play out chapter 2/3 or wait til 6?

Thrar · Post by **Thrar** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 8:59 am

with my first party (still not through the game tho) i did any quest i could find in chapter 2, and when i got immie she had like 400k XP (i think, couldve been less) while the rest of the party was at more than 1.5 million, and i had to boot nalia for immie.

now with my other party i have about 700k XP each and feel like i could do chapter 4/5 now, but i wouldnt have some cool equipment and i guess it would b tough. and i dont really want immie after all; jan is just cooler

.
r there any real problems in not taking imoen with me except she and jaheira start whining?

what do u prefer? u wait til 6 with everything, dont get imoen, or dont care about the XP wasted (and the sucky immie)?

(and 2 more things:
when monks fists r +2 for example, does that mean his thac0 is decreased by 2 and damage +2 or just he can hit things that require weapons +2 ?
is the wild mage counted as a specialist for memorized spells?)

Arcane · Post by **Arcane** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:19 am

definetly get imoen! makes for good roleplaying and gaming, also i think if you do most of the toughies of chap 2, you get immie at a hihger lvl. also, if you are a good aligned person, immie makes an excellent mage (she really shines in TOB) and a ok theif...get her!!!!

when monks fists are +2 it applies to both i think....leeman_s should know more about this

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:41 am

If you really want to get Imoen on a comparable level to the rest of your party, get her early. Doing all the chapter 2 quests will put you several levels beyond her, when you finally do meet up. Of course, if that doesn't matter to you, just carry on.

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:42 am

From a roleplaying point of view, I think it would be absolutely appaliing to leave Imoen in the Spellhold dungeon...If you're just powergaming and having some fun, leave her, if you're roleplaying evil, leave her, but if you're good she just has to come. Personally I thought that they should've changed your alignment, or at least had a big rep drop for leaving her, but they don't.

On the other hand, I think everyone saying Imoen is a really good char is mistaken, or just trying to justify taking her. She is awful. Better than Nalia yes, but Jan is a rthousand times better. If you seriously want a powerful party, leave Imoen. She's crap.

EDIT 1: if you've got ToB installed, you can just take Imoen through Watcher's Keep as soon as you get outta spellhold and she'll be right up to the level of your other chars.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 10:09 am

Well...

I'd play out chapters 2 & 3, personally, but please yourself - you miss some gear, but the fights you miss will be hugely easier later on.

I will dispute Nalia being a poor character - she's a fine mage, though limited by not being able to learn level 9 spells

Since I lost a member in Spellhold the first time through

, I didn't have to boot anyone - I ended up with a caster-rich party with Nalia, Imoen and Aerie. Do remember, party members who are substantially lower in level catch up fairly quickly.

Have fun!

Thrar · Post by **Thrar** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 10:21 am

i think it will b a problem with imoen being my main mage. current party is:

monk
valygar
haer'dalis
jaheira
anomen
jan

and jan is doing his job well.
with imoen i would have a *cough* not-so-good *ahem* mage and only a few support spells from haer'dalis/valygar.

i do have ToB installed (but never been to the watchers keep so far), how can i go there after spellhold instead of being taken to chapter 5? and wouldnt the rest of the party get XP too?

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 1:05 pm

Every char is killer if well equipped.
My advice is: take the NPC you like the most without bothering about
experience. The only thing you need to know is:

-Imoen normally will be one level lower as a mage, but she's a good thief.
-Jan progresses (slower) in both classes.
-Nalia will be at a higher level as a mage, but she's a poor thief.

Arcane · Post by **Arcane** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 1:07 pm

kick anomen out you have jaheira

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 1:37 pm

how can i go there after spellhold instead of being taken to chapter 5? and wouldnt the rest of the party get XP too?

ahh yes sorry...my mistake. You will have to lug her thorugh the underdark at a low level. And yes, your othe chars get xp as well in WK, but because she is lower level, she levels up more quickly, so the phonomenal amount of XP in WK will level it all out.

Rahvin · Post by **Rahvin** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 1:46 pm

are you joking?? jan sucks! imoen is SO much better

CtrlAltDel · Post by **CtrlAltDel** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 2:33 pm

play all the quests in act 2/3 before going to the next stage. and i always grab imoen. sometimes i dump her when i get out, sometimes i dont.

samcu · Post by **samcu** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 12:09 am

Jan is the only NPC thief in the game, and because you can level very high, it is better with multi-class. With TOB installed, Jan will be 4 times better than Nalia/Imoen. Without TOB, I say Jan is still 2 times better than them...