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If NPC mages are assigned to a specialist school....

bbearbbear Member Posts: 1,180
in Archive (General Discussion)
What school should Imoen, Nalia and Aerie be assigned to?

Imoen -> Enchanter b/c high Cha
Aerie -> Abjurer b/c high Wis
Nalia -> Not sure, maybe Transmuter?
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Comments

  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    edited April 2013
    Imoen can't be an enchanter, because she has to be able to cast magic missiles when you leave the starting dungeon of BG2. :-D Plot literally demands it! Plus enchanters are rather haughty, controlling people, and like dominating people and influencing their minds. Think of Xan, he tries very hard to pass on his pessimistic, nihilistic world view and depression to you, constantly. Imoen does try to cheer you up in BG2, but not in a controlling manner, she'll just stick her tongue out and call you names if you disagree with her. :-D

    EDIT:Illusionist suits her better, she is not into icky yucky stuff as Horrid Wilting, but she is not above tossing a fireball to punish baddies. Plus illusions mesh with her thievery and naughty, prankster personality best.

    Aerie as an abjurer, is a nice idea at first, since she is into protecting stuff, and it's not like she will miss casting disintegrate or time stop. Oh, but she has so few hit points, without stoneskins, she will be killed by 1-2 hits later in the game..ugh! She also threatens to turn anyone who treats her like a baby into a squirrel or such IIRC, in ToB when she gains confidence, so no barred alteration school.

    Nalia is..well, transmuter is nice, it gives her a lot of utility spells, knock, haste, polymorph safe, etc. Can't argue with that. She also starts with poly self and even disintegrate spells in her book, IIRC. ^^
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    Imoen's specialty is a tough story - who did she learn magic from? you? xan? edwin?

    I think that sorcerer is too powerful for someone as naive as Nalia.

    I don't know if Aerie learned her mage skills from her elven family, but if he she had learned it from Quayle, she would have been an illusionist. .
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    DJKajuru said:

    Imoen's specialty is a tough story - who did she learn magic from? you? xan? edwin?

    Going by logic, from Dynaheir, as she was the only arcane caster in the "canon" party (not the novels - those don't exist. The group you find in the dungeon with you, dead or alive). Unless charname is an arcane caster.

  • mjsmjs Member Posts: 742
    i was always under the impression that imoen's arcane ability was unlocked under irenicus's "attentions"

    that's why i don't consider dualling imoen in BG to be strictly storyline, as that's done in the inbetween killing sarevok and the attack on chateau irenicus

    just my opinion of course
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    KidCarnival said:

    DJKajuru said:

    Imoen's specialty is a tough story - who did she learn magic from? you? xan? edwin?

    Going by logic, from Dynaheir, as she was the only arcane caster in the "canon" party (not the novels - those don't exist. The group you find in the dungeon with you, dead or alive). Unless charname is an arcane caster.

    Also , The NPC project mod has banters that show Imoen's interest in magic with all spellcasting npc's.
  • SenashSenash Member Posts: 405
    Imoen would be either an Invoker, as her "signature spell" in my mind, but maybe just because of the BG2 cutscenes, is Magic Missile, plus, as @KidCarnival said it, the canon spell caster she could have learned from is Dynaheir, or maybe an Illusionist, since illusion fit her thieving skills, require high dextery and its opposition school, necromancy, is something which she is very much against I think.

    With Nalia, I have no idea, tbh. Transmuter seems fine. Illusionist too, for the same reasons as it fits Imoen.

    Considering Aerie while abjurer seems good at first @lunar is right: polymorphing someone is something that Aerie would definetly do. Illusionist here as welll? :)
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    Imoen had to learn her skills on the road. She didn't have the luxury to pick a school based on her stats or personality. From the implied canon party, there was only Dynaheir (or charname) to teach.

    Nalia as sorcerer: To set her apart from Imoen and not be a "nerfed clone". It would fit her backstory because sorcerers can be naive - their magic comes naturally to them, they don't even need to study. Who would have taught Nalia? Someone in the castle? Someone she met when sneaking out? Magic is treated very differently in BG2; she would have taken a big risk when learning from someone outside the castle. It's not absurd to think that she has ancestors with arcane powers and inherited rather than learned them, and lacking of a mentor, tried to use them for her primary goal of helping the poor (hence Knock and Invisibility, possibly other utility spells, but no offensive/attack ones).
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  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    I agree Nalia as a sorceress sounds great.
  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    I always thought Imoen would make more sense as a bard than a Thief/Mage. It'd also give us a bard NPC that doesn't completely suck. Hahaha.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    Fun fact: In Vanilla BG you could dual-class to specialist mages if you had the stats for it. I always dualed Imoen to a Conjurer.

    Reasons why Vanilla BG > TuTu 101
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    I'm not seeing Nalia with trap detect special skill... She's quite different from the Shadow Thieves, who are all about traps (see their training room). From the skills, I'd say she fits in the same category as Alora - pickpocketing, burglary, sneaking around; but staying far away from things where people get hurt - traps and backstabbing. That doesn't translate well to what a useful thief in BG2 should have... So if she had skills that fit her personality, she'd end up quite gimped again. As a sorcerer, that wouldn't be an issue - with magic, she wouldn't be "tempted" with traps.

    The other change I could see work for her would be a bard. She would get a pickpocketing bonus because no-one would suspect a noblewoman in a city full of thieves; she could have Knock instead of lockpicking and Invisibility instead of stealth. In a medieval-ish setting, it's also quite common that noble families encourage their children to show interest in art. Bard doesn't have to mean she's a singer or actor; she could be a poet - which explains her initial interest in leaving the castle, to gather stories and impressions to write about.
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    edited April 2013
    Um, not understanding this. Just because NPC's CAN be specialists, it doesn't follow that all of them SHOULD be specialists.

    I for one am glad that only some of them are.

    EDIT: It does raise a question. "IF" Aerie were say an Illusionist (prohibited school = Necromancy) should she be able to cast Cleric Necromantic spells?
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    the_spyder said:

    Um, not understanding this. Just because NPC's CAN be specialists, it doesn't follow that all of them SHOULD be specialists.

    I for one am glad that only some of them are.

    EDIT: It does raise a question. "IF" Aerie were say an Illusionist (prohibited school = Necromancy) should she be able to cast Cleric Necromantic spells?

    Quayle is!
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    @DJKajuru - I guess my question wasn't of a game mechanics nature, but more of a RP philosophical nature.
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  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    I always thought the Detect Trap divine spell was meant for rangers to scout. But yeah, it would work perfectly in this case.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    edited April 2013
    oh, well... @the_spyder , as far as I know illusionists aren't really opposed to any school, they just can't concentrate their efforts on one school while learning a completely different one. An illusionist/cleric did not learn necromantic magic, but divine necromancy , such as healing and curing, is part of their training.
  • dstoltzfusdstoltzfus Member Posts: 280
    After lunar's comments, I was kinda thinking Invoker, but her constitution is legendarily terrible. Illusionist sounds natural though, since she was taught by Quayle. Overall, being a simple cleric/non-specialist mage hits it right.
  • AlexisisinneedAlexisisinneed Member Posts: 470
    I always thought that Imoen was force to learn magic by Irencius to help bring out her Bhaalspwan Essence's.
    I always found it odd that Imoen would cast her magic missiles after escaping that retard dungeon. Stupid girl wait for my signal
  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    @Alexisisinneed I always thought it was a nod to the fact that most players Dual Classed her to a Mage in the original game.
  • AlexisisinneedAlexisisinneed Member Posts: 470
    @CaptRory That works too, I also think that they duel her to make her more useful for people because she more connected to the story than in the first one so she's not a baggage to people, but then again she was originally suppose to be killed off in spellhold, but who really knows?
  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    @Alexisisinneed Well, presumably whomever flagged her to be a mage knows. But beyond that... hehehe
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    To whomever like wild mages, just check this screenshot...


    image
    Uploaded with ImageShack.us


    Thank you very much Neera, now say... how the hell does i kill a Nabassu with a level 5 party? (Stupid bitch)
  • EudaemoniumEudaemonium Member Posts: 3,199
    That is the Dorn encounter, right? Why don't you hide and let Dorn tank it until it unsummons, considering he's invincible in that fight. (As is Neera in her opening fight).
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    edited April 2013
    The Nabassu for some reason only focus on my party members, after the summon he got stucked between the 2 bandit archers and even then he didn't turn on them. i coudn't even run, cos unfortunally i was in range for death gaze, which instantly paralized safana.
  • ItstucktwiceItstucktwice Member Posts: 182
    I agree with making Nalia a sorceress. I have also tried out fighter/mage for her which seems possible from a roleplaying standpoint as Lord De'Arnise would probably want her daughter to be at least competent as a in combat. (Even though her statistics point to an obvious lack of natural talent.)
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    @kamuizin roflmao

    Gotta love Pit Fiend Wild Surges ... >w<
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited April 2013
    Illusionist and thief/mage seem to me to go together like bread and butter. :)

    Both Imoen and Nalia should be thief/illusionists, arbitrary 2nd edition racial restrictions be darned!

    @Kamuizin, I'm currently running a minimal-reload with Neera, just to see for myself, and also to experience her personal quest area, which I never have.

    So far, she's never done a single wild-surge, but I know it's coming.

    I've already given up in exasperation on Rasaad, because of his critical-hit vunlerablility. If Neera ever party-wipes me and makes me reload, I may have to give up on her, as well. (crossing fingers).

    In fairness, the screenie you post represents like, the most unlucky rolling, ever. A "1" to get a wild surge, and another "01" (equivalent) to get a Gate. I wonder what the actual odds of that happening come out to?
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