Dualling Imoen at Level 3

Eadwyn_G8keeper

I am thinking of an all female playthrough with Fighter/Thief Charname then recruiting Jaheira, Branwen and Garrick [RPing that he is afraid of retribution from Silke's relatives and uses the Ogre's belt to hide his identity].

My question is what Thief skills should I choose for Imoen before she duals to Mage at Level 3. I am currently thinking of putting everything into Stealth and simply being unable to open difficult locks if Knock doesn't turn up.

elminster

No point. She can get invisibility as a spell if you really want her for backstabbing. If you want her as a scout then invisibility is better because it'll end up being more reliable.

Assuming you pick her up at level 1 you only have 50 points to put towards something. Her starting stats are as followed.

Thieving Skills (level 1)

Open Locks: 25
Find Traps: 35
Pick Pockets: 25
Move Silently: 35
Hide in Shadows: 15
Detect Illusion: 0
Set Traps: 5

If you aren't planning on putting any points towards open locks for charname then I'd use all 50 on that skill for Imoen. 75 should be more than enough for the majority of the games locks and traps. You can use Branwen/Jaheira's 2nd level "Find Traps" spell to detect traps if you'd like as well. You can use Garrick for any pickpocketing you plan on doing.

Eadwyn_G8keeper

Thanks. That is also probably the sort of skill she might have developed in the environs of Candlekeep more logically. What I was mostly interested in for the Stealth was her survivability prior to getting the Robes of Good Achmage in a minimal reload minimal pre-buffing campaign.

DreadKhan

Imoen dualed at 3rd shouldnt be backstabbing, lowish HP and bad THAC0. A figter/thief is a sensible scout/backstabber, and it doesnt take too many points to get decent at with Shadow Armour and Boots of Stealth. A halfer or elf is pretty good at level 1 or 2 with just these.

Remove traps is nice to have. I hate trying to play without it.

SharGuidesMyHand

Eadwyn_G8keeper said:

...and Garrick [RPing that he is afraid of retribution from Silke's relatives and uses the Ogre's belt to hide his identity].

But wouldn't that just turn him back into a man?

Eadwyn_G8keeper

I am not that much into backstabbing as yet. It just doesn't feel right somehow especially when I have very good Melee, Ranged and Arcane options. Eventually I could see Dagger of Venom as very playable and a traditional sort of plot element.

Backstabbling with a Quarterstaff just seems to me, to say the least, outlandish... But then so does allowing my rangers, such as Kivan, to shed his Splint Mail without dropping it on the ground, in order to get Stealth ability.

DreadKhan

Well, splint would be SLIGHTLY packable... plate and moreso fullplate (halberds, twohanded swords, quarterstaffs etc) are all even more ridiculous to 'stow away'. If you are adventureous, make Kivan a stalker maybe? Only studded leather, and you'd want to respec his halberd maybe, but it is fitting to his personality.

Backstabbing with the DoV is somewhat unnecesary, but poison does slow folks down. I heartily used this sideffect of poison with glee vs Sarevok on solos... easy to hide again that way. DoV is brutal though.

I dont mind backwhacking with a staff, but agreed it seems unwieldly to do so. 3.x sneak attack is more sensible for this.