I prefer to side with Bodhi. For starters, it makes the game more interesting and unique. Also, it gives you a chance to destroy BOTH of the big evils plaguing Athkatla, since you're going to end up fighting Bodhi anyway. After all that the poor townsfolk have talked about being victimized by the Shadow Thieves, I feel compelled to free them from their grip.
Shadow Thieves - "These guys aren't telling me everything, but they seem to be quite honest with delivering me to my eventual goal. I could use their help, unfortunately." Vampires - "Wow, these guys are completely treacherous, snake-like, and douchebags."
Gee, I wonder what any sane character is going to pick. Mind you, if your character is insane, then by all means side with the Vampires. I'm just explaining why I voted the way I did.
Your character also gets explicit warnings not to join the Shadow Thieves either, though - especially from the former Shadow Thief who lives upstairs in the Copper Coronet.
I went with the thieves on my only complete run through, a half elf Blade. Seemed to fit the character. I'll have to try a darker character to side with Bodhi, or - one that sides with her as a double agent, to get closer up the food chain.
For the sake of roleplay, I've played this path the most, I tend to be a good aligned char, with low wisdom and intelligence. Alas those vamps keep fooling me - oh and how charming they all are!!!
I like siding with the thieves, but if you side with the vamps. Knowing you're going to go back later and kill them, well you could say that that is the right way to go, you take out a vampire coven and a national crime cartel. That said you open up a major power vacuum for a lot of the other bad guys in Amn.
Even if I was playing evil, there wasn't much incentive to side with Bodhi. Plus you know it would come back to bite you in the ass regardless of your alignment.
Even if I was playing evil, there wasn't much incentive to side with Bodhi. Plus you know it would come back to bite you in the ass regardless of your alignment.
Maybe this makes me an incredible stupid or short-sighted person, but when I first had to make this choice I genuinly felt the vampires were the better choice. They appeared to be much more 'lawful' than the thieves, whom I didn't trusted. Bodhi was straight-to-the-point with me, and appeared honest. Perhaps because I am not that familiar with how vampires are percieved by the living, but somehow I wouldn't really CARE that they are evil, or that they are vampires. I don't discriminate. I kinda hate people anyway, so it doesn't matter that the thieves are human. To me this doesn't make them an automatic better choice than Bodhi.
I mean, I just saved a Drow from the stake not minutes before, not realizing how much of a bad thing this was supposed to be. The "yeah, so she's a drow, so what?"-innocence kinda carried over towards my attitude towards the Vampires.
I didn't see it coming that Bodhi would screw me over later, so I guess I'm just that dumb...
I don't think I've ever played an "evil" BG2 game... In fact I only played evil once in a solo run through BG1. But anyway, no, I never felt inclined to side with Bodhi.
I can't really vote because it depends on what type of character I'm playing. I always play through multiple times. One "Evil" and one "Good", and then later one that's neutral.
If you are a true class Thief, Bodhi doesn't accept you anyway.
Also, if you side with Bodhi while you have the stronghold with a multiclass thief, you lose it.
I think thieves can't do both unfortunetely, but you can do it with mods.
Man I want to side with Bodhi for my current evil playthrough, but losing out on a stronghold kind of sucks (I'm a halfling thief). Yea I can mod the game, but its too bad she doesn't let you have your own stronghold. Even if, you know, the thief stronghold isn't great.
Well, my NE character sided with the vampires for pragmatic reasons - the team wasn't ready to face level-draining enemies yet - but as it turned out, doing that allowed me to destroy both the Shadow Thieves and Bodhi in the long run, so that all worked out for the best.
I side with shadow thieves 'cause i prefer backstabbing scums instead of biting undead and 'cause my party member always tell how Bodhi creeps 'em out if i go to meet Bodhi And also 'cause Shadow Thieves don't kill koalas!
Maybe this makes me an incredible stupid or short-sighted person, but when I first had to make this choice I genuinly felt the vampires were the better choice. They appeared to be much more 'lawful' than the thieves, whom I didn't trusted. Bodhi was straight-to-the-point with me, and appeared honest. Perhaps because I am not that familiar with how vampires are percieved by the living, but somehow I wouldn't really CARE that they are evil, or that they are vampires. I don't discriminate. I kinda hate people anyway, so it doesn't matter that the thieves are human. To me this doesn't make them an automatic better choice than Bodhi.
I mean, I just saved a Drow from the stake not minutes before, not realizing how much of a bad thing this was supposed to be. The "yeah, so she's a drow, so what?"-innocence kinda carried over towards my attitude towards the Vampires.
I didn't see it coming that Bodhi would screw me over later, so I guess I'm just that dumb...
I agree completely. The most insidious evil is tyranny wrapped in the clothing of goodness. The first time I played BG2 and saw Viconia being burned at the stake I immediately began massacring the crowd surrounding her (I usually webbed them, before they could run away) and gladly took the reputation hit. Siding with Bodhi was fun, subversive (I had no loyalty to Amn), and pragmatic. I wish I could join the vampires permanently and that there were more intelligent "evil" roleplaying opportunities, as opposed to the caricatures often presented in games and literature. Dragonlance did a series of books from the "evil" perspective years ago that was really well done.
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I'll have to try a darker character to side with Bodhi, or - one that sides with her as a double agent, to get closer up the food chain.
Wouldn't you agree that the tasks you perform for the thieves are actually MORE "evil" than the ones you do for Bodhi?
If you are a true class Thief, Bodhi doesn't accept you anyway.
Also, if you side with Bodhi while you have the stronghold with a multiclass thief, you lose it.
I think thieves can't do both unfortunetely, but you can do it with mods.
I mean, I just saved a Drow from the stake not minutes before, not realizing how much of a bad thing this was supposed to be. The "yeah, so she's a drow, so what?"-innocence kinda carried over towards my attitude towards the Vampires.
I didn't see it coming that Bodhi would screw me over later, so I guess I'm just that dumb...
And also 'cause Shadow Thieves don't kill koalas!