GameBanshee Forums

Who should I choose?

I am an evil party, so i should choose saf i suppose, but i dont know if her abilities are better than imoens. She has better str, but worse con, better cha but 1 less dex. She has 70 open locks, and the others can be brought up, but my imoen has everything at 45-50

who?

I always have Imoen in my party becasue she is important to the story and she continues with you in BG2. With Imoen I don't think it matters that you're plaing an evil party, she will follow you no matter what. But I have never played with Safana and if you haven't either you should try her or both. So I guess I was no help.

i suppose, now that i think of the storyline aspect, ill keep her

for now at least

The one less dex hurts Safana, because with the 18 dex, Imoen gains (or is it starts with?) more thief points.

Each of Imoen's thieving abilities is 5% higher than Safana's due to the DEX bonuses. Imoen also gets an AC bonus of -4 versus Safana's AC bonus of -3. If you want to eliminate the difference between them, just give Safana the Tome of Dexterity instead of giving it to your main character.

It is also important to consider that Imoen has CON 16, which gives her 2 extra hit points per level (which is nothing to sneeze at when she reaches 10th Level), while Safana only has CON 10 and gets no hit point bonus.

Imoen can also be dual-classed, while Safana cannot (unless you give her the Tome of Intelligence).

From a role-playing perspective, Imoen makes a better party member because she has personal ties to the main character and she's completely loyal, no matter what your character's alignment or Reputation happens to be. And as you already know, Imoen's role continues in BG2: Shadows of Amn.

All in all, I'd say that Imoen is a better NPC to have in your party than Safana. But to be honest, I don't think the differences are really all that significant.

On the other hand, you are free to use your own imagination and disregard the storyline in BG2 for now since it's a different game. Safana also has some advantages over Imoen. For one thing, Safana has a nicer soundset (depending on your personal preferences). Furthermore, Safana's STR is 13, so she can actually carry a few things besides her own equipment and a few gems. Imoen is encumbered as soon as she picks up any large item, and that can be rather annoying and inconvenient.

So there you have it.

Even if Imoen remains loyal to an evil party, Safana just seems more appropriate. (Especially considering her cameo in BG2. ) But I found I had almost no use for her in my all-rogues party. Another advantage of Imoen's higher DEX is that she is a better shot with a bow; not a small consideration in BG1.

Originally posted by JackOfClubs
Another advantage of Imoen's higher DEX is that she is a better shot with a bow; not a small consideration in BG1.

If I'm not mistaken, the Missile Attack bonus is +2 for DEX 17 as well as DEX 18, so there isn't any difference. Or do you have something else in mind?

No, that is what I was referring to. I had thought the Missile Attack bonus was +3 for 18 DEX, but you could be right. It's been ages since I looked at that.

well all of this is pointless now because i forgot both of them and decided to have monty as my thief. Its working out fine, as long as i keep the odd potion of thievery nearby