Prepping for a quest (spoilers):

mattc · Post by **mattc** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:10 pm

I'm new to BG2 and more addicted than I'd like. Really fun game.

I'm trying to avoid "excessive" spoilers, but I have picked some up along the way. One important one that I've picked up:

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Soon after I get to Spellhold, Yoshimo disappears or dies or something and (I think) is gone forever. There goes my thief. Now I should be getting Imoen not too long after that, so I'd only be temporarily thiefless.

But that still might make for a very difficult transition period. Call me a sissy, but I'd like to avoid a miserable slog of skipping locked chests full of goodies and no good way to defuse strings of nasty traps.

Is it important to have a backup thief besides Yoshi when going to Spellhold?

Thanks for any opinions.

Berethor · Post by **Berethor** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:22 pm

Don't worry about it for even one minute. Spoilers ahead.

After going through a brief dream sequence, you go through a few conversations and once they're all over, you get Imoen back. So really, there is no transition period at all; one leaves, and the other returns.

Also, you'll see Yoshimo again. I guarantee it.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:22 pm

mattc wrote:Is it important to have a backup thief besides Yoshi when going to Spellhold?

Not if you've stocked up on potions and/or acquired the lock pick ring from the thieves guild.

If you haven't then there may be a chest or two you won't be able to open, but there is a solution. There's a game save editor called Shadow Keeper (you can download it and more from here), which you can use to change Imoen's thieving skills, you can set her Find Traps and Open locks to 100. For balance you could lower her other thieving abilities, they won't really be useful anyway.

This is technically cheating I suppose, but Bioware did a very bad job of dual classing her for some reason, so it doesn't seem that much of a cheat to me.

Berethor · Post by **Berethor** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:23 pm

galraen wrote:Not if you've stocked up on potions and/or acquired the lock pick ring from the thieves guild.

If you haven't then there may be a chest or two you won't be able to open, but there is a solution. There's a game save editor called Shadow Keeper (you can download it and more from here), which you can use to change Imoen's thieving skills, you can set her Find Traps and Open locks to 100. For balance you could lower her other thieving abilities, they won't really be useful anyway.

This is technically cheating I suppose, but Bioware did a very bad job of dual classing her for some reason, so it doesn't seem that much of a cheat to me.

See my above post.

I guess you haven't been to Spellhold in a while, galraen. :laugh:

mattc · Post by **mattc** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:36 pm

Thanks guys. I won't sweat it. Nalia can stay home, we'll limp along without her magery for a bit.

Is there a bag for potions like the scroll case and the gem bag? I seem to recall seeing that there was, but I haven't found one yet.

Berethor · Post by **Berethor** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:39 pm

You can buy one of those Potion bags off of the vendor outside of Watcher's Keep if you have Throne of Bhaal installed. I believe that BG2 Tweaks adds a potion case to the inventories of Roger the Fence and Ms.Cragmoon too.

I don't know if you can get one if you don't have ToB installed.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:45 pm

Berethor wrote:See my above post.

I guess you haven't been to Spellhold in a while, galraen. :laugh:

? Not sure what you mean, or what you meant about seeing Yoshimo again, you may see him but you never get him in the party again unless you cheat.

If you're referring to Imoen, well I mentioned her, but her thieving skills without potions aren't good enough for some traps and chests, hence the suggestion to use shadow keeper.

mattc · Post by **mattc** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:00 pm

Ah, thanks. I may go to Watcher's Keep then. I have a feeling it is too tough for me to tackle right now, but perhaps not to just take a quick look and talk to the street vendor.

Don't have any mods installed except for the Baldurdash fixes. Maybe next time through.

Berethor · Post by **Berethor** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:14 pm

galraen wrote:? Not sure what you mean, or what you meant about seeing Yoshimo again, you may see him but you never get him in the party again unless you cheat.

If you're referring to Imoen, well I mentioned her, but her thieving skills without potions aren't good enough for some traps and chests, hence the suggestion to use shadow keeper.

Sorry, I misread your post.

Still, Imoen's thieving skills are good enough to handle most obstacles in the game. What she can't handle is easily remedied by items such as the Ring of Danger Sense, Gloves of Pickpocketing, Boots of Stealth, and a few others including a ring I forgot the name of from the bonus merchant Deidre.

As for Watcher's keep, the vendor you need is at the entrance, not inside the keep itself. You never have to step one toe in that place if you don't want to.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:20 pm

So you haven't actually left for Spellhold yet? If that's the case then as long as you thoroughly explore the Thieves guidl (the area with Aran Linval in it), and clear out the Planar Sphere in the slums you'll have no problems.

The potions you should collect are Potions of Master Thievery, Potions of Perception, Potions of Mind Focusing and Potions of Power if you want to be doubly sure.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:24 pm

We keep writing posts at the same time Berethor.:laugh:

The ring you get from Deirdre is called the Mercykiller ring, but it doesn't help with opening locks and removing traps, does help with set traps and stealth though, but sadly Imoen's too crap at those for those skills.