ok who actually uses Neera

meowzor

having to reload when she summons a freaking demon at level 2 is getting annoying. I mean if you role play, then your lifestory just ends right there because you got wiped out by a demon.

DetectiveMittens

Idk the demon is pretty fun - also the potential abuse at higher levels is worth it.

With Improved Chaos Shield and certain items in SoA and ToB - such bounties :33
But i can see why it might not be amusing at the lower levels.

atcDave

I don't really mind the occasional reload. It's not like it happens a lot, maybe once or twice in any given game. And not only is Neera a hoot, but even her occasional malfunctions make me laugh, so totally worth it.

TheGraveDigger

I only babysit her long enough to complete her quest.

elminster

At BGEE levels I don't normally use her Dweomer so her wild surges aren't nearly as common. Her starting spellbook is amazing so she's a great mage even without it.

Elendar

Quick loading is simple enough... so why not take Neera along? :P

mylegbig

I reload often so I don't mind. I've used her quite often for both good and neutral parties in BG:EE. Personality wise though, I'd say she's the worst out of all the new NPCs, at least in the first game (haven't had time to play much of BG2:EE). Her voice, vocabulary, and overall personality make her a better fit for a bad sitcom or romantic comedy than a medieval fantasy setting.

Markos

I used Neera in both games until the end and I enjoyed her very much. Yes I had to reload a couple of times, especially on BGEE, but I didn't mind, she is a very funny character and a powerful mage. And actually the wild surges rarely occurred, except when using reckless Dweomer. I think from now on she will have a permanent spot in my team for future playthroughs.

Elendar

Now its time to go make a party of 5 wild mages and recruit Neera and see how far I can get. :P

Schneidend

I have not done it yet, but my next group is going to be as follows:

BG1
Female Half-orc Barbarian CHARNAME
Khalid
Jaheira
Imoen
Neera
Rasaad


BG2
Female Half-orc Barbarian CHARNAME
Jaheira
Minsc
Imoen (Going to avoid trap-heavy quests until I go to Spellhold)
Neera
Rasaad

Moczo

Haven't seen her in BG2:EE yet, but I'd call her my favorite of the new NPCs in BG:EE. She's useful, funny, and her Wild Magic isn't so bad as long as you don't use Reckless Dweomer. Worst I've gotten is a few color changes.

Thrasymachus

She's in my current BGEE party (Avenger, Imoen, Ajantis, Rasaad, and Neera) and has been working out great. A few wild surges here and there, but nothing too horrible (yet). We're getting close to the end of BGEE...

I stay away from NRD until (much) higher levels.

jackjack

I just picked her up.

Silverstar

Had her with me throughout the first game. Unfortunately there's not enough party member slots to go around in the sequel and I only want so many arcane casters in my party. Guess I'll do her quest maybe, but that'll be it.

marceror

I used her in BGEE. I had expected to use her in BGII:EE, but she and another party member are no longer willing to be in the party together (even though they were just fine together in BGEE). I decided to stick with the other party member, as he is a better fit for my party overall. But otherwise I would still have Neera.

OcculusX

I used her in both BGEE and BGII:EE. In BGEE, she's a little immature, and more of a caricature than a character (Neera: "I like chaotic chaos-like stuff that burns stuff and drops cattle on the bad baddies!" -- Me: "Right..."). In BGII:EE I can't quite explain it, but, she seems like more of a character than a caricature. I like her character in BGII:EE quite a lot (maybe because her personality is a lot like the girls that I've dated in the past).

In BGEE, I used her more as a stat debuffer than as a fire slinger. The best spells in the game were horror, confusion, and chaos. Her job was to break the minds of the opposition, to give the fighters in the group a chance to pick them off, and at this, she excelled. (Chaos still does wonders in SoA). In this capacity, I very rarely, if ever got any of the random and deadly side effects of wild surges.

In BGII:EE; there are so many more options to work with! Sure, she'll act as a debuffer to crush enemy mages defenses, and to bring confusion to the enemy lines... but she can also cast Horrid Wilting (which sometimes summons demons, instead... it's a bit of a pain... I'm not going to lie). But by this point, Rasaad is closer to level 17, and he eats demons (that he can hit), for breakfast. 4 attacks, most of which will hit for close to 30 dmg! She really comes into her own. (Note: I haven't actually experimented with reckless dweomer... so maybe that's why I haven't seen too many issues)

(Rasaad has been acting in the capacity of the party drill-press, punching holes in the toughest of the opposition)

KidCarnival

I use her to get a gem bag.

CoryNewb

I loved her in BG1 and so far so good in BG2.

GamingFreak

Well random and uncontrollable powers are generally a bad idea for a hard-core run. In fact I'd consider even paying someone to make a hardcore Wild Mage run. Good lord one RNG curse could ruin an entire run of the game.

But as for your situation yes, she can randomly summon demons, change the genders of your party, blah blah blah. To offset the negatives you just need her level 2 chaos shield spell, and it'll greatly decrease the chance of bad wild surges.

Rajick

I'm using her in bgII she's freaking awesome.
Wild serge: spell caster level decreased by 1
Wild serge: spell caster level increased by 4

That's a lose win if I've ever saw one

Anduin

I use Neera. ALL the time.

First I strip her naked.

Then abandon her.

...

If I'm feeling kind, for the Hell of it, I do her quest.

Then strip her naked.

Then abandon her.

[Deleted User]

I was lukewarm on Neera in BGEE, but I'm liking her character a lot better in BG2EE in terms of writing and dialogue. Plus, early on in BG2 you get all of these high level spell scrolls raining from the sky that none of your mages can use yet, but Neera can NRD them out from the word go.

Ayiekie

Her randomly summoning a demon saved the party once, as I'd wandered into a high-level group of foes I was wholly unprepared to deal with. We ran like hell and the demon killed all but one of the enemies before despawning, allowing to come back, pop the last one and cheerfully collect the loot.

element

ive used her across the entire saga and im loving her

it may help ive played wild mage before so im used to it

personally I find the class adds a lot of excitement to the game as there's always a chance things can get crazy and that's good in my book

nano

I love demon summoning because more often than not it works in my favor. The AI doesn't know to run away so even when it's the one casting Gate the demon ends up killing half their party.

booinyoureyes

KidCarnival said:

I use her to get a gem bag.

Fits with Eldoth Roleplay

Millardkillmoore

I once got a "Wild Surge: Roll 4 more wild surges." One of the subsequent surges was "Roll 4 more wild surges." Suddenly 7 surges were going off at once and she didn't have chaos shield up. Long story short: Half the party died, but so did Irenicus.

Neera's a riot. her dialogue is amusing and wild surges are great for a laugh, especially when a giant demon gets summoned at low level and starts tearing through Sarevok.

Alexisisinneed

Neera is a must for my party.

CutlassJack

I loved having her around for her personality/dialogue. But I'll be honest, I didn't let her cast much. To be fair I never let any mage cast much, so that's not purely a Wild Mage thing.

However I got alot of milage out of her when I realized she didn't get surges when using Wands. I usually have a hard time using consumable items I can sell for decent cash, but she gave me a really good excuse to not do that for once. Made the game so much easier.

Magnus_Grelich

I'll be honest, I've never liked her character. Wild magic is too much of a liability, and I just find her character, voice, mannerisms and development annoying. She just doesn't fit in with the setting at all, in my eyes.
There was a review on BG2EE recently, where the reviewer summed up my feelings almost completely. Their criticisms lay mostly with the new characters, as they felt they hadn't been implemented very well. I know some may disagree, but the more I though on it, the more obvious it seemed. With the exception of Rasaad and Dorn, anyway.

Dordledum

I kind of like her actually, is her voice the same as that tiefling in NWN2?

In BG1, I now use the following: Main ( human fighter to be dualed as cleric), Minsc, Jaheira, Imoen (as full thief until I get Coran, then dual to mage), and Neera. Use the 6th slot to switch around between quest-giving NPCs.

Come BGII, I'm not sure yet, think I'll take Neera along again, also might use that mysterious thief.