Which one to do first?

[wickerman]

Which campaign is better to do first the orginal, sou, or hotu? Can I play hotu first then after I beat it transfer the character to the original nwn?

[Drunkside]

HOTU is absolutely best, SOU is too short and OC kinda lacks story....

[Kiwi]

Never thought of going backward

HOTU is absolutely best, SOU is too short and OC kinda lacks story....

SoU, nevertheless, is quite enjoyable, despite some shortness. There is no builtin way to take a character from the expansions and plug him/ her into the OC, but surely with the DM & Toolset capabilites, it can be accomplished anyway, if it was really necessary.

The characters in HotU get to level up way beyond the OC's cap, which probably would create some glitches in and of itself.

[AvatarOfLight]

The story of NWN starts at the OC, then comes SoU, then comes HotU. The connection is fairly weak though. Canonical, the character you play in SoU and HotU is the same person. HotU also has some references to events that took place in the NWN OC. It won't be gamebreaking to play the campaigns in a different order, but I do recommend taking the linear order.

[wickerman]

I have the diamond edition. That means I have to play origianal nwn first then with the same character play sou, hotu, kingmaker, shadowguard, lastly witch's wake?

[AvatarOfLight]

I have the diamond edition. That means I have to play origianal nwn first then with the same character play sou, hotu, kingmaker, shadowguard, lastly witch's wake?

Not quite. The OC, SoU, and WW were made for new (level 1 characters). HotU is meant to be played with the character that you finished SoU with. I can't say about the others.

[wickerman]

Not quite. The OC, SoU, and WW were made for new (level 1 characters). HotU is meant to be played with the character that you finished SoU with. I can't say about the others.

What does OC, WW stand for?

[rmemmett84]

OC=Original Campaign WW=Witch's Wake I found the last 2 add-on's in the Diamond collection to be almost unplayably boring. Kingmaker was dull and Witch's Wake was worse. Just one old fart's opinion. I would also recommend playing the campaigns as they were intended. OC does give you some backstory to the others...albeit minimal. There is also certainly nothing to gain playing them any other way that I can see.

[Xandax]

I found Witchs Wake (just to stray a little off topic here) to be immensly fun, because it attempted to be more about the role play then the hack n' slash NWN otherwise presented.

Anyways - on topic, if playing for the first time, I'd advice you to go through NwN original Campaign, then SoU with a new character and then start HotU with either one of these two characters you like best.
NwN OC and SoU would be ruined if you start either of them with a high level character.
SoU is easily the hardest of the modules due to it's lower levels, but HotU is the best of the three.

[wickerman]

Which classes are better to use for oc and sou? I was thinking of using cleric/paladin/blackguard character but I dont know how many levels for each class to use, maybe cleric 9/paladin 5/blackguard 26.

[rmemmett84]

That just comes down to personal preference I would say. I kind of liked a fighter type class so I could wear good armor and dive right into battle. Many others here prefer softer characters to increase the difficulty.

[Cuchulain82]

Which classes are better to use for oc and sou? I was thinking of using cleric/paladin/blackguard character but I dont know how many levels for each class to use, maybe cleric 9/paladin 5/blackguard 26.

For the OC and SOU, don't even bother thinking about epic characters. The OC level cap is 20 and you'll be lucky to gain enough XP in game to past 17 or 18. For SoU you won't make it past 15. The epic campaign is HotU.

With that said, you should play through all three. I like the OC, and you should start with it. Then SoU. Finally HotU.

For the OC pick a class. If you're going to be a spellcasting class then pick it and stick with it. If you're going to be a melee or ranged fighter-type, then consider picking your first level as rogue and staying with another class all the way. Monks are an exception- you should probably not multiclass in the OC with a monk.

For SoU, more of the same. I like sneak and stab characters and my elf Ranger-Rogue did well throughout the game. The overall layout of your character is less important in the OC or SoU- that's really a HotU concern. If you hope to bring your SoU character through HotU then plan out the levels, but if not, then just have fun with it.

[wickerman]

I am planning on playing hotu thats why I'm trying to build an epic character. Thats why I'm asking for help to build it. I have question about the paladin attributes, which attributes gives the paladin spells more to cast for each level, wisdom or charisma? And which makes the paladin spells more powerful? Also, which makes the paladin special abilities like lay on hands alot more to cast?

[Cuchulain82]

I am planning on playing hotu thats why I'm trying to build an epic character. Thats why I'm asking for help to build it.

Great. People will be able to help a little more if you describe what you're thinking first. If this is for the OC, then don't sweat the epic levels yet, but do conside if you want to do prestiege classes.

I take it paladin is the way you're leaning?

I have question about the paladin attributes, which attributes gives the paladin spells more to cast for each level, wisdom or charisma?

Wisdom. You need at least 14 for all spells. Don't bother going any higher (seriously).

And which makes the paladin spells more powerful?

Wisdom I believe, but the important thing is that Charisma effects most abilities- smite, turning, divine-shield-type feats, etc.

Also, which makes the paladin special abilities like lay on hands alot more to cast?

Charisma effects the power of the abilities, but you can still only cast them a certain amount of times per day. (I think... maybe I'm wrong about this. I'm not a paladin kind of guy)

One last note- paladins get their charisma bonus added to their saves at 2nd level. This is HUGE. If I were you I'd put at least 14 to Strength, Wis, and Cha. Wear nymph cloaks and put your additional attribute points all to Str. That just my $0.02.

[wickerman]

When does the paladin and cleric gain a level in spell? Is it every 4 levels for paladin and every 2 levels for cleric?

[Drunkside]

Pretty much like that

[Ganzaman]

Great. People will be able to help a little more if you describe what you're thinking first. If this is for the OC, then don't sweat the epic levels yet, but do conside if you want to do prestiege classes.

I take it paladin is the way you're leaning?


Wisdom. You need at least 14 for all spells. Don't bother going any higher (seriously).


Wisdom I believe, but the important thing is that Charisma effects most abilities- smite, turning, divine-shield-type feats, etc.


Charisma effects the power of the abilities, but you can still only cast them a certain amount of times per day. (I think... maybe I'm wrong about this. I'm not a paladin kind of guy)

One last note- paladins get their charisma bonus added to their saves at 2nd level. This is HUGE. If I were you I'd put at least 14 to Strength, Wis, and Cha. Wear nymph cloaks and put your additional attribute points all to Str. That just my $0.02.

Henchmen at HOU help u check different class attributes (kind of a test)
So Aribeth at 35 lvl (29 Paladin/6 Blackguard) has the following saving throws:
Fortitude: 37
Reflex: 26
Will: 28...The amazing thing is that she doesnt has any saving throw feats ,(also i took any items from her off for that test) and she has 9 dex,14 con and 13 wisdom.I wonder if a mage can kill any well built paladin...I prefer my arcane archer,but have to admit these saves rock :laugh:

[Cuchulain82]

I prefer my arcane archer,but have to admit these saves rock :laugh:

Her saves are so powerful because she gets her CHA bonus twice- once for paladin, once for blackguard (cool, huh?).