BG:EE - should I dual Imoen?

longjones

I'm playing the game for the first time and with evil party on top of that:
Charname Blackguard lvl 5 - 18/97,18,18,10,12,21 (tome and Algernon's cloak)
Imoen lvl 6
Montaron lvl 4/4 (he stole Drizzt's Icingdeath)
Xzar lvl 4
Branwen lvl 5
Edwin lvl 4
Definitely going for Xzar dual as cleric (not using any mods so Visconia and her MR would just be huge pain in the butt).
So question is - should I dual Imoen and what are her school restrictions?

shawne

She'll be dualled in BG2 anyway, might as well get used to it. No school restrictions because you can't dual her into a mage kit.

Luigirules

I disagree. You've got two mages already, you don't need another one.

Also, BG:EE uses the BG2 engine, which prevents your party from resisting friendly spells.

Madhax

I wouldn't dual. As Luigi said, you already have Edwin and Xzar. Imoen can reach level 10 thief in BG:EE if you don't dual her, and works nicely as an archer. Give her the Dale's Defender bracers for more accuracy, and spend your extra money that you'll be swimming in on premium ammo.

EntropyXII

I always do, otherwise it down right annoys me she illegally changes class in BG2.

My first playthrough I took Imoen to Thief lvl10 before transferring to BG2. Finding out she has now become a lvl7 Thief/lvl8 Mage was annoying to say the least.

Heindrich

There is no gaming reason to dual-class Imoen. She functions best as a pure thief and archer support in BG 1.

However, if you are strict about RP, you will Dual-class her to mage at lv7.

Madhax

Heindrich1988 said:

There is no gaming reason to dual-class Imoen. She functions best as a pure thief and archer support in BG 1.

That's debatable. She's a fine thief, sure. But with some preparation, you can reach maximum Find Traps/Pick Locks with her by level 6 (possibly with some item/potion support, but nothing serious), and then hit level 9 Mage. A Mage that can cast any spell in the game, wield a shortbow, and clear Durlag's Tower of its traps and treasures is a very powerful party member.

CrevsDaak

I ever dual-class her (if I do) at level 8, because of one level more of Thief and nine in mage.
@Heindrich1988 I forgot to namedrop you :P

Heindrich

Madhax said:

That's debatable. She's a fine thief, sure. But with some preparation, you can reach maximum Find Traps/Pick Locks with her by level 6 (possibly with some item/potion support, but nothing serious), and then hit level 9 Mage. A Mage that can cast any spell in the game, wield a shortbow, and clear Durlag's Tower of its traps and treasures is a very powerful party member.

@Madhax
I guess I spoke from the experience of using the canon party, where Imoen was my only thief. If you don't have a second thief capable of dealing with traps/locks, losing Imoen's skills for such a long period of the game seems a much more serious penalty than the bonus of having her as a capable mage for the endgame.

I mean I suppose an experienced player and powergamer might do things like plan ahead so they do portions of the game with few traps/locks, or remove party members and farm xp to get Imoen's thief skills back. But I personally regard such tactics as cheesy and a beginner wouldn't be able to plan ahead to such detail without consulting a walkthrough, which spoilers the game.

longjones

Heindrich1988 said:

There is no gaming reason to dual-class Imoen. She functions best as a pure thief and archer support in BG 1.

However, if you are strict about RP, you will Dual-class her to mage at lv7.

Yeah, I think I will go for 10lvls of thief, kill off Montaron, get Visconia as healer/ranged (tome of wis), tank on Charname (tome of str) and Branwen (give her GoOP for more dmg and tome of dex and con), stay pure caster with Xzar (tome of int) and Edwin (The Brawling Hands for biggest AC gain) and it should be fine for the rest of the game.

kamuizin

Do it for roleplay prupose only, but it will be a hell of a game to compensate for, dualling class with her at level 7 (to keep true on BG2 Imoen level). Get Alora or Eldoth/Skie in your party if you're going to do this, or have a very huge tank to break traps for you.


(BG traps rarelly are instant kill ones, normally they only do damage, sometimes a lot of damage, sometimes infinite damage as the trap in Durlag's Tower that protect the flame blade...)