Neverwinter Nights Questions

[Kurien]

Hello folks, I have a request. I'm asking you guys because I'm sure many of you have more experience with gaming than I. Keep in mind I also have no experience with DnD other than this game.

I have a copy of Neverwinter Nights (the first one) Gold edition. It has the Original Campaign and Shadows of Undrentide, but no Hordes. Also, yesterday I updated to version 1.69. Anyway, I've owned this game for over a year now, but I never completed the original campaign. Oh, I tried it once, but kinda stopped before finishing the first chapter.

My character was ridiculously unoptimised. Seriously, it was probably worse than Belkar. It was a dwarf fighter/paladin dual wielding rapiers.

So anyway, I am requesting either a build or tips on building one that I can use to finish the OC and then SoU. It just has to not suck, although bonus if it's decent. Here are the following specifications:


Up to level 20
Human ranger/rogue. More ranger, a little rogue (for the skills)
dual wielding kukris. What? I think they're awesome. They also have x2 18-20 crit range. Probably want weapon focus in this
Maybe use a longbow from time to time. I just like a ranged component.
Probably want favoured enemy: Undead, Constructs.
Because he has bow, Dex should be his best stat. Weapon finesse the kukris.


Also, how do a go about playing a ranged weapon using character? Do I need a meat shield to be effective?

[UnChosenOne]

I think that you should use heavy crossbow (1d10 19-20/x2) (took a rapid reload-feat) instead longbow. Yeah and meatshield mostlikely would be nice (Grimgnaw in orginal). And you should get HotU as soon as you can, after you have it you can always play bard/fighter/RDD.

[Inhuman Bot]

Up to level 20
Human ranger/rogue. More ranger, a little rogue (for the skills)
dual wielding kukris. What? I think they're awesome. They also have x2 18-20 crit range. Probably want weapon focus in this
Maybe use a longbow from time to time. I just like a ranged component.
Probably want favoured enemy: Undead, Constructs.
Because he has bow, Dex should be his best stat. Weapon finesse the kukris.


Also, how do a go about playing a ranged weapon using character? Do I need a meat shield to be effective?

I uh... Are you asking for optimization, yet following a list of somewhat unoptimized stuff?

If you wanted optimization, you could just go, say, monk (Yes, really. Monks are awesome in NWN.)

[Kurien]

No, I'm not asking for optimization... although if you can come up with something a bit more optimized that will make me playthrough a lot easier, then great! The first above stuff was really just what I found cool. If the build has one or two of those things, fine by me. Thanks.

[Flickerdart]

I found that a team of the PC's Cleric or Druid and Tomi Undergallows was fairly effective. Covers all the bases.

[Kish]

If you do get HotU, my advice would actually be, if you want to dual-wield kukris and this doesn't contradict the flavor you wanted: Forget about Dexterity being your best stat, forget Weapon Finesse, and plan for Devastating Critical at the earliest possible level.

[Kurien]

Sure, raw strength to power my blows is alright. I just like the idea of the Kukri Master (http://nwn.bioware.com/underdark/character_kukrimaster.html) Course, its a weapon master, which I don't have.
I just liked the idea of dexterity because it meant one stat for bow and blade.

[Flickerdart]

Sure, raw strength to power my blows is alright. I just like the idea of the Kukri Master (http://nwn.bioware.com/underdark/character_kukrimaster.html) Course, its a weapon master, which I don't have.
I just liked the idea of dexterity because it meant one stat for bow and blade.
That build is pretty shoddy. Dodge? Weapon Focus? Really, Bioware?

[Gundato]

Uhm, any character that survives the OC will dominate SoU :p

You are ~18 at the end of the OC. SoU is (allegedly) optimized for a level 1 character :p

That being said, here are a few tips:


If you decide to do SoU (or grab HotU and decide you want to do the entire quest line, from SoU until the end), I strongly suggest doing Kingmaker (or another module that will let you finish at ~3-5) before SoU. SoU starts really weak, and you are at the appropriate difficulty by the time the battles get fun.

Ranged characters: Anything that can become an Arcane Archer. And that is really it :p. Seriously, the Arcane Archer can demolish things. I forget the pre-reqs, but I think you can get away with a fighter, and then one or two levels of Sorc or Bard (because their spellcasting attribute is useful for conversations). A pure Ranger might work in Tabletop, but it don't work in NWN (1) because you are spec'd as a dual-wielder.

Builds: I strongly advise you to avoid any actual level 20 builds. Most of those tend to be optimized to be piss-poor and horribly awkward until level 15+. Really fun later, annoying and artificial early on. Honestly, your best bet is to figure out what kind of char you want to be (Caster, Healer, Tank, or Rogue), and work from there. Make a relatively pure character, and consider grabbing a Prestige Class or multiclass if you want. But a pure anything (short of maybe rogue, if you don't like to micromanage) can dominate the OC.



As for your build:
What skills are you thinking of? If you want someone to disarm traps and open locks, you want a dedicated rogue anyway. And unless you are going to pump heavily into stealth, sneak attacks aren't going to be all that worth it.
And I wouldn't bother with pumping any feats into your bow. Unlike tabletop, there are almost no situations where a ranged weapon is necessary. You are better off just charging forward and maybe chugging a potion (or using a healing kit, which is just obscene) to restore any hitpoints you lose from the gauntlet. But do consider carrying a bow. Can be useful in some situations, and some piercing damage will be useful for when your dual-slasher fights something with DR.

[Kurien]

Uhm, any character that survives the OC will dominate SoU :p

You are ~18 at the end of the OC. SoU is (allegedly) optimized for a level 1 character :p

That being said, here are a few tips:


If you decide to do SoU (or grab HotU and decide you want to do the entire quest line, from SoU until the end), I strongly suggest doing Kingmaker (or another module that will let you finish at ~3-5) before SoU. SoU starts really weak, and you are at the appropriate difficulty by the time the battles get fun.
Wait, if SoU is optimized for a level 1 character, wouldn't it make sense to play it as one?


Ranged characters: Anything that can become an Arcane Archer. And that is really it :p. Seriously, the Arcane Archer can demolish things. I forget the pre-reqs, but I think you can get away with a fighter, and then one or two levels of Sorc or Bard (because their spellcasting attribute is useful for conversations). A pure Ranger might work in Tabletop, but it don't work in NWN (1) because you are spec'd as a dual-wielder.

Base attack bonus: +6
Feats: weapon focus (longbow or shortbow), point blank shot
Race: elf or half-elf
Spellcasting: ability to cast arcane spells (bard, sorcerer, or wizard classes)
So some fighter and a just one level of bard/sorceror?


As for your build:
What skills are you thinking of? If you want someone to disarm traps and open locks, you want a dedicated rogue anyway. And unless you are going to pump heavily into stealth, sneak attacks aren't going to be all that worth it.
And I wouldn't bother with pumping any feats into your bow. Unlike tabletop, there are almost no situations where a ranged weapon is necessary. You are better off just charging forward and maybe chugging a potion (or using a healing kit, which is just obscene) to restore any hitpoints you lose from the gauntlet. But do consider carrying a bow. Can be useful in some situations, and some piercing damage will be useful for when your dual-slasher fights something with DR.

How about a druid? I've never played a spellcaster before, but it could be fun. Wildshape and Elementalshape would be cool. My only concern is remembering hotkeys or which quickslot to click. Also, real time, so I don't have mcuh time to think about which spell to use. Do I have to spend several minutes to re-prepare my spells after resting?

[Gundato]

Wait, if SoU is optimized for a level 1 character, wouldn't it make sense to play it as one?
Ah, thought you meant you were going to use your OC char for SoU. A lot of people did that.

And the problem is that SoU starts REALLY boring. A problem with 3/3.5e was that level 1 and 2 are really boring. You can't really do anything. That is why the OC starts you off at level 3 for all intents and purposes.

And the first chapter of SoU is mostly just FedExing across a map. So it helps to speed it up so you can get to the fun bits



So some fighter and a just one level of bard/sorcerer?
Pretty much. Fighter for feats to make your bow stronger, Bard/sorc for identify (or freaky high lore) and the pre-req. You don't really need your Arcane spells (although, I have seen some chars that actually use spells), since you basically get spell-like abilities with your arrows (like a fireball arrow).




How about a druid? I've never played a spellcaster before, but it could be fun. Wildshape and Elementalshape would be cool. My only concern is remembering hotkeys or which quickslot to click. Also, real time, so I don't have mcuh time to think about which spell to use. Do I have to spend several minutes to re-prepare my spells after resting?
Well, your hotkey/quickbar is pretty easy to see. And you can always pause to queue up a spell or two.
And it really depends on what kind of char you play, but you'll generally use the same set of spells for almost all encounters. Although, you may end up spending a minute or two re-buffing your party (or self), if you are that kind of caster.
As for the druid: it is a pretty good choice. Not my cup of tea, but it is a good balance of melee and artillery. Although, I forget if NWN1 has a feat to let you cast spells when shapeshifted, so keep that in mind.

[Flickerdart]

True Strike is a pretty useful spell even at high levels when you keep missing some enemies. Summon Monster I combined with a familiar will serve you well in the early game: two bodies between you and the enemy while you shoot your arrows.

[Trazoi]

The closest character to what you've described I've played through a NWN campaign with is a halfling fighter(4)/rogue(X)/shadowdancer(1) who dual wielded daggers, and it was pretty fun if a bit easy. The single level of Shadowdancer gives you "Hide in Plain Sight", and that's a ridiculously useful skill to have. You can repeatedly sneak attack most things, and even if some critter is immune you can still disappear at a moments notice to reposition yourself.

For spellcasters, I liked playing as a sorcerer. Technically the wizard, cleric or druid would have better stats if you plan them right, but the ability to just cast what you want, when you want without micromanaging everything makes the game flow so much smoother.

[Kish]

Sure, raw strength to power my blows is alright. I just like the idea of the Kukri Master (http://nwn.bioware.com/underdark/character_kukrimaster.html) Course, its a weapon master, which I don't have.
I just liked the idea of dexterity because it meant one stat for bow and blade.
That build also has Devastating Critical, and I would guess it's kind of central to the build. But it's your call.

Edit: However, that particular build doesn't get it any sooner than level 30. I can't remember if you even get there in Hordes of the Underdark normally. I'd juggle some things around with an eye to getting it as soon as possible, but I'd definitely plan for it for a kukri dual-wielder.

Edit again: Looking further, every feat after Devastating Critical has the "optional" asterisk on it--yes, that's a Devastating Critical build.

[Mercenary Pen]

Just a couple of tips to help max your XP in the prologue and chapter 1 of the original campaign...

Prologue:
Once the attack on the academy has taken place, avoid any hostiles you can until you've gotten both of the auto-level-ups. Then go back and kill any goblins and skeletons you didn't have to deal with on your way through before. That should get you to the point where you're starting Chapter 1 at very close to 4th level.

Chapter 1:
Find a magic weapon or magic ammunition that does Fire damage. Then, once you have lit all the plague victim pyres (other than the one in the city core), bash them with your source of fire damage. Every time they take damage, you'll gain 20-25XP (depending on multi-classing etc.), and depending on how much damage you do per hit, you could be looking at 600+ XP for each pyre.

Hope that'll help.

[Gundato]

Oh yeah. If you do go with a shapeshifter char, I do strongly recommend checking out the appropriate document on GameFAQs. Building a character around shapeshifting is more complex than one would think.

[Trazoi]

I've only finished it twice, but I think you finish HoTU at about level 25, give or take a couple. I don't think you can get to Devastating Critical unless you completely base your build upon reaching it, and you'll only get it near the end. And it's not much use against critical immune monsters, who tend to be the ones where you wish it would work.

My main issue with the Weapon Master is that the prerequisites involve getting a whole bunch of boring feats. You're pretty much locked into Fighter or Champion of Torm, and spending all those bonus feats on useless stuff just to qualify (is Whirlwind attack ever useful?). In the end, there's very limited scope for variey or personality, and the build makes you a Fighter who is just a little bit faster at killing things in direct combat, and can't do anything else.

I'm also not sure how many decent kukris are in the standard campaign, but I never really looked so there might be some nice ones I never noticed. I tended to go with dual shortswords or daggers, mostly because they fit my character theme more and because there's a variety of them around. Plus there's only one kukri model and I think it looks ugly. :smallwink:

[Flickerdart]

Oh yeah, the Sorcerer. I remember playing a summoner, awesome since you can swap out spells any level. Just update your summon to the highest level you can cast and switch the old one into something else. Though it works better when you make the summon the second spell for the level, not the first, since you may want to actually have level-appropriate offensive power.

[DeathQuaker]

Since IIRC you can't import your OC character into SoU, starting with your kukri wielder as a level 1 char in SoU sounds like a good plan. Both the ranger and the rogue's abilities will be useful in the early part of the game IIRC (there's some opportunities for tracking, and some good sneaky bits). If you team up with the barbarian-sorcerer as your henchman, you'll have good backup--he can melee with you or cast as you need.

If you decide to add on HotU later, HotU carries on from SoU, and a melee rogue-ranger will be an equally good character to be playing in Undermountain. Close passageways and lots of traps.

I can't comment too much on the build beyond that, but I played a dual kukri wielder in NWN2 (tiefling fighter-rogue-duelist) which, while not optimized, kicked major butt. Kukris are indeed fun.

[Siosilvar]

Since IIRC you can't import your OC character into SoU,

Since when? You can import any character into any module. It just gets boring quick if you're insanely over-leveled. :smallwink:

[UnChosenOne]

I for one prefend to use short swords or rapier&dagger-pairing when playing as high DEX character instead kukris as with them you're not forced waste one feat.

Offtopic: Do anybody know how good is next build is in NWN2:MotB rogue/insivible blade/shadow dancer?

[Flickerdart]

I for one prefend to use short swords or rapier&dagger-pairing when playing as high DEX character instead kukris as with them you're not forced waste one feat.

Offtopic: Do anybody know how good is next build is in NWN2:MotB rogue/insivible blade/shadow dancer?
Many enemies you will fight are immune to criticals, but there is a (rather difficult) way to win a weapon that will let you do this to most of them - a falchion or scimitar as I recall. A tank (Dwarven Defender/Dragon Disciple/Duelist combo) is incredibly effective, on the other hand, as unless you want Okku, all the other party members are squishy gits.

[Willis888]

(is Whirlwind attack ever useful?)


When you are surrounded by 6 or more creatures that will take several rounds each to defeat it can be an advantage. You get an extra attack per round and all your attacks are at max bonus. Although at this point it is win-more if you can stand in the middle of 6 creatures and choose to bring the group down a little faster rather than needing to bring one of them down asap to reduce the damage you take.




A melee oriented character is only going to get one or two shots in with a bow before the monster is in your face. They don't need to deal damage, or even hit. The objective is to bring your foe to the location you've chosen for the fight. Rogues, Arcane Archers, and holyfighter-types with Divine Might and a high Cha can all do decent damage with a bow.

Dex based characters need a trick to deal any damage (sneak attack or spells). IMO this makes the Ranger class only useful for becoming a dual-wielding Weapons Master with Devastating Critical. If you want two Kurikis, be a rogue x/shadowdancer 1, dex primary, and buy the duel-wield feats the hard way. Sneaky bowshots are effective with Hide in Plain Sight.

The only way to deal level-appropriate damage at high levels with a bow is an Arcane Archer, and even then Dex is not always the best stat to pump. Add 4 Paladin levels for Divine Might (Cha based +damage) and Divine Shield (Cha based +AC), and the minimum number of sorcerer/bard levels to get all the buffs you want and you'll have a fighter in heavy armor that can deal big damage with Flame Weapon(sorc)/Keen Edge(bard)/Greater Magic Weapon blade(s) and almost as big damage using a bow you rarely miss with. The spell True Strike is amazing but Bards don't get it - I've taken the feat Silent Spell (the only metamagic that can be applied to TS) just to be able to cast TS with level 2 spell slots. Putting your bow away to pull out a Tower Shield when confronted with a powerful melee opponent and activating (Improved) Expertise and Divine Shield will keep you safe but send your attack bonus plummeting, but then True Strike can be cast without failure in any armor as it has only verbal components. Begin life as a Paladin, get Power Attack early, and only take levels 3 and 4 as a Paladin when you are going to get feats, so you can pick up DM and DS and still get the maximum number of Arcane Archer levels.

[SmartAlec]

It is useful not to forget Knockdown and Improved Knockdown in a melee/rogue build. In Neverwinter Nights, attacking a knocked-over creature allows you to cause sneak attacks, as long as the monster isn't immune to sneak attacks or criticals. And, of course, you can sneak attack with anything in NWN, including greatswords. Sometimes you can get lucky, and sneak in a little extra damage against something whilst preventing it from hitting back.

Also, max out your tumble skill. Every 5 points put into tumble = +1 AC, even if you're wearing full plate and carrying a tower shield. This tends to make Fighter/Rogues pretty handy.

[Kurien]

So it's almost been two weeks since anyone posted in this thread. I have some new question's, but don't see the point in creating a new thread. It's not like this thread has been dead a month, right?

Anyway, now I'm thinking along the lines of a Druid Monk build. What would be good spells to prepare? What is the appropriate combination of Druid/Monk levels?

I don't think I'm good at recognizing the value of different spells, so I need a point in the right direction. What are the spells one absolutely needs to prepare, going by spell level?

Are the Summon Creature spells any good?

Do summoned creatures/animal companions/henchmen added to the party decrease the exp the PC gets?

Is there a cap on the value of magic items one is allowed to possess?

[Douglas]

Anyway, now I'm thinking along the lines of a Druid Monk build. What would be good spells to prepare? What is the appropriate combination of Druid/Monk levels?
You have two options that are good:
1) Dip a single level of Monk for wisdom to AC, cleave, evasion, better saves, etc. and go Druid all the way for the rest.
2) Go pure Monk. Due mainly to the plethora of Monk-only items in NWN and the fixed list of pre-made items available, this is actually a quite powerful choice in NWN. There are a number of immunities and resistances that are often important, and getting them from equipment usually forces you to forgo another important item. Poison, disease, and level/ability drain immunities are normally found on Amulets of Health, for example, which take up the same slot as Amulets of Natural Armor. Immunity to fear or death magic is usually found on certain belts, which also happens to be the slot taken up by all the best strength and dexterity boosters. There are a few exceptions, but you will be forced to make significant tradeoffs in your choice of gear no matter what you do. Monk grants several of these immunities (poison, disease, mind-affecting) along with evasion and high saves without taking up any equipment slots, which removes most of the important equipment slot conflicts. Plus, Monks get permanent Haste (3.0 version) before anyone else thanks to the Monk-only Robes of the Dark Moon that grant permanent Haste and are available earlier than any non class restricted permanent Haste item, and there are some Monk-only boots that give an AC bonus that stacks with everything else and that no non-Monk boots can compete with.


Are the Summon Creature spells any good?
Summon spells are brokenly good in NWN. Your highest level summon spells for a pure full caster will generally be on par with or even better than your henchman in a fight. On top of this, they last 24 hours instead of the 1 round/level of PnP D&D and if one dies you can just cast the spell again (as long as your spell slots hold out, anyway).


Do summoned creatures/animal companions/henchmen added to the party decrease the exp the PC gets?
Yes. The reduction is not especially huge, however, and you will never be more than 1 or 2 levels behind a completely solo character due to the increase in XP rewards from killing stuff for being lower level.


Is there a cap on the value of magic items one is allowed to possess?
No. If you can manage to find such gear, you are fully capable of carrying around several dozen high epic magic items plus ten million gold while at level 1. This is not likely to happen without cheating, of course, but if you get the money and find stores (or loot) that has such items the game will not stop you from getting and using them.

Early in the campaigns your equipment is limited by the amount of money you have. After a certain point your stockpile of gold outpaces prices to the point where you could buy the entire stock of every store you come across (not counting the items that are in limitless supply) and still have plenty of riches left over. At that point your equipment is limited by what the stores have and what you can find as loot. As you progress through the campaigns you will get access to more stores (and sometimes lose access to previous ones), and the later a store becomes available the more powerful and expensive items it will have in general.

[Gundato]

One tip though: The obscene power of the Monk starts to be overshadowed by enchantments and toys during HotU, since you are stuck with the loot as opposed to crafting. And (if I recall correctly), you can't enchant your own gloves.

[Douglas]

Crafting? What's that?

Outside of certain fan made modules, crafting of magic items other than scrolls, potions, and wands does not exist in NWN. There is an NPC in HotU who can improve weapons for you, but he can't do anything for equipment other than weapons, the limits on what he can do are not far above the best Monk gloves you can find, and if you use a Kama instead of unarmed strikes you can benefit from his work too. Of course, that requires giving up your d20 damage die...

Just make sure you have a halfway decent strength. I played through HotU with a dexterity focused Monk with Weapon Finesse once and discovered in the final boss fight that if I rolled a 20 on my d20 damage die I would get a single point of damage past his damage resistance. Anything less and I wouldn't hurt him at all because his damage resistance was so high and he also resisted the type of bonus damage my gloves gave. Or you could take the non-combat route to victory, or just tank while your henchmen pound on him. I didn't have any such trouble against any other enemy, though, and there is a way to beat the final boss without engaging him in combat.