Dualing Imoen
FrdNwsm
Member Posts: 1,069
It seems that most folks feel it is a done deal to dual class Imoen over to a mage. She certainly seems ideal for the task with her Int of 17. Question: Is this best done at the end of BG1, or wait until BG2? Also, this would seem to leave the party without a thief for quite some time, unless I recruit another one. Imoen can't use thief abilities again until she gets to be level 9 mage at the earliest (level 10 mage if I wait till she's level 9 to switch her over). She'll also be a crappy mage for a while, so I need to keep one of those around as well.
So, my group would consist of MyChar (half-orc Kensai), another front line warrior, a cleric, Imoen, and a mage ... leaving me with the choice of keeping Jaheira and doing without a thief entirely for the duration, or parking Jaheira somewhere (thus interrupting her progress in druidic levels, which is already slow enough) and recruiting another thief until Imoen regains her thief abilities.
Not to mention the fact that Imoen's thief abilities would be stuck at level 8 or 9 forever. Is that adequate?
So, my group would consist of MyChar (half-orc Kensai), another front line warrior, a cleric, Imoen, and a mage ... leaving me with the choice of keeping Jaheira and doing without a thief entirely for the duration, or parking Jaheira somewhere (thus interrupting her progress in druidic levels, which is already slow enough) and recruiting another thief until Imoen regains her thief abilities.
Not to mention the fact that Imoen's thief abilities would be stuck at level 8 or 9 forever. Is that adequate?
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Or you can dual earlier, and still max those important skills. I see no reason to continue leveling thief past 7 in any case.
Or, of course, you can just not dual her in BG1. Your choices won't affect BG2 in any way.
BG2 starts with the assumption she has dualed, and is already high enough level to get her thief skills back. So at that point; she is ready to be both my only thief and primary mage.
Obviously a different party may change requirements somewhat (like if you really want another mage in BG1); but generally dualing Imoen is not something I ever worry about.
Now, whether I'd recommend picking up another thief in the meantime depends on where you are in the game. Most dungeons are quite a pain without someone to disarm traps. Most wilderness areas aren't. If you want to dual her at 6th and then wander around the wilderness for a while, you may find she gets her thief levels back before it's a serious issue.
Hang on; this is a bit confusing. Are you saying that if I don't dual class her in BG1, when I take my group into BG2 she will automatically somehow pop up in mage levels? I suspect that I am misunderstanding you, and that you are referring to starting BG2 as a separate entity, rather than bringing over characters from BG1.
>>Now, whether I'd recommend picking up another thief in the meantime depends on where you are in the game.<<
Killing basilisks; will hit probably hit Firewine ruins next, then wander off to Durlag's Tower. Imoen just hit level 8 thief.
As CaptRory said, it's only YOUR character that imports directly into BG2. So it's also good to remember NOT to use any of the attribute raising books on an NPC unless you want the increase purely for BG1; because the NPCs do not directly port over.
Oh wait... Dual? I did that too once. After winning that duel she started to protest and I agreed to let her cast simulacrum so she wouldn't actually have to kiss me. I didn't want to make her feel too uncomfortable...
What? Still a different thing?
That's terrible! So, all my fussing and worrying about my NPC crew's abilities, items and so on is ultimately wasted? I may as well just roll up a new MYCHAR for BG2 as well, and pretend BG1 never happened. Bummer.
But yeah, for the NPCs you just want them optimized FOR BG1. They start fresh in BG2.
What is the difference between Throne of Bhaal and Shadow of Amn?
This guide, under "Baldur's Gate II", lists what items import and how it works.
http://www.forgottenwars.com/bg1/miscellany.htm
If you have none on you, he'll chose a weapon from the list that fits your proficiencies, but you wont get the staff mace (because you will always get staff spear instead, even if you have points in sword and shield é_è) nor kiel's morning star, which is nice because it's cursed.
Edit: Full list is : Flaming earth, Ashideena, Bala's axe, Suryris's blade, Grave Binder, Staff spear, Staff mace, Arla's Dragonbane, Varscona, Krotan's Skullcrusher, Kiel's Morningstar. If you have none, you will get the first weapon in this list for which you have the most pips, save for Flaming earth (you should get Varscona instead) and Kiel's morningstar ( but you won't get anything in its stead here).
Also, I did scout the game a bit with the new one I rolled up, and was appalled to see that they stuck me with Minsc. His experiences seem to have left him, if possible, even crazier than before. I was seriously tempted to leave his loony self and his ridiculous rodent imprisoned in that sealed cage. What other NPCs from BG1, if any, get carried over? Other than the obvious Imoen and Jaheira, that is.
BG1 NPCs that reappear (as party members) in BG2: Jaheira, Minsc, Imoen, Edwin, Viconia, the three EE NPCs (Neera, Rasaad, Dorn)
But either way, you should be able to transfer your character at any point and get your current experience.
There are however, books that add to your abilities fairly late in the game, so it might be worth continuing just for those.
And of course there's also the idea of actually finishing the story. I know there's plenty of cheats and spoilers available, but I always think it's meaningful to finish the story, even on my 40th play through...
You don't ever have to take any particular NPC. Imoen is the closest to "essential", at least to say much of the story concerns her, but even then you can skip her if you want. Although a big part of the fun in BG2 is how they all play off each other. Banters and discussions are always fun. I think multiple play throughs are a blast to try out different character combinations and see how they react to each other.
The "canon party" for the end of BG is CharName, Imoen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jaheira. You can of course use any combination of characters you want, but the story assumes those were your traveling companions at the start of BG2.
I couldn't stomach Minsc for long in BG1; I rescued Dynaheir for him, then dumped them both. End party in BG1 for me is MyChar, Neera, Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira and Branwen.
Minsc is definitely going to get the boot in BG2 as soon as I find a decent replacement. I suppose it's too much to hope for that another NPC takes his place if I go back in BG1 and kill him off. Probably get raised by some busybody do-good cleric. I'm seriously annoyed Khalid isn't available; I put a lot of work into him in BG1.
There should have been an option at the start of BG2 letting you choose which NPCs get carried over from BG1.
The number of NPCs is a little more restricted in BG2; partly because they're so much more involved and have some pretty extensive story and interplay.
But even so, you can build a party of good or evil alignment; and play it for goofy fun or brooding self importance. There is a pretty broad range of character types!