How to Use Imoen Effectively:

Learn the best strategy for Imoen in Sword of the Sea: dual-class her into a Conjurer for powerful thieving and magic, and maximize her Find Traps skill.

Alright, let's talk about Imoen! The most popular way to play her, and for good reason, is to turn her into a dual-class Conjurer. Her 17 Intelligence is just begging to be used for magic, right? Even the game's tutorial shows her as a Thief/Mage, so it really feels like the intended path.

For a good-aligned party, she'll handle all the essential thieving you need, and then become a solid wizard to boot. The sweet spot for dual-classing is when she hits level 6 as a Thief. This way, she'll finish the game as a level 6 Thief/level 9 Conjurer without wasting any experience. Focus all her skill points into Find Traps until it's maxed out at 100%. After that, you can put the remaining points into either Move Silently/Hide in Shadows or Open Locks. She won't ever be a master of stealth, but it can help you get the drop on enemies occasionally. If you need to pickpocket someone, don't worry – there are potions that can help with that.

She starts proficient with Bows and Small Swords, but you might want to give her proficiency in another weapon, like Large Swords, before she switches classes. Honestly though, after she dual-classes, she probably won't be used for backstabbing much anyway. Her proficiencies become less critical then. The main goal is to get her Thief abilities back so she can go back to raining arrows down with her bow. In the meantime, while she's learning magic, start her off with Missile Weapons so she has some ranged attack options during those tricky early Mage levels.

Now, you might be wondering about the different level versions of Imoen. She joins you right after Candlekeep at the start of the game, but if you decide to replay with an exported character, you could potentially start with a high-level Imoen. This guide, however, is focused on a single playthrough with a brand-new protagonist, so we'll stick to that path.