skill progression

v1k1ng · Post by **v1k1ng** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:53 am

always when i play i max all the skills through he game that i took at the beginning, and i play only with them, no other or cross class. but i hear people that say: tumble at 15 is just enough and no1 can make an OA at you anymore. what about all skills? which are even worth putting points into, which are not? at what level should i stop at certain skills?

parry --> is this really useful? i mean, ok for a fighter maybe yes (+the improving feat), but for others i dont see the point in this.

listen and spot --> how much useful is this? i mean, ok i know that i will see hidden opponents, but is it enough if only 1 of my party members has this skills high?

swcarter · Post by **swcarter** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:09 am

v1k1ng wrote:listen and spot --> how much useful is this? i mean, ok i know that i will see hidden opponents, but is it enough if only 1 of my party members has this skills high?

You'd only need one character with these skills if there was anything to spot or listen to, but I don't think there is. Search is useful, though.

Sleight of hand is another skill you can skip. There's barely anything to steal in the OC and absolutely nothing in MOTB.

SWC

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:10 am

Parry is pretty useless in my view.

As for listen and spot, well - I've not found much use for them either, as you say because you can just control another character for the few areas where this might be useful. Listen and Spot are purely - in my view - roleplaying.

AvatarOfLight · Post by **AvatarOfLight** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:28 am

Your PC can see [Spot] something in a coversation at least one time

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:33 am

But as most thing in NwN-games, it doesn't really matter much one way or the other.
If all else fails, just kill it

v1k1ng · Post by **v1k1ng** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:43 am

thnx for the quick answers. but looking overall at skills i need, how much should i raise them? should i raise the skills i need the whole game long, or just to a certain point? tumble e.g., a guy told me that with tumble 15 no1 can make an OA at me, so i dont see a point then to increase this after 15. i think its better then to skip to some other skill. and dont focus only on tumble in this example. what about persuade, or lore, discipline, heal? are 15 skill points enough for such skills or should they be raised to maximum possible.

swcarter · Post by **swcarter** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:43 pm

There are a lot of diplomacy checks in both campaigns, and the more points you have there, the better. Ditto (but to a lesser extent) for lore. Heal is another one of those skills that you don't really need.

SWC

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:49 pm

Appraise - lowers prices...good but not essential.
Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate - important skills you want some but not all
Concentration - Casters a must
Disable Device, Open Lock, Search - Rogues who don't like Neeshka in party
Heal - Pretty useless but not totally
Hide - sneakers and HIPS
Move Silently - ditto
Listen - detect sneaking rogues...when does this happen?
Spot - ditto and ALSO stops feint attempts against you important for PVP
Parry - pretty passive fighting style maybe for duelists?
Perform - needed for bard songs and curses
Crafting - have companions do this
Set trap - pretty decent if you get off on this. Especially good to paralyze.
Sleight of Hand - earn a few gp but pretty useless.
Spellcraft - VERY good. Every 5 ranks give +1 save vs. spells.
Survival - Used with Track feat (ranger)
Taunt - Good. Drop opponents AC in area of effect.
Tumble - Good. Avoid attacks of opportunity. Plus Every 10 ranks earns 1 dodge AC.
Use Magic Device - Very good. Use items without restrictions. Including other class/alignment items. Doesn't allow non-proficient weapon use.

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:53 pm

In my opinion, your PC should have at least decent Speechcraft skills. This is because he can potentially get out of most sticky situations with a high enough level of diplomacy or wahtnot. As for lore, identifying items shouldn't be a problem with Identify. There are a couple of Lore related conversation options, but they are pretty insignificant when compared to the rest of both campaigns.

swcarter · Post by **swcarter** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:03 pm

Loki[D.d.G] wrote:There are a couple of Lore related conversation options, but they are pretty insignificant when compared to the rest of both campaigns.

I think there are 5-10 lore dialogue checks in MOTB and at least twice that in the OC. Lore shows up in dialogue way more often than any other non-speech skill. So if you want to see as many dialogue options as possible, then you should bump it up. If you just want to identify equipment, then you don't need it at all. One of your caster companions can do the identifying for you.

SWC

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:07 pm

swcarter wrote:I think there are 5-10 lore dialogue checks in MOTB and at least twice that in the OC. Lore shows up in dialogue way more often than any other non-speech skill. So if you want to see as many dialogue options as possible, then you should bump it up. If you just want to identify equipment, then you don't need it at all. One of your caster companions can do the identifying for you.

Eh, my bad. I'm currently immersed in Hellgate and can't remember much of the conversations in MotB, much less the OC. I guess I overlooked most of the lore conversation options. Mind you, I once played as a perfect character with maxed out stats, just to see all the conversation options.