EEEk!

What was black isle thinking??

First i gotta say, i think they really didnt think about half the npc's they included in Bg2.

There are about half as much npc's as Bg1, But they reapet themselves. COme on Nalia and Imoen? Exactly the same!
Dual classed UCK. They cant develope properly and get high level bonuses. What about Aeirie? CLeric/Mage??
There is only 1 proper mage in Bg2 and thats Edwin.... compared to Edwin, Dyhnaheir, Xan, Xzar, Quayle of bg1
And they had to duall class Aeirie?!? I cant use lvl 8 mage spells (uhhm i think...)

What about mazzy! Grand mastery in long bow....... 15 strength?? Cant use any off the decent bows.... they require 18!

They could have ditched nalia and had a monk!

There are just way to many duall classed characters... Anomen why couldnt he have been JUST a Preist of helm par example? The characters become alot more powerfull sticking to one class.

I REALLY agree whit you !!!

True, but still I think Black Isle knew exactly what they were doing. Think how easy the game would be if you had the best kits for every class available in NPCs. I find myself constantly having to make hard choices of whom to keep and whom to ditch. With many more NPC chars I think there would simply be to many choices.
Plus, they left the real kit experimenting and testing to you, the player, rather than including it all in the premade chars.

Cheerio

They could have still made at least a few normal mages!
Why 2 Theif/Mages? There are much more interisting combinations in the end off the day that dont include the new kits.

And dont forget Jan Janssen his also a thief/mage well specialized mage but still.

I think that everyone who's discussed this topic has overlooked/misunderstood Nalia's status as a dual class thief/Mage. She is completely capable of maxing out at 2.95 million XP. She only "spent" 5,000 XP to be a 4th level thief.

Think of it as 5000 XP for some Short Bow training. I happen to think that being able to use a Short bow (particularly given that there are 2 short bows in the game that don't require ammo) is a GREAT advantage.

Aye... c'mon! Why do you guys whine about this!!! It makes the game more difficult, forcing you to create chemistry between you party members!!! What's wrong with that? People whine and say that they want to play a hard and grueling game... well here it is! And I think the reason for Nalia being the same as Imoen is pretty OBVIOUS. Oh and don't forget Jan! Don't go asking for the obvious thing... it is REALLY OBVIOUS.

Uhhhm okayyy.... but that would be fine iff there were lots off npc's to chose from, as there is i think there is only 15 all together. 4 off them are exactly he same , so that leaves 11 npc's!

You guys are looking at the classes only. Each charachter is a charachter within their own right. They have their goals and their motivations, the backgrounds and their personalities. You are thinking of the as a bunch of stats. Black Isle were thinking of them as people you can meet. Companions who add to the novelic plot. You treat them as just a bunch of stats and you are missing the point. Go play diablo!

Yeah yeah ok, but they could have still had the personalities, but different classes.