Nalia & Imoen Options

[Sikret]

Are you happy with Nalia's class (= A weaker duplicate of Imeon)? Or do you prefer her to be a sorceress? Of course, she says things about lockpicking in her dialogues, but perhaps they are not really too many or too important. Another alternative is to increase her level in thief class to make her a better thief for those who want to save a slot for a party member (though in this way she will become even more identical with Imoen).

Another option is to leave Nalia as she is and change Imoen to a Sorceress when you find her in Spellhold. The justification can be that through the rituals and experiments performed on her, amazing and radical changes have occurred in her mental status.

A last and moderate choice is to leave both of them as they are but just re-distribute Nalia's thieving skills to make her a better trap finder/disarmer. 10% of her pick pocket skill can be safely moved to her remove trap.

Any comments?

This post has been edited by Sikret: Jul 3 2007, 07:33 AM

[rbeverjr]

Personally, I wouldn't mind a change in one or both of them. I am amazed that the original game had two NPCs that are so similar. I typically change the NPCs to suit my own desires for the latest game. (Of course, I have also played many games where I used the original games NPCs, unaltered.)

As you pointed out, I do have some objections to the spell choices for both Kelsey and Tashia. (I have used them both and like them both.) I would be surprised if any stock sorcerer's spell selection fit the needs of my specific team and my style of play perfectly. So, that isn't even a factor in my consideration, because I use SK to make the spells what I want them to be.

As a power player, Nalia is the most useful because you have given her a very nice trinket (upgraded ring). Also, I love the sorcerer and prefer a straight mage from the beginning (rather than waiting on Imoen). Nalia would be my choice as a sorceress under the present circumstances. As a role player, Imoen as a sorceress would be worth taking along. In regards to role playing, neither NPC choice is optimal considering the dialog and history of the NPC. The simplistic thief skills seem inherent to Nalia's escape from auntie to do "good deeds." Although I suppose the torture of Irenicus could have brought about a sorcerer's talent in Imoen, what was she before? Does the XP just somehow transfer from the classes prior to the torture to sorceress?

If you choose to make the changes, I would vote for Nalia as sorceress - or even thief <=11-sorceress. (Yes, I know that this is not normally possible in the game, but it does allow her some mediocre thief skills establishing a role playing perspective again - thief skills to escape Auntie.) Imoen begins as a thief in BG1. Imoen can be a swashbuckler. (I reserve multiclass, like fighter-thief, to non-humans even though I think SK can make that happen too.) That way, players can use Jan or Yoshimo until Imoen and then trade characters if they desire.