I know there are differing views on this, and I tried to find the threads I initially red them in but was unable.

First, I am playing BG1 EE, not BGT, so only my main character will be imported into BG2. I plan on keeping Imoen as a pure thief, not dual classing to mage. How to progress her thief skills is what I need help with (most important to focus on, etc).

My character is an elf ranger (archer) with stats of:

STR 18/99
DEX 19
CON 17
INT 11
WIS 14
CHA 11

(I made INT 11 and sacrificed some CHA after hearing about a certain enemy in BG2 ... So Imoen with CHA 16 is at the top of my party right now - I'm just outside Candlekeep, beginning)

My elf ranger has a score of 45 in both 'Move Silently' and 'Hiding in Shadows', while Imoen's are 35 and 15 respectively.

So should I focus Imoen more on scouting/traps, or locks etc? I am not sure if my scores are static or if my character will be able to increase them at level up. I like the idea of using her for a scout/backstabber like I've read Hickory suggests, but I'm afraid I will meet a lock I won't be able to bash later on - at start in Candlekeep, there was only 1 lock I couldn't bash (center north room at top of inn).

I plan on going with the canon party also (I think - I don't know what all their strengths are, I was torn between making a ranger or a mage ...)

So, knowing all that:

What is your advice on playing/leveling Imoen?

Also, I read that it's better to get your party together at a lower level so they can all get XP together while clearing out areas, because if you get them at a higher level they take some sort of hit to their XP/HP levels? I'm not sure I understood fully that thread I had read. Is this advised?

In other words, go straight to the friendly arms to get 2 of the canon party, then down to speak to mayor, then on to get the remaining 2 on that rescue mission ..... then going back and clearing the beginning areas? I did play once before but quit at the mines - I avoided doing them as I wanted to do sidequests first and only then did I realize you open up new areas depending on which side of the map you exit from ... I felt like I missed out on stuff and just moved on to other games. During this playthrough I cleared all the early areas with just my main and Imoen (including the ogre) before heading to the friendly arm inn. The surprise waiting for you there was very easy for me on that one.

Absolutely focus Imoen on scouting. And no, I have *never* suggested using Imoen as a back-stabber, quite the opposite. She simply does not have the strength to reliably hit in melee. Scouting is her forte. Always ensure she has at least one potion of invisibility (in case of emergencies), and give her (not your character) the Boots of Stealth, and eventually the Shadow Armour. She will quickly outmatch your ranger in stealth if you focus that.

Do not worry about Imoen lock bashing -- she can't, anyway. Your main character. with 18/99 is more than capable, and your mage can use an unlock spell for those you can't manage. Also, don't overlook potions for Imoen: potions of perception/thievery/mind focusing etc. All of these help in thieving skills. Not true. Take no notice of this advice. The main thing is to NOT continually swap your party members. Pick a party and stick with it. THAT is how you lose XP.

Thanks Hickory. A couple things though:

Apologies, I thought you had posted something about her taking a potion of strength and backstabbing, then using invisibility to get out of there ... may have been a different poster.

As to lock bashing, I was referring to my character, not Imoen. Like I said, right at the start in Candlekeep I came across one chest I couldn't bash, and I tried A LOT.

Lastly, I didn't mean swapping out party members, I meant going through the main plot without clearing out areas on the way to get the canon party together, then go back to clear those areas. Going to friendly arm Inn immediately, then going to Minsc and the rescue mission (while meeting the mayor along the way) to get the final member. I don't plan on taking those evil characters you meet early on.

Considering the above, was my question correct or did I read/misunderstand some bad advice on a different thread?

Also, as to Imoen, I'm going to take your advice and use her as a scout. And trap finder. So, which thief skills should I not waste points on at all? Just Lockpick or are there others? (Having not done a full playthrough, I'm unsure how many points you ultimately get to spend, and I don't want to gimp her main purpose by putting too many points in unnecessary skills)

You're welcome, and have fun. :)

I just thought of something I forgot ----

I don't know yet what a 'Star Sapphire' is, but I take it that it's a powerful item .... how can any starting character possibly get into that chest without a cheat? Just a twisted sense of humor from the devs?


Either that or I'm guessing you go back to Candlekeep at some point later in the game .......

A Star Sapphire is just a gem, but a very valuable one (1000 gp). It is possible to open the chest if you pick the right character (race/class etc.) and get your lockpick skill to 60. I've never done it myself, but I've seen it done.

Note: I'm pretty sure this applies to EE, but I don't know for sure.

-For reference, the reason people say to grab your party early is because when a character levels up while in your party, you can use save/load to reroll their hp until you get max hp. For a given level higher than 1, their hp when you pick them up is set to whatever the developers picked, almost always not max. Some characters are farther from their max than others. One NPC, for example, starts with 19 max hp if collected at level 6, when her max could have been 36 (assuming you could get her at level 1). I'm pretty sure Hickory would strongly advise you not to worry about the rerolling; I'm only answering the one piece of information I didn't see him answer.

-As Hickory says, don't keep swapping your people around; that's how you lose out on xp.

-The canon party has all of the main roles covered: Tank, Off-tank w/ weapon dps, Off-tank/healer, thief, mage. Imoen can be dualled into a second mage, if you so desire (from everything I've read, it isn't necessary). This will also allow you to add whatever you wish to the party.

You're right that I strongly advise not to go that route. It's akin to cheating, and is for obsessive power gamers only. You may as well just use Shadowkeeper, and put your stats, and your party's stats, to whatever the heck you like -- add some overpowered items while you're at it. Nah, that's not gaming.

The NPCs are given pseudo-random stats to emulate the roll of a dice, as it should be. Some may be inconsistent with their classes. but that what the developers decided upon.