We shall see .... in ToB according to my calculations Aerie will be powerful combo : 20thlevel Mage /25th level cleric with 8000000 Xp. - it means contingency/chain contingency/sequencer/minor sequencer/spell trigger + all cleric spells : what do you think about spell trigger with three flame strikes ?........She will be powerful enough to kick many asses.Originally posted by ki-master:
<STRONG>I think aery sucks.Imoen and nalia are better mages.</STRONG>
Actually there is no paradox/conflict here. It's quite easy to form a party which is powerful enough to make BGII trivially easy to finish, but which also contains a relatively weak character (Aerie, Cernd). Weak in comparison to the others, that is. They are not weak enough, however, to make the game as a whole difficult.Originally posted by fable:
<STRONG>I never found that Aerie "sucked" in BG2, when playing a good/neutral party. In fact, she was essential if I wasn't personally playing some type of mage. Admittedly, she misses the highest spells of both the cleric and mage categories, but it's easy to win the game without those spells. (What is it, anyway, when some people boast that the game is far too easy, but at the same time complain that some characters are far too weak?
</STRONG>
so you missed her Prot.from Evil 10'. Chaotic Commands and Negative Plane Protection are clerical, how could you live without them, just curious.Originally posted by ki-master:
<STRONG>I played the game 3 times and I kept her the 1st and 2d time because I love fireballd
Then she retreats behind the front line and keep ranged support - if there is any need for it The best insight I've seen into Aerie was, strangely enough, by a poster on the Anomen thread by the name of Thantor3. The characters in BG2 are an attempt to increase the 3 dimensionality of the game, and IMO do so with great success. But rather than restate in my words what has already been said, I'll quote Thantor3 on this subject.Originally posted by Mr Sleep:
<STRONG>As good a statistical fighter she is some of her party dialogue is a bit strained and she can be annoying.</STRONG>
There are those who do not overlook the three dimensionality of the characters as being merely an annoyance; from an RPG perspective they are the heart and soul of the game.In my experience, the romance with Anomen is most similar to the Jaheira romance (I'm still doing these) than the one with Aerie (I finished that one). Again, many people complain about Aerie's whining, but I never felt that way about her. From a psychological perspective, both Aerie and Jaheira are dealing with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). The fact that Aerie has issues is entirely consistent with being kidnapped, brutalized, and losing two of her limbs. I wouldn't call the need to process that kind of material whining. The only thing I found inconsistent was that she was still grappling with suicidal ideation (i.e. the dialogues about what is there to live for if she didn't have her wings). The healthy caretaker relationship she developed with Qualye and her religious conversion to his god would indicate that she had already resolved the question of "what to live for" and had moved past this. In my experience, this type of question would have been more appropriate for Jaheira, who had just lost a spouse in an extremely violent way and who was experiencing an more acute form of PTSD. I also feel that the Aerie romance was badly underdeveloped for such a complex character. That the bulk of the romance was geared around resolving her inner conflicts and then ends is unfortunate. It would have been nice if,later on, she would have been allowed to consummate a healthy union with the PC -- the fact that this didn't happen made her seem more immature than her background suggests. An individual who was able to bounce back from the kind of savagery she experienced, with the level of curiosity, determination, and strength that she displays is certainly not a little girl.
