Few questions from a new player

[sbranzo]

A few days ago i decided to start playing NWN2, so i cleaned it from dust and installed the OC+MotB+SoZ. After that i started reading the forum and few guides to clear some doubts i had...unfortunately few questions are still unanswered.

Before starting with questions i'm giving some info:
- my only interest is playing OC+MotB+SoZ (no PvP or other modules)
- no Kaedrins pack installed
- i've played NWN, BG, BG2 so i'm not completely new to the game mechanics

So start asking:
- my first concern was: are all classes balanced or some of them are too weak to be played thru the campaigns? I mostly refer to new classes like warlock, swashbuckler, FS ect.
- companions: how many companions can i have in my party (3?)? Having a full party will hurt the experience gained or can i reach max level allowed even with full party?
- again companions: can i customize companions when they level up? Can i choose classes or only feats/skills?
- for OC i've red that there are lot of undead, so suppose sneaking, crits and slashing/piercing weapons are not very effective right?

The characters attracting me more are druid, warlock, swash/duelist, FS. Any advice to avoid errors during character creation?

Thx all!

[GawainBS]

• The campaign can be played with all the classes. I found that the melee-classes have an easier time in the beginning, with casters getting ridiculous at later levels.
• You can have up to 3 party members, initially. This increases later on. Experience isn't shared, everyone gets the same amount of XP, IIRC. You can easily reach lvl 20 with a full party.
• You can select skills & feats, but no classes.
• Sneak Attack and crits aren't so useful, no. Piercing and slashing have no distinct disadvantage that I have noticed.

Druid: you need Dinosaur Companion & Natural Attack. Then you can decide on playing as a buffed up melee fighter (via Wildshape) or a pure caster. If going for a Wildshape-build, don't put too many points in STR & DEX. (Don't do it, no matter the build, in fact.) [url='http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Wild_Shape']Read up[/url] on which items work in Wildshape and which don't.

Warlock: I can't help you here. Best guess: focus on your Eldritch Blast and CHA.

Swashbuckler: Focus on DEX, but be prepared to be a subpar melee fighter, given the prevelance of sneak/crit immune enemies, and general squishiness. If going the Swashbuckler route, I'd dualwield shortswords.

Favoured Soul: Make a choice: buffed up melee or caster? If melee, get the minimum required CHA (or WIS, not sure which is used to determine max spell lvl) for 9th lvl spells, rest in STR & CON. Use your spells to buff yourself. If it's CHA that FS is using, consider two levels of Paladin, for Divine Grace, or four, to get Turn Undead and thus Divine Might.
As a caster, focus on WIS (which determines DCs, IIRC), get the minimum CHA, and look for things to improve your DC.

P.S.: Kaedrin's pack is really very good and deserves a try-out.

[Claudius]

All of the classes can beat the game, but some are more powerful. I think if you had no PC and just used the NPCs you could beat the game. I am speaking of the OC, as I never finished MotB or SoZ. The OC doesn't have too many 'set to easy and reload' battles.

[murph]

In the OC, I agree with Gawain on melee versus casters, however the same can't be said for MotB. Due to the Enchanting system, with enough melee attacks (so dual wield is great) you can get insanely powerful. Add to that, for most of MotB you are heavily discouraged from resting, which makes melee chars even more powerful.

So you may want to go with the swashbuckler, who cares if you are squishy, in the OC you'll be fine and in MotB you'll be a dervish of death. In SoZ you'll make your own party anyways, so there it's more about creating the party, not the characters you want.

You might also want to know that while there is more than enough companions to complement your character in the OC (and they rarely leave), in MotB you have far fewer, and they can leave if they dislike you.
A kind of mage (and her thief familiar) and a kind of druid who are easy to get along with.
A kind of cleric who is not fond of bad guys.
A kind of, eh, Fighter who'll eat you if you do certain bad things.
A kind of Fighter/Rogue/Warlock (he/she/it is only one of those at any time) who only likes bad guys.

[Scottg]

Warlock and Favored Souls can be a bit more difficult to build correctly - particularly with respect to spell/invocation selection (..where it's REALLY important to get the right spells/invocations, and the right time).

Druid with Dino companion is the safest bet for both the OC and MOTB.

Warlock is probably the best class for MOTB (alone, not the OC - though it's good there as well at higher levels).

(SOZ is COMPLETELY different - a multi-party of your own making.)

[Jaheira]

Good answer. One thing I find very disturbing: When you level up, all do it at he exact same time. It would have been so much more fun if everyone leveled different time, as in BG etc.

Can i do that it will be so?

Cheers,
Jeh

[Jaheira]

Btw I also have a thought: What are these Ore for? You get 50 exp when you find such a source.

...and MoW, how those this exp work?

Regards,
Jeh

[Scottg]

Good answer. One thing I find very disturbing: When you level up, all do it at he exact same time. It would have been so much more fun if everyone leveled different time, as in BG etc.

Can i do that it will be so?

Cheers,
Jeh

It's done that way so you don't feel like you should have any reason to not take any particular companion (..other than if you simply don't like that companion, or find them to be generally less useful for a particular quest).

(..where a lot of people might just otherwise "solo" the game for faster leveling - doing so would "run-up" against the hard cap of level 20 fast, and probably make it boring for you with respect to leveling, and boring with respect to different capabilities from companions - as well as some interaction with those companions and a few companion quests.)

[Scottg]

Btw I also have a thought: What are these Ore for? You get 50 exp when you find such a source.

...and MoW, how those this exp work?

Regards,
Jeh

Ore is sort of a "capstone" quest later in the game (..here an Ore, there an Ore, etc.. and later you give that info. to an NPC that benefits you - the more you have found, the better off you will be (beyond simply experience points or gold)). It adds a bit of atmosphere to the game, and also aids in some plot development.

..sorry, don't know about Mysteries of Westgate.

[Jaheira]

It's done that way so you don't feel like you should have any reason to not take any particular companion (..other than if you simply don't like that companion, or find them to be generally less useful for a particular quest).

(..where a lot of people might just otherwise "solo" the game for faster leveling - doing so would "run-up" against the hard cap of level 20 fast, and probably make it boring for you with respect to leveling, and boring with respect to different capabilities from companions - as well as some interaction with those companions and a few companion quests.)

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Ah okey, i see.

At the moment I can choose Zhjaeve, is she good? It feels a bit tough to replace any of my NPCs and "start over" with a brand new one ...
If I were to trade away someone, it would Shandra, but that's not possible .. disturbing.

Sincerely,
Jeh

[Scottg]

She's good depending on how her spell-book is "loaded". She's also necessary for several quests and one whole "portion" of the game (Arhvan).

The one thing she is particularly useful for is higher level crafting. That's something you need to be careful of when leveling her up when you get the opportunity to select feats (Magical Arms and Armor and Wondrous Item). She's particularly useful for BOTH types of crafting (..say Belts of Strength + 8 with Wondrous Item, and Acid damage to weapons with Magical Arms and Armor).

One of the most important crafting items I *always* put into my character's robes, armor, or shield, is Immunity from Criticals. That requires Magical Arms and Armor and the spell Banishment (..and I think she has both when you first get her).

Thieves-guild.net has a good guide on crafting for each of the 3 campaigns.

Note: while you can export your OC character at any time and use it for MOTB, most do so right near the end of the OC. What's important here is that your weapons do NOT transfer, nor anything in your inventory. What *does* transfer is your worn items, and that immunity to criticals is HUGE for MOTB (and *generally* isn't something you can craft in MOTB).

[Jaheira]

She's good depending on how her spell-book is "loaded". She's also necessary for several quests and one whole "portion" of the game (Arhvan).

The one thing she is particularly useful for is higher level crafting. That's something you need to be careful of when leveling her up when you get the opportunity to select feats (Magical Arms and Armor and Wondrous Item). She's particularly useful for BOTH types of crafting (..say Belts of Strength + 8 with Wondrous Item, and Acid damage to weapons with Magical Arms and Armor).

One of the most important crafting items I *always* put into my character's robes, armor, or shield, is Immunity from Criticals. That requires Magical Arms and Armor and the spell Banishment (..and I think she has both when you first get her).

Thieves-guild.net has a good guide on crafting for each of the 3 campaigns.

Note: while you can export your OC character at any time and use it for MOTB, most do so right near the end of the OC. What's important here is that your weapons do NOT transfer, nor anything in your inventory. What *does* transfer is your worn items, and that immunity to criticals is HUGE for MOTB (and *generally* isn't something you can craft in MOTB).

Well, crafting is something i not directly have started yet ... need to check more on that. Crafting seems to be a pretty big part of the game, so to speak (?)

It will be sad to throw out a char you have built so far and so much ... but I'll have to think of something.

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Thanks for the info.

[Scottg]

Well, crafting is something i not directly have started yet ... need to check more on that. Crafting seems to be a pretty big part of the game, so to speak (?)

It will be sad to throw out a char you have built so far and so much ... but I'll have to think of something.

[ATTACH]4527[/ATTACH]
Thanks for the info.

Note: I *never* build my own character for crafting - instead always using companions for that. So I'd say keep doing what you are doing, just try and make sure that your companions do what's needed for crafting around level 15 (..with respect to feats vs. their spells). If you need to go back to a prior earlier save before level 15 then consider that, but only that.

Here is the recipes page for the OC:

http://www.thieves-guild.net/index.php?pid=45

[Jaheira]

Note: I *never* build my own character for crafting - instead always using companions for that. So I'd say keep doing what you are doing, just try and make sure that your companions do what's needed for crafting around level 15 (..with respect to feats vs. their spells). If you need to go back to a prior earlier save before level 15 then consider that, but only that.

Here is the recipes page for the OC:

http://www.thieves-guild.net/index.php?pid=45

Ah okey, thanks. Is 20 the max lvl?

Btw i did chose Zhjaeve, atm im fill her magebook. As wep i think i go with the spear, i already have two-handed and ranged in my party. Spear is something "new". Dunno what other wep to consider for her?

[Scottg]

Ah okey, thanks. Is 20 the max lvl?

Btw i did chose Zhjaeve, atm im fill her magebook. As wep i think i go with the spear, i already have two-handed and ranged in my party. Spear is something "new". Dunno what other wep to consider for her?

Yup - lvl 20 is the max in the OC (..lvl 30 is the max in MOTB).


Here are the spells in the standard Cleric spell book:
http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Cleric_spell_list
and her domains if I remember correctly:
http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_(domain)
http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Knowledge_(domain)

It's a really good idea to read through each offensive spell, looking at what it's weaknesses are and its strengths - and then "match" them up to the correct opponent.

Spear is usually what I give to her as well, specifically "The Captain's Spear" (or something like that), mostly because it has +3 strength on it plus some divine damage. The strength bonus from the spear allows her to wear some of the better full-plate (..I *think* Elven Ceremonial Full Plate armor is what I usually use). I think there is also a hammer she can use that has strength bonus as well - which would allow shield use. Alternatively, craft a strength belt for her using some of your cheaper gems (..+3 or +4 would be more than enough).

[Endugu]

I found it to be quite useful to give Zhjaeve the "zen archery" feat as well as a good sling ans shield.
Since she has a quite low strength score but high wisdom, ranged combat (and spells) worked out better for me than trying to turn her into a decent melee-combatant or spellsword.
Not to menition that your party probably has no shortage of those.

Just an idea!

[GawainBS]

Endugu has a good idea. She's better suited as a primary caster anyways.

[Scottg]

I found it to be quite useful to give Zhjaeve the "zen archery" feat as well as a good sling ans shield.
Since she has a quite low strength score but high wisdom, ranged combat (and spells) worked out better for me than trying to turn her into a decent melee-combatant or spellsword.
Not to menition that your party probably has no shortage of those.

Just an idea!

That's cool.

There are three things to consider here though:

1. Do you need the feats for something else? Crafting is one, but there are others as well, and I believe you get her around level 14 - which only leaves access to 2 feats: one at level 15 and the second at level 18.

2. Will she be doing much in the way of "attacking"? Most of my use of her was spell-casting or "true-naming". She's high enough in level that her spell book can be "stocked" with some pretty powerful offensive spells from the start, and of course it gets better as she levels-up.

3. It's tough to keep her "out of harms way" as a normal ranged attacker (at least when casting spells). She pulls added "threat" with offensive spells.


I guess optimally from this point of view she should really just have a shield in-hand with as much added AC bonus on it as possible, but again (along with full plate for added protection), that requires strength. (..you can get strength for her from Bull's Strength, but that becomes tedious).

[Jaheira]

I found it to be quite useful to give Zhjaeve the "zen archery" feat as well as a good sling ans shield.
Since she has a quite low strength score but high wisdom, ranged combat (and spells) worked out better for me than trying to turn her into a decent melee-combatant or spellsword.
Not to menition that your party probably has no shortage of those.

Just an idea!

As i said i already have ranged, but maby another one is okey. She cant take much in malee, but i think i go with large crossbow. So much better dmg and better ammo. Altough it looks like hell =)

edit: btw, i still have the "Neeshka and Lleldon"-quest in my book. The last quest was at the "Collector" or something, in the city. I was there again, but i have gone through the whole house. Will there be more of Leldon? I tought this was the end, but i cant remeber if i killed him or not...
I have his lucky coin. and i looted the house. Have i missed something?

[Claudius]

On leldon did you open the treasure room. The puzzles in the house set you to open the 'safe', a locked room.