GameBanshee Forums

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 2:21 am**

subj.
you're anything except fighter(not kensai)/mage or cleric/mage;
and
you're going to use Vhailor's Helm for scroll/wand "exploit";

She is the only NPC mage, IMO, allowed to wear helmets.
It seems obvious, however i have never seen it discussed here.
Are there other unique NPC features of such kind?
L.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 2:24 am**

Aerie's class is also impossible to recreate, since she is an elf with cleric/mage as a multi-class. If you try to make her, you'll notice that elf cannot have cleric as a multi-class.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 2:56 am**

I think aery sucks.Imoen and nalia are better mages.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 3:28 am**

Originally posted by ki-master:
I think aery sucks.Imoen and nalia are better mages.

We shall see .... in ToB according to my calculations Aerie will be powerful combo : 20thlevel Mage /25th level cleric with 8000000 Xp. - it means contingency/chain contingency/sequencer/minor sequencer/spell trigger + all cleric spells : what do you think about spell trigger with three flame strikes ?........She will be powerful enough to kick many asses.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 4:18 am**

don't forget the spell trigger type spells with heal and cure serious wounds in them.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 5:33 am**

aerie also gets to wear the robe of vecana, which does a rather fine job of speeding up her cleric spells also.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 5:42 am**

Well, when you put it your way she will become a goddes.I found her rather useles in bg2 but maybe ur right.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 7:30 am**

I don't understand how people can disregard Aerie either. Good cleric/good mage. By the end of the game her spell repetoire is amazing. It isn't a big deal she can't memorize 7th, 8th, 9th level spells. She can still scribe them for party experience not to mention there are so many high level scrolls in the game, she has plenty of access to such spells. Plus with draw upon holy might, mauler's arm, potions of speed, tenser's transformation she makes a great backup tank should one of the regulars ever take a beating. I have found her to be very useful and would lobby for her presence in any party.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 7:39 am**

aerie is great
she is a spell caster powerhouse!
she is not a great mage but combined with the cleric spells she has the most spells in the whole game.
and combining cleric and mage spells in triggers is great.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 7:47 am**

As good a statistical fighter she is some of her party dialogue is a bit strained and she can be annoying.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 8:18 am**

I never found that Aerie "sucked" in BG2, when playing a good/neutral party. In fact, she was essential if I wasn't personally playing some type of mage. Admittedly, she misses the highest spells of both the cleric and mage categories, but it's easy to win the game without those spells. (What is it, anyway, when some people boast that the game is far too easy, but at the same time complain that some characters are far too weak?

After a lot of thought and several run-throughs, I've concluded that *no* hireable NPC in BG2 is truly terrible, though some are easier to play (particularly for the novice). I think a party that tries Haer'dalis as a tank and Aerie as its primary mage is going to be challenged, but so what? Each character has their strengths and weaknesses. It's your job to maximize those strengths and work around the weaknesses. Aerie is an extremely powerful two-tier cleric/mage backup.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 8:41 am**

Originally posted by fable:
I never found that Aerie "sucked" in BG2, when playing a good/neutral party. In fact, she was essential if I wasn't personally playing some type of mage. Admittedly, she misses the highest spells of both the cleric and mage categories, but it's easy to win the game without those spells. (What is it, anyway, when some people boast that the game is far too easy, but at the same time complain that some characters are far too weak?

Actually there is no paradox/conflict here. It's quite easy to form a party which is powerful enough to make BGII trivially easy to finish, but which also contains a relatively weak character (Aerie, Cernd). Weak in comparison to the others, that is. They are not weak enough, however, to make the game as a whole difficult.

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 3:05 pm**

I just bought BGII yesterday (having played and enjoyed the bejesus out of Icewind Dale for almost a year now) and so far I have made it partway through Ch. 2. I have perused this board for the better part of my uneventful work day and am shocked by the rampant animosity towards Aerie. I am playing a Male CG Fighter (my "old standby" character type since I got D & D in the red box at age 8) so any Mage, much less a Cleric/Mage dual-class, is a welcome addition to my party at this point. Whether or not she is irreplacable has yet to be seen from my end...but she sure is a cutie. I gather from many here that she is annoying as well...such is life.

So far, I prefer her over Jaheira as far as spellcasting goes. But time will tell, and I'm just a newbie, so what do I know?

Posted: **Fri Jun 01, 2001 3:10 pm**

I played the game 3 times and I kept her the 1st and 2d time because I love fireballd

.I always let my 3 mages cast fireballs while the fighters attacked with their weaps.But I never used her cleric spells.And I don't even know how that triggering stuff works,can someone explain?

Posted: **Sat Jun 02, 2001 2:51 am**

Originally posted by ki-master:
I played the game 3 times and I kept her the 1st and 2d time because I love fireballd .I always let my 3 mages cast fireballs while the fighters attacked with their weaps.But I never used her cleric spells.And I don't even know how that triggering stuff works,can someone explain?

so you missed her Prot.from Evil 10'. Chaotic Commands and Negative Plane Protection are clerical, how could you live without them, just curious.
As for triggering, there are some mage spells allowing cast several spells simultaneously (2 Sequencers, Contingency, Spell Trigger...). Cleric/mage may include cleric spells in the selection, too.
HTH,
L.

[ 06-02-2001: Message edited by: Loredweller ]

Posted: **Sat Jun 02, 2001 3:15 am**

Look on Arie from one my game:
Vhailor's Helm
Robe of Vecna
Shield of Harmony
Ring of Wizardry
Ring of Air Control/Ring of Freedom
Sensate Amulet
Boots of Speed
Sling of Everard+5
Cloak of Protection+2
Appropriate selection of
- Wand of Fire
- Wand of Cloadkill
- Wand of Monster Summoning
- Wand of Heavens
- Rod of Resurrection
For a while
- Girdle of Frost Giant Strength
- Skullcrusher+3
Most often she makes the first hit from max. range. The robe increases her casting speed enough to cast 2-3 fireballs/cloudkills/chaoses/... before opponent ever notice her presence

Then she retreats behind the front line and keep ranged support - if there is any need for it

BTW, she's only cleric able to use Staff of Magi (this time it's on Ioment, though)

She is only NPC you might use to get practice on fiends without losing any scroll, too

[ 06-02-2001: Message edited by: Loredweller ]

Posted: **Sun Jun 03, 2001 6:49 am**

Okay, I've finished Chapter 2 and am in the midst of the sub-quests (I just curb-stopped the Beholder Cult)...Aerie is completely irreplacable. She is fast becoming a magical powerhouse, and I have barely used the spellcasting abilities of Jaheira or Nalia. Now if only I could raise her HP and AC up a few notches...

Where can I find the Robe of Vecna, though?

Posted: **Sun Jun 03, 2001 6:56 am**

Download the bonus merchants patch, in the download section of GameBanshee, you can buy it from the lady in the Ribald's Adventure Mart, near the top of the stairs.

Posted: **Sun Jun 03, 2001 11:57 am**

Originally posted by Mr Sleep:
As good a statistical fighter she is some of her party dialogue is a bit strained and she can be annoying.

The best insight I've seen into Aerie was, strangely enough, by a poster on the Anomen thread by the name of Thantor3. The characters in BG2 are an attempt to increase the 3 dimensionality of the game, and IMO do so with great success. But rather than restate in my words what has already been said, I'll quote Thantor3 on this subject.

In my experience, the romance with Anomen is most similar to the Jaheira romance (I'm still doing these) than the one with Aerie (I finished that one). Again, many people complain about Aerie's whining, but I never felt that way about her. From a psychological perspective, both Aerie and Jaheira are dealing with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). The fact that Aerie has issues is entirely consistent with being kidnapped, brutalized, and losing two of her limbs. I wouldn't call the need to process that kind of material whining. The only thing I found inconsistent was that she was still grappling with suicidal ideation (i.e. the dialogues about what is there to live for if she didn't have her wings). The healthy caretaker relationship she developed with Qualye and her religious conversion to his god would indicate that she had already resolved the question of "what to live for" and had moved past this. In my experience, this type of question would have been more appropriate for Jaheira, who had just lost a spouse in an extremely violent way and who was experiencing an more acute form of PTSD. I also feel that the Aerie romance was badly underdeveloped for such a complex character. That the bulk of the romance was geared around resolving her inner conflicts and then ends is unfortunate. It would have been nice if,later on, she would have been allowed to consummate a healthy union with the PC -- the fact that this didn't happen made her seem more immature than her background suggests. An individual who was able to bounce back from the kind of savagery she experienced, with the level of curiosity, determination, and strength that she displays is certainly not a little girl.

There are those who do not overlook the three dimensionality of the characters as being merely an annoyance; from an RPG perspective they are the heart and soul of the game.

Posted: **Sun Jun 03, 2001 3:19 pm**

2 words for all u spellcasting lovers:

WIZARD SLAYER

it kicks some mageor butt!!!

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Arie is irreplacable if ...

Arie is irreplacable if ...