Neera vs Qara

Frond

Does Neera remind anyone else of Qara from NWN 2? Their characters seem similar to me, except for Qara's arrogant attitude. And their stories are similar too.

elminster

Yea they are very similar.

element

she reminded me a bit more of Neeshka tbh or at least her speech patterns do

I never used Qara though as my pc in that game was a pale master

Erinne

IDK about that as I haven't played NWN, but she always reminded me of Veronica from Fallout: New Vegas.

Silverstar

I agree with element, she's more similar to Neeshka. Qara's a total bitch while Neera's annoying at worst.

recklessheart

Yeah, I kind of agree. I get very confused about the distinction between the practices of Wild Mages & Sorcerers. It's very odd. Generally, I prefer Qara. She is a bitch, but she is more to be a caricature of what it is to be a Sorcerer, as Sand is for Wizards. They are the extreme ends of each arcane discipline, which I think makes them very interesting and intriguing. Neera is fine, I haven't really used her yet so we'll see! Judging by her dialogue during her SoA sidequest though she is kind of like Qara, yeah.

Fardragon

I dislike all the NWN2 NPCs.

ReadingRambo

Fardragon said:

I dislike all the NWN2 NPCs.

Even the MotB ones??? Kaelyn and okku are two of my favorite D&D npcs. I love kaelyns voice work, for some reason the actress voice gives me a bit of goosebumps. Strange, I know, but its so soothing.

Illustair

Even some of the OC ones are among my most favorite too i.e. Ammon, Bishop, Sand, and Qara (she should have been romanceable also); I second Kaelyn also...too bad you can't give her a happy ending and yeah, she should have been romanceable too.

RedWizard

Kaelyn does get a happy ending. In fact, she's to me the best example of a good aligned character, one that's willing to go against even the laws of the gods, including so called gods of good that still allow abominations like the Wall just to uphold the status quo,the laws of the planes themselves in order to uphold justice and help the innocent.

Illustair

Hmm..did she? The goal was noble, but she was unsuccessful if I'm not mistaken. It ends up badly for her no matter what - being an outcast and another being blackened (her wings?) by the ordeal. I could remember vaugely though.

shawne

@Illustair: Not exactly - if you support her Crusade and kill Rammaq (the demilich), the ending she gets is that she and her followers start staging hit-and-run attacks on the Wall of the Faithless, freeing a few souls at a time. It's a small victory, but it still counts...

OP: I don't think they're very similar at all: Qara has no problem with hurting people through her magic, and tends to gain influence when the PC suggests she should just cut loose and burn everything in sight. Neera doesn't have that kind of vicious streak to her.

Fardragon

ReadingRambo said:

Fardragon said:

I dislike all the NWN2 NPCs.

Even the MotB ones??? Kaelyn and okku are two of my favorite D&D npcs. I love kaelyns voice work, for some reason the actress voice gives me a bit of goosebumps. Strange, I know, but its so soothing.

No, just the OC ones. Bland and uninteresting. MoB was far superior.

ShadowHunter

I don't think Neera and Qara have something similiar at all.
Qara is a selfish, egocentric sorceror who loves to burn things and to make people go crazy.
Neera isn't selfish at all IMO , I don't see Qara helping other people setting up a refugee camp etc.

Their stories aren't similiar at all ..... they both burned something but the diffrence is Neera didn't control it , Qara did it on purpose. Neera fled because she felt bad and guilty , Qara got kicked out the academy and started fighting the whole academy because she thinks , no she KNOWS she's right while she isn't an angel either.

The only think they have in common is burning something down and the fact they use magic but beside that ... not very much

Belanos

Fardragon said:

I dislike all the NWN2 NPCs.

What's the matter with you? How can you not like Khelgar?

DrHappyAngry

Fardragon said:

I dislike all the NWN2 NPCs.

Seriously? They had some of the best banter between them.

It was always hilarious to take Grobnar along with Bishop and Khelgar who were both down on him.

Bishop: "Grobnar you miserable little half man, strike up a tune, before I strike you."

Or when you have Khelgar and Grobnar along and are doing Khelgar's Ironfist clan quest. The leader of the expedition from his clan asks him "Is this gnome with you?"

Khelgar: "Nevermind him, he's arrow bait."

Fardragon

Belanos said:

Fardragon said:

I dislike all the NWN2 NPCs.

What's the matter with you? How can you not like Khelgar?

He I s an idiot, and his story option to become a monk is pointless, since as a monk, he sucks.

GamingFreak

Qara was as funny in regards to her spell mishaps, but Qara was a much bigger braggart than Neera was, and honestly Qara got on the nerves and it was a relief when you were able to replace her in the party with the much funnier and more intellectual Sand. I tolerated her though because until you acquire Sand she's the only arcane caster in the group save for the MC, who may not be, in fact, a wizard/sorcerer.

shawne

@GamingFreak: I think the way we perceive NWN2's NPCs largely depends on the characters we're RPing - for my LE PC, Qara was a much more suitable companion than Sand both because she's more powerful (in-story and mechanically) and because the thing she values most in the world is the freedom to do as she likes. Sand can come off as more arrogant by comparison (especially when you find out why he dislikes Qara so much). And there are points in the game where she can be more loyal than Sand (ie: she offers to take your place during the duel with Lorne while Sand just gives you a few potions).

Fardragon

It doesn't really matter if you are a good or evil, Sand and Qara are both as arrogant as each other, and not people I would want to spend time with.

Silverstar

Sorry for spinning off-topic here but

Fardragon said:

since as a monk, he sucks.

That's not neccessarily accurate actually. If you know allready when/before you get him that you want to turn him into a Monk and spend his attributes thusly on levelups, he can become a decent Monk since when he turns level 1, he keeps all the attribute points you allready spent on him and gets new ones from leveling up again due to his leveling "catching up" to the rest of the party.

Fardragon

His wisdom is too low for him to be any better than a poor excuse for a monk.

CrevsDaak

@Fardragon so his low wisdom encouraged him to turn into a monk to get wiser :P

Narcissist

I tend to prefer the NWN2 party members over the ones in Baldur's Gate. Although a large part of that is because they tend to be a bit more chatty, so you get to know more about them.

None of them beat Minsc though.

Fardragon

CrevsDaak said:

@Fardragon so his low wisdom encouraged him to turn into a monk to get wiser :P

If he had been awarded a significant wisdom bonus, then he would have at least been competitive, but 3rd edition monks are quite dependant on wisdom (and dex, which is also poor).

But the team role of a monk is basically the same as fighter, so your reward for completing the quest is the option to have him do the same job, only less well.

ReadingRambo

I see very little reason to ever turn him into a monk due to his amazing Hammer of Ironfist.

Fardragon

ReadingRambo said:

I see very little reason to ever turn him into a monk due to his amazing Hammer of Ironfist.

Quite. Which makes the option to do so worthless as a quest reward.

Now, if Grobnar could multi class to rogue and provide an alternative to having to drag the Tiefling everywhere, that would have been worthwhile.

ReadingRambo

Back on topic, despite their similarities the hilarity of some of Qaras exchanges with other party members (particularly with Neeshka and Khelgar in Duncan's tavern) are unmatched by Neera. But I find Neera much more endearing as a character, and if both npcs turned against my PC would have no problem putting Qara down but would be very sad to have to fight Neera.

Neeera's, like, totally a cutie, and, like, Qaras a total censored.

ScotGaymer

I don't like Qara at all. Primarily because as an Evil character the way she is written is text book Stupid Evil complete with Mustache Twirling Cackling rather than a genuinely compelling evil character.

That kind of character is just boring to me.

The frustrating thing is Bishop is an example of a really well written Evil character, and its in the exact same game.

Neera and Qara aren't even in the same league. Neera would own that *****.

Fardragon

Unfortunately, someone who can throw fireballs is a lot more effective than someone who shoots wooden sticks!

BelgarathMTH

I don't find Qara to be useful at all, for a similar reason that I don't find Neera useful.

Qara loves to throw fireballs. The problem is, she doesn't care who she hits with them. Unless you turn off all AI and micromanage her casting round by round, she will hurt you and your party as bad or worse than the bad guys. She'll also cast random spells that make absolutely no tactical sense, and waste half her spell slots for the day, contributing either nothing, or devastating your own party. I find it tedious to have to make my whole tactical game about controlling her.

And of course, Neera has that whole random wild surge thing going on. Sooner or later, she will cause a disaster. She's like a ticking time bomb.

EDIT: When Qara inevitably turned on me in the final battle, we attacked her first, and she went down in two rounds. It was kind of pitiful, actually. She had time to cast one spell, and she chose "Protection from Evil". Against the good party she had just betrayed. It'd be hilarious if it weren't tragic.