26 réponses à ce sujet

[PRWombat]

I bought NWN2 ages ago and have never played any of them. I would really like some general build advice as I have never played a game with a strict D&D rule set. I am really looking for a way to easily get through the campaign to get to know the intricacies of the game and how it works. There seem to be a lot of options in regards to deity and alignment and how those options affect game play. Any advice will be really helpful and thanks in advance. 

[Tchos]

Getting through the official campaigns shouldn't be difficult, no matter what you play.  More important is to ask what kind of character you prefer to play.  I like to play as a good-aligned diplomatic spellcaster.

[Psionic-Entity]

The most important choice you'll make is picking a class. Alignment is more of a personal preference that indicates how you want to play, and deity doesn't really impact the game unless you have class features that depend on it. You can make it through the OC just fine with a base class taking most of the recommended stuff. If anything making a really good build is overkill and you could end up ruining your game experience with effortless fights.

[Tchos]

Also, consider that you'll have your pick of plenty of companions of a wide range of classes to add to your party, which can make up for any deficiencies your main character might have.

[Luminus]

I bought NWN2 ages ago and have never played any of them. I would really like some general build advice as I have never played a game with a strict D&D rule set. I am really looking for a way to easily get through the campaign to get to know the intricacies of the game and how it works. There seem to be a lot of options in regards to deity and alignment and how those options affect game play. Any advice will be really helpful and thanks in advance. 

I would strongly advise playing a Cleric. Pick the Domains you want, put Concentration, Diplomacy and Spellcraft and you're done.
Choose a Human and pick Martial and Exotic weapon proficiencies.

Now you have a character with great saves, can equip all armor and weapons, except Tower Shields (you don't need them), you have casting, buffs, summons, Raise Dead/Resurrection and some offensive spells.

You can also deal with undead in the campaign and there are many, you can fight like a Fighter (Divine Power spell) and you have good HP.

At third level get Extend Spell maybe you can double the durations of your buffs and around 12 level get Persistent Spell to make your buffs last 24 hours or until you rest.

The rest of the feats are up to you. You can get Empower Turning to better deal with undead.
Stuff like Empower Spell and Maximize are not needed to a Cleric.

With the Cleric you get a bit of everything, you're always useful and very very survivable. Very easy to play and build.
As a Human, the default stats of 14 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 10 INT, 16 WIS, 14 CHA are great.
Just keep raising your Wisdom and don't multiclass unless you need to.

For deity pick whatever fits your character's and pick the alignment you want. You cannot go wrong with True Neutral and then see where the dialogue shifts you to.

[Adeph]

A Bard will work out very well either, start of as a Rogue and take the Able Learner feat to allow you to take over the thief duties for the party as well. You will have very good melee after you buff, good conversation skills, you'll make the entire party better and to top it off Bards get very good songs and inspirations in NWN2.

 

Something like this http://nwn2db.com/build/?92586 works very well. This build is probably better over all as HIPS is OP http://nwn2db.com/build/?92586 Note that if you are using this build you should swap the listen skill to diplomacy or bluff and maybe use the spot skills for more useful campaign skills.

 

Strength based Ranger will work well either as they get all the Dual Wield feats for free with no need to meet the requirements, again you can start off as a Rogue and be the party thief as well. Here's a simple build that would work http://nwn2db.com/build/?35660 although I would highly recommend switching out Great Cleave at level 15 and picking Blind Fight instead.

 

I wouldn't worry too much really because even if you do mess it up you can craft incredibly powerful gear and enchants. Just don't give up in the first act because it can drag on a little.

[Elrith Galadon]

Bards seem to be a favourite for quite a few. I would strongly advise against playing a mage, as they generally tend to have very low constitutions (why can't we have a macho 6'3" 200lb mage for once? They all turn into pasty nerd types for some reason) and the first battle, while not difficult, can be a little disorienting. I've never seen clerics, paladins, and bards in other systems the way they're portrayed in D&D, so if you want a unique D&D experience, go with those. Whatever you do pick, there will be other companions to augment your deficiencies. 

 

The first campaign isn't that difficult to get through, so as long as you don't do something like a fighter with 3 for constitution and strength, you should be fine. Good luck, and happy adventuring!

[Tchos]

I say do play a wizard, but I don't mind being squishy, as long as I have a party.  (The game does commit the sin of making you fight solo on a couple of rare occasions, though.)  I can't say I enjoy playing a bard, but I find the bard companion in the OC to be quite entertaining, so I generally take him along as support.

[Elrith Galadon]

I say do play a wizard, but I don't mind being squishy, as long as I have a party.  (The game does commit the sin of making you fight solo on a couple of rare occasions, though.)  I can't say I enjoy playing a bard, but I find the bard companion in the OC to be quite entertaining, so I generally take him along as support.

 

For a first-timer, it might be a little tough, especially the duel. I had to run around in circles... and that was pretty much all I did until I got away long enough to cast a spell. Run around again, cast another spell. It turned into the duel from Dragon Age II. 

 

The bard companion is one of my favourites. They always seem to be the most comical. 

[Tchos]

Oh, there was no way I could win the duel with my main character.  I took Khelgar's offer to fight for me as my champion, and he won handily.

[-Semper-]

The game does commit the sin of making you fight solo on a couple of rare occasions, though.

 

plus every fuckin' cutscene unhides and places your squishy spell wielder in front of the opponents, where the a.i. instantly cuts you to pieces.

[SvPaladin]

Been playing primarily wizard types in the OC many times.  Here's my tips for survival - coming up with these do require a bit of intimate knowledge of the combat system and to a lesser extent the game / campaign...

 

Build advice - No "+0" stats to start, so a minimum of 10s across the board.  INT/CHR (Arcane caster stat of choice) 16-18 (racial bonus), Dex of +2, Str +1, rest can be +0.  You can "dump stat" wisdom once you're experienced in the game...

Familiar - Beetle gives +1 HP / Level when out.  I tend to take it for the HP, which helps with a "battlemage" build.  Other familiars tend to focus on skill bonuses when out/active, and many of those skills I don't use.

Spell Selection - Devote at least 3 "low level" spell slots to defense.  Mage Armor, Shield (both L1) and Ghostly Visage (L2) are critical to your defense.  With the +2 Dex modifier, your AC most likely will be ~24, with 50% concealment and damage reduction all translate to being "nigh invulnerable" to most Act 1 foes.  Remember to devote a few higher level slots to defensive spells also, as they will help keep you alive against the higher end foes.  Advanced invisibility's better concealment bonus, advanced mage armor, etc., can keep you "in the fight" at higher levels, too.

I strongly recommend training in Tumble Skill.  Once you get tumble to an effective 15, you can run around the battlefield without provoking many attacks of opportunity.  I'd go so far as to say that using able learner as your first level feat just to make this a "cheap" skill would go far in your build.

 

plus every fuckin' cutscene unhides and places your squishy spell wielder in front of the opponents, where the a.i. instantly cuts you to pieces.

 

Fortunately, most cutscene battles (aka those that force the party leader to the "front and center" position) are well telegraphed.  F1 targets self, and having the 3 defensive spells above hotkeyed = quick buffing session, which can keep you alive during the initial bum rush.  Having tumble then means you can extract yourself to the back ranks and cast away / use archery.

 

Higher dex bonus also benefits an archery build.  Point blank feat removes the need to play the "weapon switch" game if/when you get snagged in melee.

 

For "normal" mode, dropping AoE spells into the midst of a melee should be your strategy of choice.  At higher difficulties (Hardcore+), having 1-2 AoEs and a lot of the "enemy only targetting" spells are effective - though the selective targetting spells tend to be higher level...  The Missile Swarm spells (considered broken / OP by a few) are "awesome", especially against single targets.  Lorne usually "falls" after 1x lesser missile swarm spell, which then leads to him raging and you doing the "laps of the arena" till the rage ends, at which point even a L1 magic missile ends the fight.

 

As an "advanced" build, you could run a fairly effective "battlemage".  My current battlemage build went to Wiz 5, then switched to Eldritch Knight - using the "trick" of picking martial weapons feat as my L3 feat to "qualify" instead of taking a fighter level.  Your BAB (attack skill) will be middling, about equal to a rogue/cleric most of the time with this build.  Weapon Finesse & Short Swords or Point Blank Feat at L6 determines your combat style for the rest of the game (in face melee or back rank archer).  And the only thing you "lose" is one effective caster level...

[-Semper-]

yeah, you can build your class around the issues, but bad game design is still bad game design. fortunately obsidian created soz, which is so much better in this regard.

[rjshae]

I bought NWN2 ages ago and have never played any of them. I would really like some general build advice as I have never played a game with a strict D&D rule set. I am really looking for a way to easily get through the campaign to get to know the intricacies of the game and how it works. There seem to be a lot of options in regards to deity and alignment and how those options affect game play. Any advice will be really helpful and thanks in advance. 

 

I don't think your choice of deity matters in any significant way. If you want to pursue a prestige class, then I'd take a look at the prerequisites when building your starting character. Alignment will impact the availability of some classes and prestige classes, so choose accordingly. The class descriptions have some advice about the key abilities--I'd make sure you follow that advice, or you character may have difficulty. Other than that, I'd choose what you find the most interesting to play.

[Naeryna]

Use buffing spells and ability. When I started to play this game, I never used buffs and I had hard time playing, even on easy. I just recently discover how buffs can be useful, so this affect my NWN1 game.

 

 

Another piece of advice... Make sure you and your companions have good equipment. You should have enough gold when you come to Neverwinter, but don't leave for Old Owl Well without good armor.

 

Elanee is good companion, almost as good as any cleric, she just requires little direction. In her character interface (behavior), click "Use wild shape" and you should be fine.

[Loki_999]

Ranger is a nice one (although better for SoZ). Plenty of outdoor areas, you can handle melee or ranged, lots of skill points, plus you animal companion can act as a bit of a meat shield.  Where possible, stand back, let Khelgar go toe to toe while you pick off enemies from range.

 

Of course, favoured enemies are hard to select if you don't know what is coming.  In MoTB you know most enemies are either going to be undead/outsiders/elementals (which is why sneak attackers suck in MotB), the OC is a bit more varied with animals, humans, orcs, and lots of others along the way, so thats a weakness of Ranger in the OC, youll never get enough FEs to cover all foes.

 

Pure casters are tricky for OC as stated due to game engine issues if you are not prepared for them.

 

You could just go for dumb fighter... but then you'll be failing lots of skill rolls during convos and stuff except perhaps Intimidate.

 

I think the best advice given so far is Bard. Jack of all trades, master of none, but you support your whole part with inspirations, and can handle yourself in melee a bit, and make a half-decent backup buffer/healer.

[Naeryna]

Yes, I'm playing with melee bard and I breezed through ch1. Just buff up properly.

[Luminus]

I would strongly recommend a Cleric over a Bard. Both can do a bit of everything but the Cleric is far more survivable in the OC and can deal with the undead very easily.

A Cleric let's you play around with almost all types of weapons and armor, melee and full spellcasting to get the hang of it.
The Bard is squishy with d6 and Light Armor (sure Mithral Fullplate is possible but it's more complicated for newbies), is a spontaneous caster which means you cannot experiment with spells and almost lacks offensive magic or the various summons.

A Cleric/Doomguide gets a bunch of stuff, destroys the undead in the OC and MotB and is solid and easy to play all the time.

[Axe_Edge]

Well, if PRWombat comes back, a second runthrough should be in order by now.

If not a cleric during the first run through, now is the time. Play chaotic evil, Talos, "Stormlord" for the win!

[Luminus]

Not to spoil too much but in MotB, you meet the Doomguide's patron in person.

That's why I think a Cleric/Doomguide is so fitting, fun and easy to play 1-30, through both campaigns.

[Snowdog65]

Well, if PRWombat comes back, a second runthrough should be in order by now.

If not a cleric during the first run through, now is the time. Play chaotic evil, Talos, "Stormlord" for the win!

 

After all the advice for complex builds, I figure he went looking for a simpler game.

 

For a newb, I would recommend one of the simpler combat classes like a strength based fighter/Barbarian/Ranger.

 

Ranger I think is particularly well suited to the OC, since you are outdoors a lot, you get a lot of skill points to try different skills. Ranger means you eventually have enemy tracking on all the time.

[Thorsson64]

Fighter/Bard/RDD. Got the Skills, got the Feats, got the Strength. Easy to play.

 

Cleric/Stormlord is even more powerful if you don't mind buffing.

 

For total power Bard/Cleric/Stormlord/RDD. That cuts through the campaigns like a hot kukri through butter substitute.

[Dann-J]

I had fun with a bard / barbarian / RDD, starting at level 1 in the OC and reaching level 30 in MotB.

[Eguintir Eligard]

My advice is play the game. It's not hard. And "builds" are for Lego.

[Thorsson64]

Was it really worth necroing the thread to post that "wise" (ahem) advice?