Anomen or Aerie? (possible spoilers)

[Sir Goulum]

Aside from humor value, that is? I usually take him, couldn't hurt to have an extra theif or mage around.

[TinyMage]

Originally posted by IronDragon: Personally I’d leave Jan behind. He offers nothing to your team that isn’t already covered. Imoen’s thieving skills are more than adequate for the rest of the game and she will either already be a better mage or soon surpass Jan.

Jan is way better then Imoen when he gets Use Any Item. Imoen's a whiner too, right up there with Aerie, can hardly stand either ( and Nalia too for that matter, wish I could snatch that ring though ).

[Lord]

Imoen is definately better than Jan in all senses; the extra thieving Jan gives you is un-needed and Imoen is a far superior mage to Jan. It's quite possible that many people won't even end up with Jan having level 9 spells. First of all, you need ToB for him to even attain enough experience to reach level 18, plus it means he needs somewhere around 6 million XP to get his first level 9 spell. Imoen, on the other hand, gets her first level 9 spell much earlier on.
Anyway, back to your question. Aerie beats Anomen dead on. Give her stoneskin plus a chain contingency full of nasty spells and Anomen is a gonner without any doubt. He won't even get a chance to break through her stoneskin, especially since she can cast time stop, the spell that turns the game around for a mage/sorceror completely.

[Cam_H]

Shotgun,

The answer's easy ... neither.

A party of Kensai-Mage, Keldorn, Jahs and Mazzy is more than adequate, and will level up faster and with less micro-management.

Push comes to shove, as an "either/or" question, I lean towards Mr. Cringe. Anomen can wear the Gauntlets of Dex' and be the tank (helped "some what" with the ubber combo of Righteous Magic + DUHM), while Keldorn can thump from the second line with a two-handed Sword. The PC will be able to handle the mage requirements for the party, and as noted earlier, Imoen (or Nalia or Edwin) can step in as another spellcaster if you feel you need another mage. I would also consider HD if you're desperate for an NPC to lay Spike Traps and Time Stop Traps (oops - we're in the SoA forum ... do HLA's get a look in here?), but Jahs can act more than adequately as the healer, albeit no Turn Undead.

[ 07-21-2005, 02:49 AM: Message edited by: Cam_H ]

[Western Paladin]

I prefer Anomen personally - I like his personality better and he's a better fighter than Aerie. My own sensibilities lean towards melee, and once he gets good armor and Blade Barrier he murders everything.

[ister]

Go with Aerie. You've put up with her through most of her weaker levels and she's now starting to be able to do a ton of damage.

[ShaddowKatMKII]

I'd go with Anomen. You've got yourself and Jan for Mage abilities, and Anomen as a single class can be downright scary turning undead as he gets up there.

Playing with the Valen mod installed, she wouldn't join my party since he was there. I went with Anomen over her, and when it came time to go after Bodhi, he "Turned" Valen and flat out destroyed her to the tune of 15,000 XP. Going into the Tombs invisible and turning, pretty much everyone BUT Bodhi was wiped. Two mages should be plenty for most parts and Anomen equiped with our favorite hammer, and a certain amulet can be devestating, especially to Undead.

As for his wisdom incresing, yes, it does. I can confirm that it hits 16, but now reading this post I know WHY.

[TinyMage]

Originally posted by Lord: Imoen is definately better than Jan in all senses;

Better then Jan in all senses? How?

With a set traps of 5 how is she going to set traps?

Her backstab is set at x3

The rest of her theif skills are very low

No UAI...


If you want a mage, a REAL mage, take edwin.

If you want a mage / theif, take Jan.

Even Nalia is better then Imoen ( she has that ring ).

[Andraste]

Originally posted by TinyMage: If you want a mage, a REAL mage, take edwin. If you want a mage / theif, take Jan. Even Nalia is better then Imoen ( she has that ring ).

OTOH, Imoen is a better mage than Jan and a better thief than Edwin.

Plus Imoen's detect/clear traps and lockpick are quite respectable, and those are what you really neeed a thief for.

slight spoiler
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She is the 2nd best mage in the game and the 2nd best thief that you can have after Spellhold. This averages out pretty well. I'd still pick Aerie to kick her a$$ though.

[krunchyfrogg]

Originally posted by Andraste: slight spoiler . . . . . . . . . . . . She is the 2nd best mage in the game and the 2nd best thief that you can have after Spellhold. This averages out pretty well. I'd still pick Aerie to kick her a$$ though.

I disagree. Nalia will have more XP that Imoen, and will be a better mage. This really doesn't matter if you have ToB installed though. With ToB, and of the mages, including Aerie and Jan will all have so many spells to cast. Since spell power caps out, you're probably better off using multiclassed mages.