Leveling? (spoilers)

Raumoheru · Post by **Raumoheru** » Tue May 27, 2008 8:52 am

this is the party I want to have:

Myself as a Monk
Aerie
Imoen
Saravok (When i get to ToB)

I am kinda at a fork right now though, as far as leveling and experience, is it better to do all Athkatla quests before I pay the shadow thieves and go to spellhold, or should i go to spellhold asap?

my first saved game I did all quests before i payed the shadow thieves and have my monk at 21 and Aerie at 15/14 and I just got Imoen back and she is 13. my second saved game I just did minor quests in the city and did Nalia's keep and Firkraag's Dungeon and then payed the shadow thieves and when I got to Imoen my Monk was 15, Aerie was 11/11 and Imoen was 11.

my goal is to try to keep Imoen's level as close to my Monk's and Aerie's as possible, but will it have any negative affects to go to spellhold / underdark at lower level?

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:28 am

Raumoheru wrote:my goal is to try to keep Imoen's level as close to my Monk's and Aerie's as possible, but will it have any negative affects to go to spellhold / underdark at lower level?

Not that I'm aware of. In one game I went as soon as I had the 15K (just did the Free the Slaves quest IIRC). It made life tougher of course, but no adverse affects other than that.

Saros · Post by **Saros** » Wed May 28, 2008 5:05 am

Raumoheru wrote:
my goal is to try to keep Imoen's level as close to my Monk's and Aerie's as possible, but will it have any negative affects to go to spellhold / underdark at lower level?

Well, I wouldn't recommend it in a no-reload game.

The negative effects are obvious - you will have less items/spells and worse stats/HP, and the challenges will be pretty much the same. And while it is possible to delay some of the tougher fights/quests in Underdark for chapter 6 (like Beholder, Mind Flayer and Demon Knight areas, there are some main and side-quests in chapters 4 and 5 which will be a lot tougher for you at lower levels (the Sahuagin City, Quayle, Deirex, killing Adalon and others).

I would strongly reccomend to complete as many as possible side-quests in chapters 2 and 3, because some of the items may literally save your life in Underdark.

Silvanerian · Post by **Silvanerian** » Wed May 28, 2008 10:05 am

I agree with Saros on some points, while disagree on others.

I fully agree that it is risky business to go straight with the plot line as you will be fairly low level, which can either be a great challenge or ruin the game, depending on skill and personal taste.

I disagree with the 'complete all to get items' part, as with a monk and a cleric/mage + additional mage to be added, it is fairly limited what items you desperately need.

Go get the stuff that will benefit your team, but if you want as even as possible a team, remember that level 13 is maximum Imoen can join at. If you believe you can beat the underdark at that level with your team, go for it, and complete the other quests later when your team is complete.

wise grimwald · Post by **wise grimwald** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:13 pm

my first saved game I did all quests before i payed the shadow thieves and have my monk at 21 and Aerie at 15/14 and I just got Imoen back and she is 13. my second saved game I just did minor quests in the city and did Nalia's keep and Firkraag's Dungeon and then payed the shadow thieves and when I got to Imoen my Monk was 15, Aerie was 11/11 and Imoen was 11.[/QUOTE]

I am playing a Berserker dualled to Cleric. levels 9 and 14 respectively, and Imoen has joined at only level 11. I have done nearly all the quests other than killing Firkragg. What I am wondering is what level I had to be to get Imoen at level 13? Anyone got any ideas?

Raumoheru · Post by **Raumoheru** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:35 pm

i believe Imoen's amount of xp is a certain amount of your xp with a min of her being level 11, and max of 13.

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:32 pm

Imoen spawns either at level 11 or 13... that's it.

I'm not sure what the exact factors are that trigger this though: It could be character XP, Level, or the XP or level of the party. I'm not sure.

If I'm including Imoen, I like to have her for as much of the game as possible. I've actually done the "steal/sell" trick on wands to get so much money right out of the dungeon that I've gone off to rescue Imoen without doing any quests other than the ones that you can not avoid.

Note: This is extremely cheesey, but you can still outfit yourself with some pretty great stuff just buying from Ribald, the two bonus merchants, and buying a bunch of scrolls (don't even scribe them until you find Immy!).

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:46 pm

wise grimwald wrote:I am playing a Berserker dualled to Cleric. levels 9 and 14 respectively, and Imoen has joined at only level 11. I have done nearly all the quests other than killing Firkragg. What I am wondering is what level I had to be to get Imoen at level 13? Anyone got any ideas?

How many characters did you have in your party, and what was the average level? I believe it (like many other things) is based on the average level rather than XP, and if your going solo, then I think your 'average level' would be 11.5. However if you've done as much as you can without going to Windspear Hills, then, assuming you've done level one of WTK, you would be higher than 14th Cleric unless you had a party with you.

The best person to answer you though is Vondondu, who has a much better grip on the mechanics of this game than I do.

JackOfClubs · Post by **JackOfClubs** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:29 pm

The magnificent VonDondu has indeed answered this question more than once. [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/what-affects-the-levels-npcs-join-at-89909.html#post949278"]Here[/url] is probably the more concise answer, but do a search on "Imoen Spellhold Level" to see more discussion.

SPOILERS

To answer the original question, I usually go to spellhold pretty soon. I usually do the Reynal quest (because he goes away after you choose sides in Ch3) and Korgan's quest (because he will not join your party if your reputation is too high) and as many reputation-raising quests as I need to (so that the fish-priestess will give you upside-down discounts). Also, I will usually try to get my stronghold quest started ASAP, especially if it is a long one like the De'Arnise Keep.

But I generally like to save as much as possible for Ch6 since Imoen will only have a max of 13 levels when you meet here and I like her to be able to cast level 9 spells by the final battle.