I suck ass @ MotB combat.

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Agreed again DI. NWN2 did an excellent job with the, well... LOW premise of the story. It plenty of great moments and the King of Shadows turned to be something else entirely as my head -> desk reaction I had when I heard the name the first time. A much better experience than the BG2 storyline.

It's true that the beginning missions were a bit tedious (thieves/Watch especially), but it picked up fast. And there were things like having the merchant you extorted appear in the Trial (OMG teh consequences!!1!).

Combat was a bit weak often though. Too much of it was too simple. It was just a chore.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

NWN2 OC is generally playable, but there's too much stuff you simply don't want to do but can't avoid either. Even choosing to be either a thief or a guard doesn't make any kind of diffrence, you have to do all the same fucking stupid chores. The trial seemed like ok but then you realize it doesn't matter what you do or have done, it always ends up the same. I'm not sure if there's any meaningful choice in the whole game until in the very end.

 

[Murk]

I'd recccomend playing the original campaigne for a bit just to warm up to the rules and gameplay.

jumping into a game where people drop Save-or-Dies in every battle will scare anyone off

i also don't get why you didn't just TRY the OC before somehow coming to the conclusion that its a waste of time (unless you did and hated it, at which point you should still use it as a tutorial)

 

[DefJam101]

i also don't get why you didn't just TRY the OC before somehow coming to the conclusion that its a waste of time (unless you did and hated it, at which point you should still use it as a tutorial)

It lost me the first few times when I was told to sell furs, then walked outside and was greeted with a blonde crackwhore and a retired male actor from Baywatch.



Anyways, I've played like 3.5 hours of it now and have gotten the hang of combat. I could probably play MotB if I chose a fighter build, used the spacebar, and actually buffed before combat.... I think I'll do just that.

 

[Heresiarch]

Now I think about it, I would play the OC just because I can use Neeshka. She's hotter than Imoen.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

She proves that tiefling rogues are among MCA's turn-ons.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

I liked the NWN 2 OC and had fun with it. The Trial and the Castle really added to the game, although most choices and consequences concerning those two things were minimal/illusionory.

However the game also has so many annoying elements and chores (orc caves anyone?) that I won't touch it a second time.

 

[DefJam101]

Tried again, same result. I made a rogue this time.. already tried fighter. Why don't I have any abilities or skills or anything? 18 levels and all I can do is auto-attack & sneak attack?

Also, I do no damage and die in only a few hits; I've looked through Safiya's spells and haven't found anything resembling a buff. How the fuck am I supposed to do anything?


I'm like 6 hours into NWN2 OC and the combat is easy as hell, although I still understand nothing about the strategy of it nor am I doing anything else but clicking attack and using buffs. As soon as I hop into MotB (outside of cave) I just die automatically..

 

[Murk]

It lost me the first few times when I was told to sell furs, then walked outside and was greeted with a blonde crackwhore and a retired male actor from Baywatch.



Anyways, I've played like 3.5 hours of it now and have gotten the hang of combat. I could probably play MotB if I chose a fighter build, used the spacebar, and actually buffed before combat.... I think I'll do just that.

the beginning is just a tutorial you can skip (not sure why you'd skip it but eh) and those two paper-place-holder characters are either killed off or removed very early on, neither lasts with you and is nothing but a meat shield and 3 shell shotgun for the time being.

anyway - yeah if you think you got a hang of it then move on up - the hardest part really is being able to sort through the overwhelming number of skills, feats, abilities, and spells - as well as how they all interact. the actual basic mechanics of things in 3.5 are simple enough to understand if you spend a little time with it and pay attention

it's hitting system works way better than 2.0's THAC0 crap anyway
---

are you thinking of rogue abilities like shit in final fantasy or diablo where you magically do damage 'cuz your swing went this way then that way instead of just "this way" ?

'cuz none of that really exists... as silly as it seems d&d kind of aims for "contextual realism"

rogue abilities are mostly in passive skills, sneak attacking, stealth, and tinkering with dungeons (i'm sure pnp rogues get way more ability use than crpg rogues)

the ones with abilities that make lights and flashes and shit when you click the button are the casters, fighters are literally meat shields.

i think you should play a cleric, those are auto win in d&d... especially in late level.

they can melee adequately, wear heavy armor, have full casting, and decent health, they also get side abilities

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

You'll need to work some Prestige Classes to your build (unless you go Monk) for more abilities since you're not a spellcaster. In case of a Rogue, Assasin and Shadowdancer are the way to go for "now you see, now you don't" Hide skill upgrade.

Also, Safiya is a Red Wizard Transmuter, so she has two spell schools she can't use. You can have her spam Stoneskin though.

 

[nomask7]

You are retarded, you know that, right? Did you even notice that SoU is the same as NWN 1 OC with the same D&Diablo premise(fuck, the whole story is even exactly the same: the best student, you, saves the day from rising ancient nation)?

How much after-the-fact application of popular gay hero with a thousand faces reductive reasoning did you need to produce that pile of excrement? I bet you pushed it out face red. By the same logic, NWN 2 is a dumbed-down version of already mediocre BG2.

IN NWN 2 you have loads of more dialog, choises, real companions, a party and other content other than "combat", such as the trial or the fort.

I don't want more NWN 2 type dialog, I want less. The biggest problem of NWN 2 was precisely its combination of torturous length and vomit inducing cliche nature. When you drink liquified shit because of some perverse curiosity, you still don't want to drink too much of it. The cliches of NWN 2 were the sort of cliches you purchase out of habit from a central committee that doesn't even bother taking your money because they are drowning in it, they're the sort of cliches that makes any intelligent person go into his dying buffalo act. You're a perfect example of the kind of people for whom total and utter shit games like NWN 2 are made. Talk about a bandwagon. You're an example of the new youth, whose massive prenatal cultural brain damage changed the whole game industry, and now the only decent games are made as add-ons, the amount of money involved in such endeavours being small enough that the publishers and developers can ignore their usual audience, you.

 

[Gragt]

Safiya can do a persistent haste right from the start, that spell is just pure gold.

A peristent spell is a meta-magic feat so you should have her learn haste with that meta, the spell will become a few levels higher than it is but at least it lasts for a day or something.

Anyway my advice is that you try to play the whole NWN 2 OC first, it isn't as bad as some people say it is, some areas truly aren't great (like the orcs cave) but it's still a decent game with some possibilities to roleplay. Story is classic stuff but with some twists, most characters are bland but a few shine (such as Ammon or Sand). A shame that some of the nicest moments (such as the trial) are still undermined in the end by forcing you into the same situation whatever you choose. Still it is decent and enjoyable as a classic adventure if you do not have high expectations.

If anything it can help you build a character little by little and start with simple spells so you do not get flooded by numbers right away.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Just take all the bad expectations that having an enemy called the King of Shadows brings. You'll be glad you did for the surprise is sweeter than.

NWN2 is much better than BG2 imo. You can't really say the other is dumbed down if the other has a ring of Charisma 18 at the beginning... It's true though that I infinitely prefer the BG2 combat and size though. I just like the NPCs, story and dialogue of NWN2 better, and those are the ones that matter to me, even if to decide between too silly "don't take me too seriously" High Fantasy games.

 

[Starwars]

Like someone pointed out, a big problem is that NWN2 just has a lot of shit that you have to go through. Most games do have some amount of shit (much praised PS:T has the dungeon bits after leaving Sigil for example) but it's just to much in NWN2. Act 1 is painfully boring, and just uninspired.

The game does get better the longer it goes on though I think. If it had had the same quality as Act 3 throughout, I think it could've been a decent story-based game.

Also, the plot is indeed a snore-fest. The writing is however pretty good, and sometimes very good. There are also some pretty nice moments, like finding out above the King of Shadows past, and Ammon Jerro is a nice character.

But yeah... I think NWN2 is pretty mediocre for the most part. It's worth giving a shot if you haven't (you may end up liking it after all), and could be good for learning the mechanics.

 

[DefJam101]

Please don't forget about this thread; I still need some serious help here.

I've honestly just hit a brick wall and have no idea what to do.. I'm out of the caves and inside the theatre. I managed to avoid fighting the first red wizard by outsmarting her Fallout-style, but this second one has been continually raping me with ease. Playing the OC campaign hasn't helped at all and I'm bored out of my mind of it. All it's taught me is how to auto attack and watch numbers float off of people's heads.


I've tried multiple character builds, some fighters and some not fighters.. I've buffed up as much as possible with Safiya. This guy instantly paralyzes me and her, kills me instantly, and then kills her in 2 shots. I also do no damage at all... I either do 2 damage to the melee fighters or 0 damage to the wizards (says my damage has been resisted). I've cranked it down to the lowest difficulty and I still die in one shot, if I examine him and the other red wizard it says they are both "Impossible". What the fuck, this is the third fight in the game?

 

[RK47]

/godmode seriously helps. I don't really care about MOTB combat. It sucks and horrid. I couldn't enjoy anything else aside from the story and setting. The gameplay in rtwp is a major pain in the ass since you can't really see which round you're at now (have i attacked yet? I don't know!) and mages just get face raped if you don't pause.

 

[Warden]

I never tried it but it sounds really cheesy so you could try it if this game is so hard for you:
Pick a class with hide in plain sight. Hit, run, hide, hit, run, hide..
Come on.. Safiya alone can destroy everything in sight.
Eh.. and yes. There's a cave with some "paragon" animals - do not try anything in there.
Max dex., con. and str. and pick improved combat expertise (13 int. needed).


Regarding the OC.. it would be much more enjoyable without the forced companions and hard linearity. But Zhjaeve rocks. She's so cool when she speaks weird in that place with the statues that give power.. and and.. when bright light pours from her eyes when she's about to cast a spell.. oh Zhjaeve..

Zhjaeve guarding the back:
http://yamz.files.wordpress.com/2007/09 ... 030949.jpg


And this bitch is also cool:
http://guides.gamepressure.com/neverwin ... 533968.jpg

 

[DefJam101]

Come on.. Safiya alone can destroy everything in sight.

No she can't?

None of her spells do anything against this guy or his friends. I've tried everything and replayed the fight over 20 times now; she is killed instantly along with me and nothing I or her can do can damage him. None of her buffs do shit, none of her damaging spells have any effect. I don't really understand what the hell is going on in this entire fight. On the easiest difficulty I am killed in one shot and I haven't found anything that even appears to be able to stop it.

 

[Murk]

look up battle mechanics for 3.5 d&d rules then or something dude, we can't really just upload the info and you magically learn to play the game

 

[Warden]

Come on.. Safiya alone can destroy everything in sight.

No she can't?

None of her spells do anything against this guy or his friends. I've tried everything and replayed the fight over 20 times now; she is killed instantly along with me and nothing I or her can do can damage him. None of her buffs do shit, none of her damaging spells have any effect. I don't really understand what the hell is going on in this entire fight. On the easiest difficulty I am killed in one shot and I haven't found anything that even appears to be able to stop it.

Alright... let me think.

Do you have any summons?

You should somehow send them in to tank the paralyze and damage.
Possibly that ice-elemantal, Orglash or something, you found in the starting cave.
Wizards must die first. It's best to confront him in melee. While you kill him Safiya must destroy the fighters with spells. Let she protect you against fire and bombard with fire spells. Wail of banshee could also do the job.

 

[DefJam101]

look up battle mechanics for 3.5 d&d rules then or something dude, we can't really just upload the info and you magically learn to play the game

Well, telling me what you mean by 'Safiya alone can destroy everything in sight.' would help a lot. I've been looking for 2 days now and haven't been able to find anything.

Do you have any summons?

You should somehow send them in to tank the paralyze and damage.
Possibly that ice-elemantal, Orglash or something, you found in the starting cave.

Killed him in this game, I can try playing my other game again, though. Also, how can I do this? Once the fight starts I'm paralyzed right off the bat, how can I get him to attack the summon and not me?

Wizards must die first. It's best to confront him in melee. While you kill him Safiya must destroy the fighters with spells. Let she protects you against fire and bombard with fire spells. Wail of banshee could also do the job.

Can't do anything to him in melee, attacks have no effect. The paralysis does not help either, but even if I'm not paralyzed my attacks do nothing.

Also, I was told to use Wail of the Banshee from someone else but I can't find the spell.



Is the AI control really this terrible? She can't survive more than 30 seconds on the easiest difficulty?

---

I have to go to sleep, I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[Murk]

Well, telling me what you mean by 'Safiya alone can destroy everything in sight.' would help a lot. I've been looking for 2 days now and haven't been able to find anything.

I've not played motb but i've played nwn 2 and d&d in high levels plenty, so i can't tell you specifics unique to that game but i can give you general hints.

always pause to issue commands (using magic, items, skills, what have you) while in combat

make sure to take out casters before the usual melee meat shields

spell casting time varies per spell - you can use a shitty cheap spell to hit a caster conjuring a major nuke to make his spell "fizzle" which nullifies it

having archers and the type focus on casters will keep them from effectivey casting, thus you can pin them down like that

most casters will have special buffs on them that can be dispelled with magic, check your wizard, cleric, and druids for their magic and make sure to have anti-magic spells prepared

wizards die easily once their magical defenses are disabled so be careful of your own casters

learn the value of battle field control spells such as those that put enemies to sleep, stun them, blind them, or what have you - often enough the enemy's saving throws are lower than your abilities and you can effectively take out enemies without wittling down their hp

(that is, you cast a sleep inducing spell and have your fighters 'coup de grace' them, which they automatically do when attacking incapacitated enemies, it's an instant kill)

learn the order that turns and abilities go in and how that works as it's going to be important if you plan to have a lot of caster on caster fights, and in high level d&d, that's as common as dirt on the ground

 

[deuxhero]

I think the AI is the hardest part of NWN2s combat, seriously "I need healing badly" while running away from the healer(s) and into the enmeys, did they even bother trying to make it not suck?

 

[Azban]

Have you switched out spells in the spellbook or bought new spells? Some of the default learned spells suck ass and can be switched for a better one. Also, if you have any gold, buy some spell scrolls and have her learn them. Just spam damage spells, thats all you need. The only spells she cant use are Conjuration spells. Most of the damage spam spells are Evocation.

 

[hoochimama]

DefJam101 from how you describe the difficulties you're having with the game it sounds like you must be missing something very very basic about the mechanics, neither nwn2 nor motb are anywhere near that difficult, especially on easy.

- If your weapons aren't doing damage did you listen to safya at the beginning when she taught you how to enchant your weapons? A base weapon isn't gonna cut it in motb. You need +2/+3/+4 etc weapons as well as some sort of added elemental damage.

- If you get taken down in one hit and you seem to lack all sorts of feats and abilities and your enemies' challenge rating reads as impossible...did you actually click on the level up button in your character sheet?

Is it the dnd mechanics or nwn2's system of icons and toolbars that you don't understand?

Either way you should read the manual. DnD is very simple and prepubescent-aproved. Read the manual to learn how to put spells in your quickcast menu, combat feats in the toolbar. Understand that when you're a fighter or a barbarian you'll want to raise your strength, as a sorcerer you'll want Charisma etc.

Since you seem to be pretty terrible at this and probably just want to breeze through the combat just get yourself one of the premade fighter packages. Always hit the "recommended" button during the level up screens. Assign feats and abilities to the toolbar. Equip +strength + constitution + resistance etc items and remember to enchant your weapons so they have a +x enchantment as well as extra damage of a certain type.