I've never fully understood why Nalia is a thief to mage dual class and have always thought it would make more sense story wise for her to go the other way, i.e. learning magic as a privileged scholar then escaping out into the big, bad world where she would develop roguish skills. I guess the main reason is game-play related as she would miss out more on the higher level mage skills (higher level spells etc.) than she would higher level thief skills.
It made sense to me. I see her small amount of thief levels being there as she made it a habit of sneaking out of the keep (as far as I remember, she did anyway!)... and all she needed for that was just a bit of practice on her own and nothing more, whereas the magic studies due to her high status were constant... so she is more of a mage with very minor sneaking out of castle abilities.
Nalia is easily one of my favourite NPCs, and I'm glad somebody has made this post as I was too lazy to attempt it.
What I believe to be likeable about Nalia is that her character hasn't been written to be instantly loved. Aerie is such a two-dimensional, bland attempt at creating a naive, do-gooder female character. Nalia possesses similar naivety, but she is much more realistic due to her flaws. If she were not in some way a snob, or close-minded, then her psychology would make no sense, really. How can she have lived all her life as nobility and yet be pain-stakingly modest and content to trudge around in the Sewers? It wouldn't be credible. Her banters with the other party members are interesting, insightful and often intellectually humorous.
Another dimension is added to Nalia's character by ToB. There are hints that an evil-alignment side-quest was planned for her, and it's a pity this never got implemented. Even so, her dialogues with other NPCs show her significant growth since leaving De'Arnise Keep and exposing herself to the realistic, unforgiving world (likely under the wing of the protagonist). Nalia has heartwarming banter; and entertaining banter; and even controversial banter: In ToB, she will discuss the protagonist with Cernd, suggesting that she does not trust his/her strength, and wanted a Druid's opinion on just how dangerous somebody like the protagonist may be to the world. Imoen grows; Nalia grows; Aerie whines.
But these are just my opinions. Nalia does not have as much dialogue as a character like Aerie, and more than most NPCs she takes time to become positively presented. Because of this, I do recommend people try her out in different party compositions and give her a chance - her character writing is more subtle than most, I feel.
Furthermore - to whom it may concern - her mechanics are not that flawed. I find I can do most thief stuff with her, and minor attachments (rings, etc.) can comfortably cover anything that her normal levels of thief cannot. I don't care much about game mechanics, to be honest. I don't believe any of the BG2 NPCs are 'bad' - all of them are powerful in their own right, and should be weighed up against their enemies, not one another. Take the people you want to experiment with, or whose personalities appeal to you.
No, you're not alone, Nalia is awesome, i pretty much always have her along as my sidekick, never had half as many problems with her as most others seem to.
I like Nalia enough to keep her around for awhile, but I tend to kick her out of the party after doing a couple of quests with her though. I tend to rotate the NPCs around during a playthrough but she seems to be one I never come back to.
IMO she is an Imonen clone though, even her Character Quest is a mirror image of what you are attempting with Imonen.
Comments
What I believe to be likeable about Nalia is that her character hasn't been written to be instantly loved. Aerie is such a two-dimensional, bland attempt at creating a naive, do-gooder female character. Nalia possesses similar naivety, but she is much more realistic due to her flaws. If she were not in some way a snob, or close-minded, then her psychology would make no sense, really. How can she have lived all her life as nobility and yet be pain-stakingly modest and content to trudge around in the Sewers? It wouldn't be credible. Her banters with the other party members are interesting, insightful and often intellectually humorous.
Another dimension is added to Nalia's character by ToB. There are hints that an evil-alignment side-quest was planned for her, and it's a pity this never got implemented. Even so, her dialogues with other NPCs show her significant growth since leaving De'Arnise Keep and exposing herself to the realistic, unforgiving world (likely under the wing of the protagonist). Nalia has heartwarming banter; and entertaining banter; and even controversial banter: In ToB, she will discuss the protagonist with Cernd, suggesting that she does not trust his/her strength, and wanted a Druid's opinion on just how dangerous somebody like the protagonist may be to the world. Imoen grows; Nalia grows; Aerie whines.
But these are just my opinions. Nalia does not have as much dialogue as a character like Aerie, and more than most NPCs she takes time to become positively presented. Because of this, I do recommend people try her out in different party compositions and give her a chance - her character writing is more subtle than most, I feel.
Furthermore - to whom it may concern - her mechanics are not that flawed. I find I can do most thief stuff with her, and minor attachments (rings, etc.) can comfortably cover anything that her normal levels of thief cannot. I don't care much about game mechanics, to be honest. I don't believe any of the BG2 NPCs are 'bad' - all of them are powerful in their own right, and should be weighed up against their enemies, not one another. Take the people you want to experiment with, or whose personalities appeal to you.
IMO she is an Imonen clone though, even her Character Quest is a mirror image of what you are attempting with Imonen.