funny."
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Hate Jan all you want (I know I do), at least he *has* a personality. Yoshimo reminds me of the little paperclip dude in MS-Word... his comments are about as helpful and interesting. The only time when he actually does something meaningful is at Spellhold, outside of that he's as exciting as white bread.
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  • DjimmyDjimmy Member Posts: 749
    Jan with Gauntlets of Ogre Power


    Yoshimo won't be available in the last chapters of SoA and in ToB either way.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    It's Herr Jansen for me. He comes with glasses that give him near 100 percent detect illusions from the moment you meet him, so you don't even need True Sight. He also has items that boost his stealth and his traps/locks skill.

    A nice, funny thief who can do all thief functions well? Sign me up! The magic skill (while wearing his special leather armor to boot) is just a bonus.
  • Montresor_SPMontresor_SP Member Posts: 2,208
    As others have said, keep Yoshi around for story purposes at least once. There's nobody saying you can't keep both.

    Another thing about your party,

    Aerie and Korgan don't get along very well. If you keep them both around long enough, Korgan will p*** off Aerie, and she'll leave your party permanently - as in, not available for the rest of Shadows of Amn.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    take both?

    You have 3 npcs listed and you can have up to 5. Use Yoshimo as a ranged, Jah & Korgan as your tanks. Jan and you flinging destruction and aerie heal botting and buffing it up.



  • doctordogdoctordog Member Posts: 44
    deltago: Yoshimo's in my party at the mo' (so 4 npcs), and I generally like to run a 5-person party ..

    Montresor_SP: thanks for the tip. I had a feeling Korgan's shelf-life might be limited due to alignment. P
  • ForseForse Member Posts: 106
    We should get into the mobile vegetable peddling business together! The turnip-man any day!

    (That said, I do like Yoshimo too)
  • doctordogdoctordog Member Posts: 44
    I spoke to Jan, but then dismissed his offer to join (was still uncertain). Now I've come back after exploring the Umar Hills and he has "nothing to say to me" =(

    Is there anyway I can circumvent his vow of silence? My only earlier save is from way, way back.
  • GawdzillaGawdzilla Member Posts: 86
    **SPOILER**

    Yoshimo has a pretty interesting story, I think.. We all know it by heart now, but first time it happened I was floored. Jan is quirky. Not quite the same emotional depth charge Yoshimo brings, IMO.
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    doctordog said:

    I spoke to Jan, but then dismissed his offer to join (was still uncertain). Now I've come back after exploring the Umar Hills and he has "nothing to say to me" =(

    Is there anyway I can circumvent his vow of silence? My only earlier save is from way, way back.

    "Nothing to say to you" brings back memories of an old bug that would randomly cause this to erroneously appear, blocking you from talking to certain NPCs. Are you patched? Did you try reloading?

    Worst-case scenario, enable cheats and force-add him to your party. I don't think that would break anything.
  • doctordogdoctordog Member Posts: 44
    I'm not sure on the specifics of my version. A friend gave it to me on UBS. It says Baldur's Gate 2 ToB and there's an accompanying file simply called "Patch". I also have Shadowkeeper.

    I can't reload unfortunately because my last saved game is from too far back, and I continued playing after he said "no", so lost the auto-save.

    How do I enable cheats and force-add him?
  • doctordogdoctordog Member Posts: 44
    USB*, not UBS
  • doctordogdoctordog Member Posts: 44
    Ha ha, nevermind I worked it out. I'm laughing stupidly while I ctrl-Q and add various forms of livestock to my party.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    doctordog said:

    Ha ha, nevermind I worked it out. I'm laughing stupidly while I ctrl-Q and add various forms of livestock to my party.

    You mean Nalia?
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    @Doctordog Not sure what version of the game you're running. If it was the bug I suspected, you could just save after the failed dialogue and reload. You don't need to reload from before attempting the dialogue.

    If it happens again, chances are you aren't patched properly.
  • IllustairIllustair Member Posts: 878
    Yoshimo. To have had been able to deceive you and your would-be demigod or god-like party, he must be really good.

    On second thought, PC is known for being gullible.
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