Neera or Nalia?

sorcerin

Hello, I'm looking for some advice.

I'm playing through BG 2: EE (I played through BG2 multiple times before, this is my first time playing the EE.)

Here is my party:

CHARNAME (Inquisitor)
Minsc
Jaheira
Anomen
Neera
Yoshimo/Imoen

I'm currently early in Chapter 2. I will swap out Yoshimo for Imoen later on. Playing Jahiera romance. Not interested in having Edwin or Jan in the party.

My question is whether I should drop Neera for Nalia for one of the mage slots.

Neera is annoying. I don't trust her. I get the feeling she's going to ditch the party at an inopportune time. I get the feeling her wild magic will do something bad during a tough fight. I'm not particularly enamored of the wild mage class in and of itself.

I've never played through with Nalia before. Not interested in using her as a partial thief, only as a mage.

1. Is Nalia equally annoying as Neera?
2. Mechanics-wise, is Neera superior because she is a pure mage, or ultimately does it not matter? (In other words, can I play through ToB just as well with Nalia in the party instead of Neera?)
3. Are my fears about Neera overblown?
4. Anything else I should consider but maybe I'm missing?

Thanks in advance!

jankiel

1. Neera is nowhere as annyoing as Nalia. Also I like Neera's side quest.
2. I found Neera to be much better but then again I am a wild mage lover.
3. Yep

SharGuidesMyHand

Between the two, I much prefer Nalia - she's much more reliable, has better stats, and gets some extra weapon and even armor choices because of her inactive thief class.

If you plan to use Nalia solely as a mage, she's basically as powerful as any mage in the game. Even so, her thieving skills can still be useful if you're in a pinch, though you would need an item or potion to increase them first.

Both characters are each associated with a very good sidequest.

WebShaman

sorcerin said:

1. Is Nalia equally annoying as Neera?

No, she is not. Unless you do not like Aristocrates. You can even marry her. She has a rather interesting side quest (provided one likes the noble side of things). Definitely not as high-maintenance as Neera, however!

sorcerin said:

2. Mechanics-wise, is Neera superior because she is a pure mage, or ultimately does it not matter? (In other words, can I play through ToB just as well with Nalia in the party instead of Neera?)

Neera is superior because she is a pure mage AND a wild mage to boot! She is only second to Edwin, and that barely. And yes, you can play through ToB just as well with Nalia.

sorcerin said:

3. Are my fears about Neera overblown?

Not really. Neera can do some pretty devastating things to the party (or members) with her wild mage, and strangely enough, it seems to happen exactly at the worst possible moment!

sorcerin said:

4. Anything else I should consider but maybe I'm missing?

Role-playing stat PGing, with your group you will probably be better off with Nalia IMHO. Neera is really for the more chaotic type of party - freedom lovers, rogues, those who reside a bit outside of the law, that sort of thing. As an inquisitor, I think your main will find Neera to be really too chaotic and unorganized, not to mention a walking disaster waiting to happen!

Nalia is more used to an organized, follow-the-rules sort of system. She will fit in fine with your group (especially with Anomen in the party, being that he is of noble stock).

Hope that helps.

[Deleted User]

Some additional notes:

You don't have to worry about Neera up and abandoning you; she'll stick with you. Neera is a superior mage to Nalia both for the Wild Mage perks and because being a Wild Mage gives her extra spell slots, but you can probably get by just fine with Nalia and Imoen. On the other hand, if you keep Neera around, you can do her ToB quest (I'm assuming you've already done her SoA quest).

Spungi

Neera becomes crazy strong when she gets certain items, makes her dweomer thingy, or whatever it's called crazy awesome

toshiro

Neither both are weak and useless, get Edwin instead. Unless you love to hear Nalia whine and complain or Neera magic not only fizzle but harm your team from the blowback. Use Edwin and Imoen magic is not as vital in TOB as it was in SOA. You can also take Sarevok and dual him as mage

TheRaven476

Isn't Nalia considered one of the worst NPCs? I don't really see any redeeming qualities for Nalia.

I'm not quite sure why people keep suggesting Edwin if the OP didn't want that as an option. If you're playing good alignment and want max rep Edwin won't be an option since he'll leave past rep 18 if I remember.

I'd get Neera. I played my main character as a wild mage through BG1-2. Wild mages are kind of crap at low levels and not really better than any other mage....

BUT!!!!!

Once they get to high levels the switch is flipped and they are incredible dominant. You just have to wait it out until they can abuse Nahal's Reckless Dweomer then wild mages can do amazing things.

Put the ring of wizardry on her so she gets double 1st level spells and fill them all with Nahal's Reckless Dweomer. If you're going into a tough fight stack Improved Chaos Shield (It stacks multiple times.......) so your wild surge is always positive...... then "Look at all these high level spells I can cast!!!!".

Dazzu

toshiro said:

magic is not as vital in TOB as it was in SOA

elminster

toshiro said:

Neither both are weak and useless, get Edwin instead. Unless you love to hear Nalia whine and complain or Neera magic not only fizzle but harm your team from the blowback. Use Edwin and Imoen magic is not as vital in TOB as it was in SOA. You can also take Sarevok and dual him as mage

1) No mage is weak or useless in BG2. Quite the contrary.
2) Edwin has his own problems because he can end up getting into a fight with Valygar, Minsc, or Keldorn. This is kind of an issue given Minsc is being used in this party.
3) Taking Sarevok and dualing him as a mage would just be a bad move in this case. Imoen and Nalia would likely end up being better mages because they would end as a higher level (more level 9 spells) and they would have access to level 9 spells, triggers, continguencies, etc much sooner). Sarevok takes an additional 3 million xp from the start of ToB just to get to the point where he gets his fighter levels back. Considering the power of mages in ToB it just isn't worth it.

To the OP I would stick with Neera. She isn't the safer choice but she can end up pretty powerful.

CrypticWizard

I personally prefer Nalia. I think the fact that she has thieving skills as well as magic makes her even more useful. Unless your main is a thief, your only other choice for thief is Yoshimo, and he betrays you. Once you retrieve Imoen, it's then a toss-up which one is better.

toshiro

You really only need Imoen, you world do better with 2 clerics than 2 mages unless you have jan in your party then he covers both mage and thief class. Give Imoen staff of magi and robe of vecna, and no bows with the right spells when she runs out of offensive spell she is a good fighter not a great one but with tenser she goes from a c+ to b+, it is true that Edwin's con does suck but get him early enough with potion he gets enough hp to live through a fight, Even with all the buffs there is still a chance that neera's magic goes awry, Nalia's thieving skills become obsolete in midgame of SOA, jan is way better. As to Sarevok I always made him a thief, there is something twisted about an evil person wielding Corsomyr, though with the right dialogue he becomes good.

DreadKhan

Unless you're dying lots and hate rods, I think 2 clerics is a bit much in later SoA; 1 cleric should do fine for you, unless you are gonna spam Skellies I guess.

Edwin has 16 cons. his dex is 10, but AC for mages in BG2 is fluff.

Neera is a powerhouse, but seems more of a 'Jan' party member. In that party, take Nalia imho.

meagloth

Neera. Definitely.

ifupauline

as a wild mage neera will be funnier and stronger to play, but I prefer nalia's personality by miles or kilometers.

CrypticWizard

I also like the fact that Nalia looks like Drew Barrymore

atcDave

Personally I think Neera is tons more fun than Nalia. Either fills the slot as a Mage competently, but Neera can be just a bit more.
Obviously, if you dislike Neera, Nalia is a completely acceptable substitute.

GoodSteve

I'm not a fan of either of them personality or combat wise. The Wild Mage is an unpredictable class that I find goes haywire in the most inopportune times. Nalia is a fairly useless Thief, her skills aren't really high enough for her to do anything competently without the use of numerous potions, she is basically a much worse version of Imoen. The use of bows and elven chain gives Nalia a slight edge in my opinion. Sure, Neera will have more spells per day but really when you get into late SoA and ToB I find myself resting with tons of spells left over most of the time anyway.

To answer your questions:

1. That's really dependant on personal opinion. One comes off as a holier-than-thou but naive girl who is trying to do the good thing, only going about it the wrong way (being haughty and smug.) The other is a goofball comedic relief character that is chaotic and unpredictable. One moment she'll go from nice and understanding to standoffish and irritating at the drop of a hat. I also think that beamdog's take on the Wild Mage having to be some sort of comic relief goofball character is dumb and ill-informed (literally every wild mage in the game is a weirdo at best.)

2. Mechanics-wise I think it's really close but I'd give a very very slight edge to Nalia. Neera has more spells but also has a chance to blow up her party members or not get off important spells when you really need them to. Nalia isn't as strong of a mage but gets some thief skills (mostly useless without augmenting them with potions), bow proficiency, and the ability to use elven chain armors. You can absolutely go through all of ToB with Nalia as your main mage instead of Neera.

3. Yes, from what I understand Neera doesn't just up and leave, unless you let your reputation drop to abysmal levels but that is true of any non-evil NPC.

iavasechui

I pretty much never use Nalia as a thief, she is an amazing mage with elven chain and bows XD I've also had a soft spot for her ever since the one time she earned her way into my final party when I was originally planing on taking her for her quest then swapping her out when she managed to land the final blow on that red dragon whose name I cannot spell who was seconds away from killing my PC. The rest of my party was unconcious or dead... Lucky fluke I know but I've had a soft spot for her ever since.

Klorox

Nalia. At least she can shoot a bow when not casting spells.

I prefer rushing to get Imoen so she can be the party's main Mage.

Glidderdust

I'd take Nalia.

I tried using a charname Wild Mage twice and took Neera once. Didn't like it any time.

WebShaman

GoodSteve said:

I also think that beamdog's take on the Wild Mage having to be some sort of comic relief goofball character is dumb and ill-informed (literally every wild mage in the game is a weirdo at best.)

Well, given how Wild Magic works, anyone who actually would [b]STAY[/b] with it and try to develope it further must be a bit unhinged, really.

It is sort of like someone who disarms bombs, but with the added bit that the bomb could go off at any time, for any reason (or no reason at all). Provided that this person survived such explosions, who in their right mind would wish to continue this line of work?

I really like BeamDogs take on Wildmages, myself.

Btw - Neera's "master" doesn't seem to be dumb and ill-informed (or a weirdo).

Gallowglass

Well, heck, it can be argued either way, and your choice depends mainly upon your own playing style.

Personally, I find the unpredictability of Wild Mages pretty irritating (particularly when they have undesirable surges at critical times, which they're pretty prone to do, especially in the early stages), and I've also found that Nalia can be somewhat useful with her shortbow (whereas Neera is poor with physical weapons), so I'd generally go with Nalia.

Nevertheless, I've finished the saga with Neera in the party, and she definitely gets less flaky (fewer undesirable surges) as the game progresses.

sorcerin

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OlvynChuru

I'd say go with Neera because you can do the main Nalia quest whether you have her in your party or not, but you can only do the Neera quests if she is in your party, I think.