What to do?! I don't even have the game yet and I'm already disappointed about a decision I'll have to make...whether to have Imoen or Jan in my party.

Right from the outset, it seems obvious to me that there's no point (not even a role-playing point) to having two thief/mages in the party. So I'm going to have to choose.

From comparing the stats I've seen on both of them, it seems like Jan is the better choice. But what about poor Imoen? :( I like Imoen. She's the Laurel to my Hardy, the Sancho Panza to my Don Quixote, the Gilligan to my Skipper! It pains me to think of leaving her to fend for herself on the tough streets of south Athkatla. (God knows what--or who--she might have to do to get by.:eek :)

So I'd like to propose a question to everyone: How are you planning on addressing this issue? What do you think are the plusses and minuses of each of them? (Imoen isn't without her advantages, you know. ...and I don't even mean that in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge kinda way.)

Let's hear it.

I don't care who this Jan fellow is, no one can replace Imoen for me. She stayed in my group the entire way through Baldur's Gate, even when she didn't generally agree with my tactics (i.e. the times my reputation dropped a bit).

Besides, Imoen is NOT A FREAKIN' MAGE!!! Dual-classing her is lame, because her personality in no way fits that of the arcane persuasion. She's a rogue damn ya's!

So there you have your difference. That is all.


-The Wretched

Jan Jansen looks pretty hyped statistics wise and from what I've heard, will have some neat "extras" because of his Gnomish abilities to create special items. Somewhat of an inventor. Might be good to have on a journey if the selection of creating things is vast and you use them a lot.

Imoen is just as good and I'm with Bioware on this one for the dual as I dualed her in BG1, which gives her, in my mind, her full potential. I doubt they made her intelligence 17 for the heck of it and I will always keep her regardless of where we go. Minsc will be gone right away. I hated him from the first one, but if the dialog and his personality are different in BG2, I might change my mind. Jaheria I didn't mind in the first one, she was a lot of help for me.

The rest, not sure. I'm attracted to Nalia's portrait so I'll probably take her just for those lonely nights. LOL!

Sylvus

Man. Imoen has intelligence because she's a bright girl... why does being smart mean that she wasn't destined to be a rogue?!

Making her a mage just ruins her, and I think that if Bioware had really intended for her to be dualed into a mage, they would have already done it for you when she shows up in BG2!!

Hmph.


-The Wretched

Bioware left her like that because of the obvious 2 schools of thought on this subject. If you like Imoen as a straight thief, leave her that way. I've played both ways and I have to say, both had potential, I liked how high I could get her abilities as a straight thief but when I dual-classed her in another game, she was an awesome mage as well. To each their own :)

Um... actually she already is a thief/mage at the beginning of BGII.
I don't like it either. She was always a straight thief for me.
And if she's to be of any use as a mage she can't wear any armor... so that makes her just another mage, since she's dead in 5 seconds without at least some leather armor or the like. Needless to say, I won't be switching her armor on/off every time I want her to cast a spell.
BLEH!!

Oh.

I didn't know that she was already like that but that's probably because I don't have BGII yet! My mistake.

My take on Imoen's ability to cast magic creates a "personality" per say about her. I think that's one thing that a lot of people like, either/or. You see, as a thief she has an uncanny ability to get to places and do things that YOU KNOW you can count on when you really need it. As a thief, she's top notch for an NPC, the best thief you'll ever have if you yourself are not playing one.

But there is more to her. You know if you want to, you have that choice to dual her to a mage and when she passes her thief level, you now not only have her as the thief you always loved, but now you have some seriously damage abilities to go along with it, if you so please.

I found her level and ability skills as a thief were very well thought of and done to a point where she's very good, good enough that you don't need to advance her any longer as a thief. She has the skills already to get to those dark places as a thief alone. That's what you need so much in an NPC anyhow, is someone who can do that and know that she's a mage, not only can she sneak around, she's throwing fireballs from the shadows themselves!

I like her as a Mage/Thief and I'm glad she's back as such too.

Syl...

I seriously can't believe that she re-appears in BGII as a Thief/Mage. That ruins alot for me, honestly.

Okay, so maybe all those people who dual-classed her WERE on to something, if Bioware made her a mage already in the 2nd game... but personally I didn't see that for her, and I strongly dis-like that the choice has been made for me.

Feh. Yeah, I'll probably manage to *somehow* enjoy the game anyways. :p

-The Wretched

From what I have seen of the stats of both NPC's, I think that Jan is the thief for me, his inventions clinch it. I never liked Imeon anyway. The odds are that Imeon dual class changed have probably been done for plot reasons in my opinion.
Options Disable Smilies in This Post.

Actually, being a mage gets her in trouble in Amn VERY quickly, so I must agree about it being plot-related.

Actually, I'm starting to rethink this. Since Imoen starts out as a jth level mage, she's not really an XP drain on the party the way a multi-class character is. So, instead of thinking of her as a Mage/Thief, I'll just treat her as my mage...who just happens to be able to use a decent range weapon and can backstab at 3x (followed by a mirror image because of that pesky no armor thing).

So there it is...I'm keeping both of them.

Now, here's another question: I always thought Minsc was great, not just because he's a hoot, but from a pure stats level as well. But one of the above respondents said he'd get rid of him right away. What's the rationale for that? What does everyone else think about Minsc? There's something to be said for leaving space for new NPCs. I think I want to keep Jahiera too. I have this funny feeling she'll come in handy.

Oops. Embarrassing typo in above post.

Imoen starts out as an *8th* level mage. :o

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I liked Minsc,
he was very cool, and the only one who could make me smile when he said something (Remember that cool: "GO FOR THE EYES BOO, GO FOR THE EYES, RRRRAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!)
But his stats aren't that cool...
But I'll keep him anyway.
As for imoen, i kept her trough bg al the time, and that Jan doesn't seem so cool to me, okay, he can make some items, but there are hundreds of items!
And to the imoen thief/mage question,
I think it is a good improvement,
she always apeared weak in my party and if my fighters weren't around, she got hurt very bad!
And if she is an 8th level mage, with 17 intelligence, she might be very good!
So I'll keep minsc and imoen, just like in bg, the whole game! :)

Minsc was my second favorite character (behind Ajanis). His battle cry never really got old for me, although that kind of thing usually wears on my nerves after a while...
Plus he had good stats, and lugged up to a dozen swords and some armors around with no complaints. A true hero :D

As for Imoen, I was thinking of trying a thief/mage anyway, but it would have been nice if they had let you choose.

Anyone have an NPC list so I can decide on my party?

Bleh! I have to change my view of Imoen now after playing BG2 since Friday and (*SPOIL*) for the short while I had her in my party, she sucked ;)

Her abilities as a theif blow goats and is now way how I had her in BG1, where she owned j00 sort of speak. Her hide in shadows is 25%?! Give me a break! She was the best for hiding in shadows, moving silently and attacking with spells from behind enemy lines in BG1. Now she can't even hide in a bloody closet!

In all honesty, I have no interest in wanting (*SPOIL*) save her ass because she's useless to me now that you can't bump up her thieving abilities.

Sylvus

Lord Balduran, don't tell me you haven't checked out our World-Famous NPC list yet?
Sheesh!
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/Walkthrough/npcs.htm



[This message has been edited by Taluntain (edited September 25, 2000).]

I really liked Imoen in BG (as I've stated before) as she was.... a great thief who happened to be intelligent.

When I started up BGII, finding indeed that not only had she been dual-classed into a mage, but that her thief abilities stunk royally. Of course, what does it matter that her thieving stinks, when every other friggin' NPC I run into is a thief/mage?!

I realize that Imoen being a mage was important to the plot, and I can't really think of any other way they could have pulled it off.... but I believe they ruined Imoen, and though I kept her my entire way through BG (both times!), she'll probably not last long in my BGII party.

So far, I have four fighters in my party and that's based on how I've met them and where I've gone and it's worked out well for me.

Half-Orc Barbarian - Grub (me)
Human Ranger - Minsc
Dwarven Beserker - Korgan
Half-Elf Fighter/Druid - Jahiera
Winged Elf Cleric/Mage - Aerie
Human Mage/Thief - Nalia

So far, I'm very happy with my party because for what I'm doing, it's a great mix and balance that gets me through some sticky situations. Having two mages in the party is very, very good to have in BG2. One just doesn't do.

Syl...

You know I never even thought of a Barbarian..Wonder what kind of character quests that is.

As for you all griping about Imoen, two things:

First off, Nalia is also a Thf/MU. I have her, Jan AND Aerie in the group, sort of overlapping magic users. I don't mind some extra theives and typically run a T formation in dungeon with both theives searching for traps constantly.

A Thf/MU is a great combo, especially early..better hit points, neither can do anything in armour, and both use daggers, darts, slings. So it makes perfect sense to me,

rather than a ftr/mu combo which is sort of like taking a Jeep Cherokee and putting a roll royce body on it. It doesn't make sense.

Second point is this: "Ruining it for you?", god she evolved. She is reaching her magical potential, and has excelled. Even my Fighter has magical powers, so I guess for children of Bhaal that makes sense, don't it?

She is sort of your sister in this. You don't have to help your sister, but quit whining and belly aching about how you can't stand she changed. You are probably the same type who write angry letters when some one on Friends breaks their stereotype or parts their hair differently.

Lastly, JAN KICKS IT OLD SCHOOL! He and Minsc seem to have a special chemistry from time to time.

Minsc is a pretty funny character, and I think him having awesome stats and being hilarious would be too much. Why take someone boring when you can have another blender? Besides, he holds his own.

She didn't evolve, if she did she would have had the stats I gave her in BG1 not the crap stats she has now for thieving ;)

I like Minsc and Aeriel and is working to be a pretty good combination to have in my party. Minsc lost Dynhaier and thinks he's a failure for not being able to protect her and was looking for a new "witch" to protect, guide and of course, worship. Aeriel got the call, or at least Minsc asked if he could be her witch protecter, which she said yes too! Now dialog is so much different, during battle Minsc says things he's never said before and white text appears above his avatar during battle, all in regards to Aeriel. Too hyped.

Syl...

As a fully paid up member of the Imoen fan club I say "give the girl a break" OK so they screwed her stats (she'll always be a perfect 10 thief for me) but that's not the end. There's lots of magic at this level so load her up with invisibilties and she can still do her sneaky stuff.
Has anyone any experience on how easy it is in BG2 to leave an NPC in an Inn and pick them up again later? I had very mixed luck with this in BG1.