Imoen, Baldur's Gate 1 BG1 Companion

Imoen Baldur's Gate 1

Imoen Location

Imoen is a Baldur's Gate companion in BioWare's cRPG of 1998, Baldur's Gate 1. While first encountered outside the Candlekeep library, Imoen is later found on the Lion's Way, east of Candlekeep. After joining at the start of the game, Imoen has no quests or banter. However, she is of the Baldur's Gate canon party.

Sorry I followed ya, but I never get out of Candlekeep and those monks are such a bore.  Never any decent coin in their pockets neither.  I...I saw Gorion, and I am SO sorry!  Kinda figured something bad might happen to you out here.

Imoen Stats

Strength score aside, Imoen has excellent stats. Her Dexterity score makes her a good thief and archer, and her intelligence score allows her to dual-class to Mage.

As a thief, Imoen should max out Open Locks and Find Traps first.

Imoen Biography

When asked about her past, IMOEN slaps your shoulder playfully. She says that you of all people should know, seeing as how you grew up together. Indeed, some of your fondest memories are of meeting this sprightly young lass. She apparently came to Candlekeep much as you did, though 10 years later in life, and she spent much more time with the gruff Winthrop than Gorion. "Puffguts" she would call him, much to the old innkeep's dismay. She seems the eternal child, and is quite content to play the part of little sister, though you are both of comparative ages. You can tell by her hearty smile that she will always be willing to travel with you, no matter what path you take.

Imoen Dual-Class

Imoen is a capable thief though she is usually dual-classed to Conjurer after she has maxed out the most important thief skills.

The first question is "How much thief do we want out of Imoen?" Namely, Open Locks and Find/Remove Traps, which are easily the two most important thief utility skills.

It is true that Knock can largely replace Open Locks, providing that we don't mind filling spell slots for utility actions which thieves can perform without limit and at no cost. As its name makes clear, the second circle divine spell, Find Traps, only reveals the trap's location; it does not remove them (unlike in NWN). Thus, since many traps cannot be walked around or otherwise easily avoided, the spell is no substitute for the skill.

We certainly don't need Pick Pocket, and the Invisibility line of arcane spells renders modal Stealth more or less redundant, in that it is unlikely that Invisibility status will be dispelled, and its duration is generous (up to 24 hours!).

The backstab modifier (x3 max for a dual-class of this kind under the 161,000 XP cap), is another consideration. Yes, Imoen's Strength score is a laughable 9, and she can't quaff Strength potions or wear the Gauntlets of Ogre Power as a thief/mage, but we can buff her with arcane Strength (18/50 for 1 hour per level) or divine Strength of One (18/75 Str for 1 turn), which is pretty decent. While Strength is not multiplied by the backstab modifier, it is still important for accuracy and adding damage.

Of course, you will be backstabbing with the Dagger of Venom.

In assessing just how many points we should spend in Open Lock and Find/Remove Traps, we can also take into account readily itemized potions such as Potion of Master Thievery (+40 Open Lock & Pick Pocket for 3 hours) and Potion of Perception (+20 % bonus to all thief skills for 6 hours).

I personally do not like to rely on potion-based buffs because their bonuses can be dispelled, and they will be lost upon resting.

In addition, how many points we spend depends on whether or not we have, or will have, another thief in the party. If, for example, we have a dedicated thief, then we can dual-class Imoen to Conjurer as early as second level, and turn her into a full-time Mage who can also fire from the Eagle Bow. Nice.

And yes, I do recommend dualing to Conjurer due to its underwhelming Opposition School, Divination. However, I do not recommend Conjurer if Imoen is your only Mage, Edwin is your only other Mage, or if you don't have a Bard in the party, such as Garrick, for their incredibly convenient Lore. The reason? Identify, a first circle Divination, is very useful in the campaign (especially when you're delving Durlag's Tower, or are adventuring in far-flung regions, away from vendors with ID capability).

In that case, you might want to dual-class Imoen into another Specialist, or just make her a Generalist. As a Generalist, Imoen will be able to cast any spell, but she will miss out on the bonus spell slot per circle that Specialists enjoy. 

So, with all that said, let's have a look at when to dual-class Imoen. Remember, we are working within a 161,000 XP cap.

When to Dual-class Imoen

• Dual Imoen to Thief at 2nd level (1,250 XP): This is the "To hell with thief skills, I just want Imoen to be a Mage" choice. That said, she can fire a bow as a Mage (2 flat ApR), she can backstab x2, and her skills are as follows: Open Locks (25), Stealth (30), Find Traps (50), Pick Pocket (25). Note that, with such skill levels, we can still force her into a thief role if we really need to (by virtue of the abovementioned potions). Basically, it cost us almost nothing to get this added potentiality for what is essentially a full-time Mage with circles 1-5 arcane spellcasting: an active dual-class after 6,250 total XP (1,250 for 2 levels of thief and 5,000 for 3 levels of Mage). Assuming Specialist, arcane circle spell slots cap out as follows for what becomes Thief (2) / Conjurer (9): 5-4-4-3-2. Thus, we lost no spell slots over a pure Specialist Mage. Not bad, huh? But maybe, for reasons of convenience, we would at least like to max Find/Remove Traps, which is the most important thief skill in the campaign?
• Dual Imoen to Thief at 5th level (10,000 XP): This gives us 100 points in Find/Remove Traps, another 10 points in Open Locks, and +1 to our backstab multiplier (x3). We will be casting Knock, buffing with potions, or relying on another thief in order to unlock doors and chests. No biggie. However, this costs us 50,000 in downtime. Assuming Specialist, arcane circle spell slots cap out as follows for what becomes Thief (5) / Conjurer (9): 5-4-4-3-2. Thus, we actually lost no spell slots over the above dual by adding such utility and acute DPS, but we pay for it with downtime. In fact, thanks to the speed of thief level progression, we can advance to 6th and still maintain 5-4-4-3-2 spell slots, but we are increasing our downtime just for extra thief skills (two out of four of which can be substituted by arcane spells; Pick Pocket barely even mattering). The maximum thief level we can attain under the 161k cap is 7th (40k), but we still can't max both Open Locks and Find/Remove Traps, we don't hit the quadruple backstab multiplier (9th level or 110k), and we miss out on fifth circle arcane spellcasting, which is bad.

Thus, to sum up, if you just want Imoen as a Mage who can fire shortbows, dual at 2nd. But if you want her to max the most important thief skill in the game (Find/Remove Traps), and attain x3 backstab as a l'il icing on the cake, dual at 5th.

cf. BG2 Imoen.

Imoen quotes

• Please sirs, I'm sorry for what I've done, but a girls gotta eat you know.
• I feel so cold.
• Yep?
• Whatcha want?
• Booooorrrring.
• Yer a queer fellow.
• I am gone.
• Do ya wanna tell me a story 'bout trollops an plug tails? Please?
• Yer all buffle headed.
• Mutton mongerin riff raff.
• -Yawn- I'm gettin a little sleepy.
• Poor sod, takin' the dirt-nap so soon.
• Heya! It's me Imoen.

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