So what's the status of Neverwinter nights 2?

[Stuie]

All this talk about HoTU has made me start playing SoU from the beginning again. I'm going Fighter/Bard/RDD this time - tank all the way (but with a lot of UMD points).

[Harovan]

Funny coincidence, I had the same thought and, believe it or not, the same class combination. Too bad I don't have time for NWN.

[DrSpike]

Fighter/Bard/RDD is teh pwn, though you have to pick the order well to avoid mid level mediocrity.

[Harovan]

In NWN (3.0 rules) you don't really have much of a choice.

First 1 level bard, for some more skill points. More bard levels don't make sense.

Then 4 levels fighter, to get up to the 8 Lore points RDD demands (in 3.0 everyone has Lore as class skill, unlike 3.5), and may be a weapon specialization.

Then the RDD levels.

Whether it's good to throw more fighter levels inbetween or not is a matter of taste. Also it depends on the length of the module you play, because by all means you WANT to get up to level 10 RDD for the big +attribute finish. If you do, good points would be after 4 or 7 RDD levels. I personally would not, as the big STR boost you get from the RDD levels makes up for the fact that it has only medium attack bonus growth (of course you don't build a finesse RDD).

When you are 1 Bard, 4 Fighter, 10 RDD, you can fill up more Fighter level till you hit the cap.

In NWN2 (3.5 rules) you can choose a fourth class. 5 levels of Frenzied Berserker do add greatly to this build, and it even makes sense to throw them in, say after level 7 RDD.

[DrSpike]

That's hardly the only build - the only real necessity is at least 10 RDD levels. A bard heavy build is perfectly decent.

[Harovan]

Shrug, if you add more bard levels early, mid level mediocrity would indeed be an issue. Frankly I don't like bards in NWN1. They're not very well done. The fact alone, that you have to keep up that frigging song all time to get your class specific buffs (and of course forget it all the time) ticks me off. Bards in NWN2 are better, much improved, have 6 SPs and can keep up a permanent buff.

[Harovan]

Speaking of bards, somewhere I read a Bardadin build (bard/paladin) and the creator switched back and forth between the classes several times. Sure, if you build one in the workshop and use dm commands, that's possible, but in a real game? Bards are non-lawful, paladins lawful, that alignment switching every time would drive me nuts.

[Kuciwalker]

I thought you couldn't advance paladin levels after you'd advanced in another class.

[DrSpike]

That's not the case, in NWN anyway.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
I thought you couldn't advance paladin levels after you'd advanced in another class.

No, you can multiclass paladins. Just have to be back to lawful good if you want to take more levels.

[Jamski]

Paladin/Bard is actually a pretty good combo for making a buff-based melee character. So long as you can adjust your alignment easily though console commands or scripted events in whatever module you're playing, that is. I'd take 4 levels of Fighter to get weapon spec, and enough levels of Paly to get max attacks/round at level 20, then fill up on Bard for the buffs. I guess there are even more optimum combos though.

[Jon Miller]

The best modules for NWN were user created ones.

SoU I played somewhat through... the OC I couldn't get far at all in.

Jon Miller

[Harovan]

I actually did it. I didn't have internet access for most of the weekend (ISP's fault), so I dug out some old stuff. Played some Patrician II and started SoU. I'm still level 4 (1Bd, 3F) and in the mid of chapter 1, but so far it's fun. If I carry this char into HotU, I'll give him Enserric the Greatsword; that should make him pretty much invincible.

[Stuie]

I actually took my Bard level at 3rd level so I could a) grab Lingering Song and b) pump 5 points into Tumble and 6 into UMD. I'm taking another Bard level at 16 to pump up Tumble and UMD again, then Fighter all the way to 20 (to get the 4th attack).

Just finished SoU and I'm currently playing the the Nether Scrolls bridge module. The "Final Battle" in SoU was a hell of a lot easier with this build than with the Pally I had first time around.

[Harovan]

That's quite possible, but this way you have 6 skill points less (-8 at level 1, +2 at level 3). Tumble is just fine for the +AC, but you won't be actually "tumbling" attacks, assuming you wear plate (which I do), because it comes with a big penalty. Don't know about UMD, I rarely take it. I know many love it, but it makes the game so cheesy (even cheesier than Enserric ).

Enjoy playing these games in NWN1, in 2 you can carry over at most 5 SP.

The "Final Battle" is easy with nearly any class (well, a 4 wizard + 4 sorceror + 4 druid could get problems ) if you know what you need to do.