it's my party and I'll die if I want to...

[Norbane]

I dunno, maybe you should think about multiclassing into a cleric/thief or something. Imoen can do just fine as a spellcaster, but her thieving skills are absolutely horrible, I'm sorry to say. I really wish they'd have multiclassed her rather then dual-classed. Here is how I like to keep my setup

Me (straight up thief or assasin)
Minsc (strictly roleplaying value, definetely far better tanks out there)
Jaheria (mostly roleplaying value, she is very useful though, but I'd like it if she could tank a bit better)
Viconia (no better cleric in the game, her str. sucks, but I got her the crom faeyr and had her backup tank/heal. Worked out well)
Imoen (strictly for roleplaying value. Her thief skills stink and she's only a decent mage, I'd have far more use for Jan.)
Edwin (I absolutely love this guy. He's weak as a bunny in combat, but he is a devistating mage.)

I always find myself playing a thief of some sort. The game just sucks without a good thief.

[StarVid]

how can this be? I get two opposing views on Imoen. Some say she's incredible, others say she sucks. Here's what I figure though, I don't need her to detect traps just disarm them. I'd have my cleric cast detect traps, and invis. both my cleric and imoen and send them around a dungeon to clear all the traps/scout. And if there is something that imoen can't disarm, then I'll just summon something to set off the trap while my party is safely out of the way. Good plan, no? As for locks, whatever she can't pick/use potions for, I'd either knock or have Minsc break, no?

The only problem with this is that (in order to go through the whole series). I'd have to play a cleric in BG1 and that's going to be a booooooooooooooring game...

any comments?

[Warby]

I always use jan as my thief and his mage abilities a very good I think. When you get Imoen back I normally send her on her way cause she will only dissrupt the party. You'll have to learn completely new tactics to deal with her ablities and weaknesses. I like Edwin or Nalia too. 2 mages are very usefull. I'm good and I have Minsc so I can't use Edwin unfortunatly. I've left my cleric of lathanda single for now. I'd rather not weaken him by dueling him and so slowing down his level avancement. I don't like duel or multi-classed for me. Just curious. Why is Edwin the only pure mage in SOB, is there any others?.

Warby

[Nanobyte]

Really, if you think about it, playing a Cleric can really be very entertaining. It is very similar to playing a Paladin, except you're limited to Blunt weapons. Also, I don't get why they make the Clerics look so cocky.. They are the most important character in the game, yet the paper doll looks the worst.. I'm not too sure, but I think that Clerics have Flame Strike in BG1, but then again, I might be mistaking them for Druids..